FIIW^ODRCUBB EDUc,^!ONAi.: ■^T-^:wm'^:sF^*-^^ Class _/_A3i Book ^"p. Cq: Copyright N!'^ CjJElfRIGHT DEPOSir. EDUCATIONAL SURVEY SERIES School Organization and Administration EDUCATIONAL SURVEY SERIES School Organization and Administration A Concrete Study based on the Salt Lake City School Survey By ELLWOOD P. CUBBERLEY PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION, LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY Assisted by Jesse B. Sears, Lewis M. Terman James H. Van Sickle, und J. Harold Williams YONKERS-ON-HUDSON, NEW YORK. WORLD BOOK COMPANY 1916 Copyright, 1916, by World Book Company All rights reserved ss : csoA — I h AUG 25 1916 r^ ©ci.A4:r/3':i PUBLISHERS' PREFACE "p\URING two or three years preceding 191 5 a certain ■*^ amount of general criticism developed in Salt Lake City with reference to the work of the schools and the effi- ciency of the instruction and supervision. The harmonious cooperation which had previously existed between the Board of Education and the Superintendent of Instruction came to be somewhat impaired, and the confidence of the citizens in their schools was somewhat shaken. In particular, the rather common complaint was raised that the administration of the schools was not efficient, and that the instruction in the fun- damental school subjects was not producing the best results. The superintending authorities did what they could to meet such criticism by increasing time allowances, and similar measures, but without appreciable results. Finally, the Superintendent of Schools for the city recommended to the Board of Education that educational experts from out- side the state be invited in to make a school survey, decide mooted questions, and outline an educational policy for the future. The President of the Board of Education also made a similar recommendation to the Board and to the people in the printed annual school report for 1913-14. In May, 19 14, the Board of Education acted on these recommendations and ordered a school survey, appropriated $4,000 to cover the cost of making such survey, not includ- ing the printing of the report, and invited Professor Cub- berley, head of the Department of Education at Leland Stanford Junior University, together with such persons as he might choose to associate with him, to conduct the survey. The nature of the survey decided on by Professor Cub- berley was determined somewhat by the character of the criticisms which had given origin to it. The survey con- cerned itself especially with the form of organization and administration under which the schools were operated, the vi Publishers^ Preface system of supervisory control by means of which the Super- intendent of Schools worked, the progress in the funda- mental subjects being made by the children in the schools, and the problem of adequate finance. The field work was conducted during May, the report was prepared during June, and the printed volume was issued in October, 191 5. The conclusions of the report, unlike those of most sur- veys which have so far been made, were favorable to the Superintendent of Schools, and the report is a rather strong testimonial as to the value of the fifteen years of service he had given to the city. The chief criticism of his work is in the overemphasis he had allowed, as revealed by the tests made of the work in the schools, of the instruction in the so-called fundamental school subjects. The report contained, in addition, a number of features which were quite distinctive, and which made the document so much in demand that it was out of print wnthin six months of its publication. Among these should be mentioned the detailed explanation of the tests made and the results ob- tained, the study of the instruction of retarded pupils, the work in health control, the school building and site problem, and the peculiar financial problem presented by this city. In consideration of this large demand, both from individ- uals and for university class use, the publishers have decided to reissue the report as a member of their Survey Series, with the hope of its meeting a still larger usefulness. Be- fore its reissue, each chapter has been carefully revised by the member of the survey staff responsible for it, and the whole by the director of the survey. While the study was made with the needs and conditions of a particular city in mind, the methods and the conclusions are of such general application that it has been felt to be perfectly proper to give the document the more general title of a study in School Organiaation and Administration. As such a con- crete study, it is hoped that it may meet with large useful- ness among students of city educational administration in all parts of the United States. DIRECTOR'S LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL Mr. Ledyard M. Bailey, Chairman Survey Committee, Salt Lake City, Utah. Dear Sir: I have the honor to submit to you herewith, for your com- mittee, the final report of the survey of the public school system of your city, as authorized and directed by resolution of your Board of Education on May 4, 1915. The work on this survey was begun in Salt Lake City on May 10. The survey staff, with the particular parts assigned to each member, was as follows: Ellwood p. Cubberley, Professor of Education, Leland Stanford Junior University. Director of the Survey; Administration; Finances. Jesse B. Sears, Assistant Professor of Education, Leland Stanford Junior University. Efficiency Tests. Lewis M. Terman, Associate Professor of Education, Leland Stanford Junior University. School Buildings; Health Supervision; Physical Education. James H. Van Sickle, Superintendent of City Schools, Springfield, Massachusettsr Courses of Study; Instruction. J. Harold Willlams, Director of Research, Whittier (Cal.) State School for Delinquents. Progress of Pupils; Statistical Work; Drawings. The field work of the survey was completed on May 28. During the progress of the work the members of the survey staff were in constant consultation, and the nature and scope of the report gradually shaped itself while we were in Salt Lake City. Before leaving the city the report was outlined, in some detail, and formed the subject of discussion for a number of even- ings. As an outgrowth of this discussion the conclusions here presented were agreed upon. To facilitate the work of the survey, as well as the writing of the different chapters, each member of the survey staff gave par- ticular attention to the parts which he was to organize in written form. Since leaving Salt Lake City each member of the staff has written the parts assigned to him, the drawings to illustrate the conclusions have been made, and all have been submitted to the director, who has organized and unified the report. The viii Director's Letter of Transmittal responsibility for the report as a whole rests with the director of the survey, though proper credit for the work done on the different chapters by the members of the survey staff is indicated in the body of the report. In preparing the report we have tried to commend the good features of your school system, and to use criticism only as a basis for constructive recommendations. The larger aspects of your problem relate to buildings, teachers, and finance, and these have naturally received the major emphasis. It is hoped that the survey may prove of much service to your board in handling the educa- tional problems with v/hich you have to deal, and in securing the new legislation which is so necessary if your schools are to make the progress they ought to make. A city of the character of yours cannot afford to rest content with the present situation. It is also hoped that the people of your city may find much in the report that will be of interest to them and will serve to give them a more intelligent conception of the magnitude and intricacy of the problems of public education in a city such as yours. The rapidity with which we were able to do the work is in part due to the courteous and helpful assistance rendered the members of the survey staff by every one with whom we had to deal. Es- pecially is an expression of appreciation due to the entire office force of the different administrative departments of the school system, the school principals, and the teachers who assisted in the grading of the pupil tests. I also wish to take this opportunity to express my appreciation of the large capacity for work on the part of those associated with me on the survey. Respectfully submitted, Ellwood p. Cubberley, Director oj the Survey. Stanford University, California, June 30, 1915. DIRECTOR'S NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION The original edition of this report, pubHshed by the Board of Education of Salt Lake City, having become exhausted, the op- portunity has been availed of carefully to revise the chapters, make a few desirable corrections, and add a small amount of more recent supplementary material. In its present form it is felt that this survey report not only forms a commendatory document for the city concerned, and especially for those who have been re- sponsible for its educational development, but also provides superintendents and principals of schools and students of educa- tional administration generally with a document worthy of very careful study. E. P. C. April 6, 1916. CONTENTS Page Publishers' Preface v Letter of Transmittal vii I. ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION Chapter I. The Problem Before Us 3 Position of the city — Comparative isolation of the city — • Growth in population — Character of the population — • Percentage of children — • Occupations in the city — Wealth of the city — The city and its needs — Order of procedure II. The Organization or the School System ..... 21 General state control — Carrying out the state purpose — A Board's proper functions — The Salt Lake City organization — Committees and departments — Present organization wrong in principle — • Right principles in school organization — A proper administrative reorgani- zation — The public and the superintendent — A more fundamental reorganization desirable — Summary of recommendations III. Administration of the Educational Department. 36 Work of the educational department — The supervisory staff — The present special supervision — Further supervisory needs — The worth of supervision — The school principals — Reasons for this difference in Salt Lake City — The premium on individual initiative IV. The Teaching Staff 47 Growth of the school system — Position of Salt Lake City as to teach- ers — Other bad features of the teacher situation — The salary sched- ules — Comparative salaries paid — Conclusions as to teachers -s V. School Census and School Attendance 59 The increase in both — A school census bureau — Value of such rec- ords in locating school buildings — Enforcement of compulsory attend- ance — Where the schools are increasing — Pupils completing the high-school course II. THE WORK OF THE SCHOOLS •^ VI. The Printed Courses of Study 71 Order of procedure — Opinions and tests 1 . The kindergartens - — The kindergarten theory — More kinder- gartens needed 2. The courses of study for the elementary schools — How the courses of study were made — What the courses prescribe — Diversity in time allotments — Pupils who cannot accomplish the minimum xi xii Contents Chapter Page 3. The school subjects in detail (i) Morals, manners, and civics — Prominence given to this subject (2) The language or English group — Emphasis on English work — Reading and literature — Good oral reading — Where improvements might be made — Phonics — Language and grammar — Spirit of the upper-grade work (3) SpelUng — Directions for the work in spelling — Time given to spelUng (4) Writing — The method used (5) History, civics, and sociology — The general plan — At- tention to local liistory — Excellent features of the course (6) Nature study — The printed outhne — Diversity in kind and amount of work done — School and home gardening (7) Arithmetic — Nature of the printed course — The teaching observed (8) Geography — The course good — The instruction observed (q) Music — The instruction observed (10) Art and construction — Need for more supervision — The art and handwork outhnes — Drawing in the lower grades — Modehng — Other constructional activities (11) Manual training — A poor course of study — Work needs enlarging — Suggestions for improvement (12) Domestic arts and science (13) Physical training nI VII. The Instruction and Supervision as Seen: De- sirable Extensions no 1. The instruction and supervision as seen — The qualit}' of instruction — Classwork observed — An observed characteristic — The principals and their work — • The supervision of work in the common branches — Promotion of pupils — Types of examination tests used — The qual- ity of the grade supervision 2. Desirable extensions — The Junior high school — The plan as yet imperfectly developed — Types of courses needed — Vocational train- ing — Vocations in Salt Lake City — Vocational education needed — The Senior high schools — Ungraded classes VIII. The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured . 130 Purpose of this section of the report — Extent of the tests made — Nature of tests given — What such tests should reveal — How the tests were conducted (i) The test in spelling — Status of spelling in the city's curricu- lum — The test and how it was conducted — The results of the test — Results of the test by individuals — Uneven ability shown — Comparison with three other cities (2) The test in composition — Nature and method of the com- position test — ■ The results of the test — ■ Children poorly classi- fied for language work — Samples of average composition — Salt Lake City's composition work — Conclusions and recommenda- tions (3) The writing test — Writing in the school curriculum — How the writing was measured — Results by schools and by grades — Variability among individuals in the same grade — Comparison with other cities — How well the average child can write — Needed changes in instruction Contents xiii Chapter Page (4) The test in reading — Reading in the course of study — How the reading was tested — Results of the test — Variation be- tween individuals — The speed test — The problem the schools must meet (s) The tests in arithmetic — Arithmetic in the course of study — How the arithmetic was tested — Results of tests in the fundamentals — Widely different results in different schools — Comparison with other cities — Accuracy in use of number com- binations — The reasoning test — Comparison with other cities in reasoning test (6) Summary and recommendations — The use of standardized tests IX. The Progress of Children Through the Schools . 194 Importance of proper school progress — Age and grade distribution — High percentage of retarded pupils — Distribution of the retarded pupils — Conditions in one room — A proper redistribution of the pupils — The fifth grade as an example of uneven distribution — "Re- peaters" — Causes of retardation — Age at entering the first grade — Other explanations for retardation — Subnormal and backward chil- dren — Mental classification groups — Children examined by intelli- gence tests — The measuring scale used — Backward children studied — Feeble-irdnded children — These waste both the teacher's time and their own — Number of such found in every city — The ungraded school — Mistaken aim of the ungraded school — Proper training for such pupils — ^The so-called ungraded rooms — In reahty "Batavia" rooms — What is needed — The principal of such a school — Un- graded rooms for the different schools — Exceptional children — Typical cases found — The problem of delinquency — Summary^ of reconmiendations III. BUILDINGS AND HEALTH X. The School Plant 229 The present buildings — The school sites — Size of school grounds — Waste of space in buildings — The result of such excess — Lighting — Light tests -— Heating — Ventilation — Other factors in ventilation — Poor ventilation common — Basement and hall classrooms — These should be abandoned — School desks — Blackboards — Cloakrooms — Special rooms — Open-air schools — School baths — Toilets — Drinking fountains — Roller towels — Janitor service — Need for greater cleanUness — Fire protection — Quality of construction and costs — Repairs — Summary and recommendations XL Health Supervision 269 Standards for comparison — OflBcers and assistants — Scope and nature of work — Costs — Stages in the development of health service — The second stage in development — The third stage — Health su- pervision becomes an educational service — Nature of the school health work in Salt Lake City — Stage in development represented — Results from the present service — Effectiveness of the school nurse — Expan- sions planned by the health commissioner — Health conditions of Salt Lake City school children — Summarizing the data on health condi- tions among the children — Headaches — Ears and hearing — Eyes and vision — Nose and throat troubles — Teeth — General weakness — Mentally or morally exceptional children — Speech defects — • Mal- nutrition — Health work should be extended — Conclusions and recommendations xiv Contents Chapter Page XII. Physical Education, Playground Activities, and Hygiene Teaching 294 1. Physical education — Two types of physical education — The type in Salt Lake City — An average and fair example of the indoor games — Other exercises seen — Character of the yard play — Play teachers needed — Physical education in the high schools — The militarj' drill — Better physical training desirable 2. Playground activities — Small school playgrounds — Larger use of playgrounds desirable — Vacation playground activities 3. Hygiene teaching — The present course of instruction — Practical instruction — The buildings negative the instruction — Summary and recommendations IV. FINANCES XIII. The Financial Problem 315 City costs for maintenance — Costs per capita for schools — Why these figures are misleading — A real basis for comparing school costs — The median western cost — Where Salt Lake City stands — Wealth and tax rates — Need for a larger school tax — The remedy a legislative one — Distribution of expenditures — Distribution of expenditures during the next two years APPENDIX A Suggested Law for the Management of the Salt Lake City School District 335 Schools in cities of the first class — The board of education — Conduct of elections — Organization of board — Executive officers — Superin- tendent of schools — Clerk and purchasing agent — Treasurer — Su- perintendent of buildings — Superintendent of attendance and census — Superintendent of health work — Annual report — Annual budget — Annual school tax — Other powers Index 341 PART I Organization and Administration SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION CHAPTER n THE PROBLEM BEFORE US POSITION OF THE CITY IT always leads to a clearer understanding of a problem such as we have before us for study if we first locate the city with which we are to deal. By this is meant not its geographical location, as that is well known, but rather its social and economic location among cities of its size and class. From such a study of the social and economic posi- tion and relationships the problem of public education, which is essentially a social and economic problem, stands out more distinctly than it otherwise would do. Such a social and economic study we shall make before proceeding to a detailed study of the accomplishments and needs of the educational organization of the city. For the purpose of this study we shall compare Salt Lake City with a number of other cities of its size and class. In doing this we shall use in part the twenty-five other north- ern and western cities which, by the United States Census of 1 910, were classed as growing cities and as having, at that time, between 75,000 and 125,000 inhabitants. As Salt Lake City had a population of 92,777 in 1910, and is estimated as * Chapters I to V inclusive were written by Professor EUwood P. Cub- berley, Director of the Survey. — Publishers. 3 4 School Organization and Administratimi now having a population of approximately 110,000, it will be seen that this group of cities includes those of a size and class with which Salt Lake City may properly be compared. For purposes of comparing Salt Lake City with western cities alone, another table of sixteen distinctly western cities, all of which had 25,000 or more inhabitants in 19 10, will also at times be used. For all these cities the Reports of the United States Census for ipio, and the United States Cen- sus Bureau's annual Statistics of Cities, provide good data for comparative purposes. COMPARATIVE ISOLATION OF THE CITY One of the most conspicuous features of Salt Lake City, and one which in a way modifies its activities and needs, is its comparative isolation. One must travel to the east as far as Denver before one finds a city of its class, and to the west as far as Sacramento. Within a radius of 700 miles there is not only no community the size of Salt Lake City, but within this same radius but three cities having more than 15,000 inhabitants are found. One of these is the neighbor- ing city of Ogden, and the other two are 400 miles to the north, in Idaho and Montana. In traveling to the eastward the summit of the continental divide must be crossed, while to the westward the desert and the Sierra Nevada Mountains block the way. Beautifully situated on a rising slope between the Wasatch and the Oquirrh ranges of mountains, in a country rich in mineral and agricultural resources and in a valley of great fertility, with the state university and the state capitol within its bounds, the city stands as tlie mineral, agricultural, po- litical, financial, social, and educational center of the state, and, to a large degree, of the inter-mountain plateau as well. Blessed with a fine climate, plenty of good water, abundant sunshine, good educational facilities, and a progressive people, the city has attracted to itself a population of good character and great virility, and one which has made for the The Problem Before Us 5 city a somewhat independent position along social, educa- tional, financial, and industrial lines. Forced to depend largely upon itself, the city has developed in a small way into a manufacturing and producing center of some local importance. The mining industry tributary to it is of large commercial value, and is destined to remain such for a long time to come. Notwithstanding these developments, how- ever, the city is essentially a home city, its population con- sisting very largely of a substantial middle class of the home-building and home-owning type, interested in good government, good schools, and the promotion of the home. GROWTH IN POPULATION The growth of the city within the past quarter century has been very rapid. This may be seen from the following tabular statement : Year Population Per Cent, of Increase During Period 1880 1890 1900 1910 191S 20,768 44,843 53,531 92,777 110,000 * II5-9 19.4 73-3 ' Estimate for July i, 1915. Among the cities of its size and class it was exceeded in rate of growth, from 1900 to 19 10, by but three of the twenty-five cities we shall use for comparative purposes, as may be seen from the Table No. I, on page 6. Of the distinctively western cities, with which Salt Lake City will also be compared for items of expense, only the Pacific Coast cities exceed Salt Lake City in rate of growth from 1900 to 1 9 10. School Organization a)id Administration TABLE I Size and Rate of Growth of Twenty-six Selected Cities* City Population, 1910 Per cent. Rate of In- crease, 1900-1910 Troy, N.Y Somerv'ille, Mass Duluth, Minn Youngstovvn, Ohio Yonkers, N.Y Kansas City, Kan Tacoma, Wash Lawrence, Mass Des Moines, la Springfield, Mass Lynn, Mass SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH Camden, N.J Reading, Pa New Bedford, Mass Trenton, N.J Hartford, Conn Albany, N.Y Bridgeport, Conn Spokane, Wash Cambridge, Mass Lowell, Mass Grand Rapids, Mich Dayton, Ohio Fall River, Mass Omaha, Neb 76,813 77,936 78,466 79,066 79.S03 82,331 83,743 85,892 86,368 88,926 89,336 92,777 94,538 96,071 96,652 96,815 98,915 100,253 102,054 104.402 104,839 106,294 112,571 116,577 119,295 124,096 26.6 25-3 48.1 76.2 66.S 60.1 122.0 37-3 39-0 43-3 30-4 73.3 24-5 21.7 54-8 32.1 23-9 6.5 43-7 183.3 14.1 11.9 28.6 36.6 13-8 21.0 This means that Salt Lake City was among the few most rapidly growing American cities during the period. Aver- aged over the entire ten years from 1900 to 1910 the in- * This table contains every northern and western city which in 1910 had between 75,000 and 125,000 inhabitants, and which had increased in popu- lation during the preceding decade. The Problem Before Us 7 crease was equal to 11.2 persons per day. As the rate of growth, judged by the number of children in the schools, was more rapid toward the end of the period than during the earlier part of it, the rate toward the latter part of the period must have been at least as high as fifteen persons per day. The increase in the number of children in school would indicate that a growth at least as rapid as this still continues. CHARACTER OF THE POPULATION In character the population is mostly of excellent racial stock. Figure i shows that 78 out of every 100 persons in the city, in 19 10, were born in the United States, and 41 out of every 100 were born of parents both of whom also were born here. This is about average for all northern and western cities, being higher than in the manufacturing centers of the east and lower than in the residential cities of the west. Of the 21 per cent, who were of foreign birth, it will be noticed that 9.3 per cent, came from English- speaking lands, leaving but 1 1.8 per cent, from non-English- speaking countries. Three-fourths of these were from Ger- man, Austrian, or Scandinavian countries. But i.i per cent, were, at that time, from countries to the south and east of Europe (Italians. Greeks, the Balkan States, Armenia, Turkey) and but eight-tenths of i per cent, were of the negro race. The miscellaneous group included but few Orientals. This means that the city, in 1910, had a particularly select class of people, with no serious educational or social problem arising from the presence of a large number of foreign born. Orientals, or negroes. Coming from countries where primary education has long prevailed, the number of illiter- ates in the population is naturally low. The average for the city in 1910 was 1.6 per cent., as against y.y per cent, for the United States as a whole, and 6.9 per cent, for the Moun- tain States. The foreign-born element showed an illiteracy 8 School Organization and Administration of 4.4 per cent., and the native born but 0.25 per cent., with most of this among the few negroes. The number of foreign born from the south and east of Europe has since increased, both in actual numbers and in percentage of the total population, and their settlement / NATIVE BORN, NATIVE BORN, \ OF NATIVE PARENTS ONE OR BOTH PARENTS \ FOREIGN 1 41.1^ /\ ^^-^fo 1 \ ypOREIGNV 1 \ ^T Corn ys. / \ Jr^yf^^liii^^^^^^ 1 \ M Sll 1 "X ^^ # \ ^f ill 1 / \ '^ ^^ # \ Jr ill \ t\ ^ N. / \ ^W /IE] 1 ^ \ ^S" ft. ^v £ \ >^f flPl^ 1 ^ \ ^ ^^ M \ Mil H\ ^\ y ^^W A^/ ^ kfl^i ^ **/ ^ \ _^r ^^^^W ^ f/j^l ^^1 \ .^^ ^^^^ /h^ / ^ I \ ^^^^ ^ --^-^ Fig. I. The Elements of the Population of Salt Lake City largely in that part of the city lying along the railroad tracks is certain to develop there what will in time become a serious educational and social problem. In a sense it has already become such. With the marked turn of immigration from the north and west of Europe to the countries to the south and east, that has characterized the immigration of The Problem Before Us 9 the past fifteen years, Salt Lake City cannot hope to escape receiving an increasing percentage of these more poorly educated and less well-developed racial stocks. TABLE II Composition of the Population of 26 Selected Cities City Percentage of the Whole Who Are Native Born of Native Parents Native Born with One or Both Parents Foreign Born Foreign Born Negroes I. 2. 3- 4- 5- 6. 7- 8. 9- 10. 11. 12. 13- 14. IS- 16. 17- 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23- 24. 25- 26. Reading, Pa Des Moines, la Dayton, Ohio Kansas City, Mo Camden, N.J Spokane, Wash. Albany, N.Y Tacoma, Wash Omaha, Neb Troy, N.Y SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH Trenton, N.J Springfield, Mass Somerville, Mass Lynn, Mass Grand Rapids, Mich. . . . Youngstown, Ohio . . . . Hartford, Conn Yonkers, N.Y Bridgeport, Conn Cambridge, Mass Duluth, Minn Lowell, Mass New Bedford, Mass. . . . Lawrence, Mass Fall River, Mass United States as a Whole 77.8 62.3 62.0 58.3 52.4 52.3 44.4 43-6 42.6 42.0 41.1 40.0 40.2 38.3 2>7-'^ 36.2 32.4 31-4 27.1 26.6 24.4 19.7 19-5 19.4 13.6 12.2 22.3 2 1. 9 17.8 24-5 26.1 36.4 28.S 31-9 37-1 37.0 30.2 32.2 34-5 38.0 33-7 35-2 37-5 36.6 38.0 40.6 39-5 37-9 43-7 9-2% 12.0 11.9 12.6 16.6 20.3 18.1 25.6 21.8 20.1 21.1 27.2 25-9 26.9 30.6 25.2 314 31.6 35-5 39-1 40.9 44.1 48.1 42.6 J. 54-1 20.5 14.7 0.8% 3-4 4.2 II-3 6.4 0.7 i.o 0.9 3-6 0.8 0.8 2.7 1-7 0-3 0.8 0.6 2.4 1.8 1.9 1-3 4-S 0-5 0.1 30 0-3 0.3 10.7 lO School Organization and Administration Table II compares Salt Lake City with other cities of its size and class in the matter of the elements of its population. PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN In the percentage of children in the total population, Salt Lake City ranks high among western cities. The general characteristics of a western city are a marked preponder- ance of males, a small percentage of married males, and a small number of children. In these respects Salt Lake City is an exception, as it has but a small preponderance of males, a large percentage of the males are married, and in TABLE III Percentage of Children in the Total Population Compared for Western Cities City 2. 3- 4- 5- 6. 7- 8. 9- lO. II. 12. 13- 14. IS- 16. 17- Ogden, Utah SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH Colorado Springs, Colo. . . . Tacoma, Wash Denver, Colo Butte, Mont Berkeley, Cal Spokane, Wash Oakland, Cal San ]os€, Cal Pasadena, Cal San Diego, Cal Los Angeles, Cal Seattle, Wash Sacramento, Cal Portland, Ore San Francisco, Cal United States as a Whole . . Percentage of Children S to 15 Years of Age, Inclusive Under 15 Years of Age 32.1 29.6 233 23.6 23.1 239 22.7 23.2 22.5 21.4 20.3 20.2 20.1 19.7 1Q.8 18.8 18.9 17.4 27-3 The Problem Before Us II number of children it ranks with the markedly foreign-born manufacturing cities of the east and the cities of the south. Only one other western city, Ogden, exceeds it in percentage of children. This may be seen from Table III. Distributed by age groups the population is as shown in Figure 2. From this figure it will be seen that Salt Lake UNITED STATES UNOtR SALT LAKE CITY 3 XfARS 9.9^ 1 ■^§■■1 /f.4^. 5 TO 14 YEARS 17.4 « 1 I^HJ^IHHH 'y'^ IS TO 3.* TtARS zo.it 1 44 YEARS 32.9 ?J 332% 25 TO 1 1 45 TO 64 /EARS 19.Z% \ ■■^■H '3.6 oven 4.0% 1 6^EARS Fig. 2. Age Distribution of the Population City is essentially a community of young people, there being an excess of children and a shortage of those 45 years of age or over. The United States Census figures gave 4.6 per- sons to a family and 5.2 persons to a dwelling for the city in 1 9 10. Such a condition should mean a live and vigorous city, — a city of young people, and with their families as yet young. Such a community is usually self-reliant and re- sourceful, and willing to provide the best it can afford for its children. 12 School Organization and Administration The following table compares Salt Lake City with other cities of its size and class in the matter of the proportion of children in the total population: TABLE IV Showing the Percentage of Children in the Total Population City Fall River, Mass Yonkers, N.Y SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH Camden, N.Y Lawrence, Mass Cambridge, Mass New Bedford, Mass Duluth, Minn Grand Rapids, Mich Lowell, Mass Youngstown, Ohio Kansas City, Kan Bridgeport, Conn Hartford, Conn Trenton, NJ Des Moines, la Reading, Pa Springfield, Mass Somerville, Mass Dayton, Ohio Omaha, Neb Tacoma, Wash Lynn, Mass Albany, N.Y Troy, N.Y Spokane, Wash United States as a Whole . . Percentage of Children 5 to 15 Years of Age, Inclusive 20.4 1S.9 18.5 18.1 17.9 17-5 17.2 17.2 17.0 17.0 16.9 16.8 16.8 16.8 16.8 16.6 iS-9 iS-9 15-6 iS-4 15-2 15.2 15.0 14.9 14.6 14-5 Under 15 Years of Age 32.1 29.9 29.6 28.4 28.3 27.8 28.9 26.S 27.0 26.8 27.9 27.9 27.2 26.6 26.6 25.6 27.2 253 26.0 245 23-7 23.6 24.0 22.6 23.2 23.2 17-4 27-3 The Problem Before Us 13 The significance of this large number of children of school age may be better appreciated if it be stated that, for a city the size of Salt Lake City (estimated now at i io,cxdo), Fig. 3. PoRTLA>a), Oregon, and Salt Lake City Compared as to Children In making the school survey in Portland in 1913, as in Salt Lake City in igis. the number of children actually in the schools early in May was taken in each place. Reducing the Portland fii^res so as to give the results if the city were the same size as Salt Lake City (110,000), we get the above figure. The black represents the children in Portland, and the white represents the ex- cess in each grade for Salt Lake City for the same total population. Portland at that time had nine grades in its elementary school course. The increased number of schools which Salt Lake City must maintain per thousand of its population will at once be evident. every increase of i per cent, in the percentage of the popu- lation between 5 and 15 (the so-called school age) means at least 1,000 more children enrolled in the schools, 30 more teachers to be provided for the schools, and approximately 14 School Organization and Administration two more school buildings to be erected within the city. Put another way, Salt Lake City must provide 50 per cent, more teachers and buildings per 1,000 of its total population than do such cities as Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, and San Francisco, and 30 per cent, more than do Tacoma and Denver, to be able to maintain merely equivalent schools. This is well shown by Fig. 3. It is the price the city must pay for its large families and its large excess of children. OCCUPATIONS IN THE CITY It was stated on a preceding page that Salt Lake City had developed a somewhat independent position for itself along commercial and industrial lines. High freight rates have compelled the city to make many articles usually brought in from the outside, with the result that many small industries have been developed which afford employment and contribute to the wealth of the community. Sixty-five per cent, of the factories of the State of Utah are in Salt Lake City or county, and these factories furnished an out- put in 1914 valued at $61,450,000, and paid out in wages nearly $10,000,000. Located as the city is, and with abun- dant raw materials in many lines close at hand, it is a natural manufacturing community. According to the census figures for 19 10. 40.7 per cent, of the total population of the city were engaged in some occupation, with the distribution as follows: Engaged in mechanical and manufacturing industries 12.5% Engaged in trade 7.0 Engaged in domestic and personal service 5.4 Engaged in transportation 4.6 Engaged in clerical occupations 4.4 Engaged in professional service 3.6 Engaged in public service 1.7 Engaged in extraction of minerals 0.9 Engaged in agricultural pursuits 0.6 The Problem Before Us 15 Compared with all other American cities, Salt Lake City gives the following results for each 1,000 persons employed, distributed by occupation and by sex: TABLE V Number Engaged in Each Occupation, for Each 1,000 Employed Males Females Occupation In Salt Lake City In all Cities In Salt Lake City In all Cities 1. Manufacturing and mechani- cal industries 2. Trade 339 189 74 133 94 71 52 30 18 473 175 69 119 82 43 23 6 10 172 97 365 26 164 158 I 17 313 96 3. Domestic and personal service 4. Transportation 5. Clerical occupations .... 6. Professional services .... 7. Public service 8. Extraction of minerals . . . g. Agricultural and animal hus- bandry 348 18 135 88 2 Totals 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 An examination of the detailed distribution under any one occupation shows that almost all the industries, trades, and forms of service are followed. Under manufacturing and the mechanical industries the occupations concerned with the building- trades predominate, though the machinery trades employ quite a large number of men ; in transporta- tion, the railway service predominates ; in trade and the cleri- cal occupations there is a general distribution from clerks and stenographers to commercial travelers and retail deal- ers ; while in professional service designing and engineering work predominate. A rather unusual percentage of men are engaged in domestic and personal service. As will be 1 6 School Organization and Administration pointed out later on, in connection with the discussion of the courses of study in the schools, such a distribution of occu- pations calls for a rather varied educational experience in the schools. WEALTH OF THE CITY We pass finally to a study of the real wealth of the com- munity, to see how able it is to provide the type of education needed for its large number of children. The best basis for comparison here is the average actual (not assessed) wealth per capita of the total population. To obtain the actual wealth we must take the per capita assessed wealth, divide it by the basis of assessment, and multiply the result by lOO. This is the same as putting all cities on a lOO per cent, basis of assessment, and hence compares their actual wealth. Using the figures given in the United States Cen- sus Bureau's annual publication, Statistics of Cities for ipij,^ we thus get the following comparative table for the twenty-five cities of the size and class of Salt Lake City with which we have proposed to compare it : • This was at the time the most recent issue of this valuable year book. The Problem Before Us 17 TABLE VI Assessed and Real Wealth per Capita of the Total Population City Camden, N.J Trenton, N.J Reading, Pa Hartford, Conn Lowell, Mass Fall River, Mass Lawrence, Mass Troy, N.Y Somerville, Mass Lynn, Mass Des Moines, la New Bedford, Mass Bridgeport, Conn Yonkers, N.Y Kansas City, Kan Grand Rapids, Mich. . . . Cambridge, Mass Albany, N.Y Duluth, Minn Dayton, Ohio Tacoma, Wash Omaha, Neb Youngstown, Ohio Springfield, Mass Spokane, Wash SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH Average for the Group Median for the Group Assessed Wealth per Capita $593-69 710-43 553-41 593-69 771-65 789.92 807.67 825-33 846.08 848.39 232.15 944.12 944.91 965.00 985.60 772.49 1063.30 1014.16 547-64 1228.76 742.33 249.82 1526. II 1536.11 669.77 589.23 Basis of Assessment 100 100 75 80 100 100 100 98 100 100 25 100 100 100 100 75 100 89 46 100 60 20 100 100 42 35 Real Wealth per Capita $593-69 710.43 737-88 742.11 771-65 789.92 807.67 842.18 846.08 848.39 932.60 944.12 944.91 965.00 985.60 1029.99 1063.30 1139-51 1190.52 1228.76 1237.21 1249.10 1526.11 1536.11 1666.12 1683.52 51038.94 954.96 This shows Salt Lake City to be the richest city in the group. Compared with Camden, Fall River, Lawrence, and Yonkers, cities which have somewhere near the same per- centage of children (see Table IV), Salt Lake City is indeed a wealthy city. Compared with western cities Salt Lake 1 8 School Organization and Administration City occupies a somewhat middle position, being a little higher than the average for the group, and markedly ex- ceeded only by Portland, San Francisco, and the three wealthy residential cities of southern California. This may be seen from the following table : TABLE VII Assessed and Real Wealth per Capita for Western Cities ' I. 2. 3- 4- 5- 6. 7- 8. 9- 10. II. 12. 13- 14. 15- 16. City Butte, Mont San Jose, Cal Denver, Colo Colorado Springs, Colo. . . . Tacoma, Wash Berkeley, Cal Oakland, Cal Seattle, Wash Spokane, Wash SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH Sacramento, Cal Pasadena, Cal Portland, Ore Los Angeles, Cal San Francisco, Cal San Diego, Cal Average for the Group . . . Median for the Group . . . Assessed Wealth per Capita $596.91 64S.61 563-25 400.77 742.33 822.68 738.96 721.24 699.77 589.23 1042.03 12S0.94 1212.40 880.20 1193.32 1051.05 Basis of Assessment 75 60 50 33 60 60 50 45 42 35 58 66 63 46 45 39 Real Wealth per Capita $795-88 10S1.02 1126.50 1202.31 1237.22 1371-13 1477.92 1602.77 1666.12 1683.52 1796.60 1921.41 1924.44 1930.87 2561.82 2695.00 51630.85 1634-45 These two tables show Salt Lake City as of large per capita wealth, even though the number of children in the total population is large. If the city had the usual small proportion of children found in western cities, it w^ould al- most equal Pasadena, Portland, or Los Angeles in its per * Ogden unfortunately cannot be included in this table, for the reason that the United States Census Bureau docs not publish financial statistics for cities which in 1910 had a population of less than 30,000. The Problem Before Us 19 capita wealth. As it is, it must be classed as among one of the few very rich cities of the United States. When we remember, further, that the city has very few really rich people, we can appreciate what a wide distribution of prop- erty there must be among the population. It is essentially a city of the so-called middle class. This should make the maintenance of any public enterprise, such as schools, a rel- atively easy matter. THE CITY AND ITS NEEDS We have then, for study, a rapidly growing western city of the best type. It is a city which, by reason of its compar- ative isolation, has developed an independence for itself which few cities are able to do or feel the need of doing. Its population is, as yet, very largely of the best American and foreign stocks, though a change in its character is beginning. The city is a city of young people, of large families, and of large per capita wealth. The pinch of competition, which in most places has led to a somewhat general reduc- tion in the size of families, has been scarcely felt here. There is still plenty of elbow room and plenty of opportu- nity. The city is characterized by the vigor and the confi- dence in itself which belongs to youth. The location of Salt Lake City makes it certain that it has a large future before it. This, the needs of its occupations and its industries, the general needs in our national life for good education for all, its large number of children of good stock, and the increasing number of children coming from homes of an inferior type, all alike make it important that tliis particular city maintain for its children as good an edu- cational system as it can possibly afford. Its large wealth, and, as will be shown later, its low per capita expense for city maintenance, make it possible for the city to afford as good an educational system as is to be found anywhere in the land. 20 School Organization and Administration ORDER OF PROCEDURE Having now examined somewhat in detail the character and position of Salt Lake City among cities of its size and class, we shall next pass to an examination of the organiza- tion of its educational system, the scope and needs of the system provided, the school plant and its needs, the health and play needs, and the financial problem of the system. CHAPTER II THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM GENERAL STATE CONTROL TO provide for the education of its children the State of Utah has, in its constitution, made the maintenance of a general system of public schools a state duty, and has charged the legislature to provide for the establishment and maintenance of schools in all parts of the state. The public school system is, in the constitution, declared to include all schools from the kindergarten to and through the state uni- versity. Certain permanent funds to aid in the support of schools are dedicated to the purposes, the general control of the system is vested in a state board of education and a state superintendent of public instruction, rates of taxation for state aid for education are fixed, and the separate organiza- tion and control of city school systems are provided for. The educational provisions of the constitution of the state have been amplified in the school law, which now forms a substantial volume of one hundred and forty printed pages. The powers and duties of the state board of education and of the state superintendent of public instruction have been specified, in some detail ; the counties of the state have been organized into county-unit organizations, under the educa- tional oversight of county superintendents of schools; cities of the first and second class have been allowed to organize separately under city boards of education, and the powers and duties of such have been laid down at some length ; the schools have been made free to all, and the attendance of all children between the ages of eight and sixteen years has been made compulsory for thirty weeks each year in cities, and twenty weeks elsewhere in the state. 2 2 School Organization and Administration CARRYING OUT THE STATE PURPOSE Education in Utah, as in practically all other American states, has been conceived as something of such great impor- tance to the future welfare of the state that it has not been felt safe to intrust it to the cities to manage. Education has been regarded as a " major claim " of each new generation on the one that has gone before — a form of debt which each generation owes to the new generation it brings into the world — and as such the state has not been willing to trust entirely the carrying out of this important obligation to local governmental units. Accordingly the state has pro- vided, by general law, for many details of local school ad- ministration, and has given boards of education power, within certain legal limits, to determine the sums needed for properly carrying out this state purpose. The qualifi- cations of members for boards of education, how they shall be elected, when they shall take office, how they may be removed, their compensation, the duties of the officers of the board, the department officers they may appoint, the general corporate powers of the board, their general powers and duties, how they shall estimate the city school tax, under what conditions and how they may incur indebtedness and issue bonds, and how they may erect school buildings, — all these matters are laid down, in some detail, in the school laws of the state instead of being left to the different cities to determine. The board of education, elected by the people to represent it in the management of their schools, in reality represents the state much more than it does the city. The state pur- pose of seeing that its future citizenship is properly educated is the important thing; the city is merely an agent of the state in the matter. The powers possessed by the board of education are derived from the state, and not from the city ; the state can add to or subtract from these, as it wills, or it could abolish the board of education entirely and substitute some other agency to do its work. If the board needs new Organization of School System 23 or additional powers it must ask the legislature for them; if its funds are not sufficient for the work the legislature has given it to do it must present its case to the legislature, and ask for an increase in the school tax rate. A BOARD S PROPER FUNCTIONS The hoard of education, acting as a body, consequently acts for the state in the matter of school control. Since the people of the city are also citizens of the state — in the case of Salt Lake City they constitute one-fourth of the citizens of the entire state — the board of education also represents the citizens of the city as well. It represents them, however, in their capacity as citizens of the State of Utah, rather than as citizens of Salt Lake City. It represents them, though, not individually, but as a body, and only when in formal session. It is only by formal and recorded vote that boards of education can properly exercise any control. All individual direction of the schools, unless such individual power is formally delegated to the individ- ual member by vote of the board, is usurped direction. For such individual direction the state has provided other offi- cers, who devote their entire time to the work, and who are much more likely to direct the schools wisely and well. When a board of education directs the work of the schools properly, carefully selecting its executive officers, sustaining them in their official acts, and replacing them whenever they fail to act wisely or efficiently or honestly, it renders a con- spicuous service to the people of the community and to the state it serves. Whenever, on the contrary, the board assumes executive as well as legislative functions, begins to participate in exec- utive work instead of acting as a board for school control, and interferes with or usurps work which it should intrust to its executive officers, it almost invariably begins to lose the confidence of those whose confidence it should retain. The principals and teachers, and ultimately the people as 24 School Organization and Administration well, lose confidence in its wisdom, with the inevitable result that the efficiency of the schools themselves is impaired. A fundamental principle of proper city school administration is that it is primarily the business of the board of education to receive reports as to conditions and needs, to weigh rec- ommendations, to determine the broader lines of policies, and to legislate, while it is primarily the business of the executive officers it employs to execute the legislation and policies which the board, after hearing reports and deliber- ating, has decided upon. It will be seen from the above statement of principles that a board of education for a city school system occupies a very important position, and that upon its good judgment as to what to do and what to let alone depends much of the success of the administration of the schools. By improper organization, by doing too much, by attempting to handle too many things, by interfering too much with the work of its executive officers, or by indecision as to purpose, a board of education may interfere seriously with the proper work- ing of the schools under its control, with the esprit dc corps of those who render service in its schools, and with the proper carrying out of that large and important state pur- pose for which they were elected to office. THE SALT LAKE CITY ORGANIZATION To carry out the state purpose in Salt Lake City the city has been classified by law as a city of the first class, and for the government of the schools in cities of the first class a board of education, consisting of ten members, two elected from each municipal ward in the city, has been provided. The term of office is four years, one member being elected from each municipal ward in December of the odd-num- bered years. The school corporation is separate and distinct from the municipal corporation willi which it is here coter- minous. So fully has this separation been accomplished that in the city auditor's reports, covering the different de- Organization of School System 25 partmcnts and phases of work of the Salt Lake City corpo- ration, the school department docs not appear. The school district is a state corporation, existing- for the carrying out of a state purpose ; the city is a local organization pri- marily for local municipal government. They are separate and distinct corporations, though their boundaries and elec- torate are one and the same. The board of education has provided, under its rules and regulations, for the appointment of five standing commit- tees, each consisting of five members and the president of the board. These standing committees are (i) Rules, (2) School Law, (3) Teachers and School Work, (4) Building and Grounds, and (5) Finance. A careful reading of the minutes of the board for more than a year would seem to indicate that the first two committees are not especially im- portant ones, but that the other three are committees which transact a large amount of business and assume many im- portant functions. The board has further organized the administration of the school system under three separate and distinct depart- ments. These are ( i ) the clerical and purchasing depart- ment, in charge of a school clerk, (2) the building depart- ment, in charge of a superintendent of buildings, and (3) the educational department, in charge of a superintendent of schools. A treasurer is also appointed, to care for and pay out the school moneys. COMMITTEES AND DEPARTMENTS As far as could be ascertained by inquiry, by a reading of the official minutes of the proceedings of the board, and by an examination of the printed rules and regulations of the board of education, these three departments seem to be on a plane of theoretical equality, each handling the business within its own field somewhat independently of the other two. The school clerk works largely through the committee on finance, the superintendent of buildings largely through 26 School Organization and Administration the committee on buildings and grounds, and the superin- tendent of schools largely through the committee on teachers and school work. These committees then report to the board of education, which serves as a coordinating body for the three separate administrative departments and the three important board committees. In effect, three separate boards exist, each large enough to be a board of education in itself, and each handling an important division of the edu- cational work of the city. To harmonize results the three boards meet together as a body, after they have come to independent decisions. The diagram on the following page shows the existing form of organization and the existing relationships. The board of education is shown as large and important, as it now is. Below it and intermediary between it and the heads of its departments are the board committees, and then come the heads of departments and their staffs. The position of any person on the diagram indicates his authority and re- sponsibility to those below him and above him, and the con- necting lines indicate lines of relationship and responsibil- ity. A lack of connecting lines in the same way indicates lack of coordinating authority or responsibility. PRESENT ORGANIZATION WRONG IN PRINCIPLE The inevitable result of such an arrangement is frequent and long committee meetings, much discussion, and board meetings often lasting until late at night. The constant tendency under such a system of administration is for the committees to become very important administrative bodies, and for the chairman of each to usurp some or many of the functions of the executive heads of departments. Espe- cially is this likely to prove dangerous in the case of the committee on teachers and school work, the chairman of which is very likely, almost unconsciously, to take over many of the functions that properly belong to the superintendent of schools and to become, as it were, a second head of the Organization of School System 27 r rt t'l' g iJf ^i o ^ (Xl 28 School Organization and Administration educational department; passing, in turn, on all the super- intendent's recommendations as to teachers, principals, and supervisory officers, and substituting his opinion or the opinion of his committee for that of the superintendent as to the employment, retention, and service of members of the educational force. The present organization is not only wrong in principle, but it is fraught with continual danger of misunderstandings and trouble. The committees are too prominent in the ad- ministration, and the school clerk and the superintendent of buildings enjoy too large independence in action. An examination of the printed annual reports of the board for a number of years past would seem to indicate that the school clerk is the real head of the school system, rather than the superintendent of schools. His reports come first and are the most elaborate, and he, rather than the super- intendent of schools, discusses the question of finances and says what he thinks as to possible economies.^ The present large independence of the superintendent of buildings, es- pecially in the matter of repairs and alterations and the 1 By way of illustration the following quotation from the clerk's report to the board, printed in the 24th annual report (1913-14), p. 16, may be cited: "For twenty years the cost per pupil has been steadily increasing, and if the special efforts put forth this year have stayed that advance, and in f;ict reduced the cost per pupil, there is no doubt that much more could be accom- plished by continuing the efforts for a more efficient and economical adminis- tration of our school system." Such a statement, well intended, no doubt, is nevertheless misleading, and only serves to raise hopes that cannot be realized without impairing the efficiency of the system. An analysis of the tables submitted in the clerk's reiwrt sliows that the reduction in cost mentioned was only made by employing chcajier teachers, increasing the number of pupils per teacher, and reducing the expenses for renewals and repairs. Such reductions could not be continued without seri- ously impairing the efficiency of the schools, yet the statement as i>rintcd leaves the opposite inference. As a matter of fact, the reduction in expenses by such means has gone too far now, and the printing of such a statement tends to make more difficult a change in the right direction. All such statements should meet with the approval of the superintendent of schools before being given to the public, and only serve to emphasize the necessity of having one and only one head of the administrative system. Organization of School System 29 employment of janitors, is also fundamentally wrong, and is certain to result in expenditures which ought not to be made, and in the failure to perform work which ought to be performed. That it has done so is well pointed out in Chapter X. One gets the idea from reading a few years of the annual printed reports, and the rules and regulations of the board, that the educational department in the Salt Lake City school system occupies a rather inferior position in the administra- tive organization, and that it is allowed to exercise but little supervisory control over the other administrative depart- ments. Only the compulsory attendance work is specifically placed under the direction of the superintendent of schools. The underlying theory seems to be that the educational de- partment is a separate and isolated department instead of being the premier department of the whole system. RIGHT PRINCIPLES IN SCHOOL ORGANIZATION A thoroughly fundamental principle in all proper school organization and administration is that there should be a real unity in the organization and a responsibility to one head in the administration, and that the head of the school system should be no other than the superintendent of schools. Through him, as the head of the school system, the board should work. The educational department is not a minor or a subordinate or even a coordinate department, but is the one for which all the other departments exist. All forms of administrative machinery, and all officers of control and department heads, exist for the prime purpose of assisting the educational department to get teachers and children together under the best possible educational conditions. Some departments have, in addition, as one of their important purposes that of saving money for the educational department, and of deflecting as large a per- centage as possible into the work of actual instruction. Every overcharge detected by the clerk, every dollar saved 30 School Organization and Administration in the purchase of siippHes, every economy effected in the erection or repair of school buildings, is added money for increasing the effectiveness of the instruction in the schools. The only excuse for having a clerical, purchasing, or build- ing department is that such may serve the educational department. In all well-organized school systems this relationship is clearly recognized, and these officials work under the direc- tion and report through the superintendent of schools. The board then deals largely with the superintendent, and holds him responsible for results and efficient service. Whenever the superintendent is not able to secure these, or to retain the confidence of the board of education as a body, the board should consider a change in its executive head. It should not retain the executive and take his work away from him. A PROPER ADMINISTRATIVE REORGANIZATION A proper reorganization of the work in Salt Lake City would be as shown in the second diagram given. This shows the position, relative importance, and lines of rela- tionship and authority which should exist in city school organization and administration in a city such as Salt Lake City. The superintendent of schools, rather than the board of education, should be the central coordinating authority, and the work of the board committees, if it is felt necessary to retain these, should be materially reduced in consequence. The school clerk and the superintendent of buildings, while still working with their proper committees, and still having somewhat independent powers of action in their respective fields, should nevertheless be under the coordinating author- ity and should report through the superintendent of schools. Directions given or work assigned to the school principals by the school clerk, or to the school janitors by the superin- tendent of buildings, should be subject to the approval of Organization of School System 31 a. s- i?| r X S k A Q. u fa cUT3 j3 a O Q, ?3 a> ^5 :.3 ^Tj a v° "1 -=-2 a u d O u o fl o 2 c4 •O o.t(i iSaJooru (ona.ru Fig. 10. High-School Salaries 54 School Organization and Administration end of the scale indicates the employment of young and inex- perienced teachers. Figure 8 shows that 41.6 per cent, of the elementary-school teachers this past year have been paid $750 or less. Salt Lake City is employing for its schools too many girls of little teaching experience. This is further brought out by Figure 1 1, which shows that 50 per cent, of the teach- ers in the city have been in the schools five years or less. HUMB£H OF Tt/KHOiyj lO If ZO 2S 30 3S 40 4S M SS i ,0 ** 70 rr » If 99 \n9 1 ' 1 ' 1 ' 1 ' I )f90 — 1891 ■ \S3Z ■1 \S93 M9A ■■ \i95 wm nsQ> HI MSI ■i 159? ^B 1^99 ■■ 1900 ■^■1 1901 ■m 1902 ■■1 1903 [^■1 1 ■ 1904 \S05 1906 mSm 1 mam ■i 1907 \90S ■■■ Eh 1909 1911 ^ = g 1912^ 1913 1914 [ s s ■ ■i- ^ iM Fig. II. Tenure of Teachers in Salt Lake City, as Shown by Year of First Appointment to the Teaching Force THE SALARY SCHEDULES That teachers' salaries in Salt Lake City are low there can be no question. Salt Lake City is not a cheap city in which to live, and a public school teacher should be paid a salary The Teaching Staff 55 sufficient to enable her to live as a person of education and refinement should. This demands a salary large enough to enable the teacher to secure a good quiet room in a house where she has regular use of a bath, good food, reasonably- good clothing, some money for books and better-class amusements, something left for summer schools and a sum- mer vacation, and a little margin for the unexpected. Con- sidering the training required and the cost of living, $800 a year is low enough for a minimum in a western city, and $1,200 a year is low enough for a maximum for teachers in elementary schools. For high schools, a beginning salary of $900 and a maximum of $1,500, with $1,800 to $2,000 for heads of departments, are salaries which are not too high when it is remembered that graduation from a uni- versity is required to enter the work. TABLE X Comparative Salary Schedules in Western Cities Teachers Principals City Minimum Salary Maximum Salary Minimum Salary Maximum Salary I. Elementary Schools 1. SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 2. Tacoma, Wash 3. Colorado Springs, Colo. 4. Spokane, Wash 5. Denver, Colo 6. Portland, Ore 7. Butte, Mont 8. San Diego, Cal Q. Los Angeles, Cal. . . . 10. Oakland, Cal 11. Pasadena, Cal 12. San Francisco, Cal. . . 13. San Jos6, Cal 14. Seattle, Wash 15. Sacramento, Cal. . . . 16. Berkeley, Cal $480 600 600 600 720 72s 750 768 768 780 800 840 840 840 900 960 $1020 960 960 1000 1200 IIOO 1200 1200 1200 1200 IIOO 1024 1050 mo 1200 liOO $1350 1 140 1150 1050 1400 1050 1200 1200 1300 1500 1200 2340 1800 1440 1560 1500 $2350 1800 1800 I Sod 2000 2150 1700 2004 2400 2400 2100 2460 1920 2160 1560 2280 56 School Organization and Administration TABLE X — Continued Comparative Salary Schedules in Western Cities Teachers Heads of Depart- ments Maximum City Minimum Salary Maximum Salary Principals II. High Schools 1. SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 2. Tacoma, Wash 3. Colorado Springs, Colo. . 4. Denver, Colo 5. Seattle, Wash 6. Spokane, Wash 7. Pasadena, Cal 8. Portland, Ore 9. Berkeley, Cal 10. San Diego, Cal 11. Los Angeles, Cal. . . . 12. Sacramento, Cul. . . . 13. San Jose, Cal 14. Butte, Mont 15. Oakland, Cal 16. San Francisco, Cal. . . . $800 810 QOO 1000 1020 HOC IIOO 1150 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1250 1260 1500 $1400 1350 1600 1600 1560 1400 1500 1350 1500 1600 1680 1680 1500 1600 1500 1730 $1600 1600 1600 2200 1680 1800 1700 1600 1800 1800 2160 1680 2200 1800 2100 2040 $3800 2500 1800 3600 3300 3300 3000 3000 3000 3600 2300 3600 3000 3300 3600 That such salaries are comparable to those paid in other western cities where living costs are somewhat similar, and where good school systems are maintained, may be seen from the preceding table, comparing teachers' salaries in Salt Lake City with salaries paid in the sixteen other west- ern cities used in other tables in this report. In both elementary- and secondary-school salaries, as shown by Table X, Salt Lake City pays the lowest mini- mum and also nearly the lowest maximum of any west- ern city. Only in the salaries paid principals should Salt Lake City be commended. COMPARATIVE SALARIES PAID That the salaries paid teachers in Salt Lake City are also lower than are paid other types of city employees, and em- The Teaching Staff 57 ployees in other local lines of business, may be seen from the following table giving wage scales common in Salt Lake City. For purposes of proper comparison all have been re- duced to a twelve-month basis : TABLE XI Wage Scale for Different Types of Employees in Salt Lake City Public School Employees In elementary schools $40.00 to $85.00 per [month In high schools 41.66 to 116.66 per month Department heads in high schools 100.00 to i2>3-ii P^r month School janitors City Employees Policemen $80.00 to $112.50 per month Firemen 80.00 to 100.00 per month Street sweepers 50.00 per month Clerks in city offices 75.oo to 100.00 per month Stenographers in same 60.00 to 75.00 per month Bank Employees Head bookkeepers Sgo.oo to $125.00 per month Assistant bookkeepers 75-oo to 100.00 per month Collectors 30.00 to 75.00 per month Tellers 100.00 to 150.00 per month Railroad Employees Bookkeepers $90.00 to $110.00 per month TraveUng men 100.00 to 150.00 per month Stenographers and secretaries 50.00 to 100.00 per month Telegraph operators 85.00 to 100.00 per month Store Employees Bookkeepers $75.00 to $110.00 per month Clerks, male 60.00 to 100.00 per month Clerks, female 40.00 to 60.00 per month CONCLUSIONS AS TO TEACHERS It will be seen from the tables and charts given in this chapter that the number of teachers now employed is too small, and that the tendency in employment is in the wrong direction ; that the schools are securing too many inex- perienced teachers, from the immediate neighborhoods, and 58 School Organization and Administration with purely local outlook and training; that the tendency in salaries is downward, below what is a living wage for any person of education and refinement, and below a re- muneration which will make teaching attractive to the better class of young people; and that the salaries paid are lower than in other western cities, or in other types of city serv- ice. What ought to appeal to the best minds as the highest and most attractive service is rendered just the opposite, from a monetary point of view. To supply the present needs of the schools for regular class teachers and for special teachers, as will be pointed out further on in this report, would require the addition of ap- proximately 100 more teachers to the elementary school service. To pay a salary schedule such as well-trained teachers demand would require, including the new teachers to be employed to meet present needs, an addition of prob- ably 40 per cent, to the present allowance for teachers' sal- aries. This is doubtless impossible under the present tax limits, but it is no less a necessity if the schools are to be put in condition to render the full service that they should. A continuation of present tendencies cannot fail to interfere seriously with the efficiency of the instruction in the schools. In presenting these criticisms of the present policy as to teachers, necessitated by the present financial situation, the survey staff do not wish to leave the impression that they feel that the teaching force is not rendering good service. On the contrary, all felt that the city was getting more for its money than it had a right to expect. In every school we found a few excellent teachers, a number of good average teachers, and one or two teachers who seemed to lack ex- perience and grasp. The last is not at all surprising, con- sidering the type of young people being taken for the work. That the teachers were rendering as good service as they were, considering the inexperience and lack of contact with life elsewhere of many of the newer ones, was in large measure due to the good supervision given their work by the principals and the special supervisors. CHAPTER V SCHOOL CENSUS AND SCHOOL ATTENDANCE THE INCREASE IN BOTH THE drawing which appears on this page shows the increases in school census, school enrollment, and average membership in the schools of Salt Lake City for the past quarter of a century. In a general way the three follow ^ ^ C^^^ ^^ ^ J— — "^ 5CH00L& <^ — — --\vtRftGE i \LW{BtR3«\>^ 3POOO Childi-en S.OOO « § § § e ov 5! flj G> 5 gj Q Fig. 12. Increase in School Census, Enrollment, and Average Membershlp somewhat parallel lines, though the increase in enrollment and average membership during the past fifteen years has not quite kept up with the increase in the school census. The increase in school census as reported by the enumera- 59 6o School Organization atid Administration tors has also been less reg"iilar than has the increase in en- rollment and average membership, as shown by the more jagged line. A natural question raised by such a curve is as to whether the different enumerations have been carefully made. It is hard to explain the decreases in 1906, and again in 191 2, on any other basis than a failure to enumer- ate all the existing children. As all apportionments of state school money are based on the school census returns (children over 6 and under 18 years of age reported as living within the city) and as the amount apportioned is a considerable sum ($13.00 per child in 1913-14), it doubtless would pay the board of education to revise the methods in use for taking the annual school census. A SCHOOL CENSUS BUREAU A school census bureau should be created, in connection with the department of compulsory school attendance, and it should compile accurate records of the children living in every block or school district in the city. Such records might be collected by the school principals, by the depart- ment of compulsory attendance, or by some other means. Each pupil-record should show the following information: 1. Name of child (surname first). 2. Sex of child. 3. Month, day, and year of birth, from which the num- ber of years old, at last birthday, is also to be set down. The authority upon which the age is taken (word of parents; birth certificate ; baptismal certificate ; passport ; etc. ) shall also be set down. 4. Country of birth. 5. Name of parent (father or mother), guardian, or other person standing in parental relation. 6. Abode, including school-attendance district, post-office address, and street and number. 7. Physical condition (good; deaf; dumb; blind; crip- pled). School Census and School Attendance 6i 8. Mental condition (good; otherwise). 9. School attending (public; private; parochial). 10. Position in school (grade). 11. Reason, if not attending school. 12. If employed, where and how. 13. Vaccination certificate record. A duplicate card system should be employed, one card to be retained in the office of the department of compulsory school attendance, and one at the school the child attends. This form of school census should be always in the making, so as to keep it accurate and reliable. School teachers and principals should report all changes and additions, and the school principals could be employed on Saturdays or in vacation to check up and keep accurate the information for their school districts. All such data should be sorted and tabulated by schools, or attendance districts, and the attendance of each child at public, private, or parochial school, or non-attendance at any school, should be indicated on the records. The annual state school census, required by the laws of the state, could be taken each July from the card records on file in the office of the attendance department. By using some care to main- tain such records in accurate form, the whereabouts of every child of school age could at all times be known. Such a form of continuing school census has been established by a few of our cities, and is the only form that possesses much real value as a record, or for the enforcement of the com- pulsory-attendance, child-labor, or working-permit laws. Such a plan calls for the appointment of a man or a woman who will give full time to keeping the records ac- curate, and some extra clerical assistance at certain times of the year. The school principals could be used for much of the work, as they constitute the most intelligent body of assistants obtainable. Such a census bureau would of course cost something to maintain, — perhaps $5,000 a year, — but it probably would more than save its cost in increased 62 School Organization and Administration earning-s from the state grants, in addition to affording a much better basis for the enforcement of the state laws re- lating to the education and protection of children. VALUE OF SUCH RECORDS IN LOCATING SCHOOL BUILDINGS A tabulation of such records, from year to year by blocks and by districts, would also be of much value to the officers of the school department in determining the growth, the rate of growth, and the changes in character of the school population in the different districts of the city. From such data the needs of the school department in buildings, rooms, equipment, and teachers could not only be somewhat accu- rately determined, but determined sufficiently long enough in advance to enable the school department to provide proper school facilities. It is from some such form of record that a telephone company knows where to locate a branch ex- change, and when to replace its lines with others capable of caring for increased business. With such records available, such errors of personal judgment as the board of education made last year in deciding to locate a new building on the already overcrowded Hamilton School site, and later, after the type of building had been decided upon and plans had been drawn, reversing itself and locating the building as orig- inally recommended by the superintendent of schools, could easily be avoided. From reading the minutes of board meet- ings for July, August, and September of last year, one would be led to infer that this needless mistake cost the board a large amount of time, and caused much bitter feeling. Under a good record system, such a case could easily have been avoided. ENFORCEMENT OF COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE The school law of the State of Utah requires the attend- ance at some school of practically every child in Salt Lake City, between the ages of 8 and i6, for at least 30 weeks School Census and School Attendance 63 each year. The reports of the school truant officer, as printed in the annual reports of the board of education, would indi- cate that the attendance of children is looked after as well - ZOOO POpift -1500 S 6 T S 9 10 II li 13 ;♦ J6 16 n It 19 zo rw. Fig. 13. Distribution of Public-School Pupils in Salt Lake City, by Ages as one man can do such work in a city of 110,000 inhabit- ants, and covering fifty square miles of territory. Figure 13, showing the ages of all children belonging to the schools in May, 191 5, shows that attendance holds up 64 School Orgaiiizalion and Administration fairly well to the end of the 15th year. Figure 14, how- ever, shows that attendance drops very rapidly in Salt Lake City after the completion of the 6th school grade, and this fact, together with the large number of over-age chil- dren in the grades, as* shown by Figure 28, makes it almost certain that a large number of the older children, held in school by the enforcement of the compulsory education laws, are pupils who are " mired down " in the grades and are hopelessly repeating work which is not at all suited to their needs. This must be particularly the case with many of the boys. It is almost certain that a vocational school for such children would be of great benefit not only to them, but to the grades from which they would be withdrawn as well. No school system consisting of grade instruction alone can ever meet the educational needs of those markedly over-age boys and girls who find themselves unable to make satisfac- tory progress in the work of the ordinary school course of study. The needs of such children are considered more at length in Chapter IX. WHERE THE SCHOOLS ARE INCREASING Figure 14 show^s the increase in pupils enrolled in the schools at the close of each ten-year period for the past three decades, and their distribution throughout the school system by grades. This is an interesting chart. In 1894, the great dropping out of children took place after the completion of the 4th school grade, the number remaining to the close of the 8th or going on through the high school being quite small. During the ten-year period up to 19 14, the schools actually increased more in the four upper grades than in the four lower, a rather anomalous situation. During the last ten-year period, the great gain has been in the first six grades. The marked falling off in attendance is now seen to take place at the close of both the 4th and the 6th school grades, with another heavy mortality at the end of the first year of School Census and School Attendance 65 the high school. The loss at the end of the 9th grade is almost as large as the loss at the end of the 8th. These curves naturally raise a question as to whether the courses of study and the types of education provided for the chil- 4000 Pupils 5500 3000 ZSOO zooo I500 1000 SOO 400O Pupils - 3500 3000 ZSOO ZOOO 1500 \000 500 GRADE I n HI 12 :2" !□; 301 ms. n x tt 3IE Fig. 14. Changes in the Enrollment by Grades in Twenty Years dren below 16 years of age is the best the community can provide. This question will be considered more in detail in the succeeding chapters of this report. PUPILS COMPLETING THE HIGH-SCHOOL COURSE The small number of pupils finishing a high-school course, or even continuing into the second year of the high schools, 66 School Organization and Administration is a noticeable feature of tlie distribution shown in Figure 14. In a community such as SaU Lake City, a community of good racial stocks, low illiteracy, good educational tra- CITIES BERKELEY.CAL. 2.NEWT0N.MAS3. 3.3ANJ03E.CAL. 4.PASADENA,CAL. 5.WALTHAfA.fAA3S. G.SAN D1E60.CAL. 7 SEATTLE. mSH. ? SPOKANE.. WASH. 9.CAfV\BRI06E.MAS3 )ODE6IV\01NESJA. SACRAN\ENTO.CAL. 12.L0S ANGELES, CAL. IS.OMAHA.NEBR. 14 DENVER, COLO. IJ5.TAC0MA.VYASH. I6.SPR1NGFIELD,MAS3. 17 PORTLAND, ORE. I^OAKLANO.CAL 19.DULUTH,N\1NN. 20 BUTTE. MONT. 2I.06DEN.UTAH. Z2.Y0NKERS.N.Y. ^^^^ 23.SALT LAKECITY Vy.i^y^//A 24.FALLRIVER.N\ASS 25.SAN FRANCISCO Fig. 15. The Percentagt]; Which the Arri.ND.^NtE at the High Schools Represents of the Attendance at All Schools ditions, a state university at its doors, and much wealth, this is a rather surprising condition to find. One would ex- pect, in such a city, to find a large rather than a small per- School Census and School Attendance 67 centage of pupils in attendance at the high schools. But, notwithstanding the rather marked increase in high-school enrollment during the last decade, the percentage in the high-school grades is still quite low. This condition natu- rally raises questions as to the adaptability to community needs of the instruction now offered in the Salt Lake City high schools. This question we shall consider at length in the second part of this report. To compare Salt Lake City in this respect with other cities, Figure 15 has been prepared. This shows, in a series of percentages, the relation which the number of pupils in attendance at the high schools in the different cities bears to the total number of pupils attending all schools in the city. Salt Lake City is here compared with twenty-four other American cities, including the sixteen western cities previously used. The data used for all cities were taken from the published reports of the United States Commis- sioner of Education, and covered the school year 19 12-13, which at the time was the last year for which reports were available. Salt Lake City was calculated for the year 1914- 15, and from figures furnished by the superintendent as to that year's attendance. This chart tends to confirm the impression, raised by a study of the curves of Figure 14, that the courses of study offered in the Salt Lake City high schools are not as well adapted to the needs of the children of the city as they should be. The last two years of the elementary-school course also probably lack in power to interest the pupils in carrying their studies further. These questions will be con- sidered further in the second part of this report, where cer- tain reorganizations, calculated to improve the upper-grade work and make the entrance to high school more attractive, are presented. PART II The Work of the Schools CHAPTER VI THE PRINTED COURSES OF STUDY » ORDER OF PROCEDURE TURNING now to the work of the schools themselves, we shall attempt to evaluate, with some care, the work which they attempt and carry out. First we shall examine the printed courses of study and outlines for work that are issued for the guidance of teachers in the schools, to see in how far these meet the best standards as to what should constitute school instruction. This will be done in the pres- ent chapter, taking first the kindergarten, and then the dif- ferent subjects taught in the elementary school, and in the order in which they are presented in the printed courses of study. In the chapter which follows we shall attempt to evaluate the instruction and supervision as seen by the dif- ferent members of the survey staff, and shall make recom- mendations for certain desirable extensions of the school work. OPINIONS AND TESTS Both of these cliapters will, of necessity, be based largely on the personal opinion of the members of the survey staff, based in turn, we hope, on a knowledge of what constitutes good theory and current practice in the best of our Ameri- can schools. Following these two chapters, and in a way supporting their conclusions, will come two other chapters, which are in no way based on personal opinion, but instead on careful measurements as to the results of the instruction * Chapters VI and VII were written by Dr. James H. Van Sickle, Superin- tendent of City Schools, Springfield, Massachusetts. — Publishers. 71 72 School Organization and Administration and administration of the schools, using standard tests and carefully collected statistical data. This second part of the report must, by its very nature, be somewhat scientific and technical, as any other than a scientific and technical treatment of the problem would be of but little value, but to those charged with the adminis- tration and instruction of the schools the results here of- fered should prove of very great use. We also venture to hope that this second part has been put in such form, and the results so illustrated by diagrams, that the layman as well may be able to understand it and from it derive an accurate and intelligent idea as to the actual work which the schools of his city are doing. I. The Kindergartens THE KINDERGARTEN THEORY As outlined by the supervisor of primary schools and kindergartens this seems to be of the liberal type, but the equipment for carrying out this theory is inadequate, in that it consists of the old-time small gift-blocks and occupation materials. A theory in line with the best modern thought cannot be consistently worked out by means of an equipment designed for an extremely conservative and now almost abandoned practice. A valuable feature of the printed directions to kinder- garten teachers consists of suggestive exercises for the training of the senses of touch, sight, and hearing, similar to those cited l)y Halleck in his Education of the Central Nervous System. To quote from the outline in this connection : "The development of the senses always precedes intellectual activity, but we often demand the activity before we have given any training to the senses, or at least any regulated, purjwseful training. "Because the period of life between the age of three and the age of eight is one of rapid sense development, and because during this period the child The Courses of Study 73 responds readily to the sense stimuli of his environment and but little to reason, the kindergarten should make sense training one of its chief lines of work. "Sense-training exercises are exceedingly valuable not only because they result in trained servants, but because they demand more or less concentration and therefore beget the habit and increase the power." Considering some of the other aims of the kindergarten work, the oiitHne continues as follows : "We must remember that a kindergarten is not an entity, it is a link in a chain, and as such we should see to it that it will fit into the next link. Teachers of the first grade have a right to expect children who have had a kindergarten training to come to them with greater sensory power, with some ability to re- ceive and follow directions, some manual power, some idea of self-control in the interest of the social group, a desire to achieve an independent solution of their little problems, and possessed of an alertness of sense perception not looked for in children who have not had such training." MORE KINDERGARTENS NEEDED The more prosperous portions of the city are well supplied with kindergartens. It would appear that in locating kinder- gartens there has been no comprehensive study of the needs of the various sections. Some of those in greatest need of them have none at all. Where there is great need there is naturally little realization of the need, and therefore no demand has made itself felt. This does not relieve the school department of the duty to look out for portions of the city in which the people do not know how to look out for their own interests. A kindergarten is greatly needed in each of the following schools: Bonneville, Irving, Onequa, Poplar Grove, Washington, and Webster. II. The Courses of Study for the Elementary Schools It may be said at the outset that with two principal ex- ceptions to be discussed later, manual training and physical training, the courses of study as outlined for the Salt Lake City schools are worthy of commendation. Unlike many 74 School Organization and Administration similar publications, the volume does not appear to be a mere compilation. A definite theory of education underlies the development of each subject, and unusual attention has been paid to the relation which one subject bears to another. By means of the close correlation thus worked out great econ- omy of time is possible, both in teaching and in learning. HOW THE COURSES OF STUDY WERE MADE It is noteworthy that in preparing the present courses of study the superintendent and the supervisors were aided by the advice of a committee of five teachers from each grade, and a similar committee of principals. The writing of the courses could without doubt have been more quickly done in the superintendent's office, without time-consuming con- sultations with members of the teaching force. Thus pre- pared, they might have been quite as good, or even better, and yet have failed to serve as useful a purpose. They would have seemed to be imposed by authority, rather than adopted as a result of cooperative effort, whereas courses formulated in part by the teaching force, as in this instance, will be understood by all, and all, having had a certain responsibil- ity in their preparation and adoption, will be in sympathy with their aims and standards. The making of courses of study is best managed when the preparation is utilized as an opportunity, as has been done in this case, to increase the efficiency of the teaching force by securing the thoughtful participation of teachers in the work and responsibility involved. For these reasons the plan under which the Salt Lake City courses of study were formulated is to be commended. The committees to which reference has been made were appointed by the super- intendent. Similar committees elected by the teachers them- selves are now deliberating, not only on further desirable revisions of the courses, but also, at the invitation of the superintendent, upon any other feature of school procedure about which they care to make recommendations. 27/e Courses of Study 75 Wherever such cooperative relations exist between the supervising officers and the teaching force in a school sys- tem, one may reasonably expect the favorable results that always come from team work. In their visits to the schools the members of the survey staff have been at some pains to find out whether there is in fact in the Salt Lake City schools the mutual confidence and cooperation between teachers and supervisory officers which their plan would lead one to ex- pect. It is our opinion that such a relation has been devel- oped to a good degree, and that its effects are evident in the daily procedure in most of the schoolrooms visited. WHAT THE COURSES PRESCRIBE The courses of study prescribe minimum attainments which children must possess as a condition of promotion. Beyond this minimum great freedom is allowed. In devel- oping any course of study for any grade beyond the mini- mum which is deemed attainable by the slowest pupil, the superintendent places large responsibility upon the principal, so that he may adapt the work to any need peculiar to the local community. The principal in turn gives large liberty to the teacher in meeting individual needs of pupils, and in following out lines of interest. Under such conditions the teacher cannot degenerate into an automaton. She requires the children to think for themselves, to use their heads. This emphasis upon thought rather than mere memory was noticeable in nearly all schoolrooms that were visited. There was evidently much to be desired on the score of broader preliminary education on the part of many teachers, yet this lack was evidently being met, to a considerable extent, by the student attitude and consequent growth in power char- acteristic of a body of teachers who are being stimulated to regard their work as the solution of a series of vital prob- lems, rather than as a routine task. j6 School Organization and Administration DIVERSITY IN TIME ALLOTMENTS As might be expected in a system of schools in which considerable freedom is accorded teachers, there is much diversity in the time allotted to the various subjects in differ- ent schoolrooms of the same grade. This is clearly shown in Table XII. One cannot say so many minutes per day are devoted to spelling in the sixth grade of the Salt Lake City schools, so many to arithmetic, and so many to reading. The needs of the particular class determine the time. No teacher can excuse poor work by saying, " I have used faith- fully each day during the semester the time prescribed for the subject. It is therefore not my fault that the children have not met the minimum requirement of the course of study." The time was the teacher's to apportion. It was her responsibility to gauge the relative strength of the class in the various subjects, and work out a time schedule to fit the particular problem presented by her own pupils; not only to work it out, but to change it from time to time to meet changing needs as they develop. Early in each new term the teacher submits to the princi- pal a tentative daily program for his approval. This pro- gram, either as first presented or as modified, after con- sultation, is placed on the blackboard of the schoolroom, to be followed till some modification seems desirable, when, with the minimum of red tape, the desired change is ap- proved and made. Table XII was made up from blanks filled out by the teachers themselves, on the basis of time schedules actually posted in the schoolrooms at the time of the survey. The variation in the time devoted to given subjects by different teachers of the same grade, as shown under the headings " Maximum " and " Minimum " in the table, are so great as to suggest the probability that some subjects are being neglected by some teachers, while other subjects are over- emphasized. While believing in the principle of freedom on the part of the teacher in regulating her own program, The Courses of Study 77 "-5 '-' .^ ■a 2 O a > •uiiv O |g ^ \% 1 o 1 ° l8 5 o 1° p o to p 5 1 •paw ^1 I 1 l«l ol Ri °l ° o ^ ^ s §1 & a •XEW a |c8 \i \% \l \% \l to O 10 j lo o p « > •ujiM s IS 1 lo 1 O 1 O 1 lo 1 O 1^ r r r r s, eg lo ID 1 lo HI tt t^ 8 p v8 •PSN "1 i 1 ^1 si ^1 ^1 ^ O o R| «^| s v8| g a •XEJM O 1 o w O 1 lo 1 O 1 O 1 O 10 -o o lo "^ a 1 to 1 « 1 « If. 1 fO Jo O 1 "O 1 lo O 1 o o M > •ujjv o 1 K 18 j K 1 ^ 1 o VS o t? :^ p 1^ O j o a •paw =^l 8 1 >o| Ol ■"JW 1 §> O 1 o 1 >^ 1 1 O 1"" f->\ -Ol O ^' o to t-l 8 8| v§ ^ •XEW O 1 o " |2. |8 |a |8 |8 8 to CO to 8 II p ? I& o to > •uilAi 2 1^ 2 IS, \r: p |u^ p 8 8 2 1 ° 1 "" O 1 v8 ■paiV VO 1 1^ c? 8 «t p p % 1 g •ujiM o 8 'O 1 O 1 O 1 O 1 O 1 O M |C, |>0 p |„ p o o o 1 o 1 o w lO Uo ^ •paw ^ Nl Ol Ol J^i lOI O 8 J? °l ^1 2 "1 •XEIV 8 c> i« 1 lo 1 O 1 O 1 O 1 o o S> 18 1^ 1 to 1 M o 1 « •ujW w^ o o 1 O 1 ° 1° p I2 o to O 1 lO 1 o M P P ■^ 1 1 ' ■paw " 8 "5 K| S| 8| 5.|„ S>| S, 8 o 1 Ol g o 1 •XBIM o 5 % \l II 1^ F \l 8 lo 1 1 O « 6 o 8 1 - ■U!K lO O c? s 1 |g p p o O 1 lo 1 o " p p "* •paiV " r^ 00 iC| 1 a|,8| S> o . J?| ic| ;c Ol ■xew r^ O 8 8 1 |a |S, |g, IC !? 8 p i^ 1 '2 CO c X c « c c ■£ D p. X c _c 'c c £ E c X c 1 u .E ' 3 _o o X) □ '> u b o > X > c »■ bi s o 3 •5 c •5 w X c rj > Oh 3 a 1 3 X .c, 1 'I c _c t I c o u X □ a a o p X a m r. < a o \ 'c ii 78 School Organization and Administratio^t and in corresponding responsibility for results, the survey would suggest the desirability of a more careful examination and criticism by some principals of the time schedules for their classes before approval. From a study of Table XII this responsibility on the part of the principal would appear to have been performed in many instances in a somewhat perfunctory manner. In order that so much freedom may not be harmful, instead of helpful, all who are charged with responsibility in such matters must live up to that responsibility. Where such extreme variations as appear in this table become common, it is not a matter for surprise that many superintendents feel driven to the unfortunate necessity of going to the opposite extreme and prescribing time limits as the lesser of two evils. The recommendation of the survey is that the freedom in this regard that now obtains in Salt Lake City be not curtailed, but that principals and teachers, by study and consultation, arrive at a consensus in the matter which will result in a more uniform apportionment of time than now obtains. However, it would not be out of har- mony with the general plan of the course of study to make a minimum prescription as to the time to be devoted to each subject, grade by grade, if sufficient time were left unclassi- fied to give the teacher reasonable scope for shifting emphasis from one subject to another, as occasion might seem to her to require. The policy of teacher participation, under which the Salt Lake City courses of study have been formulated and from time to time revised, is commended as likely to secure sympathetic and intelligent application in the schoolroom, and at the same time to promote profes- sional growth of teachers in service. PUPILS WHO CANNOT ACCOMPLISH THE MINIMUM It is noted in the foreword that the course " represents the minimum attainments to be made by pupils before pro- motion to a higher class," and " to secure uniform and The Courses of Study 79 thorough work these standards should be carefully observed." One adverse comment must here be made : Although, in the courses as outlined, only minimum attainments are in- sisted upon, attainments easily within the reach of normal- minded children, it must be remembered that among: chil- dren of school age everywhere there are many for whom mastery of the ordinary courses of study is impossible. The Salt Lake City schools present no exception to this world- wide condition. As is shown in Chapter IX, there are ap- proximately 600 children enrolled in the schools who are of such a low grade of mentality that they cannot profit by strict adherence to even the minimum requirements of courses of study prepared for normal children. In its in- sistence upon *' uniform and thorough " work, without ex- ceptions either stated or implied, the demand is altogether too sweeping. It is likely to be misleading, too, since in the ordinary schoolrooms throughout the city there are many children of this class who for various reasons are not trans- ferred to the special (Twelfth) school, where of course it is understood that the regular curriculum need not be followed. Furthermore, it is questionable whether the ordinary courses of study are suitable for a relatively large group of children found in all school systems who, while not feeble minded, are unable to deal effectively with printed symbols, and who are consequently handicapped in their progress through those courses of study which are best fitted for such children as can readily gain ideas from the printed page. No exact statement can be made as to the number of chil- dren of this type. Estimates vary from 10 to 30 per cent, of the entire enrollment. One cannot study the statistics of retardation in the Salt Lake City schools, as presented in Chapter IX, without coming to the conclusion that the con- ditions just set forth, and found to exist throughout the country as a whole, also exist here. At this stage of prog- ress in our knowledge of the needs of children of this type, 8o School Organization and Administration it would be too much to expect that courses of study should provide any complete scheme for the education of pupils who are retarded through inability to think in symbols ; but every school system should recognize the presence in the schools of a considerable number of such children, and in general terms indicate the limits within which prescribed " minimum attainments " are to be insisted upon. Some possible and desirable substitutions for the present pre- scribed work will be offered later in this report. The prob- lem demands careful study, and the fine attitude of prin- cipals and teachers toward attacking vital questions should be utilized to formulate a working plan for the next re- vision, which will be adapted to local conditions, and by means of which the children who are at present misfits in the regular courses may find a more objective approach to the school arts than current practices provide. III. The School Subjects in Detail I. MORALS, MANNERS, AND CIVICS Prominence Given to this Subject Prominence is given to a chapter on morals, manners, and civics by giving it first place in the printed outline. It would not be easy to suggest a better selection of topics for emphasis than are here presented. There can be no ques- tion that the phase of a school's influence on the lives of its pupils represented by this chapter is of the highest impor- tance. We may even say that the part of the work of the schools covered by the topics in this chapter transcends in importance all the other work outlined, without in the least overstating the case; and yet the question arises, Would it not be better to teach morals, manners, and civics as the occasion calls for such instruction, and through the work outlined as reading, literature, history, civics, and sociology ? The Courses of Study 8i The question here raised is not upon the importance of this phase of instruction, but upon the most effective way of giving it. Teachers are Hkely to get the impression, from the apparent segregation of this part of the course from the portions of which it is naturally a part, that it is a subject by itself and adequately dealt with only when given a separate place on the daily program. It is readily admitted that this view has the support of many whose opinions are entitled to respect. Both methods of teaching morals, the direct method and the incidental method, are enjoined in the outline. If a sep- arate period is to be set apart for this work, the one sug- gested in the course of study, the period devoted to the opening exercises of the morning, is more appropriate than any other period of the day. 2, THE LANGUAGE, OR ENGLISH GROUP Emphasis on English Work The following closely related subjects are included: Read- ing and literature, phonics, language and grammar, spelling and writing. Sixty-four pages of the course of study are devoted directty to these various phases of English work, and, in addition, suggestions for utilizing the abundant opportunities for English teaching afforded by other studies are of frequent occurrence. Everywhere in the course of study clear and forceful expression is emphasized. This is particularly true in history and geography. On page 153 we find the following statement : "Geography offers excellent opportunities fctr training in oral and written language. Proper training in thought processes should at the same time de- velop power of oral and written expression. Give careful attention to the mode of expression in both oral and written work, but do not restrict freedom of expres- sion by ill-timed criticism. When one pupil is reciting, require respectful at- tention from all others." 82 School Ormnization and Administration 6 On p. 114, " Much of the foregoing subject matter (his- tory) may be considered in language " ; and on p. 121, " An excellent opportunity is presented in the study of history to create an appreciation of and a love for many beautiful and inspiring literary productions, poems, and songs." Suitable selections are suggested. A careful examination of the chapters dealing with different phases of English work leads to the conclusion that the course has been worked out with care and intelligence, and in its content is in general accord w^ith the theory and practice in teaching English which pre- vails in the best school systems of the country. Reading and Literature The strong points in the treatment of this phase of the work seem to be : 1. The effectiveness of the method used in teaching be- ginners to read. During the first two or three years of a child's school life proficiency in reading is the main recjuisite for promotion from grade to grade, and a pupil's progress throughout the school course is influenced largely by his power to read and interpret the books to wdiich he has access. From the first attention is centered upon the meaning of what is read. 2. The ban is placed upon nagging about minor inaccu- racies. " Placing undue stress upon errors, grammatical construction and inflections, per se, will do little to secure cogent thinking and fluent and flexible expression." (p. 47.) 3. " The stir of the inner man, not the criticisms of outer manifestations, makes for improvement, development, growth." (p. 43.) 4. Emphasis upon the importance of strong selections, possessing unity of effect. 5. The insistence upon the teacher's seeing the end of each reading lesson, upon purpose, plan, and a well-thought- out presentation. The Courses of Study 83 6. Dramatization as an adjunct to good reading. 7. The care taken to insure home reading. Several suitable books have been suggested in connection with the prescribed reading, in classes above the third grade, and pupils are shown how they can obtain these books. An incidental aim is to teach pupils the use of a library and to bring them frequently into its environment. The results are held to be, to an extent at least, a measure of the teacher's power to inspire her pupils with a genuine love of reading. Good Oral Reading A departure from the usual procedure in oral reading, and one likely to forward this aim, was noted with approval in two classrooms. Ordinarily the cliild who is reading has no audience in any true sense. All members of the class have the same book and follow more or less attentively the reader's performance. He has no very strong motive for clear enunciation or the cultivation of a tone that will carry to distant parts of the room. No one needs to depend upon his performance in order to understand the paragraph or the selection which he reads. In these two instances the reading was from an interesting library book, not the regular school reader. Only one copy was available, but the children who in succession read from this book had a real audience, and they held their audience, too. There was the keenest inter- est in the story, and the attention was absolute. If a reader failed momentarily to make himself under- stood, mass sentiment made itself felt. The effort of the reader was directed toward making the class understand the story. The story was one that the class wished to under- stand; consequently the exercise claimed and secured the undivided attention of all. The practice of oral reading under conditions which hold the reader responsible for making the thought of the author understood by a real audience ought to be far more common in schools than it now is. 84 School Organization atid Administration Where Improvements Might Be Made Two reservations must here be made with regard to directions otherwise excellent : 1. In the outline for first grade, teachers are warned not to allow children to read orally till they can read smoothly. This implies that children just beginning to read are re- quired to commit to memory, for the moment, every sen- tence that they read orally. They then look up from the book and "deliver " each sentence to the class. It is evident that only very brief sentences can be so com- mitted and delivered, and that children who adhere to this practice are in danger of being held to the reading of primer literature long after they have sufficient power to read books of real merit but containing sentences too long to be ren- dered glibly and without any stumbling. In the beginning, if the child himself can get the thought from the printed page, he is doing the essential thing. As early as possible, however, he should be taught to read by phrases rather than word by word, in order to facilitate his interpretation of an author's thought. It is not so much a question of how fluently pupils go through a certain class of reading matter, as a question of the sort of reading habits that are being formed. 2. The course is entirely lacking in directions for silent reading. One great purpose in teaching reading, and one which should receive some attention even from the first, is its value for the reader's own benefit. In the course of the survey much oral reading was heard, and, on the whole, it was good reading; but definite practice in silent reading for the thought of the selection was never seen in progress. Power in this direction is implied in the provision for home reading, but there should be definite school practice in order to make sure of adequate results. The schoolrooms of the city are well supplied with reading material. This is espe- cially noticeable in the primary grades, where even in the first grade children read from ten to twelve or more primers The Courses of Study 85 and first readers. In the intermediate grades some of the worl^ in history is done in the reading period. This is true also of hygiene. In both cases the textbooks used, having been written with more regard to Hterary form than some books of their class, lend themselves very well to this time- saving plan. Phonics The outline in phonics provides for the necessary amount of work in ear training, and gives a good working list of phonograms, suffixes, and prefixes. The introduction of diacritical markings is very wisely postponed until the latter half of the third year in school. The outline makes no definite provision for instruction in the use of the dictionary, but the phonetic study prepares pupils to interpret dictionary markings and to distinguish the root forms from which words are evolved. The course is progressive and practical. Language and Grammar The strength of the work in the primary grades seems to be found in : 1. Making grammar work dramatic and in confining the exercises to troublesome verbs, as, *' action and object exer- cises involving the verbs, pronouns, and adjectives used in class B of first grade ; also set ; sit ; sat ; lie ; lain ; lay ; laid." (P-72.), 2. Stimulating the imagination of the pupils by the use of pictures. " Pictures are always available, and, if good, never fail to stimulate the interest of children. . . . Pic- tures furnish an excellent basis for imaginative stories, which may be given orally or in written form." (p. 67.) In circular No. 14, the primary supervisor gives a valuable discussion of stories from pictures. She begins the dis- cussion with this much-needed caution : "The picture story has too often meant to both teacher and pupil a descrip- tion of the picture, when it should mean the story which the picture tells." 86 School Organization and Administration 3. Giving much time to oral expression before beginning written work. "The stimulation of the desire to use good language, and much practice in correct oral expression in the school, are imperative to counteract the tendency to use incorrect forms on the playground." (p. 68.) "No written work to be required in this class (Second A), but much drill in the retelling of short stories limited to one or two characters, and a single action, previously told by the teacher." (p. 72.) 4. Making every lesson a language lesson. "All the language work of this class (First A) should be oral work, and every recitation should be, in a greater or less degree, a language lesson." (p. 69.) 5. Committing to memory many fine models of literature. "Selections of poetry should be committed to memory to be recited, to be sung, to be made the subject of conversation. This exercise may be conducted on a generous scale." (p. 67.) 6. The frequent use of the dramatic method in oral com- position. "Dramatization of simple stories to give freedom in oral expression and make the thought of the story real." (p. 68.) "The stories and poems of this grade (First A) arc to be told and recited by the teacher, and should not be read to the children." (p. 69.) Spirit of the Upper-Grade Work The spirit of the course in language and grammar out- lined for the grammar grades is illustrated by the following paragraphs under " Suggestions for Grammar Grades " : "The first requirement of the school is to cause the child to be at home in his school world; to exjiress his tlioughts here as freely and frankly as he does elsewhere; to be as spontaneous in his expression in school as he is out of it. This will scarcely come to jmss if his mind is centered too much on the form, if he is too conscious of the possibility of error. "Tlie function of all language and grammar work is to cause the learner to come into full possession of himself; to be sensitive and responsive to the influ- ence of thought; to be able to express himself fluently, elegantly, thoughtfully; to know the fitting word or phrase and to know why it is the most fitting term to use. To know the parts of speech, the rules and definitions of technical The Courses of Study 87 English, and the analysis of each and every sentence, only is really worth while when this knowledge can be transformed into working capital which can be invested properly and profitably in all the occasions of the life of thought." Some of the admirable qualities in language work for grammar grades are : 1. Composition laws and grammar rules are considered of value only so far as they aid the pupil to speak and write with clearness, force, and ease. 2. The insistence upon the study of model selections in teaching composition and appreciating the ideal in literature. 3. The idea that language study is a part of every lesson. "Language teaching is not to be confined to the language lesson alone. Every lesson is to a degree a language lesson. It is of little avail to la^^ stress on rules of language during the regular lesson, and then for all the rest of the day permit children to be careless in their talk and written work." (p. 84.) 4. The equal emphasis upon oral and written expression. 5. The emphasis upon content as well as form. "Subjects for conversation and for composition are always to be adapted to the age, knowledge, and interests of the children. Something to say and a desire to say it are both essential prerequisites to good language." (p. 86.) 6. Constant attention to enlarging the students' vocab- ularies. "In all language work the child must not only be taught to master his vo- cabulary, but he must be taught to acquire a vocabulary worthy of mastery. If the child is to acquire an adequate and worthy vocabulary, the teacher must purposefully guide him in the acquisition and use of that vocabulary." (p. 85.) SPELLING Directions for the Work in Spelling The suggestions and directions for teaching spelling given in the course of study are excellent. A spelling- honk is used, beginning with the third grade. Work in phonics which, as a distinct course, terminates with the third grade, is not 88 School Organization and Administration to be neglected. A review of the phonograms previously taught is called for in the fourth-grade course in spelling. In the fourth and every succeeding grade to the eighth the correlation idea is emphasized in the following direction : "Many words are to be learned as they are needed in the study of different subjects, or as the child's written expression demands. Spelling drill should be a lively exercise." This excellent suggestion also appears : " Prevention is better than cure in spelling, and the skilled teacher will aim to avoid all errors by making necessary suggestions before the lesson is studied, not after. There will be some errors even with this careful assigAment, but the number will be small and may receive individual attention." And again : " Anticipate errors in spelling and try to safeguard the pupils against making them. It is easier to do than to undo and do." Also: Oral spelling is advocated " for guaranteeing the correct sound interpretation," but — " The written form is the final form and the one most used in normal life after school; consequently it should be the real test of a pupil's capability." The use of the dictionary is enjoined, and some of the possible causes of poor spelling are pointed out. Time Given to Spelling Although the time devoted to spelling is not prescribed in the course of study, it is evidently regarded by the teachers as a highly important subject. In many of the grammar grades fully half an hour per day, or one-tenth of the entire school time, is devoted to study and recitation in this sub- ject, and even a longer expenditure of time is not uncom- mon. Keen interest is stimulated by a lively competition between schools, and by uniform competitive tests formu- lated in the office of the superintendent. As measured by the survey by rjieans of the Ayres standard tests, as will be described in some detail in Chapter VIII. the results of The Courses of Study 89 this rather extreme attention to spelling show in a very high score ; but it is a question whether the children of Salt Lake City are not sacrificing something in other lines by devoting so large a proportion of the total time available to spelling. The first investigator of note, Dr. J. M. Rice, concluded that more than fifteen minutes a day devoted to spelling was time absolutely wasted. According to this view five per cent, of the total time would be ample ; yet, estimated on the basis of the median of the table. Salt Lake City children spend eight and three-tenths per cent, of the total time upon this subject. During the year 1909 the elementary schools of Boston, New York, Chicago, Rochester, Cincinnati, Indi- anapolis, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Kansas City, San Francisco, and Cleveland devoted an average of only five and seven- tenths per cent, of their time to spelling (estimated from Table XIII), a proportion not greatly in excess of Dr. Rice's suggested maximum. According to average standards the children in the Salt Lake City schools are good spellers. We would not say they spell too well, but we believe as good re- sults could be secured with less expenditure of time. Some admirable characteristics of the course of study in spelling are : 1. The insistence in all spelling work upon anticipating errors. 2. Emphasis upon the relation of pronunciation to spelling. 3. The constant injunction to relate spelling to composi- tion activities. " The real test of good spelling is found in the written composition." 4. Emphasis upon training children to use the dictionary. 5. Insistence upon selecting words from geography, his- tory, etc. 6. Much drill upon lists of words commonly misspelled. 90 School Organization and Administration put;|3A3|3 osspurjjj uT;y sinoq -^s U Sl|Od-E -UTJipuj jo^soijooy^ oScDiqj V"A '^SN nojsoa (v-jiOioO rr)"+<~^ <^ MvO O"'") t^oo "^O 10 r^ 10 H >0 00 Th d >o 10 c* cs 10 3 .y .t; ^ o ►-^ S -d t^ o o •^ 10 06 q r;- On * o> CO t-^ "^ «D MO CO 06 vd ■^ M IT) >0 CO ro ■4 vd t-^ -"i- W-2 "13 cd CJ .3 -0 '3 bo a b c •r^ m fii PL, J a i»* W 3 -Z! 2 3 bO^ I/) tn gS rt (U 'C J3 ^ ; — (S C 4j o *. cjja *j o >> & ' product is Utah turning out in larger and larger quantities each year? III. Grammar GROtrp I Final Examination — Eighth B Class I. Illustrate: (a) A phrase as subject of the sentence; (b) A clause as ob- ject of a preposition; (c) A coordinate clause; (d) A phrase modifjing a noun used as subjective complement. The Instruction mid Supervision as Seen 117 2. Choose the proper word and fill in the blanks of the following sentences; also give reasons for your choice: (a) Not one of the boys (was, were) there. (b) The book (lay, laid) on the table yesterday. (c) Deal (gentle, gently) with them. (d) For you and (me, I) there are many opportunities. (e) (Has, have) either of you girls an extra pencil? 3. Diagram the following sentence: At the back of Mount Tipanogas, not fifty miles away, is a glacier exhibiting all the characteristics of ice streams. 4. Use each of the following words first as a noun, then as an adjective, then as a verb: bUnd, sound, spring. 5. Classify (a) words, (b) sentences, (c) phrases, according to use. GROUP 11 6. Write the plural form of the following words: tooth, Mary, Miss Clark, German, baby, journey, chief, wolf, father-in-law, hero. 7. Give the principal parts of the following verbs: go, sit, lie, dig, set, see, do, eat, come, lay. 8. Account for the case form of the capitalized pronouns in the following sentences: (a) WE girls are going on an excursion. (b) Did you see Mary and ME at the theater? (c) Neither speaker had prepared HIS speech. (d) I am in a higher class than SHE. (e) The money belongs to US four boys. Q. Write a sentence containing two subordinate clauses, one performing the office of an adjective and the other the office of an adverb. 10. Explain and illustrate the difference in meaning between the following words: At and in, between and among, beside and besides, by and with, in and into. Note that children compose in answering these questions. They are not analyzing the sentences of others. IV. Arithmetic GROUP I Eighth A aitd B Classes 1. Solve: 54f + 9^1 + I'sf + 8? + 13I 2. Divide 49^ by 21 5. 3. Multiply .045 by 40.4 and divide the product by 6.45. 4. Simplify: f of ff. f of If 5. Multiply 1,786,905! by 78|. ii8 School Organization and Administration GROUP II 1. How many square feet in the walls, floor, and ceilinR of a room 16 feet 6 inches long, by 12 feet 4 inches wide, by g feet 6 inches high? 2. A farmer bought 80 sheep for $500. He sold 45 per cent, of them at $8.00 apiece, and the remainder at $7.50 apiece. Find his per cent, of gain. 3. At 3J-2 per cent, commission, wliat were the earnings in one week of an agent who sold property as follows: $6,875, %i400i $11,400, and $8,725? 4. A steamboat makes a trip of 148.75 miles in 9.4 hours. Find the speed per hour. (Give the answer to the nearest hundredths.) 5. $75.50 was paid for oats at 45 cents a bushel. Find the total weight, reckoning 32 pounds to a bushel. Note the separate grouping of problems by means of which a comparison may be made between a pupil's abiHty in fundamentals and in reasoning. THE QUALITY OF THE GRADE SUPERVISION Sets of circulars or bulletins issued by the grade super- visors, as interpretations of the course of study, have been placed at the disposal of the members of the survey. The outlines in third-grade geography, issued in bulletin form by the primary supervisor, have already been com- mented on as models of their kind. A grammar-grade bul- letin on arithmetic has been quoted in connection with the discussion of that subject. In a bulletin on hygiene, issued by the grammar-grade supervisor, an excellent way is pointed out to secure the observance by the pupils of hy- gienic rules: "Habit formation should constitute a chief part of the educational training in hygiene. The pupils will be rated on the quality of their class work and their daily physical habits." In another bulletin the following sound characterization of the use of grammar is given for the benefit of principals and teachers of seventh and eighth grades : "The teaching of grammar must be justified by the educational results that arc immediate, ratlier than those remote. These results should be: (a) clearer thinking, (b) increased ability to judge the quality of language, (c) increased power to interpret language. The Instruction and Supervision as Seen 119 "It is better to select a few topics in grammar and to teach them well than endeavor to teach too many topics. Whenever the facts and principles being studied have no concrete meaning to the child, they are not serving the edu- cational purpose intended. Verbal memory has httle place in the teaching of this subject. Classifications and definitions should follow concrete knowledge of many individual words or expressions, and not precede this knowledge. In other words, they should grow out of the child's fund of information and his powers of comparison." Good points about the bulletins are : 1. Flexibility — the supervisor realizes that conditions determine the remedies to be applied. 2. Definiteness of directions. 3. The ultimate end is never lost sight of. The various means suggested are always practical. They reflect super- visors who have studied the results of the teachers' work, and who possess readiness and resourcefulness in suggest- ing remedies for difficulties. 4. The insistence upon thoroughness, upon student power, not alone a mastery of facts, as an ultimate test of teaching is constantly emphasized. 5. The human element in the directions should tend to make the teachers sympathetic and stimulating. 6. The relation of subject to subject is well brought out, indicating supervisors who see all of the subjects as parts of a plan to develop a single consistent purpose. II. Desirable Extensions THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL The plan now well under way in Salt Lake City, by which grades seven, eight, and nine are organized departmentally as the junior high school, is in line with progressive prac- tice elsewhere. Already sixty-eight cities have such organi- zations, and many more are contemplating this feature. These organizations differ as to the grades included, whether two or three ; as to housing, whether in a separate building, I20 School Organization and Administration or with lower grades, or high school proper; and again as to the subjects included in the course of study. Some com- mon characteristics appear. After the sixth grade, pupils are allowed some choice among studies, they anticipate some of the work of the high school proper, and they are taught on the departmental plan. THE PLAN AS YET IMPERFECTLY DEVELOPED In Salt Lake City the organization calls ultimately for three grades, the seventh and the eighth, and, as pupils of the two grades below accomplish work which calls for high- school credits, the ninth. A good beginning has been made, and the plan merits full development. It seemed to the survey staff, however, that instead of scattering the units of the organization throughout the city it would be far better, both financially and educationally, to bring the pupils of junior high-school grades together in larger numbers. Since the schools throughout the city are now so crowded that rooms not intended for school use are being utilized as classrooms, it is evident that new buildings must be erected to relieve the congestion. The needed relief should be pro- vided by erecting four or five new buildings expressly for the junior high school work, leaving existing buildings for the use of grades one to six. This would make better grad- ing possible and would provide larger classes, thus reduc- ing the per capita cost of instruction. It would also remove two grades, the seventh and eighth, from all existing build- ings, in itself a gain of no small importance. The work cannot be properly developed in so many small and scattered centers. Not enough differentiation can be arranged to meet the varying needs of the children. At present the prevocational needs of the children of Salt Lake City are not sufficiently provided for. A choice of German, Latin, or French is open to pupils, and in one center the arithmetic of the eighth grade has a commercial trend ; but there is little provision for those non-literary pupils who, The Instruction and Supervision as Seen 121 though not defective in intellect, are not sufficiently apt in dealing with symbols to get their education chiefly from books. Not only for these, but also for another group of boys and girls, normal in every respect but who will inevi- tably leave school at an early age, courses should be offered which give definite industrial training. The work in such courses should differ from that in the ordinary manual- training classes for boys, and classes in cooking and sewing for girls, in the greater variety of materials dealt with, in the increased time devoted to practical work, and in the approach to the academic work through the industrial pro- jects of the shop and home. Ten hours per week is not too much time to devote to this work. The courses should pro- vide real vocational experience, with materials and processes as extensive as the leading occupations followed in the city and state. Through such experience the boys and girls can form some notion of what they are fitted to do for a livelihood. TYPES OF COURSES NEEDED The junior high school scheme, when fully developed, should provide at least four courses at each center. One, strongly academic, has now been well worked out. An- other, tending toward the commercial, has been begun. An- other in practical arts for boys is needed, and still another in practical arts for girls. Both of these should include agriculture as an optional subject. It should be possible for a boy or girl who has taken any one of the courses to enter the senior high school, if circumstances are such as to make a longer period of schooling possible. As has already been said, this variety of opportunity can- not be offered in scattered centers. Four or five buildings, with ample shop and laboratory facilities, are needed. Each should be conveniently located to receive pupils from sev- eral six-grade schools. On the basis of the present enroll- ment, four schools, each with a capacity for 950 pupils, would accommodate the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades 122 School Organization and Administration of the entire city. For the present, one of these would as now be the new high-school building. In the year 1914-15 there were 1,616 pupils enrolled in the seventli grade, 1,243 in the eighth, and 856 in the ninth. The falling ol'f in attendance in the eighth grade was 23 per cent. ; in the ninth it was 47 per cent. It may be confi- dently expected that after the junior high school plan has been fully developed, with differentiated courses of study and in buildings of suitable plan and equipment, this heavy mortality at the end of the eighth grade will be greatly re- duced, and a fifth school would be needed. It ought to be the purpose of every city to carry as many pupils as pos- sible through a six-year elementary and some one of the three-year junior high-school courses. Normally these would be completed by the close of the fifteenth year, or at the end of the compulsory school period. That Salt Lake City fails to accomplish such a purpose now may be seen by an inspection of Figures 13 and 14, which show the ages and grades of the pupils at present in the schools. VOCATIONAL TRAINING Approximately 1,600 children leave school each year in various grades after the sixth, 800 boys and 800 girls. It is important to know what preparation they have had for the practical duties that await them. The exact loss by grades, computed from the age-grade distribution sheet, is : Grade VI to VII 215 Grade VII to VIII 253 Grade VIII to IX 552 Grade IX to X .312 Grade X to XI 145 Grade XI to XII "7 Total 1,594 Approximately two-thirds of those leaving are from grades below the ninth, and eighty-four per cent, of them The Instruction and Supervision as Seen 123 are from grades below the senior high school. Vocational preparation is seen therefore to be chiefly a problem for the junior high school and the grades immediately below it. Vocational training in any city must have reference to the opportunities for employment which the city affords, for it is safe to assume that the majority of the boys and girls now in the schools will find their place in the life of the local com- munity. We cannot know what occupation any child will follow, but from census reports we do know what occupa- tions are open to choice, not only in Salt Lake City, but also in the country as a whole, and what proportion of the popu- lation is now engaged in each occupation. VOCATIONS IN SALT LAKE CITY The vocational distribution of the entire wage-earning population of Salt Lake City, male and female, according to the census reports for 19 10, was as shown in the follow- ing table : TABLE XIV Occupational Statistics for Salt Lake City {U. S. Census Reports, igio, Vol. IV) Total Population, Salt Lake City, 1910 92,777 Male Female I. Total population 10 years of age or over 37,9oS 35)627 37,73oor4o.7% 1. Engaged in all occupations 30,279 7,451 566 or 0.6% (a) Agrig. forestry and Animal husb'y . . 553 13 (Farmers — Farm laborers 195 5 Gardeners, nurserymen, florists ... 161 7 Stock raisers, tenders 157 o 904 or 0.9% (b) Extraction of minerals 903 i ii,564or 12.5% (c) Manf. and Mech. industries .... 10,260 1,304 Apprentices 239 31 Blacksmiths — Forgemen 273 Brick and stone masons 367 Builders and building contractors . . 586 2 Carpenters 1,425 Compositors — Typesetters .... 240 12 Dressmakers — Seamstresses .... 1 546 124 School Organizatiofi atid Administration Male Female Most important Electricians — Elec. engineers .... 448 Over 200 in each Stationary engineers 304 Laborers in building trades .... 1,492 20 Machinists — Tool makers 516 Manufacturers, Supt., — Officials . . 420 8 Milliners — Dealers and workers . . 10 192 Painters, vamishers, etc 494 Plasterers 151 Plumbers — Gas and steam fitters . . 313 Food Industries 106 155 Iron and steel industries 290 Tailors and tailoresses 183 19 4,235 or 4.6% (d) Transportation 4,038 197 Draymen, teamsters, e.xpressmen . . 851 Chauffeurs 65 Steam railway conductors 208 Over 200 in each Street railway conductors 145 Brakemen i6t Locomotive engineers 323 Locomotive firemen 191 Motormen 131 Laborers 667 6 Summary : Water transportation .... Road — Street transportation . Railroad work Exp., Post. Tel. — Telephone . Other transportation pursuits . 6,454 or 7% (e) Trade Bankers, brokers — Money lenders , Clerks in stores Commercial travelers Over 150 in each Deliverymen 475 Insurance agents and officials ... 175 2 Real estate dealers 370 8 Retail dealers 1,630 64 Salesmen and saleswomen .... 1,207 339 Wholesale dealers and importers . . 1 1 1 i 1,583 or 1.7% (f) Public Service 1,569 10 Firemen 69 Guards, watchmen, bookkeepers . . 120 11 1,039 2,183 6 346 183 459 8 4,038 197 5,726 728 290 5 599 274 394 9 The Instniction and Supervision as Seen 125 Male Female Laborers 208 2 Marshals, sheriffs, detectives .... 41 i All Officials — Inspectors (City and Co.) . 85 6 Officials — Inspectors (State, U. S.) . 112 i Policemen 73 Soldiers, sailors — Marines 846 Other pursuits 15 3,342 or 3.6% (g) Professional Service 2,146 1,196 Authors, editors, reporters 98 12 Civil and mining engineers 444 Designers, draughtsmen, inventors . . 118 15 Over 100 in each Lawyers — Justices 273 2 Musicians — Teachers of music . . . 174 195 Physicians — Surgeons 188 26 Teachers 113 614 Nurses 9 112 5,016 or 5.4% (h) Domestic and Personal Service . . . 2,253 2,763 Barbers, hairdressers, manicures . . 266 75 Bartenders 275 Boarding and lodging-house keepers . 63 331 Housekeepers — Stewards 15 135 Janitors 211 59 Launderers — L'dresses (not in laun- dries) 7 201 Over 100 in each Laundry operatives 105 325 Midwives — Untrained nurses ... 22 249 Porters 141 Restaurant and cafe keepers .... 106 16 Saloon keepers 99 i Servants 417 1,227 Waiters 268 81 4,066 or 4.4% (i) Clerical occupations 2,827 1,239 Agents, canvassers, collectors .... 366 14 Bookkeepers — Cashiers 804 315 Clerks (not in stores) 1,150 156 Messenger and office boys ^'294 11 Stenographers and typewriters ... 213 743 MANUFACTURING CONDITIONS Salt Lake City 1909 1904 1899 No. of manfg. estabUshments . . . 245 192 154 Av. no. of wage earners 4,287 2,776 2,154 Value of products $13,351,000 $7,544,000 $4,279,000 Values added by manufacturing . . 6,736,000 4,029,000 2,302,000 126 School Organization and Administration Wage Utah Employing Earners No. of manuf. estabs. in 749 11,785 Total population of Utah 373,351 Total population of Salt Lake Citj' 92,777 Salt Lake City has 33 per cent, of establishments of State of Utah. Salt Lake City employs 36 per cent, of wage earners of State of Utah. Per cent, of total population engaged as wage earners in manufacturing estab- lishments, 4.6 per cent. From decade to decade there will doubtless be slight changes in the vocational distribution shown in the table, but the proportions are not likely to change materially in the next twenty years, hence boys now in the schools, if they remain in Salt Lake City, will be engaged in the occupations listed above in about the same proportion that obtained in 19 10. If they go elsew^iere they will find vocational de- mands not widely different. The present distribution of wage earners in Salt Lake City, in the nine leading occupa- tions, is given in Table V. VOCATIONAL EDUCATION NEEDED It would manifestly be impossible to prepare each of the 800 boys who leave school each year specifically for the particular occupation which he will follow out of the vast variety open to choice, even if the choice of each were known in advance. A general vocational training intended to lay a broad foundation of vocational understanding wxTiy, how- ever, be given to all. A still more secure foundation may be laid for each of the half dozen broad fields of human labor represented in the city, the work in each field being taken only by those who intend to find their specialty there. The boy should be permitted to try himself out in as many vocational fields as possible. The range of experimental activities should be as wide as the resources of the city will permit. There should be work with wood of all varieties, and in connection with the woodwork experiences in the use The Instruction mid Supervision as Seen 127 of finishes of every sort. There should be work with metal, leather, clay, and textiles. There should be electric Avork, printing, gardening, buying, selling, banking. The list might be greatly extended. Sewing and garment making for girls already receives attention, but not enough time is given to the work to make it of high vocational value. Some specialization should be open to girls who will not pursue their education beyond the junior high school. This is true also of domestic sci- ence. In the good beginning thus far made in teaching these subjects the schools are rendering a far-reaching social service. Training for clerical service is well provided for in the present courses of study. Vocational training for girls should look beyond the commercial and clerical work which will necessarily be but temporary, and toward the wise management of a home in all its varied relations. The junior high-school organization is well adapted to foster the wide variety of prevocational or try-out activities through which only can a boy or girl be sure of making a wise choice of vocation. THE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS The senior high schools, two in number, offer seven courses, classical, scientific, English, normal-preparatory, mechanics'-arts, domestic-science, and commercial. In view of the importance of agriculture in the Salt Lake Valley a good course in agriculture should be added. With this addi- tion the high-school opportunities furnished would be suffi- ciently varied to meet present needs. Provision for varia- tion from a single fixed course, alike for all, has been in vogue in high schools throughout the country for many years, whereas in the upper grades of elementary schools a more conservative policy, amounting to rigid adherence to a single course, has till quite recently been the universal policy. The Salt Lake City high schools have been of the progres- sive class, and they are now able, without at all disturbing 128 School Organization attd Administration their organization, to receive pupils from the new junior high-school courses of the modern varied type and carry them forward along the lines of work started in the seventh grade. For this reason the high-school situation has not seemed to call for much attention from the members of the survey staff. The small percentage of pupils enrolled in the high schools, and the heavy mortality during the first year, as shown by F'igures 14 and 15, seem to indicate that the high schools are not making the educational opportunities they provide as apparent to the young people of the community as they should, and perhaps are not adjusting their work as closely as they might to the individual needs of the pupils who enter the schools. UNGRADED CLASSES The junior high school does not receive pupils until they have completed the work of six grades. The statistics of retardation in the Salt Lake City schools disclose the fact, common in the experience of all school systems, that there are many children in the lower grades who, though not feeble minded, are slow to grasp the fundamentals which, in the main, constitute the work of the first six grades. They cannot work to advantage in regular classes because they need more individual attention than they can get there. Failing of promotion term after term, they become discour- aged and indifferent. It is expensive to keep them in the regular classes because they must be taken over the same ground repeatedly, owing to their inability to keep the pace of the class. Not only is it expensive, but it is also waste- ful of human life and capacity. Children of this type can master the rudiments of education if allowed to move for- ward slowly but regularly. They need to be organized in special classes of moderate size, and to move forward at their own pace, without repeating. Such groups are some- times called auxiliary classes, sometimes ungraded classes. The Instruction and Supervision as Seen 129 A few such classes have been organized in Salt Lake City. On a false theory of economy some of them have recently been discontinued. Each large school should have at least one such class. Unlike some of those now conducted, such classes should be managed with no expectation of meeting grade requirements of the course of study. The teacher should regulate the course in accordance with individual needs, and there should be much objective work. Practical arts, of a less advanced type than those in the junior high school, should provide motive for reading, writing, compo- sition, and arithmetic. Instead of reducing the number of ungraded classes the city should increase their number, and should adjust the character of the work done in them, not on the basis of the regular course of study, but on the basis of adaptation to the peculiar aptitudes of the pupils. This subject is considered more in detail in Chapter IX. CHAPTER VIII THE EFFICIENCY OF THE INSTRUCTION MEASURED PURPOSE OF THIS SECTION OF THE REPORT TO be able to state in quantitative terms just what the efficiency of instruction in a given school or subject is, is a recent innovation in school practice which is becom- ing of increasing importance as scales for this purpose are perfected. It is not enough to get results in teaching, but we must be able to define those results, and it should be emphasized that, until this can be done, we really know very little about the results obtained. It is the purpose here to report the results of a series of tests which were designed to measure the state of efiiciency of instruction in the Salt Lake City schools, in those sub- jects which are intended to provide the children with the common tools of knowledge, and which every one recog- nizes as the basis of all education. EXTENT OF THE TESTS MADE To this end tests were given in the subjects of reading, writing, spelling, composition, and arithmetic, to from 9 to 22 per cent, of the children in the elementary schools of the city. For this purpose 19 of the 30 schools were selected, taking care to touch every type of community from the standpoint of population and social and economic status, and general school conditions as to size of school, cjuality of building and instruction, etc. From each of these schools the " B," or upper classes, were chosen for the tests. 130 The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 131 Whatever results appear are therefore fully typical of the schools as a whole, probably little if any different from what would have been the case had every child in the system been included in the test.^ Dealing with the upper classes of each grade, and at the close of the school year, the results represent practically the final achievements of the grades tested. The tests used were all standardized tests, and, while no adequate explanation of any one of them can be given here, it should be noted that each one had been specially designed for its purpose, and not only represented the best scientific achievement in that line at the time, but each had proved its value in teaching and supervision in many school systems. Results obtained from these tests in other cities were therefore serviceable, and fully trustworthy for comparative purposes here. WHAT SUCH TESTS SHOULD REVEAL The forces and conditions determining the results of teaching the subjects tested, as well as all other subjects, are extremely varied. The responsibility of the school lies in discovering, defining, and controlling those different fac- tors, to the end that the greatest economy in instruction shall obtain. Time allotment, teaching equipment, method, hy- gienic and aesthetic conditions of the room, etc., are all factors of importance in determining the efficiency of the instruction, but no single factor is so great as that of indi- vidual differences in mental ability. The school can easily control the time, equipment, and method factors, but it can- not determine original mental endowment. This only em- phasizes the fact that it is the function of the school to organize and operate in terms of child nature, justifying its ^ In bulletin No. 2, of the Boston Department of Educational Investigation and Measurement (Nov., 1914), Dr. Ballou found that a study of 1,000 cases (arithmetic tests) showed almost identically the same median as that obtained in a study of 20,000 cases. 132 School Organization and Administration plans for supervision, promotion, grading, methods of in- struction, etc., always in terms of the degree to which they aid in the adjustment of the school to the individual needs of the children. Such tests as were employed and are here described are well adapted to finding out how fully the schools are meet- ing this important responsibility. A bad classification of children is a greater handicap than can be offset by the greatest excellence in methods, supervision, or equipment. HOW THE TESTS V/ERE CONDUCTED With the exception of writing and composition the tests were conducted by members of the survey staff, all of whom were engaged at this work for from three to five full days. The tests were given under as nearly normal schoolroom conditions as was possible. The papers w^ere scored by teachers and principals, under the careful instruction of a member of the staff, no teacher scoring her own papers where more than mere counting or checking was involved. The results of the scoring and recording were gone over with sufficient care to guarantee that no unusual errors crept into the final results. A few papers, and papers for a very few classes, had to be discarded because instructions were not carefully followed. It is believed that the results as shown below are fully trustworthy as evidence of the effi- ciency of instruction in these subjects, as they were being handled at the time the school survey was made. I. The Test in Spelling The subject of spelling is begun in the second grade, and continued through the eighth. The average amount of time given to the subject is approximately 100 minutes per week for all grades save the third, which devotes 150 minutes per week to this subject. (See Table XII, page yy.) The general suggestions and plans outlined in the printed course of study for spelling are excellent. The work is carefully The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 133 correlated with other work in Enghsh, and the spelHng text is supplemented by lists of words made up by the super- visors and teachers. It should be said at the outset that the amount of time devoted to this subject is at least 25 per cent, too high, 50 per cent, in case of grade three, and that a fair interpretation of the results, of this test must bear this fact in mind. The test, which was given to the " B " class in each of the grades three to eight inclusive, in nineteen schools, was that devised by Dr. Leonard P. Ayres, which he used in the Springfield survey,^ and which he has later embodied in a complete spelling scale. ^ The test is composed of the fol- lowing sixty words: GRADE 3 GRADE 4 GRADE 5 I. fill I. forty I. several 2. point 2. rate 2. leaving 3. state 3. children 3. publish 4. ready 4. prison 4. o'clock 5. almost 5. title 5. running 6. high 6. getting 6. known 7. event 7. need 7. secure 8. done 8. throw 8. wait 9. pass 9. feel 9. manner 10. Tuesday 10. speak 10. flight GRADE 6 GRADE 7 GR.\DE 8 I. decide I. district I. petrified 2. general 2. consideration 2. tariff 3. manner 3. athletics 3. emergency 4. too 4. distinguish 4. corporation 5. automobile 5. evidence 5. convenience 6. victim 6. conference 6. receipt 7. hospital 7. amendment 7. cordially 8. neither 8. liquor 8. discussion 9. toward g. experience 9. appreciate 10. business 10. receive ID. decision ^ The Public Schools of Springfield, Illinois. An educational survey, Divi- sion of Education, Russell Sage Foundation, Bulletin E 137. 1913. * A Measuring Scale for Ability in Spelling. Leonard P. Ayres, Division of Education, Russell Sage Foundation, 1915. 134 School Organization and Administration Each word was selected from the i,ooo words found, after a lengthy investigation, to be the i,ooo most com- monly used words in writing, and placed in groups by grades, on the basis of an extended test of each word in the schools of 84 eastern cities. Each word appears in the grade in which it was spelled correctly on an average by 70 per cent, of the children. We may therefore accept 70 per cent, as the standard which each grade in Salt Lake City should attain, if the instruction in this subject is as good as the average in a large number of cities in the United States. The list of words was pronounced to the children by the regular classroom teacher, in the presence of a member of the survey staff, ordinary class procedure obtaining in mat- ters of writing, pronunciation, explanation of words of more than one meaning, etc. The papers were collected, im- mediately scored by the teacher, and turned over to the mem- ber of the survey in charge. ^^ o •OUJ U_ z (— x: CO r- :) - <. _1 a z or yf>»> — to 6RADE;5IL 5Sl CHILDREN ENTIRE CITY 39St CHILOREH M W K TO W it '• TO ZO GRADEIT TOS. CMII,DKeN 1 30 ro 70 WW 40 JO GRADE!? ■7/0 CHILDHEM 10- KOJDIO 70 M jo 4a» 20 GRADEH fS-Z CHILOKCM wo X W 10 V K to io TO 10 SPELLING TEST. Fig. 17. Showing for the City as a Whole, and by Grades, the Ter- CENTAGE OF CHILDREN ATTAINING EaCH OF THE POSSIBLE SCORES different. More than half the children in grade three, and less than a fourtli of the children in grade four, attained perfect scores. Similar comparisons may be made by refer- ence to the median score, which is indicated for each sec- The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 139 tion of the diagram. The median or middle score for all the 3,988 children tested is 91 per cent., which means that one-half of the group, or 1,994 children, attained a score above 91, while the same number fell below 91. As was shown by Figure 16, grade four ranks lowest with a median of 82, and grade three highest with a median of 96. UNEVEN ABILITY SHOWN It is clear from this showing that the test was too easy for two-fifths of the children in the Salt Lake City schools. How many more words of equal difficulty these children might have spelled can only be conjectured. It is enough to say that two-fifths of the children of these grades have long since been ready for promotion, according to the standard of this test. There is another feature of this diagram, however, that must not be overlooked, and that is the fact that in each grade there are a few children who fail to spell more than half of the ten words correctly. For the city as a whole this group amounts to nearly six per cent., or approximately 250 of the children tested. While it is true that Salt Lake City is not unlike other cities in this respect, yet this question should be met squarely. While the details for individual classes cannot be shown here, the same condition which ob- tains with respect to whole grades in the city obtains also in single classrooms. Pedagogically this makes a teaching situation which no teacher can hope to meet adequately. With such extremes of abilities in a class, some children may dawdle their time away, while others are being overworked. It should be re- membered that dawdling is not mere resting, or waiting. On the contrary, it is a constructive part of the child's train- ing, which is developing for him slovenly, half-hearted habits of work which do not make use of his full capacity for achievement. With the child who ranks far below his class average the case is different. It is the unusual teacher I40 School Organization and Administration who does not finally count him a hopeless case, and permit him to drift, or, to save her own teaching reputation, drive him along by the most unpedagogical methods until the process finally eliminates him. COMPARISON WITH THREE OTHER CITIES A comparison of the showing in Salt Lake City with that made in three other cities in which this test has been recently used seemed desirable, and is presented in Table XVII. TABLE XVII Spelling Test — Salt Lake City Compared with Other Cities (Ayres Test) Grade City Ave. II III IV V VI VII VIII Springfield, 111 70.0 65.0 70.0 72.0 68.0 73-0 75-0 70.0 Butte, Mont.i 86.2 81.8 78:7 84-5 7S-0 76.2 89.4 80.3 Oakland, Cal.^ 60.4 66.7 75-9 84.7 80.2 79-7 76..1 76.5 SALT LAKE CITY . . 89.9 78.8 87.6 86.8 87.1 82.2 86.0 ' Includes only B classes. 5 Sears, J. B., Spelling Efficiency in the Oakland Sclwols, Board of Education Bulletin, Oak- land, 1915. The test in Oakland was given at the befiinning of the year, and includes results from both A and B classes. Note. Salt Lake City should rank slightly higher than Oakland, since the test included only the B section of the grade and was given five months later in the school year. From this it will be seen that the Salt Lake City schools rank well above those of the other cities in all grades except the eighth, and that, for the city as a whole, they stand 6 per cent, above all the others. Discounting this showing liberally because it represents the final product of the grades, the midyear classes not being included, it can still be said that Salt Lake City ranks high, probably highest for the city as a whole, and for at least three of the grades. But again reference must be made to the fact that in Springfield the amount of time given The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 141 to spelling ranges from o to 40 minutes per day, i. e., from o to 200 minutes per week ; that in Oakland the range is from 10 to 200 minutes per week, with an average of slightly less than 100 minutes ; while the range in Salt Lake City is from 30 to 300 minutes per week, with an average of 1 15 minutes. While the question of time cannot be settled absolutely for all classes and schools alike, the best investigations of this subject do not seem to warrant the recommendation of more than 75 minutes per week as a maximum amount of time for the subject of spelling. While Salt Lake City has made a decidedly high showing, the large time-cost which it places upon the schools must be taken into account. Nor must this excellent showing in general obscure the situation pointed out above. It is true that this brings to light one of the most difficult problems in school organiza- tion. It is true that much the same situation exists in other cities. In a highly complex system the individual child is too apt to be lost in the midst of machinery. The cure is individual promotion, at reasonably frequent intervals, on the basis of single subjects, instead of grade or groups of subjects. There are many difficulties attending the admin- istration of such a remedy, but with adequate supervision it can be accomplished. 2. The Test in Composition Some form of language work is taught in all grades. Story telling and dramatization in the early years anticipate the work in written composition, which begins in grade three in the form of letter writing and story reproduction. The outline for this work in the printed course of study is most suggestive, leaving wide freedom to the teacher, but freedom in the midst of rich suggestions as to what ends to seek and what motives to provide. Especially is it notice- able and commendable that formal grammar is presented only as a means of explaining and clarifying oral or written expression. 142 School Organization and Administration The amount of time devoted to the subject varies widely in every grade, but on the average increases gradually from 75 minutes per week for grades one and two, to 255 minutes per week for grade eight. (See Table XII, page yy.) Twenty-five per cent, more time is given to spelling in grade two than is given to language work, and in grade three fifty per cent, more time, while an equal amount is given the two subjects in grade four. This is obviously so un- reasonable a distribution of time between these two subjects that it should only be necessary to discover that such a dis- crepancy exists in order to have it changed. NATURE AND METHOD OF THE COMPOSITION TEST The test, which is explained in the following paragraphs from a circular placed in the hands of the teachers, was given in grades four to eight inclusive, in the nineteen schools selected for the testing work. Composition Test 1. Each teacher is requested to ask her children to write a composition for her on the following theme: "Suppose that you have twenty dollars, which you have been given to spend. You have five friends, and you decide to spend it in such a manner as will give the most pleasure to each. Tell what you would do or buy for each friend. The amount spent for each friend need not be the same, but the total for the five must be twenty dollars." 2. The composition should be written with pen and ink, and on the regular writing paper. 3. After the children are ready for writing, read the subject to them, give them a minute or two to ask any questions, and, as soon as you are sure that the children understand what they are to do, start them at writing. 4. When the children have finished, collect the papers, fasten those for each class together with a clip, and send to the office of the school principal. •No teacher marked her own papers, hence the personal element probably entered very slightly into the scoring. The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 143 which was done by the use of the Hillegas scale for measur- ing the quahty of Enghsh composition.^ In all there were 3,043 compositions written, representing a sample of slightly more than 16 per cent, of the children in the elementary schools of the city. THE RESULTS OF THE TEST The results of this test are shown briefly in the following tables and diagram. TABLE XVIII Showing Distribution of Composition Scores or Ratings, by Grades (Hillegas Scale) Grade Ratings and Number in Each Grade Making Each Rating ^ II d ri I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 S VIII . VII . VI V IV I I 21 3 3 17 38 100 136 20 51 89 159 44 84 120 140 157 81 165 123 133 159 87 95 106 69 51 92 S8 67 53 43 82 70 31 21 15 29 13 8 I 45 13 4 483 597 587 653 723 5-4 4.4 3.8 3-1 2.9 ' The actual values are not o, i, 2 3, 4, etc., but o, 183, 260, 369, 474, 585, 67s, 772, 838, and 937. Full explanation of how these values were derived, and of the nature and purpose of the scale, are given by its author in the Teachers College Record for September, 191 2. In Table XVIII a complete distribution of scores attained by each of the grades is shown, together with the median score attained by each grade. From this table it may be seen that the degree of efficiency rises gradually from grade * Hillegas, Milo B., .<4 Scale for the Measurement of Quality in English Com- position by Young People. Published by Teachers College, Columbia Univer- sity, 191 2. 144 School Organization and Administration SCORES 01 23456 7?'9 MEOiart 5C0RES: PER CENT. OF PUPILS H: Y^ 20 GRADE mrr GRADE 511 GRADE 21 GRADE If GRADE!? score:: 12345 ST^S Fig. 1 8. Results of the Composition Test This shows the percentage of pupils in each grade who attained each of the pos- sible scores, judged by the Hillegus Scale. The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 145 four to grade eight. That is, from this test it appears that the average child in the Salt Lake City schools, during the course of four years^ training in English composition, may be expected to gain in efficiency the equivalent of 23/2 points on this scale, or at the rate of .6 point per year. According to the Butte school survey * the progress of a child in that city was at the rate of .45 point on the scale per year. Most of the points in this table are brought out more effectively in Figure 18, which shows for each grade the percentage of the children who attained each of the possible scores. The achievement for the median child in grade four, and that for the median child of grade eight, are indicated by the long vertical lines drawn through the entire diagram. Be- tween these, at fairly regular intervals, with one exception, appear the short vertical lines representing the medians of the three intervening grades. This seems to suggest that the composition work is equally well done in all these five grades. Closer examination of the exception referred to shows that the rate of progress for grade four has been substantially higher than that for the other grades. It will be recalled that grade four ranked lowest in spelling. If that was because this grade was working harder on compo- sition, then it is the writer's opinion that the schools can well afford to permit the spelling scores of all grades to drop from 5 to 10 per cent, more, especially since more than 25 per cent, more time is given to spelling than is desirable. Particularly in the language work of the early grades could this time be used to far better advantage. CHILDREN POORLY CLASSIFIED FOR LANGUAGE WORK By this diagram attention is also called to the wide variety of abilities found in each grade. This was found to be char- acteristic also of individual classes, and presents the same ' Report of the Survey of the School System of Butte, Montana. Reprinted by The World Book Company, 1916. 146 School Organization and Administration teaching difficulties as were pointed out above in connection with spelHng. How to assign a lesson, or how to discuss sentence or paragraph formation, or the details of letter writing, with a class containing children as widely apart in ability as are those represented by the outer ends of the dif- ferent sections of this diagram, would be difficult to state. In fact it cannot be done without losing time for some membiers of the class. The diagram shows that there are nearly 8 per cent., almost 60 children of the fourth grade, whose composition scored higher than that written by the average child in grade eight. It is not merely unfair to these 60 children, but unfair to the city's future citizenship, to say nothing of the money cost involved, that these 60 children, who probably represent the real future leadership of the city, should not be promoted to where full, not half opportunity, will be given them in this subject. SAMPLES OF AVERAGE COMPOSITION In order that the reader may judge for himself of the quality of work the schools are doing in composition, the children's papers from the different schools have been looked over and those papers from each grade which received the score nearest the median (approximately the average) for the grade have been sorted out. From these the following compositions have been selected as typical illustrations, not of the best or the poorest, but of the average compositions from each grade tested. They are presented here exactly as written, spelled, and punctuated in the original, except that proper names have been omitted. On the formal side there are plenty of errors in these papers, in spelling, punctuation, sentence formation, etc., and one or two seem rather formal and dry. In most of them, however, there is evidence of some play of the imagi- nation, and fairly free expression. Most of the vocabularies seem adequate, and in such details these samples seem to The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 147 indicate that the composition work is fairly well taught. It must be remembered that these are but average composi- tions, and not compositions selected because of their special merit. No. I. Grade 4B, Score 2.60 (Written by a Girl, Age ii Years, 9 Months) On Christmas my uncle came on a visit. He gave me twenty dollars to spent. I planed what I could do to make some one happy. Wliile I was think- ing I thought of some poor people. Which had five children. So that I could see what they needed most. I went and played with them. After I saw what they needed I went home. And with some of my friends I went up town. And bought five pairs of shoes for eleven dollars, five dresses for six dollars, two loaves of bread for twenty cents, and five pairs of stockings one dollar and ten cents five gloves for one dollar and seventy cents. So not I was the only one happy but they were also happy and glad. No. 2. Grade sB, Score 3.69 (Written by a Girl, Age ii Years, 7 Months) The other day as I was playing in the yard, I spied something in the grass which looked like a penny. But when I came near it was much larger and heavier. The next day I called five of my friends in, M — , D — , B — , A — , and H — . I told them to get ready, and we would go to Lagoon. At last we were ready and now we are on our way. The train stops and we get of ready to give the rest of our ticket to the door tender. I have spent two dollars already, but now I am going take them on the chutes and next the cenick railway. We must not forget the boats and the little train and merry-go-round. After that comes the lunch, for we did not bring any. After that we must all play some kind of a game, and win a little poodle dog. Next the doll game which all of us will play for. The fishing game is the game that you play for jewelry. I bought a vase which cost six dollars, and that was the prize for the one who got the most peanuts after they were hiden. We have ($5.40) five dollars and forty cents left for which will by ($.40) worth of nuts and the rest will be for carfare home. No . 3. Grade 6 B, Score 3.69 (Written by a Boy, Age 12 Years, 9 Months) I have friends who live in the country. Their names are P — C — , C — C , F— C , R— C , and M— .C . They had never visited the 148 School Organization and Administration city One summer I was out there. I allways piled with questions about the city. One day I asked them how they would like to go back with me and see the city. They were so delighted that they could not keep still. In P — 's de- h'ghtment he ran into the cow which politely lifted in the air and set him on top of the hay stack. The next day we started for the city about noon and we reached it. The minute we were off the train they began pointing to sky scraper and crying excitedly. Oh isn't it a tall one. F— said he sposed it reached to heaven. While C — was looking at one of the tall buildings he ran into a man. We went into a resteront a had a good dinner which cost us two dollars apiece. After the dinner we went to the show which was one dollar. M — wanted to know what made the trolley cars go. We went for a ride, we rode about five miles. It cost me one dollar for the ride. When we got ready to go home we got on the cars and found out that I couldn't find my pocket book. We walked all the way home. We got home I found the pocket book in my hat R — had put it there. I gave the four dollars for their home. They said they hadent a better time. No. 4. Grade 7B, Score 4.74 (Written by a Boy, Age 14 Years, 3 Months) One sunny morning in May my five cousins who where on their way to see the fair at Frisco stopped on their way and came to see me. My father gave me twenty dollars to intertain them. I was busy thinking of the best way to do it. I finally decided to go to the Bingham Copper Mines. This was satisfactory to all and taking along a lunch we started off. When we got there it was noon and everybody was hungry so we opened up the lunch and ate until there was not a crumb left. Next we hired a guide to show us through the mines and what a sight we seen. There were walls of dirt seemingly covered with the yellow mettle. Our guid showed us where the ele- vators were on which they sent the copper to the top. Next he showed us the donkeys which hauled the little dump cart to the elevators. After taking us trough all the mines he showed us where the minors Uved. Here our journey ended after each buying a souvenir we departed for home each one satisfied with the way of spending twenty dollars. No. 5. Grade 8B, Score 5.85 (Written by a Boy. Age ?) DEAR J—. Two days ago uncle gave me twenty dollars, to get Christmas presents with. I was on my way down town, to get them, when I saw two ragged little boys. I stopped and said, to them, "Well Johnny what are you going to get for Christmas." " I aint going to get nothing this Christmas, for mamma hasn't got any money. Where do you live, "Across the street in that wooden house," answered the boy. You take this five dollars over to your mamma and then hurry back and I will take you up town. So I took them up town, and got them some warm The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 149 clothes and then took them to a show. So I spent fifteen dollars on three of them. There was Mother and Father left so I got father a shaving set which cost three dollars and a half and I got Mother some Handkerchiefs for a dollar and a half which took all my money. Merry Christmas. Your old friend. H- SALT LAKE CITY's COMPOSITION WORK But little data can be offered for comparison, but sucb as are available are presented in Table XIX. From this table it is seen that in every grade Salt Lake City ranks well TABLE XIX Comparing Salt Lake City's Median Composition Scores with Those Attained in Other States Median Score Grade Salt Lake City Butte, Mont.i Maryland and N. Y. Cityi* Delaware Co., Ohio Delaware City' VIII. . . . VII ... . VI .... V .... IV .... 54 4.4 3-8 31 2.9 4.11 3-75 340 2.87 2.34 5-75to7-o 5-iS 3-94 5-27 > The Butte School Survey, p. 74- 2 F. J. Kelly, Teachers' Marks, Their Variability and Standardization, Col. Univ. Pubs., 1914. • Report of the Ohio State School Survey, 1914. above Butte, above the eighth-grade rural schools of Dela- ware Co., Ohio, and above the eighth-grade children of Delaware City, Ohio, but below the classes in Maryland and New York City. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS It should be said, then, in conclusion : I. That while the schools rank fairly well as compared in Table XIX, yet the fact that some classes in New York 150 School Organization atid Administration City have made higher scores indicates that there is yet room for improvement. There were individual classes in Salt Lake City which ranked as high as the New York City classes, which shows that higher standards than are shown by the table have already been attained by some schools in the city. 2. That the fourth grade which ranked low in spelling is doing superior work in composition, and that otherwise the progress has been about equal in the other grades, which indicates that there is in general a common standard for pro- motion in English work throughout the city. 3. That there is ample evidence that classes are not well graded, when so large a number of fourth-grade children are doing work equal to that of the average eighth-grade pupils, and when nearly an equal number of eighth-grade pupils rank below the average fourth-grade pupil. 4. From the compositions written there is ample evidence that the excellent aims for English work, as set forth in the printed course of study, are being achieved, and that many of the common errors of teaching the formal and technical aspects of English work are being successfully avoided. 5. It is recommended that a portion of the time now devoted to formal spelling drill be given over, in the early grades, to the broader work in English, and that by the use of ungraded rooms, smaller classes, and more elastic meth- ods of promotion, the very bright and the very dull pupils be given more adequate attention than is either possible or economical under the present classification. 3. The Writing Test writing in the school curriculum Writing is taught in all grades, beginning early with free- arm work at the blackboard, gradually taking up the pencil, and in the third grade the pen. During the first two years The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 151 an average of 50 minutes per week, and through the other grades an average of 75 minutes per week, is given to the subject (see Table XII, page yy), which is shghtly less than has recently been found to be the average for 66 American cities.^ The aim in teaching writing appears to be that of legibility rather than mere beauty, and the in- structions in the printed course of study lay appropriate emphasis upon the hygienic aspect of the teaching of the subject. HOW THE WRITING WAS MEASURED The test was given to the same classes and schools as were tested for spelling, including about 20 per cent, of the chil- dren in the elementary schools of the city. For this test each child was provided with a blank sheet of unruled writ- ing paper, at the top of which were printed the following brief instructions and paragraph, as shown here : Write the Following as Well as You Can at Your Usual Speed. Do Not Write Slowly, and Do Not Hurry, But Write Just as You Would a Lesson: After this the sqixirrels used to come in every day, and when she put com in her hand and held it very still, they would eat out of it. Finally they would get into her hand, until one day she gently closed it over them so that Frisky and Titbit were fairly caught. Oh, how their hearts beat! But the good fairy only spoke gently to them, and soon opened her hand and let them go again. These were given to the children by their teachers just as a class exercise, and when finished the papers for each class were turned over to the principal, who forwarded them to the principal of another school across the city, whose teachers scored the papers by use of the Thorndike scale for measuring handwriting.^ * Freeman, Frank N., in the Fourteenth Year Book of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part I. Chicago University Press, 1915. 2 Thorndike, Fdward L., A Scale for Measuring the Handwriting of Chil- dren in Grades 5 to 8. Published by Teachers College, Columbia University, New York. For full explanation of how the scale was derived, see Teachers College Record, March, 1910. r52 School Organization and Administration RESULTS BY SCHOOLS AND BY GRADES The results of this test are shown in detail by schools and by grades in the following tables and diagrams. The scor- ing is done, according to the scale, on the basis of 4 to 18, instead of from o to 100. The reason for this is immaterial, TABLE XX Distribution of Average Scores in Penmanship by Schools and by Grades Grade III IV VI VII VIII FOR THE CITY . Emerson School . . Forest School . . . Grant School . . . Hamilton School Jackson School . . . Jefferson School . . Lafayette School Lincoln School . . . Lowell School . . . Onequa School . . . Oquirrh School . . Poplar Grove School Riverside School . . Sumner School . . . Training School . . Wasatch School . . Washington School Webster School . . . Whittier School . . 9.3 9.6 9-3 8.2 11.9 10.7 10.5 9.0 8.6 IO-5 8.7 94 10.2 7-1 8.9 7.6 9.1 10.7 95 10.4 10. 1 lO.I 10.7 9-S "•3 9.2 10.6 11.6 10.7 9-5 12.7 13.8 9.0 12.7 9-7 II. I II. 7 10.9 12.5 10.2 10.9 "5 9.9 "•3 10.6 9.0 II. 7 10.9 12.2 9.8 9.8 12.4 9.8 13-4 95 10.7 11.4 11.2 10.9 9.9 10.9 12.9 10.5 "•5 10.3 II. 11.8 9.9 133 "■3 II. 12.2 9.6 "•3 10.7 12.8 12.0 12.1 2.4 1.9 0.4 2-5 1.4 1-3 2.2 1.2 4- 2.2 2.1 1.6 2. 2.7 1.6 2.4 1.2 2.8 2.8 13.1 "•3 13.2 13- 11.6 14.7 14.6 13s 12.4 12.2 13-9 12.5 12.3 11.6 147 but should be understood in order to interpret the following tables. Remembering that 4 means practically o, and that 18 means approximately 100, the reader will readily under- stand Table XX, which presents the average scores by schools and by grades, and then combines these for the city as a whole. A careful study of this table shows that, judged The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 153 by grade averages, no one school ranks especially low or es- pecially high, though the Sumner record is consistently above the average for the city. In other words, the differ- ences between schools are nowhere striking, and the gradual rise of the average score from 9.3 in grade three, to 13. i in grade eight, shows evidence of uniformity in teaching stand- ards throughout the city. Since there is little uniformity with respect to the amount of time assigned to this subject in the different schools, it is of interest to state that the school which makes the lowest standing in the test is de- voting nearly one-third less than the average amount of time to the subject. A pleasant and profitable diversion for each principal would be the figuring out of the actual time- cost of his school's achievement per unit attained on the scale. VARIABILITY AMONG INDIVIDUALS IN THE SAME GRADE Averages are important, but do not tell the complete story, and the reader is referred to Table XXI, which shows the entire distribution of the scores attained by the children of each grade, the number of samples included, and the rank of the median sample. These facts are brought out clearly in Figure 19, which shows the same wide variation from the average, so apparent in the spelling and language results. The two vertical dotted lines inclose the records of all the children who scored between 8 and 17, thus showing the ex- tensive overlapping between grades widely apart. Since the instruction in writing is an individual rather than a group procedure, classification of children on the basis of this subject is not at all important. But teachers will not need to study this diagram long to discover that there are quite a number of third-grade children in the schools who even now are ready for the eighth-grade writ- ing classes ; or, vice versa, that there are many children now in the eighth grade who write no better than the better writers in grade three. Assuming that all have had approx- 154 School Organization and Administration TABLE XXI The Distribution of Scores on 3,685 Samples of Penmanship by Grades Score o I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 13 14 IS 16 17 18 No. of Samples . . . Median Score for Grade (Jradcs; Number Making Score III 3 4 21 55 85 196 46 102 44 39 II 4 4 616 IV 5 30 63 17s 37 152 60 lOI 38 12 9 4 687 3 59 147 23 191 65 98 41 15 4 I 646 VI 3 3 26 117 38 53 92 87 52 20 10 602 VII 70 12 163 91 189 68 31 24 662 VIII 28 4 97 81 84 50 35 61 ID 472 9.2 10.7 "•3 12.8 imately similar training, as far as they have gone, we may reasonably conchule that these differences are largely due to differences in the native abilities of individual children. How^ever true this may be, the results of the test empha- size the importance of making provision for these differ- ences by further individualizing the instruction, and by pro- viding special treatment for the few who do not understand and do not improve under ordinary methods. This is as economical as it is wise from the children's standpoint. The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 155 20 to 5 GRADE IZ" WEOrAN - 10.7 ii .jMMMt:^ I Fig. 2 3 4 J 6 7 g- '5 W \l 12 13 lA ]6 16 19. Showing the Percentage of Children Who Atta: Each of the Possible Scores (Thorndike Scale) 17 If NED 156 School Organization and Administration Still further, if third, fourth, and fifth-grade children can now write as well or better than is expected of the average eighth-grade pupil, then it is entirely wrong to have such children spending 75 minutes per week on this subject. Such children should be excused from formal work in writ- ing, with the understanding that so long as their written work shows a certain cjuality this extra time may be used on other studies. Such methods of saving time are commend- able because they stimulate those children to do their best who might otherwise merely drift, for the reason that it is no trouble for them to keep ahead of their classes. COMPARISON WITH OTHER CITIES To compare the results of this test in Salt Lake City with those achieved elsewhere, comparable data from several sources have been brought together in Table XXII. Here the median, which differs very slightly from the average, has been used, and it will be seen that the schools of Salt Lake City rank high in two respects. First, with the exception of a few cases in the seven school systems tested by Dr. Stone, no schools cited rank as high ; and sec- ond, because the progress from grade to grade is much more even in the Salt Lake City schools than in most of the other cases. In time it will be possible to standardize the matter of progress from grade to grade. Until then it is fair to assume that a reasonably even rate of progress is more nearly normal than is an uneven rate. HOW WELL THE AVERAGE CHILD CAN WRITE As in the case of the compositions, there is presented here, in Figure 20, a sample specimen of the writing from the papers in each grade which received a mark approxi- mately that of the grade median. Unfortunately, to repro- The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 157 TABLE XXII Showing the Comparative Standing of the Salt Lake City Schools in Penmanship, as Judged by the Median Score for Each Grade (Thorndike Scale) City Grade, and Median Score II III IV V VI VII VIII Butte,! Connersville, Ind.^ . . . Southington, Conn.* . . Seven School Systems^ SALT LAKE CITY 8.2 8.0 10.3 9.2 8.8 lO.O 10.7 8.9 10.3 11.1 II.6 II. 7 11.3 II. 2 11. 7 lO.O 10.3 II. I 10.6 "•3 12.7 13.0 13.0 12.2 12. 1 II.O 10.3 11. 2 II.O II. 7 11.6 13-7 14.0 12.8 » BtUte School Survey, Chapter IV. 2 Wilson, Writing of School Children; in Elem. Sch. Tr., June, igii (1,200 children), s Witham, All the Elements of Handwriting Measured; Educl. Admin, and Supv., May, iQiS- • Stone, quoted by Thorndike. Investigation covers seven school systems and about 3,000 children. Teachers College Record, March, 1910. duce them on the printed page it was necessary to reduce the writing one-half in size, which detracts from its legibility. Selection on the basis of the median means that there are as many children in these grades in Salt Lake City who can write better than the specimens shown in Figure 20 as there are who cannot write so well. It can be said that these samples fairly represent the kind of waiting which is now being done by the average children of each grade in the city. The average business man, before grumbling about the writing taught in the schools, will do well to place his ow^n writing by the side of either of the last two of these specimens before arguing that the children of the public schools cannot write. It is true that some of 158 School Organization and Administration GRADE TTT GRADE TV GRADE X GRADE :2L GRADE VTT GRADE 3Zni Fig. 20. Samples Representing the Median Achievement in Writing IN Each Grade (Reduced ^ in size) , the writing was done with a cramped hand, and that it is somewhat childish lookinj^, but it must be added that it is easily legible, and that legibility is the final test which the world puts upon writing. The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 159 NEEDED CHANGES IN INSTRUCTION In conclusion, we must say that the writing work in the schools of this city is well up to the standard ; that in the light of present practice this work is being accomplished in a reasonable amount of time ; and that the basis for pro- motion in the different schools appears to be equal, but that more careful individualization of instruction for the lower five to ten per cent, of each grade, and the temporary reliev- ing from formal training of those who are several points ahead of their grades, are lines along which the schools may look for even greater progress. 4, The Test in Reading reading in the course of study Almost every classroom visited by the members of the survey staff showed evidence that the point of view, the aim and purpose, and the general method for teaching reading, so clearly set forth in the printed course of study, are being effectively carried out. The time allotment, which varies from 50 to more than goo minutes per week between classes in the city (see Table XII, page yy), with an average of from 200 to 375 minutes per week in the different grades — and the constant attention to home as well as school reading, which one finds in every classroom — give evidence that the schools of the city have not underestimated the im- portance of this subject, nor the fact that teaching children how to read is but incidental in teaching them to read. Speed, getting the meaning, remembering the language used — that is, developing vocabulary — and that clear ex- pression which is evidence of appreciation, all are ends to be sought in teaching reading. i6o School Organization and Administration ENGLISH. NORMAL READING TEST NO. I. SPEED TEST (Copyrighted by S. A. Courtis, 19 14) Bessie's (Adventures, Experiences, Story) SCORE Number of Words .... BESSIE'S ADVENTURES No. of Words Before the frightened little girl could decide what to do, the dog sat up on his hind legs and began to beg. He gave another impatient little "Bow!" 32 but this time his bark did not seem so sharp and terrifying to Bessie, and 47 her fears began to disappear. "Why, he's really a cute little doggie," she 60 thought, and sitting up, she timidly offered him her bowl. The dog needed 73 no second invitation, but eagerly lapped the milk until every drop was gone. 86 Bessie set the empty bowl down upon the doorstep and patted the little dog's head. He in turn was equally friendly, wagging his tail and trying to lick her hand. In a few minutes more the two were the best of friends, racing about the garden in a wild game of tag. Sometimes it was Bessie, laughing and screaming, who was chasing the dog this way and that in and out among the bushes of the garden ; sometimes it was the dog, barking and jumping, who was chasing Bessie. More than once dog and girl were so much in each other's way that both fell down, rolling over and over on the soft grass. Not for a long time had Bessie had such a pleasant playmate. They were on the front lawn now, resting a minute after a particularly wild romp. Suddenly, through the pickets of the fence, the dog spied a cat crossing the street outside. Immediately he dashed after her, squeezing between the pickets, and running down the street at top speed. "Here, doggie, doggie," the little girl cried, and ran after her playfellow, only to be stopped by the fence. From between the pickets, she could see both the cat and the dog rapidly disappearing down the street. Hot tears of disap- pointment welled from her eyes. She hurried to the gate and shook it; it was securely latched. Could she open it? Many times before had she tried, but without success. Little girls grow, however, and standing on the lower part of the gate, and stretching to her utmost, she was just able to press her little fingers against the latch. Click, and the gate swung open. Bessie was free to hurry down the street. The cat and dog had disap- peared around the corner of the next block. Name Grade 99 "3 128 142 156 170 183 198 212 22s 239 249 261 275 289 300 314 325 337 353 366 379 386 The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured i6i ENGLISH. NORMAL READING TEST NO. 2. MEMORY TEST SCORE Time No. Read . . . No. Right . . . Bessie's (Experiences, Adventures, Story,) Part B Before the (terrified, frightened, poor) little girl could (decide, think, know) what to do, the dog sat up on his hind legs and began to (bark, tease, beg). He gave another impatient little ("Bow!", bark, whine) but this time his bark did not seem so (loud, sharp, harsh) and terrifying to Bessie, and her (fears, terror, distress) began to disappear. "Why, he's really a (nice, cute, dear) little doggie," she thought, and sitting up, she (cautiously, timidly, boldly) offered him her bowl. The dog (wanted, asked, needed) no second invitation, but (eagerly, quickly, rapidly) lapped the milk until every drop was (swallowed, eaten, gone). Bessie set the empty bowl down upon the (grass, doorstep, ground) and patted the little dog's (head, back, neck). He in turn was (very, also, equally) friendly, wagging his tail and trying to (paw, kiss, lick) her hand. In a few minutes more the two were the best of (comrades, friends, play- mates) racing about the (grounds, lawn, garden) in a wild game of tag. Sometimes it was Bessie, laughing and (screaming, dancing, skipping) who was chasing the dog this way and that in and out among the (trees, bushes, benches) of the garden; sometimes it was the dog, barking and (squeahng, jumping, biting) who was chasing Bessie. More than once dog and girl were so much in each other's way that (they, both, each) fell down, rolling over and over on the (soft, green, cool) grass. Not for a long time had Bessie had such a pleasant (game, frolic, playmate). They were on the (front, side, back) lawn now, resting a minute after a particularly wild (race, game, romp). Suddenly, through the pickets of the fence, the dog (noticed, saw, spied) a cat crossing the street outside. Immediately he (ran, dashed, chased) after her, squeezing between the pickets, and running down the street at (top, high, great) speed. "Here, doggie, doggie," the httle girl cried, and ran after her (friend, playfellow, companion), only to be stopped by the fence. From between the (pickets, posts, palings) she could see both the cat and the dog (gradually, rapidly, slowly) disappearing down the street. Hot tears of (anger, grief, disappoint- ment) welled from her eyes. She (hurried, ran, went) to the gate and shook it; it was (safely, firmly, securely) latched. Could she open it ? Many times (before, yesterday, halfheartedly) she had tried, but without success. Little girls grow, however, and (resting, standing, stepping) on the lower part of the gate, and (reaching, stretching, pushing) to her utmost, she was just able to (press, push, touch) her little fingers against the latch. Click, and the gate (came, was, swung) open. Bessie was (free, able, quick) to hurry down the street. The cat and dog had disappeared around the comer of the next (street, block, square). 3 4 S 6 7 9 lO 13 15 i6 17 i8 20 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 3° 32 34 35 36 37 38 39 41 43 i62 School Organization and Administration HOW THE READING WAS TESTED To provide a test by which we may be able to make a quantitative statement of the degree of efficiency attained by a given child or class in all these features, is in large part the work of the future. A simple test of speed and of ac- curacy of memory for words used has been devised, and this was applied in thirteen schools. The test, which is printed on pages i6o and i6i, and which is known as the Courtis test, consists of a simple prose story which the children were asked to read silently, with as great speed and with as great care as possible. They were told that they would be permitted to read a certain length of time, after which they would be tested to see what they knew of the part they had read. Exactly one minute was given, at the end of which each child drew a ring around the last word he had read. By use of the figures on the margin the number of words read in one minute (the child's speed) was quickly ascertained and recorded in the square at the upper left-hand corner of what was called Test No. i. In Test No. 2 no time limit was enforced. In this test the same story was used, but instead of the subject being "Bessie's Adventures," we have "Bessie's (Experiences, Adventures, Story)." This same idea is carried out thoughout the body of the story, and the test, which is a test of memory for words used, consists in checking the one of these three words (three words always appear in italics inclosed in parentheses) which the pupil remembers as the word he read in Test No. i. These puzzles, or points, as tliey were termed in the explanation to the children, are numbered on the margin, as were the words in Test No. i. When the child had checked the words down as far as he had read the story in Test No, i , he drew a line around the last word, and, with assistance, recorded in the proper place the number of points he had read. The papers were then taken by the teacher, who verified the count made by the The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 163 children and assembled the scores for her class on a record sheet designed for that purpose. While the children were reading Test No. i, they did not know what sort of test was to follow. The two pages were printed together on one sheet, but in such a manner that when reading one the other was upside down. They only knew that they would be tested on what they had read. This would naturally have the effect of retarding their natural normal speed in reading, and the results of Test No. i are therefore more nearly comparable with the tentative stand- ard which the author of the test has defined for " careful reading." This combination of the two tests seemed more nearly to meet the needs of the situation, in view of the fact that two members of the survey staff were to devote some time to hearing reading recitations, to a study of reading texts and courses of study, and to methods and devices in use. RESULTS OF THE TEST The results of these tests are shown in the following tables and diagrams, and the reader may find it interesting to try his own rate of reading the selection presented above, in comparison with the results here shown for i ,624 children in thirteen schools, from grades five to eight inclusive. Table XXIII shows the median number of words read in one minute by the children of each grade and school tested. The range between classes is from 148 to 287 words in grade eight, from 178 to 293 in grade seven, from 173 to 246 in grade six, and from 159 to 239 in grade five. The differences between schools as a whole are not specially marked. Whether a foreign language in the home increases the difficulties of learning to read English is perhaps a fair question. Some schools have no children from such homes, while others have a high percentage of such. Other factors, such as a large percentage of children from homes with no facilities for stimulating intellectual ideals, etc., probably 164 School Organization and Administration tend to make slight differences between community or school records in a reading test, for very many children learn more reading at home than they learn at school. TABLE XXIII Showing the Number of Words Read per Minute by the Median Child IN Each Class Tested (Courtis Test) School Forest . Grant . Hamilton Lafayette Lincoln Lowell Onequa Oquirrh Riverside Sumner Training Wasatch Whittier VIII VII 2x3 199 210 190 190 199 148 217 287 239 Grade 230 219 225 230 219 199 213 226 219 178 215 207 VI 206 223 219 222 213 220 173 210 206 199 205 246 239 224 214 159 179 IS9 203 239 203 214 159 202 167 190 VARIATION BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS The variation between individuals, however, is extreme, as shown by Table XXIV, which presents a complete dis- tribution of the individual scores, by grades. This table also shows the median score for each grade, and the tentative standard which Mr. Courtis, the author of the tests, has established. Speed in reading would to some extent depend upon qual- ity of vision. If, as is shown in Chapter XI of this report, 15 per cent, of the children have defective vision, we could The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 165 ^ 6 e^ u 04 Pi; ;5 su-ino3 UBipaj^ s|idnj JO wquinfvj Pi O Ov o O 0\ f^ M O 1-1 M c> CN CJ (N M 10 00 <~» O (N M 0 >>> bi Ol o "J- 3T) 2-9 •3 73 "■3 tJ-oi ^^ Pi s,a > 5 S6 . o g & §52 a u-g S tn -*-' 0--3 T3 tn 3 rt g cfi JJ S S .9 c '^ 1^1 U °u». ►J a .2J-2 1^ ^ 1^-^ 11^ g ^fl^ UTJ UBipajv CN co vo t^ M NO CI CN, |_ JO J siidnj aqinnfij NO »^ On r^ CO CO CO . apTjJO OC t^ NO 10 in ■4! c Oquirrh Training Wasatch i66 School Organization and Administration expect the extreme cases from that group to produce some low scores. As an illustration of the wide difference in ability to read rapidly, which was found to exist between children in the same class, the records from four rooms are shown in Table XXV. Knowing what we do as to the reaction time of children, it is not surprising to find these differences. It is important, however, that they should be clearly set forth here for the reason that these very differences are the basis of important problems in method, promotion and grading, amount of reading to assign, etc. Referring to this table again, let us ask what the upper ten children do while the lower ten are reading aloud in class. This is concretely what is meant by the statement that these differences constitute impor- tant teaching and organization problems. Just as it is good method for a teacher to demonstrate good read- ing to her class, so it is good to relieve the brighter children of the necessity of droning over a passage in the lesson while some extremely poor reader is strug- gling through it word by word. If these ten children are equally good in expression and in getting the meaning out of what they read, they should recite reading in some higher grade, for they certainly do not have to study where they are. Reference to Table XXIV, with these points in mind, and a study of Figure 21 will make it plain that, so far as speed is concerned, one could not judge in which grade any single child's score might appear. It will be seen that there are only seven children in grade five whose scores are below the lowest score in grade eight, and there are no scores in grade eight which are above the best five in grade five, and by the diagram it appears that all children, irrespective of grade, average somewhere near 200 words per minute as their rate for rather careful reading. As compared with the Courtis standard (see Table XXIV) all grades rank high. The surprise is that grade eight ranks between grades five and six. For comparative The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 167 4MMMM;r^:i :4M:r4:!:^!4;^:i purposes Figure 22 is introduced, which indicates the rate at which these passages have been read by three other groups of children. The showing which the Salt Lake City schools have made stands well above these records, with the exception of three points at which the small group of 175 children surpassed them. This would seem to indicate that Salt Lake City ranks well in point of speed in reading. 1 68 School Organization and Administration WORDS PER MIN. 300 ^^ ^, ^' 200 ^.^^^^- — Z^^^^^^^T^. --.-r.-'----"'' ..„„^.^-sr.r.r'.' 100 175 CHILDREN (AFTtR COURTIS) SALT LAKE CITY. 1624 CHILORtN AFTER COURTIS, 103 CLA53 MEDIANS AFTERCOURTIS, 1060 CHILDREN Fig. 22. Rate of READrNG in Salt Lake City Compared with Tests Made IN Other Cities THE MEMORY TEST As explained above, the second test was a check on mem- ory of what had been read. In this test the same wide variety of resuks were found to appear, and are shown in Table XXVI, both with the median for each grade and the per cent, of the points which were correctly checked. In the per cent, correct the eighth grade stands somewhat above the others, but the seventh grade falls below the sixth, none averaging far from three-fourths correct. In Figure 23 the relation of the amount remembered to the amount read in one minute is clearly shown. By the solid line one sees the number of points read, and by the dotted line the number correctly checked. The scale at the bottom shows The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 169 the number of points, and the scale on the left indicates the number of children attaining these scores. The medians are marked by vertical lines, solid for the number read, and dotted for the number right. It is regretted that there are TABLE XXVI Showing the Distribution of Points Read and the Number which were Remembered, with the Median, and the Per Cent. Correct (Courtis Test) Number of Points Points 1^ S ^ Grade U resent varying types of community life within a city. This table, however, reveals extremely wide differences, which conditions in Salt Lake City do not seem to warrant. A reasonable uniformity in results is as desirable as is a whole- some lack of uniformity in methods of getting those results. The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 179 W Q t-~ . . po . »o 00 . Ov fO r^ . . N . o> t^ • M MM 7-3 II.O 8.2 11.6 OS 1— t t— ( > u-)00 ii-jir>ioio»^cO VOOO Ovt>.o6 VOVO IH t-^t^ M \0 t^ r^ >o tJ- 06 00 d M t— ( > . lOt^OO uitoOoO PO p« CO ^> covd 't 06 "1 id > Tj-r<^rOO >OTj-M0 1000 oiro'N'^tHroro^OMC-J On 00 IH ci eJ Ti- p CO 2; l-l 0) X) t— 1 t— I t-H > .CO _ in i-t . 00 M M 10 10 >o !>. CO06 M M M CO 06 l-H (— 1 > 1000 vorO»oco ioC>c^ t^u-jt^cOMOO ■rl- co CO >o 1000 > OvM '^'^»OcO'4-cor>-rO 00 . .M .lOT^-qp'O'OlOCO 00 • -IN .d^t-^.MlOOOOvOOM M MM M 00 On t-H l-H > c6 <>o6 >o oi d^o6 icod dv d M 00 06 l-H > .ClOCSMlOlOMCOlO •00 t-^06 t^od^ t^rivd r^ »o •4 d^ ti 00_ > vovqco ^ cocoo <>iH cO'i-'^vd •^uocod>co»0 M (M 10 CO >o t^ di id g 5 -a HH hH »-H > ^9. .PO.co>o.Oi^c^iotoO 10 • -CO • CO M t^iot-»r^->;t-o»0 00 "l tJ- d^ ri 0\ t-H > .cor^vOO^ioOMC^ U-> -i- lip CO ci vd 10 06 vd > OvOOO locoupo lOOM corj-pi^d cO'4'4<> coco CO 10 CO -4 •^ H U U2 < -I <. u ■3 H l-H u •- t^ ci .S c cr.:i 3 Pt,OW.-lH-lt-:iOOP< pa e Q tj u w .6 6.7 8.2 9.S xt 4.4 4-9 ■;.« Indiana (May, iqis) 3-9 .S-l .S.9 7-3 4.1 6.4 6.9 8.5 SALT LAKE CITY 4.3 5.3 7.1 8.3 SUBTRACTION DIVISION 7.9 8.6 9.9 I2S Detroit (May, 191S) 4.6 7-3 00 11.7 7-7 9S 10.3 11.8 Boston (May, 1915) 49 7 4 8.8 II.O S.6 7-3 8.Q 10.3 Other Cities (May, 191S) 3-7 .■; 7 6.7 9-3 4.0 5-9 7.2 7-7 Kansas, (Jan., lois) 2.0 3 .■; .S.3 7.2 7.0 8.0 9.2 11. 1 Iowa (June, 1915) S-o 6 3 8.0 10.9 S-o b-t; 7-9 8.9 Indiana (May, igi";) 2.6 4 8 6.7 9.1 5.2 7.8 8.8 9.8 SALT LAKE CITY 3.0 5.5 7.7 9.5 The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 183 184 School Organization and Administration the median number attempted. That is, the per cent, of accuracy. In the matter of accuracy thus measured, Table XXXII compares the schools of Salt Lake City with those of Bos- TABLE XXXII Showing the Median Number of Examples Tried and the Median Num- ber Correctly Worked in the Salt Lake City Schools, and the Per Cent, of Examples Tried which were Correctly Worked in Salt Lake City, as Compared with Other Cities Salt Lake Per Cent, of Examples Correctly Grade City Median Worked Subject At- Rights Salt Lake Bos- De- 20 Ind. 24 Kas. tempt City ton' troit ' Cities 2 Cities' VIII 9.9 8.5 88.8 70.9 65-7 56.8 71 Addition VII 9.1 6.9 75.8 60.8 59-8 60.5 67 VI 7-9 6.4 81.0 S9-0 54-7 59-4 65 V 6.9 41 56.9 51-4 S8.2 54-5 52 VIII ii.S 9.8 83.1 75-4 77.2 68.5 86 Subtraction VII lO.I 8.8 87.1 69.0 74-5 73-0 83 VI 8.5 7.8 91.7 70.0 70.4 76.4 81 V 7-5 5-2 69-3 64.4 68.7 79-5 63 VIII 10.8 8.3 76.8 68.4 71.4 61.9 82 Multiplication VII 8.6 7-1 82.5 63.8 62.5 67.1 78 VI 7-7 S-Z 66.8 69-5 64.8 68.6 77 V 6.6 4.3 65.1 56.8 59-3 71-5 57 VIII 10.3 95 92.2 77.1 85.4 57.8 92 Division VII 8.7 7-7 88.5 73-9 82.5 84.2 87 VI 6.7 5-5 82.1 56.9 68.7 78.8 84 V 4-4 3-0 68.2 44.4 55-1 85.8 53 ' J.inuary, 1014, scores. ' Indiana University Bulletin, Vol. XH, No. 18, March, 1015. These figures represent the record attained by the median city o( the twenty cities studied. A cooperative study, directed by Professor M. E. Haggerty. ' Report of the Use of the Courtis Standard Tests in Arithmetic in Twenty-four Kansas Cities, Bulletin No. 4, Kansas State Normal School. Reported by Walter S. Monroe. The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 185 ton, Detroit, and twenty cities in Indiana recently tested. The median attempts and the median rights are shown for Salt Lake City, the rights being divided by the attempts to ascertain the per cent, of accuracy. Here again Salt Lake X So GO AG PjO ? rf-- cot \rvr "^ 5 7 6 5 bKMuL 7 6 5 y 7 6 H ■ H 1 DETROIT SALT LAKE 20 CITIES CITY IN INDIANA Fig. 26. Relative Accuracy in Addition City stands high. In accuracy the city is surpassed any- where in addition in but one grade out of the four tested ; in subtraction in but two grades ; in multiplication, by three grades ; and in division by three,* A graphic illustration, fully typical of the results in this * In the more recent tests, the results for which are given in Supplementary Table XXX a, both Boston and Detroit have raised their per cent, of accuracy materially. 1 86 School Organization and Administration table, is shown in Fig-ure 26, where Salt Lake City is com- pared with Detroit and the twenty Indiana cities in respect to accuracy in addition. It is clear, then, that Salt Lake City, as compared with other cities, is achieving nothing short of excellent results in the fundamentals of arithmetic, and that not only with re- spect to the number of examples worked in a given amount of time, that is, speed, but also in respect to the degree of accuracy with which this work is done.^ THE REASONING TEST Where reasoning is involved, the test is not only one of correct use of number combinations, but also one of analyz- ing simple arithmetical problems. In this test the children of Salt Lake City again rank high. The distribution of individual scores is set forth in Table XXXIII, which shows also the achievement for the median child of each grade. These facts are presented graphically in Figure 27. Here the same wide variability as has appeared in other tests is again evident. In grade five there were fifteen chil- dren who could not solve one of the seventeen problems set for the test, while more than sixty children solved seven or more. In grades seven and eight the variability is still wider. In order to show that this is fully typical of the con- dition existing in almost every individual class. Table XXXIV, presenting the exact scores made by one class from each grade, is given. On the basis of these facts we must again ask how a lesson can be assigned to such classes so that, on the one hand, it is not so difficult as to be impossible for the children 1 Mr. Courtis has shown, by a recent investigation (see Fiflecnlh Yearbook of the National Socidy for the Study of Education, Pt. I, 91-106) covering a test of 242 adults, including laborers, stenographers, teachers, saleswomen, office employees, superintendents, and high-wage men of independent means, that the practical demands of life are for a speed and accuracy about equivalent to eighth-grade standard achievement. The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 187 d t^ Tf- \0 10 po 00 H r»5 00 "+ 10 00 ■* Tl- "t ^• M . IT) 10 . . ro 0> 10 M PI . \r> r— I 1— 1 h-( H- 1 >>>> P4 CJ M M 2 p-i o> M H 10 10 00 W Tf to to t^ to CO to to i-i Tj- W Ol M M 00 M t^ M •* Tj- t-* W CO t^ •>t t^ « t^ tS . . w . (O • • M . . . CD -a (— I 1— 1 1— 1 t-H >>>> Training Riverside . Sumner Lafayette . School Organization and Administration 31 inr IZDE-MEOIANS SCORE: 2 4 6 S" 10 12 14 16 Fig. 27. Distribution of Results in the Stone Reasoning Test The Efficiency oj the Instruction Measured 189 at one extreme of this table, or on the other hand so easy as to be a mere bore to the children at the other extreme. Here it is not a question of high average results, for these are high enough ; it is one of refining organization and in- struction to the end that children of extremely high and ex- tremely low abilities will not constitute handicaps for each other. The improvement from grade to grade, as is shown in Figure 27, seems all that could be desired, and Table XXXV shows, with some exceptions in grade five, a fair degree of uniformity of results between schools. These facts seem to argue that the schools have a clear notion of what is to be attained by each grade, but that they are getting results only in terms of class averages and at the expense of right classroom conditions. By giving attention to these inner details Salt Lake City can raise the excellent standards she has already achieved. COMPARISON WITH OTHER CITIES IN REASONING TEST The author of this reasoning test has presented the rec- ords made by the sixth grade in twenty-six different cities. Add to these the records of Bridgeport, Conn., Springfield, 111., and Salt Lake City, and Salt Lake City stands ninth from the top of the list. The highest score, based on the score per each 100 pupils, attained by any one of these twenty-nine cities was 914; the lowest was 356. That for Salt Lake City was 646. As compared, grade by grade, with the results in Butte, Salt Lake City's median fifth-grade child can solve 1.5 more problems of this test than can the median fifth-grade child of Butte ; the sixth-grade child of Salt Lake City can solve 2.5 more; the seventh-grade child 2.8 more; and the eighth-grade child 2.8 more. From these results it is clear that the schools of this city rank high in the ability of their children to reason. It is iQo School Organization and Administration TABLE XXXV Showing the Average Score Attained by Classes in the Various Schools IN the Reasoning Test in Arithmetic (Stone Test) School Grade VIII VII VI TOTAL FOR CITY Forest Grant Hamilton Lafayette Lincoln Lowell Onequa Oquirrh Riverside Sumner Training Wasatch Webster Whittier 10.5 9-3 II. 7 I0.6 g.i 9-7 Q.O I0.2 14-5 8.6 I0.6 7-7 8.2 8.3 I0.8 8.6 9-5 8.9 7.6 lO.O 7.8 8.0 10.4 6.4 6.6 7-4 5-4 6.5 4.1 7-4 6.2 7.6 5-3 6.2 4.8 7.2 5-9 7.0 3.7 2.9 4.6 4.6 4.0 2.2 4.8 3-2 4.6 3-3 4.4 4.4 3-4 4.1 5-5 also true, as stated above, that the present problem is one of perfecting the details of class organization and instruction. 6. Summary and Recommendations This chapter has not dealt with the quality of instruction in general, but only as quality has been revealed by actual results, stated in terms of standardized tests. It is there- fore concerned with the causes of poor or excellent quality, only as the data with which it deals make these causes evident. The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 191 CONCLUSIONS In so far as the results found have shown that the schools are controlling, with good effect, those main factors which were enumerated at the outset of the chapter as being prin- cipally responsible for the quality of instruction, those re- sults have been commended. On the other hand, where the schools are clearly not exercising such control, the nature of such failure has been pointed out, and the responsibility placed. It is only necessary to summarize the findings here, and further to emphasize the lines along which improve- ments and further progress should be sought. 1. It should first of all be said that Salt Lake City ranks high among cities of her class, in each of the five studies in which tests were given. The comparison being made in terms of average attainment. 2. In spelling, so large a percentage of children made a perfect score that full interpretation of the results is diffi- cult. The city's average standing being 16 per cent, above the standard. 3. In spelling, language, writing, and the fundamentals of arithmetic, wide differences exist between the results shown for different schools. Foreign languages at home may partly account for such differences, particularly in com- position. There is a limit, though, to which even such causes should be permitted to modify the school standards. If a child is doing fifth-grade language work, he should not ordinarily be classed as an eiglith-grade pupil. 4. The differences between grades are, with few excep- tions, approximately what they should be. 5. The range of abilities in any given grade is entirely too great, as judged by all of the five tests. 6. Similarly the range of abilities within a given class, again in all subjects tested, is far too great. 7. At least one-fourth more time is being given to spell- ing, and more than one-fourth more to arithmetic, than is justified in the light of the best knowledge on the subject. 192 School Organization and Administration RECOMMENDATIONS With these facts before us the following recommenda- tions are made : 1. Spelling should not have more than 60 to 75 minutes per week, and arithmetic from 75 minutes in grade two, to 200 minutes in grade eight. A part of the surplus time from these two branches should be given to language work, and part to other parts of the curriculum than the subjects dealt with here. 2. The only economical and pedagogical way of meeting the needs of the extremely dull and extremely bright pupils (perhaps from four to ten per cent, of each class tested) is by a much larger use of ungraded rooms, to which the most skillful teachers should be assigned. It would be easy for all the larger schools of the city to find from 25 to 50 chil- dren who ought, for their own sakes and for the sakes of other children as well, to be placed in such rooms. This would provide an inestimable relief in all class work in the school. This is the most evident and the most important need which is brought to light by these tests. 3. The best and most constant supervision of this work is needed to work out necessary readjustments. It should be added that, so long as the grade lines are stiffly main- tained as the only basis for the classification of children, part of the value of expert supervision is nullified. 4. In addition to this, promotion by subjects ought to be a possibility more frequently made use of. When a fourth- grade child can read as well as a seventh-grade child, he ought not to be kept in the fourth grade for reading just because he cannot leave his fourth-grade arithmetic. 5. Briefly, what the schools have achieved in general, they should now set themselves to achieve in particular. The Efficiency of the Instruction Measured 193 THE USE OF STANDARDIZED TESTS A final word may be said about the use of standard tests. First, we desire to commend the use that supervisors and principals have been making of these modern educational tools. Teachers should become familiar with such scales and tests as have been used here; not with how they were made, but with how to use them. The teacher who is able to measure her own product, or to have it measured by the supervisor, will develop confidence in her methods or dis- cover reasons for changing them. As an instrument in supervision tests are indispensable. Of course testing can never displace constructive helpful criticism, but standardized tests furnish a rational basis for such criticism, without which the best supervision is handi- capped. So far as was observed they are being properly used by the principals and supervisors, but they may go even farther in displacing the ordinary form of school examination. CHAPTER IX THE PROGRESS OF CHILDREN THROUGH THE SCHOOLS 1 IMPORTANCE OF PROPER SCHOOL PROGRESS A PROBLEM which is of increasing importance in edu- cation today is that of school progress. Since the welfare of the individual child is the aim toward which every good school system works, the recognition and analy- sis of the differences among children calls for much greater attention than is usually given. Children are ordinarily expected to enter the first grade of the elementary school at the age of six, and to complete the eighth grade during their fourteenth year. Those who accomplish this are said to have made normal progress. It is for these, who constitute the majority of our school children, that the course of study and the system of grading are best adapted. Those who complete the eighth grade in less than eight years after entering, or whose age at any time during that period is less than that of the child whose progress is nor- mal, are said to be accelerated. There is still another group of children, who require more than eight years to finish the elementary school, or whose age at some time is greater than that of the normal child. These are said to be retarded. AGE AND GRADE DISTRIBUTION Statistics were collected in regard to the ages and grades of all the children in the public schools of Salt Lake City ' Chapter IX was written by Mr. J. Harold Williams. — Publishers. 194 Progress of Children Through the Schools 195 "3 ■"" ■■■ "~ .0 \r^ on r- rt j^ r^ >o „ to t O to 0. "^ Tt >o 00 r^ N 00 00 o- 0- o- a 00 iJU Uj t*J tt w (^ tH M tH C* H 00 . , . . • 1 • , . . . to no t-i r> ■^ 10 VO pq 1 • ■ ■ • " tojto " r <; • :|:|: -■\-\- * : " • " [^ '^ vO , ' 1 ' . . . . •& vO 0. i-i T '0 F t/1 ^•^ m • '1 ■ •1 1 • ■ • " ■ Jio 1 VO . . . . M .^ Ft M to < •1 1 • ■1 ■ ■ ■1^ .... " 1" " VO . . . •| • M CJ ^1 ^ Fa VO loo vD C4 QO lX w ■ ■1 1 1 1 ■ * ' •I • ■ ' r u, " M " J:^ . . . vOpo < ■ •I 1 1 1 ■ ■ ■ • •I • ■ 1" r " 1 ^ . . . . ■| 01 t r^ R^oo 'to Ov "O.J m • ■I 1 1 1 • • ■ ■ ■I ■ ■|"l" |oo|oo -> t H" " ^ . . . Ht ■ 1 Ttl IM vo roj^ on C4 vO < ■1 1 1 ! 1 • ■ ■ • 1 ■ 1 h to ■o|>o "IHH ^ . . M 1 C4 r^ IDl fo^o RT n n . . lA o|>o 00 ■ • t^ aJi-( 1 1 1 1 1 " I t-t 1 M 1 1 1 1 1 1 0. . l_l rs» mIo^I rv pr •H < • ■ ■ ■ \u: >o to « . . • • VO . . 1 . M M M 00 1 >/^ 't. O0|to(oolooir4lr4i • \ • ra . . . . . . M vo 00 10 M ■ ■ ' - 2^:: 1 1 1 1 1 1 MiM « 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 01 . w ■i- to •HpO Imioo •1 ■ tf < ■I 1 1 1 1 • • ■1 ■ ^ S|til2 •^ HH 1 1 1 1 r ■1 • VO ■ 1 ■ . . M I IT) in M u? vO 1^ r^ rO • 1 ■ • 1 ■ Ol pq 1 • ■ ■ ■ 1 « t^ 00 to 00 VO t 1 ■ • 1 ■ ^ . tOl <0| Oi r? 001 •* VO t •n| f; Ot ►Ji M . r^ \n t M T? ■0 o» •0 r^ vn 0. r^ 1 M . ■ 1 . 1 1 1 1 1 1 ^1 M t-t M M 1 mI 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 fS M t^ r4 »o ^n to r^ r^ - "' r. M % vO -op? t^rr Ov -ol t-J>o 00 >o to ^1 w " L" 1 ' 1 tH 1 ■ 1 (^ ■^ t^ rs on fOl r^ o. vn ,_i 1 ■ 1 • 1 • 00 pq «> >o on 00 -0 M M ui-o 1^ • 1 • VO «1* ' ' ' ^ ioIm t- f^ " M M • ■ . . . . . to ^M VO r> TT ^ ^ . ■vt pq f -f •1 ■ -+ Ml Ov -t rf) inl n •1 1 • M rr ^ to " „ (•< ►t M 1 uajjBS mI ft M 1- s 00 xn " ■* -J^pul^I 1 l-l 1-) ' T3 a rt - ' - " - - = - " - = = - - - ' - " " - ^ ' : 2 S| H •- k" .H^ 10 >o "^ vO "^ t^ 00 00 0. O- J^ " M N to to t ■* M 10 vO -0 t^ j^ 00 00 -0 -t-i t d < a -0 ^O ■o •0 -0 vo vO t/) vO to H Ui . . vo >o '^ r^ 00 00 0. " " " " to to t M " vO VO vO r^ " 00 00 < 196 School Organization and Administration on the tenth day of May, 191 5. The results have been tabu- lated, and are shown in Table XXXVI. The number of TABLE XXXVII Accelerated, Normal, and Retarded Pupils in Salt Lake City, by Grades Grade I A . . IB.. II A . II B . III A . III B . IV A . IV B . VA . VB . VIA . VI B . VII A. VII B . VIII A VIII B Accelerated No. 37 580 45 327 86 316 77 206 75 182 85 123 49 146 36 178 5-9 30.0 57-1 23.6 10.7 21.3 8.6 16.2 8.5 16.1 10.7 12.2 7-7 I5-I 9.9 18.1 Normal No. 355 954 318 689 368 656 345 S18 279 426 225 358 183 340 131 338 /o Retarded No. 239 40 273 372 385 516 470 548 525 527 486 528 392 480 194 460 % 38.3 20.7 12.2 26.8 46.3 34-7 52.6 43-0 59-8 46.4 61.0 52.3 62.5 49.6 53-7 47.2 High School IX A IX B XA. . X B. . XI A XI B XII A XII B Totals 17 91 6 71 3 70 o 53 2,859 5-7 18. 1 6.3 18.7 4.8 26.3 66.7 25-7 16.2 172 135 23 90 4 93 7,122 40.0 59 7.641 180 63.1 236 47-5 56 59-0 248 45-6 36 57-9 105 39-8 29.1 43-4 Progress of Children Through the Schools 197 children of each half-year of age and in each half-grade are given, and the heavy-faced lines running diagonally through the center of the table include between them the number of children who are normal for each age and grade. For Fig. 28. Showing Relative Proportions of Normal, Retarded, and Accelerated Pupils in the Salt Lake City Schools example, this includes those in the first grade who are be- tween the ages of six and one-half and eight years. ^ All • It should be remembered that the age-grade statistics were taken at the end of the school year, so that the age for completing any grade, rather than that 198 School Organization and Administration of those falling below this normal line are " over age," and may be considered retarded; those above the normal line are accelerated. The percentages of children of each of these groups, and by grades, are shown in Table XXXVII, on page 196. Figure 28, on page 197, in which the distribution of the total school enrollment in this respect is shown, gives the same result in graphic form. HIGH PERCENTAGE OF RETARDED PUPILS The significant fact in regard to this distribution is that the retarded group is the largest of the three. The back- ward children in the ungraded school are not included in these percentages. If these were added, the proportion represented by the dark area of the circle would be still greater. This city ranks among those having a relatively high per- centage of retarded pupils. Table XXXVIII gives a partial list of cities in which similar studies have been made. All, with the exception of Salt Lake City and Butte, Montana, have been taken from Ayres' Identification of the Misfit Child ."^ It is of further importance to note that not only are 43.3 per cent, of the school children in this city retarded, but in many cases the degree of retardation reaches two, three, or even more than four years. The amount of each is shown in Figure 29. Thus it will be seen that although in the shaded area the number retarded one year makes up the largest group, nearly one-half as many are retarded two years ; and that the num- ber retarded three and four years is half as large as the t wo- of beginning, was taken. The basis used in determining over-ageness is the usual basis for counting. The three-year limit used in the Salt Lake City school reports is too liberal. ^ Russell Sage Foundation, New York, Bulletin No. 108. Progress of Children Through the Schools 199 year group. Such a condition emphasizes anew the need for more ungraded rooms and those pupil adjustments pointed out in the preceding chapter. TABLE XXXVIII Retardation and Acceleration in American Cities (Elementary Schools Only) City Retarded Normal Accel- erated 1. Quincy, Mass 2. Racine, Wis 3. Amsterdam, N.Y. . . . 4. Syracuse, N.Y 5. Indianapolis, Ind. . . . 6. Danbury, Conn. . . . 7. Milwaukee, Wis. . . . 8. Rockford, 111 Q. Canton, O 10. Elmira, N.Y 11. New Rochelle, N.Y. . . 12. Muskegon, Mich. . . . 13. Niagara Falls, N.Y. . . 14. Topeka, Kansas .... 15. Danville, 111 16. Trenton, N.J 17. Reading, Pa 18. Plainfield, N.J 19. Perth Amboy, N.J. . . 20. Bayonne, N.J 21. Hazelton, Pa 22. SALT LAKE CITY . 23. East St. Louis, 111. . . . 24. Elizabeth, N.J 25. Kenosha, Wis 26. Montclair, N.J 27. New Orleans, La. (White) 28. Butte, Mont 29. Passaic, N.J 19% 28 28 29 29 31 31 32 34 34 34 35 36 36 38 38 40 40 41 42 42 44 44 46 4Q 51 51 31% 42 23 29 37 31 41 40 38 28 30 40 33 38 34 31 35 30 32 31 36 39 34 31 36 34 31 41 32 50% 30 49 42 34 38 28 28 28 38 36 25 31 26 28 31 25 30 27 27 22 17 22 23 16 18 20 7 17 200 School Organization and Administration DISTRIBUTION OF THE RETARDED PUPILS Figure 30 shows the extent of this problem in detail, in- dicating how each grade in the school is affected by the great number of children who vary from the normal. _TH0U3AND- Ll^^y.^^ Z 1 ACCELERATEID 1 2. 3 RETARDED 4 YEAR3 Fig. 29. Degree of Acceleration or Retardation of Pupils in THE Salt Lake City Schools Retardation begins early in the grades and increases to the sixth grade, when there is a noticeable falling oft'. This falling off is due in part to the fact that the reg- ular routine school work offers little attraction to a child who has become greatly retarded, and in part to the fact that many reach the end of the compulsory school age by the time this point is reached. (See Figin^e 13, page 63.) Repeating the same work over and over again becomes monotonous even for normal adults. In Progress of Children Through the Schools 201 Figure 31 the number of children in the A and B sections of each grade have been added together, and the increase ACCELERATED GRADE I n n m [e E2: ^SS[ B E^S^ AESSS BISS AE^ Tzr YR HE n X II M A B E^sa AE^S LB 8^^^^ A s: ^SS3 ^^M A^^ B iSS ;vnn^ A ESC B ^SS WsVT A^ A B gES^S^^ A B fes^W-VWWVX^CT CrU-NORMAlEa- 1 YR.^a=2YRSilIII]IIIl"3 YRSaBB«4 YRS. -* RETARDED q PERCEMT. •Jo I^^SSS^SS sn E^^^^<:;^^^^v:^ N\\ Hi^ll :es 5^SSS5S^ E^^^S^ ^^^S^ E^S^^: I^S ESSSSXSS^^ T^Vs ^SSSS^^^ ^^s^^s E^SS^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ESS AWWHW SSSSSl ss:5s KSSS5S ES^S^H E^^WWWX^^l S^ ^S^S ,\\\\V ^^^ ESSSS5^= E^^m KWWAWW WWW^t ^^ lUIl Fig. 30. Showing Distribution of Normal, Accelerated, and Retarded Pupils, by Grades in retardation to the sixth grade, and the falHng off there- after, are more clearly shown. The amount of retardation in Grade I is 29.5 per cent.; in Grade VI, 56.6 per cent. ; and in Grade VIII, 50.4 per cent. 202 School Organization and Administration Dropping out of school on the part of retarded pupils is not an uncommon occurrence in our city schools, and has been noted in many cities. Investigations show that the 10 ZO 30 40 50 GO tnctttt. GRADE GRADE GRADE GRADE GRADE GRADE GRADi Ml GRADE n IE W m lOE Fig. 31. Percentage of Retarded Pupils, by Grades children who drop out at that time are usually those who have become discouraged through failures, and through the embarrassment of being greatly over-age. It would be comparatively easy to show that dropping out of school be- Progress of Children Through the Schools 203 fore reaching" the eighth grade is many times as common among retarded children as among those who have made normal progress. CONDITIONS IN ONE ROOM The following is an example of the conditions found in one class in Salt Lake City. The condition shown here is not unusual for the city. Such conditions are not infre- quently brought about by the wide range of ages in a single room: Miss G., teacher of Grades II-B and III-A, in the F. school, has in her room thirty-nine pupils, who are dis- tributed by ages thus : Ages 2-B 3-A •a u u < 7-0- 7-5 7.6- 7.11 8.0- 8.S 8.6- 8.11 9.0- 9.5 9.6- 9.11 10.0-10.5 10.6-10.11 II.O-II.S 11.6-11.11 12.0-12.5 12. 6-12. II 2 4 1 I 6 3 I 4 d 3 I I I I I 4 3 I I -a -a (-1 0) Only those inclosed by the heavy lines can be said to be normal. Those above are accelerated, and those below are retarded. With the accelerated pupils in this room the teacher will have little difficulty. True, they may be of superior intelligence, and capable of doing much more work than any teacher of thirty-nine pupils can afford to arrange for them. But their progress is assured to a reasonable de- 204 School Organization and Administration gree. The striking feature of the class is the " over-age- ness " with which the teacher has to deal. The seventeen pupils represented below the line will require her attention during the entire school day, if they are to be properly in- structed. In fact, a class of seventeen retarded pupils is larger than the generally accepted maximum for such classes. Fortunately, all of the pupils below the line in this in- stance are not mentally below normal. Those nearest the line may have been held out of school for a time, or may be retarded for reasons of such slight consequence that no unusual amount of special attention need be given them. There are at least seven pupils in the class, however, who are seriously over-age. We may be sure that all of those below the dotted line are in need of a great deal of indi- vidual instruction or training. A PROPER REDISTRIBUTION OF THE PUPILS Assuming that children can be graded properly in the schools, Figure 32 represents the pupils in this room, ar- ranged in order of their ages, to show how a reasonable separation could be brought about. Such a separation, how- ever, requires the general provision of ungraded and special classes. After removing the extreme cases, this still leaves thirty pupils whose ages vary from 73^^ to 10 years. Considering further the conditions relative to the lighting and ventilat- ing of the basement room in which this class was found, it is not difficult to see that the teacher will still have a task equal, at least, to her compensation. THE FIFTH GRADE AS AN EXAMPLE OF UNEVEN DISTRIBUTION In further illustration of the uneven distribution of chil- dren in the grades, data concerning all fifth-grade pupils in Progress of Children Through the Schools 205 the city have been brought together and presented in Figure 33. The enrollment and age-distribution in this grade are such that the group is fairly representative of all the grades, IZ MRS. n_ _ _ _ _ ,0- -- — T- 9- 30 TOTAL, 39 PUPILS. Fig. 32. Accelerated, Normal, and Retarded Pupils in One Room The above shows a schoolroom of 39 pupils in Salt Lake City. Although 30 normal pupils should constitute an average room, there are 2 additional pupils accelerated and 7 additional pupils retarded to such a degree as to warrant their removal to special classes. This room is typical of conditions to be found in many schools. and this diagram is not an exaggeration of the unevenness found through the school system. REPEATERS Inability on the part of pupils to do the v^ork of their grade usually results in non-promotion, and hence the ne- cessity of repeating the work another year or half-year. 2o6 School Organization and Administration COS I S 1 s e 1 1 s s s g fi e p e fi Some children have repeated the work as many as six times, and cases of even a larger niiml)er of repetitions have been found. There were at the time of the survey 1,570 pupils in Salt Lake City who were repeating their grades. This is Progress of Children Through the Schools 207 approximately 9 per cent, of the entire number belonging. The teacher was asked in each case to state whether the work of each child was being taken for the first, second, third, fourth, or more times. The number in each case of repetition is as follows : Taking work the second time 1,555 Pupils Taking work the third time loi pupils Taking work the fourth time, or more • • 14 pupils 'CU'Lonef/ 3000 ZSOO 1 1 4 ■ ■ ■ fm ■ ■ ■ m_ ■ ■ pH| loco _i X CO 500 - ffi < Pi < CO < CO < 1- < 03 is < CO < 3: S2 X < CD < CO < CO < CD < CO < CD < CO < Q ~ - c^J N iT rent, is lakcii as llu; luiniiniim standard) While these lignrcs show that a niunher of rooms arc seriously (leHeienl in liohiino- area, it is seen that nearly half are generously sii|>|)lie(l with windows. Taken alone, The School Plant 239 however, (lu'sc fii^'iiri's arc niislcadiiijj^. A room may Iiave more (Iiaii llic standaid amount of vviiidovv space and still l)e hadly lii^litcd, owinj;' to such factors as the improper location of windows, north orii-nlation, unsuitable col<»rs for walls and ccilinj^, the impi"(»pcr use of window shades, or the i)resence of trees, huildiuj^s, or other li^ht ohstrue- tious near the windows. 'These are the critical factors in the seh(j(jl lij^htiuj^' of Salt Lake City, and in by far tin; larg-er proportion (d' rooms they more than offset tin- ad vanlaj^es of liberal window si)ace. No fewer than 1 p) of the 440 rooms, or 33 per cent., have trees, walls, or other lij^ht obstructions within 50 feet of the windows and as hi^li as the? tops of tin? wiixlows. 'This is also true for 72 of the 151 rooms which have a window area below standard. 4. 1 he windows should no I extend loivcr Hum j^y^ feci from the floor, and they should rcaeh innthin a few inehes of the eeiliui^. They should lu'i^in ivif/iin /«V inehes of the rear end of the left wall, and al>l>roaeh no closer than 7 (tr (V feel to Hie front of the room. The purpose of these rules is to control the direction from which the lij^ht shall come. The only lii;ht which does any j^ood is that which strikes the pupil's book, and at an anj^le not too acute. LijL;hl which sli'ikes the |)Upirs eyes directly is not only of no value, btil actually i)revents clear vision. In this city the bottom of the windows is usually about the rij.,dit height from the lloor, but there is often too mueh dead wall space above Ihc top. A fai" worse fault, however, and a more common one, is the improper distribution of windows alonj.];- the side of the room. Iwen in the few rooms which are lighted entirely from the left there is ordi- narily too much dead wall S])ace behind the back window, and too little in front of the front window. That is, the window area as .a whole is placed too far forward. Archi- tects are prone to do this in order to seciu'e .symmetry, but it should in no case be permitted. ICven the la.st l)uildinj:|^s constructed in Salt Lake City have this fault in practically 240 School Organization and Administration every room. In many rooms the li<:^hting would be better if the front window were kept permanently shaded. 5. The windoivs should be separated by mullions not much more than eight inches zmde. This is to prevent troublesome wedges of shadow caused by the dead space between the windows. The rule is broken in nearly every schoolroom of the city. Often the wall space between the windows is three to five feet wide, and the pupils who sit in the shadows thus produced are greatly handicapped. 6. The color of the walls shotdd be a light buff or a very light green, and that of the ceiling should be white or an extremely light cream. The reason for this rule is obvious. Dark walls and ceil- ings absorb the light instead of reflecting it upon the desks. A very light buff reflects nearly twice as much light as a medium shade of green. The wall and ceiling colors prevailing in Salt Lake City are several shades tf)0 dark. Many a room which would be otherwise reasonably light and inviting is given a dark, dismal, and cheerless aspect. This effect is often enhanced by blackened streaks of dirt and smoke which have come from the inlet ducts of tlie ventilating system. Five min- utes in some of tliese worst rooms is positively depressing. A serious mistake has been made in adopting a uniform color scheme for all the schools. Badly lighted rooms should have walls and ceiling practically white. Many of the base- ment rooms and others which are objectionable as regards lighting could have their light almost doubled by proper color treatment. It is strongly urged that practically all the rooms in the city, except in the latest schools, be retinted at once, and under the direction of some one who under- stands the needs of a classroom. 7. Windozv shades, when used at all, sJiould be translu- cent, and their use should be regulated by definite rules to be followed by all the teachers. Shades are necessary for south windows, but should ordi- narily not be permitted in rooms dej^ending solely on north The School Plant 241 light. Their use on east and west windows should be strictly regulated by rule. In this city the shades are uniformly bad, all being opaque, single, and fastened at the top of the window. They can- not be drawn, even part way, without cutting off the best Fig. 40. The "Bishop Harman" Photometer, Used in the Examina- tion OF THE Lighting of Schoolrooms light of the room ; namely, that which comes from the upper part of the window. What is worse, the teachers gave no evidence of having had any instruction in regard to the proper use of shades. In many rooms which would be too dark under the best conditions, and where no excuse exists for cutting off any of the light at any time, shades were found drawn clear to the bottom of the windows. In 242 School Organization and Administration one room, about 16 x 30 feet in size, having only two win- dows and those directly behind the backs of the pupils, one window was found entirely darkened on a cloudy day. LIGHT TESTS Though the facts set forth above ought to be convincing, we are able to add the results of light tests in 32 rooms. A " Bishop Harriian " photometer was used. It is a photom- eter of recent English make, and is well adapted for the purpose. Table XLI on the following page gives the re- sults of the tests made. These tests were nearly all made while classes were in session. Window shades were left as they were found. The rooms selected for the tests are among the darkest in the city, but they do not include anything like all of those which are very badly lighted. About 10 per cent, of the schoolrooms in the city use artificial light a part of the time, and seven rooms all the time. The method of artificial lighting is unsatisfactory. The lights are not numerous enough, and they are usually not properly distributed. Often they are placed so that the light strikes the pupil directly in the face. The light shades are also unsatisfactory. If the walls and ceilings were of a lighter color it would perhaps be preferable to use the indirect system where artificial lighting is necessary. HEATING While the heating plants in general use would seem to be well suited to the climate and the type of school build- ings, there are individual rooms in many buildings which, according to the statements of principals and teachers, are not properly heated. The following are some of the chief complaints voiced: Not enough heat (Monroe, Franklin, Lincoln, Freemont, and West High) ; heat not well dis- tributed (Hamilton, Irving, Lowell, and Sumner); heat The School Plant 243 , TABLE XLI Showing Results of Light Tests on Darkest Desk of 32 Classrooms Name of School No. of Room Time of Day Weather Conditions Light in Foot Can- dles (Min. permissi- ble is 9 foot candles) Lincoln 6 Lincoln 7 Lincoln i Lincoln 5 Riverside Webster Webster Grant Grant Longfellow Longfellow Longfellow Longfellow Franklin Franklin Franklin Franklin Poplar Grove Bryant Bryant Bryant Lowell Monroe Monroe Monroe Lafayette Lafayette Lafayette Lafayette Jackson NoPbasem't Fremont No? 5 C 9 S 2 5 7 12 3 4 3 3 5 7 3 29 As'ly 36 II. 15 11.20 11.25 11.30 2.30 3.00 3.10 2.00 2.10 2.00 2.10 2-15 2.20 3.00 3.10 315 3.20 330 11.30 11.40 "•45 11.00 340 3-45 3-50 3-iS 3.20 3-25 3-30 10.00 11.00 partly cloudy partly cloudy partly cloudy partly cloudj' cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy cloudy partly cloudy partly cloudy partly cloudy partly cloudy clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear 244 School Organization and Administration especially unsatisfactory in basement (Franklin). Other complaints came from Bonneville, Jackson, Longfellow, Twelfth, and East High. Complaints based on the everyday experience of princi- pals and teachers do not, of course, give us the facts about the system which a heating engineer would want to know, but they do indicate in a general way whether faults exist. Only extended observation and tests by a qualified expert would give the remedy in each case. The best test of whether a heating plant is working sat- isfactorily is the simple one of making temperature records in each room of a building at successive hours of the school day. During the months of November and December, 1914, and January, 191 5, the school nurses of Salt Lake City recorded thermometer readings in nearly all the rooms below the high schools. The temperature of each room that had a thermometer was recorded three different times, once in November, once in December, and again in January. In all, 1,157 records were made. These were placed at the disposal of the survey staff by the board of health, and their results are summarized in the following table : TABLE XLII Temperatures Found in Classrooms Readings below 60 degrees 14 or i per cent. Readings either 60 or 61 degrees 25 or 2 per cent. Readings either 62 or 63 degrees 56 or 4.8 per cent. Readings either 64 or 65 degrees 109 or 9 per cent. Readings either 66 or 67 degrees 160 or 13 per cent. (STANDARD) readings either 68 or 69 degrees .... 343 or 29 per cent. Readings either 70 or 71 degrees 248 or 21 per cent. Readings either 72 or 73 degrees 113 or 9 per cent. Readings either 74 or 75 degrees 61 or 5 per cent. Readings either 76 or 77 degrees 14 or i per cent. Readings either 78 or 79 degrees 7 or .6 per cent. Readings either 80 or above 7 or .6 per cent. If we call 68 to 69 degrees standard, it is seen that only 29 per cent, of the records are entirely satisfactory. If we The School Plant 245 define standard as everything in the range from 66 degrees to 71 degrees, inclusive, we have 63 per cent, of the records satisfactory. Even on this liberal basis, considerably more than a third of the rooms were improperly heated at the Fig 41. Showing Frequency of Dlfferent Temperatures in Classrooms time the records were taken, and what was true on those days doubtless holds for most of the other days of the school year. Members of the survey staff repeatedly en- tered schoolrooms which had the stifling temperature of 75 to 80 degrees. Judging from the records, we may conclude that more than 1,200 children (more exactly y.2 per cent. 246 School Organization and Administration of the number attending) are daily subjected to suffocating temperatures above 74 degrees. It is little wonder that 20 per cent, are subject to frequent colds, or that more than 8 per cent, have chronic nose or throat trouble. (See Figure 43, page 291.) It is evident from the above facts that either the ther- mostats need some attention, or else the method of their supervision by janitors, and probably both. Professional training of janitors and strict supervision of their work by the school principals would doubtless materially increase the effectiveness of the heating systems. VENTILATION The plenum system, aspiration, and natural ventilation are almost equally employed. The East High School has the exhaust system. Those depending entirely on natural ventilation are Bonneville, Irving, Jordan, Forest and Whit- tier Annexes, Lake Breeze, Twelfth, and West High (main building). Although time was not available for making tests, the fact was evident that the ventilation of many of the schools could not be satisfactory. This is of course necessarily true of those buildings having only natural ventilation, and it is probably true of many of the others. There is no satis- factory system of ventilation for school buildings which does not employ some mechanical means of driving the air in as it is needed. The gravity system is satisfactory only when the temperature of the air outside the building is at least as low as thirty degrees. When the weather is warmer than this no gravity system ever devised will afford the desired circulation of air. Each child should be furnished with at least 2,000 cubic feet of air per hour (the standard for high-school pupils is 2,500 cubic feet per hour), and this is of course just as necessary in warm as in cold weather. In weather which is much above freezing, however, a build- ing which depends on the gravity system will have very The School Plant 247 much less than the amount of air renewal. The efficiency of natural ventilation, which is doubtful at best, is also greatly reduced when the difference between the indoor and the outdoor temperature is not very great. Mechanical means are therefore necessary for accelerating the rate of air circulation. For this purpose either plenum or exhaust fans, or both, may be used. The exhaust sys- tem alone is never satisfactory, because of the impossibility of completely controlling the source of supply of fresh air. Leakage into the room occurs at doors and windows, and sometimes through the walls. Often air is sucked into the classrooms from basements, toilets, or other unwholesome quarters. Plenum fans are the only means of controlling the source of fresh air. OTHER FACTORS IN VENTILATION However, the installation of a plenum system does not of itself guarantee satisfactory ventilation. Other factors of great importance are size and location of both inlet and out- let ducts, location of main intake, size of fan, number, size, and location of aspiration flues, etc. The most common mis- take is that of making the inlet and outlet duct for each room so small that an adequate supply of air cannot be fur- nished without being driven in at too high a speed, causing a draft. If the ducts are not properly located there is no guarantee against short-circuiting or other failure of air circulation. If the main intake is located near the ground, or near a dusty street or playground, the air driven in is likely to be impure or dusty. The same result takes place if the fan room is not clean, or if it is not separated from the boiler room. If aspiration flues are employed these must be sufficiently numerous, and they must be properly located, high, and well heated to insure adequate circula- tion of air. All of the above are common faults in the ventilation of school buildings in Salt Lake City. In some buildings it 248 School Organization and Administration is doubtful whether the mechanical system in use is very much more effective than natural ventilation would be. Complaints from teachers and principals come from build- ings with various types of ventilation. Among these are Franklin, Fremont, Wasatch, Hamilton, Jackson, Washing- ton, Onequa, Oquirrh, Sumner, and West High. POOR VENTILATION COMMON That imperfect ventilation is rather widespread is also indicated by 1,090 records taken by the nurses, who, when making the temperature records, also reported on the satis- factoriness of ventilation in each room. This was done in November, December, and again in January, for almost every schoolroom in the city. These records are based on the general impression made by the air of the rooms upon the nurses, and, while these are doubtless less trustworthy than tests would have furnished, they give at least a rough idea as to the quality of ventilation. These records show the ventilation as less than satisfactory in 42 per cent, of the rooms, and bad in 8.2 per cent. Ventilation "good" 638, or 58.5 per cent. Ventilation "fair" 362, or 38.2 per cent. Ventilation "poor" 90, or 8.3 per cent. The choice and control of a ventilating system is of course bound up with the question of heating. Neither in respect to heating nor ventilation is it possible to set forth in detail here the methods which should be followed. Nor should this be necessary. A superintendent of buildings, an engineer familiar with the latest developments in this line and clothed with the proper authority, could be depended upon both to correct the faults of the heating and ventilat- ing systems in use (as far as correction is possible) and to furnish expert advice in the planning of future buildings. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that these are mat- ters for the expert. No board of education is competent The School Plant 249 to decide questions either of heating or ventilation, and ex- perience also proves that it is far from safe to leave the decision as to the system and details of arrangement entirely to the architect. It is recommended that in future buildings, and wher- ever possible in old buildings, air washers be installed. The discolored walls of very many rooms show that dirty air is being forced into the buildings. Air washers are not ex- pensive, and they prevent the breathing of much injurious dust. The prevalence of smoke in the atmosphere of Salt Lake City during certain months of the year renders their use more than ordinarily urgent in this city. This would also involve the humidification of the schoolroom air. At present no special effort is made in this line. Without proper humidifying apparatus the humidity of the air in the schoolroom is certain to be often as low as 15 to 25 per cent., which is as dry as the air of Sahara Desert. Ex- cessive dryness of the air causes nervousness and restless- ness, and gives rise to nose and throat troubles. Even plants have a hard struggle to live in such an atmosphere. BASEMENT AND HALL CLASSROOMS In Salt Lake City there are seventy-four basement rooms used as regular classrooms, besides a few others which are used for special class purposes. Halls are also utilized for classes to the equivalent of forty-six classrooms. If the attendance in these basement and hall groups averages 30, which is probably a low estimate, it is seen that there are not far from 2,220 children who have no proper accommo- dation. This is more than 10 per cent, of the entire enrollment. While it may be possible to defend the use of a few of the best basement rooms, such as those at the Wasatch School, there is no questioning the fact that most of these underground rooms are unfit for school purposes. By far the majority of them are dark, gloomy, damp, and ill-ven- 250 School Organization and Administration tilated. According to statements made by teachers and principals a number of them are also improperly heated. Some are so dark that artificial lighting is necessary, even on clear days. The amount of light on the darkest desk of some of these rooms was found, by actual measurement, to be less than one-fifth the minimum which should ever be permitted. It is unnecessary to argue the unfitness of such dismal and unhealthful cellar rooms for school purposes. A city which requires children to attend school in such quarters in- curs a grave responsibility. The children enrolled in tlie basement rooms are largely in the first and second grades and the kindergarten, the very children who are most sus- ceptible to injury from unwholesome physical environment. One may well wonder, too, whether such an environment does not have its subtle mental effects, and whether it tends to provoke on the part of children just entering school the right outlook upon things educational and the desired atti- tude toward them. THESE SHOULD BE ABANDONED Steps should be taken without delay to abandon the use of nearly all of the basement rooms. Many of them could be made over into baths, nurse's rooms, toilets, etc. Some, however, are hardly fit even for these purposes. In future buildings no basement rooms should be provided which could by any possibility be used for classes, except, under the right conditions, rooms for manual training or domestic science. We would emphasize the phrase " under right conditions." Most of the basement rooms now in use are unfit even for manual or domestic work. Most are so thor- oughly bad that it is hard to say which should be aban- doned first, but those of the following schools are among the worst: Jackson, Lincoln, Franklin, Sumner, Oquirrh, Lowell, and Washington. Other cases, however, are almost as urgent. The School Plant 251 As already stated, forty-six class groups recite in hall- ways. The use of halls for class purposes is hardly less ob- jectionable than that of basements. Halls are less subject to dampness, but their lighting, heating, and ventilation are often as bad or worse. The danger from dust is much greater, and the noise is likely to be disturbing. On the whole, however, halls are to be preferred to basements when it is necessary to choose between two such undesirable evils. Better than either is the portable schoolhouse. If pro- vided in sufficient numbers to take the place of basements, though, these would seriously reduce the ground area avail- able for play, but in themselves they are far from bad. When the ceiling is painted white they are well lighted, and their ventilation can be made fairly satisfactory by means of the jacketed stove. Those now in use have ceilings too dark, and are overheated by a poor type of stove. Portables are likely to be uncomfortably warm in warm weather, and the floors are usually cold in winter. With all their faults, however, they are a great improvement over basement and hall rooms. SCHOOL DESKS The main requirements of school seating are: (i) that the seat should be the right height to permit the feet to rest easily on the floor ; (2) that the desk should be high enough to render stooping unnecessary, and low enough that the arms will not be unduly elevated; and (3) that the seat project under the edge of the desk two inches. There are other minor requirements, but these are the most essential. The first two rules cannot be followed unless each room contains adjustable desks to the extent of about 30 per cent, of the entire number, or at least three sizes of ordinary desks. It is never possible to fit all the children of a given room in seats of one size, because in practically every class the largest children are from eight inches to sixteen inches taller than the smallest. 252 School Organization and Administration Of 440 rooms from which data were secured in this city, 284, or 86 per cent., have no adjustable desks, and only 10 per cent, have 10 or over. Even where adjustable desks have been supplied they are not always adjusted with the proper frequency and care. In 13 out of 45 rooms with adjustable desks the desks had not been adjusted since last December. At least twice a year should be the rule. In one case the principal was not even aware that certain desks were adjustable, and when his attention was called to the fact he was evidently surprised. The adjusting of desks seems to be left largely to the janitors, who, of course, know little or nothing about the requirements of school seating and are prone to neglect the matter. Many of the rooms lacking adjustable desks are equipped with desks of only one size. Whether the third rule is followed, namely that the seat should project at least two inches under the desk, depends entirely on the authority responsible for putting down the seats. It is of course as easy to set them correctly as in- correctly. Failure to follow the rule on this point inevitably causes round shoulders and cramped lungs. And yet, in Salt Lake City, the rule is uniformly and consistently broken. In more than 200 rooms visited by the writer there was hardly a desk correctly set. It is necessary to make one other criticism of the desks. Many of these look so old and worn that the attractiveness of the room is severely marred. The worst of these, unless they can be replaced by desks of a better type, ought to be refinished. In various respects most of the desks now in use belong to an obsolete type. In the future purchase of desks it is urged that careful study be made of some of the modern types which are more satisfactory from the hygienic point of view. Though it should go without saying, it needs to be emphasized that cheapness in school desks is not the main desideratum. The School Plant 253 BLACKBOARDS The blackboard space in practically all the schools is gen- erous. The composition blackboard is the type in general use. This gives fairly satisfactory results if kept in repair, and if the room is not too damp. Except in the damp base- ment rooms, most of those seen were in reasonably good condition. The slate blackboard is to be preferred, but in setting it much care is necessary in order to prevent uneven joints. It is more costly, but more satisfactory in the long run. Blackboards should reach within 26 inches of the floor in the primary grades, and within 30 inches in the grammar grades. They were found from 4 to 6 inches too high in 52 classrooms, and from 7 to 12 inches too high in 22 classrooms. CLOAKROOMS Unsightly rows of coats and hats disfigure the halls of all the schools. In future buildings cloakrooms should be provided, one for each classroom. The best location for the cloakroom is directly behind the teacher's desk. It should have no door entering from the hall, but should be connected with the classroom by two doors, one on either side of the teacher's desk. This arrangement permits suit- able control of the room by the teacher, and minimizes the danger of pilfering and other annoyances. The cloakroom should of course be well lighted and ventilated. Ventilation can be managed by having a part of the air of the classroom circulate (through perforated doors) into the cloakroom on its way to the outlet ducts. SPECIAL ROOMS In order to be regarded as strictly modern, a city school building should ordinarily have the following specially 2 54 School Organization and Administration planned rooms : An assembly room, a library, a rest room, a kindergarten room, a nurse's room, shower baths with dressing booths, and rooms for manual training, sewing, and cooking. An art room is also desirable. Proper pro- vision should be made for these in the original plans, as the ordinary classroom can seldom be worked over satisfac- torily into a special room. The kindergarten room (or rooms) should of course be on the first floor, and should be extremely well lighted. A south exposure, though ol:»jectionable for other classrooms, is well adapted for kindergartens. The kindergarten (pref- erably also the first grade) should have its own toilet, with small fixtures. The rooms to be used for cooking should of course be planned for the special equipment needed, and should be bright and attractive. To use for this purpose a room which is dark, dingy, and ill-ventilated is subversive of the very purposes for which domestic science is taught. The manual-training rooms should be located where the noise will not disturb classes, and should always be well lighted. These should have a storeroom of liberal dimensions. The library need not be large, but it should be excep- tionally well lighted and attractively furnished. The art room should be given a north exposure, in order to avoid direct sunlight, but it must have a large amount of lighting surface. The nurse's room should be on the first floor, and need not be large. It should have abundant light, running water, and a built-in cabinet for the storing of first-aitl material and other equipment. The assembly room is the most important part of the building. Its inclusion in all new buildings is one of the most important steps toward the " wider use of the school plant." Nothing else about the building so operates to bring the school and the home together. The total valuation of the school buildings and grounds of Salt Lal-ce City is given The School Plant 255 as $3,041,343. This investment is productive only six hours a day for 200 days of the year; or a total of 1,200 hours per year. Everything that promotes increased use of the school plant ought to be encouraged, and the assembly room certainly belongs in this category. Some of the most important considerations in its planning are size, easy ac- cessibility, and safety from fire. Special schoolrooms in this city are usually conspicuous for their absence. Only a small minority of the buildings are provided with an assembly room. Rooms used for cook- ing, sewing, manual training, and library are seldom adapted to the purpose, and are often rooms which are too dark, damp, or inaccessible to be used for regular classes. The buildings constructed in the last two or three years are improvements in this respect, but there is still not a nurse's room in the city, and not a bath in the grades below the high school. Nor do all of the recent buildings contain an assembly room. Special rooms of the above types are to be regarded as necessities, not as luxuries. They should be included in future school buildings as a mere matter of course. The argument that they cost a good deal of money has no weight. School facilities which poorer cities can and do afford are surely not too costly for Salt Lake City. As already shown this city has wasted enough money in un- economical building plans to have supplied most of the special rooms needed. OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS Salt Lake City is one of the few cities of its size in the country without an open-air school. The impression seems to prevail that they are unnecessary here because of the ex- cellence of the climate. There is absolutely no ground for such a view. Recent and widespread investigations justify the conclusion that in the schools of any climate there are numerous children with latent tuberculosis, and many others 256 School Organization and Administration who are predisposed to it. The disease is rapidly coming to be looked upon as a " children's disease," one which is acquired by a large proportion of children everywhere. There is reason to believe that a majority of the cases which do not become " manifest " until adult life have existed in latent form since childhood. The proportion of school children with manifest tubercu- losis is of course relatively small, usually not more than a half of one per cent, of the total enrollment. Even at this rate the share of Salt Lake City would be 100. There is little doubt that careful medical examination of all the school children would disclose enough tuberculous children to fill three or four open-air classes. California, with a cli- mate fully as unfavorable to tuberculosis as that of Salt Lake City, has its open-air schools in every city of any con- siderable size. Many children who are not actually tuberculous would benefit greatly from such classes. This includes all who are ill-nourished, subject to colds or bronchitis, or otherwise lacking in physical resistance. Facts have been presented which indicate that probably not far from two thousand children in this city are physically a good deal below nor- mal. There is little doubt that the condition of most of these could be improved by the right kind of school adapta- tions in their favor. For hundreds of them, at least, the open-air class is the one remedy needed. No building to be erected in the future should be without one or more open- air classrooms. SCHOOL BATHS The value of school baths deserves sjDccial emphasis. Two shower rooms, one for boys and one for girls, should be found in every new building. They are especially neces- sary in certain parts of the city, and if possible they should yet be installed in such schools as the Fremont, Jackson, Lincoln, and Riverside. Basement rooms which are now The School Plant 257 unfortunately used as regular classrooms could be fitted up for this purpose, at moderate expense. School baths promote the health of the children, aid in instilling lifelong habits of personal hygiene, and greatly improve the atmosphere of the schoolroom. The members of the survey staff visited many schoolrooms which were filled with sickening odors from unclean bodies. Even in the poorer countries of western Europe, where school econ- omy is more necessary than in this country, baths are in- cluded in all new school buildings. Admirable suggestions for planning school baths are to be found in Dresslar's American Schoolhoiises, published by the United States Bureau of Education, and in School Hygiene by the same author (Macmillan). Important con- siderations are good light, impervious floor, dressing booths, individual showers for the older girls, drainage, heating apparatus for controlling the temperature of the water, etc. TOILETS Only in the new high school are the toilets fully up to the standard requirements. In others of the recently built schools they are not bad. In most of the older buildings, however, they are far from satisfactory, and the worst are unfit for use. Wooden partitions between urinals, cor- roding metal urinal troughs with low backs, toilet seats of only one size, inadequate number of seats and urinals, im- proper flushing, location in dark and ill-ventilated quarters, inaccessibility, inadequate supply of paper, — these are common faults, some of which are found in almost every building, and in certain schools all. The worst toilets should be remodeled at once. One of the least excusable faults is an inadequate num- ber of seats and urinals. There should be one seat for twenty-five boys and one for fifteen girls ; and there should be one urinal stall for twenty boys. One school, the Sumner, 258 School Organization and Administration has less than half the standard number of seats for boys, while several others have much less than half the required number. TABLE XLIII Seating, Lighting, and Toilet Facilities in the Different School Buildings ^ ^ 1 a '0 H s '3 H a Name of School tZ t^S to ~'o a " la 3 CO "0 Si 3 in "0 h .2-2 1 1 CO t g □ (!5 61 i « a -3 a u U V &^ k4 'S- \^ %-t •a'fi •a m P-, m ^ Ai *A ^ ^ a^ Bonneville 18 138 S3 37 18 138 4/5 400 4/S 400 Bryant . . . 19 131 30 66 15 100 4/5 400 1/3 i66 Emerson . . 30 83 90 22 23 60 1/7 71 1/7 71 Ensign . . . 27 92 27 74 21 71 ii/SO no 11/50 no Forest . . . 35 71 21 95 35 42 1/18 27 i/il 45 Franklin . . 38 65 51 41 25 66 13/100 6S 13/100 6S Fremont . . 19 131 19 los 13 IIS 12/197 30 12/197 30 Grant .... 39 64 39 51 25 66 1/4 125 1/4 125 Hamilton . . 24 104 59 33 24 62 1/7 71 1/7 71 Hawthorne 22 113 27 74 16 93 67/632 50 67/839 39 Irving . . . 19 131 95 21 19 78 * * Jackson . . . 25 100 40 SO 17 88 19/100 95 19/100 95 Jefferson . . 19 131 21 41 16 93 i/ii 49 i/S 100 Lafayette . . 28 89 43 46 25 66 1/4 120 1/3 166 Lincoln . . . 32 78 45 44 28 Si 3/10 ISO 4/10 200 Longfellow II 230 17 117 9 166 3/25 60 2/25 40 Lowell . . . 26 96 26 26 25 66 13/100 65 17/100 8S Monroe . . . 32 78 32 62 80 18 1/22 22 1/14 I2S Onequa . . . 21 119 21 95 15 100 4/25 80 4/25 80 Onequa (Annex) 9 277 18 III 9 166 * * Oquirrh . . . 30 83 36 55 23 6s 7/24 140 S/12 200 Poplar Grove 26 96 42 48 17 88 17/1000 8.5 17/1000 8.S Riverside . . 23 108 38 52 16 93 1/7 1/4 71 125 1/7 1/4 71 I2S Sumner . . . 54 46 63 31 32 46 1/4 125 1/5 100 Training . . 17 147 22 99 14 107 Il/lOO 55 ii/ioo 55 Twelfth . . . 24 104 24 83 6 250 1/6 83 1/9 SS Wasatch . . 22 113 30 67 19 79 1/5 1000 1/6 83 Washington 31 80 52 38 26 57 1/8 61 1/7 71 Webster . . . 36 69 45 44 22 68 i/S 100 I/S 100 Whittier . . 27 92 29 69 27 55 100 East High . . 24 62 21 95 17 88 l/S 100 i/S 100 West High 14 104 1 '' 117 17 88 1/8,1/12 61 i/S 100 * Data not secured from school. Table XLIII shows the number of boys per seat, the number of boys per urinal, the number of girls per seat, The School Plant 259 and the ratio of window area to floor space in both the boys' and the girls' toilets, for each school in the city. The second figure in each double column shows the percentage of sufficiency of the item in cjuestion. WHAT THIS TABLE REVEALS Some of the most striking facts shown in Table XLIII are as follows : 1. Less than 25 per cent, sufficiency of urinals at Emer- son and Irving; 2. Less than 45 per cent, sufficiency of urinals at Bonne- ville, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Sumner, Lincoln, Washington, and Webster; 3. Less than 50 per cent, sufficiency of seats for boys at Sumner ; 4. Less than 20 per cent, sufficiency of seats for girls at Monroe ; 5. Less than 50 per cent, sufficiency of seats for girls at Sumner and Forest ; 6. Equal proportion of seats for the two sexes in six schools ; 7. Astonishing variation from school to school in the apportionment of seats and urinals, ranging, for example, from one seat for nine girls at Longfellow to one for eighty girls at Monroe; from one seat for eleven boys at Long- fellow to one for 54 boys at Sumner ; from one urinal for seventeen boys at Longfellow to one for ninety at Emerson and one for ninety-five at Irving. 8. Similar lack of standards as regards the lighting of toilets, the ratio of window to floor space ranging from f down to sV- Surely the above facts show chaos compounded. The laws of chance would have given about as correct propor- tions. The need for some educational oversight of the building department is certainly evident. At least ten toilets have less than half the standard 26o School Organization and Administration amount of window area, and the lighting of toilets is often less satisfactory than the ratios given in the table would suggest. In many cases the windows are partly below ground, often the panes are not fully transparent, or the light is obstructed in some other way. Generally the seats are arranged in double rows, in which case the row facing away from the windows is almost sure to be poorly lighted. Only one row of seats should be permitted. Toilet rooms should always be made large enough to permit the observ- ance of this rule. The method of dispensing toilet paper is very unsatis- factory. Ordinarily there is only one dispenser for a toilet room, none being placed in the individual stalls. The dispenser used is the familiar lock-box variety, which works so slowly that in the rush periods at recess pupils cannot possibly be properly supplied. In one school boys were seen to go to the stalls without paper rather than stand in line to wait their turn. In an- other toilet the dispenser was empty and no paper was to be found. The object of the single-dispenser plan was said to be economy! Surely one of the wealthiest cities of its class in the United States ought not to find itself driven to such disgusting economy. Economy is a good thing in its place, but children ought to be encouraged or even explicitly instructed to avoid economy of this kind. What possible connections can be established between such a type of build- ing supervision and the hygiene instruction in the schools? DRINKING FOUNTAINS It is a pleasure to find inviting, bubbling fountains at all the schools. In sixteen (half) of the schools, however, there are no fountains inside the building. It is recom- mended that half the fountains, at least, should be placed inside. More attention should also be given to the ratio of fountains to school children. Table XLIV shows this to be very uneven. Some of the schools have more foun- The School Plant 261 tains than necessary, others too few. Probably one fountain for about 75 to 100 children is the correct proportion. TABLE XLIV , Drinking Fountains Provided Less than 25 children per fountain, 2 schools; Between 25 and 50 children per fountain, 3 schools; Between 50 and 75 children per fountain, 11 schools; Between 75 and 100 children per fountain, 9 schools; Between 100 and 125 children per fountain, 3 schools; Between 125 and 150 children per fountain, o schools; Over 150 children per fountain, 2 schools. ROLLER TOWELS In schools where the common drinking cup has long been banished it is surprising to find the common roller towel everywhere in evidence. No school is without it. Many of those seen were unspeakably dirty, as of course roller towels are expected to be. One of the principals testified that he had recently acquired pink-eye from drying his hands on one and then rubbing his eye with the finger. It has been demonstrated often enough that the roller towel is a frequent means of spreading contagious disease. It should of course be banished forthwith in favor of sanitary paper towels. JANITOR SERVICE The janitor service, though perhaps on the whole not inferior to that of the average city, is in a number of schools not satisfactory. A majority of the principals questioned testified, however, that the janitors are con- scientious in their efforts to do the work as it should be done. The fault, where any exists, appears to be chiefly in the lack of persistent and intelligent supervision, espe- cially the latter. Feather dusters are used exclusively in three of the build- 262 School Organization and Administration ings (Emerson, Longfellow, and Wasatch), and in part in sixteen others. The feather duster is a criminal offender and should not be tolerated. Still worse, dry sweeping is regularly practiced in both classrooms and halls of seven buildings ; namely. Ensign, Forest, Oncqua, Oquirrh, Poplar Grove, Sumner, and West High. In certain other buildings sweeping compound is used in the halls, but not in the classrooms. It would appear that many of the janitors use the sweeping compound only intermittently, as four out of eleven were found sweeping without it. When questioned, each gave the same reply; namely, that the supply had just been exhausted! In all these cases choking clouds of dust were being raised. An- other prevailing practice to be strongly condemned is that of sweeping the halls while the school is in session. All the classrooms are swept daily except in the West High School. There are no vacuum cleaners in the schools. This method of removing dirt and dust is wonderfully satisfac- tory in school buildings when the cleaning plant is properly installed. Careful attention, however, must be paid to size and location of ducts, power of fans, etc. It is strongly urged that vacuum cleaners be given a thorough trial in buildings erected in the future. The floors of most, but not all, of the buildings have been oiled, though in some cases not for many months or even years. The use of floor oils should be required in all build- ings, regardless of protests on the part of a few teachers. The oil should be applied lightly at least twice a year. The floor should first be thoroughly cleaned, and the oil which does not penetrate the wood should be carefully mopped up. If these precautions are taken the oiled floor will not look unsightly and it will not soil the clothing. Oiling the floors is imperative in the interests of health. Over and over again it has been experimentally demonstrated that it de- creases the number of floating dust particles and of bacteria to one-fifth or one-tenth that found in untreated rooms. The School Plant 263 This is illustrated in the following tests made by Dr. Lam- bert in an English school : TABLE XLV Effect of Treating Floors with Oil Colonies of Bacteria Plates Exposed Floors Treated by Oil Floors not Treated 5 minutes in still air 2 3S ir 6 I 7 30 minutes in still air 12 5 minutes during sweeping 456 5 minutes just after sweeping 5 minutes beginning 10 minutes after sweeping . 5 minutes beginning 15 minutes after sweeping . 79 62 31 NEED FOR GREATER CLEANLINESS Unquestionably much of the nasal catarrh and throat trouble found among the children (see Figure 43) is ac- counted for by the antiquated methods of school housekeep- ing in vogue in this city. Every effort should be made to keep the school building as neat as a well-kept home and as clean as a hospital. This should be the aim, even though it is not always possible to attain it fully. More could be done in this direction if the school grounds were always well drained, properly graded, and in part grav- eled. More attention should be paid to having children clean their shoes before entering the building, and for this purpose doormats and scrapers should be more liberally provided. On rainy days the members of the survey staff saw many school buildings in which the floors of classrooms were covered with mud. It was not possible to gather extensive data regarding 264 School Organization and Administration the competency of janitors in the management of the heat- ing and ventilating apparatus. The temperature records previousl}^ given show that some fault exists here, but ex- actly how much of this is to be charged against the janitors, and how much to the imperfection of heating plants, we do not know. The matter is recommended for further inves- tigation by the school authorities. The same may be said in regard to the imperfections of ventilation. Next to the principal, the janitor is the most important officer in the school building. The duties are so varied that it is not easy to find persons who have all the needed quali- fications. Janitors should combine the neat housewife's ideals of cleanliness with a fair knowledge of mechanics. The right moral and temperamental qualifications are no less important. It is evident that it is impossible to give too much care to the choice of janitors. After the selection has been made, efficiency should be the only ground for retention. Efficiency of janitors can be greatly increased by super- vision and training. Professional study, including lectures and required reading, should be arranged at least every sec- ond year for the entire janitorial force. FIRE PROTECTION Only the newest buildings are fireproof. The stairs are usually wooden, the furnace rooms are not always fire- proof, and the fire escapes are in a few cases either lacking or inadequate. One of the outside doors was found locked during school hours at two buildings. Only a few of the schools have panic bolts for the outside doors. The fire drills, five of which were witnessed, were reasonably good, but not always as orderly as could be desired. The time for clearing the building ranged from a minute and twenty sec- onds to two minutes and five seconds. Serious fire tragedies have occurred in school buildings no worse than the majority of those in Salt Lake City, and The School Plant 265 it is recommended that precautions be taken on all the points enumerated above. Panic bolts should be provided immediately for all outside doors, and fire drills should be subjected to more uniform control. Future buildings should be made more nearly fireproof. QUALITY OF CONSTRUCTION AND COSTS The limited time for the survey did not permit a careful study of these questions. Costs vary so much in different parts of the country that only a searching investigation would have made possible any criticism on this point. The quality of construction appears to have been, on the whole, very substantial, — unfortunately so, considering the primi- tive type of architecture in all but the most recent buildings. All but those erected in the last four or five years are so faulty in plan that it is a pity they are not now rickety enough to demand replacement. It is depressing to think that some of these will last a quarter of a century yet, and that many thousands of children will have to suffer from their defects. The planning of school buildings should be looked upon, indeed, as a solemn undertaking. It is a task which calls not only for the highest class of professional skill, but also for a readiness to regard every other interest as secondary to the welfare of children. REPAIRS The annual budget for the maintenance and repairs of the school buildings, which for the past six years has aver- aged about $55,000 a year, seems rather large, when we consider the present condition of the buildings. The ques- tion raised is whether the money expended for this purpose has always been devoted to the kind of repairs most urgent. Many new floors have recently been laid, at considerable expense, in buildings where alterations of rooms and im- proved toilet facilities were much more needed. These old 266 School Organization and Administration floors would have liad to be very bad indeed to justify tlieir renewal at the expense of other needed improvements. Good floors are important, but it may be well to empha- size the fact that in disposing of a repair budget there seems to be a natural tendency to give preference to the kind of repair w^ork w^hich is simplest, which requires the least plan- ning and the least supervision, and which carries with it the least educational significance. Floor renewal falls in this class. Fundamental alterations, the reconstruction of toilets, changes in lighting, etc., all require better school- engineering knowledge, more forethought in the planning, and more expert supervision. As a matter of fact it requires more thought to distribute to the best advantage $50,000 for repairs than to plan a new school building costing $100,000. It is evident, however, that the matter has not been viewed in this light in Salt Lake City in the past. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS 1. About half of the school sites are of inadequate size. Approximately 10,500 children attend schools where the available playground space amounts to less than 100 square feet per child. Several of these sites could yet be enlarged, and it is recommended that steps be taken to this end. Future needs in this line should be anticipated. 2. The architectural plans in all but the most recent buildings, and to a certain extent these also, have involved very great waste of building space, amounting in many of the buildings to 40 per cent, in terms of cubical contents. 3. There are no baths, no cloakrooms, no nurses' rooms, and few assembly rooms in the city. The (piarters for domestic science and manual training are in many cases unsatisfactory. It is suggested that most of these con- veniences could be provided in future buildings by proper economy of space. 4. It is recommended that most of the 74 basement The School Plant 267 rooms be abandoned at the earliest possible moment, and that basement rooms l)e avoided in future buildings. The same recommendation holds for the 46 hall classrooms. 5. There are relatively few classrooms in the city which conform to all the standards of lighting. In more than half the lighting is very objectionable. It is recommended that the walls and ceilings be retinted; that light-obstructions be removed where possible; that translucent, double-roller window shades be substituted for those now in use; and that in future buildings the following standards be observed : (a) Avoidance of north or south lighting; (b) All rooms to be lighted from left only ; (c) Ratio of window area to floor area, 20-25 per cent. ; (d) Six to eight feet of dead space in front of first window. 6. Temperature records collected at three dififerent times in the school year show that out of 1,157 records, 71 per cent, are unsatisfactory, and that 16 per cent, are as much as 5 degrees too high or too low. Other facts indicate that the ventilating systems in use are also often at fault. It is recommended that the heating and ventilating apparatus be thoroughly gone over with a view to the correction of as many defects as possible. 7. Adjustable desks are present in sufificient number in only 10 per cent, of the classrooms. In the future only adjustable desks should be purchased. Practically all desks are incorrectly set. The arrangement should be changed from " zero distance " to " minus distance " throughout the city. 8. The blackboards are generally in good repair, but a large number are placed too high from the floor. 9. The janitor work should be improved and more care- fully supervised. Dry-sweeping and dry-dusting should be prohibited. The school principals should be given larger control over the selection and work of the janitors. 10. Several of the toilets need improvements, and a few 268 School Organization and Administration should be entirely replaced. The fixtures are often of an unsatisfactory type, seats and urinals are often insufficient in number, and the method of dispensing toilet paper is very objectionable. The lighting should be improved where possible. 11. The roller towel and common soap should go. 12. Drinking fountains should be more carefully appor- tioned according to the number of children, and half of them should be placed inside the buildings. 13. Showers for both boys and girls should find a place in all new buildings. 14. Open-air classes should be provided for tuberculous and pretuberculous children. 15. The worst of the present buildings should be aban- doned as early as possible. 16. A new building, somewhat centrally located, should be provided for the subnormal children, to take the place of the present Twelfth School. 17. Special forethought should be given to the repair budget, in order to insure that it be used to better advantage. 18. The superintendent of buildings and the janitor force should be made responsible to the superintendent of schools. 19. It is especially urged that in all matters pertaining to heating, lighting, ventilation, and school planning gen- erally, the services of a cjualified full-time expert be secured and retained. CHAPTER XI HEALTH SUPERVISION STANDARDS FOR COMPARISON BEFORE offering a criticism of the health supervision in the Salt Lake City schools it will be well to set forth the standards which have been generally agreed upon by the best authorities as constituting the essentials for this phase of school work. While a few good school systems are at present lacking in some of the following items, the effort is being made in all progressive cities to incorporate as many of them as possible, and many school systems have the equivalent of them all. The standards set forth are meant to indicate the requirements in cities of from 75,000 to 150,000 population. OFFICERS AND ASSISTANTS One full-time medical director; one half-time assistant physician for each 10,000 children in the grades; one full- time female physician for each 800 to 1,200 high-school girls; one full-time male physician for each 800 to 1,200 high-school boys; a nurse for every 2,000 pupils in the grades; one half-time dentist; and one half-time specialist in diseases of the eye, ear, nose, and throat, for each 10,000 pupils. SCOPE AND NATURE OF WORK The work should include the following: I. Frequent inspection of all the children by school nurses for the control of transmissible diseases, with proper regulations for exclusions ; 269 270 School Organization and Administration 2. A thorough medical examination of each child at least every second school year, for the purpose of detecting chronic defects as well as acute disorders ; 3. Annual tests of vision and hearing, either by nurses or teachers ; 4. Persistent follow-up work by nurses, in order that parents may be convinced of the necessity of having their children's defects attended to; 5. Free medical and dental treatment in a central clinic, for the children of poor or indigent, by a regularly employed school physician and dentist, this to be supplemented by cooperation with local dental and medical societies and witli hospitals and dispensaries ; 6. Sanitary inspection of school buildings by nurses and physicians ; 7. Medical examination of candidates for teaching positions ; 8. Open-air schools for tuberculous or anaemic children ; 9. School lunches for the ill-nourished, furnished gratis to those who cannot afford to pay ; 10. The education of the home in matters of child hy- giene by means of parent-teacher associations, distribution of health leaflets, etc. ; and 11. Publicity work for enlisting the cooperation of the general public. In order to give proper scope to the work, and in order to insure effective co5peration among its various branches, it is usually advisable to have it under the control of the board of education rather than the board of health. COSTS Director, $3,000; full-time assistant physicians or den- tists, $1,800 to $2,200; half-time physicians or dentists. $1,000 to $1,200; head nurse, $100 per month; regular nurses, $75 to $90 per month. Total cost, between 75 cents and $1.00 for each school child, or $15,000 to $20,000 for Health Supervision 271 a city the size of Salt Lake City. To this should be added the outlay for equipping a central clinic and for the nurse's room which should be provided in each new school building. In judging the school health work of this city it is neces- sary to keep the above standards rather fully in mind. No other function which the school has assumed in recent years exceeds health supervision in importance ; and yet, partly because of its newness, it is often carried on with little vision of the larger purposes it ought to serve. Even cities which are otherwise commendably progressive in school matters sometimes rest content with halfway measures in health supervision, not realizing their inadequacy. This is espe- cially true in localities which are geographically isolated, and where there is only limited opportunity to observe the work of other cities and to learn from their experience. STAGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF HEALTH SERVICE The growth of school health work in the cities of the United States, and other countries as well, is marked by certain well-defined stages. It always begins in an effort of physicians or of the board of health to prevent the spread of transmissible diseases in the schools, to eradicate para- sites, and to improve the sanitary conditions of the build- ings. The work indicated represents the first stage of health supervision, and is usually called " medical inspec- tion." Because of the obvious duty of the public to counter- act the increased danger of contagion, incident to compul- sory attendance of all classes of children in the same school, this was the logical and natural first point of attack. After this phase of the work has been gotten well in hand, and when the medical inspectors have had more opportunity to observe and study the physical needs of the children, they are brought to a keener realization of the large number of children who have one or more serious physical defects other than a contagious disease. Among the defects, often neglected or unnoticed even by intelligent parents and teach- 272 School Organization aiid Administration ers, are adenoids, enlarged tonsils, visual defects, partial deafness, defective teeth, malnutrition, physical deformities, heart trouble, diseased glands, incipient tuberculosis, etc. While only about 2 or 3 per cent, of the school children of a city need to be excluded in any one year because of a contagious disease, about 60 to 75 per cent, are always found to have one or more serious physical defects of the chronic type. THE SECOND STAGE IN DEVELOPMENT When such conditions are understood and appreciated the nature and purpose of medical inspection must be differently conceived. In addition to the frequent and hasty inspec- tions for contagion, thorough physical examinations are then instituted, including examinations of heart, lungs, nutrition, teeth, eyes, ears, and throat. Assistant physicians and school nurses, in rather large number, become necessary in order to meet the extension and increased thoroughness of the work. Since many parents fail to realize the serious- ness of the defects discovered, and disregard the notices sent out by the medical director, it becomes necessary to organize a vigorous follow-up service. In this the well- trained and tactful nurse has proved herself indispensable. Because some parents are too poor to pay for the medical or dental treatment recommended, free clinics must be or- ganized and the cooperation of local medical and dental associations, charity organizations, hospitals, and dispen- saries must be enlisted. This may be called the second stage in the development of school health work. THE THIRD STAGE This is represented by a shift of the emphasis to preven- tive work. The attempt to bring about the cure of defects after they have become well established is praiseworthy, but the task is difficult and the results are often partial and un- Health Supervision 273 satisfactory. It is far more rational to exercise such con- stant and close supervision over the health and physical development of the school children that defects will be pre- vented, or else remedied before they have become a menace to healthy growth. The acceptance of this point of view necessitates : 1. Increased thoroughness of the examinations in the lower grades ; 2. Extension of free medical and dental treatment ; 3. The establishment of open-air schools for anaemic and pretuberculous children ; 4. School feeding; 5. School baths ; 6. Special schools for the cure of speech defects; 7. Medical supervision of physical training and athletics ; 8. Modifications in the program and discipline of the school in order to guard against fatigue and to prevent in- jury to neuropathic children; 9. Special classes for the mentally subnormal ; 10. Increased attention to standards of heating, light- ing, and ventilation ; 11. Improvement of janitorial service; 12. More practical and effective hygiene teaching; 13. Enlarged playground facilities and play supervision; 14. Systematic enlightenment of the teachers in matters of health ; 15. Organized publicity and extension work, designed to improve the hygienic standards of the home. School health work of this inclusive and preventive na- ture goes far beyond what has usually been called " medical inspection," and may be fitly termed health and development supervision. Its aim is to organize all the forces and de- partments of the school, not only for the prevention of disease, but also for the more positive cultivation of physi- cal efficiency. 2 74 School Organization and Administration HEALTH SUPERVISION BECOMES AN EDUCATIONAL SERVICE It is at once evident that health work of this broad scope, interwoven as it is with the everyday educational activities of the school, cannot be carried on as an incident in the public health work, or as a side issue from the office of the board of health. It must have a full-time and responsible head who is not only well trained in preventive medicine generally and child hygiene in particular, but who has also the educational viewpoint and the ability and authority to aid in shaping the activities of the school so as better to accord with the child's physical needs. Accordingly it is found necessary in nearly all cases, before health super- vision can enter fully into the third stage above described, for the board of education to assume responsibility for the work and to finance and control it. In the first stage the work can be perfectly handled by the board of health, and, though somewhat less satisfactorily, in the second stage also. Very much depends, however, on the personal equa- tion of the man behind the work. Better results will of course be secured by a first-class director employed by the board of health than by a second- or third-rate director working under the authority of the board of education. NATURE OF THE SCHOOL HEALTH WORK IN SALT LAKE CITY In the light of the above discussion we are now in posi- tion to judge the school health work in Salt Lake City with reference to widely accepted and impersonal standards. The leading features of the system are as follows : I. The work is carried on under the authority of the city board of health, and under the general direction of the health commissioner. It is more immediately under the direction of one of the board of health's assistant physi- cians, who devotes to it a large share of his time. Health Supervision 275 2. There are six nurses, including a head nurse, all of whom give most of their time to school work as long as the schools are in session. 3. The efforts of the above corps of officers are at pres- ent devoted mainly to the prevention and control of conta- gious diseases. Recently, also, a good deal has been done to bring about the treatment of adenoids, diseased tonsils, and the more serious cases of eye defects. 4. Each school is visited from two to four times a week by a nurse, who spends on an average from one to two minutes in each classroom, walking down each aisle and inspecting the faces and arms of the children for signs of contagious disease. In some of the schools the hair also is inspected for pediculosis. More careful examinations are made of children who show symptoms of contagious disease, and exclusions are ordered in the cases which seem to require it. At the same time, permits are issued for the readmission of children who have been previously excluded and are in condition to return to school. Such children are allowed to report to the nurse at the school which they regularly attend, instead of being compelled to journey down town to the office of the health commissioner for this purpose. Before leaving the building the nurse makes note of any unsanitary condi- tions which seem to demand attention. Most of her re- maining time is taken up with home visitation, and in mak- ing arrangements for the free medical treatment of the children of the poor. 5. When a child has been excluded by the nurse, as de- scribed in the last paragraph, a visit is made to the child's home by one of the assistant physicians for the purpose of making a diagnosis of the case. Most of these visits are made by one physician. 6. There is no medical examination, periodically or otherwise, of the entire school population, and there are few individual instances of medical examination except in cases of suspected contagious disease. 276 School Organization and Administration 7. .Neither a medical nor a dental clinic has yet been established. 8. High-school pupils do not have the advantage of medical examinations or advice, and there is no medical supervision of athletics. However, a commendable begin- ning has been made in this line by the supervisor of physi- cal education, who examines higli-school boys for defects of vision, hearing, heart, and posture. 9. There are no bathing facilities in the grades below the high school. 10. Little has been done toward providing school meals for ill-nourished children. 11. In contrast with nearly all other cities of its size in the United States, Salt Lake City has not yet established an open-air school. 12. The cost of the above work cannot be ascertained exactly, because all who are engaged in it give a portion of their time to other duties. The six nurses are paid $5,080 per year, and the assistant physician who has direct charge of the work is paid $1,500 per year. The cost of the school work may be estimated as between $5,000 and $6,000 per year, which is a little over 25 cents per pupil enrolled, or about one-third to one-fourth the cost of an adequate sys- tem of health supervision. 13. In addition to the work carried on by the board of health, the board of education also employs an emergency physician to answer calls from the schools. Although the title of this physician is " medical inspector of schools," the office is at present a rather nominal one, as the duties are light and the pay proportional to the number of calls made. Another function of this branch of the school medical serv- ice is to provide for the medical examinations of candidates for teaching positions, and to require, when it is deemed advisable, medical examinations of teachers in service. For this purpose a " board of medical examiners for teachers " has been selected, consisting of thirteen physicians, with the physician apjwinted by the board of education as chairman. Health Supervision 277 STAGE IN DEVELOPMENT REPRESENTED Comparing now the scope of service attempted with the recognized standards ah'eady set forth, it is immediately obvious that school health work in Salt Lake City has not progressed far beyond what we have described as the " first stage " of development. Transmissible diseases are admi- rably controlled, sanitary inspection of the buildings is car- ried on, a few examinations for chronic defects are made, the nurses are doing as much follow-up work as time will permit; but the 60 or 75 per cent, of children who have chronic defects receive little attention as compared with the relatively small proportion who acquire a contagious disease. The larger and more important fields of work which fall within the " second stage " and " third stage " already described have been little developed. The impor- tance of this wider field will be set forth presently. It is a pleasure to add, however, that whatever work is attempted is apparently well done. The records show un- mistakably that contagious diseases have been significantly reduced in the last two or three years. Parasites have been largely eradicated, and all the teachers cjuestioned bore wit- ness to tlie fact that the work of the nurses had brought ex- cellent results in the improvement of health conditions and in the promotion of cleanliness. That the follow-up work has been fruitful in spite of the large number of pupils as- signed to each nurse (3,000 to 3,500) is indicated by the fact that 10 per cent, of the pupils enrolled have had ade- noids or tonsils removed, and that 3.4 per cent, have had such an operation within the last year. RESULTS FROM THE PRESENT SERVICE Important evidence as to the efficiency of the nurses in controlling contagious diseases was secured in the following manner. It will be remembered that in making the routine inspections at a school it was stated that the nurse excludes 278 School Organization and Administration pupils who show symptoms of contagious disease, after which the assistant physician visits the child's home and makes a diagnosis. In each such case the office record shows what disease the nurse " suspected," and what the physician actually found. All these individual records for the school year 1914-15 were turned over to a member of the survey staff and were summarized. The results show that 60 per cent, of the sus- picions were fully confirmed by the diagnosis of the physi- cian, that in 23 per cent, of the cases in which the suspicion was not confirmed there existed a condition of disease or defect which called for medical attention, and that in only 17 per cent, of the cases was there no need of a physician. On an average, therefore, five out of six cases reported by the nurses are found to need immediate medical care. This is certainly a splendid record. The contagious diseases discovered in the schools during the last year include, among others, the following: Chicken pox, 41 cases. Smallpox, 3 cases. Impetigo, 1 1 cases. Scarlet fever, 2 cases. Mumps, 57 cases. Diphtheria, 2 cases. Pink-eye, 43 cases. Measles, 2 cases. Scabies (itch), 22 cases. Ringworm, 7 cases. Whooping cough, 38 cases. In all probability each case discovered in the first stages in the schools meant the prevention of several additional cases. EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SCHOOL NURSE These findings regarding the ability of school nurses to detect contagious diseases in the early stages are fully in accord with the experience of other cities. No better evi- dence could be desired that tliis phase of the work can be adequately taken care of by school nurses. To employ ex- pensive physicians for the routine inspections w^ould be a waste of money. Even the best medical authorities admit Health Supervision 279 that the well-trained school nurse acquires a degree of skill in recognizing the early symptoms of contagious disease which is not excelled by the average practicing physician. One explanation is the large amount of experience secured by the nurse in a relatively short period of time. She is likely, indeed, to meet more cases of whooping cough or measles in the early stages in a single month than the prac- ticing physician would ordinarily meet in the course of ten years. Another function well performed by the school nurses of Salt Lake City is that of vaccinating children against small- pox. Utah has no compulsory vaccination law and a major- ity of the school children have not been vaccinated, although no data were available to show the exact number of un- vaccinated. Prompt action is therefore necessary when a case has been discovered in the schools. To meet the situ- ation the nurses are allowed to perform, free of charge, vaccinations of school children who have been exposed to the disease. The practice is somewhat exceptional in the cities of the United States, largely because of the conserva- tism of many physicians who oppose it. There is absolutely no ground, however, for such opposition. Vaccinations are just as effective when performed gratis by the nurses as when performed by the physician at the rate of $2.00 per child. That they are also fully as safe is demonstrated by the fact that in the two years 191 3 and 1914, 1,331 vacci- nations were performed by the school nurses of Salt Lake City without serious complications in a single case. The practice should by all means be continued. EXPANSIONS PLANNED BY THE HEALTH COMMISSIONER The fact that the health work has thus far progressed little beyond the first stage is not offered as a criticism of those in charge of it. Because of possible misunderstanding and opposition, both on the part of the conservative element of the medical profession and of the public, it is often not 28o School Organization and Administration the best policy to try to inaugurate at one stroke an ideal system of school health supervision. In a gradual expan- sion the wisdom of each step proves itself, and smooths the way for still further progress. This has marked the development of the department in Salt Lake City. First one nurse was appointed, then a sec- ond, and two years ago the number was increased to six. An effort will be made to add two more next year, and ulti- mately others until there shall be one nurse for about 2,000 children. Arrangements have been made for opening a dental clinic at the central office in the immediate future. Temporarily the dental work will be done without expense to the city by members of the local dental association. This will finally result, without doul)t, in the employment of a regular school dentist. A similar arrangement is contem- plated which will make possible the opening of a medical clinic. It is evident, therefore, that where the system is new, as is the case here, it should be judged less by what it has already accomplished than by the limits which are set for future accomplishments. Judged by this standard the sys- tem of Salt Lake City merits a great deal of praise. The authorities in charge are fully cognizant of the work to be done, and appear to have the determination and the tact to bring about the desired expansions. The point of view is strictly in harmony with modern tendencies in child hygiene. HEALTH CONDITIONS OF SALT LAKE CITY SCHOOL CHILDREN In order to indicate some of the unsolved or only partly solved health problems among the school children, the two questionnaires reproduced as Tables XLVI and XLVII were sent to each teacher in the city. It will be noted that the data called for in the first questionnaire were secured by the teacher asking the questions of the children, and that the second questionnaire was filled out by the teachers on the basis oi their own observation. Health Supervision 281 While, of course, absolute accuracy cannot be claimed for data gathered in this way, it is probable that in most cases they represent the facts fairly closely. Dr. E. B. Hoag, who has used similar question lists with more than 100,000 school children in California and Minnesota, has always found that the results thus obtained do not differ materially from those secured by his actual medical examinations. Indeed, when the data from these question lists are compared with the statistics resulting from the medical examinations which have been given to millions of school children in hun- dreds of cities of the United States, Germany, France, Eng- land, Japan, Australia, and other countries, the amount of agreement is found to be remarkable. Summarizing the data on health conditions among the children, obtained from the questionnaires sent out, we get the following significant information: HEADACHES More than 26 per cent, of the children (4,409) have headaches often. This is about the usual percentage found. Dr. Hoag's figures for several other cities range from 20 to 25 per cent. Headache is an indication that something is wrong, and when the trouble is chronic we are always justified in suspecting eye-strain, nervousness, constipation, or some kind of digestive disturbance. It is often associ- ated with poor nutrition and general weakness. EARS AND HEARING Seven and five tenths per cent, of the children (1,243) have earache often, 5.5 per cent. (942) have had at some time running of the ears, and 5.1 per cent. (883) have marked symptoms of imperfect hearing. Dr. Hoag's figures from other cities give 10 per cent, for earache, 3 per cent, for running of the ears, and about 4 per cent, for imperfect hearing. Earache often means an infection of the middle 282 School Organization and Administration TABLE XLVI Health Questionnaire I (One to each teacher) Name of school Grade Room Name of teacher Total number pupils (Directions) Ask the children the following questions and record the results. It is important to ask the questions with the proper degree of seriousness, and to urge the pupils to answer as correctly as possible. 1. How many have headache often (two or three times a month)? 2. Howmany have earache often (two or three times a month)? 3. How many sometimes have running of the ears? 4. How many have had hearing tested sometime? 5. How many have had hearing tested in this school year? 6. How many have sore throat or colds frequently (two or three times a month)? 7. How many have had adenoids or tonsils removed? 8. How many have had adenoids or tonsils taken out in the last jear? . . . 9. How many often have pain or watering of eyes? 10. How many cannot easily read the writing on the blackboard? 11. How many find that the print often seems to blur, or run together, or look double? 12. How many have had the eyes tested sometime? 13. How many have had the eyes tested in the last year? 14. How many have gone to a dentist sometime? 15. How many have gone to a dentist in the last year? 16. How many have a toothbrush? 15. Howmany have used a toothbrush in the last twenty-four hours? . . . 18. How many have toothache often (two or three times a month?) .... 19. How many eat breakfast every day? 20. How many eat lunch every day? Health Supervision 283 TABLE XLVII Health Questionnaire II (One to each teacher) Name of school Grade . . . Room Name of teacher Number of pupils {To be filled out without asking children. Accuracy important.) 1. Number of pupils who have frequent or chronic difficulty in breathing through the nose 2. Number who have frequent or chronic nasal discharge 3. Number who have nasal or thick voice 4. Number who show symptoms of imperfect hearing 5. Number who stutter or stammer 6. Number who show symptoms of eye defects (redness or watering of the eyes, squinting, frowning, cross-eye, holding book too near, miscalling well- known words, etc.) 7. Number who wear glasses regularly 8. Nimiber who have some marked peculiarity, such as irritability, mus- cular twitchings, nervousness, excessive timidity, tendency to cry without cause, tendency to worry, moroscness, moral abnormality, etc g. Number who show marked lack of mental alertness 10. Number who are noticeably lacking in play activity 11. Number who are delicate or frequently ill 12. Number whose posture is habitually faulty ear, and the discharge which sometimes follows the ear- ache means that the pus has broken through the drum. The result is likely to be impaired hearing for life. In any school system, anywhere, tests of hearing will show that from 3 per cent, to 5 per cent, of the children have seriously defective hearing in one or both ears, and that at least I per cent, have not over one-fourth normal hearing. In Salt Lake City only 13.6 per cent, of the children have 284 School Organization and Administration ever had the hearing tested, and only 2.6 per cent, within the last year. Each child ought to have a hearing test every year. Such can be given by the teachers, under proper supervision, and the time required for such tests is negli- gible. Annual tests of hearing are required by law in several states. Usually a fourth of one per cent, are found to be so nearly deaf as to warrant their removal to special classes. At this rate the number in Salt Lake City who need such attention is not far from 50, or enough for two or three special classes. EYES AND VISION Twenty-two per cent, of the children testify that the print sometimes blurs, 23 per cent, that the eyes sometimes pain, and ii.i per cent, are said by the teachers to show symptoms of subnormal vision. Thirty-three per cent, have sometime had the eyes tested, y.y per cent, within the last year. These results agree closely with the figures in other cities. It is safe to say that in any city at least 15 per cent, of the children have imperfect vision and that at least 10 per cent, ought to wear glasses. In this city only 2.y per cent, of the children enrolled have glasses, which means that three-fourths of the cases of defective vision have been neglected (probably about 1,460). In order to check up the data secured from the teachers, the McCallie vision test was given by Mr. Williams, of the survey staff, to 510 children. As shown in the following chart, 15 per cent, of these children had defective vision, while only 3.5 per cent, of those tested were wearing glasses. Tests of this kind should be given to every child each school year. Like hearing tests, these are required by law in a number of states. They can be given readily by the teachers after a little instruction. Teachers cannot deter- mine the cause of the defective vision, but they can usually determine whether a defect exists. The oculist will do the rest. Health Supervision 285 WEARING GLASSES, Fig. 42. Showing the Results of the Examination of Children's Eyes in Salt Lake City (McCallie Vision Test) NOSE AND THROAT TROUBLES The returns show that 19.8 per cent, have sore throat often, 8.6 per cent, have obstructed breathing, and 5.7 per cent, have a marked nasal voice (indicative of obstructed breathing). It is certain, therefore, that not less than 10 per cent, of the children (2,000) have neglected defects of nose or throat. The number would be far greater but for the fact that another 10 per cent, have had adenoids or 286 School Organization and Administration tonsils removed. As with other defects, the percentage having nose or throat trouble agrees closely with similar data from other cities. The injuries produced by such defects are so well recog- nized that extended discussion here is not necessary. It is sufikient to point out that obstructed breathing nearly al- ways reduces the lung capacity and retards mental and physical growth. Many a " backward " child can be made over by the removal of breathing obstructions. Neglected adenoids lay the foundation for a number of constitutional weaknesses which may not become apparent until adult life. The trouble often spreads to the ear. Most cases of partial deafness can be traced to neglected throat troubles. TEETH Fortunately for our purposes the teeth of 4,463 of the school children of the city had recently been examined by dentists from tlie local dental association. These in- cluded all in attendance at the Riverside, Jackson, Whittier, Lowell, Lafayette, Poplar Grove, and Wasatch schools. The results were summarized by us for the schools sepa- rately, and are shown in Table XLVIIL Some of the most striking facts shown in this table are the following : That with 19 per cent, the general condition of the mouth is distinctly " bad," and with 34.1 per cent, only " fair." That the condition of the gums is " bad " with 9.7 per cent., and only " fair " with 17.4 per cent. That 32.1 per cent, have malocclusion. That the teeth of 24.8 per cent, are badly in need of cleaning. That the 4,363 children have a total of 16,612 carious (decaying) teeth, or an average number of 2,-7 carious teeth per child. That 1,986 teeth were found needing extraction. That 43.5 per cent, of the children do not use a tooth- brush. Health Supervision 287 1-1 Tt »— I suA\oa3 1^07 JO 0^ 00 00 M t^ 00 \o to M 00 VO J^ CI rt" WW w CO w w papaa^ suojiDtJi^xg 00 1^ 10 -^ ■rt en 00 00 M 0< 0 10 00 00 t}- CO M M M CO 1-1 CI Xjujoduiaj^ >^ tT -H- Tf rf rj- •* M 1-1 Q r^ vo o> t^ WW rj w w 00 luauuuuaj CO MD 00 1^ vO w -0 M Tj- J^ CO 'O VO «-- 00 WW WW w iiuiui33i3 p33>J Ov to CO Tj- t^ CO w 00 00 Cf^ 00 00 4 uoisnp30|T;jY M 00 w r^ vo Tj- 00 M W 1^ 00 (-- C< W W W CO w w CO w CO Vm\A H133X w oi CO CI 1^ to ri t^ M 00 10 10 W W W CO CO 0. w iisnag asn r-- ■* 00 i^ T)- w 10 CN C« 00 W CO t^ o» CO M CO r^ w •<4- CI to to JJ^d 00 - 00 c^ 10 CO o> 00 o^ 00 M to w w c< to •*• pOOQ CO 01 00 to CN 00 CO •^ to W CO CO >o ^ U p^a »0 00 W CO l-O O^ t^ 00 00 00 CO w CO d 1 CO w 1 J'T^d CO M W 00 to 1^ to c< CO 03 •* 00 w W M w w T^- w M w w 4 CO poog CO \0 c^ CO 00 On cs w M vO 0^0 M CO Ot Ol CO CO w 00 00 CO "4- luaipaxa 1 t^ Tt VO CM VO 10 CO to CO •* CO w 1 M 1 to sndnj JO -ojs^ CO w CO CO w t^ 10 loco "+ T(- ■+ t^ M f^ \0 TJ- 10 0> coo ^ ^ 1 73. a -l 1) a H 288 School Organization and Administration The results of the health questionnaire submitted to the teachers by the survey commission brought out the following additional facts: That 25.1 per cent, of the children often have toothache. That 36.8 per cent, have never been to a dentist. That 64 per cent, have not been to a dentist within the last year. That nearly 19 per cent, do not own a toothbrush. That 50 per cent, do not use a toothbrush regularly. The above facts are in harmony with countless other in- vestigations. It is always found that 75 to 90 per cent, of the school children have at least one decaying tooth, and that half the children have ordinarily from three to five. Comparison of the different schools will show that while some schools are better than others, the conditions on the whole are very general. It is evident, therefore, that a campaign is in order for the improvement of the children's teeth. Nowhere else will the proverbial " ounce of prevention " go farther. Dental caries, of all the common defects, is the most widespread. It is often called " the people's disease." Moreover, it is largely a disease of childhood and youth. If teeth are kept in repair till adult life they do not readily decay. If neg- lected till the age of 20, they are often beyond salvage. A dollar spent at the right time will save many dollars of dental bills later. The best time to treat toothache is before it occurs. When a tooth has come to the aching point the best time for saving it has gone by. Since parents often do not appreciate the truth of these facts, and do not realize the great value of sound teeth for health, it is necessary for the school to make frequent dental examinations of all the children, and to urge parents to have defective teeth treated. Where parents cannot afford to pay dental bills the work should be done gratis by school dentists. The school dentist is indeed as indispensable as the school doctor. If not all the dental work can be done at Health Supervision 289 once, it is well to concentrate on the younger children first, as this is the place where a given amount of preventive work goes the farthest. GENERAL WEAKNESS The study shows that 5.3 per cent, of the children are classified by the teachers as " frequently ill," 3.4 per cent, as " lacking in physical energy," and 8.5 per cent, as " not mentally alert. We are justified in concluding that prob- ably 10 per cent, in all, or over 2,000 children, are physi- cally much below par. These conditions are not peculiar to Salt Lake City, but have been found everywhere, includ- ing such cities as Pasadena, Berkeley, Oakland, Los An- geles, and hundreds of eastern cities. Children of this class, more than any other, need constant health supervision. They are the ones most injured by poor ventilation, bad lighting, lack of opportunity for play, etc. To look after their welfare is far more important than the control of con- tagious diseases, important as that may be. MENTALLY OR MORALLY EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN Ten per cent, of the children are placed by the teachers ni this group, which includes children who are exceptionally nervous, irritable, morose, lacking in self-control, prone to morbid worry, or morally abnormal. It is an important function of the department of health supervision to give the teachers instruction and advice in the handling of such children. The child who is misunderstood at home and in the school is in danger of developing mental or moral traits which will make his life miserable or futile. SPEECH DEFECTS One and eight-tenths per cent, of the children are classi- fied as stutterers, which is almost exactly the number found in several extensive investigations elsewhere. 290 School Organization and Administration The stuttering child is greatly handicapped in life if he does not recover. Spontaneous recovery often does not occur, and as a result the child's vocational opportunities are greatly limited. At present little is being done in this country for stuttering children. Their treatment offers a free field for quacks and charlatans, whose prey they often become. The experience of other countries, however, demonstrates that 80 per cent, to 85 per cent, of cases of stuttering among school children can be cured. Several countries of Europe conduct special classes for their benefit. Records show that cure is usually effected within three to six months. It is hoped that American cities will soon see the wisdom of this example. MALNUTRITION Figures were not obtainable directly on this point, for the reason that teachers are not able to ascertain the facts. In some of the schools, however, the experienced eye can detect large numbers of children who are evidently ill- nourished. It is hardly likely that this is due in many cases to actual insufficiency of food. There are many other causes of malnutrition, such as unwise choice of foods, improper cooking, weakness of the powers of diges- tion and assimilation, etc. Parental negligence is often to blame. The results of the health (|uestionnaire show that 1 1.4 per cent, of the children do not breakfast regularly, and that 9.1 per cent, sometimes miss lunch. The health de- partment has no duty more important than that of identify- ing the ill-nourished children, and the school department no more urgent duty than that of ameliorating their condition. School lunches are one means of helping ill-nourished children. Lunches ought to be served in several schools, such as Fremont, Bonneville, Franklin, Lincoln, Jackson, and Riverside. Where the children cannot afford to pay the cost of a meal, the expense should be borne by the board Health Supervision 291 of education. Much good can also be accomplished by means of health leaflets issued to parents, setting forth in simple language the most important rules for the care and feeding of children. The school can cooperate further by- giving greater emphasis to domestic science, play, personal hygiene, etc. HAVE HEADACHE OFTEN HAVE EARACHE OFTEN DEFECTIVE HEARING DEFECTIVE VISION SORE THROAT OFTEN OBSTRUCTED BREATHING BAD CONDITIOM or MOUTH HAV[N[Y[RB[[NT0aBENTI5T D0N0THAVEAT00THERU5t1 MNOTUSETOOlUBRUStlRI&UlARLY FREQUENTLY ILL NOT MENTALLY ALERT MENTALLY PECULIAR DO NOT BREAKFAST RKUIARLY SOMETIMES fAISS LUNCH STUTTER OR 5TAIAIAER 10 20 30 40 50% 1 Bm ■■■■■IBI 1 =. ^^" ^^" ^^™ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ E ■IH^H 1 ■ Fig. 43. Showing Some Health Conditions among the School Children of Salt Lake City HEALTH WORK SHOULD BE EXTENDED The foregoing discussion gives an idea of the broad re- sponsibilities of a school health department. The control of contagious disease is but one of its many functions, and by no means the most important. There are at least a half 292 School Organization and Administration dozen other lines of work fully as important. The old con- ception, which would limit the function of the school to the cultivation of the child's mind, is now obsolete. Chil- dren should not be taught as though they were disembodied spirits. In thousands of cases defective bodies largely nullify educational efiforts. The degree of social responsibility for children's health is no less than for their intellectual devel- opment, and it is becoming increasingly clear that the best place to lodge this responsibility for children of school age is with a well-organized department of school health supervision. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS As a result of this study the following conclusions and recommendations seem warranted: 1. The school health work is excellent as far as it goes. The handling of contagious disease is according to the most approved methods, and other valuable work is being done, liowever, the scope of the department should be enlarged so as to make possible greater attention to conditions of defect other than contagious disease. 2. The needed expansions would include : (a) Thorough medical examination of each child at least every second year. (b) Annual tests of vision and hearing by the teachers. (c) Improvement of conditions of the teeth and mouth. (d) Extension of the follow-up service. (e) The hygienic supervision of athletics and physical education. ( f ) Systematic instruction of the teachers in matters per- taining to child hygiene. (g) The establishment by the board of education of school lunches, school baths, increased play facili- ties, open-air schools, and other special classes. Health Supervision 293 Facts have been presented which show that chronic physi- cal defects exist in great number in the chihh-en of the city, and that the health work thus far undertaken has given only minor attention to diese. 3. The necessary extensions of the work will require a number of additional physicians and nurses, and at least two half-time dentists. The annual budget for this work- should not be less than $15,000, and it ought to approxi- mate $20,000. 4. It is recommended that for the present the work re- main under the charge of the department of health, particu- larly since the board of education would find some difficulty in supporting it on the right scale. There is every reason to believe that the present administration of tlie board of health will bring about needed expansions as rapidly as possible. It should be borne in mind, however, that a change of administration in the city health department may at any time make it imperative for the board of education to assume control.^ ^ Further data in support of the recommendations made in this chapter will be found in the following books, published by Houj^hton Mifflin Company: The Hygiene of the School Child, by Lewis M. Terman; 11 call h Work in the School, by Hoag and Terman; The Teacher's Health, by Lewis M. Terman. CHAPTER XII PHYSICAL EDUCATION, PLAYGROUND ACTIVI- TIES, AND HYGIENE TEACHING I. Physical Education THE physical-training work as carried on at present in the grades below the high school is of limited value. The fault lies not so much in the methods employed to at- tain the end sought as in the fundamentally wrong concep- tion as to what the purpose of a department of physical education should be. In order to make the criticism clear we may distinguish two types of physical education : TWO TYPES OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION The first relies chiefly on indoor callisthenic exercises, marches, drills, etc., and on mild forms of directed play which can be carried on in the classrooms. This type is inevitably formal, makes little appeal to the child's interests, fails to arouse initiative, has no moral or social value, and makes little or no contribution to health, the chief end of physical education. The most that can be said for it is that children occasionally welcome it as a relaxation from more strenuous mental work, and that certain phases of it (dancing, marching, etc.) have an aesthetic value. It is a type which once had wider vogue than at present, though it lingers still in occasional school systems where German ideals of formal drill and discipline have not been replaced by American ideals of personal initiative and individuality. 294 Physical Education 295 The second type places the emphasis on vigorous outdoor recreation, inckiding spontaneous play, organized group games, and other playground activities. Recreation of this kind appeals to the most fundamental interests of child life, cultivates initiative, affords constant and powerful training in moral behavior, stimulates the development of social as contrasted with non-social or anti-social traits, and pro- motes health as nothing else can. This is the kind of physical education which is being fostered so well by the rapidly developing playground movement. It is unques- tionably and justifiably destined to supplant everywhere the more formal type of physical training which we have first described. These two types are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but may, of course, be combined in various proportions. The contrast serves, however, to make clear a fundamental distinction, and is especially serviceable in any evaluation of the physical training given in Salt Lake City. THE TYPE IN SALT LAKE CITY Here the work is molded mainly and purposely after the first type. Practically all of it is carried on indoors, either in the hallways or the classrooms. The supervisor and assistant go from room to room, taking each class separately for drills, marches, dances, callisthenic exercises, and in- door games. Teachers are instructed how to carry on these exercises, and are expected to give them daily if the special instructor is not present. Many of these exercises, as given both by the special instructors and the regular teachers, were witnessed by all the members of the survey commis- sion. They were found, with the exception of the dancing, uninteresting to the children, formal, void of hygienic value, and barren of the other results for which a depart- ment of physical education is supposed to exist. The so- called " indoor games " are for the most part games in name only. They are not only formal and dead but often 296 School Organization and Administration inane. The following is offered as an average and fair example of the kind of physical education carried on in the grades below the high school. AN AVERAGE AND FAIR EXAMPLE OF THE INDOOR GAMES Time, 9.30 a.m. Place, regular classroom, somewhat dusty and with windows closed. (Outdoors the air is balmy and the school yard is flooded with sunshine.) Class, fourth or fifth grade boys and girls. Purpose of the games was stated as " relaxation from mental strain." (The school has been in session 30 minutes, and the pupils have just gotten well down to work.) Four games are played in succession. The first, which was the best, may be described as a " writing relay." The front pupil in each row is given a piece of chalk. At a given signal this is to be handed back over the right shoul- der to the pupil behind, and by that one to the next, and so on until it reaches the last pupil, who then starts it forward over the left shoulder. When the chalk has made the round trip, back over the right shoulder and forward over the left, the pupil in the front seat rushes to the blackboard and hastily writes the name of the school. Meanwhile the other pupils in the row move forward one seat, leaving only the rear seat vacant. After hastily scratching the word on the l)lackboard the pupil rushes to the back seat and passes the chalk forward again over the left shoulder, and when it reaches the one in the first seat the process of writing the word, moving forward, and once more relaying the chalk to the front is repeated. This is kept up until all the pupils of each row have had a chance to scrawl the name of the school on the lilnckboard. An attempt is then made to judge the writing of tlic pupils of each row according to merit, but it is found that all of it is equally without merit owing to the haste with which it was done. The second " game " may be called an " eraser relay." It consisted chiefly of passing an eraser back along the row Physical Education 297 over one shoulder and forward over the other, with a httle turning and shifting of seats during the process. No con- test element or other motive was evident, and the main result of the game was to thicken the already dust-laden air of the schoolroom with clouds of chalk particles raised by the dropping of erasers. The third exercise is impossible to describe because it apparently involved no definite procedure, and no logical beginning, middle, or end. It consisted in having children attend, turn, stand, exchange seats; then stand, turn, and sit again, all by staccato command. The rule for exchang- ing seats v^^as not clear to the observer or to the children, most of whom got lost and confused in the process. When this had been kept up about two minutes the observer was asked to judge which row had done best, but he was obliged to confess that he had seen nothing which could be judged. The fourth game was a running relay, from the front to the back of the room and return, involving again the trans- fer of an eraser at each link of the relay. It is unnecessary to describe it in detail. Like the others, it was a mockery of health-giving exercise and a travesty of real play. The pupils returned to their regular work, with apparent relief, and for the remaining two hours of the forenoon in- haled at each breath probably ten to twenty times as many injurious dust particles as would have been the case had the exercises been taken out of doors, or not taken at all. OTHER EXERCISES SEEN The graded course in dancing admits of more favorable comment. The dances were usually pretty, graceful, and much enjoyed by the pupils. It is recommended that this phase of the physical education be retained, but that always, when possible, the dancing be carried out in the open air instead of in the halls, as at present. The desirability of more attention to folk-dancing- may be suggested. Most of the other exercises given in the hallways should 298 School Organization and Administration be abandoned, or if any are retained they should be given out of doors, weather permitting. But notliing can be said in favor of such an exercise as the following, wherever given : Second-grade class, in a basement hallway dark enough to require artificial lighting; time 10 a.m.; weather outside beautifully clear and warm. The children are arranged in a circle, and following the example of the leader each holds his hands in front of chest, elbows flexed, and repeats in a sing-song tone, " One, two, three, four " (turning the hands over one another so as to make one revolution at each count) ; " One, two, three, four " (this time rotating the hands four times in the reversed direction) ; "One, two " (bringing the two fists together twice on a horizon- tal line) ; " One, two " (striking one fist twice on top of the other) ; " Tra la la, tra la la " (moving forward a few steps). The purpose of this exercise was stated to be " health," but the observer was somewhat at a loss to see the connection, and the one in charge did not seem able to make it clear. The above concrete descriptions will serve to illustrate the type of work which was witnessed over and over again in all parts of the city by the members of the survey staff. The examples given are in no way whatever exceptional. It is unnecessary to dwell on the futility of so-called physical training of this type, or to emphasize the absurdity of carrying on the exercises in dusty classrooms and dark basement halls. There may be some excuse for indoor physical training in the schools located near the center of New York City ; there is no excuse in Salt Lake City, even though some of the school grounds are of scanty dimen- sions. It is an open question whether most of the physical training witnessed was not more injurious to the pupils than beneficial. Physical Education 299 CHARACTER OF THE YARD PLAY Playground activities are too much neglected. Children on the school grounds were rarely seen to engage in real play during recess periods. Jumping up and down, push- ing and shoving, promiscuous chasing, and boisterous horse-play were much more in evidence than play. Just standing around was still more common. Theoretically there exists a curriculum of plays and games for the chil- dren of the grades, but it does not seem to be in operation. The indoor exercises of the formal kind have been given the right of way for the reason that they are frankly claimed to have the greater value. A partial exception should be made in regard to the inter- school games of baseball and basketball, which occur during the last month of the school year. These are fairly numer- ous, are well managed, and seem to arouse much interest. Grades five to eight are represented in the games, though of course only a minority of the children in these grades can belong to the teams. On the whole, however, and particularly for the lower grades, the work of the physical-training department needs to be reorganized on a different basis. Its purpose should be not merely relaxation from mental work, but the pro- motion of health through vigorous outdoor exercise, and the development of such a love of outdoor plays and sports as will function through life as a cheap form of health insurance. We are rapidly coming to understand that plays and games have an educational value along moral and social lines hardly less important than their hygienic value. In- dividual initiative, the give-and-take spirit, resourcefulness, ready judgment, willingness to subordinate personal to group interests, loyalty, cooperation, and social understand- ing are all significantly promoted by the right kind of play. To insure such a rich development of the play life needs to be encouraged and directed. Without direction, play on the average school ground is likely to be desultory, lack- 300 School Organization and Administration ing in variety, and almost void of educational sig-nificance. It is of course not necessary or desirable that play super- vision be carried to the point where spontaneity and initia- tive are destroyed. It is not argued that children should be driven through games held as set and formal exercises. What is meant is that children should be taught and en- couraged to play a large variety of outdoor games, selected with special reference to definite stages of development of the play interests and physical capacities. PLAY TEACHERS NEEDED To this end there should be play leaders on every play- ground during recesses and, if possible, before and after school hours. In every school there are teachers tempera- mentally adapted to this kind of work. One energetic full-time assistant, working under the direction of a super- visor of physical education, could furnish these teacher play-leaders the necessary instruction for carrying on the work. Such an assistant could probably be secured for about $1,500. In addition it might be necessary to pay two or three teachers at each school a slight increase of sal- ary for their service as play leaders during intermission, or a somewhat more substantial increase for play super- vision after school hours. Over all these, and as guiding spirit of their work, would be the general supervisor of physical education, whose sal- ary should approximate that which is now paid, and whose duties should include, as now, supervision of physical edu- cation in the high schools. Unlimited energy, the play spirit, social tact, and moral leadership are among the es- sential qualifications for such a position. The director of physical education who is endowed with the proper force of character and with an inspiring personality exerts a direct and wholesome influence on every child in the school system. Under such an organization much could be ac- Physical Education 301 complished, notwithstanding the inadequacy of playground facihties in many parts of the city. PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN THE HIGH SCHOOLS There are four assistants in physical training in the high schools, one for boys and one for girls in each of the two schools. The women assistants are paid $800 and $1,000; the men, $1,300 and $1,400. The force is adec|uate in size, but the lower salaries are not large enough to retain the services of teachers who are properly equipped and suitably endowed for the work. THE MILITARY DRILL The main criticism of the physical training in the high schools, however, is that the system of compulsory military instruction employed monopolizes the time of the boys to such an extent (4j^ hours a week) that the real work of physical education is necessarily relegated to a minor place. Military training may liave, and probably does have, a cer- tain amount of value, but a compulsory system which takes so much of the pupil's time and energy as to reduce other forms of physical training to an extreme minimum is of questionable worth. Military drill cannot compete with games in the cultivation of such desirable traits as initiative, resourcefulness, social cooperation, group loyalty, and love of play. Moreover, it is of doubtful value from the hygienic point of view. The severity of the drill (Butt's Manual, designed for use with adult soldiers, is closely fol- lowed) would not tax the strength and endurance of the mature soldier who has been picked on the basis of physi- cal fitness, but it is entirely unsuited to the physical capacity of many of the younger, weaker, and immature high-school boys. Such a system of uniform and vigorous exercise for young and old, weak and strong, mature and immature, de- 302 School Organization and Administration fective and sound, transgresses the most fundamental laws of physical training. The weight of the gun which is car- ried (not far from eight pounds) is entirely too great for the lighter boys, and the necessity of carrying it always on the same shoulder predisposes, in the case of young boys whose bones are still flexible, to spinal curvature and de- formity of the chest. The clothing required is not such as should be worn during vigorous exercise, and bathing facili- ties are not sufficient to enable all to take a bath immediately after the drill. Add to these considerations the fact that the military training is not under the direction of the de- partment of physical education, and is therefore carried on without expert hygienic or medical supervision of any kind, and we have a condition which is positively pernicious and dangerous. A member of the school system, who has had ample op- portunity to learn the facts, informed members of the survey staff that no less than eighteen cases of faintings during or after drill had come to his attention. These had all occurred in the last three years. Faintings and tempo- rary prostrations, however, are not as serious as the more concealed and latent injuries likely to be produced in those who have some organic impairment, such as heart lesion, weak lungs, diseased kidneys, etc. The military drill of the high schools is open to criticism on still other grounds. The cost of a uniform is not far from $i6, which is fully equal to the average cost of text- books for three years. This must be a serious burden to many pupils, and as long as this expenditure is compulsory the high school can hardly be regarded as a free school. Many would also question the political and moral justifica- tion of military training in the public schools of a demo- cratic and peace-loving nation, but as this aspect of the question is open to debate it will not be urged in this report. Physical Education 303 BETTER PHYSICAL TRAINING DESIRABLE There are other reasons of sufficient number and cogency to justify the recommendation that the system of military training be dropped, and that the time be given over to more educational hues of physical training, including gym- nastics and organized games and sports under the leader- ship of well-trained and well-paid instructors. The present corps of instructors is adequate in number to take care of the proposed enlargement of the physical- training work. It is well to emphasize, however, that the high-school teacher of physical training should have as large a salary as other members of the high-school teaching force. It is harder, in fact, to find a first-class teacher in this line than in Latin, mathematics, or history. It would not be consonant with the aim of this report to describe in detail the particular activities which the depart- ment of physical training should carry on in the high schools. All of this can safely be left to the instructors, providing proper care has been exercised in choosing them. In all cases they should have had special training for such work. No greater mistake could be made than to select a young college graduate merely on the strength of his enviable athletic record. The professional training demanded for this work includes courses in personal hygiene, public health, advanced physiology with special emphasis on the physiology of exercise, the theory and practice of physical education, and the psychology and hygiene of adolescence. All the leading universities of the country give such courses, and only candidates with a liberal professional training of this type should be considered. In order to secure and re- tain such persons, however, it will certainly be necessary to go beyond some of the salaries now paid to the teachers of physical training in the high schools. 304 School Organization and Administration 2, Playground Activities small school playgrounds Owing to short-sightedness in earher years, Salt Lake City is very poorly supplied with playground space. This condition presents a surprising and painful contrast with the spacious residence lots throughout the city and with the absence of crowded tenement districts. So serious has been the neglect that the playground facilities are not superior to those of many cities far older and many times as popu- lous. The situation is fully appreciated by the present board of education, and everythhig possible is being done to pro- vide the newer schools with liberal playgrounds. The task of making good the neglect of former years still remains, however, and presents a serious financial and educational problem. Table XXXIX, on page 231, shows the number of square feet per child in the entire site of each school, including the space occupied by the building, and Figure T^y, on page 232, shows the percentage of children attending schools which have playgrounds of various amounts of space per child. It will be seen from this table that the following schools present the worst conditions in this respect: Emerson, Grant, Fremont, Oquirrh, Longfellow, Lafayette, Lowell, Franklin, Wasatch, and Hamilton. Webster, Sumner, Lin- coln, Forest. Jefiferson, and Poplar Grove are only a little better ofT. In several of these the grounds could still be enlarged by the purchase, at fairly reasonable figures, of adjacent unoccupied or little-improved lots. In the erection of future school buildings in the outlying districts there will be no excuse for failure to provide ample room. Five acres should be considered the minimum for schools which are likely to enroll any considerable number of pupils in the next fifty or one hundred years. In a rapidly growing community such as Salt Lake City the danger is Playground Activities 305 always on the side of short-sighted economy. A mistake of this kind becomes increasingly deplorable as the years go by, until, after a few generations, the situation is both acute and irremediable. It is a sacred duty to provide not only for the welfare of our own children, but also for the welfare of those who are to follow. A board of education which fails of its duty in this regard will some day merit and probably receive the curses of those whom its negli- gence has defrauded. LARGER USE OF PLAYGROUNDS DESIRABLE Munition has alread}^ been made of the unsatisfactory use the playgrounds are put to during school hours. This fault seems to have developed mainly in recent years and is one which can be largely remedied by a reorganization of the department of physical education along the lines already proposed. The use of the playground out of school hours is still more important. At present school grounds valued at ap- proximately a half-million dollars are idle and unproductive a large part of the day. The real waste is infinitely greater than the corresponding interest loss on an unproductive financial investment of a commercial kind, for it is a waste of health and of educational opportunity which cannot be measured in dollars and cents. The remedy is to open the playgrounds for supervised play after school hours. It would be possible to secure regular teachers for this after- school work by paying a small additional salary, say $30 per month for two hours each afternoon and half days on Saturday. On this basis the total expense to the city each school year would not exceed $6,000 for twenty such playground assistants. This is far less than the interest on the value of the grounds for that part of the school year during which thev are unused. 3o6 School Organization arid Administration VACATION PLAYGROUND ACTIVITIES A number of playgrounds have been kept open during the summer, and provided with play facilities by the joint action of the board of education and the city park commis- sion. This work should be extended, and should by all means be taken over entirely by the board of education. Its control belongs there as much as does the control of the school plant during the school year, and the unified control will be much cheaper for the city in the end. The present division of playground control between the park commission and the board of education has led to an absurd and ridiculous situation. The park commission equips a number of school yards with playground apparatus for use during the summer, but when school begins the apparatus is gathered up by the park commission and stored away for safe keeping until the following summer. The same children are there, and the same play needs are present, but the board of education is now in control, and so, in order to facilitate the bookkeeping of the city depart- ments the apparatus is gathered up and carted off. The only way for the board of education to meet the issue and to perform its obligations to the recreational needs of children is to take over the entire responsibility of the school playgrounds and keep them running twelve months in the year. This will involve some expense for salaries, and will necessitate the purchase of a good deal of play- ground apparatus, but it is the only solution. It is not deemed necessary to argue here the general ques- tion as to the desirability of ample playgrounds and in- creased playground supervision. Every one who is ac- cpiainted with recent developments in the playground move- ment knows that this c(uestion has been settled once for all. Almost every city in the country, which is not educationally benighted, has accepted the situation and is making an effort to enlarge and improve its recreational facilities. Any other Hygiene Teaching 307 attitude is not only bad educationally, but bad socially, mor- ally, and economically as well. 3. Hygiene Teaching THE present course OF INSTRUCTION The course of study in physiology and hygiene is well planned and modern in every respect. The texts, which could hardly have been better chosen, include the following: MINUTES PERWffK XOO ISO 100 50 — -4 ^^ -]V m ' n ^ m i ^ -- t. — — r ^ " -A^^ -"^i- ^ E — MAXIMUM MEDIUM MINIFAUtA ABABABABAB/VBABAB I n HI u :ff "51 M 3zni Fig. 44. Showing Minutes per Week Devoted to Instruction m Physiology and Hygiene Gulick's Good Health (grades 3 and 4), Gulick's Town and City (grades 5 and 6A), Gulick's The Body and Its De- fenses (grade 6B), and Ritchie's Primer 'of Sanitation (grades 7 and 8). In the first two grades the hygiene in- struction properly consists of frequent talks, simple in na- ture, but definitely planned so as to acquaint the child with a fairly wide range of elementary health laws. Throughout 3o8 School Organization and Administration the course, hygiene instruction rightly takes precedence over physiology and anatomy. The time given to the subject is on the whole hardly ade- quate. In certain schools especially is this true. The dis- tribution of time devoted to hygiene among the various schools is represented for the different grades separately in the preceding chart (Fig. 44). The middle line shows the median amount of time per week for the city as a whole, the lower line the amount for the school giving least, and the upper line the amount for the school giving most time to the subject, in all cases the time including both recitation and study periods. PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION All together about a dozen hygiene lessons were witnessed in whole or in part by the various members of the survey staff. The instruction ranged from excellent to mediocre, but on the whole was of superior quality. Especially com- mendable was the effort, frequently observed, to make the hygiene instruction carry over into the everyday habits of the children. The children in one school (and this may have been true in other schools also) had been organized into a clean-up brigade, and were engaged in abating such nui- sances and dangers as dirty streets, unclean meat shops, and breeding places for flies and mosquitoes. The board of health lends its active support to such work, and stands ready to invoke the authority of the law, if necessary, in order to remedy the evils disclosed by the school pupils. Work of this kind goes beyond mere instruction in hygiene and becomes training for effective citizenship. Another well-directed effort toward making hygiene in- struction practical was found in a school where the teachers, acting under the direction of the principal, require the everyday practice of personal cleanliness as a necessary condition to receiving a passing grade in the subject. In other instances, however, the lessons were bookish and the- Hygiene Teaching 309 oretical. That greater emphasis could well be placed on making the hygiene instruction practical is illustrated by such facts as the following: that only 50 per cent, of the pupils in the grades use a toothbrush regularly; that 63 per cent, have not been to a dentist in the last year and that 36.8 per cent, have never been to one; that in several of the schools personal uncleanliness and lack of neatness are common among the children. In many rooms the last is attested by strong and disagreeable odors emanating from the unclean bodies and clothing. THE BUILDINGS NEGATIVE THE INSTRUCTION In this connection it is to be regretted that the schools themselves do not set better examples of hygiene. The ef- fectiveness of hygiene instruction is weakened if it is car- ried on in school buildings where the floors are dirty, where the feather duster still lingers, where walls and ceilings are discolored, where classrooms and halls are dark and dingy, where physical training is unnecessarily carried on indoors, where bathing facilities are lacking, where filthy roller towels are in evidence, where toilets are dark, unclean, loud- smelling, and crowded, or where disgusting economies are practiced in the supply of toilet paper. Some of these ex- amples are before the children in every school, and certain schools are guilty of every sin above listed. It must never be forgotten that the teaching of hygiene and physiology is to be judged solely by its actual influence on the lives of the pupils. However ideal the course of study and the actual instruction, from an academic stand- point, the aim of the work is attained only in so far as practical results are secured. A little more insistence on this point of view, together with the improvement of hy- gienic practice on the part of the school, will add greatly to the efficiency of the hygiene instruction. 3IO School Organization and Administration SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS On the basis of the results of this chapter the survey makes the following recommendations as to needs and lines of future development : 1. Physical education as carried on below the high school is based on a fundamental misconception as to the true pur- pose of such work. In the main it is extremely formal, is carried on chiefly indoors, and has little significance for health. The work should be entirely reorganized and di- rected along the lines of outdoor play and other recrea- tional activities. The instruction in dancing, however, is good and should be retained, with somewhat more attention to folk-dancing. 2. The playgrounds in about half of the schools are ex- tremely inadequate, and insufficient use is being made of those which exist. It is urged that a number of the present playgrounds be enlarged, that the school authorities en- deavor to anticipate future needs in providing sites for new buildings, that the school playgrounds be equipped with ap- paratus by the school board, and that they be kept open under paid supervision after school hours, on Saturdays, and dur- ing vacations. 3. It is recommended that education through play be more systematically fostered by the department of physical education, and that a sufficient number of well-paid assist- ants be provided for this purpose. 4. The time for physical education in the high schools is too much monopolized by the system of compulsory mili- tary training. It is recommended that the military training either be made elective, and placed under the direction of the department of physical education, or that it be eliminated altogether. The latter is perhaps preferable. As conducted at present the military training involves serious danger to the health of many pupils compelled to take it. 5. The hygiene teaching is on the whole good, though in certain schools hardly enough time is devoted to the sul> Hygiene Teaching 311 ject. In certain schools commendable devices are employed for the purpose of making hygiene teaching effective in the daily lives of children, and it is recommended that this kind of practical hygiene teaching be more generally emphasized. 6. It is suggested that the effectiveness of hygiene in- struction could be increased by the correction of bad hy- gienic examples set by the school itself. Improvements in this line would include enlargement of playgrounds, the elimination of dry sweeping and dry dusting, the installa- tion of baths, enlargement and improvement of toilet facil- ities, the elimination of roller towels, the use of liquid soap, and, where possible, the correction of defects in lighting, heating, and ventilation. PART IV Finances CHAPTER XIII THE FINANCIAL PROBLEM ^ I CITY COSTS FOR MAINTENANCE N the study of costs for city maintenance in Salt Lake City, with special reference to schools, the city will be TABLE XLIX Rank of Salt Lake City among Sixteen Western Cities in Items of Expenditure for City Maintenance Per Capita Cost for Rank of Items Salt Lake City 16 Western Cities Salt Lake City in Average Median Amount Spent 1. General expenses of the city gov- ernment $1.44 1. 14 .90 1-43 1.42 .14 6.71 .16 .42 .12 $1.84 1.74 1.76 1.49 2.09 •30 6.27 •34 •59 .92 $1-52 1-47 1.61 1-45 2.10 .11 5-73 -35 •51 -23 loth ' 2. Police department 3. Fire department 4. Health and sanitation 5. Care of streets 6. Charities, hospital, and corrections 7. Schools 8. Libraries, art galleries, and museums 15th 1 6th 9th i6th 8th 5th i6th g. Parks and playgrounds 10. Miscellaneous expenses loth 13th Total per capita cost II. Interest on pubhc debt $13.88 3-29 $17-34 3.06 $15-08 2.70 1 2th 7th Total per capita rate $17.17 $20.40 $17-78 13th compared chiefly with other western cities, and for the reason that only where the costs for service and materials are comparable are total costs comparable. * Chapter XIII was written by Professor Ellwood P. Cubberley, the Director of the Survey. — Publishers. 315 3i6 School Organization and Administration Comparing all general city costs in Salt Lake City with the fifteen other western ci^ties first used in Table III, page lo, and used continuously throughout this report, we get Table XLIX, calculated from the United States Census Bureau's last published volume on Statistics of Cities. Fig. 45- How Salt Lake City Spends its Dollar From this table we sec that the costs for all items of city maintenance in Salt Lake City are low. In other words, it is a very economically administered city. The figure given above shows the distribution of city expenses for annual maintenance, reduced so as to show where each dollar of taxes raised goes. Only in the expenditures for schools and The Financial Problem 317 for interest on the bonded debt do the costs for any items in the list reach the average for other western cities. In three items Salt Lake City's costs are the lowest of the list, while in totals the city is thirteenth among the sixteen cities. The larger per capita expense for schools is only what would be expected in view of the larger number of children in the population, as was shown in Table III. An examination of the per capita costs for schools in the twenty-six cities used in previous tables in this report, as TABLE L Showing Per Capita Costs for City Maintenance, Including Interest Charges, and Per Capita and Percentage Amount for Schools ^ I. Western Cities ^ City San Francisco, Cal Portland, Ore Tacoma, Wash Seattle, Wash Spokane, Wash Butte, Mont Denver, Colo Sacramento, Cal Oakland, Cal San Diego, Cal San Jose, Cal SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH Berkeley, Cal Colorado Springs, Colo. . . . Los Angeles, Cal Pasadena, Cal Total Mainte- nance Cost Per Capita ^36.09 17.71 19.99 22.15 18.87 18.25 21.00 17.49 17.77 22.44 14.91 17.17 14.74 19.63 26.17 23-38 Cost Per Capita for Schools $4-27 4-73 4-95 5.06 5-41 5-71 5-72 5-72 5-74 6.01 6.26 6.71 7.60 7.64 8.66 lO.II Per Cent. of Total for Schools "•9% 26.7 24.7 24.8 29.7 31.6 28.6 32.7 32.S 26.8 42.0 39.1 51-3 38.9 31-9 43-3 Average for the group Median for the group $20.48 19.27 $6.27 5-73 32.3% 31.8 ' Statistics here, as elsewhere, are from the United States Census Bureau's last-issued annual volume on Statistics of Cities, and compare all cities for the year 1912-13. 2 Ogden is omitted from this group for the reason that the United States Census Bureau does not publish financial statistics for cities which in igio had less than 30,000 inhabitants. Ogden's population in igio was 25,580. 3i8 School Organization and Administration II. TABLE L, continued Cities of the Class of Salt Lake City City 3- 4. S- 6. 7- 8. 9- 10. II. 12. 13- 14. IS- 16. 17- 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23- 24. 25. 26. Reading, Pa Bridgeport, Conn Lowell, Mass LjTin, Mass Lawrence, Mass Dayton, Ohio Fall River, Mass Albany, N.Y Kansas City, Kan Troy, N.Y Youngstown, Ohio New Bedford, Mass Trenton, N.J Camden, N.J • • • Tacoma, Wash Omaha, Neb Somerville, Mass Cambridge, Mass Grand Rapids, Mich Duluth, Minn Spokane, Wash Yonkers, N.Y Hartford, Conn SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH Springfield, Mass Des Moines, Iowa Average for the group . . Median for the group . . Total Mainte- nance Cost Per Capita $9-33 13.24 14.72 15-63 14.40 14.46 14-99 17.10 13.10 18.40 11.86 18.57 14.88 13-83 19.99 20.82 17-83 22.30 13-81 17.22 18.87 22.69 20.94 17.17 22.55 16.86 Cost Per Capita for Schools 3-29 3-99 4.02 4.07 4-15 4.16 4.17 4.22 4.24 4-37 4.41 4.85 4.90 4-95 4-99 5-04 5-14 5-21 5-24 5-41 6.22 6.26 6.71 7.07 7.26 Per Cent, of Total for Schools 33-6 24.8 27.1 25-8 28.2 28.7 27.8 24.4 32.2 23.1 36.8 23.8 32.6 35-5 24.8 24.0 18.4 235 37-8 30.2 29.7 27-4 30.0 39.1 31-3 33(> M6.7S 16.98 i.So 29.0 28.5 well as in the sixteen western cities with which comparison has also been made from time to time, gives lis the next table. This shows the total city maintenance costs, the costs per capita for schools, and the percentage of the total city expenses for annual maintenance that go to the support of public education, for each of the two groups of cities. The Financial Problem 319 Compared with the first half of the eastern cities given in Table L, Salt Lake City appears high, both in the per capita cost for schools and in the percentage of city funds given to education, but with the second half of the eastern cities, and with the western cities, Salt Lake City occupies more nearly an average position. WHY THESE FIGURES ARE MISLEADING These figures, though, are somewhat misleading, not- withstanding they are the ones commonly used in compar- ing costs. In the first place, most eastern cities pay a much lower salary schedule to women teachers than is the case in the west, and as approximately 65 per cent, of all ex- penses are for teachers' salaries it will be seen that few eastern cities can with fairness be compared with western cities in the matter of per capita school expenditures. An eastern city spending $4.00 per capita for schools, and pay- ing its elementary school teachers $40.00 a month, is exactly the same as a middle western city paying its teachers $60.00 a month and spending $5.30 per capiita, and the same as a western city paying its teachers $80.00 a month and spend- ing $6.60 per capita, assuming that each devotes 65 per cent, of its maintenance costs to teachers' salaries. For this reason any comparison of eastern with western cities is likely to be very misleading. Accordingly, we shall from this point on compare Salt Lake City only with other west- ern cities, where salaries and other school costs are more comparable. The figures given in the last table, both for eastern and western cities, are also misleading for the reason -that they fail entirely to take account of the percentage of school children in the total population. A community such as Salt Lake City, as was pointed out in Chapter I, must spend more money because of the much larger number of children it contains. A per capita expense of $6.71 for schools, and 39.1 per cent, of the total city maintenance costs for educa- 320 School Organization and Administration tion, may at first glance look large, but, as will be shown farther on, it really is not so. The large number of school children in the city necessitates a high per capita cost for schools, without the cost per child educated being high at all, while the large percentage of city funds devoted to schools is fictitious for the reason that all city costs for other items are low. If Salt Lake City's expenditures for other items of city expense were at as high a rate as is the case in many western cities, the percentage devoted to education would be reduced ^to somewhere near 25 to 30 per cent. This would be low, considering the large number of children of school age in the population. A REAL BASIS FOR COMPARING SCHOOL COSTS To get a real basis for comparing school costs we must take into consideration the number of children to be edu- cated, and reduce all per capita costs for schools to what it costs per capita for each i per cent, of the school popula- tion. For example, if a city spends $6.00 per capita for schools, and 12 per cent, of its population consists of chil- dren between 5 and 15 years of age,^ it can be seen that it spends 50 cents for each one per cent, of its school popula- tion. If another city also spends $6.00 per capita and has 15 per cent, of children, this second city spends but 40 cents for each i per cent, of its school population. Similarly, a third city having 20 per cent, of children spends but 30 cents per capita. Though each city is given, in statistical tables, as spending the same amount per capita of its popu- lation for schools, in reality the three cities are spending en- tirely different amounts. Any real comparison of per capita costs requires that we first reduce our cities to common terms, and see what each is spending for each i per cent. ^ These two age limits are used in this report because for them we have accu- rate percentages for all states and cities of the United States, collected by the United States Census Bureau. They correspond to the ages from the kinder- garten to the completion of the ninth grade, if the pupil advances normally. The Financial Problem 321 of its school population. Using the age groups 5 to 15, and reducing all to a i per cent, basis, we get Table LI. The last column of this table gives a real basis for com- paring school costs in different cities, — that is, what each TABLE LI Cost Per Capita for Schools, Based on Each One Per Cent, of Chil- dren (from 5 to 15) in the Total Population City Cost Per Capita Total Pop- ulation for Schools Per Cent, of Popu- lation 5 to 13 Years of Age Cost for Schools for Each i%of Children in the Population 1. Tacoma, Wash 2. SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 3. San Francisco, Cal 4. Spokane, Wash 5. Butte, Mont 6. Denver, Colo 7. Portland, Ore 8. Seattle, Wash 9. San Diego, Cal 10. Sacramento, Cal 11. Oakland, Cal 12. San Jose, Cal 13. Colorado Springs, Colo. . . . 14. Berkeley, Cal 15. Los Angeles, Cal 16. Pasadena, Cal Average for the group . . Median for the group . . *4-9S 6.71 4.27 541 5-71 5-72 4-73 5.06 6.01 5-72 5-74 6.26 7.64 7.60 8.66 lO.II 15-2 18.5 11.9 14-5 iS-i 15.2 12.0 12-5 134 12. 1 I4.I 13-8 16.0 14.7 13.0 13.6 city is spending per capita for each one per cent, of its school children. As parochial and private schools have never flourished in western cities, with the possible excep- tion of San Francisco, the comparison of costs is all the 322 School Organization and Administration more accurate. Similar comparisons for the twenty-five cities of the first part of Table L show a range of from 30 cents to 45 cents for eastern cities, but the low salaries paid women teachers there, and the large hold of both private and parochial schools, make the comparisons less accurate than for western cities. Hartford, Conn., however, shows a per capita expense of 40 cents for each i per cent, of its children between 5 and 15 years of age; Des Moines, Iowa, 44 cents; and Springfield, Mass., 45 cents. THE MEDIAN WESTERN COST It will be seen from the last column of Table LI that the average cost for the sixteen western cities is 45 cents, as against Salt Lake City's 36 cents, and that the median western cost is 43 cents. The cities which are caring properly for their children are those which are spending more than these amounts. Averages and medians show only a halfway point between good conditions and poor con- ditions, and almost never represent a desirable stopping place. Still, to see the position of the different cities in the matter of caring for their children, and to set up a ten- tative standard for school maintenance, let us take the median of 43 cents as a standard below which a city ought not to go, and apply it to each of the cities of the table. Multiplying the percentage of children of school age in the total population by the meridian cost of 43 cents for each I per cent., we get Table LI I. WHERE SALT LAKE CITY STANDS The second column of figures shows what each city of the table should spend per capita of the total population for the maintenance of its schools, merely to bring that city up to the median point for the sixteen western cities. To bring any city up to the average for western cities would The Financial Problem 323 TABLE LII Median and Actual Cost Per Capita for Schools for Western Cities City Per Cent of Popu- lation from 3 to IS Years of Age Desira- ble Cost Per Cap- ita at $.43 for each 1% of Chil- dren Actual Cost Per Capita Excess or Defi- cit over Estimate 1. San Francisco, Cal 2. Portland, Ore 3. Sacramento, Cal 4. Seattle, Wash 5. Los Angeles, Cal 6. San Diego, Cal , 7. Pasadena, Cal , 8. San Jose, Cal 9. Oakland, Cal 10. Spokane, Wash 11. Berkeley, Cal 12. Butte, Mont 13. Tacoma, Wash 14. Denver, Colo 15. Colorado Springs, Colo. . . . 16. SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 11.9 12.0 12. 1 12.5 13.0 134 13.6 13-8 14.1 14-5 14.7 IS-2 15.2 16.0 18.5 $5-12 S.16 5.20 5-38 5-59 5-76 5-84 5-93 6.06 6.24 6.32 6.49 6.54 6.54 6.88 7.96 $4-27 4-73 5-72 5.06 8.66 6.01 lO.II 6.26 S-74 5-41 7.60 5-71 4-95 5-72 7.46 6.71 -$ .85 - -43 + .52 - -32 + 3-07 + .25 + 4-27 + + + •33 .32 .83 1.28 .78 IS9 .82 .58 1.25 cost slightly more. For Salt Lake City it would raise the desirable per capita cost from $7.96 to $8.33. On the basis of a cost of $7.96 it is seen that Salt Lake City is spending, on the maintenance of its schools, $1.25 less per capita of the total population than it should, merely to put the city in a middle position in the matter of annual school maintenance. On a basis of a total population of 110,000, this would mean that the city should raise and expend on maintenance alone $137,500 more than it now does, merely to care for its present children as well as is done in the median western city. To rank with the better 324 School Organization and Administration western cities in the matter of public education would mean an additional expenditure for maintenance of approximately $200,cx)o a year. These figures tally well with the statement made in Chap- ter IV, after considering the increasing number of pupils TABLE LIII Maintenance Cost Per Pupil in Average Daily Attendance City 1. Tacoma, Wash 2. SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 3. San Francisco, Cal 4. Denver, Colo 5. San Jose, Cal 6. Portland, Ore 7. Oakland, Cal 8. Colorado Springs, Colo. . . . 9. Spokane, Wash 10. San Diego, Cal 11. Seattle, Wash 12. Berkeley, Cal 13. Butte, Mont 14. Sacramento, Cal 15. Los Angeles, Cal 16. Pasadena, Cal Average for the group . . . Median for the group . . . Cost Per Pupil in Average Daily Attendance $43-92 44.81 44.86 48.07 44.86 49-95 52-33 52.65 54-94 59-90 60.50 62.20 63-45 64-75 68.03 86.87 $55-23 52.65 per teacher, that the city needs now about one hundred addi- tional teachers merely to care properly for its present num- ber of children. Table LTII above, which shows the amount expended by the different western cities for each child in average daily attendance at school, here based on figures collected and ptiblished by the United States Com- missioner of Education, also confirms the above estimate as The Financial Problem 325 to the need for large additional funds to maintain properly the present schools. From this table it will be seen that Salt Lake City is next to the lowest for all western cities in the amount spent per pupil, and much below both the median and the average for the group. The difference of $7.84 below the median, for the 18,367 pupils in the schools during 1914-15, would require an increase of $143,997 nierely to bring the city's expenditures up to the middle point of expenses for western cities. To bring the city up to the average western city in expenditures would require $191,384 increase. WEALTH AND TAX RATES There still remains to be considered the real wealth of the city, and the tax rate required to produce the median rate of 43 cents for each i per cent, of the school popula- tion in Salt Lake City, and in other western cities. Taking now the actual wealth of each western city, as shown in Table VI, Chapter I, and the desirable per capita support for schools at the western median figure of 43 cents for each I per cent, of the school population, we get, by divi- sions, Table LIV. This shows the actual wealth in each city upon which each dollar of the tax for schools must be raised, and the rate of tax per $100 of actual wealth necessary to raise this median sum. It is here that the large per capita wealth of Salt Lake City tells. Were the city as poor as Butte, it would require a tax of over one dollar; had the city as few children as Portland, the tax would be reduced to a trifle over 30 cents. It is very evident that Salt Lake City can afford large families. Figure 46 shows clearly how the tax rate for schools must increase proportionally to the number of children of school age in the population. The figures and lines of this chart give the rate of tax for school support which would be re- quired, in Salt Lake City, to provide merely the median 326 School Organization and Administration TABLE LIV Tax Rates, Based on Actual Wealth, Necessary to Produce Estimated Per Capita Support for Schools City 1. Butte, Mont 2. Denver, Colo 3. Colorado Springs, Colo. . . . 4. San Jose, Cal 5. Tacoma, Wash 6. SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 7. Berkeley, Cal 8. Oakland, Cal 9. Spokane, Wash 10. Seattle, Wash 11. Pasadena, Cal 12. Los Angeles, Cal 13. Sacramento, Cal 14. Portland, Ore 15. San Diego, Cal 16. San Francisco, Cal Actual Wealth Per Capita 1126.50 1202.31 1081.02 1237.22 1683.52 1371-13 1477.92 1666.12 1602.77 1791.41 1930.87 1796.60 1924.44 2596.00 2561.82 Desira- ble Per Capita Support for Schools at $.43 for Each 1% School Popula tion $6.49 6.54 6.88 S-93 6.54 7.96 6.32 6.06 6.24 S.38 5-84 5-59 5.20 5.16 5-76 5-12 Actual Wealth for Each Dollar of Estimated Per Capita Support $122.62 172.25 174-75 182.30 189.17 2n.50 216.95 243.88 267.01 297.90 306.75 345-41 345-50 372.95 450.69 500.35 Rate of Tax on Each $100 of Actual Wealth Neces- sary to Produce Estimate 814 58 572 546 527 473 461 41 375 335 326 289 289 269 222 20 Average for the group Median for the group 51630.85 1634-45 K6.06 6.00 5281.25 255-44 405 397 rate of 43 cents for each i per cent, of school population, if the city had the same percentage of children in its popula- tion as have the different cities given on the figure. That is, if Salt Lake City had as few children as Portland, which is The Financial Problem 327 in many respects a comparable city, the tax required would be but $.307 on the $100, instead of $.473; if it had as many children as Fall River, the tax required would be $.522. — yax rati:, in cents. 10 2,0 30 40 50 60 I. SAN FRANCISCO Z. PORTLAND 3. SACRAMENTO 4. SEATTLE J LOS ANGELES 6. SAN DIEGO 7 PASADENA ?■. SAN JOSE 9. OAKLAND 10 SPOKANE II. BERKELEY 12. BUTTE ig.TACOMA 14. DENVER 15. COLORADO SPR, laAYFORALLClTlES IT.SALTLftKECITY Ig.YONKERS.N.Y 19.SCRAHT0N.PA. ^O.FALLRlVER.MftSS. fWsl i3l6l V3%9m 74^ ^,445^^ Z^'ZPZ^ y/////y ////77. ^7A kM^y^ w^<9^ wo6^ j;^w^^w: (W^ JAiZt Fig. 46. Tax Rate in Cents on Each $100 of Real Wealth which would BE Required for Proper Maintenance in Salt Lake City, if the Percentage of Children were the Same as in the Other Cities of THE Table NEED FOR A LARGER SCHOOL TAX A tax rate for schools of $473 per $100 of real valuation is equivalent to a tax rate of $1.3514 on the present assessed 328 School Organization and Administration valuation of 35 per cent. This is the same as 13.5 mills, as taxes are usually calculated in Utah. As the money received from state and county sources is worth somewhere near 3.5 mills, the total local tax desirable for proi>er maintenance is about 10 mills. Under the new state law requiring prop- erty to be assessed at its full value, beginning with 19 16, the maintenance rate should not be less than 4 mills. The legis- lature, however, in ordering assessments advanced to full value, has at the same time cut the rate of tax allowed pro- portionally. This leaves the schools with two mills in place of their present six. That the assessor will treble the assessed valuation of the property in Salt Lake City may be seriously doubted. If valuations are actually increased two and one-half times, the result will be as satisfactory as has usually taken place elsewhere. With a tax rate for maintenance already wholly inade- quate, and the new rate reduced in proportion to the ex- pected increase in valuations, just what the schools of Salt Lake City are to do in the immediate future is rather hard to see. It looks as though even more serious cramping and crowding of the schools, and the employment of more cheap and inexperienced teachers, with little or no new develop- ment, would be the inevitable result. At the present time the schools of Salt Lake City can hardly claim a high place in any single phase of recent public-school development, and largely because the city school authorities have had so little money with which to develop the system. It has taken all of the money to maintain the traditional type of school and teach the so-called fundamental school subjects. Where the schools will be in a decade more of the present policy of pinching to make both ends meet is not hard to guess. The drawing on the opposite page shows that for years the schools have not kept up their expense for maintenance pro- portionally with the increase in pupils, and that a material part of the recent increase in expenses has been due to rap- idly increasing charges for bond interest and expenditures for buildings and sites. The expenditures for annual main- The Financial Problem 329 Sl-M H-£l €»-Zl Zl-tl U-Ol 01-60 60-GO 80-ZO ZO-90 90-SO SO-bO irO-€0 €0-Z0 ZO-IO 10-0061 0061-66 66-86 96-Z6 Z6-96 96-S6 S6-i^6 <^6-£6 £6-Z6 Z6-16 16-06 0691 O o o d o in ■«• 9N3aailHDdO ON < ^ 1 v^ 1 \ ^^ >/>\ -^\ oe ^qJ k \ 11- > jA ^^ \ ^H ^\ uv\ ^^1 z «^ ^^B -I z ^^H