b Ube 'ClniversttB of Chicago ANALYTIC SURVEY OF STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL ELE- MENTARY SCHOOLS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND LITERATURE IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION BY CHARLES MYRON REINOEHL Private Edition, Distributed By THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LIBRARIES CHICAGO, ILLINOIS Reprinted from United Slates Department of the Interior, Bureau of Education Bulletin, No. 42 1922 Ube lantversitp of Cbicago ANALYTIC SURVEY OF STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL ELE- MENTARY SCHOOLS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND LITERATURE IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION BY CHARLES MYRON REINOEHL Private Edition, Distributed By THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LIBRARIES CHICAGO, ILLINOIS Reprinted from United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Education Bulletin, No. 42 1922 Digitized by the InterraetrArchive in 2011 with funfflf^fforn The Library of Cfiff^ess http://www.archive.org/details/analyticsurveyofOOrein CONTENTS. Letter of transmittal V Chapter I. — Introductory curricula studies 1 Statement of problems 1 Sources of materials 2 Preparation of courses 2 Functional value of courses in use 3 Reasons for nonintelligent use of courses of study 5 Improving the course of study r . . 6 A nationalized curriculum 7 Summary and recommendations 8 Chapter II. — Character and content of general suggestions 10 Topics treated 10 Aims of the school 11 Methods of teaching and of study 12 Plan of the course of study 13 Standardization of schools 14 Other general topics 15 Summary and recommendations 15 Chapter III. — Organization of one-teacher schools. . . , 18 Material 18 Number of daily recitation periods 19 Alternation and combination of grades 20 The average daily program . 22 Distribution of recitation time 23 A program of 24 class periods 27 Summary and recommendations 29 Chapter IV.— Relative importance of elementary school subjects 32 Names for school subjects 32 Number of outlines provided 33 Method of measuring the length of courses 33 Number of pages 34 Grade space assigned to each subject 36 Subject space assigned to each grade 37 Percentage of space allotment 38 The average course of study 40 Variable nature of distribution of space 41 Relative prominence of subjects 42 Summary and recommendations 44 ' Chapter V. — -Selection and correlation of content materials 47 Problem — Method of investigation 47 Types and selection of topics 49 Relationship of listed topics 51 Number of topics 53 Grade distribution of topics 54 Grouping of subjects and of topics 58 in IV CONTENTS. Chapter V. — Selection and correlation of content materials — Continued. Page. Correlation of subjects and topics , 58 A program of correlation 60 Summary and recommendations 62 Chapter VI. — Analytic survey of English courses 65 Reading. 65 Language : 67 Spelling 70 Handwriting 72 Chapter VII. — Analytic survey of arithmetic courses 74 Recommendations 77 Chapter VIII. — Analytic survey of courses in citizenship 78 History 78 Civics 83 Manners and morals 85 Chapter IX. — Analytic survey of elementary science subjects 88 Geography 88 Hygiene 92 Physical education 94 Nature study 95 Chapter X. — Analytic survey of industry and art courses. 98 Agriculture 98 Household arts 102 Manual arts 103 Drawing 104 Music 106 Chapter XI. — Books and reference materials 108 Reference list Ill LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Education, Washington, B.C., February 17, 1923. Sir : There is an increasing tendency in recent years among public officials responsible for preparing State courses of study to consider in their preparation the organization and special needs of small rural schools, particularly those of the one- and two- teacher variety. Courses prepared in conformity with the eight-grade organization, with a teacher for each grade, based on the experiences and needs of city children and on the expectation of a nine or nine and a half month school term, are obviously of little value to the inexperienced and immature teachers who abound in the open-country schools, in which one teacher has charge of eight grades, and the term is often six months or less in length. The growing realization of the fact that these different school conditions require different content of the course of study and different teaching practice has led to a widespread inter- est in the preparation of a new curriculum which will be based prima- rily on the needs of rural children and the organization of rural schools. The State is the logical authority from which to expect guidance in this direction. Mi*. Reinohl, formerly rural supervisor of schools for the State of Montana, has made a careful analysis of the different State courses of study and has included in his report much information which will, in my opinion, be of value in the preparation of State and other courses of study for use in rural schools. I, therefore, recommend the accompanying manuscript for publication as a bulletin of the Bureau of Education. Respectfully submitted. JNO. J. TlGERT, Commissioner. The Secretary of the Interior. ANALYTIC SURVEY OF STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. Chapter I. INTRODUCTORY CURRICULA STUDIES. STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS. This investigation undertakes to analyze and interpret the character and content of State courses of study for rural elementary schools. It presents in tabular form the aims, subject matter, and materials most frequently recommended in these courses. It seeks to point out the great need for wisely selected materials of instruction and for changes in the preparation of new courses justified by social progress. Just as reform in any line may be said to proceed from what is to what ought to be, so courses that are rebuilt must be based upon existing courses and must be changed to meet the needs of this "new day." This rebuilding requires (1) detailed information of courses of study in use, about which little has been known, and (2) definite information regarding the facts which country folks ought to know to live successful, happy, and remunerative lives. It is the purpose of this survey to give full information regarding the content of State courses and to interpret the findings in the light of progressive opinion as set forth in recent pedagogical literature bearing on rural education. Specifically the major problems covered by this survey are: 1. What is the character and content of State courses of study for rural elementary schools % 2. What do these courses have to offer regarding the most effec- tive organization of one-teacher schools ? 3. What is the relative importance of elementary school subjects as revealed by their prominence in State courses ? 4. To what extent do aims and content materials in State courses, as determined by their frequency of appearance in the outlines, meet present needs of rural elementary education % 5. What contributions have the most widely recommended supple- mentary books and materials to offer for the improvement of rural oourses of study ? 1 2 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOE RURAL SCHOOLS. SOURCES OF MATERIALS. The survey is based upon the State courses of study for use in rural elementary schools. They were available from all but four States — California, Florida, Arkansas, and Rhode Island. Although such terms as teacher's manual, handbook, monograph, or syllabi are used in certain States, the most common term and the term used in this survey is "State courses of study. " All but 8 of the 44 courses used were issued since 1914. Thirty- five appeared within the years 1915 and 1917. By January 1, 1920, twenty-one had been revised or reprinted. Of these, only 40 per cent show marked revisions as to point of view, content, organization, or adaptation to rural schools. The 44 courses surveyed may, therefore, be said to represent, to a very large extent, the courses still in use in rural schools. With few exceptions the outlines in all subjects for any one State are bound in one volume. In a few States the outlines for various subjects are bound separately. Separate binding tends to allow for fuller treatment, while it has little effect on the relative number of pages given to each subject. The publications are remarkably uniform in size of print and of page. There are only slight variations from a 6-by-9-inch page. The large body of the material in State courses is usually printed in 11- point type. Variations from this size of type are no greater for the outlines of one subject than for those of another. These facts made it possible to compare the length of outlines by the number of pages given to each subject and to each grade. The body of the material used would make a volume of nearly 10,000 (9,431) pages, one-tenth of which is given to materials aside from the outlines of the subjects themselves, such as daily programs, plan of the course, and libraries (see Ch. II). PREPARATION OF COURSES. There are variations in the methods used in preparing State courses. The number of writers varies all the way from 50 contributors in Arizona to State department members in most States. Some courses, like the one in Illinois, have gone through a series of revisions; others are made without any reference to revisions. Specialists have con- tributed largely to some courses, but it frequently happens that courses so prepared are not properly coordinated and correlated by an editor or editing committee. College and normal-school professors and city superintendents have frequently helped to write courses; county superintendents and grade teachers, occasionally; successful INTRODUCTORY CURRICULA STUDIES. 3 rural teachers, seldom, if ever. The practical wisdom, of live rural teachers standing next to the children and everyday life of the people is seldom sought. Here is a fruitful source of valuable information in curriculum building that has not been utilized. The courses which the writer considers best adapted to rural schools have been prepared under the direction of a selected few in super- visory positions and with the cooperative assistance of selected teach- ers. The Minnesota, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Iowa, and Montana courses are among those so prepared. In their preparation the co- operation of selected county superintendents, rural leaders, and successful teachers was sought in contributing suggestions as to the materials to include or to omit. Timely and current materials in our present social and national life have in consequence been included, while much traditional and less valuable material has been elimi- nated. In these courses, too, the influence of studies on elimination made by the Iowa 1 and the Minnesota 2 committees, and by Wilson, 3 by Jessup, 4 and by others are seen in the eliminations recommended and in the choice of materials. The Montana course, in arithmetic, for example, contains, with some modifications, a list of eliminations suggested by these investigations. This work of preparing courses adapted to the needs of rural schools has scarcely begun. In all probability this work can best be done by members of State depart- ments or supervisors, who seek the cooperation of all those live rural teachers and those supervisory and administrative workers in the States most competent to contribute suggestions, and who utilize all useful information from scientific investigations and professional books and periodicals. FUNCTIONAL VALUE OF COURSES IN USE. The Louisiana, Kansas, and Montana courses were prepared for use in rural schools exclusively. The Arizona course was planned to meet the needs of graded and city schools only, but it is also used by rural teachers. The Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Oklahoma courses were prepared primarily to meet the needs of rural schools. All other State courses included in this survey were prepared for use in all public elementary schools without regard to their location. Letters were written to each State department of public instruc- tion making inquiry as to the extent of distribution and use of the 'Second Report of the Committee on Elimination of Subject Matter, 1916. Iowa State Teachers' Association. 2 Elimination in Elementary Course of Study, 1914. Minnesota Educational Association. 'Wilson, H. B., and Wilson, G. M. Motivation of School Work, p. 180. * Jessup, " Economy of Time in Arithmetic," in Elementary School Teacher, vol. 14, p. 4fii (June, 1914). 4 STATE COUESES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. course of study. Replies to these letters may be summarized as follows : Distribution of State courses of study: states. Each teacher has a copy 15 Quite generally found among teachers 21 'Indefinite replies 8 Use made of State courses of study: Extensive— strict adherence to the course of study 10 Moderate — followed quite generally 19 Slight — little attention given to it 4 Indefinite replies 5 These reports seem to indicate that, in most States, courses of study are found generally in the hands of all rural teachers, and that the provisions in such courses are adhered to closely. But this conclusion, drawn from official statements, does not agree with reports contained in State and county educational surveys, from which the following quotations are taken : Only 3 per cent of the teachers attending institutes in 1913 were using the manual issued by the State department, and 18.2 per cent had no course of study to use in teaching. 5 The textbook was far more frequently followed than the course of study. When the course of study was followed, it was usually found to be in upper rather than in lower grades. This was undoubtedly due to proximity to the State eighth-grade examination. 6 Practically all the teachers visited nominally use the State course of study, but in reality they follow quite literally the arrangement of topics set forth in the particular text rather than the course of study. At least 90 per cent of the teachers showed a blind following of the textbook. 7 Relatively few teachers were found who were following the course of study. 8 After reading the type of classroom instruction, one realizes the complete failure teachers make in following courses of study; even textbooks are followed in a sleepy disinterested way. 9 The complete State course of study is effective in very few rural or semirural schools. 10 There was little evidence in 78 schools visited that teachers were working the State course of study very hard, although the teachers confessed they were following it in part at least. 11 The children were rigorously held to their texts; no use is made of the experiences gained at home, on the farm, or in the environment. 12 The writer's experience in Montana and other States is in line with these survey reports. In asking teachers where their children are in the outlines of the course of study, it has been found not infrequently 6 Ohio State School Survey. Report of the State School Survey Commission, 1914. p. 122. e IT. S. Bu. of Educ, Bui. No. 31, 1918. The Educational System of South Dakota, p. 123. 7 U. S. Bu. of Educ, Bui. No. 29, 1916. Educational Survey of Wyoming, pp. 55-57. 8 U. S. Bu. of Educ, Bui. No. 44, 1917. Educational Conditions in Arizona, p. 138. 9 U. S. Bu. of Educ, Bui. No. 41, 1919. An Educational Study of Alabama, p. 114. 10 Public Schools Survey and Report, 1919. p. 99. Virginia Educational Commission. 11 Illinois School Survey, 1917. p. 313. Illinois State Teachers' Association. 12 Public Education in Delaware, 1919. p. 59. General Education Board. INTRODUCTORY CURRICULA STUDIES. that children are not in the course of study but in the textbook. Older pupils have shown many times that they have taken every lesson in their readers, geographies, hygiene books, and other texts, when the course of study advises taking up content in an order differ- ent from that of the textbooks. In all probability courses are not followed as closely as State superintendents have reported, and follow- ing courses intelligently is doubtless still much less common. REASONS FOR NONINTELLIGENT USE OF COURSES OF STUDY. Survey reports point to the conclusion that there is greater uni- formity in following textbooks slavishly than in following courses of study intelligently. In too many schools textbooks are the course of study. Many courses are still too much limited to textbook ma- terial. There are even courses which contain little more than " page limits" in prescribed textbooks, and there are many teachers who follow such courses by making page assignments. With what justice can the practice therefore be condemned ? Even stronger teachers are often judged by ground covered rather than efficiency in child development. Courses that contain only the rawest materials entail upon teachers impossible work before the materials are presentable to children. If courses of study are to be truly helpful to teachers in making their work more efficient, courses must be provided which contain something more than mere page assignments or the rawest materials of instruction. The nonintelligent use of a course of study is also due in part to teachers' lack of familiarity with its provisions. That teachers do not know the course of study is a criticism frequently made. The writer has found teachers showing honest surprise when valuable features in the course of study were pointed out to them, and even when such features were very Clearly stated. To find a course lost among the books of a school library or hidden away in remote corners of a teacher's desk is a fair indication that the course is not used by the teacher, certainly not in an intelligent way. A common criticism made by professional writers and survey direc- tors is that courses are not adapted for use by the type of teachers usually found in rural schools. Yet these teachers are in charge of 60 per cent of the nation's children. A majority of the courses under survey constitute but "an outline of the mental march pupils are ordered to make." It is only occasionally that one in a supervisory position finds a courageous leader, like the Brown Mouse, who breaks traditional lines and "works out from life to everything in the course of study." It is the typical rural teacher who should be kept clearly in mind by those who would prepare courses which such teachers can use intelligently and effectively. 6 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. Laws are frequently inadequate to secure proper enforcement of course-of-study provisions. Only the mechanical provisions of courses are likely to be followed by many teachers as long as a sufficient corps of visiting supervisors is not secured. Attempts at supervision through enriched courses fail with weak and inexperienced rural teachers without the personal guidance of a helpful leader. Even the better courses outlined by problems or topics become excuses for wasteful haste on the part of poor teachers. Better courses with which teachers are familiar and more direct supervision will doubtless produce better results in teaching, but the intelligent use of courses can not be fully realized without better prepared teachers. IMPROVING THE COURSE OF STUDY. In considering the improvements needed in State publications under survey it is well at the outset to raise the question, What constitutes a good course of study? There is need for standards which may serve as useful guides in evaluating the materials of instruction contained in State courses and presented in later chapters of this survey. Dr. Frank McMurry has defined a good course of study in any branch of knowledge as " the sum of (live) problems along one great line of interest, organized in good sequence, and containing data enough to furnish satisfactory answers to the problems." 13 Dr. C. H. Judd describes the school curriculum in the following terms : A curriculum of the school is a living thing. It is constantly undergoing readjust- ments. Its content is drawn from the social life to which it introduces pupils, and its arrangement depends on the ability of pupils of different ages and different capabilities to grasp this constantly readjusted content. 14 These statements indicate that a good course of study contains materials of instruction that are well selected and" well organized. To be well selected, the materials must have present-day significance, they must be socially valuable, and they must be useful to the learner. To be well organized, whether in topic or in problem form, the materials must be graded in difficulty to advance learners by easy steps. To make certain that printed materials have large functional value for children, teachers need to constantly readjust the materials for adaptation to the particular needs of a group of children or of individual pupils. This survey undertakes to show that the best courses of study contain : 13 McMurry, F. Uniform Curriculum and Examinations. N. E. A. Jour, of Proc, 1913, p. 136. 14 Judd, C. H. Introduction to the Scientific Study of Education, p. 197. INTRODUCTORY CURRICULA STUDIES. 7 (a) Clear, helpful discussion of topics of a general nature, such as daily programs and libraries. (These topics are listed in the next chapter.) (b) Specific statements containing the teaching or learning aims in each subject outlined in the course of study. Stated aims for each grade, in the case of graded outlines for a subject, are also important aids. (c) The fundamental principals of method clearly stated and fully illustrated with model lessons for rural teachers. (d) A content that is sharply defined, that is definite to the extent of its educational usefulness, and that is enriched by a redistri- bution of emphasis. This requires the elimination of material little used by society, such as cube root, diagraming, details of many battles in war, much of mere location in geography, and names of all bones of the body. It requires, further, that the material in the courses not culled out be given the "country twist" with proper motives for work. Finally, there should be included in the courses (1) the vitalized materials needed for a successful life in an agricul- tural community, including topics bearing upon the economic and social phases of farm life, and (2) the major post-war problems com- ing before our democratic society, such as appear in current events, papers, and periodicals. A NATIONALIZED CURRICULUM. This investigating seeks to justify within certain limitations the nationalization of courses of study. There is doubtless an irreducible minimum for all normal children in various years of work the coun- try over. The writer believes that a uniform minimum curriculum is a useful conception. This view is supported by several State courses and various educa- tional writings, from which the following quotations are typical: The need for some plan for the promotion of desirable uniformity is very appar- ent. — Pennsylvania State Course of Study, 1914, p. 8. A uniform system of school work is the aim of this course. — Missouri Course of Study, 1919, p. 3. The State course of study seeks to unify the school work of the State in present- ing a definite plan and a definite outline of work for the common schools. — Illinois State Course of Study, 1912, p. 7. It is time to insist upon a universal system of education with a curriculum consisting of all those common elements which make for national integrity and national safety. 15 There is large place for uniformity in an educational system; uniformity in business matters; uniformity of aims and principles for the school as a whole; uni- formity of aims and principles for particular subjects of study; and uniformity in many practical matters touching instructions. 18 ^Cofiman, L. D. " The War and the Curriculum," in Educational Administration and Supervision, Jan., 1918, p. 22. "McMurry, F. Ibid., p. 143. 8 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. A committee on course of study in the Bureau of Education has been making an investigation throughout the United States of all content materials useful to farm folks. The National Country Life Association has a committee on rural education. The National Soci- ety for the Study of Education has been promoting uniformity in essential content through its numerous investigations and reports. Some States are using courses of study or outlines in certain subjects which were prepared for use in other States. The interstate mobility of both teachers and children increases the need for a common course of study. These and other forces have greatly stimulated a present tendency toward a nationalized curriculum. The State courses of study contain a certain number of topics found in all or nearly all of them. (Cf . lists of topics, Chs. VI to X.) The body of knowledge which can thus be brought together, with some modifications, includes much information of which every Amer- ican has need. There are social and economic problems national in scope. There are problems peculiar to a State, but typical of prob- lems in other States. There are problems truly representative and suggestive in character, which with proper adaptation are fully as valuable as those of wider application. There is also a considerable body of fact, subject matter requiring drill, of which every normal child in the Nation has need. The following pages show that a national course of study setting forth definite aims, sound methods and minimal materials for study, is useful as a guide and standard for the improvement of the State courses. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 1. In this survey of State courses for rural elementary schools the leading purpose has been to present, analyze, and explain the content of prescribed courses in all they contain and to interpret the findings in the light of progressive opinion and of scientific investi- gations. 2. Courses of study were available from 44 States. The 44 courses used are fairly uniform in size of print and of page. This made it possible to compare the number of pages assigned to outlines in various subjects in the several grades. The courses contain 9,431 pages, or 214 pages on the average. 3. With few exceptions the courses were prepared for use in all public elementary schools. A few States now provide courses for use in rural schools exclusively. This is a commendable change, as the problems in one-teacher schools and- in graded city schools are very different. 4. Replies of letters sent to State departments of public instruction indicate that in most States (36) courses of study are found generally in the hands of all rural teachers, and that the provisions of such INTRODUCTORY CURRICULA STUDIES. 9 courses are adhered to closely. This conclusion drawn from official statements does not agree, however, with reports contained in State educational surveys. Statements to the contrary may be found in the reports of State surveys of Ohio. South Dakota, Wyoming, Ari- zona, Alabama, Virginia, Illinois, and Delaware. They show in gen- eral that many teachers do not follow courses of study intelligently. To this condition some of the contributing causes are these : Outlines do not permit of intelligent use; outlines not adapted to schools or to teachers using them ; teachers unfamiliar with course-of -study pro- visions; lack of supervision. 5. The real course of study is too often the textbook, followed liter- ally and exclusively. This practice could be redirected by causing teachers to become familiar with the prescribed course of study through attendance at summer schools, through teachers' meetings, and through circular letters and direct correspondence. 6. For the production of a unified body of useful knowledge, it is advisable to receive the cooperative contributions of administrators, supervisors, successful teachers, and representative farmers. Thor- oughly organized courses require the assistance of an editor or an editorial staff. 7. There is a growing demand for a uniform minimum curriculum for the Nation. This survey seeks to justify this claim. 8. The following are suggested as principles of guidance: (a) Courses especially designed for use in rural schools; (b) courses which the average teacher can use effectively; (c) rural teachers familiar with the course-of-study provisions ; (d) courses prepared through extended cooperative influences. 23606—23 2 Chapter II. CHARACTER AND CONTENT OF GENERAL SUGGESTIONS. TOPICS TREATED. Courses of study are usually not limited to outlines in the various subjects. Often many pages are given to the discussions of topics of a general nature. In a number of courses such topics are all included under the term "General suggestions." It requires an average of 20 pages in each of 44 State courses for the treatment of all such topics. This represents approximately one-tenth of the total number of pages (214) that would be in each course of study if the courses were all of equal length (Ch. IV, p. 34). The topics of a general nature which appear most frequently are listed in Table 1. Table 1. — Average number of pages in 44 State courses of study given to topics of a general nature, and the per cent each of these numbers is of an average of 214 pages per course. 'Topic. Number of courses. Number of pages. Average number of pages. Per cent per course. General suggestions Daily programs Libraries, reading circle Brief outline of course. . Miscellaneous topics Total 222 160 206 70 222 5.0 3.7 4.7 1.6 5.0 2.3 1.3 2.2 .7 2.3 The miscellaneous topics in this table include, first, those that add little if anything of value to the making of a good course of study. The history of education, history of the course of study, schoolhouse construction, and sociology are topics of this character. There is a second group of general topics appearing in State courses which should be treated in connection with outlines of closely related sub- jects. Scientific temperance, famous pictures, boys' and girls' clubs, simplified spelling, good roads, and poultry culture are typical of such topics. A list of these topics is given in connection with the organi- zation of subjects of study in Chapter IV. Proper treatment of a third group of general topics appearing in State courses would materi- ally improve a course of study and tend to influence the work of schools in a most helpful way. Those appearing to the writer as most suggestive for such treatment are listed below : 1. Practical aims of the school. 2. Helpful changes and improvements in the curriculum. 3. General plan of the course of study. 4. Relative importance of subjects. (a) Grouping of related subjects. (b) Major subdivisions of each group. 10 CHARACTER OF GENERAL SUGGESTIONS. 11 5. Organization of classes and daily programs for schools of one or two teachers. 6. Proper methods of study; the problem and project methods emphasized. 7. Intelligent use of the course. 8. Standard tests and promotions. 9. Efficiency of instruction and professional progress. 10. A teacher as judge of her own work. 11. Standardization of schools. 12. Important recently enacted laws. 13. Textbooks and their grade distribution; if~no State adoption, how to judge and select textbooks. 14. Minimal reference library, children's and teachers' reading circle. 15. Needed supplies and materials. 16. Beautification of school and community. 17. Local social and industrial organizations. 18. School and community spirit and cooperation. AIMS OF THE SCHOOL. The teacher needs to have a clear, broad conception of the purposes of the school and the true meaning of her work, if the details of her daily problems are to be dealt with in their proper perspective. She needs to keep the central purposes of her work clearly in view to pre- vent wandering about in matters of trivial importance. For the proper direction of instruction, courses of study should contain the general aims of teaching, stated in clear, simple language. For want of stated aims, teachers often go blindly about then work, following the textbook in covering ground. The following teaching aims are the most important among those mentioned in State courses; they appear infrequently and in variously formed statements : 1. To give children a practical, useful education. 2. To train them for efficient citizenship in our democracy. 3 To promote their health and maintain their physical strength. 4. To train them in dealing justly with their fellows. 5. To know the world of facts with which they must cope. 6. To promote their happiness through the right use of leisure. 7. To give right direction to the best methods of earning a living. The writer believes that there should appear in the outlines of a course of study recurring statements of the way detailed recommen- dations contribute to the general aims of the school. Aims need to be made a part of the content of the course of study, if they are to be any large factor in the direction of the average teacher's work. No large measure of help is likely to be given to the thousands of inexperienced and ill-trained rural teachers by courses containing general aims on the first pages only, and making no reference to these aims in the outlines on later pages. Schools can not function prop- erly if the work of children drops to a low plane of mechanical rou- tine without raising the question of why or in what ways it contributes to their needs of life. Teachers who follow intelligently the outlines of a course of study in which the selection and organization of the 12 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. materials of instruction were governed by important educational aims are not apt to wander far from the main purposes of the school. METHODS OF TEACHING AND OF STUDY. A majority of the State courses give teachers little or no help in conducting recitations or in teaching children how to study. To give methods of instruction may not be regarded by some writers as a function of the course of study. The professional preparation of a teacher often appears to be largely assumed. It is a matter of com- mon knowledge that many rural children have not been taught proper methods of study and that unsupervised rural teachers have often used poor teaching methods. This is a fair indication that courses of study should be manuals of method as well as outlines of content. There are courses that serve the double purpose of selecting and organizing content and of presenting methods of teaching and study. The Minnesota and New Jersey courses are examples. Such courses guide teachers in selecting teaching materials and show how the materials may be taught. The most important place in a course for suggestions on proper methods is doubtless in connection with the subject matter to be taught given in the subject outlines. Help- ful additional suggestions may be given by evaluating general meth- ods of teaching and learning. These may properly be given in the fore part of a course of study and as a part of an introduction to the outlines of each subject. STANDARDS FOR JUDGING INSTRUCTION. Standards by which a teacher may judge her own work seldom appear in State courses; and yet large returns can scarcely be ex- pected without some teaching standards. The teacher who knows the standards by which her supervisors would judge her work is most likely to put forth efforts to improve. Teaching becomes purposeful when teachers, strive to meet the standards set by a course of study. In illustration of standards useful to a teacher, the following, taken from the Montana Rural Course (p. 36), are suggestive: 1. Is my preparation good — (a) In knowledge of subject matter ? (b) In the use of supplementary and reference material ? (c) In the assignment of lessons ? . (d) In the use of blackboard or illustrative materials ? 2. Do my recitation periods — (a) Have an aim ? (b) Develop initiative in pupils ? (c) Discriminate between essentials and nonessentials ? (d) Stimulate real thinking on the part of pupils ? (e) Develop motive for study ? (/) Show good organization of subject matter ? 3. Ami using textbooks as a guide rather than an end ? 4. Am I training my pupils in the best methods of study, so that they can grad- ually work independently ? CHARACTER OF GENERAL SUGGESTIONS. 13 5. Am I laying as much stress on habits and attitudes as I am on knowledge of subject matter? 6. Is my work well balanced between book knowledge and motor activity; between the education for making a living and the education for leisure ? One of the most important functions of a good course of study is to supervise instruction. For this purpose, a course should contain well organized and correlated bodies of related materials, set forth among the best methods of teaching and harmonized by useful edu- cational aims and standards. In the Minnesota course, for example, teaching materials for each grade in each of several subjects are pre- ceded by teaching aims and followed by standards of instruction. A large measure of supervision is made possible through definite stand- ards included in each year of each subject as outlined in the course of study. PLAN OF THE COURSE OF STUDY. Earlier in this chapter it was pointed out that courses of study contain many pages on program making and other topics of a general nature. In practically all courses the pages devoted to such topics precede or follow the outlines of school subjects. The outlines are arranged alphabetically according to subject, in groups of related subjects, or in chance order. The plan of grouping subjects, such as is adopted for use in this survey (Chs. VI to X), has the advantage of keeping the number of subjects outlined within the limits of possibility for one-teacher schools to handle with facility. Grouping also aids in limiting the number of subjects for regular recitations by any grade of pupils to their ability to do good work in all subjects taken. The extent to which 17 school subjects outlined in State courses are broken up into separate outlines for the various grades or classes is given in Table 2. Table 2. — Number of courses dividing teaching materials in each of 17 subjects into outlines of various units of time. Subjects. Reading Language Spelling Handwriting Arithmetic History Civics Manners and morals . Geography Hygiene Physical education. . Nature study Agriculture Household arts Manual arts Drawing Music Not divided. Years or grades. Semes- ter or quarter. Months. Total. 14 STATE COUESES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. Practice would leave the outlines for physical education and man- ners and morals undivided into units of work to be followed in in- struction; divide the work for two or three classes in handwriting, drawing, and music; have all classes in these five subjects use the same period on the daily program; provide separate outlines for al- ternate years in certain grades in hygiene, nature study, agriculture, household arts, and manual arts; limit class work in civics to one or two upper years; and outline the remaining subjects — reading, lan- guage, spelling, arithmetic, history, and geography — by years or grades, with a possible further division on the semester basis. The practice most common for most subjects is outlines by years. In States where all rural schools open approximately at the same time and have fairly even term lengths, the yearly or semester plan ap- pears to be the most desirable. The semester plan is growing in favor and is commendable for use in States where the rural schools have fairly uniformly long terms. This plan is followed in city courses and should be equally well adapted to rural courses used in schools with terms of fairty equal length. The monthly plan reduces the course to considerable "lockstep" procedure. It allows limited free- dom of adaptation of material to particular groups of children. STANDARDIZATION OF SCHOOLS. Standardization of one-teacher schools has not yet received exten- sive consideration in courses of study. Little space in State courses has been given the topic. There are, however, plans for standardiz- ing rural schools in 26 States, 1 and the writer believes the topic to be of sufficient importance for State courses to warrant its more general discussion. There are two important phases of standardization. The one is concerned with school facilities, such as buildings, equipment, and school supplies, and with the duties and responsibilities of pupils, patrons, and school trustees. Standardization of this phase is com- paratively easy, because of its relatively permanent unchanging char- acter. The other phase has to do with instruction and includes the teacher's share of responsibility in securing a standard school. The frequent change of teachers makes this phase of standardization rela- tively difficult. It is this phase, however, that requires the larger share of attention in a course of study. The most useful part of standardization for the teacher, and therefore for the course of study, is that part which pertains directly to the teacher's work in matters of instruction. A course of study may well contain, however, in addition to standards for the teacher, brief explanations of laws or 1 Lathrop, Edith A. Status of Standardization of the Rural Schools of the United States. Univ. of Va. Extension Series, Nov., 1919, p. 8. CHARACTER OF GENERAL SUGGESTIONS. 15 plans regarding standardization and a copy of the rating or score card used. OTHER GENERAL TOPICS. Supplies and materials. — Every rural school should have a supply of books and materials adequate to its needs in carrying out the pro- visions of a course of study. It is an advantage to a teacher to have classified lists of books and materials at hand for ready reference. There should be lists of textbooks, reading-circle books, and library books for supplementary reading and reference. Such lists are more fully discussed in Chapter XI. There should also be lists of materials for primary and industrial work, either apart from or in connection with reading, arithmetic, and other subjects. These lists should con- tain those supplies and materials mentioned in the outlines of various school subjects. When reference to materials is made in the outlines of subjects only, which represents prevailing practice, important materials may be easily overlooked in ordering. Suggestive lists save a teacher's time in checking supplies on hand and in ordering others early in the school year. Community activities. — -One frequently hears that a teacher's task is not confined to the four walls of a schoolroom. The teacher has responsibilities of an educational nature outside. Here is a field for helpful suggestions to which courses have given little attention. Only occasionally can one find a course treating such topics as neigh- borhood organizations, community meetings, community leadership, or a teacher's social obligations. If a course is to be a teacher's guide in all matters pertaining to her work, then it would appear that a course is not complete until it includes directions for intelligent participation in outside educational affairs. Ways and means may be suggested by which a teacher may become an influential factor in social and industrial organizations. A teacher may receive help from her course on methods of developing a good school and com- munity spirit. Beautifying school grounds, roadside, and home surroundings is a matter of interest to every community. The writer believes that topics of this nature deserve treatment in a State course. The average rural teacher has need of the help which a course can supply in giving directions to educational affairs outside of a school. A course of study, as well as a school, has doubtless a function to perform in ministering to the educational needs of a community. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 1. The 44 State courses surveyed contain an average of 214 pages each. Of this number, 20 pages are devoted to general suggestions, consisting of everything outside of discussions or outlines of subjects. 16 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. 2. The most frequently mentioned general topics are daily pro- grams and libraries. Among those less frequently given are aims of the school, plan of the course, and intelligent use of the course. 3. The number of courses setting forth the aims of the school is not commensurate with the importance of such aims. Curricula stand- ards for judging instruction are wanting quite as much. Both are needed as a means of organization, as a guide to teachers, and as an aid in supervision. To prevent teachers from wandering far from the main purposes of the school, there should appear recurring state- ments of the way detailed recommendations contribute to these teaching aims. 4. A majority of the courses give teachers little constructive help in using the best teaching methods. It is quite as important that courses of study be manuals of method as outlines of content. Courses helpful in methods are needed to improve the poor teaching known to prevail in many rural schools. 5. The subject matter should be so selected and organized as to meet, in so far as possible, the needs of the schools for which intended. Teaching materials and reference and library books se- lected should be on a level with the ability of rural children. It is preferable to make reference to textbooks and other books at various points in the outline after they have been prepared. The teacher's task is to take the general subject matter as outlined and adapt it to her environment. 6. A large amount of supervision through the course of study is an object of worthy and earnest endeavor. Important considera- tions are specific aims for each subject and for each grade outline provided; recurring statements of the way detailed recommendations contribute to these aims; selection, relative emphasis, and arrange- ment of content materials; effective methods of instruction; and clearness, simplicity, and definiteness in every specification. 7. All but 4 of the 17 common-school subjects under survey are outlined by years in a majority of the State courses. A few courses go further, in breaking up the work into semester or even monthly outlines. The yearly or semester plan appears to be the most serv- iceable where all the rural schools of a State have fairly long terms. 8. There are other topics of a general nature which the writer believes deserve treatment in State courses. Types of such topics are standardization of schools, useful supplies and materials, and community activities of an educational nature. Topics of this char- acter are treated in courses only occasionally. CHARACTER OF GENERAL SUGGESTIONS. 17 9. The dominant purpose of a course of study may be considered that of promoting good teaching in every possible way. As a means to this end the following provisions are suggested : (a) Influence of the course extended through effective supervision. (b) Helpful general suggestions on important school problems. (c) Chief aims of the school, reinforced by adequate detailed recommendations. (d) Standards of achievement provided for each class in each subject. (e) Teaching materials especially valuable to rural children. (/) Organization adapted to rural school conditions. (g) Prominence given to the best teaching methods. (h) Definite directions in the use of teaching materials. (i) Preparation of outlines, followed by assignment of page reference. Chapter III. ORGANIZATION OF ONE-TEACHER SCHOOLS. PROBLEM. One of the problems in one-teacher schools difficult of adequate solution is the organization of a school into classes in a way that will secure maximum efficiency in all school work. The present chapter seeks to aid teachers and program-makers in the solution of this problem. MATERIAL. Twenty-six model programs, taken from as many State courses, were used. Twenty of the programs provide classes for eight grades. The programs in Qourses of six Southern States provide classes for only seven grades. Upon investigation it was found that seventh- grade averages for all 28 programs were only slightly different from the same grade averages of 20 programs, not including those in the South. As these differences in averages were found largely negligible, the writer felt justified in using the 26 programs to show Nation-wide practice. It is only fair to assume, other things being equal, that the average pupil can do but a year's work in a year, wherever he may be. If he happens to be a seventh-grade pupil in the South, he has probably not completed more work equally well than the average seventh- grade pupil in the North. In fact the southern pupil appears to be at a disadvantage because of the shorter terms and weaker compul- sory education laws known to have existed in the South. 1 It is not considered unwise, therefore, to include in this survey of programs for one-teacher schools the programs in Southern State courses. There are only 20 programs which include the eighth grade. It is obvious that the true average for this grade can be determined only by using 20 as a unit of measure. The true average in grades below the eighth is not always found by using the same unit, for the reason that the programs do not all provide recitation periods for all grades in all subjects. There are also programs which make no provisions for such subjects as manual arts or household arts. All 26 programs have to be taken into account to determine what they have to offer i IT. S. Dept. of Agric. Bui. No. 132, 1915. Correlating Agriculture with the Public School Subjects of the Southern States, pp. 69, 75. 18 ORGANIZATION OF ONE-TEACHER SCHOOLS. 19 in the distribution of time among the various subjects and grades. In the discussion the low eighth-grades averages resulting from the use of the higher unit of measure are corrected. WHAT THE MODEL DAILY PROGRAMS CONTAIN. The typical program in State courses contains only the time to begin and the time to close a recitation and the subjects or classes in which children recite. Variations from this type most frequently observed, more especially in recently published courses, are the addi- tion of a study program and changes in the use of certain terms. Some model daily progams give time to begin, number of minutes for recitation periods, classes reciting, subject (or subjects) for reci- tation, and study programs for each class (or grade). Such a pro- gram explains the organized work of the schools and in practice appears to be the best. Some striking changes in terminology are observable. On one program, for example, the term "recess," used by the Jesuits 350 years ago, has been replaced by "organized play." On another, "class-teacher periods," has replaced the belittling name of recita- tion. McMurry's apt suggestion of calling study periods "thinking periods " is nowhere in evidence, possibly because constructive think- ing and not mere reproduction of facts should also go on in all reci- tation periods. Other terms, such as luncheon and play hour, appearing on a few programs, offer some relief from the sameness and monotony of tradition. It is encouraging for those in supervi- sory positions to observe now and then teachers assuming the air of freedom by finding meaningful and expressive terms for their pro- grams. NUMBER OF DAILY RECITATION PERIODS. The range of daily recitation periods on 26 model programs for one-teacher* schools is from 21 to 38, with 85 per cent of the pro- grams limiting the number of such periods to 25. The number of daily recitation periods in any school is partly determined by the number of grades. On 20 programs this number is 8. The Southern States, with seven grades, provide as many daily recitations as other States with eight grades. The Illinois course contains a program of 32 recitations, and 225 minutes weekly are allowed on this program for the ninth and tenth grades. The Kan- sas Rural Courses, 1914, gives 38 daily recitations, 9 of which are in arithmetic and 4 are in the ninth grade. The New Hampshire course, with six grades, contains a program with the fewest daily classes. This program was not used, however, in compiling data for this chapter, although the plan may have com- mendable features. 20 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. Another important factor in determining number of daily recita- tions is number of subjects. State courses contain outlines for 17 subjects (Ch. IV). However, not one program in the courses pro- vides regular recitation periods in all these subjects. Some subjects, as manual training or agriculture, are often given but one, two, or three regular periods per week. Several subjects, such as agriculture and household arts, are limited to regular work in a few grades or even one grade. Occasionally a subject is outlined in a course of study without any provision made in the model program of that course for the teaching of such subject. Further, regular periods for important matters other than school subjects are usually provided. This is nearly always true of opening exercises, and occasionally, of supervised study. The complexity in program making arising out of 17 subjects and 8 grades, with time allowance for outside activi- ties, may be illustrated from the weekly time schedule contained in the Arizona State course. Reducing the maximum number of reci- tations provided on this schedule to a daily basis, more than 70 daily recitations would be required — unthinkable in a one-teacher school, ALTERNATION AND COMBINATION OF GRADES. One method of securing efficiency in one-teacher schools is through reduction of daily recitations by the plan of alternation and combi- nation of grades and classes. This plan is recommended in 73 per cent of 44 courses, and in most States it is made mandatory. The plan provides for the combination of grades 3 and 4, 5 and 6, and 7 and 8 into classes C, B, and A, respectively, as is shown in Table 3. The combinations of grades 2 and 3, 4 and 5, and 6 and 7 occur in those Southern States which organize their elementary schools into seven grades. Table 3. — Relative frequency of grade combinations in school subjects in 26 model programs in as many State courses of study. Subjects. Reading Language Spelling Arithmetic History Geography Hygiene Nature study. . Agriculture Average . Percentage Number of programs eombining- Grades 1 and 2. Grades 2 and 3. 3.1 5 Grades 3 and 4. Grades 4 and 5. Grades 5 and 6. 19 16 26 22 11 15 12 5 1 13.1 22 Grades 6 and 7. Grades 7 and 8. ORGANIZATION OF ONE-TEACHER SCHOOLS. 21 In reorganizing their courses a few States have arranged the material of a two-year period in a way that will best fit the adopted plan. They furnish two outlines fairly equal in difficulty for each of the A, B, and C classes. This enables a child to pursue either out- line before the other without being seriously handicapped by so doing. The outlines for grades 3, 5, and 7 are sometimes known as lower- division work, and those for grades 4, 6, and 8 as upper-division work. Children entering odd years take outlines in regular order by grades. It is only the children entering even years that are affected by pur- suing upper-division before lower-division outlines. It is not always possible to arrange the material for a two-year period with such even distribution as not to interfere at some points with the natural development of the child's ability. When children of such varying ability are so grouped in a class as to be unable to do identical work, provision is often made to have children pursue their regularly yearly outline. In C reading, for example, chil- dren of the third reader may read their lessons to the children of the fourth reader, and vice versa. This gives purpose to oral reading, creates a larger class audience, stimulates interest through motive, trains for efficiency in listening and in the conveyance of thought, and retains the class idea. Such provisions are probably needed mostly in reading for class C and in arithmetic. By the fifth grade, when children should have learned to read, combination difficulties in read- ing largely dissappear. Practically all the programs of Southern State courses combine grades 4 and 5, and 6 and 7 in reading, language, arithmetic, geogra- phy, history, and hygiene, and grades 6 and 7 in agriculture. The first three grades are usually not combined, except for some general lessons. A school thus becomes organized into five classes. By combining grades 2 and 3 on a seven-year course, four classes are organized, and grade 1 is still a class by itself. A school of seven grades usually has grade combinations different from those in a school of eight grades, but the number of classes and recitation periods per day are largely the same. The plan of alternating and combining grades is obviously not without its points of weakness. If seventh and eighth grade outlines for an eight-year course are well balanced in difficulty, then it must follow that the step from the sixth to the eighth is excessive, while that from the eighth to the seventh is negligible. This difficulty is partly met by teachers holding the advanced half of a class of pupils responsible for more and better work than the other. It is evident, too, that the plan affects two groups of children in a given class dif- ferently because of the two plans of promotion — regular for children •entering odd years and irregular for children entering even years. It 22 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. is clearly impossible, however, for a one-teacher school of eight grades to have as many daily recitation periods as are found in all grades in schools with two to eight teachers. By combination of the two grades twice the amount of teacher time may be given the pupils of each grade. Adjustments to local needs are less difficult where the plan of alternation and combination is used. The early adoption of this plan in some States, its continued and extensive use in many, and the extent of its success in thousands of country schools, have given it a rightful place in all large, well organized, one-teacher schools. It is safe to say that the plan is the most workable yet devised for use by the average rural teacher. ALTERNATION AND COMBINATION OF SUBJECTS. Another method of securing efficiency through reduction of recita- tions is by alternation and combination of subjects. The 26 model programs contain as many as 47 different combinations of two or more subjects. Table 4 gives those most frequently mentioned. Table 4.- — Relative frequency of combination and alternation of subjects in 26 model programs in as many State courses of study. Subjects combined or alternated. History and civics Writing and drawing Reading and spelling Reading and history History and geography. . . Geography and hygiene . Language and spelling. . . Reading and language Hygiene and agriculture. Number Most of frequent programs. grades. 15 7-8 12 All classes. 8 1-4 7 3-5 7 5-6 6 5-6 6 1-3 5 1-3 5 7-8 There is an evident tendency to provide one outline for history and civics, to alternate writing and drawing by days through the week, to do the same with agriculture and hygiene in upper grades, to alternate history with geography or geography with hygiene in intermediate grades, and to make various combinations of subjects in lower grades. THE AVERAGE DAILY PROGRAM. The number of classes for a subject is determined by the number of grades given a regular period on the program for that subject. Table 4 shows that the number of periods in which children recite in reading, language, spelling, in arithmetic is relatively large, as all grades recite in these subjects. On the average daily program, provision is made for children of each of the first four grades to recite five or six times each day; for the fifth and sixth to recite six or seven times daily; and for the ORGANIZATION OF ONE-TEACHER SCHOOLS. 23 seventh and eighth (except in the south) to recite seven or eight times each daj r (Table 5). The more helpless and immature chil- dren have one or two fewer recitations a day than upper-grade children. Table 5. — Average number of doily recitation periods in 26 model programs, distributed by grades and subjects. Subjects. Class D. Class C Grade 1(E). Reading Spelling Language Arithmetic . . . Nature study. Agriculture... Geography. .. Hygiene History Civics 2.3 .4 .9 .7 .6 Total Class average. 5.4 Grade 2(D). 1.9 .7 1.0 1.0 .6 Grade 3. 1.5 1.0 1.0 .6 5.8 Grade 4. 0.9 .8 1.0 1.0 .3 .1 .8 .4 .3 Class B. Grade 5. Grade 6 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 .3 .1 1.0 .7 .6 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 .2 .2 1.0 .7 .7 5.9 5.75 5.6 6.7 I 6.75 6.8 Class A. Grade 7. Grade 8.* 0.9 1.0 1.0 1.0 .1 .6 .9 .7 1.0 .4 Total. 0.3 9.8 6.5 7.7 7.5 2.8 1.4 4.9 3.7 4.0 1.0 7.6 6.55 5.5 49.3 24.65 1 Programs of six Southern States have no eighth grade. Ungraded subjects are: Writing 1.0 Opening exercises 1.0 Music 7 Drawing 7 Manual arts 0. 3 Household arts 2 Ehysical education * . .1 Manners, and morals 1 Without combination of grades or alternation of subjects, the aver- age daily program for all grades would contain 49 class periods. With alternation and combination this number may be reduced to 24 or fewer. Seventh-grade averages for 26 programs total three-tenths of a daily recitation higher than the same grade averages, and six-tenths of a daily recitation higher than the eighth-grade averages, of the 20 programs for eight grades. These differences were considered small enough to justify including in Table 5 the programs of six courses providing recitation periods for all grades but the eighth. The true eighth-grades averages based on the 20 programs providing for eight grades are equal to the seventh-grade averages of the same subjects, except in civics, where the average is fifteen-hundredths of a recita- tion more, and in geography, hygiene, and agriculture, where it is not over two-tenths of a recitation less in each subject. DISTRIBUTION OF RECITATION TIME. The teacher of a one-room school has the problem of adjusting her program so as to give each class that amount of time for study and recitation of each subject which the pupils of the class require for its 24 STATE COUESES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. mastery. It is often a difficult matter to arrange a time schedule doing justice to all members of a class or school and to both study and class periods. Two State courses of study give a time schedule for various sub- jects as used in city schools. Such a schedule is not adapted to one- teacher schools. The amount of time for each subject and for each grade must be determined by situations in the schools to which time schedules are applied. It is shown in Tables 3 and 4 that programs combine grades and subjects in various ways. This has the effect of increasing the recita- tion time the average program gives to each grade, and, there- fore, to all grades. If each grade were to recite alone the same number of minutes as it is given by grade combinations, the total time for all grades would be far in excess of the time of a school day. By investigation it was found that a two-fifth reduction in average time was necessary to bring the total time within the compass of a 6-hour day or a 1,800-minute week. These reduced averages are given in Table 6. Table 6. — Average number of minutes per week (reduced to a 1,800-minute basis) allotted for recitation of class periods in each subject and in each grade on 26 model programs in as many State courses of study. Subjects. Class D. Class C Grade 1 (E). Grade 2 Grade (D). 3. Grade 4. Class B. Grade 5. Grade Class A. Grade 7. Grade 8.1 Total. Beading Spelling Language Arithmetic Nature study and agriculture Geography Hygiene History and civics Handwriting and drawing. . . Opening exercises and music. Manual arts and household arts Organized play Grade total Class total Minutes per day. 280 56 185 205 390 78 215 235 450 90 275 205 418 132 285 324 75 160 75 131 50 50 25 75 ^360 1 Programs of six Southern States have no eighth grade. 2 Forty minutes for the whole school as one class. Average number of minutes per week given to the two upper grades by the 20 eight-year programs. Beading... Spelling... Language. . Arithmetic. Agriculture Seventh, i Eighth. Geography Hygiene History and civics. . Total minutes Seventh. Eighth. 260 ORGANIZATION OF ONE-TEACHER SCHOOLS. 25 In four subjects the averages for these two grades are the same, but in geography, hygiene, and history and civics eighth-grade aver- ages are lower by 7 to 11 minutes per week. If the programs of six Southern States were not included in Table 6, the number of minutes per day for class A (seventh and eighth grades combined) would be increased by 9. The eighth-grade averages of 20 programs are higher by 2 to 13 minutes per week in the several school subjects than the averages as shown in the table. These differences are not sufficiently large to justify excluding the programs of the South. Allowance as here shown must be made for the low eighth-grade averages given in the table. One of the most striking facts revealed by the table is the exces- sive amount of time allotted upper-grade children. This injustice to the younger children is brought out graphically in Figure 1. It is unfair to the first-grade child to receive but 140 minutes a week of the teacher's time, when the seventh-grade child with all his acquired ability to be self-helpful gets 275 minutes of her time. Is it any wonder a first-grade child soon becomes a repeater when he is given but 28 minutes of the teacher's time a day ? When model programs in State courses recommend this, what may be expected of teachers ? It is no small wonder that State surveys have called attention in strong terms to this fault on teachers' programs: First-grade children receive less than one hour per day of direct attention of the teacher. Time allotments to different grades is such as to sacrifice interests of more numerous and dependent pupils in lower grades to interests of fewer and less de- pendent pupils in upper grades. 2 The school subjects are not fairly represented on model programs. Sixty per cent of the teacher's time is allotted to reading, arithmetic, and language. The programs make the " tool " subjects dominant, and that teachers should give very much of their time to drill and mechanical routine is a natural result. Arithmetic is in the lead in all but the lower grades, and on many programs it alone occupies practically one-fourth of the time. Time allotments to various studies are in general so chaotic that program-making appears to depend on the whim of individual teachers rather than to follow any recog- nized principles. 3 2 Public School Survey and Report, 1919, pp. 99, 100. Virginia Educational Commission, s Ibid., p. 214. 23606—23 3 26 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR BUBAL SCHOOLS. I. PRESENT PLAN II. GRADES COMBINED III. PROPOSED PLAN Figure 1. — The bars represent (I) the average number of minutes per week of the teacher's time, 26 model programs in as many State courses of study give to each grade; (II) the same time allotment with grades combined into classes; and (III) the proposed time allotment as given in Table 7. (Data for I and II are from Table 6.) ORGANIZATION OF ONE-TEACHER SCHOOLS. A PROGRAM OF 24 CLASS PERIODS. 27 It is possible to arrange a program that gives greater justice to the larger number of more helpless children and maintains a more even balance among the subjects. Table 7. — Proposed balanced schedule of class periods for one-teacher schools with eight grades represented. Classes and subjects. Class D i . Reading and spelling (class E) Reading and spelling (class D) (Reading includes phonics, spelling, word study.) Language (correlate hygiene, civics, history) Numbers Class C. Reading Spelling Language(correlate hygiene, civics, history) Nature study and industrial arts (correlate home geography) . Arithmetic Class B » . Reading (grades 5 to 8) Spelling (grades 5 to 8) Language (correlate hygiene). Arithmetic Geography (grades 4 and 5) . . History and civics Class A * Language Arithmetic Agriculture (grades 5 to 8), (correlate industrial arts) . Geography (grades 6 and 7) Hygiene (grades 6 and 7) History and civics Alls. Opening exercises and community songs . Handwriting and drawing Physical education and organized play . . . 20 Periods Minutes weekly. per day. 35 85 15 36 10 25 5 12 5 12 25 75 5 15 5 10 5 15 5 20 5 15 20 75 70 20 55 1 Nature study, industrial arts, class C; change of seat work between periods. 1 Grade 4 geography, class B. * Grade 6 geography, class A; agriculture and industrial arts, class A. * Reading and spelling, class B. * Industrial arts; handwork in lower grades through educative seat work. Manual arts and sewing in upper grades correlated with agriculture. The hot lunch at noon. More extensive project work in eighth grade. The schedule in Table 7 is proposed for the larger one-teacher schools of eight grades. An important factor in its determination is the relative frequency of alternation and combination of grades and subjects appearing on 26 programs (Tables 3 and 4). Another factor is the extent of correlation recommended by 44 State courses. Correlation is treated in Chapter V and summarized in Table 23 (p. 62). The writer takes the position that program time should be given only to those subjects for which outlines or discussions are pro- vided in the printed course of study pursued. Thus, the relative amount of average space 44 State courses give to each grade in each subject has some significance in program-making. For information 28 STATE COUESES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. on this the reader is referred to Chapter IV, and particularly to Table 15 (p. 40). With some modifications the above-mentioned factors have deter- mined the grouping of subjects and the organization of classes in the balanced schedule. One modification, for example, is in the distri- bution of time. The amount of teacher-time proposed represents an increase for lower grades and a decrease for upper grades from the average on 26 programs as given in Tables 4 and 5. The time differ- ences are graphically shown in Figure "1. The proposed schedule provides for 24 daily class periods, 4 of which are for the whole school. This is 1 fewer than the number to which 85 per cent of the programs would limit daily periods. The time schedule in Table 8 represents the weekly time allotments of Table 7 presented in greater detail. It provides a fairly even num- ber of clock hours of the teacher's time for the children of each grade. Each class receives from 2 to 2\ hours of her time every day. The number of recitation periods for each class is also fairly even. In two of these periods, opening exercises and writing, the whole school is treated as one class. This corrects the fundamental weakness pointed out in Table 5, of neglecting the younger children. Table 8. — Proposed number of minutes -per week for 24 daily class periods, distributed by grades and subjects. Class D. Class D. Class B. Class A. Total. Periods Subjects. Grade 1. Grade 2. Grade 3. Grade 4. Grade 5. Grade 6. Grade 7. Grade 8. per day. 180 60 125 60 75 75- 50 75 75 75 75 50 75 75 75 60 56 75 60 60 64 B) 150 80 50 75 60 56 75 60 60 60 45 150 80 50 75 60 56 75 45 60 60 45 150 80 50 75 60 56 75 45 60 ( 3 ) ( 3 ) 150 80 50 455 255 106 75 240 120 124 45 150 ISO 50 6.6 3.6 (Reading) 75 75 60 | 60 (Language) (Nature stu 1.4 Handwriting and 1.0 3.4 History and civics 2 . . (Language) dy) i 64 1.2 1.4 .6 Physical education . Nature study and agriculture 4 Opening exercises 150 100 50 150 100 50 150 100 50 150 100 50 2.0 1.8 1.0 Clock hours per 2.3 8 2.1 7 2.2 2.4 8- 2.4 7— 2.5 7+ 2.5 7 2.2 6- 6.0 24.0 1 Handwriting, 3 days; drawing, 2 days. 2 Correlate manners and morals with civics and with all school work. 3 Eighth grade should continue geography and hygiene, if work is not completed inthe seventh. * Correlate industrial arts with agriculture. (Refer to note, Table 7.) Another weakness observed in the model programs is the unfair- ness with which some subjects are represented. While this weakness is probably not entirely overcome, it is largely removed by the use of the idea of correlation (see Ch. VI), combination of grades and subjects, and alternation of classes. By a comparison of total minutes ORGANIZATION OE ONE-TEACHER SCHOOLS. 29 per week for each subject in Table 6 with Table 8, it will be seen that nature study-agriculture is given 140 per cent more time, and physi- cal education, with which hygiene may be correlated, is given 100 per cent more. Arithmetic has been cut down by 26 per cent of time, and language and spelling are given less time. There is a tendency to give less time to arithmetic and more time to agriculture. 4 The two major points of weakness discoverable on programs in State courses may be overcome by the readjustment as here given, but it should be suggested that too strict adherence to time allot- ment on any program, when minutely divided into many recitation periods and various subjects, interferes with wholesome progress of school work. Programs are to serve the school, but all too often slavish use is made of them. A program is a necessity in organiza- tion, but such variations from it which serve the best interests of the children affected should doubtless be made. The truly resourceful teacher who has mastered the art of teaching effectively uses her pro- grams to meet the changing needs of her classes and of each child. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 1. Twenty-six of the courses contain model programs for recitations in the various subjects of study in the grades. Eighty-five per cent of these programs limit the number of daily recitations to 25. This is made possible by the plan of alternation and combination of grades and classes recommended by 73 per cent of the 44 courses under sur- vey. Alternating subjects by days through the week is a device often used. The device is designed especially for one-teacher schools with eight grades. 2. The grades usually combined are the third and fourth, the fifth and sixth, and the seventh and eighth. The exceptions are mainly for programs of seven grades in some of the Southern States. Grades one and two are often combined for all classes except in reading. Classes are commonly known by letter: A, B, C, D, and sometimes E for the first grade. 3. Yearly outlines for combined grades on alternate years should be well balanced in difficulty to give children every possible advan- tage in pursuing work on a level of their ability. 4. While the plan of alternation and combination is not without its points of weakness, it is safe to say that the plan is the most workable yet devised for use by the average rural teacher. 5. The relatively fewer upper-grade children are favored with more recitation time and more class periods on the average program than the more numerous primary children. A topic is considered new in the first grade in which it is listed. J Eleven per cent of the topics are in three ungraded subjects. Perhaps the most significant fact revealed by these data is the unequal increase of new topics up the grades. The number of new topics for the seventh grade is due largely to the introduction of agriculture in this grade. But why this grade should have twice as many new topics as the sixth and four times as many new topics as the second is difficult to explain. The difficult problem for course- of-study compilers seems to be that of striking a more even balance in the amount of new work each succeeding grade or class may do. The writer's proposed distribution of neAv work each year (Table 21) includes the ungraded topics. It is assumed in this distribution that the scope and difficulty of topics for each year are fairly equal, and that the amount of new work children are capable of doing each year may be gradually increased. There is far greater variation in the number of new topics studied each year in any one of several subjects than for all subjects taken together. Geography is dominant in the intermediate grades and history in upper grades. Nature study is limited to lower grades, and agriculture and civics to upper grades. Certain grades are selected in which certain subjects are taught exclusively. The rela- tively larger number of new language topics in upper grades in all probability is due to the lingering influence of formal grammar and such additions as recent changes in instruction have brought about. To limit the number of grade outlines in any subject, to provide more intensive work in fewer years in certain subjects, and to allow sufficient repetition to insure efficiency in instruction, are movements altogether favorable to one-teacher schools. 23606—23 5 58 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. GROUPING OF SUBJECTS AND OF TOPICS. The problem of grouping subjects arises out of the growth and expansion of the curriculum. In colonial days there were 3 subjects; before the national era, 7; some three decades ago, 11; and to-day- there are 17, with others knocking at the door for admittance. 6 It appears more difficult to eliminate a subject than to permit its entrance. Some topics, like thrift, are growing to the proportions of a separate subject, but in all probability it is wiser to continue mak- ing thrift a part of courses in arithmetic and civics. Some subjects, like grammar and physiology, have been materially modified by modern practice that they have almost lost their identity as such in a few courses. The accumulation of material without adequate elimination and readjustment increases the need for further modifi- cations, of justified grouping of subjects and topics, and of reselection on basis of modern neeeds. For the purpose of this survey the subjects have been grouped according to the following plan : I. English: Reading, language, spelling, handwriting (Ch. VI). II. Mathematics: Arithmetic (Ch. VII). III. Citizenship: History, civics, manners and morals (Ch. VIII). IV. Elementary science: Geography, hygiene, physical education, nature study (Ch. IX). V. Industry and art: Agriculture, household arts, manual arts, drawing, music (Ch. X). This grouping is admittedly open to objection. Other groupings might have done as well. The larger issues of the survey are not disturbed by the grouping as here given. As nearly as possible, related subjects were placed in the same group. Physical education and hygiene, for example, have a common purpose in promoting health. For this reason they were placed in the same group, even though physical education has doubtful signifi- cance as a science subject. CORRELATION OF SUBJECTS AND TOPICS. Suggestions for correlation of subjects and topics are given in courses of study, but many times these are meaningless to the average rural teacher. The only directions teachers are often given are such as, correlate geography with history, spelling with reading, or arith- metic with agriculture. All too often the process of correlation is not made clear or explained with the detail necessary for many teachers to comprehend. The lack of proper correlation is brought out forcefully in a number of State surveys, as illustrated by the fol- lowing quotation: 6 Cubberley, Public Education in the United States, p. 326. SELECTION OF CONTENT MATERIALS. 59 To cover 20 subjects, each of which is outlined for a full nine-month school year, is practically impossible outside of a well-graded school. Agriculture, nature study, cooking, sewing, manual training, road making, poultry culture, civics, scientific temperance, etc., are all excellent in themselves, but should be correlated with the "three R's, " if they are to be taught satisfactorily in a one-teacher school. For example, much of the geography and history, especially in the lower grades * * * could be given as language just as well as geography or history. 7 There is some agreement in practice as to the most desirable sub- ject for correlation. Barnes states that English is the one study with which every other subject in school correlates. 8 All subjects have probably more points of contact with language than with any other subject. This is indicated in Table 22, which gives the number of courses in which the correlation topics appeared. Language easily ranks first as the best correlating medium. It is the only subject mentioned for correlation with every other subject. In the average course, language is given as a correlating subject twice as frequently as the subject ranking nearest it in this respect. Table 22. — Number of State courses of study recommending correlation of subjects. Number of courses in each subject. Subjects with which corre- lated. bo I 3 o3 00 d 03 tab o ft . bo 3 1 a s) W 1 i >> o to a o s ■d d C5 . to e"g So SB OS >> ■d & 60 O O O oi d •a m ■s . — d g.2 '53 e? d 0< >> •d d CO ID 3 as H 3 f be 2 •* to 03 d W to 03 d d 03 bo 'to d Reading o!6 12 34 33 22 11 16 32 5 8 30 15 9 33 11 11 19 18 7 9 11 24 10 "i4" i 2 18 18 "2* 14 10 5 10 1 9 5 6 13 4 13 3 3 13 6 4 6 2 .... 5 8 9 2 3 6 8 4 5 2 4 Spelling 18 1 6 4 5 "2" 7 1 7 3 12 12 21 2 2 15 2 2 7 1 "7" "i 4 .... 2 5 1 7 20 8 9 19 8 8 2 8 18 5 1 Civics ' 1 13 Manners and morals , 2 .... 9 13 6 "12* 4 "4" 8 1 11 5 2 3 11 2 2 9 6 8 10 17 Hygiene 4 26 3 1 9 "3' "7" "5* 3 5 Physical education 21 5 3 6 9 9 14 2 1 10 3 11 14 21 1 8 1 3 7 20 5 20 Manual arts 11 1 2 5 5 1 1 2 9- Average of 35 courses. . . Rank 5.0 4 13.1 1 2.9 14 1.8 16 3.2 11 6.5 2 2.4 15 3.9 9 5.1 3 3.5 10 3.1 12 4.2 7 4.5 5 3.0 13 4.5 6 4.2 8 1.2 17 o Figures showing correlation of a subject with itself are for the topic "correlated subject ." The subjects in particular with which correlated were not named. Explanation. — The table is to be read thus: In 12 courses in reading the topic "correlate with language" appeared; in 7 courses in reading the topic "correlate with arithmetic" appeared, etc. Correlation with subjects other than language is mentioned more infrequently. Arithmetic, reading, history, agriculture, and manual arts are suggested for correlation with almost eVery other subject. » U. S. Bu. of Educ, Bid. No. 5, 1917, p. 71. The Colorado School System. 8 Barnes, English in the Country Schools, p. 20. 60 STATE COUESES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. Agriculture takes fifth place among the subjects recommended for correlation, although Betts and Hall make it the new center of cor- relation in the rural school curriculum. 9 Aside from the relative importance attached to subjects as medi- ums of correlation the most significant feature in Table 22 is probably the simple fact that correlation is a topic that appears repeatedly in the outlines of subjects. The topic appears 71 times in the average State course of study (average of 35 courses used), or more than 4 times in the average State course for each subject. A topic given in the outlines of one subject for careful study is sometimes given in the outlines of another subject for the same purpose. For correlation purposes this has an appeal, but as assigned topics for study this appears to be an unnecessary duplication in many cases. There are 124 survey topics listed in two subjects and 48 others in more than two. This represents one-seventh (14.4 per cent) of the 1,192 topics listed. The overlapping is much larger than here shown because of the high standard of selection by which a topic was admitted to the survey lists. Allowance must be made for the fact that some topics have wide application, and different phases of them may well be studied in different subjects. Such a topic is clothing, which appears in the history, geography, and hygiene lists. The problem of adquate correlation can not be left to the average rural teacher. Those who would provide outlines in 10 to 17 subjects without detailed directions as to the parts that may be taught to- gether and in what ways have not adequately conceived the problem in one-teacher schools. Correlation is also needed quite as much for children in village and town schools to protect them from too many classes and topics or problems each day. Both teachers and pupils need guidance in the handling of the vast body of useful knowledge, and for the unsupervised rural schools this can probably be furnished best by an effectively organized and fully correlated course of study. A PROGRAM OF CORRELATION. The number of outlines for children of any one grade or class to pursue should be reduced in courses of study to the limitations of the average teacher's program of classes. The organization of content in the course of study should meet the teacher's needs. If the fifth and sixth grade children in one-teacher schools, for example, are to be in one class and pursue the same studies, then it follows that there should be just as many, but no more, class outlines provided for them in the course of study as there are regular class periods for them on their two-year program, alternated by years. Moreover, the two outlines provided for the two-year period for a class, as the • Betts and Hall, Better Rural Schools, p. 64 SELECTION OF CONTEXT MATERIALS. 61 fifth and sixth grades combined, should be evenly balanced in diffi- culty, if the course is to be used in schools following the plan of alter- nation. A course of study so organized would effectively aid the average country teacher, whose general inability to organize from many outlines is well known. In some courses issued recently (Minnesota, Montana) there is a noticeable tendency to organize courses around coordinating centers and to limit rather than to increase the number of outlines provided. A few courses have included civics with history outlines. Courses in industrial arts, including handwork, manual arts, household arts, and drawing, have appeared. Nature study and agriculture have frequently been combined. The Government bulletins on correla- tion of agriculture with the public-school subjects are doubtless well known. 10 The question is a matter of choosing the subjects to be regularly taught, for which outlines are to be provided, and of cor- relating and combining other subjects with them in such a way as to insure appropriate instruction in the schools. An index to the solution of this problem may be found in the pro- portional length of outlines State courses give to each subject in each grade. The facts were presented in Table 12, Chapter IV. In those subjects for each grade in which the per cent of average space for grade outlines is relatively small, grade outlines might be omitted and the work in such subjects correlated or made a part of the outlines of other subjects. On basis of these percentages of space relations, and in harmony with the schedule for class periods given in the Table 7 (Ch. Ill), the following program for correlated outlines has been arranged (Table 23). The program here presented is intended primarily for one-teacher schools. It provides for the same number of outlines as there are grades or classes in the several subjects in school. It is in one-teacher schools where help through the course of study is needed most. It should be easy for teachers in consolidated and village schools to adapt such outlines to their own needs. There may be occasionally a rural teacher who does not require all the help here contemplated. It was possible for the "Brown Mouse" to correlate every subject about agriculture and community life successfully without the aid of a course of study. 11 A large factor in Mrs. Harvey's success was, in all probability, her skill in correlating effectively all her teaching about two large related centers of interest. 12 The best results obtain when divisions of work into subjects are largely lost sight of in the correla- tion of better teaching. But the average rural teacher needs all the i»U. S. Dept. of Agric, Bui. Nos. 281 and 132,' 191S. Correlating Agriculture with the Public School Subjects. 11 Quick, The Brown Mouse, p. 159. » Dewey, New Schools for Old, pp. 246, 329. 62 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. help in organizing and correlating work a course of study can give. With such help, better teaching may well be expected, even of untrained and largely unsupervised rural teachers. Table 23.— J. proposed program of organization for correlated outlines. Outlines provided. Correlated subjects. Grades. Subjects. 1 to 8 Spelling, phonics, word study — Grades 1 and 2. Literature — 1 to 8 Language Grades 5 to 6. History, civics — Grades 1 to 4; hygiene 1 to 5. Picture study, A,B,C Spelling composition, handwriting. Grammar— Grades 7 and 8. Word study. Three outlines for three classes. 1 to 8 Thrift, seat work, industrial arts. 5to8 History Civics, manners, morals. 4 to 7 Geography The industries, social and community life. 6 and 7 Hygiene Physiology, sanitation, physical education. 1 to4 Home geography — Grades 1 to 3. Industrial arts, construction 5to8 work, home making. lunch. Outlines for the Upper-grade children excused when standards are reached and maintained. Correlated with other subjects, particularly with geography, arithmetic, and agriculture. As community singing and with phonograph records. In school as a whole. Music Physical education. . opening exercises frequently. As organized play at play periods. Seat work correlated with each subject as a definite and organized part of each outline. Manners and morals correlated with all activities in both work and play. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 1. The State courses in each of 17 subjects were analyzed in detail for their aims, methods, topics, and related content materials. Not more than 35 courses for any one subject were used, which made it possible to select the best courses available. 2. Of 3,504 topics appearing in State courses in the outlines for all subjects, 1,192 were found to occur in 40 per cent or more of the 35 selected courses or fewer courses in any one subject. These topics appear in the survey lists of each subject (Chs. VI to X). For the purpose of this survey a "selected" topic is one contained in the list of topics appearing in 40 per cent or more of the courses and an "eliminated" topic is one that appears less frequently. A topic was not admitted to the list, however, unless it appeared in at least 10 courses. Supplementing the survey lists are suggestive topics appearing in fewer than 40 per cent of the courses. SELECTION OF CONTENT MATERIALS. 63 3. An examination of the survey lists reveals the great variety of topics and the abundance of teaching materials. Topics pertaining to aims, methods, and subject matter are included. There is clearly a need for the discontinuance of topics that do not answer to the needs of farm children and for the reselection and proper evaluation of materials in the light of social and economic progress. 4. Eighty-five per cent of the listed topics appear in the list of one subject only; 10 per cent in the lists of two subjects; and 5 per cent in the lists of more than two subjects. It seems desirable that all topics should have a "subject home" and be assigned to only one subject for intensive study. 5. About one-third (35 per cent) of the school work is completed in the year it is first offered, while two-thirds is repeated in two or more years (Tables 19 and 20). Each year pupils are assigned from one-fifth to one-third of all the topics in the curriculum. A crowded curriculum presents the need for a reduction of this large amount of repetition of topics by grades. Allowing 8 years of 9 months each, it would require 7.2 hours of school time for the study of each of the 1,192 topics listed. 6. No grade is worked harder than the seventh, if it may be as- sumed that topics on the whole are fairly equal in scope and in diffi- culty. This is, however, not a safe assumption, since a few topics, such as thrift, have almost come to be subjects in themselves. By decreasing the number of topics in the seventh grade by 5 per cent, and by increasing the number of fifth-grade topics in the same pro- portion, the yearly increase in the number of topics up the grades would be nearly the same (Table 19). 7. A few coordinating centers, rather than several, are needed for the effective operation of the plan of alternation and combination. The tendency is to reduce the number. For the purpose of this sur- vey, five have been chosen — English, arithmetic, citizenship, elemen- tary science, industry and art. 8. Correlation of subjects and correlation of topics within subjects are effective means of organizing content materials for economy of time. English, particularly language, is the best correlating medium. 9. To assist the rural teacher in properly correlating her work, the same number of outlines in the course of study should be provided as the number of grades or classes in the several subjects in school. 10. The following principles for guidance are suggested: (a) Subjects that may be easily and effectively coordinated with other subjects not to appear on the program for regular class instruction. (b) The leading aims in each subject and in each grade in each subject set out from the main body of the outlines as important considerations. (c) Scientific investigations and psychological studies utilized in the selection of the best methods of instruction recommended in the course of study. 64 STATE COUESES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. (d) The number of topics repeated for intensive study in various grades reduced to a minimum. (e) Each topic assigned for intensive study to that subject with which it is most closely related, and to that subject only. (/) Topics selected of greatest value to children on farms and in rural-minded vil- lages and towns. Social and economic needs not underestimated in this selection. (g) Teaching materials distributed to the several grades according to the level of ability of children using them and in such a way as to preserve an even balance of work from year to year. Aim of this distribution also to make the plan of alternation and combination of grades and of subjects easily possible in one-teacher schools. (h) Topics effectively correlated about centers of interest to children. Success iD school work secured in part through the correlation of better teaching. Chapter VI. ANALYTIC SURVEY OF ENGLISH COURSES. The survey includes reading, language, spelling, and handwriting in the English group. These are " tools " which children need to know how to use in connection with all subjects they- study. English is allotted 26.9 per cent of the space assigned to all sub- jects (Table 10) and 52.1 per cent of total recitation time on 26 pro- grams (Table 6). Of all the space in State courses allotted to English, more than one-fourth (27.9 per cent) is assigned to ungraded outlines or general suggestions. Distribution of space assignment to graded outlines is fairly even for each subject of the group, except reading (Table 13). There are 317 English topics in the survey lists, which number represents 22 per cent of all listed topics. Language has many top- ics due to the influence of grammar in upper grades. Handwriting and spelling contain relatively few topics. A very large number of the English topics listed pertain to meth- ods of teaching, except on the formal side of language. The value of psychology as applied to the teaching of English subjects is given some attention. It appears that more attention should be given to improvement through the habit of watching for errors in reading, talking, spelling, and writing. These matters are given fair consideration in only a few courses. READING. In 13 courses reading is regarded as the most important "tool" subject. More recitation time is allotted to it than to any other subject. One-fourth of the total number of pages devoted to read- ing is given to the first grade, where it is undoubtedly most needed. Reading aims appearing in State courses are commendable for their emphasis on reading for information and for appreciation. Specific aims resulting from scientific investigations are only recently finding their way into the courses. The aims^friost frequently men- tioned are: Intelligent interpretation of the printed page with reasonable accuracy and rapidity. Ability to read (for others) in pleasing, natural, forceful, expressive ways. Appreciation of and love for good literature. fi5 66 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. Clean, healthy, profitable, enjoyable employment. Creation of a compelling desire to read the best well. Develop the power to picture vividly. For ethical culture and moral development. Develop the power of discriminative reading. Ninety reading topics appear in more than 40 per cent of the 35 courses examined. Of these, 75 per cent are method topics. Topics appearing in fewer than 14 courses are very similar in type to topics appearing in more courses. TOPICS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL READING. Arranged in Order of Their Frequency of Appearance in 35 State Courses of Study. APPEARING IN MORE THAN 80 PER CENT OF THE COURSES. *Stories, story telling. *Phonics, phonograms. Supplementary reading. * Pronunciation . *Sounds, sound combina- tions. Blackboard lessons. Silent reading. Drill lessons. Sight reading. Natural expression. Thought getting. * Beautiful passages. Memorization. Use of dictionary. Clear enunciation. *Classics, literature. ^Mechanics of reading. Correct articulation. *Poetry, poems. Use of library books. Oral reading. Dramatization. *Picture study. Emphasis, inflection. Voice training. Talking lessons, conversa- tions. Word method. *Action words. Sentence method. APPEARING IN 60 TO 80 PER CENT OF THE COURSES. ^Biographies of authors. *Word study, mastery. New, difficult words. Defining words, defini- tions. Word building. Thought giving. *History stories. *Masterpieces, extracts of. Word analysis. *Prose selection. Basal readers. Development of imagina- tion. Sentence building. Diacritical markings. ' Agreeable tones. Intensive reading (thor- oughness). *Memory gems. Families of words. Plays and games. Eye training, forms. ^Newspapers, magazines. Word groups, phrasing. Extensive reading (sweep). Rhythm, smoothness. APPEARING IN 40 TO 60 PER CENT OF THE COURSES. Sentence pictures. Spelling exercises. Illustrated lessons. Sight words. Ear training (sounds). Review lessons. Phonic m ethod . ^ *Names of letters (alpha- bet). *Nature study stories. Reading to class audience. ^Geographical stories. Related sentences. ♦Topics marked with a star (*) Information reading. Home reading. Dramatic reading. Setting, plot, scene. Rhetorical pauses. Key words. Self-helpfulness. Book reports. Rapidity in reading. Meaning of context. Correlated subjects. Descriptive literature. Reproducing stories, pertain largely to subject matter. judg- *Mother Goose rhymes Combination method. Use of imitation. *National songs. How to study. Development of ment. *Character study. Copying exercises. Drawing, drawings. Correct posture, position. Reading habits. Pitch of voice (control). ANALYTIC SURVEY OF ENGLISH COURSES. 67 The following suggestive topics appear in fewer than 40 per cent of the courses: Subject-matter topics. — American classics, ballads, dialogues, dramas, essays, fairy- tales, folk lore, narrative literature, mytbs and legends, poetry, lyrics, plot study, rhymes, national songs, travel sketches. Form. — Abbreviations, accent, bow to. use indexes, synonyms, word pictures, Trord recognition. Allusions, expressive terms, outlining, thought grouping, thought analysis, read- ing by paragraphs. Formal methods of learning to read are mentioned more frequently than natural methods. The great variety of methods mentioned makes evident the need for improved standards in teaching reading. Only slightly more attention is given to silent than to oral reading. Silent reading is ; however, much more important in the four upper grades at least. Standards in rate of silent reading and in amount of comprehension are nowhere in evidence, except in a few courses published recently. Reading is inseparably related to other subjects. Thirty-four reading topics are found in the lists of other subjects. This lends indorsement to a recent conception that reading is for breadth and fullness of experience. LANGUAGE. As a correlating median, language easily ranks first. It takes second rank among 17 school subjects in the amount of space devoted to its outlines (Table 10). Grade outlines are of fairly equal length. Training in the correct use of language is quite as important for one grade as for another. State courses would have American children study language for the purpose of using it fluently, correctly, intelligently, and forcefully in speaking and writing, and with simplicity, expression, and enjoyment. They would have children — Use the English language correctly. Speak and write English fluently . Express known ideas in simple English. Use clear, forceful, expressive language. Use the English language intelligently . Judge values and grasp main points. Organize and outline subject matter. Appreciate and love the beautiful in literature. Practically all listed language topics represent some phrase of com- position, grammar, letter writing, picture study, correction of errors, story telling, poetry, or memorization. Some language topics, such as the last three just named, are also prominent in reading. Proper correlation with a minimum number of topics which are listed for intensive study in two or more subjects makes for economy of time. 68 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. TOPICS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LANGUAGE. Arranged in Order of Their Frequency of Appearance in 35 State Courses of Study. APPEARING IN MORE THAN 80 PER CENT OP THE COURSES. Stories, story telling. Poems, poetry. Compositions . Memorization. •{"Correction of errors. Letter writing. fGrammar. fPunctuation. JCorrelated reading. Paragraphing. fNouns. tSentence analysis. JCorrelated nature study. JTalking lessons. JCorrelated subjects. Picture study. •[•Capitalization. JCorrelated history. Topical outlines, t Verbs. fAdjectives. fPronouns. JCorrelated literature. JCopying exercises. Descriptions, description. •("Using words in sentences. Social letters. fSentence, the. f Parts of speech. Reproductions. ♦Quotation marks. JCorrelated geography. tPhrases. Word study, mastery. JDictation exercises. fSubject, predicate. fAdverbs. ♦Sentences, as to use. JNatural expression. Sentence building. fPre positions. fModifiers. fCorrect usage. JLanguage games. fClauses. •{•Conjunctions. fComparsion. fSentence structure. APPEARING IN 60 TO PER CENT OF THE COURSES. f Periods, use of. Enlarging vocabulary. Narration. tTransitive verbs. Dramatization . ♦Abbreviations, contrac- tions. ■{"Personal pronouns. Definitions. fLinking, copulative verbs. fVoice. *Mode. tNumber. Correct forms. Business letters. ♦Sentences as to form. •{■Relative pronouns. •{•Rules of syntax. -{"Direct object, indirect. JSelf criticism. fTense of verbs. ♦Infinitives. ♦Irregular verbs. f Possessive, apostrophe. Current events. JCorrelated industrial work. Personal experiences. Biographical stories. ■("Participles. ♦Conjugation. •{•Parsing. fCase. ♦Interjections. ♦Predicate noun or ad- jective. J^Correlated spelling, f Comma, use of. Clearness, emphasis. •{"Intransitive verbs. ■(-Gender. fCorrect use of pronouns. Farm life stories. ♦Interrogation point. JListing words, f Plural formation, f Mechanics of the language. JClass criticisms. JReview lessons. ♦Gerund. Character study. ♦Appositive modifier. APPEARING IN 40 TO 60 PER CENT OP THE COURSES. Tables. Christmas. fModifying clauses. Exposition, essay. Birds, bird life. ♦Verb phrases. Synonyms. JCorrelated manual arts. flnflection, modifications. f Number form . JCorrective exercises. Animal tales. Humorous stories. JChoosing words well. JObservation lessons. JSeasonal topics. ♦Descriptive adjectives. JCorrelated drawings. * Topics marked with a star (*) pertain to the mechanics of the language. t Topics marked with a dagger (t) pertain to the mechanics of the language and are contained in. Doctor Charter's curriculum based on Grammatical Errors; in Sixteenth Yearbook of the National Soci- ety for the Study of Education, Part I, pp. 104-110. J Topics marked with a double dagger (J) pertain to methods of teaching. ANALYTIC SURVEY OF ENGLISH COURSES. 69 APPEARING IN 40 TO 60 PER CENT OP THE COURSES — continued. ^Blackboard lessons. Prose selections, -flnterrogative pronouns. {Orderly arrangement. {Auxiliary verbs. Argumentation. "^Connectives. {Principal parts of verbs. -[Classes of nouns. Complete sentences. -"Limiting adjectives. ^Regular verbs. Thanksgiving Day. Myths, legends. Use of dictionary. {Accuracy. {Neatness. Sentence complements. {Correlated arithmetic. *Person. {Reading to class audience. Invitations, replies. {Correlated hygiene. *Diagraming. {Verbs, person and num- ber. {Agreement, verb with subject. {Object lesson. Occupations, industries. Washington's Birthday. Pronunciation. Imaginary stories. {Expanding stories. {Correct use of adjectives. *Posse6sive pronouns. {Possessive modifiers. The following suggestive topics appear in fewer than 40 per cent of the courses: Acceptances, regrets; correct use of adverbs and of prepositions; emphasis, force; how to study; home and school life; legends; use of library books; judging values; listening and action lessons; maxims and proverbs; memory gems; newspapers and magazines; quotations; rhymes; songs; telegrams and messages. Stories — Geographical, history, holiday, other land, soil and seed, tree and forest, weather, Indian. One-half (75) of the topics pertain to the mechanics of language, 54 of which are included in Doctor Charter's curriculum on gram- matical errors. Within the field there are many conflicting views as to what should be eliminated from teaching and how that which remains should be taught. There appears to be a need for more exten- sive elimination of grammar materials from courses of study. Pro- gressive courses indicate that the functional side of grammar should be stressed. Language forms should be carefully selected and become an important part of the course of study. One-fifth of the topics refer to methods of instruction. This indi- cates the measure of attention that courses would give to the way children are taught, the things they do, and the habits they form. Quite a large number of topics appear in several grades. This may be, in a measure, excusable from the standpoint of methods. There are literature topics, such as poetry and shorter selections for story telling, that are even more common in language than in reading out- lines. There seems to be little, need of duplicating such topics by subjects, unless the phases of work for each subject are clearly differentiated. Among the topics appearing in fewer than 14 courses are a number closely related to other subjects, such as gardening and songs, but the topics pertaining to the mechanics of the language predominate. * Topics marked with a star (*) pertain to the mechanics of the language. t Topics marked with a dagger (f) pertain to the mechanics of the language and are contained In Doctor Charter's curriculum based on Grammatical Errors; in Sixteenth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part I, pp. 104-110. % Topics marked with a double dagger (t) pertain to methods of teaching. 70 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOL. Practice would not introduce pupils to the use of language text- books before the fourth grade. Supervision of textbook instruction through language courses of study has had little attention. Usually the study of reproductions of great paintings is included with language, but picture study is an important topic in several other subjects. Nearly 400 titles of art pictures are given in courses. TITLES OF 29 REPRODUCTIONS OF FAMOUS PAINTINGS APPEARING IN 10 OR MORE OF 44 STATE COURSES OF STUDY. Arranged in Order of Their Frequency of Appearance in the Courses. FIRST AND SECOND YEARS. Millet , Feeding Her Birds. Raphael . . . Sistine Madonna. Bouveret. . . At the Watering Trough. Raphael . . .Madonna of the Chair. Landseer . . .Members of the Humane Society. Millet The First Steps. Van Dyke .Baby Stuart. Correggio . .Holy Night. Landseer . .Saved. Le Rolle. . ..The Arrival of the Shep- herds. Holmes. .. Can't You Talk? FIFTH AND SIXTH YEARS. Millet The Gleaners. Bonheur.. .The Horse Fair. Watts Sir Galahad. Song of the Lark. THIRD AND FOURTH YEARS. Millet Shepherdess Knitting. Boughton . . . Pilgrims Going to Church . Troyon Return to the Farm. Millet The Sower. Landseer . . .Shoeing the Bay Mare. Millet The Angelus. Bonheur Oxen Plowing. Hoffmann . .Christ and the Doctors. Boughton. . .Pilgrim Exiles. Le Rolle The Shepherdess. Reynolds. . . Age of Innocence. Renouf The Helping Hand. SEVENTH AND EIGHTH YEARS. Reni .The Aurora. Corot Dance of the Nymphs. SPELLING. The average spelling course in 44 State courses of study contains 4.5 pages. Twenty-nine per cent of the space given to spelling is devoted to suggestions of a general nature (Tabla 13). The upper grades have the shortest grade outlines. The following aims for teaching spelling, appearing most frequently in the courses, emphasize spelling efficiency: Giving pupils the ability to spell correctly the words used in their own writing vocabulary. Causing pupils to form the habit of pronouncing correctly the words in their own reading and speaking vocabulary. Giving pupils the ability to use words in meaningful sentences and to use the dictionary intelligently. Giving the pupils the power to master the spelling and pronunciation of new words easily when needed. ANALYTIC SURVEY OF ENGLISH COURSES. 71 Little attention ha3 been given to establishing habits of watching the spelling used in all written work. Many courses fail to give definite and helpful suggestions on the best methods of teaching spelling. The value of psychology in teach- ing has been given slight attention. How to master new words, what words to study, number of words to a lesson, how to use the book, use of rules in spelling, and time to spend on study are matters of importance for careful consideration in courses of study. Courses weak in methods may be partly responsible for poor teaching observed in many schools, as indicated by survey reports. There are fewer topics in spelling than in other subjects. Most of the topics appear in a majority of the courses and in one-half or more of the grades. TOPICS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SPELLING. Arranged in Order of Their Frequency of Appearance in 35 State Coupes of Study. APPEARING IN MORE THAN 80 PER CENT OF THE COURSES. Written spelling. Words from all lessons. Oral spelling. Drills, reviews. Pronunciation. Misspelled words. Phonograms, phonic elements. Words from spelling books. Use of dictionary. Articulation, enunciation. Word analysis. New, difficult words. Words in common use. Definitions, defining words. APPEARING IN CO TO 80 PER CENT OF THE COURSES. Dictation exercises. Diacritical markings. Derivation of words. Rules of spelling. APPEARING IN 40 TO 60 PER CENT OF THE COURSES. Prefixes, suffixes. Synonyms. Homonyms. Root words. Topical lists of words. Copying exercises. Correct forms. Word building, synthesis. Short sentences, phrases. Antonyms, opposites. Spelling match. Use of eye, ear, voice, muscle. Abbreviations, contractions. The following suggestive topics appear in fewer than 40 per cent of the courses: Word study, use of words in sentences, orthographic difficulties, word families, history of English language, words mispronounced, memory verses, punctuation and capitalization, sentence building, technical terms. Many courses suggest the selection of some words outside of the textbooks. But lists of words scientifically determined, such as the Ayres' scale or Jones' lists, are referred to infrequently. The average rural course needs to give more specific and repeated directions on the proper evaluation of spelling words. 72 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOE RURAL SCHOOLS. HANDWRITING There are only 4.7 pages in the average handwriting course. Of the 44 State courses, 12 provide no graded outlines. Nearly one-half (47 per cent) of the space allotted to handwriting is assigned to gen- eral suggestions (Table 13). The courses containing outlines give the major portion of grade space to the outlines for lower grades. For one-teacher schools graded outlines are not very helpful. Graded standards of achievement, and suggestions regarding the best methods by which they may be obtained, have both meaning and value. Courses of study would have children taught to write legible, uni- form, and beautiful handwriting, with pleasure, ease, and rapidity. This is evident from the following frequently mentioned aims: Habits of writing legibly, rapidly, and easily formed. Habits of writing with neatness and simplicity formed. Habits of correct writing formed. Acquire ability to control handwriting movements. Appreciation of grace and beauty in handwriting. Practically all of the handwriting topics deal with problems of method. Many suggestions for their solution are given. There are only a few listed topics that have not received attention in scientific investigations. More careful attention should be given to psychology of the learning process and standards in handwriting practice now available. Progressive topics, such as handwriting tests, descriptive counts, endurance tests, and self-criticism are making their appearance in courses. TOPICS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HANDWRITING. Arranged in Order of Their Frequency of Appearance in 35 State Courses of Study. APPEARING IN MORE THAN 80 PER CENT OF THE COURSES. *Position of body. *Muscular (forearm movement). *Position of hand and fingers. Mastery of movements. *Position of arms. *Speed in writing. *Legibility. ^'Movement drills. *Ease in execution. *Letter formation. *Practice writing. *Correct forms. Comparing specimen pages. Blackboard writing. APPEARING IN 60 TO SO PER CENT OF THE COURSES. *Drill exercises. Push and pull ovals. *Sentence writing. *Word writing. Use of copy books. Supervised writing. *Position of paper. *Counting in writing. Copy books after practice. * Topics or problems marked with a star (*) are treated in " Principles on method " by Doctor Free- man in the Eighteenth Yearbook, Part II, pp. 11-23. ANALYTIC SURVEY OF ENGLISH COURSES. 73 APPEARING IN 40 TO 60 PER CENT OP THE COURSES. Neatness in writing. Copying exercises. Writing habits. *Uniformity in slant. *Uniformity in speed. Correlated subjects. Social correspondence. Individual instruction. Whole arm movement. Business correspondence. *Accuracy, exact form. *Uniformity in spacing. *Group letter drills. Writing figures. *Style of slant. *Uniformity of form. ■"Uniformity in letter height. Air and dry pen writing. Dictation exercises.. Mental pictures of forms. Use and care of materials. Writing compositions. ^Uniformity in alignment. The following suggestive topics appear in fewer than 40 per cent of the courses : Orderly arrangement, blackboard copies, crayon holding, developing exercises, drill words, descriptive counts, handwriting tests, reduction of letter size, self-criti- cisms, endurance tests, tracing copy. Movements. — Finger, combined, lateral, reverse rotary. Writing exhibits, principles of writing, stanza writing, straight line writing. There are numerous minor problems that have not received ade- quate solution in many handwriting courses. Some of these are: The length of the practice period, use of the copy books and of pen and ink, and handwriting materials needed. In these matters the aver- age rural teacher needs careful guidance. RECOMMENDATIONS. The following principles for the improvement of courses in English subjects for rural schools are suggested: (a) The leading aims in each subject and in each grade specified. (6) The best methods of teaching each subject emphasized. (c) Silent reading emphasized, particularly in upper grades. (d) Selection of that content which represents the best in literature. (e) Vitalization of all work in English with functional material. (/) Reasonable standards of achievement set forth. (g) Organization of material with a maximum economy of time. (h) Outlines provided in reading and in language for each grade from one to eight. (i) Outlines provided for three classes in spelling, organized without regard to grade lines. ( j) A general ungraded outline in handwriting provided, but so graduated as to indicate very definitely the stages of progress. (k) Motivation of all specifications with definite suggestions. (I) Helping teachers in the selection of words most frequently used in writing and in the most economical methods of learning them, (m) Encouraging the testing of words in spelling before teaching them, (n) Encouraging the intelligent use of the outlines provided. ♦Topics or problems marked with a (*) are treated in " Principles on method" by Doctor Freeman In the Eighteenth Yearbook, Part II, pp. 11-23. 23606—23 6 Chapter VII. ANALYTIC SURVEY OF ARITHMETIC COURSES. Of all subjects, arithmetic holds the most prominent -place in courses of study. The average length of outlines exceeds that of every other subject. More recitation time on model programs is given to arith- metic than to any other subject, save reading. Arithmetic is a favor- able subject for reducing both the amount of time and the amount of space given to it (Tables 6 and 10). The grade distribution of space allotment to the eight grades is fairly even, the outlines for grades two and three being only slightly longer than the outlines for other grades (Table 13). The following aims for teaching arithmetic appear most frequently in the courses. The functional value of the aims is large. In many courses they are not set out prominently from the outlines as objects of great importance. These leading aims might well be made a vital part of the course of study: Ability to solve the everyday problems of life. Acquired habits of accuracy in computation. Established habits of clear number thinking. Acquired facility (speed) in computation. Mastery of the fundamental operations. Ability to apply knowledge in a variety of ways. The most valuable points on methods of teaching mentioned in State courses are, perhaps, those regarding steps in solving problems. The following represents the general plan in several courses : Given What do I know ? Required What am I to find ? Plan How am I to solve the problems ? Estimation What is a reasonable result ? Solution The process of solving the problem. Checking Is my answer correct ? Eighteen courses suggest first use of the textbook in the third grade. There is a lack of attention to the intelligent and effective use of text- books and to the utilization of problems other than those in the text. The average rural teacher is likely to make a slavish use of the text without the constant intelligent guidance which courses of study ought to provide. 74 ANALYTIC SURVEY OF ARITHMETIC COURSES. 75 Fifty-three per cent of the topics listed have to do with the me- chanics of arithmetic, while 23 per cent of them have to do with prac- tical problems in application. Among the topics appearing in fewer than 14 courses this proportion is reversed. The fundamental proc- esses are emphasized in lower grades. In upper grades there is more concrete problem solving. TOPICS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ARITHMETIC. Arranged in Order of Their Frequency of Appearance in 35 State Courses of Study. APPEARING IN MORE THAN 80 PER CENT OP THE COURSES. *t Addition. *fSubtraction. *t Multiplication . *f Division. *fSimple fractions. Review lessons. Rapidity, speed. ■(•Counting. Drill lessons. Accuracy. {Practical problems. *fDecimals. *fPercentage, per cent. {Measuring, measure- ments. tSurface measure. *{Bills and accounts. Object lessons. {Concrete problems. fDry measure. f Lin ear measure. *fSimple interest. *|Taxes, levies. '(■Roman numerals. *fDenominate numbers. fFundamental opera- tions. *{Insurance. *fBusiness forms. t Addition tables. *fUnited States money. ■("Liquid measure. fReduction of fractions. •("Analysis of problems. *{Profit, loss. Commercial discount. ■("Promissory notes. *t Multiplication tables. f Avoirdupois weight. fFractional parts. {Business practice. t Arithmetic signs. Oral problems. Definitions, defining terms. tLong division. fTime measure. *Com mission. fTime telling. •("Drawing to scale. {Carpet problems. *f Mensuration. tSquare root. ■(•Abstract problems. -(•Carrying, borrowing. f Cubic measure. *f Ratio, proportion. •(•Factors, factoring. {Applications. APPEARING IN 60 TO 80 PER CENT OF THE COURSES. tShort division . *fNotation, numeration. fReduction of decimals. f Cancellation. fAliquot parts. Illustrative problems. '(•Fractional equivalents. Plays, games. *fLeast common multiple. fDecimal equivalents. {Farm, farm crop prob- lems. Rules and principles, f Receipts. {Painting, plastering. *J Banking practice. {Papering, calcimining. ■("Capacity, volume. fMixed numbers, f Board (lumber) measure. fDrafts. *Stocks, bonds. Grouping numbers, f Subtraction tables. ■(•Checking solutions. fReduction of denominate numbers. Orderly arrangements, f Pointing off. ^Partial payments. {Applied arithmetic. {Buying,selling problems. ♦Topics marked with a star (*; are listed in Wilson's study of 39 courses, " Motivation of School Work," p. 180. t Topics marked with a dagger (t) bear on the mechanics of arithmetic: Forms, facts, tables, funda- mental processes. J Topics marked with a double dagger (t) refer to the practical applications of arithmetic. 76 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. APPEARING IN 40 TO 60 PER CENT OP THE COURSES. ^Savings accounts. ■(■Circular measure. *tLongitude, time. JLabor problems. tMetric system. Paper cutting, folding. JStore problems. One-step problems. |Original problems. Neatness. JHome, garden problems. *|Number relations. ^Industrial problems. Estimating sizes. £Feeding rations. Bank discount. Compound interest, f Money orders. fDivision tables. Time tests. Forecasting results. JGraphs, graphic prob- lems. Short cuts. *Duties, customs. Land problems. Improper fractions. ^Flooring, roofing. JStock companies. Two-step problems. Reasoning problems, t Algebra, equations. JMasonry, brickwork. *tPowers, roots. The following suggestive topics appear in fewer than 40 per cent of the courses : *Mechanics of arithmetic; abbreviations: lines; angles; prime numbers; greatest common divisor. fPractical applications; Agricultural clubs; board measure; bookkeeping; borrow- ing, loaning; budgets, inventories; concrete construction; construction work; cook- ing, menus; cooperative associations; corporations; cost of living; house plans; farm management, household accounts; household economics; household supplies; investments; invoices; land surveys; market reports; mortgages; negotiable papers; parcel post; rents; silo, silage; savings banks; temperature telling; yields, prices. Types of problems: Building, carpentry, cattle and dairy, clothing, cord wood, corn and crib, factory, fencing, food, fruit, gardening, hay, labor, live stock, machin- ery, marketing, mining, potato, poultry, pricing, sewing, sheep, swine, testing, thrift, weighing, wheat. Types of practical farm problems on selected topics are seldom included in arithmetic courses. Probably nowhere does the arith- metic course need building up more than in the outlines on types of farm problems, fully representative of life situations in the State or sections where the course is to be used. The tendency to eliminate obsolete and functionless material from rural courses in arithmetic has only fairly begun. This is made evi- dent from the following summary: The first column of figures indi- cates the per cent of 35 State courses in arithmetic that would discontinue the use of the topics; the second gives the per cent of 867 city and county superintendents that would discontinue their use (Fourteenth Yearbook, Part 1). * Topics marked with a star (*) are listed in Wilson's study of 80 courses, " Motivation of School Work," p. 180. t Topics marked with a dagger (f ) bear on the mechanics of arithmetic: Forms, facts, tables, funda- menta 1 processes. % Topics marked with a double dagger (J) refer to the practical applications of arithmetic. ANALYTIC SURVEY OF ARITHMETIC COURSES. 77 Per cent of State courses and of city and county superintendents who would discontinue use of certain subjects. Subjects discontinued. City and State county courses. ; superin- j tendents. j Subjects discontinued. State courses. City and county superin- tendents. 34 53 30 j 46 30 i 35 j 26 25 26 47 i 23 ! 20 ; S 20 ! 42 20 i 35 ! 20 j 41 20 47 17 ! ! 17 22 17 i ♦Compound interest 17 17 14 14 14 14 14 14 11 8 8 8 3 3 ♦Cube root 52 ♦Table of folding paper 26 20 85 20 21 ♦Surveyor's measure Mensuration ♦Partial payments. . .t 1 1 ♦ Discontinuance of the use of starred topics recommended by a committee of teachers. Wilson, " Moti-- vation of School Work," p. 101. RECOMMENDATIONS The chief points for improvement in arithmetic courses for rural schools are as follows: (a) Shorter outlines provided. (6) The amount of time on daily programs reduced to a minimum. (c) The amount of drill in the fundamentals minimized to the point of maxi- mum efficiency. (d) The curriculum pruned thoroughly of its nonfunctioning material. (e) The functional and useful arithmetical material selected and adapted for us© in rural schools. (J) Type farm problems selected to serve as guides to teachers for local adapta- tion. Chapter VIII. ANALYTIC SURVEY OF COURSES IN CITIZENSHIP. For the purpose of this survey instruction in citizenship includes history, civics, and manners and morals. Training in these subjects is very important in any democratic school system. The average course in citizenship contains 27.9 pages, which is 14.6 per cent of the space allotted to all subjects. Most of the space in history and civics is assigned to the four upper grades; and in manners and morals, to general suggestions (Tables 12 and 13). A vitalized course of study in citizenship may be thought of as one made up of activities and of present-day conditions which history is used to explain. By modern points of view history becomes a curric- ulum of subject matter that explains the present and teaches lessons in the conduct of life, while civics and manners and morals are cur- ricula of activities rather than of subject matter. The most frequently mentioned aims are not in line with these modern points of view. Knowledge aims or fact history and civics are dominant, rather than training for intelligent citizenship, train- ing in attitudes that find expression in worthy service, and the for- mation of habits of right conduct and healthful living. HISTORY. History ranks fifth among the school subjects in the average amount of space (18.8 pages) 44 State courses have allotted to its outlines. This represents one-tenth of the space allotted to 17 sub- jects (Table 14). Grade distribution of the length of outlines indicates that regular class instruction in history belongs to grades 5 to 8. In primary grades history stories are frequently made a part of language out- lines (Table 13). The following aims for teaching history appear most frequently : Awaken interest in past events. Gain useful historical knowledge. Create a love for historical readings. Develop the imagination. Form worthy ideals. Prepare for intelligent citizenship. Develop a strong moral character. Develop an historic sense. It is of interest to note the contrast between the aims appearing most frequently in State courses and those given in the Montana Rural Course. 78 ANALYTIC SURVEY OF CITIZENSHIP COURSES. 79 The purpose of teaching history to children is to prepare them for intelligent citizenship in our democracy. By training them to think of the larger events and more pressing issues of the day in the light of their historic past. By giving them a true knowledge of the vital facts of our national life. By explaining how the world's liberty-loving people have advanced to their present freedom. By making them eager to contribute their part to the great world movements. There are two types of outlines. One is based on the textbook, with many page references. The other is an outline of the subject to be taught without regard to the textbook in use, except as a mat- ter of occasional references to places where information on certain matters may be found. The former type still prevails. The prob- lem idea for the organization of history and civics into one outline is coming into use, and it gives promise of far better results. Twenty States provide outlines in the story history of Europe pre- ceding the study of United States history in upper grades. Our country's story in the fifth grade with that of Europe in the sixth, is growing in favor. The dividing date between the outlines for sev- enth and eighth grades is 1830 in some courses published recently, rather than 1789, the dividing date in older courses. The change gives more time for history which has had more immediate effect on present conditions. There are 21 courses that outline our national history by presidential administrations, but there is a favorable ten- dency toward a few large natural periods. Nearly one-fifth (18.1 per cent) of all topics listed are topics in subjects belonging to the citizenship group. History contains more listed topics than any other subject. All but 18 history topics are distributed to the three upper grades, and all civics topics to the sev- enth and eighth (Table 18). TOPICS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HISTORY. Arranged in Order of Their Frequency of Appearance in 35 State Courses of Study. APPEARING IN Slavery, slaves. Historical pictures. Colonization, settlements ^Indians, Indian life. Causes, effects. National growth. Biographies. *Manners, customs. Discoveries. ^'Education, schools. Explorations. *National Constitution. 80 PER CENT OR MORE OP History stories. * Famous men, leaders. *Home life, shelter. *Nationalities in America. Colonial governments. *Thanksgiving Day. English settlements. Spanish in America. Dutch in America, f Historical maps. *European history (back- ground). THE COURSES. *Government. *Trade, transportation. American Revolution. Civil War. French in America. Declaration of Indepen- dence. Indian warfare. Louisiana Purchase. War of 1812. ♦Topics marked with a star (*) have to do with affairs of to-day. t Topics marked with a dagger (f) pertain largely to methods of teaching. 80 STATE GOUESES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. APPEARING IN 60 to SO PER CENT OF THE COURSES. Historical events, international relations. Formation of Constitution . territorial expansion. *Food, its distribution, inventions. *Modes of travel. ♦Washington's Birthday. Pioneer life. ^Industries, occupations. Wars, conquests. *Rivalry between nations. *National holidays. *Clo thing, dress. *Foreign affairs. *Army, Navy. Missouri Compromise. Mexican War. Continental Congresses. ♦Political parties. ♦Money systems. *Telegram, The. Articles of Confederation. ♦Tariff and free trade. *Panama Canal. ♦Railroads. *Agriculture, farming. fComparisons, contrasts, f Development, changes. ♦Printing, paper, books. Northwest Territory. fBooks, references, use of. Bible stories. *Patriots, heroes. ♦Religious, churches. Spanish American War. immigration, emigration. *Roads, road building. ♦Capital and labor. Crusades, The. Texas acquired. Southern Confederacy. *Treaties. Administrations. *Admission of States. ♦Financial affairs. *Cities and towns. *Home State, History of. Groups of colonies. *Social life and affairs. ♦Sports and amusements, industrial growth. ♦Products.' APPEARING IN 40 TO 60 PER CENT OF THE COURSES. Myths, legends. *Manufacturing. fCorrelated reading. *Historical poems, songs. ♦Memorial Day. Primitive life. ■{•Collecting materials. ■(•Construction work. *Lincoln's Birthday ♦Elections, primaries. Dred Scot decision. ■"■Industrial revolution. Compromises. Greeks, The; Romans, The. fCorrelated subjects. *Land claims. Secession. Oregon Territory. Reconstruction in the South. ♦Cotton, cotton gin. ♦Telephone. fCorrelated geography. Constitutional amend- ments. Emancipation proclama- tion. Abolition of slavery. Colonial life. Religious toleration. *Taxation. ♦Canals, waterways. Ordinance of 1787. f Paper cutting. *Growth of the West. United States a world power. Fugitive slave law. Spoils system. Spanish Armada. *Departments of Govern- ment. Commercial interference. *Gold and silver. Western trade routes. Confederation, The. Critical period, The. Kansas-Nebraska act. Impressment of seamen. *Fourth of July. New England Confeder- acy. *National Congress. Florida acquired. ♦Erie Canal. *Presidents, The. Compromise of 1850. Civil-service reform. ♦Steamboat, The. ♦National highways. State rights, sovereignty. *Congressional debates. Dates, time limits. Boundary disputes. Eastern trade routes. Charter governments. Colonization motives. Stamp act, The. Nullification. ♦Monroe doctrine. *Banks, banking. Military achievements. Local history. *Fur trading, furs. *Exposition, festivals. Teutons, The; Germans, The. French and Indian wars. *Labor unions. *Strikes, lockouts. *Alaska Territory. Business depression^, panics. Magna Charta, The. Battles, campaigns, f History charts. Geographical conditions. Religious persecution. ■"■Revenues, expenditures. *Cost of wars. ♦Natural resources. ♦Farm machinery, imple- ments. * Woman suffrage. ♦Peace, peace conferences. * Topics marked with a star (*) have to do with affairs of to-day. t Topics marked with a dagger (t) pertain largely to methods of teaching. ANALYTIC SURVEY OF CITIZENSHIP COURSES. 81 The following suggestive topics appear in fewer than 40 per cent of the courses: *Affairs of to-day — Arbitration, diplomacy; authors, men of letters; buildings, tem- ples; Chinese "open door"; Christmas; child life; Columbus Day; communication, means of; conservation of natural resources; courts, trial by jury; Cuban relations; current events; domestic affairs; debts, National and State; fishing, fisheries; flags, United States flag; generals, soldiers; Hawaiian Islands; internal improvements; inaugurations; Indian reservations; inventors; land surveys; land tenure; mining, minerals; motives — national, personal; Philippine Islands; plantation life; popula- tion; Porto Rico; postal system; preamble to the Constitution; rural free delivery; scientists, science; seaports; ship building; State institutions; statesmen; trade re- lations; transportation, means of; trusts, corporations; universities, colleges; vot- ing, the ballot; wars, cost of; women, famous. Life: economic, industrial, institutional, political, religious, social. Nearly one-half (47 per -cent) of the listed topics pertain to the affairs of to-day. Topics on social, economic, and industrial life are few in number; while those on wars, political events, and pre-national history dominate the curriculum. Considered from the standpoint of such teaching aims for history as given in the Montana Rural Course noted earlier in this chapter, there is evident need for a reselection of history topics. State courses of study give the names of 514 famous men and women, 54 laws and acts of Congress, 158 places, 35 wars and rebel- lions, 105 battles, 79 poems, songs and speeches, and 34 products. They also give 167 dates. An effort was made to select the objective facts children should know when the history course is completed. The frequency with which such facts appear in courses of study fails to produce a truly representative and scientifically selected list. History courses of study for rural schools do not always give carefully selected names for study and for illustration of points made. The following names and titles appear in five or more courses. They are arranged under each topic heading in the order of their frequency of occurrence in State courses of study. The list is believed serviceable, even though only suggestive. The names and titles may be taken to represent very largely those facts which children should know when the elementary school history course is completed. 1. Famous men and women, whose achievements should be known, grouped by suggestive periods: Bible characters — Joseph, David, Moses, Abraham, Daniel, Ruth. Greeks — Alexander, Ulysses, Leonidas, Socrates, Hercules (legendary). Romans — Julius Caesar, Hannibal, Romulus (legendary), Cincinnatus, Horatius, Constantine. Northern Europe — William Tell, Siegfried (legendary), William of Orange, King Canute, Luther. Southern Europe — Marco Polo, King Philip, Queen Isabella. French — Napoleon, Joan of Arc, William the Conqueror, Charlemagne, the Jesuits. 82 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. British — Raleigh, Alfred the Great, King Arthur, Queen Elizabeth, Robert Bruce, William Pitt, Richard the Lion Hearted, Cromwell, King John, Robin Hood. Early people in America — Hiawatha (legendary), Samosetand Squanto, Pocahon- tas, Iroquois, Cliff and Cave Dwellers, Algonquins, Mound Builders, Eskimos. Finding the New World — Columbus, La Salle, Magellan, De Sota, the Northmen, Cortez, Drake, Champlain, John Cabot, Marquette, Joliet, Hudson, Ponce de Leon, Balboa, Cartier, Sebastian Cabot, Vespucius, De Gama. Making homes in the New World — Miles Standish, the Quakers, Pilgrim Fathers, William Penn, John Smith, the Puritans, Roger Williams, Lord Baltimore, John Winthrop, Oglethorpe, Peter Stuyvesant, the Patroons, the Cavaliers, the Huguenots. Conflict and struggle for supremacy — Washington, Franklin, Daniel Boone, George Rogers Clark, Burgoyne, Lafayette, Patrick Henry, Benedict Arnold, Montcalm and Wolfe, Nathan Hale, Samuel Adams, General Greene, Cornwallis, General Marion, General Braddock, Paul Revere, George III, Robert Morris, John Hancock. Forty years, 1789-1829 — Paul Jones, Lewis and Clark, Jefferson, Webster, Hamil- ton, Clay, Robert Fulton, John Jay, John Adams, Calhoun, Madison, Eli Whitney, Commodore Perry, Monroe, Sevier. Thirty-two years, 1829-1861 — Jackson, Fremont, S. F. B. Morse, John Quincy Adams, Zachary Taylor, Buchanan, Wm. H. Harrison, Sam Houston, Kit Carson, David Crockett, Horace Greeley, McCormick, Longfellow, General Scott. Four years, 1861-1865 — Lincoln, Lee, Grant, John Brown, Farragut, Sherman, Douglas, Jefferson Davis. Fifty-five years, 1865-1920 — Andrew Johnson, Garfield, Roosevelt, McKinley, Cleveland, Harrison, Dewey, Edison, Taft, Wilson. Some names appearing in fewer than five courses — Samuel, Paul, Confucius, Homer, Cicero, Peter the Great, Queen Victoria, Shakespeare, Livingstone, Florence Nightingale, Robert Louis Stevenson, Betsy Ross, Horace Mann, Audubon, Clara Barton, Frances E. Willard, Cyrus W. Field, Jane Addams, Carnegie, Burbank, Pershing, Foch, David Lloyd-George. 2. Inventions and discoveries: Approximate dates, important changes, chief bene- fits to man from each. Telegraph, railroads, printing, telephone, cotton gin, steam- boat, harvester, canals, sewing machine, cables, electric light, locomotive, battle- ships, mariner's compass, wireless, threshing machine, gunpowder, electric car, automobile. Appearing in fewer than five courses — Electricity, flying machine, phonograph, power loom, ether, vulcanizing rubber, gasoline, submarine, torpedo boat, picture machines, cream separator. 3. Places of historic interest and battle fields: Location and historic facts connected with each. Boston, Quebec, Bunker Hill, New Orleans, Lexington, and Concord, Gettysburg, Jamestown, New York City, Philadelphia, Trenton, Valley Forge, Rich- mond, Vicksburg, Waterloo, Constantinople, Yorktown, Charleston, S. C, Fort Sumter, Savannah, Rome, Saratoga, Plymouth Rock, Acadia, Genoa, Manila Bay, St. Augustine, The Hague, Athens. 4. Products: In what ways and to what extent each has contributed to the welfare of mankind. Money, cotton, furs, gold and silver, fish and game, forest products, live stock, coal, iron and steel, wheat, tobacco, corn, rice and sugar, oil and gas. 5. Wars: Limit study to wars mentioned in the list of topics, except the World War. The Montana Rural Course would give time for nothing more than geograph- ical setting, remote and immediate cause, nature of military problems, opposing forces faced, resources for each side, plans and campaigns undertaken, study of one typical battle and mention of others, turning point, immediate and remote results, lessons taught, cost in life, suffering and treasure. 6. Dates: Time relations more important than exact dates. Most important historical fact or event connected with each. ANALYTIC SURVEY OF CITIZENSHIP COURSES. 83 1492, 1607, 1620, 1733, 1763, 1776, 1781, 1783, 1787, 1789, 1800, 1803, 1812, 1820, 1829, 1850, 1860, 1865, 1898, 1914. 7. Compromises and laws: Chief reasons for, important provisions of, and chief benefits derived from each. Compromise of 1820, Compromise of 1850, Stamp Act, fugitive slave law, Kansas- Nebraska act, Magna Charta, embargo and nonintercourse acta, Bill of Rights, alien and sedition laws, Ordinance of 1787, interstate commerce act, pure food and drug act. Constitution of the United States. Three constitutional compromises, seven divisions, preamble, recent amendments, departments of Government, chief powers of departments and of Congress, character of Government. 8. Political parties: Chief beliefs and years in power only. Party platforms in I860 and of last presidential election. Federalists, Republicans, Whigs, Democrats. 9. National growth and expansion: How and from whom secured. Important results from each acquisition. Limited to topics in the survey list on the acquisition of territory by our country. 10. Periods of business depression: 1837, 1873, 1893, 1907. Development of effective means to prevent them. 11. Home State: Leading contributions to National and State history. 12. Poems, songs, and speeches: Correlated with reading and language. Holmes Old Ironsides. Whitman ..Captain, My Captain. Key Star-Spangled Banner. Lincoln Gettysburg Address. Smith America. Howe Battle Hymn of the Repub- lic. Finch The Blue and the Gray. Longfellow. Paul Revere's Ride. Drake American Flag. Jeff erson ... Declaration of Independ- ence. Longfellow . Hiawatha. Longfellow . Courtship of Miles Standish. Bryant Story of Marion's Men. Longfellow. Evangeline. Hemans . . .Landing of the Pilgrims. Read Sheridan's Ride. Longfellow. Skeleton in Armor. Miller Columbus. Emerson. . .Concord Hymn. Whittier . . . Barbara Fritchie. Lincoln Emancipation Proclamation. Holmes Grandfather's Story of Bunker Hill. CIVICS. Civics is one of the most useful subjects in which children need training, but it holds a very subordinate position in State courses. Class instruction has been limited to the one or two highest grades (Table 13). Correlated work with other subjects, particularly with history, and suggestive outlines for frequent morning exercises, are suggested as advisable changes from the present plan in most courses. The following are the aims for the teaching of civics mentioned in State courses: Knowledge of Government and our need for it. Knowledge of the duties of citizenship. Cultivation of right attitude toward Government. Possession of the spirit of our democratic institutions. Ability to read and interpret current events. There is a growing tendency to outline history and civics together. The subjects have common aims. A single outline on a course in 84 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. citizenship, including all subjects of the group, permits closer organi- zation and correlation of topics and aids the rural teacher in solving: her program problems. The survey list of topics shows that State courses of study subor- dinate community civics to facts of civil government. Most of them contain little or nothing of value in the training of children for citi- zenship in our democracy through civic activities, and in the solution of live civic problems. TOPICS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CIVICS. Arranged in the Order of Their Frequency of Appearance in 35 State Courses of Study*. APPEARING IN 80 PER CENT OR MORE OF THE COURSES. State government. Rights and duties. Government. National Government. County government. National Constitution. School district government. APPPEARING IN 60 TO 80 PER CENT OP THE COURSES. Home and family government. Officers, public office. Village, town government. Elections, nominations. Comparison of governments. Legislative department. Courts, trial by jury. Executive department. Laws, lawmaking. Judicial department. City government. Township, town government. Education, schools. APPEARING IN 40 TO 60 PER CENT OP THE COURSES. Departments of Government. Taxation. Political parties. Powers of Government. Public health. Money, 'coinage system. Army, Navy. Senators, Representatives. Protection, life and property Constitutional amendments. Revenues, expenditures. Community civics. How a bill becomes a law. Patriotism. Roads and bridges. Postoffice, postal system. Some suggestive topics appear in fewer than 40 per cent of the courses : Banks, banking; care of poor; character lessons; churches; citizenship clubs; work of Congress; currents events; fire protection; food inspection; initiative, referendum, recall; naturalization; parcel post; parks, playgrounds; police system; property rights; public improvements; public institutions; public property. The topics appearing in fewer than 14 courses indicate a tendency among progressive courses to give less attention to civil government, as such, and more attention to the civics which touches home and. community life. ANALYTIC SUEVEY OF CITIZENSHIP COURSES. 85 Bassett found that 25 significant and persistent civics problems cover the entire field of political discussions. 1 He determined their rank by frequency of mention and by linear inches of space in national party platforms from 1844 to 1916, inclusive. The topics are listed here in the order of their frequency of appearance in 35 State courses in history and civics, the figures giving the number of courses in which found. The rank order in Bassett's list is shown in the second column of figures. Frequency of topics in State courses of study. Topics. Constitution Education Parties Monetary system Public finance.. . Suffrage Justice Legislation Defense Personal rights. . . •Commerce Immigration Territories Fre- quency. 29 17 26 21 22 19 1 21 9 20 1 19 16 19 23 17 12 16 10 15 15 14 13 14 5 13 14 | Topics. Fre- quency. 17 Postal system Public office Industry Health Foreign relations.. Moralreform State rights Natural resources . Labor Corporations Pensions Public works Rank. By comparison of civics problems as contained in party platforms with civics topics in State courses it is made evident that children liave to go outside of civics courses to get the civics instruction they need. Only 7 of the 25 topics listed above appear more frequently in civics courses than in history courses. MANNERS AND MORALS. This subject holds the least prominent position among the subjects of the curriculum (Table 15). Twenty-seven States provide outlines or suggestions for the training of children in manners and morals. It is advisable to give suggestions on State courses regarding the training of children in proper manners and morals, but providing graded outlines on the various virtues is not justified by practice. The dominant aim of moral education is the development of proper Attitudes, giving rise to worthy conduct. The most frequently stated reasons for training in manners and morals are: To cultivate a sense of moral obligation and duty. To produce law-abiding, law-respecting citizens. To arouse high moral ideals. To kindle ambition and instill confidence. To develop a moral character. State courses of study are, in general, against formal instruction in morals at school. The most effective way of training children in 1 Bassett, "The Content of the Course of Study in Civics," in Seventeenth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part I, p. 63. 86 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOE BUBAL SCHOOLS. manners and morals is, in all probability, through regular lessons and in connection with all school activities. There are numerous virtues for the training of children. From 25 to 50 of the leading virtues may well be selected for occasional spe- cial attention during opening exercises. Opportune times at psycho- logical moments should not be lost for special lessons in conduct. TOPICS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MANNERS AND MORALS. Arranged in Order of Their Frequency of Appearance in 27 State Courses of Study. APPEARING I N 80 PEE CENT OR MORE OP TB E COURSES. *Obedience. *Patriotism. *Truthfulness. ■f-*Honesty, reliability. *Politeness. Courage, bravery. fSelf-control. f Kindness to animals. *Courtesy. t Justice, fairness. t*Industry, good workman- Regard for others. f Kindness to others. ship. APPEARINf J IN 60 TO 80 PER CENT OP THE COURSES. Charity. Good manners. *Reverence. t*Cleanliness. Helpfulness. Self-respect. Neatness. Generosity, hospitality. Cheerfulness. Promptness. Service. Patience. *Respect. ■("Cooperation. Faithfulness. Accuracy. Personality. Responsibility. t Fidelity, loyalty. *Punctuality. APPEARING 3 IN 40 TO 60 PER CENT OF THE COURSES. Gratitude. tHealth. Perseverance. Nobility. Thankfulness. Leadership. Forgiveness. Right conduct. High ideals. tDuty. Self-reliance. Purity. Love. Orderliness. Unselfishness. Temperance. Honor. A content that is vital to the life of children is also vital to their moral development. Courses in arithmetic, history, reading, lan- guage, and geography should become more truly moral courses by having woven into their outlines the socialized moral contents vital to a child's life. The most effective way of presenting morals in courses of study is, in all probability, through the regular lessons in all subjects. Courses in the various subjects are lacking helpful suggestions on effective correlation. Every subject should be made a moral subject. "A subject of study consisting of material so selected and so organized as to influ- ence behavior in some desirable way is, undoubtedly, a moral course." If this is to be the ideal of the new rural course, then many State * Ten virtues most necessary to be established in children as selected by 1,000 Oregon teachers in 1917. (Reported by the State superintendent of Oregon.) t Contained in "Children's Code of Morals for Elementary Schools," National Institute of Moral Instruction, Washington, D. C ANALYTIC SURVEY OF CITIZENSHIP COURSES. 87 courses need to be so rewritten as to contain the functional material that results in desirable conduct. RECOMMENDATIONS. The following principles of guidance for the improvement of courses in citizenship for rural schools are suggested : (a) Ungraded general suggestions provided for the teaching of each citizenship subject. (b) Graded outlines in history provided for grades five to eight. (c) History and civics outlined with language in the four lower grades. For grades five to eight history and civics outlined together. (d) Manners and morals made a part of the socialized moral content of every subject. («) Training for intelligent citizenship made dominant. (/) Study of American history in upper grades preceded by the story history of Europe. (g) Those content materials in history selected that explain the present. (h) Community civics emphasized with less attention to mere facts of government. (t) Material organized about live problems on a level with the ability of children. National history broken up into lengthened periods for study. ( j) Selection of those objective facts which should be quite generally known. Chapter IX. ANALYTIC SURVEY OF ELEMENTARY SCIENCE SUBJECTS. Science is a fundamental subject for the elementary schools. The child that has not had instruction in elementary science " has missed a vital part of his life " for " he can not himself derive so much pleas- ure from life, he can not be so successful, nor can he be of so much service to others." 1 The general term " elementary science " is made to include in this chapter geography, hygiene, physical education, and nature study. To include geography a broader interpretation of elementary science is needed than is commonly applied to it. Geography is constantly dealing with science topics, 2 but it is no more the real science of geog- raphy than languauge is grammar or that nature study is botany or physics. Six States provide courses in elementary science, and these sometimes include some simpler experiments in physics and chemistry, but not geography. Physical education was placed in this chapter because of its close relation to hygiene. The only phase of science not included in this group is agriculture. In its practical applications for an elementary subject, agriculture belongs so largely to the field of industry that it was thought best to connect it with that group (Ch. X). As a group, elementary science subjects hold a central position in the curriculum. State courses give these subjects one-sixth (16.1 per cent) of recitation time and 23 per cent of the space given to all subjects (Table 17). The subjects are rich in materials, for the courses contain 852 topics, 56 per cent of which have not been included in the survey lists. The most prominent subject of the group is geog- raphy. Physical education has been very largely neglected in rural schools. GEOGRAPHY. The average elementary science course contains 46.6 pages, 20 pages of which are devoted to geography (Table 17). The major part of the geography work is given in grades four to seven. Four years for class instruction in geograghy is all that a rural program usually contains. 1 Trafton, The Teaching of Science in the Elementary Schools, p. 9. •Ibid., p. 23. ELEMENTARY SCIENCE SUBJECTS. 89 General aims are mentioned infrequently, as follows: They may be stated Train the senses on observation. Develop the power to think clearly. Give ability to join things together. Give ability to locate places and things of interest. Cultivate and develop the imagination. Acquire a body of useful knowledge about the world. Understand home and surrounding conditions. Some of these aims are quite as well adapted to other subjects. Quite in contrast are the following aims, taken from the Montana Rural Course : To give children the power to solve the simpler geographical problems bearing upon human life. To establish habits of thinking clearly and accurately in this problem solving. To instill in children a sincere respect for all mankind. To meet adequately the growing needs for useful geographical knowledge. There is no agreement as to the best plan for organizing geographi- cal material. The problem method is given prominence in the New Jersey, Ohio, Minnesota, and Montana courses. The courses of study mention quite frequently such teaching helps as maps, pictures, and books on travel. Many of these helps are indispensable in school work. Geography is especially rich with materials. The survey list con- tains 146 topics. Many of these refer to physical features, rather than to the simpler geographical problems of every day life. TOPICS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. Arranged in Order of Their Frequency of Appearance in 35 State Courses of Study. APPEARING IN 80 PER CENT OR MORE OP THE COURSES. United States. Climate. Rivers, river basins. Rain, rainfall. Mountains, hills. Human life, people. Animal life. Comparative geography. Cities. Surface. Plant life. Location, direction. Exports, imports. Lakes. Products. Highlands, elevations. Seasons. Mineral products. Vegetables. Observational geography. Continents. Soils. Winds. Industries, occupations. North America. Europe. APPEARING IN 60 TO PER CENT OP THE COURSES. Map drawing. Commerce. Plains. Causes, effects. Manufacturing. Asia. South America. 23606—23- Ocean currents. Fruits, nuts. Valleys. Political divisions. Oceans. Food, its distribution. Snow, ice. Population . Africa. Australia. Relative areas. Land forms. Agriculture. Drainage. 90 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. APPEARING IN 60 TO 80 PER CENT OP THE COURSES — Continued. Wind belts. Farm life. Water forms. Islands. Railroads. Commercial cities. Forests, trees. Governments, comparison of. Clothing, dress. Latitude. Physical features. Water life. Heat belts. Longitude, time. Globe study. Lowlands, depressions. Air pressure. APPEARING IN 40 TO 60 PER CENT OF THE COURSES. Means of transportation. Moisture, humidity. Fishing. Industrial geography. Type studies. Herding, grazing. Deserts. Irrigation. Cattle. Customs, manners. Canals, waterways. Cloudiness. Drawing, modeling. Atlantic coastal plain. Relative position, location. Manufactured products. Children of other lands. Home geography. Map reading. Domestic animals. Map study. Races of men. Slopes. ■Lumber, lumbering. Relief maps. Imaginary journeys. Home State. Places of scenic interest. Divides, mountain axes. Indentations. Shelter, homes. Frosts, dew. Weather records. Temperature. Trade routes. Iron, steel. Mining. Story geography. Excursions, field trips. Harbors, docks. Grassy plains, prairies. Land, water distribution. Corn. Tropical fruits. Wheat. Boundaries of countries. Coast line, shore forms. Wool, woolens. Collected specimens. Descriptive geography. Weather. Absolute areas. Navigable rivers. Product maps. Deltas. The following suggestive topics, appearing in fewer than 40 per cent of the courses, are classified for convenient reference under larger topics of which they form a part : Physical features: Day and night, zones of light, planets and the solar system, evaporation and condensation, land erosion, volcanoes, capes, canyons, waterfalls, waves and tides, barriers to migration. Life: Wild animals, birds; tundra, orchards, vineyards; health and healthfulness, population; Arabian life, Chinese life, Eskimos. Countries, regions: Oceanica, product regions, colonial possessions, Great Basin, Gulf Coastal Plain, Lake plain, Piedmont belt. Industries: Hunting, quarrying, shipbuilding, planting and harvesting, truck gardening, fruit growing, meat packing. Products: Barley, berries, coffee, potatoes, rice, salmon, spices, tea, tobacco; flax and linens, furs and feathers, hemp and jute, leather goods, rubber, rugs and New England States. Forest products. ^Map of small areas. Sun, moon, stars. Sugar. County, township maps. Cotton goods, cotton. Plateaus. Glaciers, glaciation. Insects, insect life. Motions of the earth. Education, schools. Coal, coal mines. Gereals, grains. Farm crops. Physical geography. Picture study. Peninsulas, isthmuses. Social life. Roads, road building. Dairying, stock raising. Gold, silver. Animal products. Forage cropB. United States by sections. Commercial geography. Indians. ELEMENTARY SCIENCE SUBJECTS. 91 carpets, silk, boots and shoes; horses, sheep, swine, dairy products; copper and lead, marble and granite, nitrates, and phosphates, oil and natural gas, salt, sand, clay and lime, precious stones; household furnishings, machinery and implements, vehicles, building materials, public buildings, drugs. Trade: Means of communication, highways of travel, steamships, trade relations, travel and touring. Government lands, natural resources, wealth, and poverty. Almost as many topics (142) appear in fewer than 40 per cent of the courses as appear in more than this number of courses. These topics mentioned less frequently, are very similar in type to those in the list above. The abundance of teaching materials points to the need of their close organization, which may possibly be done best in the form of problems. Topical outlines for use in connection with the study of many countries are given in some courses. The writer believes these should be omitted from the courses, or modified to conform in " type " to the outline submitted. I. Physical features: (a) Relative location; relative area. (b) General form. In comparison. (c) Selected border lands and surrounding waters. Commercial impor- tance. (d) Character of shore line. Commercial importance. (e) Most prominent surface features. How they affect man. (/) River systems. Commercial importance. (g) Character and fertility of soil. How it favors or hinders man in his work. (h) Climate — temperature, winds, rainfall. Causes and effects. (i) Life — human, plant, animal — as affected by physical features. II. Political divisions: (a) Large countries, place among powers. (b) Population. Occupations of laboring classes. Language, education, government, chief characteristics. Cities as industrial and trade centers. (c) Important products — kind, abundance, value — from farm, factory, mine, forest, or sea. (d) Nearness to market, trade and transportation. Effect on develop- ment of region or country. (e) Special features — places of scenic or historic interest. III. Educative map drawing or sketching to accompany study. Ten courses allot 14 per cent of program time in geography to physical features and 16 per cent to home geography. In the same courses the content materials are assigned to six grades. By organiz- ing the course in geography according to the problem method, as is done in the Montana course, no time would be allotted either to home geography or to physical features as such. Problems in rela- tional facts should give all the facts needed and their solution should train children to apply such facts to the everyday problems of life. 92 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. Recommendations regarding facts of place are not lacking in quan- tity. State outlines in geography contain the names of 78 countries, 146 land farms, 160 water farms, 302 cities, 53 places of interest, 250 plants, animals, and products, 30 occupations of men, 16 human types, and 83 famous historians. The farm, factory, mine, forest, and sea are common sources of products. A representative list of objective facts of place in their relational aspects would be a useful guide both for curriculum writers and class teachers. HYGIENE. Hygiene outlines in some courses are brief and inadequate. One- third of the space given to these outlines is allotted to general sug- gestions. The largest percentage of grade space is allotted to grades six and seven. A few motivated and well-stated aims in teaching hygiene are given, but they appear very infrequently. Those mentioned in 10 or more courses are: Establish health, habits. Preserve and improve bodily health. Establish habits of personal hygiene. Secure and keep an efficient body. Establish sanitary habits. Very few courses give anything in the way of helpful suggestions on the best methods to be used in teaching or training. Hygiene instruc- tion in rural schools is known to be poor. Inadequate courses, lacking in methods, may have had much to do with the poor teaching found in schools. TOPICS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HYGIENE. Arranged in Order of Their Frequency of Appearance in 35 State Courses of Study. APPEARING IN 80 PER CENT OR MORE OF THE COURSES. Health habits. Eating (how, what). Sleep, rest. Purity of water. *Digestion. *Blood, blood vessels. Clothing, its care. Position, carriage. Care of teeth, mouth. Exercise, recreation. Care of hair, nails. Stimulants, narcotics. Sanitation. * Topics marked with a star (*) t Topics marked with a dagger Alcohol, its effects. Food, food values. fAccidents, emergencies. *Musclee, muscular system. Pure fresh air. Care of body. Tobacco. *Breathing. *Nerves, nervous system. Neatness, cleanliness. Milk, its care. Bathing. "Circulation. pertain largely to physiology, (t) refer to diseases. *Heat, heating. Health, its care. Care of eyes. *Lungs, their care. *Eyes, sight. Cooking, serving. *Ears, hearing. *Heart, heart action. Tea, coffee. Bones, skeleton. fWounds, cuts, bruises. fContagious diseases. *Brain, spinal cord. ELEMENTARY SCIENCE SUBJECTS. 93 APPEARING IN 60 TO 80 PER CENT OF THE COURSES. •Perspiration, the skin. •Respiratory Byetem. Ventilation. Care of the skin. *Nose, smell. •Special senses. •Structure of organs. Voice, its care. •Functions of organs. Proteids, meats. Plays and games. tBurns, blisters. Flies, mosquitoes. fDisease germs. fCommon diseases. Physical exercises. fTuberculosis. Care of the ears. fBlood poisoning. *Teeth, their structure. fDrowning. tTyphoid fever. Fruits, vegetables. Personal hygiene. •Stomach, its uses. *Throat. fChoking, coughing, snee: ing. fColds, their prevention. Health regulations, t Fain ting, fits. APPEARING IN 40 TO 60 PER CENT OF THE COURSES. *Organs of the body. •Tendons, ligaments. •Touch, feelings. fAdenoids. Testing eyes. Cigarette smoking. Food varieties. Disinfectants, antiseptics. *Kidneys, The. Hygiene of organs. •Tongue, taste. •Excretory organa. * Absorption, assimilation. *Intestines. •Oxidation, blood purity. jFevers, headaches. First aid. Experiments. •Mastication . fBacteria. Food, its care. •Tissue cells. Soap, toilet articles. Table manners. Animals, their care. fScarlet fever. fSmallpox. fNose bleeding. Garbage, its disposal. Sunshine, its value. jtBroken bones, disloca- tions. Public health. » •Waste products. fMeasles. Air. composition. Preventives. •Organs of secretion. tDiphtheria •Glands, their work. Nutrition, f Preventable diseases. Drainage, sewerage. •Lymph, "lymphatics . •The liver, its, work. The following suggestive topics appear in fewer than 40 per cent of the courses: Adulteration, antitoxin, bandaging, candy and chewing gum, getting rid of dirt, drinking fountains, drugs, dust and dusting, fires and matches, food inspection, food laws, ice and its uses, insects and health, school lunches, medical inspection, patent medicines, relaxation, sleeping rooms, sanitary surveys, vaccination. While topics in physiology no longer dominate the curriculum, they are still prominent. They are usually presented without showing how they support health habits. In this lies their chief weakness. The courses of study are very largely negative in that they state what not to do and how to cure, rather than how to prevent and to avoid. This is even more evident from the topics appearing in 5 to 13 courses than from the survey list. Preventative measures would make fewer occasions for the use of corrective methods. Practically all the topics pertain to the acquisition of knowledge, rather than to proper habits and ideals. Proper ideals and attitudes * Topics marked with a star (*) pertain largely to physiology, t Topics marked with a dagger (t) refer to diseases. 94 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. and the formation of health habits are exceedingly slow in develop- ing under the influence of "bookish discussions." The hygiene courses of the future, as indicated by recently published courses, are to be dedicated to an exclusive health program. They encourage the establishing of health habits and the cultivation of high ideals, both as to personal and community hygiene. PHYSICAL EDUCATION. Physical education is one of the most neglected school subjects. Nineteen States provide no outline in this subject (Table 9). Some courses provided are brief and inadequate. Little attention has been given the subject in rural schools. For rural schools there is little need for grade division of work found in a few courses. Three-fourths of the space assigned to physical education is given to general suggestions (Table 13). The most frequently mentioned aims are : Make children physically fit. Promote health among children. Establish habits of correct thought and action. Secure a cheerful, friendly disposition. Develop morality and build character. Secure orderliness and good behavior. Develop spontaneity and initiative. The aims usually mentioned in courses are important, but they are given incidentally and infrequently. In consequence, teachers are likely to continue following the traditional track of care-free recesses and noons. Little mention is made of supervised playgrounds, organized play, or methods of instruction in physical education, except through games. Their importance suggests the need for definite directions in organizing the school for play activities. The following topics in physical education, arranged in the order of their frequency of appearance in 25 State courses of study, appear in 10 or more courses: Sports, amusements. *Plays and games. Races. *Physical exercise. *Folk dances. *Dances, dancing. •Dancing games. Relay races. Ball games. *Singing games. *Team, group play. *Recreation. *Gymnastics. *Correct position, posture. *Athletics. *Play ground games. *Correct breathing. Supervised play. Strength tests. Running and hiding. *Whole body exercises. Tag games. Cooperation. Hopping games. Swimming exercises * Formative exercises. Most of the 26 topics in the survey list pertain to plays and games of one kind or another. Fourteen of them are given by Rapeer as reported in the Sixteenth Yearbook. * Topics marked with a star (*) are contained in Rapeer's list of "Minimal Essentials in Physical Education, " in the Sixteenth Yearbook, Part I, pp. 1S3-184. ELEMENTARY SCIENCE SUBJECTS. 95 Bean-bag games, building games, calisthenics, corrective exercises, dashes, first aid, safety first, jumping, leaping, marching, observing rules, rowing, schoolroom games, skating, stretching, walking, wrestling. There is a tendency to include under physical education all topics bearing on vital efficiency. Correlation with hygiene is essential to a realization of desired aims. It would be well to devote some class periods in hygiene to the study of problems growing out of school and home physical activities. That which the home and community do not supply the school must give, if desirable standards are to be reached. The school should assume a measure of control and wise direction over outside activities. For this purpose the following topics might well be included or correlated with this subject: *Free play, *caring for animals, or *home chores, health chores, *easy calisthenic exercises, handicrafts, *manual training, *gardening, *domestic science, *fire drills, *Scout and Camp Fire activities, *rhythmic games, *excursions or hikes, dramatiza- tion, and Relaxation exercises. State courses give the titles of 706 games and exercises. It is ad- visable to include descriptions of selected games in the course of study, if such descriptions are not otherwise made available for the schools. A certain amount of equipment is essential to effective training. Suggestive lists may well be included in courses. Irresponsibility for and nonattention to children's play activities are likely to continue so long as teachers are not brought under the direct supervision of a course of study fully explaining the meaning, method, value, and responsibility for organized play and setting forth definite helps in making playground and school activities contribute to vital efficiency. NATURE STUDY. Nature study is one of the prominent subjects for primary and in- termediate grades (Table 13). It occupies a central position among the subjects of the curriculum. The rapid decrease in the amount of space allotment for the grades from the first to the eighth indicates a common practice in one- teacher schools of organizing one or two classes for lower and inter- mediate grades. The aims mentioned most frequently are: Develop the habit of close and exact observation. Develop an intelligent appreciation of nature. Bring the child into an intelligent, sympathetic relation with his environment of nature. Interest the child with nature about him . Create interest in and supply needs of other subjects. The most commonly stated aim is that of cultivating the habit of observation. Students of nature study would make nature study's *,Topics marked with a star (*) are contained in Rapeer's list of "Minimal Essentials in Physical Education," in the Sixteenth Yearbook, Part I, pp. 183-184. 96 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. contribution to the joys of living and the cultivation of right attitude toward life the leading aims. It is doubtful if generalized observation methods without definite directions have given help of any consequence to the average teacher untrained for this work. The problem method for organization of content and for instruction gives promise of real teaching and the cultivation of a right attitude toward life. The topics mentioned most frequently are fairly representative of the teaching materials nature study has to offer. The relative amount of attention to be given each topic is a matter for local adaptation. There are many topics which did not appear frequently enough to place them in the survey list. TOPICS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NATURE STUDY. Arranged in Order of Their Frequency of Appearance in 35 State Courses of Study. APPEARING IN 80 PER CENT OR MORE OF THE COURSES. Animals, animal life. Plants, plant life. Birds. Stems, roots, bulbs. Classification of animals. Butterflies, moths. Fruits, nuts. Insects, insect life. Observation lessons. Flowers, buds. Leaves. Soils, rocks. Bird migration. Collected specimens Sun, moon, stars. Food of animals. Gardening. Horses. Weather. APPEARING IN 60 TO 80 PER CENT OP THE Snow, ice. Winds, rainfall. Birds, nests, neBting. Seed germination. Wild flowers. Uses of animals. Domesticated animals. Wild animals. Flies, mosquitoes. Tree studies, forests. Seeds, seed studies. Cat, dog. Vegetables. Habits of animals. Care of animals. Evergreen trees. Cattle. Frogs, toads. Life history of animals. Bees, honey. Grain, cereals. APPEARING IN 40 TO 60 PER CENT OF Identifying plants. Shade trees. Frost, dews. Plant growth. Pet animals. Cocoons. Seasons. Seed dispersion. Poultry. Collected seeds. House plants. Drawing exercises. Identifying animals. Bird songs and calls. Water studies. Sheep. Air, temperature. Wood, tree products. Weeds, weed studies. Corn. Excursions, field trips. Care of plants. Weather records. Animal characteristics. Grasshoppers. Natural phenomena. Planting. Snakes, turtles. Kindness to animals. Ants. Experiments. Names of birds. Bird calendar. Bird habits. Earth worms. Minerals. THE COURSES. Enemies of animals. Heat and light for plants. Window gardens. Clouds, mist, fog. Day, night. Signs of spring. Air and water for plants. Seasonal topics. Swine. Shrubbery. Vines. Direction, location. Orchard fruit. Grasses. Picture study. Potatoes. ELEMENTAEY SCIENCE SUBJECTS. 97 Many topics did not occur frequently enough to be included in the survey list. . The following topics appeared in fewer than 14 courses: Animals— their clothing, homes, intelligence, means of self-defense and training. Household pests — bugs and beetles, insects, spiders, fish, pond life, snails and slugs. Plants — shapes, forms and sizes, characteristics, plant descriptions, plant food, poisonous plants, flowering plants, uses of plants. Farm crops — cotton, hay and pas- ture, oats and rye, wheat. Garden flowers; school gardens. Minerals — coal, iron. Natural phenomena — weathering and erosion, freezing and thawing, heat, land- scape study, light and sounds, streams, seasonal changes, fire and its uses. Method topics — bird diagrams, collecting nests, flower calendars, clay and sand models, mountings, pressing specimens, exhibits. There is a large amount of repetition of the same work in the sev- eral grades. This may cause the average child to lose interest and cultivate a dislike for nature. Rotation by years within a class made up of children from three or four grades is a possible means of correcting this tendency = Possibly the greatest weakness in efficient nature study in country schools is the lack of proper training possessed by the average teacher. Until more teachers have had proper training in nature study the needs of the subjects are not likely to be keenly felt, however vital the subject may be to our every day lives. RECOMMENDATIONS. The following directions for the improvement of courses in geogra- phy, hygiene, physical education, and nature study for rural schools are suggested : . (a) Outlines provided in geography for grades four to eight, in hygiene for grades six and seven, and in nature study for grades one to four. (6) In lower grades geography correlated with nature study and hygiene with language. (c) A general ungraded outline provided in physical education. (d) Meaningful aims provided for each subject and for each grade. These aims set at the head of each outline, and apart from it, as important considerations. (e) The best methods of teaching each subject made prominent. (/) The courses organized about related problems, graded as to difficulty and properly motivated with definite suggestions on best ways of accomplishing the assigned tasks. (g) Definite directions regarding the organization of the school for play activities clearly set forth. (h) Those content materials selected which best meet our needs for geographical knowledge, which make for healthful living, and which cultivate high ideals and right attitude toward life. (i) In geography those relational facts selected which children may be expected to know when the course is completed. (_?') Full explanation of meaning, method, value, and responsibility of teachers for organized and supervised play. (k) The amount of repetition of the larger topics in geography and hygiene re- duced to a minimum. Chapter X. ANALYTIC SURVEY OF INDUSTRY AND ART COURSES. Modern education has stressed the useful and functional side of every subject. The arts of beauty — drawing and music — have been so modified as to make their grouping with the useful arts — agri- culture, household arts, and manual arts — advisable for the purpose of this survey. In the survey report household arts includes cooking, sewing, and household management; and manual arts includes so- called industrial or seat work for lower grades. This is the most neglected group of subjects. Primary causes in this neglect have been the lack of preparation and experience of country teachers and the small time allotment on daily programs (Table 6). The fundamental subjects have kept industrial subjects off the programs. The subjects of this group are rich in content materials, and the vital relation of this material to rural life gives rise to a need for better teachers of the subjects and for more time for these subjects on the schedule of classes. More than one-fifth (22.3 per cent) of the space given to all subjects is allotted to the subjects of this group (Table 12). One of the most important, as well as one of the most prominent subjects in the rural school curriculum . is agriculture. Agriculture and household arts are seventh and eighth grade subjects. There is fairly even grade distribution of space for the other subjects of the group, and some attention is usually given to them in all grades (Table 13). The subjects of this group have much to do with activities of a varied nature; hence, the doing side should be stressed. Much of the work can be presented, and properly, too, in the form of projects and problems. Courses of study have not, as a rule, emphasized the need for proper methods of teaching these subjects. AGRICULTURE. There is little agreement as to the most important aims in teaching agriculture. Some courses are weak in not presenting live aims or in their failure to state aims simply and clearly. The aims appearing most frequently in the courses are : Create interest in and respect for farming. Develop ability to apply knowledge to farm practice. 98 INDUSTRY AND ART COURSES. 99 Utilize the everyday experiences of children fully. Cultivate the power of observation. Promote health, happiness, and prosperity. The most common method of teaching agriculture is the textbook method. Teachers have been encouraged in the use of this method by the type of outlines in some States. There are few method topics. The project and the problem methods are coming into use. Agriculture is exceedingly rich and varied in content materials The materials have to do with plant culture (47 per cent), animal husbandry (20 per cent), farm management and improvement (27 per cent), and plans and methods of teaching (6 per cent). Facts about farm work are emphasized. The large amount of teaching materials gives rise to a need for principles of guidance in their selec- tion, to make it possible for rural teachers to select content wisely. TOPICS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AGRICULTURE. Arranged in the Order of Their Frequency of Appearance in 35 State Courses of Study. APPEARING IN 80 PER CENT OR MORE OF THE COURSES. Soils, soil. Planting, sowing. Corn. Seed testing, germination. Seed studies. Potatoes. Insects, insect life. Agricultural clubs. Vegetables. Seed selection. Poultry. Fertilizer, fertilization. Soil cultivation. Farm crops. Soil moisture. Experiments. Animal husbandry. Farm buildings. Plant diseases. Swine. Plant food. Plants, plant life. Dairying. Clover, alfalfa. Manure management. Plant propagation. Forage crops, legumes. Horses. Trees, tree planting. Plant growth. Drainage, irrigation. Soil fertility. Orchard fruits. Sheep. Weeds, weed studies Observation lessons. Breeds, breeding. Cattle — beef, dairy. Gardening. Feeds, feeding. Marketing. APPEARING IN 60 TO 80 PER CENT OF THE COURSES. Soil composition. Seed-bed preparation. Plant enemies. Exhibits, fairs. Fruits, nuts. Humus soil. Roots, stems. Harvesting. Livestock. Spraying. Milk testing. Storing, curing. School gardens. Collected specimens. Capillarity of soil. Grains, grain studies. Domestic animals. Crop rotation. Soil elements. Insect enemies. Milk, its care. Home gardens. Rust, smut, blight. Plowing. Expense problems. Animal characteristics. Oats. Grasses. Budding, grafting. Sanitation, cleanliness. Soil improvement. Transplanting. Corn judging. Fruit varieties. Vegetable gardens. Apples. Uses of animals. Wheat. Drawing, drawings. Shrubbery. Study of tools. 100 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. APPEARING IN 40 TO 60 PER CENT OF THE COURSES. Bees, honey. Eggs, their care. Fruit growing. Garden planning. Roads, road building. Pasturing, grazing. Life histoiy of animals. Varieties of corn. Incubating, hatching. Grading, scoring. Seed structure. Soil weight. Economy in buying. Flies, mosquitoes. Control of insects. Seed purity. Tomatoes. Poultry houses. Picture study. Soil acidity. Plants and osmosis. Judging products. Seed identification. Seed vitality. Seed dispersion. Bacteria, nodules. Farm library. Diseases of animals. Animal habits. Cutting of plants. Small fruits. Barley, rye. Lime, its uses. Making surveys. Nursery stock. Excursions, field trips. Plant structure. Birds. Water studies. Hotbed, coldframe. Crop production cost. Tree pruning. Sales, profits. Classification of animals. Farm management. Air composition. Yields, prices. Type forms. Milk composition. Destroying weeds. Fungicides. Farm machines, imple- ments. Balanced rations. Accounts, records. All the topics in the list above may be arranged in groups under the following heads. Figures indicate the number of topics in each group. 1. Plant culture, 64 topics or 47 per cent of all topics: (a) Farm crops, 26-grain, grain studies, 7; hay and forage, 6; garden prod- ucts, 3; fruit growing, 8; other crops, 2. (6) Tree culture, shrubbery, 5. (c) Weeds, weed studies, 2. (d) Seeds, seed studies, 2. (e) Plant enemies and diseases. (/) Plant physiology and propagation, 6. (g) Soils, soil studies, 12.' w 2. Animal husbandry, 27 topics, or 20 per cent of all topics: (a) Cattle, dairying, 5. (6) Other farm animals, 6. (c) Types and uses of animals, 7. (d) Feeds, feeding, 2. (e) Birds, bees, insects, 6. 3. Farm management and improvement, 36 topics, or 27 per cent of all topics: (a) Garden management, 6. (6) Crop production, 6. (c) Fertilization and drainage, 5. (d) Marketing, 4. (c) Farm building, 3. (/) Farm machinery, 2. (g) Accounting, 6. (h) Good roads, farm sanitation, farm survey, 1 each. 4. Plans and methods of teaching, 9 topics, or 6 per cent of all topics. INDUSTRY AND ART COURSES. 101 There are some valuable topics among those appearing in fewer than 14 courses, depending upon their local adaptation. Dry land farming, silos and silage, grape culture, and corn clubs are topics of this nature. Other topics, such as social center, crop surveys, farm economy and farm planning, are adapted for general use in most rural schools in all parts of the United States. Suggestive topics of a more general nature are: Cover crops, fruit preservation, vines and vine crops, bulbs and roots, seed clean- ing, fungus plants, molds and mildews, subsoiling, turkeys and geese, butterflies and moths, household pests, insecticides, building materials, knots and knot tying, fences and fencing, lawns and yards, flower gardens, inventories, keeping records, farmers' organizations, score cards and scoring, farm surveys. State courses usually provide one outline for each of the two high- est grades, the courses alternating by years. It is only one step further in grouping children in grades five to eight into one class, providing an outline for each of the four years on different phases of agriculture and rotating these outlines over a period of four years. The idea is to teach nothing in elementary agriculture in the one- teacher school more than once in four years. The four subjects rotated are: Growing things, making things, live things, and soil and home. It is claimed that the plan changes disorganized schools into beehives of activity, arouses tremendous community interest in schools, puts life into the school, teaches children in the language they can best understand, and results in numerous petitions to have the plan continued. 1 If it does all these things, it can not replace the textbook method of teaching any too soon. The plan has appeared as a fully organized course in Missouri (1919), and in parts of Okla- homa, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Another plan that has been fostered to vitalize teaching in rural schools is to provide pupils' survey outlines upon selected topics, such as poultry, cattle, corn, or roads. Under the direction of the teacher pupils gather the data, assemble them, and utilize the find- ings in innumerable ways in the various school subjects. The success- lul operation of school agricultural surveys has intensified interest in school work and aroused whole communities into active cooperation for school and community betterment. Collection of materials locally is needed to permit the study of things by direct observation. Courses of study should contain lists of suggestive equipment for ready reference. Agricultural bulletins and circulars are prominently mentioned. Care should be taken to rec- ommend those available bulletins that give valuable information and which are within the comprehension of children using them. Circu- lars on the use of certain bulletins in schools are especially valuable. 1 Holden, The Rotation Plan. The International Harvester Co., Chicago. 102 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. HOUSEHOLD ARTS. This subject includes cooking and sewing, which are equally promi- nent in the curriculum, and household management, mentioned in only a few courses. Four-fifths of the State courses provide outlines in the subject. Like agriculture, household arts is an upper-grade subject. In one- teacher schools the work may well be alternated by years. There is little agreement as to what constitutes the chief aims in household arts. Ability in solving the simpler problems of plain cooking and sewing and of home making is mentioned most fre- quently. To this may be added habits of thrift and of health and the development of business ability. The only feasible method of teaching cooking in one-teacher schools appears to be through the hot lunch and home projects. Sewing and household management can be taught at irregular periods, through contests, home projects, and correlation with other subjects. TOPICS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HOUSEHOLD ARTS. Arranged in Order of Their Frequency of Appearance in 35 State Courses of Study. APPEARING IN 80 PER CENT OR MORE OP THE COURSES. Cooking practice. Study of stitches. Patching, mending. Hemming. Darning stockings. Apron making. APPEARING IN 60 TO 80 PER CENT OF THE COURSES. Fruits, nuts. Serving meals. Milk studies. Study of meats. Study of potatoes. Eggs and their care. Cake baking. Food, food values. Recipes, menus. Breakfast foods. Canning* Study of soups. Study of sugar. Study of vegetables. Backstitching. Running stitches. Cotton, cotton cloth. Overcasting stitches. Garment making. Cutting, fitting. Buttonhole making. Repairing cloth. APPEARING IN 40 TO 60 PER CENT OF THE COURSES. Food preparation. Study of salads. Needlework. Wool, woolens. Weaving. Bread, bread baking. *Setting tables. Preserving. Coffee, tea. ^Household management Cooking rice. Leveling agents. Puddings. * Topics marked with a star Preparing sauces. Patterns. Overhauling garments. Sewing on buttons. French seams. Baking. Food composition. Food preservation. Biscuit baking. Beverages. Boiling. Gathering stitches. Sewing machine. (*) pertain to home making. Towel making. Bed making. Embroidery. Making clothing for self. Study of seams. ^Laundering. Frying of fish. *Kitchen utensils. School lunches. Fats, oils. Jellies, jams, -butters. Fancy stitches. Chain stitches. INDUSTBY AND ART COURSES. 103 APPEARING IN 40 TO 60 PER CENT OF THE COURSES — Continued. Workbag making. ^Designing, decorating. Linens. Buttonhole stitches. Cross-stitches. Use of sewing tools. Textiles. Correlated subjects. Sewing by hand. Undergarment making. *House cleaning. Pillowcase making. Baking muffins. Candy, fudge. *Neatness, cleanliness. The following suggestive topics appear in fewer than 40 per cent of the courses : Cooking : Preparing foods., drying, flavors and extracts, garnishing, pickling, roast- ing, seasoning, stewing, cereal dishes, planning meal3, digestibility of foods, economy in buying and serving, abbreviations, exact measurements, table etiquette, tray serv- ing, table linen, dish washing, tireless cooker. Sewing : Matching goods, crocheting, dyeing, knitting, knot tying, lace making, sewing on buttons, trimming, taking measurements, removing stains, sponging and pressing, simple elements of millinery. Household management: House planning, home furnishings, study of furniture, home conveniences, housekeeping rules, building fires, sweeping and dusting, household accounts, ventilation, care of garbage, home nursing, entertaining guests. Household arts is rich with teaching materials. The State courses contain 337 topics. One-fourth of these are contained in the list of frequently mentioned topics above. Some of the most suggestive topics appearing less frequently are also given. Courses of study contain the names of a very large number (407) of prepared foods and recipes for their preparation. Many sewing articles (60) are also mentioned. A valuable part of a household-arts course is a list of the equip- ment for cooking and sewing needed to carry out its provisions intelligently. It is advisable to make this list suggestive only, as allowance should be made for local adaptation. MANUAL ARTS. This subject, which in the survey includes industrial arts for lower grades and manual training for upper grades, holds a very unimpor- tant position in State courses in the amount of space (Table 10) and of program time (Table 6) allotted to it. Courses of study are greatly lacking in aims for industrial arts. Those mentioned for manual training overemphasize skill and excel- lency in workmanship, at the expense of ability to do things in line with construction and repair work on the farm. The aims appearing most frequently may be summarized as follows : Train hands for efficiency and skill in workmanship. Impart valuable and useful information. Vitalize and enrich other subjects. Prepare for life through life's activities. Secure the economic and social values of this subject. Cause children to appreciate good workmanship. Dignify all useful labor. * Topics marked with a star (*) pertain to home making. 104 STATE COUESES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. The industrial and seat- work outlines are, in some courses, independ- ent of and irrelated to the regular work of children in other subjects. This has doubtless been a contributing factor to much valueless seat work in one-teacher schools. TOPICS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MANUAL ARTS. Arranged in Order of Their Frequency of Appearance in 29 State Courses of Study. APPEARING IN 60 TO 80 PER CENT OP THE COURSES. *Wood and bench work. Construction work. Paper cutting and folding. Measurements, measuring. Illustrating stories. Drawing. Use of tools. Building activities. Representative construc- tion. Designing. Accuracy. *Weaving. Handwork. Fruit, vegetable drawing. Neatness, cleanliness. Caring for tools. APPEARING IN 40 TO 60 PER CENT OP THE COURSES. *Cardboard construction. Animal and people draw- ings. Orderly sequence of work. Industrial problems. Basketry. Repairing. Models, modeling. Sharpening tools. Form, proportion. Study of tools. Sketching, freehand. Seasonal projects. The following suggestive topics appear in fewer than 40 per cent of the courses: Correlated subjects. *Reed and raffia work. *Clay modeling. Decorative construction. Nailing. Braiding, knotting, mending harness, assembling and fitting, filling and gluing, sandpapering, sawing, waxing, lettering, scale drawing, working drawing, painting, blue prints, staining, *bookbinding, *cement, *leather work, ^joining, *whittling, and knife work. One-half of the topics are concerned with making things. Those having to do with industrial arts are found chiefly in lower grades, while manual training topics are found in upper grades. The names of 302 different articles to make are given in manual arts courses. Articles mentioned most frequently may be made chiefly from cardboard and construction paper in lower grades and from lumber in upper grades. The utilitarian purpose is more promi- nent in upper grades than in lower grades. A suggestive list of tools and materials needed to make the things mentioned in the outlines is considered a useful part of the course of study. DRAWING. The value of drawing has been increased through emphasis upon design or orderly arrangement. This subject has a contribution to make to school activities that is very worth while. Courses of study would have children study drawing to train ^hem in expression, in * Topics marked with a star (*) are offered in 156 city systems. Study made by Park and Barlau and reported in Bu. of Educ. Bui., No. 32, 1916. INDUSTRY AND ART COURSES. 105 observation, and in appreciation of the beautiful, as is made evident by the following summary of most frequently mentioned aims : Ability to appreciate the beautiful. Develop the powers of close observation. Ability to express the beautiful intelligently. Ability in freehand drawing. Train senses, mind, and hand to work together. Cultivate taste for the beautiful in design and in the industrial world. Enrich other school subjects. Know and enjoy good pictures. A great variety of topics are given. It is difficult to classify them. About one-third refer to things to be drawn. Several industrial arts topics are prominent. To avoid extensive repetition, it is advisable to select a few leading topics, differing in kind, for the basis of each year's work. TOPICS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DRAWING. Arranged in Order of Their Frequency of Appearance in 35 State Courses of Study. APPEARING IN 80 PER CENT OR MORE OF THE COURSES. Designs, designing. Illustrative drawing. Fruits, nuts. Color studies. Object drawing. Mass, grouping. Landscapes. Flowers, buds. Decorative drawing. Leaves, leaf drawing. Tree studies, forests. Animal drawings. APPEARING IN 60 TO 80 PER CENT OF THE COURSES. Vegetables. Perspective drawing. Tone relations, shading. Construction drawing. Borders. Birds, butterflies. Stems, twigs. Geometric shapes, forms. Christmas drawings. Paper cutting and folding. Calendars. Color schemes. Painting lessons. Lines, rulings. APPEARING IN 40 TO 60 PER CENT OF THE COURSES. Seasonal topics. Grass, grass blades. Toys, playthings. Lettering. Nature drawings. Books, boxes. Booklet covers. Blackboard drawings. Houses, buildings. Mountings, mounting drawings. Freehand drawing. Color combinations. Correlated subjects. Models, modeling. Washington's Birthday. Pose drawing. Thanksgiving Day. Halloween drawings. Seeds, seed pods. Mats, rugs. Correlated geography. Easter drawings. Using materials, tools. Proportions. Action drawing. May baskets. Outline drawing. Drawing display. The following suggestive topics appear in fewer than 40 per cent of the courses: Basketry, clay modeling, brush drawing, caste or sculpture work, color harmony, color designing, matching colors, tints and shades, molding and shaping, master pieces in art, drawing to scale, spacing, printing, silhouette work, sketching, valen- tines, stenciling, still life, weaving, working drawings. 23606—23 8 106 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. It is desirable for a course in drawing to include a suggestive list of standard materials and equipment needed to carry out its pro- visions. MUSIC. In every schoolroom on every day a school is in session there should be some music. A morning song has much to do in creating a good spirit for both work and play. The importance of music is not measured by the length of its outlines (Table 12). In one-teacher schools it is generally better to have but one class for whatever instruction is offered in music. The dominant aim is to cultivate a love for music, while securing an understanding needed to appreciate it. Practice gives prominence to the following aims for teaching music : Enjoy singing — a pleasing diversion and relaxation. Cultivate an appreciation for good music. Develop a pleasing, musical, expressive voice. Develop the power of reading simple music at sight. Develop the power to observe. Develop a good school and community spirit. Develop the rhythmic instinct and musical sense. Music, like drawing, is a curriculum of activities. It consists (1) of the singing of childhood and community songs and (2) of training children to read music. It is not generally advisable for the latter to be undertaken by teachers who have not the necessary preparation. Outlines for two or three groups of children in one-teacher schools are needed only for those schools where children are taught to read music. Thirty-five of the 56 topics in the survey list have to do with learn- ing to read music. The relatively shorter outlines and fewer topics for upper grades indicate that State courses would have this ability acquired by the end of the fifth year. TOPICS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MUSIC. Arranged in Order of Their Frequency of Appearance in 35 State Courses of Study. APPEARING IN 80 PER CENT OR MORE OP THE COURSES. *Singing rote songs. *Phrasing, phrase singing. *Musical terms, characters. *Notes, tone pictures. *SyIlable (reading) names. *Key signatures. *Staff lessons. *Two-part exercises. APPEARING IN 60 TO 80 PER CENT OF THE COURSES. *Measures. *Time, time problems. *Correct rhythm, accent Ear training. *Sight reading. * Topics marked with a star (*) have to do with learning to read music. *Scale names (figures). *Keeping time. Melodies, singing of. Voice training. *Pitch of notes. *Tone quality (pleasing) . *Clef signature. *Rests. *Intervals, skips. INDUSTRY AND ART COURSES. 107 APPEARING IN 40 TO 60 PER CENT OP THE COURSES. of *Neutral syllable singing. Singing for pupils. *Major scale. Written musical exercises. *Tone relations. *Scale ladder, circle keys. *Tone drills. *Three-part exercises. Familiar songs. Imitation in singing. *Minor scales. *Bars for staff. Expression. Breathing exercises. Rote songs at first. Imitating sounds in ture. *Tie, slur. *Lines, spaces. *National sonf Education, Part I, pp. 33-59. 110 STATE COUESES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. (b) Those supplementary textbooks and library books in various grades and subjects selected that give teachers largest assistance in carrying out the provisions of the course of study. (c) Constant reference made to books selected at suitable points in the outlines. (d) Specific and definite directions given for the intelligent use of textbooks and library. (e) Books and materials assigned which are on a level with the experience and attainments of children in various grades and classes. (/) Consciousness of the importance of making many books, bulletins, and magazines available to children and on making constant and intelligent use of all available material. (g) Selection of a minimal number of the shorter reading selections for careful study by all children. Selection of the finest literary gems and poems that may be recommended for memorization. (/*) Selection of those professional books that are most helpful to the average teacher using them. (i) Consciousness of the importance of giving children a wide reading experience , particularly in subjects that have large content value. REFERENCE LIST. Andreas, J. Mace. Health education in rural schools. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1919. 321 p. Chapter 6 describes a plan for the course of study in hygiene. The teaching of hygiene in the grades. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1918. 176 p. An excellent treatment on methods of teaching. Ashbaugh, E. J. Handwriting of Iowa school children. Iowa City, Iowa., 1916. 24 p. (University of Iowa. Extension Bulletin no. 15.) Bailey, L. H. The nature study idea. New York, The Macmillan Co., 1909. 246 p. Barnes, Walter. English in the country schools. Chicago, Row, Peterson Co., 1913. 286 p. Contains many suggestions on the teaching of reading, language, and spelling in rural schools. Betts. George E. Classroom method and management. Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1917. 386 p. This book contains excellent chapters on aims, methods, ar>d selection of teaching materials. The following chapters are important: Chapter 7, Subject matter of education, p. 79-100. Chapter 8, The organization of subject matter, p. 100-113. Chapters 10 to 20, on the school subjects reading, spelling, language, arithmetic, geography, history, civics, physiology and hygiene, penmanship, agriculture, and home economics. Social principles of education. New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1912. 318 p. Chapter 9 deals with the curriculum. and Hall, Otis S. Better rural schools. Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merill Co., 1914. 512 p. The curriculum of the rural school, part 11. The book also contains a good chapter on correlation, p. 77-93. Bobbitt, Franklin. The curriculum. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1918. 295 p. A most scientific treatment of what to teach. The social point of view. " Reading materials in the elementary schools of Indianapolis." In Elementary School Journal, 13: 665-688, 741-761, May, June, 1919. What the schools teach and might teach. New York, Russell Sage Foundation. 1915. 108 p. One of the sections of the report of the Educational survey of Cleveland, Ohio. ■ Boyce, A. O, and Perkins, M. L. " Literature in the elementary curriculum." In Elementary School Journal, 13: 158-166, Dec, 1913. Graded list of books appearing in city and state courses. Boy Scouts of America. Seventh annual report. 144 p. The Scout oath, p. 9-10. California. State Board of Education. Suggestions for the teaching of good manners in the elementary schools. 1916. 39 p. (Bulletin no. 18.) The teaching of music in the rural elementary schools. 4 p. (Bulletin no. 15.) Charters, W. W. Teaching common branches. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913. 355 p. This book contains a chapter on 14 of the common-school subjects. The only subjects in this sur- vey not treated in the book are household arts, manual arts, and manners and morals. Coffman, L. D. "The war and the curriculum." In Educational Administration and Supervision, 4: 10-23, Jan., 1918. An excellent article on curriculum changes incident to the war. Cubberley, Elwood P. Public education in the United States. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1919. 517 p. A study of the more important present-day problems in public education in the United States in the light of their historic past. Chapter 10, The reorganization of elementary education, p. 285-322. Rural life and education. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1914. 367 p. Chapter 9, The teaching equipment, p. 206-226. Chapter 11, A new curriculum, p. 256-283. Curtis, Henry S. The reorganized school playground. Washington, Gov't Printing Office, 1913. 28 p. (U. S. Bureau of Education. Bulletin no. 40.) Ill 112 STATE COURSES OF STUDY FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. Delaware Public School Commission. Public education in Delaware. Report. New York, General Education Board. 1919. 202 p. Chapter 5, The present school system; chapter 6, The teachers; chapter 7, The schools and their work. Dewey, Evelyn. New schools for old. New York, E. P. Dutton Co., 1919. 337 p. Two chapters are especially worthy of mention: Chapter 10, Agriculture and the curriculum, p. 252-293. Chapter 11, Place of reading and writing in the curriculum, p. 293-322. Engleman, J. O. Moral education in school and home. New York, Benj. H. Sanborn Co., 1918. 314 p. Farnum, R. B. Present status of drawing and art in elementary and secondary schools of the United States. Washington, Gov't Printing Office, 1914. 375 p. (U. S. Bureau of Education. Bulletin no. 13.) Aims and scope in art teaching, p. 25-36. Foght, H. W. The American rural school. New York, Macmillan Co., 1910. 361 p. A suggestive earlier treatise on problems pertaining to rural education. The rural teacher and his work. New York, Macmillan Co., 1917. 359 p. Part 3, The teacher as maker of the revitalized course of study, p. 225-345. An excellent discussion of the curriculum for rural schools, with emphasis en the new subjects, including manual arts and home economics. Hart, Joseph K. Educational resources of village and rural communities. New York, Macmillan Co., 1913, 279 p. Chapter 15, Community life as the curriculum of the school, p. 213-244. Hill, Mabel. The teaching of civics. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1914. 145 p. An excellent treatise on the best methods of teaching civics. A number of the topics in the survey list are treated separately. Holden, P. H. The rotation plan. Chicago, International Harvester Co., 1919. 21 p. A bulletin on what the rotation plan for the teaching of agriculture is and what it does. Illinois Teachers' Association. Illinois school survey. 1917. 377 p. Survey of the rural schools, p. 276-377 Second report of the Committee on Elimination of Subject Matter. 1916. 152 p. Jessup, W. A. " Economy of time in arithmetic. " In Elementary School Teacher, 14: 461-576, Juno, 1914. Judd, C. H. Introduction to the scientific study of education. Boston, Ginn & Co., 1918. 333 p. Chapters 8, 9, 11, and 14 contain valuable suggestions regarding the curriculum. Kendall, C. N., and Stryker, Florence E. History in the elementary school. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1918. 134 p. An excellent treatment on methods of teaching history. and Mirick, Geo. A. How to teach the fundamental subjects. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1915. 329 p. Chapters on English, mathematics, geography, history, civics, and hygiene. How to teach the special subjects. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1918. 305 p. Chapters on music, physical education, drawing, nature study, and agriculture. Lathrop, Edith A. " Status of standardization of the rural schools of the United States.." In Univer- sity of Virginia. Record Extension Series. Vol. 5, no. 2, p. 16-23, Nov., 1919. Leiper, M. A. Teaching language through agriculture and domestic science. Washington, Gov't Print- ing Office, 1912. 30 p. (U. S. Bureau of Education. Bulletin no. 18.) Lyford, Carrie A. Three short courses in home making. Washington, Gov't Printing Office, 1917. 104 p. (U. S Bureau of Education. Bulletin no. 23.) McFee, Inez N. The teacher, the school and the community. Cincinnati, American Book Company, . 1918. 256 p. Contains suggestions on the teaching of reading, language, arithmetic, history, geography, hygiene, nature study, agriculture, and home science. McMurry, Charles. Teaching by projects. New York, Macmillan Co. 1920. 257 p. " Principles for making and judging a curriculum in geography." In Teachers College Record, 16; p. 317-320, Sept., 1915. The Montana rural and city courses in geography are based on McMurry's principles. "Uniform curriculum and examinations." In Journal of Proceedings and Addresses, National Education Asseoiation, July, 1913, p. 131-159. Maryland Educational Survey Commission. Public education in Maryland. 1916. 230 p. Chapter 6, The teachers; chapter 8, Instruction. Minnesota Educational Association. Elimination in elementary course of study. 1914. 15 p. Monroe, W. S. Second and third annual reports of the Bureau of Educational Measurements and Stand- ards, Vol. 6, no. 7, SO p. Bureau of Educational Measurements and Standards. Kansas State Nor- mal School, Emporia. 1917. Considers reading, spelling, handwriting, and arithmetic. KEFERENCE LIST. 113 National Institute for Moral Instruction, "Washington, D. C. Children's code of morals for elementary schools. 4 p. National Society for the Study of Education. Minimal essentials in elementary school subjects. Year- Books. Keports en concrete effort to determine relative values in all elementary school subjects. First report. 152 p. Fourteenth Year-Book, part 1, 1915. Reports on reading, handwriting, spelling, composition and grammar, arithmetic, geography, history and literature. Second report. 192 p. Sixteenth Year-Book, part 1, 1917. Reports on reading, handwriting, spelling, language, arithmetic, history, and physical education. Third report. 134 p. Seventeenth Year-Book, part 1, 1918. Reports on arithmetic, geography, reading, composition, civics, and history. Fourth report. 123 p. Eighteenth Year-Book, part 11, 1919. Reports on principles of method in teaching reading, spelling, arithmetic, and writing as derived from scientific investigations. Drawing and music are also considered. The measurement of educational products. 194 p. Seventeenth Year-Book, part 11, 1918. Nolan, A. W. The teaching of agriculture. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1918. 277 p. Contains an outline course of nature study and agriculture for the grades. Ohio State School Survey Commission Report. 1914. 308 p. Chapter 7, Classroom instruction. 106-156 p. Park, J. C, and Barlan, C. L. Some facts concerning manual arts and home making subjects in 156 cities. Washington, Gov't Printing Office, 1916. 28 p. (U. S. Bureau of Education. Bulletin no. 32.) Quick, Herbert. The brown mouse. Indianapolis, Bobs-Merrill Co., 1915. 310 p. Rapeer, L. W., and others. Teaching elementary school subjects. New York, Charles Scribners Sons, 1917. 569 p. This book contains chapters on each of the 17 school subjects included in this survey. P.owell, P. C. "The status of science teaching in the elementary schools of the United States." In Elementary School Teacher, 13: 387-404. Saint Louis, Mo. Department of Instruction. Moral education in the elementary schools. 1918. 20 p. Contains an excellent article on the teaching of morals through all school activities. Sears, J. B. Classroom organization and control. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1918. 295 p. Part 2, The machinery and the process, p. 109-227. Excellent chapters on the school curriculum and the daily program. Tidyman, W. F. The teaching of spelling. Yonkers-on-Hudson, N. Y., World Book Co., 1919. 178 p. One of the best recent summaries of scientific investigations of spelling, and their interpretation for methods and materials. Trafton, G. H. The teaching of science in the elementary schools. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1918, 288 p. Part 1, chapter 2, gives aims in teaching science, and chapver 3 a discusion of the materials and their correlation. United States. Department of Agriculture. Correlating agriculture with the public-school subjects of the Northern States. 42 p. Correlating agriculture with the public-school subjects of the Southern States. 41 p. Washington, Gov't Printing Office, 1915; (Bulletin, nos. 281 and 132, 1915.) United States. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Education. A survey of the educational insti- tutions of the State of Washington. Washington, Gov't Printing Office, 1916. 211 p. (Bulletin no. 26, 1916.) Section 2, General review of the public-school S5 r stem, p. 125-165. An educational study of Alabama. W T ashington, Gov't Printing Office, 1919. (Bulletin no. 41, 1919.) ■ An educational survey of a suburban and rural count} 7 . Washington, Gov't Printing Office, 1913. 64 p. (Bulletin no. 32.) Chapter 2, Educational conditions, p 3-51. Educational conditions in Arizona. Report of a survey. Washington, Gov't Printing Office, 1917. (Bulletin no. 44, 1917.) Chapter 2 contains a survey of rural schools. Educational conditions in Arizona. Report of a survey. Washington, Gov't Print- ing Office, 1917. (Bulletin no. 44.) Chapter 2 contains a survey of rural schools. Educational survey of Wyoming. Washington, Gov't Printing Office, 1916. 120 p. (Bulletin no. 29, 1916.) ( haptcr 2, Education in the United States, p. 27-65. Report of an inquiry into the administration and support of the Colorado school system. Washington, Gov't Printing Office, 1917. 93 p. (Bulletin no. 5, 1917.) Chapter 5, The administration of school instruction, p. 47-92. 114 STATE COURSES OE STUDY FOR RURAL, SCHOOLS. United States. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Education. The educational system of South Dakota. Washington. Gov't Printing Office, 1918. 304 p. (Bulletin no. 31, 1918.) Chapter 12, Course of study for rural schools, p. 79-89; chapter 14, Instruction and supervision in rural schools, p. 112-135. The rural teacher of Nebraska. Washington, Gov't Printing Office, 1919. 67 p. (Bulletin no. 20, 1919.) Chapter 3, Education, p. 30-38. Virginia Educational Commission. Public-schools survey and report. 1919. 400 p. Wilson, H. B., and Wilson, G. M. Motivation of school work. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1916. 256 p. Excellent chapters on the motivation of reading, language, history, geography, and arithmetic. Woofter, T. J. Teaching in rural schools. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1917. 315 p. Section 11 deals with the teaching of elementary school subjects. All of the school subjects usually taught in rural schools are reviewed in detail as to methods and materials. Yocum, A. D. "The determination of the course of study." In Journal of Proceedings and Addresses, National Education Association, 1914, p. 223-235. INDEX. Agriculture, analytic survey, 98-101. Aims of the school, 11-12. Arithmetic, analytic survey, 74-77; recommendations, 77; relative prominence, 42-43. Art and industry, analytic survey, 98-107. Average course of study, 40-41. Books and reference materials, 108-114; recommendations, 109-110. Citizenship, analytic survey, 78-87; recommendations, 87. Civics, analytic survey, 83-85. Class periods, program of twenty-four, one-teacher schools, 27, 29.- Community activities, 15. Content materials, selection and correlation, 47-64; summary and recommendations, 62-64. Correlation, program, 60-62. Definition of good course of study, 6. Delaware, textbook more frequently used than State course, 4. Distribution of space, variable nature, 41-42. Domestic science. See Household arts. Dominant purpose of course of study, 17. Drawing, analytic survey, 104-106. Elementary school subjects, relative importance 32-46; summary and recommendations, 44-46. English courses, analytic survey, 65-73; recommendations, 73. Ethics. See Manners and morals. Functional value of courses in use, 3-5. Geography, analytic survey, 88-92. Grades, alternation and combination, one-teacher schools, 20-22. Handwriting, analytic survey, 72-73; relative prominence, 43. History, analytic survey, 78-S3. Household arts, analytic survey, 102-103. Hygiene, analytic survey, 92-94. Improving courses of study, 6-7. Industry and art, analytic survey, 98-107; recommendations, 107. Introductory curricula studies, 1-9; summary and recommendations, 15-17. Judd, C. H., on school curriculum, 6. Language, analytic survey, 67-70. Language and reading, relative prominence, 43. Letter of transmittal, in. McMurry, Frank, definition of good course of study, 6. Major problems covered by survey, 1. Manners and morals, analytic survey, 85-87. Manual arts, analytic survey, 103-104. Measuring length of courses of study, 33-34. Montana, standards useful to a teacher, 12-13. Music, analytic survey, 106-107. Nationalized curriculum, 7-8. Nature study, analytic survey, 95-97. Nonintelligent use of courses of study, 5-6. One-teacher schools, organization, 18-31; summary and recommendations, 29-31. Paintings, titles of reproductions appearing in courses of study, 70. Physical education, analytic survey, 94-95; relative prominence, 43. Plan of course of study, 13-14. Preparation of courses, 2-3. Program, average daily, one-teacher subjects, 22-23; model, one-teacher schools, 18-19. Reading, analytic survey, 65-67. Kecitation periods, average number of daily, one-teacher schools, 23; number of dailv, one-teacher schools 19-20. 115 116 INDEX. Recitation time, distribution, one-teacher schools, 23-26. Science, analytic survey, 88-97; recommendations, 97. Sources of materials, 2. Space allotment, percentage, 38-40. Spelling, analytic survey, 70-71. Standardization of schools, 14-15. Subject space assigned to each grade, 37-38. Subjects, alternation and combination, one-teacher schools, 22; grade space assigned, 36-37; names for, 32; number of outlines provided, 33; number of pages allotted, 34-36; plan of grouping, 13; relative fre- quency of grade combinations, one-teacher schools, 20; relative importance, 32-46; relative promi- nence, 42-44. Subjects and topics, correlation, 58-60; grouping, 58; selecting and correlating, 47-64. Summary and recommendations, 15-17,29-31,44-46,62-64,73,77,87,97,107,109-110. Supplies and materials, 15. Teaching, standards forjudging, 12-13. Teaching and study, methods, 12. Textbooks, uniformity in following, 5-6. Topics, grade distribution, 54-57; number, 53-54; relationship of listed, 51-53; selection, 49-51; treated, 10-11; types, 49. See also Subjects and topics. Uniform minimum curriculum for Nation, 9. ' o LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 021 731 562 1