LA ft Qass-JLtn 3 3 S Book ,L5n5 >1 2 2. University ol the State of New York Bulletin Entered as second-class matter August 2, 1013, at the Post Office at Albany, N. Y., under the act of August 24, 1012, Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, act of October 3, 1917, authorized July 10, 1018 Published fortnightly No. 738 ALBANY, N. Y. July 15, 1921 SURVEY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY SCHOOLS _ . . PAGE General description of Livingston county 3 The rural school plant. 7 Age, grade and progress of children in the eight elementary grades. . 36 The teaching corps — the elemen- tary teachers 61 PAGE The teaching corps — the second- ary teachers 85 Appendix T05 Measurements of achievements of pupils I0 Q The support of schools in Living- ston county 132 Index ■...;.,'■ i 4I ALBANY THE UNIVERSITY OP THE STATE OP NEW YORK 1922 *0 <#» THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Regents of the University With years when terms expire (Revised to March is, 1922) 1926 Pliny T. Sexton LL.B. LL.D. Chancellor Emeritus Palmyra 1934 Chester S. Lord M.A. LL.D. Chancellor - - Brooklyn 1924 Adelbert Moot LL.D. Vice Chancellor - - - Buffalo 1927 Albert Vander Veer M.D. M.A. Ph.D. LL.D. Albany 1925 Charles B. Alexander M.A. LL.B. LL.D. Litt.D. ------------ Tuxedo 1928 Walter Guest Kellogg B.A. LL.D. - - - Ogdensburg 1932 James Byrne B.A. LL.B. LL.D. ----- New York 1929 Herbert L. Bridgman M.A. LL.D. - - - - Brooklyn 1 93 1 Thomas J. Mangan M.A. ----- - Binghamton 1933 William J. Wallin M.A. --____ Yonkers 1923 William Bondy M.A. LL.B. Ph.D. - - - - New York 1930 William P. Baker B.L. Litt.D. ----- Syracuse President of the University and Commissioner of Education Frank P. Graves Ph.D. Litt.D. L.H.D. LL.D. Deputy Commissioner and Counsel Frank B. Gilbert B.A. LL.D. Assistant Commissioner and Director of Professional Education Augustus S. Downing M.A. Pd.D. L.H.D. LL.D. Assistant Commissioner for Secondary Education Charles F. Wheelock B.S. Pd.D. LL.D. Assistant Commissioner for Elementary. Education George M. Wiley M.A. Pd.D. LL.D. Director of State Library James I. Wyer M.L.S. Pd.D. Director of Science and State Museum John M. Clarke D.Sc. LL.D. Chiefs and Directors of Divisions Administration, Hiram C. Case Archives and History, James Sullivan M.A. Ph.D. Attendance, James D. Sullivan Examinations and Inspections, Avery W. Skinner B.A. Finance, Clark W. Halliday Law, Frank B. Gilbert B.A. LL.D., Counsel Library Extension, William R. Watson B.S. Library School, Edna M. Sanderson B.A. B.L.S. School Buildings and Grounds, Frank H. Wood M.A. School Libraries, Sherman Williams Pd.D. Visual Instruction, Alfred W. Abrams Ph.B. Vocational and Extension Education, Lewis A. Wilson 1*$. f[ ^ J FOREWORD The Livingston county survey was carried forward through the cooperation of superintendents, principals and teachers in the county schools. It is an " inside " survey. The work was completed in 19 1 9. The major part of the work covering the school plant and the teaching staff was done by Superintendent J. Murray Foster of Corning who was at that time in charge of the Dansville schools in Livingston county. Superintendent Foster gave a large amount of time to this work and made a very thorough study of the local conditions. The results of his work are apparent in the painstaking report and the constructive recommendations that are made. The section dealing with the measurements of classroom instruc- tion was done under the direction of Professor Kruse of the State College of Agriculture, Ithaca. The section dealing with costs and finances was prepared by Professor Works of the State College of Agriculture. University ol the State oi New York Bulletin Entered as second-class matter August 2, 1913, at the Post-Office at Albany, N. Y., under the act of August 24, 1912. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, act of October 3, 1917, authorized July 19, 1918 Published Fortnightly No. 738 ALBANY, N. Y. July 15, 192 1 SURVEY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY SCHOOLS GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Livingston county is located in the west-central part of New York State about 50 miles east of Lake Erie. To the north Monroe county lies between it and Lake Ontario, and to the south Allegany and Steuben counties lie between it and the Pennsylvania border. It is approximately a rectangle in shape, with an area of 629 square miles. 1 Topography and Soils The range in altitude in the county is 1740 feet. In the northern end lies the lowest point which is 520 feet above sea level, and in the southeastern corner lies the highest which is 2260 feet above sea level. The county is comparatively level in the north, with low hills of the drumlin type. The Dunkirk soils prevail. From south to north lies the Genesee valley in which runs the Genesee river. The northern part of this valley has a very low gradient, which causes the river to be sluggish and meandering. In the springtime and during periods of heavy rainfall this stream leaves its bed and overflows the flat lands that border it, thereby making them un- suited for other than grazing purposes. On these flat lands graze the famous Wadsworth herds of cattle. The southern end of the county is high, and scattered thickly over it are high round hills with narrow valleys between them. The predominant soils are the Volusia loams. An exception to this characterization is the Canaseraga creek valley which is about 2 miles wide, 15 miles long, and very level. The fall in this valley from Dansville to Mount Morris (a distance of about 15 miles) is but 50 feet, with the result that much of the valley is a swamp. Some of this land has been reclaimed through the efforts of the State Conservation Commission. At the junction of the Canaseraga and the Genesee valleys, the land is ideal for raising canning crops. At the southern end of the Canaseraga valley the conditions are nearly if not perfect for the raising of nursery stock. About Dans- 1 Soil Survey of Livingston Co., U. S. Dep't of Agriculture. [3] 4 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK ville approximately fifteen million young fruit trees were growing during the season of 1916. In the northeastern corner of the county in the town of Lima are extensive muck beds on which are grown much celery and truck. The raising of these specialized crops affords lucrative employment for children, particularly in the nursery industry where it is a common thing to find boys of 14 and 15 earn- ing $2 a day during certain seasons of the year. With the exception of these specialized crops, general farming prevails, with potatoes predominating in the south and beans in the north. The Volusia soils are the least valuable lands and the cultivated muck beds and the lands devoted to the nursery and canning crops are the most valuable. In the northern half of the county are rich deposits of salt. History The settlement of the county began shortly after the Revolution when people from Pennsylvania and the New England States came to make their homes in the Genesee valley. Other early settlers were many Scotch families who made their homes in the northwestern part. Settlers continued to come from Pennsylvania and New England for many years. Some Germans settled in the south- eastern part and many Irish made their homes in almost every section of the county. In the latter part of the last century there came an influx of Italians, Sicilians and some Slavs. These have settled in Mount Morris, Geneseo, Avon, Greigsville, Retsof, Wads- worth and Cuylerville, where they were attracted by the canning factories in the first three places, and by the salt mines in the others. Recent Immigrants Unlike the other immigrants, the late comers have settled in colonies in which there is a decidedly foreign atmosphere. But little English is spoken and the customs and manners are distinctly foreign. It is very significant to see in many of these, vineyards about the front of the homes and the men preparing gardens with a sort of grub hoe. In some of these colonies observers would hardly think they were in America. Under such conditions Americaniza- tion of these peoples is a difficult problem. These foreigners are thrifty and energetic. Both men and women are usually wage-earners. The families are large. One distinctive feature of these colonies is the large number of children who swarm in the streets at play, shouting and conversing in a foreign tongue. )~ "** UBRARY OF CONGRESS i APR87T92? LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 5 Population According to the 19 18 New York State Legislative Manual, the population of Livingston county beginning with 1875 has been as follows : 1875 38518 1905 36450 1890 37801 1910 38037 1892 37010 1915 38427 1900 37059 According to the state census of 19 15, 16,7.37 of the population lived in these eight villages: Dansville 4023 Caledonia 1240 Mount Morris 3728 Nunda 114° Avon 2430 Lima 1062 Geneseo 2256 Livonia 857 The county, therefore, may be considered a rural New York county- Occupations of the People The predominant occupation of the people in Livingston county is agriculture. There are, according to the Soil Survey made by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1908, 373,660 acres of farm land. Of this acreage only 80 per cent, or 301,850, is classed as improved. About 175,000 acres are in sod and about 125,000 acres are in cultivated fields. Although agriculture predominates in the county, there are im- portant diversified industrial plants at Dansville, Mount Morris, Nunda, Avon and Lima. Those at Dansville are the largest in the county with approximately 1000 people on their pay rolls. There are extensive salt mines at Retsof, Greigsville and Cuyler- ville, and one small salt refinery is located at Piffard. Roads and Railroads Livingston county has 124.7 miles of county and state improved roads, in addition to which it has many excellent turnpike roads in the northern end. In the south the roads are very crooked, hilly, and at certain times of the year very bad. The railroad transportation facilities of the county for the most part consist of the Erie, Pennsylvania, and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western. The extreme northern end is served by the Lehigh Valley, the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh and a branch of the New York Central. There are two small independent railroads — the Dansville and Mount Morris and the Genesee and Wyoming Valley, the latter connecting the salt mines with the other railroads of the county. The Erie from Mount Morris to Rochester is elec- trified and runs trains approximately every two hours to and from Rochester. THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Prosperity of the People There are four national banks, four state banks, one trust company , and eight private or cooperative banks in the county. Since the amount of deposits in the private banks is not available and since much business is done with banks in Rochester, no attempt will be made to use the deposits in the banks to indicate the prosperity of the people. One indication, however, is the fact that in 191 7 there were 3300 pleasure automobiles owned in the county. The number of pleasure automobiles to each thousand inhabitants in Livingston and adjoining counties is as follows: Ontario 88, Livingston 86, Genesee 70, Wyoming 68, Allegany 65, Steuben 52. MONROE COUNTY MAP LIVINGSTON COl/AITY RLLEGANY CO Scale fc^^i'es — _, Legend. S-tote Wormol- Seminary - □ Hiqh School? • ■ UnitflSth.,!! • * Fig. i LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 7 Schools For the purpose of supervising public education, the county has been divided into three supervisory districts with a district super- intendent of schools in charge of each. District i lies in the northern end and consists of the towns of Caledonia, Avon, York, Leicester, Geneseo and Groveland. District 2 is to the east and runs the entire length of the county. It is made up of the towns of Lima, Livonia, Conesus, Sparta and Spring water. In the south end lies the third district consisting of the towns of Mount Morris, West Sparta, Ossian, North Dansville, Nunda and Portage. In the whole county there are 7 union high schools — Avon, Caledonia, Dansville, Greigs- ville, Livonia, Mount Morris and Nunda; 5 parochial schools — St Rose's at Lima, St Agnes' at Avon, St Patrick's at Mount Morris, and St Mary's and St Patrick's at Dansville; a state normal school at Geneseo, which has a practice school department and an academic department; a private secondary school known as the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima; a trade school maintained by the State for epileptic children at Sonyea; 14 two or more department rural schools; and 136 one-room rural schools. THE RURAL SCHOOL PLANT Introduction In Livingston county there are 2266 children who attend public schools which are outside of incorporated villages and which give but eight years of instruction. These schools are classified in this study as rural elementary schools. It is the purpose of this chapter to give the results of a study of the buildings, grounds and equipment of these schools and to offer recommendations for their improvement. Method of Securing the Data A questionnaire concerning the rural school plant was distributed to the rural school teachers at a county conference called by the district superintendents at the Geneseo State Normal School, No- vember 23, 19 1 7. These questions were explained thoroughly to the teachers who were instructed to prepare the answers to them and forward them to the district superintendents. The officials checked the answers for gross errors and for omissions. These teachers were also asked to draw scale plans of their school buildings and grounds and to send them to the district superintendents, who .checked them before they were turned over to the surveyors. 8 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK School Buildings All the 150 buildings are wooden structures, with the exception of 4 which are brick and 2 which are stone and cement. A large majority of them were built at least a generation ago — some several generations ago — as is shown by table 1 . Table i Dates of erection of the school buildings PERIOD 1810-1814. . 1815-1819. . 1820-1824. . 1 825-1 829. . 1830-1834.. 1 835-1 839.. 1 840-1 844. . 1 845-1 849. . 1850-1854.. 1855-1859- • 1 860-1 864. . 1 865-1 869. . 1870-1874. . NO. BUILDINGS BUILT I 3 1 2 2 3 7 11 9 14 12 9 19 PERIOD I875-I879- •■• I880-1884 1 885-1 889 I89O-I894. . . . I 895-I 899. ... I9OO-I9O4. . . . 1 905-1 909 I9IO-I9I4. . . . 1915- to date. No date given . NO. BUILDINGS BUILT 9 6 5 2 5 2 10 3 1 13 Total buildings 149 It is a significant fact that 4 of the buildings are more than a cen- tury old. All but the most recently built are of the same type — an oblong boxlike structure with a gable roof, windows on two, three, or all four sides, and a door at one end. The architecture of farm homes, barns and other farm buildings has changed but not that of the rural school. Most of the buildings have been painted since 19 10, 24 were painted last between 1905 and 19 10; 18 have not been painted since 1905; and 2 have not been painted in the last 35 years. To paint a building frequently is good economy, and adds to its attractiveness. Too little care has been taken of the windows. Sixty-eight schools have one or more broken window panes. One school has 24 panes broken, another 20, another 14, two 13, two 11, and two 10. These should be replaced immediately with whole panes of glass. Interior of the School Buildings Number of Schoolrooms One building has four schoolrooms, 11 have two, and 137 have one. Seventy-seven schools have no cloak rooms, and 99 have no fuel 1 One two-department school was destroyed by fire and had not been rebuilt at the time this study was made. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 9 rooms. Some of the buildings which have two schoolrooms have a separate room for a library and the recently built schools have base- ments which are suitable for play and workroom purposes. Size and Shape of Schoolrooms In practically all cases the schoolrooms have a floor area ample for the number of children they accommodate. But the height of very many is not sufficient to secure ample air space for the pupils. There are five rooms that are but 8 feet in height, nine 8| feet, four- teen 9 feet, eighteen 9! feet,- twenty-one 10 feet, thirteen io| feet, twelve 11 feet, and ten n| feet. All others are 12 or more feet in height. Most schoolrooms should be at least 12 feet in height. 1 In shape, nearly all the rooms are rectangular. A very few are square. The rectangular shape is correct. Walls Of the 163 schoolrooms, more than half have walls of matched lumber. Thirty-seven have plastered walls and 22 have a combina- tion of lumber and plaster for their walls. About two-thirds of the rooms have matched lumber ceilings. Forty-six have plastered ceilings, 2 a combination of matched lumber and plaster, and 9 steel. The matched lumber is not so desirable as plaster because it is less attractive when decorated and less sanitary. Steel ceilings are preferable. Sixteen schools have papered walls and 10 have part of the walls papered and part painted. The remainder have painted walls. Some of them are sadly in need of repainting. Almost all the ceilings are painted. Schoolroom walls should never be papered. Paint which produces a dull surface is by far the best for wooden walls and for wooden and steel ceilings. Plaster walls should be treated with a dull finish similar to calcimine, that glaring surfaces may be avoided. The coloring of the walls and ceilings is very diverse and in many cases very unusual. Thirty-five schoolrooms are painted gray, which is the most used color. Among the unusual colorings are red and green, red, bright blue, green and gray, and orange. In 72 schoolrooms the walls and ceilings are decorated in the same color. Nearly all the other rooms have colors that do not harmonize, one room having its walls blue and its ceiling green. One ceiling is so besmoked that it is very difficult to tell what color it once was. It is recommended that when the rooms are decorated the following colors be used : cream, light gray, lemon, straw and light gray green 1 Challman, " The Rural School Plant," p. 63. IO THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK on the side walls and a lighter shade of the same color on the ceiling. The light green should be used only on rooms that have the light coming from the south. Bright colors should always be avoided. 1 1 Dresslar, School Hygiene, p. 80; Challman, "The Rural School Plant," p. 70; Education Department Annual Report 1915, v. 3, p. 52. Light LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY II There are 12 schoolrooms which have windows on all four sides of the schoolroom. Sixty-six have windows on three sides and 4 have them on one side only. The schools which have these four rooms are to be as warmly commended as are the 12 to be condemned which compel their children to face the light from windows at the front of the room. The windows at the front and at the right of A MODERN RURAL SCHOOL IN THE TOWN OF CALEDONIA Attention is called to the arrangement of the windows. This building faces the north and has a basement with a cement floor. the pupils should be removed if these buildings are worth permanent improvement, permitting light to come to the pupil's desk from the left and also, if necessary, from the rear, complying with the state standard in this matter. If such is done, in practically every case new windows should be added on the left. The accompanying picture shows one of the schools that affords excellent lighting. Since the most valuable light is that which enters through the upper half of the window, the windows should extend very close to the ceiling. In 8 schoolrooms the tops of the windows are 4 feet or 12 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK more from the ceiling, in 134 they vary from 4 feet to 6 inches from the ceiling and in 20 they are less than 6 inches from the ceiling. Authorities hold that the light from the east is the best, because the sun may shine in the schoolroom in the morning when its heat is most desirable. The next best direction is the west. A southern exposure is not desirable because it admits too much sunlight, and too much heat in the warm months, while a northern exposure is the poorest of all, because it admits practically no sun- light, which is so desirable for sanitary reasons. Of course, when the light comes from the east, the teacher's desk should be placed at the southern end of the room ; when from the west, at the northern end of the room so that the light will fall on the pupil's desk from the left. 1 Of the 78 schools having windows on only one or two sides, 42 have an east and west exposure, and 36 have a north and south exposure. It is generally accepted that the ratio of the glass area of the win- dows to the floor area should be as 1 is to 5. Table 2 shows clearly that the school authorities should remodel most of their buildings to give the children the proper amount of light. Table 2 Ratio of window glass area to floor area in rural schools RATIO NO. OF SCHOOL- ROOMS RATIO NO. OF SCHOOL- ROOMS I to 3 5 3 12 16 30 17 24 I to IO 10 x to 4. . I tO II : *3 1 to 5 . 6 1 to 6 7 1 to 7 1 to 14 1 1 to 8 . 10 1 to 9. . 9 Total 163 Window Shades Window shades are a necessity but they must be rightly placed and must be of the right color and material, else when drawn they will exclude too much light. Many authorities hold that a window 1 Dresslar, School Hygiene, pp. 57, 58, 67. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 13 should have double shades fastened at the middle of the window, 1 one to be drawn up and the other down. The shades should be translucent so that enough light will be admitted. Yellow, tan or ecru are recommended. Dark shades of all kinds should be avoided because they shut out too much light. This matter of shades needs attention in most of the schools. Answers regarding the presence and arrangement of shades were received from all but 6 rooms. Eighteen schoolrooms have single shades fastened at the bottom or double shades at the middle of their windows, 12 have no shades at all, and 127 have shades fastened at the top. When the shades which are fastened at the top are drawn to protect the children nearest the windows, the children on the farther side of the room do not receive enough light. One hundred nineteen schoolrooms have green shades, and 26 have shades of a satisfactory color. To rectify these jonditions will involve considerable expense for each school, but it will mean a great deal for the comfort and welfare of the children. Artificial Lighting Facilities Twenty-seven schoolrooms are provided with facilities for artificial lighting. Three of these rooms have but one oil lamp each and ten have but two oil lamps each. There are two good reasons why each room should be provided with adequate lighting facilities. During the dark days the windows do not provide enough light for the pupils to do their work without eyestrain. This is particularly true of a large majority of the rural schools because the glass area is not large enough for the floor area, as is shown in table 2. To provide ade- quate artificial light more than one or two lamps are needed, and great care should be taken in placing them so that the pupils get the right amount of light and get it from such a direction as to reduce the shadows to a minimum. The second reason why facilities for artificial light should be pro- vided is that the school building may be equipped for evening com- munity meetings. Heat and Ventilation Sources of Artificial Heat Nearly every rural school is heated by a stove situated near the center of the schoolroom. In 69 of these stoves wood is burnt, in 1 Challman, " The Rural School Plant," p. 68. 14 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 43 coal, and in 39 both wood and coal. In these schools the children are subjected to a very unequal heat, so that if those farthest away are warm enough, those nearest the stove are overheated. Such conditions are not conducive to health and mental alertness. They may be remedied by the use of a jacketed stove or a furnace. There are 6 schoolrooms which are heated by the former and 13 which are heated by the latter. These schools are to be commended very highly in this respect. The 144 schoolrooms heated by com- mon stoves should replace them with jacketed stoves or furnaces, or at least put metal screens about the stoves to protect those seated near them. The use of coal will aid in maintaining an even heat in the room. A survey x of rural schools, in Saline county, Missouri, made in 191 5, disclosed the fact that of no schools, 23 were heated by jack- eted stoves and 10 by furnaces. A study 2 of conditions and needs of rural schools in Wisconsin, made in 1912, showed that of 106 schools inspected, 69 were heated by jacketed stoves, and 8 by fur- naces. " The large number of jacketed stoves (in the Wisconsin schools) is due undoubtedly to the $50 a year subvention for three years to schools putting in jacketed stoves and fulfilling certain other requirements." Thermometers It is very difficult to maintain an even and correct temperature without the aid of a thermometer, yet 126 schools are not provided with them. In these schools the judge of the temperature is the teacher and if she happens to be thinly clad or is accustomed to a high temperature, the children are the victims of an overheated room. The schools which have thermometers have them placed on an outside wall from 4J to 7 feet above the floor. The best place for a thermometer is on the teacher's desk where it is not influenced by the temperature of -an outside wall and where it measures the tem- perature of the lower part of the room in which the children sit. Only 10 teachers kept records of temperature readings. One of these strove to maintain a temperature of 72 degrees, another 70 degrees, and another 62 degrees. Every schoolroom should be pro- vided with a reliable thermometer. The temperature striven for should be from 65 to 68 degrees, and the teachers should keep a record of temperature readings. 1 A Study of Rural Schools of Saline County, Missouri, University of Missouri Bulletin, v. 16, no. 22, 1915, p. 11. 2 Preliminary Report on Conditions and Needs of Rural Schools in Wisconsin, 912, p. 27. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 1 5 Ventilation The problem of ventilation is a perplexing one which receives altogether too little attention in the rural schools. Since the com- mon stove contributes practically nothing to ventilation, the 145 schoolrooms which have them should make use of some special ventilating device. In most cases the open window is used. To open the windows at the bottom subjects the children near them to drafts, unless window boards or muslin frames are used. If the frame or board is not used, it is much better to open the windows at the top. Yet none of the windows in 32 schools can be low- ered from the top. There are 10 other schools which have but one window capable of being lowered from the top. One hundred twenty- three schools do not have the windows on weights, with the result that they can be raised or lowered only at set distances. i6 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK M CD B3 W .5 a .a " o < .3 « C B.2 £ • s O P w % < 3 a a rt^3 ro «,q o Ph 0™ Eh h LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 1 7 The methods of ventilation in the rural schools are shown by table 3 . Table 3 Methods of ventilation in rural schools Lowering window from top 84 Unclassified methods 33 Foul air duct 16 Window boards 8 Muslin frames 5 Method not given 17 Total 163 The upper sash of all schoolroom windows should be made to lower from the top ; both the upper and lower sashes of all windows should be on window weights ; all jacketed stoves should be provided with a duct to draw fresh air from outdoors to be heated and turned into the room; each room heated by a jacketed stove should be provided with a vent duct opening at the floor of the room and extending through the roof; this vent duct should be provided with a damper which may be closed when school is not in session; the jacketed or screened stove and the vent duct should be located on the same side of the room. Before any of these suggestions are carried out, however, it is urged that the plans for the changes be approved by the State Education Department. Figure 3 illustrates the arrangement of the heater and the vent duct. 1 Buildings which have two or more schoolrooms should be heated by a furnace, the heat flue should open at least 8 feet from the floor, and the opening to the vent duct should open near the floor on the same side of the room on which the heat flue opens and extend up through the roof. The plans for the installation of such a system should first have the approval of the district superintendent and the State Education Department. Fire Protection Every reasonable precaution should be taken to avoid loss through fire. Although the possibility of danger from fire to school children in one-room and two-room schools is not great, yet it exists and should be guarded against. Insurance should be carried. Where common or jacketed stoves are used the floors underneath them should be protected with metal sheets. Chimneys should be of safe construction, and at least one small fire extinguisher should be in every schoolhouse. 1 N. Y. Education Department Annual Report, 1915, v. 3, pp. 28 and 289. 16 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Nearly all the schools have metal sheets or a brick paving under- neath the stoves, but not a school possesses a fire extinguisher. There are many small and inexpensive extinguishers on the market and the possession of one is an excellent precaution. Furniture and Equipment Pupils' Desks The most important articles of furniture in the schoolroom are the pupils' seats. These are made in three distinct types, the non- adjustable seat which is screwed to the floor, the seat which may be adjusted as to height and is screwed to the floor, and the desk-chair which may be moved about the room. The second and third types are also made so that the desk part may be adjusted backwards and forwards and as to slant. The third type has distinct advantages because the schoolroom may be cleared for physical training exer- cises, or the seats may be arranged at will to suit lighting conditions etc. Whenever seats of the first and third types are used, some of each number should be provided so that each child, no matter what his size, can be seated comfortably. When the movable chairs are not used, the more economical arrangement would be to provide seats of both type i and type 2, so that when a child can not be comfortably seated in one of the fixed seats, he may have an adjust- able seat adjusted to his comfort. The kinds and sizes of the seats in use in the rural schools are as follows : NO. SCHOOL- ROOMS Double nonadjustable 91 Single nonadjustable 50 Single and double nonadjustable 18 Single adjustable and single nonadjustable 1 Single adjustable 3 163 The sizes of nonadjustable seats used in rural schools in which there are no adjustable seats, and in rooms designed to care for the entire eight years of elementary work, are: NO. SCHOOL- ROOMS All the same size 9 Two sizes 17 Three sizes 38 Four sizes 28 Five sizes 9 Six sizes I No answers given 39 LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 19 In rooms designed to care for only four years of elementary work the figures are : NO. SCHOOL- ROOMS All the same size 1 Two sizes 8 Three sizes 6 Four sizes 1 No answers given 2 In six of the schoolrooms seats are used which are more than 30 years of age, and in these rooms no provision is made for seating children according to their sizes. It is strongly recommended that each school provide seats which will fit the children who are to use them, but this should not be done without consulting the district superintendent of schools concerning the kind and sizes of desks to be purchased. Single seats should be substituted for the double ones. Of 118 schoolrooms, 109 have seats incorrectly arranged. The stationary seats in a room should be so placed in rows that a plumb line dropped from the edge of a desk part will fall on the seat part behind it from 3 to 4 inches from its front edge, as is shown in figure 4. FlG. 4 THE PROPER METHOD OF ARRANGING SEATS IN A ROW In 67 schoolrooms there are seats so placed that the plumb line would not even touch the seat parts behind them. The pupils who use these seats are compelled to sit on the edge of the seat as they work at the desk part. 20 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Teachers' Desks, Tables and Chairs Each schoolroom should have a desk with drawers that can be locked, in which the teacher can keep her register of attendance, records, plan books, notebooks and other material. Of the 163 schoolrooms, 120 have desks, and the other 43 have tables to serve as desks. Forty schoolrooms have both a teacher's desk and a table. Two schoolrooms in this county are without chairs! Each of 99 schoolrooms have one chair, each of 37 have two chairs, and each of 23 have more than two chairs. A schoolroom should have at least three chairs, one for the teacher and the other two for the use of visitors. Blackboards Blackboards should be placed on the front wall of the room and on the wall to the right of the children, if there are no windows in it. Blackboards should never be placed between windows because of the eyestrain to which the children are subjected to read what is written on them. Since there are small children attending the rural school, the lower edge of the blackboards should be from 24 to 28 inches from the floor. A majority of the schools have boards 3 feet from the floor. In one the boards are 4 feet. The material of which the blackboards are made is shown in the following table: Table 4 Material of which blackboards are made NO. SCHOOL- MATERIAL ROOMS Wood. 84 Composition or fiber 23 Slate cloth 16 Slate 12 Slate and wood 10 Wood and other material 7 Slate, cloth and wood 4 Material not specified 6 Slate and slate cloth 1 Total 163 Slate is an excellent material because it is easy to write on, it does not have a glossy surface, and it needs no other attention than washing after it has once been installed. The initial cost is greater than that of other materials but its upkeep is nothing. A greater objection to boards other than slate is that the school authorities neglect to give them the needed slate recoating. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 21 Sixty per cent of 106 rural schools in Wisconsin and 37 per cent of the rural schools in Saline county, Missouri, have slate blackboards. Only 13 per cent of the Livingston county rural schools have slate blackboards. Practically no blackboards in the county have chalk rails pro- vided with a dust-catching device. It is recommended that deep rails covered with a wire screen over the top be used, and that this screen be removable so that the rail may be easily cleaned. Such a device causes the dust to drop to the bottom of the rail where it will not be stirred up by the pupils when they use the erasers, and it a r ds in keeping the erasers clean for a longer period of time. Eight schoolrooms have no erasers provided for erasing work from the blackboards. Five schoolrooms have but two and 9 have but three. The others have more. Every schoolroom should be supplied with at least six all felt erasers that are in good condition. Those with wooden backs are noisy and wear out quickly. Framed Pictures In very many cases the child has no opportunity to see good pictures and to learn to appreciate them. It is the duty of the school to help the child in this respect. Every schoolroom should have on its walls some large reproductions of masterpieces plainly but well framed. Ninety-nine schoolrooms have no framed pictures at all. The State will pay half the cost of approved pictures. Unframed pictures taken from magazines and illustrated editions of newspapers are valuable often for instructional purposes, but they should be posted on a bulletin board and be changed frequently They should never be considered as suitable schoolroom decoration. Clocks Only 38 schoolrooms are provided with clocks. It is a valuable lesson for a child to learn how to plan his work according to the time he has in which to do it. Every schoolroom should have a good clock so placed that both the children and the teacher can easily see it. Libraries There are only 5 schoolrooms which are without a bookcase. One hundred fourteen have closed cases, 19 have open cases, 12 have both, and 16 do not specify which kind they have. The cases in 42 rooms are not large enough to hold the books. It is regretted that it has been impossible to study adequately the nature of the books in these libraries to learn how many are suited to 22 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK the needs of the pupils who attend the schools. There is evidence to show that there are books which were selected on the basis of a past generation. The size of these libraries is shown in table 5. Table 5 Size of the rural school libraries NO. OF BOOKS NO. OF SCHOOLS None 1 to 24 25 to 49 50 to 74 75 to 99 100 to 124 125 to 149 150 to 174 175 to 199 200 to 224 225 to 249 250 to 274 275 to 299 300 to 324 395 400 5H Total . 4 o 7 11 18 32 22 17 16 7 5 2 4 1 1 1 1 149 In each of eight schools which have more than one schoolroom) all the books are kept in a special room for library purposes. From the standpoint of number of books, the libraries in the rural schools are in general satisfactory. There is however serious ques- tion as to the character of these collections. It is not to the credit of four schools to have no library books. Since the State will pay one- half the cost of approved books purchased for school libraries, no district can excuse itself on the grounds of expense. Eleven schools have one or more periodicals for the use of the pupils, 10 of which have Current Events and one the Youth's Companion. It is very desirable that children be taught current events, and periodicals suited to that end should be in every school. Pupils should be as familiar, if not more so, with history in the making as with the history of the past. Dictionaries All but five schools have dictionaries, though some of these are so old that their use is greatly impaired. Table 6 shows how old some of these dictionaries are. livingston county survey 23 Table 6 Number of dictionaries published earlier than 1900 NO. DATE I 1847 I 1851 I 1855 I 1856 2 1863 3 1864 I I867 1 1873 2 I880 2 1884 15 Between 1885 and 1900 A pupil desiring to get the meaning of such words as submersible, feedstuff, monoplane, radium, catch-drop, cover crop, blastroasting etc., will find these old books useless. They should be replaced immedi- ately by new, up-to-date dictionaries which are approved by the State Education Department. Half of the cost of such a dictionary will be paid by the Department. Supplementary Readers To teach reading well, particularly in the lower grades, it is essential that there be several sets of supplementary readers to be read along with the reader in the possession of the pupil. Ninety-six school- rooms have no supplementary readers whatever. It is recom- mended that each school add sets from year to year until the first three grades have at least from two to four sets each, and each of the other grades at least from one to two sets each. Musical Equipment That singing has a place in every schoolroom is a fact that needs no defense. Yet 84 schoolrooms have no song books. Thirty school- rooms are provided with an organ, and 6 with a piano. One of these is provided with a victrola also. Every schoolroom should be provided with a supply of song books sufficient for the teacher and pupils. Each school should possess either a good organ or a piano to be used not only for school purposes but also for community gatherings. A phonograph, together with several records of the best instrumental and vocal selections, is coming to be a necessary aid to teach children to appreciate really good music. Too often rural boys and girls who love music know nothing better than cheap ragtime. They are entitled to know the better class of music just as much as the city boy and girl, and the phonograph is the best method of bringing it to them. 24 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Maps and Globes Each school should possess an encased up-to-date map of each of the following as a minimum: Livingston county, New York State, the United States, North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. One hundred eight schools have less than this number, and a very large majority have these maps unencased. A map that is encased is more desirable because it is more durable and is easier to handle. All the schools have globes. Waste Baskets, Rulers and Pointers Every well-kept schoolroom should have a waste basket, yet there are 50 schoolrooms which have none. A papiermache basket is recommended because it will hold not only the waste paper but also pencil sharpenings and other small articles thrown into it. Eighty-eight schoolrooms are not provided with rulers. Yard- sticks are obtainable free of charge at most hardware stores and a supply of at least six would be of service in every schoolroom. At times every teacher has on the blackboard work which needs explanation. It aids the pupils very much to have the steps in the wo~k pointed out to them. One hundred twenty-eight schoolrooms are unprovided with pointers. These are inexpensive and each school should have one. School Bells and Flags Nine schools are not provided with a bell or gong for use in calling the children from their play. It would improve the orderliness of the school day if one or the other were provided. All schools in the county have flag staffs placed either on the school building or on the school grounds, and all are provided with flags. Janitor Work and Supplies Importance of Janitorial Work The duties of a janitor are most important. He must keep the building clean, sanitary and well ventilated, and during the cold weather comfortably warm. He must procure through the trustee the supplies needed for his work; keep the paths and walks free from snow in the winter, and the school yard mowed in the spring, summer and autumn; and provide the children with plenty of pure and fresh water if the source of water supply is off the school grounds. Too much emphasis can not be placed on his work, for as it is done well so are health, comfort and correct habits of living promoted LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 25 among the children. It is not too much to say that the schoolhouse and grounds should have as good attention as the best home and grounds in the district. Those Who Serve as Janitors An adult other than the teacher serves as janitor in each of 25 schools; in 64 the teacher serves; in 31 a pupil serves; in 18 the teacher and a pupil serve; and in 2 the teacher and the trustee serve. No report as to who does the janitor work was received from the remaining 9 schools. In most cases where the teacher serves, the district considers her the janitor ex officio and her salary for teaching covers the service she renders as janitor. In some cases a special agreement is made with her to do the janitor work in return for which she receives special compensation. It is unfair to require a teacher to act as janitor. The problems of teaching in a rural school are heavy and perplexing enough without having the duties of janitor thrust upon her. In very many cases she is too tired after a day of teaching to perform such work, and hence it is slighted. It is a somewhat better plan to have a pupil do the work under the supervision of the teacher. The duties of a janitor really demand the services of a mature person who has the habits of cleanliness and good order. Oiled Floors The floors of a rural schoolroom should be treated with oil for the following reasons: it reduces the amount of dust and bacteria in the air both when the room is swept and when it is in use; it makes it easier to sweep the floors; it causes less wear upon the sweeping utensils. A light floor oil should be thinly applied and thoroughly rubbed into the wood at least twice a year. After oiling it is advis- able to rub the floor with a weighted, dry mop just before the floor is used. The floors of 68 rooms have never been treated with oil. Softwood floors are very difficult to oil properly, particularly if they are much worn. It is recommended that such floors be re- placed with hardwood floors. Sweeping and Dusting The rooms are swept in the morning before school in 22 cases, and at noon in 16 cases. This practice should be stopped at once because sweeping at such times stirs up dust even under the most favorable circumstances and contaminates the air which the children are to 26 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK breathe. The furniture must be dusted, but it is almost useless to dust immediately after sweeping. The only time sweeping should be permitted is in the afternoon after school is out and the dusting should not be done until the room has been flushed with fresh air. It is to the credit of the schools of the county that not a feather duster is used. All the schools have dust cloths. These should be sprinkled with a very small amount of furniture oil so that they will hold the dust more effectively. ' Eighty-eight rooms are swept without the use of any means to prevent the stirring up of dust. Fifty-two floors are sprinkled with water before sweeping; 12 are sometimes sprinkled and some- times not; 6 have a specially prepared dust-gathering material scattered over them. Five schools give no description of how the floors are swept. To sprinkle a floor with water is almost useless for thereby the dust and dirt are reduced to a pasty form which later becomes dust again when it is walked upon. Damp sawdust makes a good dust-gathering material, but a specially prepared dust- gathering material with disinfectant properties is better. This preparation is not expensive. There are 61 schoolrooms which are swept twice a week, 1 three times a week, 13 weekly and 3 at irregular periods. The other 86 schoolrooms are swept daily. Only 12 schools are provided with door mats and 21 with foot scrapers. A survey 1 of rural schools in Salina county, Missouri, reports that 103 of the no rural schools are swept daily. Of 12 1 Wisconsin rural schools, 106 are swept daily. 2 When it is recalled that the children have to walk over country roads in all kinds of weather, it does not require much imagina- tion to picture correctly the state of the schoolroom floor even with daily sweepings. It is difficult to imagine a good housewife sweeping her living room not oftener than once a week. One would never expect to find her without a mop or a mop pail. Mopping in most of the schools is an annual event. The janitor work in schools should be done on sound housekeeping principles. Only 22 schools have walks from the road to the schoolhouse. Another prolific source of dust is the use of the blackboard. It and the chalk rail should be washed at least twice a week, and the erasers should be cleaned each night after school. There are 2 schoolrooms whose boards are washed only at the beginning of the school year, 1 " A Study of Rural Schools of Salina County, Missouri," University of Mis- souri Bui., v. 16, no. 22, 1915, p. 12. 2 " Preliminary Report on Conditions and Needs of Rural Schools in Wisconsin, 1912," p. 30. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 2.J 38 whose boards are washed once a month and 63 whose boards are washed once a week. The boards in the remaining 60 rooms are washed oftener. Water Supply The Source of Supply Only 13 schools have a source of supply of good drinking water on the school premises. All others have to depend on private sources. The distances of these sources from the school buildings are indicated in the following table: Table 7 Distances of water supply from the schoolhouses NO. OF DISTANCE SCHOOLS Less than 40 rods 74 40 to 59 rods 34 60 to 79 rods 8 80 to 99 rods 15 100 to 149 rods 2 One-half mile 3 Although it is not practical or perhaps possible to have wells on all school premises, yet no school should have to depend on a source farther than 40 rods from the school. A distance of one-half of a mile from the source is intolerable. Table 8 Distance of wells on or near school premises from school outdoor toilets NO. OF DISTANCE WELLS 1 to 2 rods 3 2 to 3 rods 1 3 to 4 rods 4 4 to 5 rods 4 More than 5 rods 1 Unless most extraordinary conditions exist, those four toilets which are less than 3 rods from the wells are a source of pollution to the well water. It is regretted that no study has been made of the distances of toilets, barnyards, and other sources of pollution from private wells used as sources of supply for school water. Each trustee will do well to have the board of health take samples of the water from his school's source of supply for examination by the state bacteriologist. Drinking Facilities Drinking water should never be kept in an open pail because, first, the water is exposed to the dust particles of the room and second, 28 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK whether a common drinking cup or the individual cup is used, the water becomes polluted by dipping either in the pail. Drinking water is kept in open pails in 107 schools. Covered jars with faucets ought by all means to be provided. It is not to the credit of 10 schools in which the water receptacles are cleaned once a year, of the 3 in which they are cleaned three times a year, or of the 13 in which they are cleaned monthly. The open pail should be abolished and the covered jar that takes its place should be cleaned at least weekly, better daily. The common drinking cup is in use in 32 schools. This spreader of disease should be abolished at once and forever. Churches have abolished the common communion cup but these schools keep the common drinking cup. All other schools which do not have running water have individual drinking cups which are kept for the most part in the pupils' desks. In some schools these cups are kept on shelves or in cupboards. The objection to this is that the cups may become mixed. Lavatory Facilities Cleanliness demands that a child and the teacher wash the hands at least twice a day during the time school is in session. Yet 94 schools provide no towels for drying the hands. In many cases the distance the water has to be carried to the school discourages hand washing. Of these schools which provide towels, all but 7 have the common towel which has been legislated out of hotels and other public buildings, and which is contrary to all rules of sanitary living. These towels are changed in 21 schools once every two weeks; in 42, once a week. In almost every school there are children from poorly kept and unclean homes who come to school not so clean as they should be. As is true of most children, when they wash their hands, they dampen them and then rub the dirt on the towel, which the other children use after them. The common towel should g3 the way of the common drinking cup and in its place should be put the paper towel which is both inexpensive and sanitary. Toilets Kinds and Location All but 4 of the 149 schools 1 have outdoor toilets consisting for the most part of two separate buildings, the distance between which varies from a few feet to the width of the school grounds. All are wooden structures. Seventeen schools have the boys' and girls' toilets under the same roof with a fence separating the entrances. 1 Since this report was prepared sanitary toilets have been installed in many schools. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 20, One school has both toilets under the same roof and situated in a secluded spot with but a few feet of fence separating the entrances and the same path from the schoolhouse is used by both sexes. In a very few cases the toilets are attached to the school building. Fifty-six schools have toilets with deep excavations, 22 with shallow excavations and 67 without excavations at all. Their Condition The toilets of 129 schools were studied in particular under the direction of the district superintendents. All these toilets are unpainted on the interior save 9 boys' and 10 girls' toilets. Forty- five boys' toilets were not weather-tight and 25 had leaky roofs. One had no roof at all. Twenty-one girls' toilets were not weather- tight and 20 had leaky roofs. Obscene writings or markings were found on the walls of 51 boys' toilets and of 29 girls' toilets. The doors of 29 boys' toilets were off the hinges as were the doors of 5 girls' toilets. One boys' toilet and 2 girls' toilet were without doors. Thirteen of the toilets whose doors were off the hinges were unpro- tected by screens or fences. One hundred twenty-six toilet build- ings have doors that will not latch. The floor of one boys' toilet is 30 inches from the ground but there are no steps leading to it. One may imagine the small boys in that school trying to enter their toilet! Only 9 boys' toilets have urinals. Forty-seven of the boys' toilets have unclean seats and the seats in 26 are in bad con- dition. The seats in the girls' toilets were all clean save in one case, and all are in good condition save 3. A particularly deplorable condition was the lack of paper of any kind in 100 boys' toilets and in 73 girls' toilets. Practically no use is made of disinfectants or ashes to cover the droppings in any of the outdoor toilets. There are no screens or fences hiding the entrance to 41 boys' toilets and to 35 girls' toilets. Such conditions are a discredit to the rural communities in which they exist. They may be condemned on moral grounds, and on the grounds of uncleanliness, improper sanitation and discomfort. The best way to rectify these conditions is to establish chemical toilets. They should be located either in the school building or directly adjoining them, because it is asking too much of a child to go out into a storm or through mud, slush or snow to reach the toilet, and because toilets connecting with the schoolroom are more easily supervised by the teacher. The toilet rooms should have windows to admit sunlight, an ample supply at all times of toilet paper within 30 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK easy reach of the seats, a wash basin, and paper towels. It should be the business of the teacher to teach the children to wash their hands after using the toilet. Every boys' toilet should be provided with a urinal of noncorrosive and nonabsorbent material. The walls of the toilet room should be painted white or a light color with a glossy finish. The seats and the floors should be scrubbed frequently. And lastly, the teacher should inspect the toilets daily and have objectionable matter removed immediately. Morals, cleanliness and decency demand these steps. 1 School Grounds Location and Drainage Sanitation demands that school grounds be well drained. For that reason a clay soil should be avoided, and the location should be on a gentle slope. Seventy-three rural school grounds are level and 74 are sloping. No data are available for 2. Thirteen school grounds are reported as being poorly drained, 73 as being fairly well drained, and 63 as being well drained. The following table shows the nature of the soil of the school grounds : Table q Nature of the soil NO. OF SCHOOL SOIL GROUNDS Loam 5° Gravel 5° Medium clay 22 Sand I2 Heavy clay IO Gravel and sand 3 Gravel and loam 3 Sandy loam l Loam and heavy clay l Sand and medium clay 1 No answer *6 149 Size School authorities the Nation over regard anything less than 2 acres as too small a plot for a rural school. 2 The demands for 1 N. Y. Education Dep't Annual Report, 19 15, v. 3, p. 44. 2 Challman, " Rural School Plant," p. 33; " School Buildings, School Grounds and Their Improvement in Kansas," 191 1, p. 6. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 31 physical training and recreational work, for work in nature study and for ornamentation are such that at least 2 acres are needed. Table io Areas of the school grounds NO. OF SCHOOL AREA IN ACRES GROUNDS Less than | 55 1 to i 51 J to f 18 f to 1 9 1 to i\ 3 i\ to if 1 No area given 12 149 When it is taken into consideration that the acres given in the above table include the sites of the buildings, it is apparent that but little room is left for playgrounds and ornamentation purposes. Also in very many cases, the trees are so placed that the room left for play purposes is so broken that it is not suitable for very many games children like to play. As land in rural districts is not expen- sive it would be no hardship for any district to add 2 acres to its school premises. The majority of the rural school grounds in Lane county, Oregon, are 1 acre in size. The standard size of the play- grounds in Kansas, Washington and New Jersey is i acre, and in North Dakota and Texas it is 2 acres. Landscape Effect In every rural school district will be found homes with well-kept lawns, flower beds, shrubbery and trees. It is not too much to expect that these districts make their school premises as attractive and inviting as these homes. It needs no argument to prove that a neat, attractive and inviting environment will have a much more wholesome effect on the pupil than will one that is bare, unattractive, uninviting and cheerless. In Livingston county are 61 rural school grounds that are reported as having a rough surface, 81 as having a smooth surface, and for 5 no report is made. Not a rural school possesses a lawn mower. When the grass or weeds get too long, a scythe is used. Ten school grounds have flower beds, 21 have shrubbery, and 9 have both flower beds and shrubbery. One hundred nine have neither. Only one school ground has a garden patch. Table 11 shows how many schools have trees 20 or more feet in height. 2,2 the university of the state of new york Table h Number of school grounds having trees twenty or more feet in height SCHOOL NO. OF TREES GROUNDS None 17 One : 14 Two 23 3 to 5 28 6 to 10 29 11 to 15 18 More than 15 18 No report 2 149 Walks and Hitch Posts Only 22 school grounds have walks leading from the road to the schoolhouse. Four of these are gravel, 3 are cinder, and 3 are cement. Nineteen of the 145 school grounds on which there are outdoor toilets have walks leading to them. Of these, 8 are gravel, 7 are cinder, 3 are board, and 1 is cement. In all other cases there are unimproved paths which become muddy in wet weather. Abou t 60 per cent of the rural schools in Lane county, Oregon, have walks, board or cement. Six school grounds are provided with hitch posts. Of these one has 20, one has 2 , and four have 1 . Four school grounds are provided with hitch rails. Playground Apparatus Seventeen schools provide playground apparatus of some sort. Of these, 10 have homemade pieces, such as swings, teeters and jumping stakes, and 7 have ready-made pieces. The other 132 schools provide no apparatus for play or recreation. In Lane county, Oregon, " Many schools are adding play apparatus. The giant stride, teeter boards, and swings are in great numbers, but such pieces as the turning-bar and merry-go-round are not infrequent." A Suggestion ■ It has been recommended that each rural school should have at the very least 2 acres of grounds. These should be rectangular in form with the length approximately twice the width. The school- house should be located near the front and with well-constructed walks leading to the road, to what outbuildings there may be, and to the playground. Before and on either side of the schoolhouse should be a well-kept lawn ornamented with well-planned and well- placed flower beds, shrubbery and trees. On one side should be a LfVItiGSfOtt COtJJJTY StrkVfiY 33 gravel drive with 10 or more hitch posts or a hitch rail. No trees should be placed within 50 feet of the school building. 1 At the rear should be a playground large enough for baseball, tennis and other outdoor sports; and accommodations for playground equipment such as teeters, swings, trapezes, horizontal bars, sand pits, etc. With such provisions, the rural child would have the suggestive influence of the neat, the attractive and the beautiful. He would have ample facilities for directed play which is so necessary for his mental, moral and physical growth. Altogether too often the country boy is stooped-shouldered and is slow, clumsy and ungrace- ful in action. He needs games and supervised exercise to give him erectness of posture, suppleness and grace of action, and quickness of thought. The facilities provided, together with the guidance of a trained teacher, would give him the opportunities for such games and supervised exercise. The community would have a community center equipped and suited for picnics and recreation, and a real testimony to its interest in the welfare of its children, and to its community spirit. Summary and Conclusions 1 Fifty-three of the 149 rural schoolhouses were built before the Civil War. Nineteen of the 53 were built before the Mexican War and 5 of them were built during the lifetime of Thomas Jefferson. One-half of the school buildings were built before 1873. 2 All but 6 of the rural schoolhouses are frame buildings. Of these nearly one-third have not been painted since 19 10, and more than one-third have one or more broken window panes. 3 About one-fourth of the schoolrooms are less than 10 feet in height. 4 Twelve schools have windows on all four sides of the school- rooms, 66 have windows on each of three sides of the schoolrooms, and 81 have windows on each of two sides. Only 4 have unilateral lighting. 5 More than three-fourths of the schoolrooms have a ratio of glass area to floor area of less than 1 to 5 and one-third have a ratio of 1 to 10 or less. Only 20 rooms meet the standard ratio of 1 to 5. 6 More than three-fourths of the schools make no provision for artificial lighting of their schoolrooms. 7 Nine-tenths of the schoolrooms are heated by the common unjacketed or unscreened wood or coal stove, placed in or near the center of the room. 1 Challman, " The Rural School Plant," p. 190. 2 34 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 8 About five-sixths of the schoolrooms have no thermometers. 9 The schools in almost all cases depend on the open window for ventilation. In one-fifth of the schoolrooms the upper window sash of none of the windows can be lowered. The windows in three- fourths of the schools have no window weights. io (a) Only 4 of the 163 schoolrooms have any adjustable seats; (b) almost every schoolroom has stationary seats of different sizes in the same row; (c) two-fifths of the schoolrooms have the pupils' seats at too great a distance from their desks. 1 1 Two schoolrooms have no chair for the use of the teacher and 89 schoolrooms have only one chair. 12 (a) More than one-half of the schoolrooms have only wooden blackboards ; (6) in more than one-half of the schoolrooms the lower edge of the blackboards is 3 feet from the floor; (c) 8 schoolrooms have no erasers, 5 have two, and 9 have three; (d) none of the schools has dust-catching devices on their chalk rails. 13 Four schools have no library books. In all other cases the schools are provided with good-sized libraries. No information was secured as to the character of the books. 14 All but 5 of the schools have unabridged dictionaries. About one-fifth of these dictionaries were printed before 1900, and about one-tenth of them were printed before 1885. Four were printed before the Civil War began. 15 More than one-half of the schools possess no supplementary readers. 16 About one-half of the schools have no song books. 17 Nearly two-thirds of the schoolrooms do not possess maps of each of Livingston county, New York State, the United States, and the continents. 18 The teachers serve as janitors in more than one-half of the schools. 19 In about one-half of the schoolrooms the floors have never been treated with oil. 20 (a) About one-half of the schoolrooms are swept daily, the other half being swept once or twice a week; (6) one-fourth of the school- rooms are swept by the teacher in the morning before school- or else at noon; (c) about one-half of the floors are swept without the use of any dust-holding material. 2 1 (a) The source of water supply for about one-half of the schools is more than 40 rods from the school building. For 3 schools the source is one-half of a mile from the school building; (6) at 12 schools the well is 5 rods or less from a privy; (c) in two-thirds of the schools LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 35 the open water pail is used as the drinking water container; (d) the common drinking cup is still in use in about one-fifth of the schools. 22 About two-thirds of the schools do not provide towels. Those provided by the one-third are the ccmmon towel and in two-fifths of the schools having them, they are changed not oftener than once a week. 23 (a) All but 4 of the schools have outdoor toilets; (b) a special study of the outdoor toilets of 129 schools reveals in general very unsanitary, unhygienic, unwholesome and discomfort-producing conditions which are very discreditable, to say the least. 24 (a) Two-thirds of the schools have grounds that are less than one-half of an acre in area; (b) 61 school grounds are reported as having a rough surface; (c) no school possesses a lawn mower; (d) 109 of the 149 school grounds have neither shrubbery nor flower beds; (e) 17 school grounds have no trees; (/) 127 school grounds have no artificial walks on them. 25 Practically no playground apparatus of any sort is provided by the schools. The conclusion drawn from this study of the rural school plant is that the present unit for the administration of the rural school has proved itself to be a failure. A larger unit of administration such as the town or the county under the control of a responsible board of education would undoubtedly aid very materially in bring- ing about better conditions. To consolidate rural schools where such is practicable would bring about good sanitary buildings, properly heated and lighted, and furnished ' with modern equipment. This statement is based on the experience of those states in which there has been much consolida- tion of rural schools. A survey of rural schools in North Dakota has this to say of consolidation : Consolidation is the uniting of one-room rural schools to form a school having at least two or more teachers and serving at least eighteen contiguous sections. This last year there were 447 of these schools in the state, with an enrolment of 27,252 farm children, 2850 of whom did high school work. Seven years before, there were 94 of these schools with 5025 farm children enrolled, of which number 410 did high school work. These schools have trebled the eighth grade comple- tions and increased the high school enrolment fourfold. They have given us in the seven years an increase of over 2400 farm children doing high school work against an increase of some 150 if these schools had not existed. They have increased the number of well-trained teachers by at least 1300. They have given a twenty-five per cent increase in attendance. They have furnished vastly better civic-social opportunities. They have given a more efficient and economical organization, saving as they have for these districts through the excess number of classes in the 1300 one-room rural schools thatthey have eliminated, more than $90,000 annually. Briefly, they have given increased efficiency along all principal lines. $6 THE UNIVERSITY OE THE STATE OF NEW YORK AGE, GRADE AND PROGRESS OF CHILDREN IN THE EIGHT ELEMENTARY GRADES Preliminary Definitions i The age of a child. In this study the age of a child is defined as that of his nearest birthday. For example, a child 5 years 6 months or more but less than 6 years 6 months in age, is classified as being 6 years of age. This definition does not comply with the state com- pulsory education law, which defines the age of a child as that of his last birthday; that is, a child does not become 6 until his sixth birthday and he remains 6 until his seventh birthday. 2 Groups E and F. Group F includes (a) those children born in a non-English-speaking country, (6) those children whose parents were born in a non-English-speaking country, (c) those children who come from homes in which a foreign language is spoken the larger part of the time. Group E includes all children other than those in group F. 3 Union school. This term is very confusing to those unacquainted with its use in New York State. It does not neces- sarily mean a school resulting from the union of two school districts. According to law one common school district may vote to become a union free school district ; also two or more common school districts may vote to be consolidated to form such a district. A union free school district is under the control of a board of education and has the power to establish an academic department. In almost every case the formation of a union free school district is for the establishment of such a department. Hence the term union school has come to mean very generally a school giving academic work in addition to that of the elementary grades. In this study, therefore, the name union school is applied to those schools main- taining academic departments. The training school of the state normal school which now cares for all the children in the Geneseo union free school district is classified as a union school. These union schools include practically all village children and in addition a few rural children, for almost all union school districts extend beyond the village limits. In the case of the Greigsville High School all the children are rural. The course of study, however, and the administration of this school are precisely the same as those of any union school located in a village. In the village of Lima the school is a common school of the same type as a two-department rural school. Hence union schools will be treated as village schools and common district schools as rural schools. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 37 4 Underage, normal age, overage. Children who are 6 or 7 years of age in the first grade, 7 or 8 in the second, 8 or 9 in the third are said to be of normal age. An underage child is one who is younger than the normal age for his grade, and an overage child is one who is older than the normal age for his grade. 5 Acceleration, retardation. A child who is promoted faster than a grade a year is said to be accelerated. One who is not promoted every year is said to be retarded. Sometimes the terms rapid progress and slow progress are used in place of acceleration and retardation. 6 Elimination. When a child leaves school before completing his course of study, he is said to have been eliminated. The Ages and Number of Children During the months of January and February 191 7, under the direction of the district superintendents, the teachers of grade children in the county made accurate copies of the dates of birth and the grades of the children from the registers of attendance. From these copies the ages of the children were computed according to table 12. Table 12 Table for computing the age of a child, September 15, 191 7 DATE OF BIRTH AGE 3/15/1912 to 3/14/1913 3/15/1911 to 3/14/1912 3/i5/i9ioto 3/14/1911 3/15/1909 to 3/14/1910 3/15/1908 to 3/14/1909 3/15/1907 to 3/14/1908 3/i5/i9o6to 3/14/1907 3/15/1905 to 3/14/1906 3/15/1904 to 3/14/1905 3/15/1903 to 3/14/1904 3/15/1902 to 3/14/1903 3/15/1901 to 3/14/1902 3/15/1900 to 3/14/1901 3/15/1899 to 3/14/1900 3/15/1898 to 3/14/1899 3/15/1897 to 3/14/1898 3/15/1896 to 3/14/1897 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 This table should be read as follows: children who were born on the fifteenth day of March 1912 or on any day up to and including the fourteenth day of March 19 13, are 4 years of age, September 15, 1 9 I 7- 38 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK It was found that there were 5617 children in the first eight grades in the public and the parochial schools of the county. Of these, 961 belong to group F. There are 2266 children in the rural schools, 2457 in the union schools, and 894 in the parochial schools. The 961 in group F are distributed as follows: 109 in rural schools, 439 in union schools, and 413 in parochial schools. Age-grade Distribution The relationship of the age of the child and the grade in which he is located is a very important one. The compulsory school law permits a child to drop out of school when he is 14 years of age if he has completed the eight grades, and at 15 years of age if he has completed- the first six grades. Under all other conditions he can not leave school until he is 16 years of age. It is highly desirable both for the State and the individual that every normal child have at least the whole eight years of elementary school work. In very many cases the financial condition of the family or the shortage of labor in the rural districts makes it imperative that the child begin to work at the earliest possible age. That a child may be able to leave school as soon as he is 14 (by which time he must have completed the eight years of elementary school work) he must enter school at 6 years of age, or else he must skip a grade. The latter alternative is a rare one, largely because there are no half- year promotions in the county. If the child is started in school at the age of 7, he will not finish his elementary work until his fifteenth birthday. But if he fails to pass each year, or if he starts at an age older than 7 , the door is open for him to leave school before he finishes his eighth grade. For these reasons parents are urged to send their children to school at 6 or 7 years of age if this attendance is con- sistent with the physical welfare of the child. From the age-grade distribution of school children can be foretold quite accurately the probable number of children who will complete the elementary school and the probable number who will be eliminated. The distribution of the 5617 children in the first eight grades in all the schools of the county is shown in table 13. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 39 Table 13 Distribution of all the children by age and grade GRADE CD >> OS >> 10 CO CD >. vO ca u a) CD >» 00 I* CD >. 0\ CO u as I to 2 0) . 00 CO D3 TOTAL First 20 1 52 2 350 57 9 316 215 60 8 1 1 154 241 167 67 5 1 74 138 216 177 40 3 15 70 137 175 162 57 6 5 29 83 123 199 121 5i 9 8 8 36 62 120 145 124 30 4 17 47 75 107 163 125 2 I 12 22 46 65 116 152 3 2 4 13 28 45 76 115 I 110 767 Third I I 4 11 12 53 742 Fourth.. . Fifth 680 I 7 24 1 11 I 557 556 Eighth . . . Total 20 154 416 601 635 648 622 620 533 538 416] 286 83 33 12 I 56i7 Summary of Table 13: Underage two or more years Underage one year Normal age Overage one year Overage two years Overage three years Overage four years or more Total Underage Normal age Overage Total 65 5H 3048 1010 558 254 168 1% 9% 54% 18% 10% 5% 3% 5617 579 3048 .1990 100% 10% 54% 36% 5617 100% This table shows that 36 out of every 100 children in Livingston county will find it possible to leave school before they have com- pleted their elementary education. This is not as it should be. For the purpose of analyzing this distribution, data for the children in group F were segregated from those of the other children. The results follow. Table 14 Distribution of all the children in group F by age and grade GRADE u OS CD >> nj >> 10 CC) CD >> vO cS CD cS CD >> 00 01 CD >. Ov 03 g O u en CD CO u cS >. a CD >> ro u OS CD CO u CO & 10 u 03 ID >• NO CO a CD >. 1- to u a) CD >. 00 TOTAL First 10 48 86 3 101 19 3 52 50 10 7 33 35 27 13 1 9 28 29 25 4 2 22 26 20 21 3 I 3 6 20 22 16 10 2 2 6 17 16 16 4 3 I I 6 9 8 4 9 12 345 168 2 3 8 15 9 13 8 Third. . 130 Fourth. . . I I 5 2 6 122 Fifth 82 47 2 3 2 33 Eighth . . . 34 Total 10 48 89 123 119 109 95 95 79 64 50 50 15 5 2 961 40 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Summary of Table 14: Underage two years Underage one year Normal age , Overage one year Overage two years Overage three years Overage four years Overage five years Overage six or more years Total Underage Normal age Overage Total 10 1% 63 7% 390 41% 185 19% 148 15% 90 9% 47 5% 20 2% 8 1% 961 961 100% 73 8% 390 41% 498 51% 100% Table 15 Distribution of all the children in group E by age and grade GEADE >> td >> m a! >> -O >> a! >. 00 a! 0) u a! a) M u OS >» r<3 C3 a> >> u crj |4 03 a) >. 00 TOTAL First 10 104 2 264 54 9 215 196 57 8 1 1 102 191 157 60 5 1 4i 103 189 164 39 3 6 42 108 150 158 57 6 3 7 57 103 178 118 50 9 5 2 16 40 104 135 122 30 2 II 30 59 91 159 122 I 3 I 755 Third 6 13 38 61 107 140 1 5 13 36 63 107 I Fourth . . . 573 Fifth 3 6 10 47 598 510 Sixth I 5 21 I 9 1 Eighth. . . 486 Total 10 106 327| 478 Sl6j 539 527 525 454 474 366 228 68 27 10 I 4 656 Summary of Table 15 Underage two or more years Underage one year Normal age , Overage one year Overage two years Overage three years Overage four years Total Underage Normal age Overage Total 55 1% 45i 10% 2658 57% 825 17% 410 9% 164 4% 93 2% 4656 100% 506 n% 2658 57% 1492 32% 4656 100% These tables disclose an unfortunate state of affairs among the children in group F, More than one-half of them are overage. Of LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 41 all the children who need the Americanizing influence of the school - room, these children need it the most ; yet not one-half of them are of normal age or underage. Under such conditions we may expect a heavy elimination. Among the children of group E approximately one out of every three is overage. This fact shows an unfortunate condition. About eight-ninths of the children of group F attend union or parochial schools. These children are found in colonies, the largest of which is in Mount Morris. Other colonies are in Greigsville, Avon and Geneseo. In these communities the children of group F are so numerous that many grades are much overcrowded. In one grade of a school in Mount Morris there are 72 children, of whom 62 belong to group F. The presence of these children brings added responsibility, for they need Americanizing. For further analysis of the age-grade problem, the children of group E of the county have been grouped according to union, 1 rural and parochial schools. The tables follow: Table 16 Age-grade distribution of group E children in union schools Underage two years 21 1 % Underage one year 166 9% Normal age 1 125 61 % Overage one year 287 16% Overage two years 155 8% Overage three years 53 3% Overage four years or more 26 1 % Total 1833 99% Summary Underage 187 10% Normal age 1 125 61 % Overage 521 28% Total 1833 99% Table 17 Age-grade distribution of group E children in rural schools Underage two years or more 32 1 % Underage one year 245 11% Normal age 1138 5 2 % Overage one year 420 20% Overage two years 194 9% 1 There are 1 85 rural school children attending the union schools. Since their presence in the union schools and their absence from the rural schools influences very little the age-grade distribution, no correction is made for them. See tables 52-55 for age-grade tables. 42 THE UNIVERSITY OP THE STATE OF NEW YORK Overage three years . Overage four years . Overage five years . . Total Summary 83 4% 30 1% 15 1% 2157 99% . . 277 12% 1138 52% 742 35% 2157 99% irochial schools 27 5% 308 64% 75 16% 34 7% 18 4% 9 2% 10 2% 481 100% 27 5% 308 64% 146 31% 481 100% Underage. . . Normal age. Overage.. . . Total.. Table 18 Age-grade distribution of group E children in parochial schools Underage one or more years Normal age Overage one year Overage two years Overage three years Overage four years Overage five years Total Summary Underage Normal age Overage Total The union schools have the smallest per cent of overage pupils, with the parochial schools a close second. The rural schools make the poorest showing in this respect, yet they make the best from the standpoint of underage conditions. Acceleration, Retardation and Elimination All the School Children in the Grades The overage condition just disclosed is not due entirely to a late start to school. Many children begin when they should, but fail to pass their grade each year. An attempt was made to gather data from the various schools to show just how extensive is this retarda- tion of the children in the grades of the county. The union schools have records from which such data can be secured with difficulty. Of the 149 rural schools, 123 report no records whatsoever from which the data can be obtained, and the others have some data recorded in their attendance registers. In very many of these schools the registers of attendance are lost for the preceding two years, to say nothing of those of earlier dates. But an approximately LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 43 accurate idea of the amount of the acceleration, retardation and elimination can be obtained from the study of the age-grade tables and the graphs with these tables as their basis. o s «v. ts. ^ V) K V£ y> •o N m 7» <*• 5 CM *0 o» o> OS O) 00 00 o «J» v. 1 * 0} « s V8 3 4 & 6 7 8 Fig. 9 distribution by grades of all the chil- dren IN GROUP E The number at the foot of each bar designates the grade and those within the bars the number in each grade on the basis of there being xooo children in the first grade. 4 8 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK — — 4 5" 6 7 S 9 lo II IZ 13 /f /S~ /6 17 1 8 19 Fig. io distribution by ages of all the children in group E The numbers at the foot of the bars designate the ages. The 9 year old group being the largest is represented as being iooo in number and the other groups are represented prooor- tionately. This means that the number of children of each age is such that if there were iooo in the 9 year old group, there would be 19 in the 4 year old group, 197 in the 5 year old group, and so on. Figures 9 and 10 indicate that there are much less retardation and elimination among the children of group E. These problems will be taken up in a comparative study of the children of group E in the union schools, in the rural schools and in the parochial schools. Comparative Study of the Children of Group E in the Union, Rural and Parochial Schools It was found that 185 children from the rural school districts were attending the grades in the union schools. Their distribution by grades was as follows : first, 3 ; second, 9 ; third, 2 ; fourth, 8 ; fifth, 7 ; sixth, 12; seventh, 46; eighth, 98. To ignore the presence of these children would give the union schools an advantage in comparing them with the rural schools. The 185, distributed by grades and ages (see table 55 in the appendix), were subtracted from the union school totals and were added to the rural school totals. Among the 185 there were no children of group F. The corrected totals are 2451 children in the rural schools and 2272 in the union schools. The parochial schools draw their children from the church parish, which does not conform to the boundaries of village, town or dis- trict. So both rural and village children attend them. There is LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 49 very little interchange of pupils between the grades of the public schools and those of the parochial schools. Figures 1 1 and 1 2 show the distribution of the children in group E 4 5 fe 7 8 9 IO II 12 13 M IS /6 n IB IS FlG. II DISTRIBUTION BY AGES OF THE CHILDREN IN GROUP E WHO ATTEND THE GRADES IN UNION SCHOOLS The numbers at the foot of the bars designate the ages. The ten year group being the largest is represented as being iooo in number and the other groups are represented proportionately. This means that the number of children of each age is such that if there were iooo in the 10 year old group, there would be 24 in the 4 year old group, 187 in the 5 year old group, and so on. in the grades of the union schools according to ages and grades. Figure n shows nearly normal conditions. 50 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK FlG. 12 DISTRIBUTION BY GRADES OF THE CHILDREN IN GROUP E WHO ATTEND THE GRADES IN THE UNION SCHOOLS The number at the foot of each bar designates the grade and those within the bars the number in each grade on the basis of there being iooo children in the first grade. Since figure n shows that the elimination of children under 14 is practically negligible, figure 12 gives quite an accurate index of retardation. Again the first grade shows a heavy retardation. There appears to be only little retardation in the second and third grades, and considerable in the fourth. The age distribution in the third and fourth grades of the union schools, fails to reveal any great retardation of fourth grade pupils. Evidently the large number of pupils in the union school fourth grades is not due to retardation, but rather to a larger number of pupils entering school 3 years ago. The dropping off in the fifth, sixth and seventh grades is due un- doubtedly to elimination. The eighth grade shows a retardation which may be easily explained by the fact that the eighth grade pupil has certain Regents preliminary examinations to pass before he is promoted to the academic department. As a whole these conditions are encouraging but can not be called good.. The com- LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 51 pulsory education law seems to be enforced as far as the figures can show. But there is too much retardation, especially in the first grade. FlG. 13 DiSTRIBUTION BY AGES OF THE CHILDREN IN GROUP E WHO ATTEND RURAL SCHOOLS The numbers at the foot of the bars designate the ages. The 9 year group being the largest is represented as being 1000 in number and the other groups are represented propor- tionately. This means that the number of children of each age is such that if there were 1000 in the 9 year old group, there would be 18 in the 4 year old group, 207 in the 5 year old group, and so on. The distribution of rural school children according to age and grade is shown by tables 13 and 14. It is significant to note in a com- parison of figures 1 1 and 1 5 that there are more five year old chil- dren in the rural schools than there are in the grades of the union schools ; that there are not nearly so many six year olds ; and that there are fewer of the eight year olds. The fact that the dropping out of school begins with the fourteenth year indicates that the compulsory education law is at least fairly well lived up to. Heavy retardation in the first grade parish schools is shown by figure 14, but it is not quite so heavy as that in the grades of the union schools. It may be that the requirements for promotion from the first to the second grade in the rural schools are not quite so well defined as they are in the union schools. In fact, the basis of promotion in very many of the smaller rural schools seems to be the time element alone. The figure indicates a considerable K2 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK retardation in the fifth grade. This condition may be ac- counted for by the fact that in this grade" the children begin to take the district superintendents' uniform examinations. These figures indicate much retardation in the seventh year. In the FlG. 14 DISTRIBUTION BY GRADES OF CHILDREN OF GROUP E WHO ATTEND RURAL SCHOOLS The number at the foot of each bar designates the grade and those within the bars the number in each grade on the basis of there being 1000 children in the first grade. rural schools there are 64 eighth grade group E pupils to every 100 group E pupils in the first grade, while in the union schools there are 71 eighth grade group E pupils to every 100 group E pupils in the first grade. The distribution of children in group E in the parochial schools by age and grade is shown by figures 15 and 16. Figure 15 shows that the children in these schools begin their school life at a later age than in either the union or the rural schools. In fact, one parochial school has not a child less than 7 years of age. It is difficult to account for the falling off in the nine year old and in the twelve year old groups. It must be remembered that the figures Livingston county survey 53 f represent only 481 children and that the smaller the number o children studied the greater may be the irregularities. But it is clearly shown that the elimination of pupils begins at 9. This elimination tends to raise the per cent of normal age and to lowe r FlG. 15 DISTRIBUTION BY AGES OF CHILDREN IN GROUP E WHO ATTEND THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS The numbers at the foot of the bars designate the ages. The 8 year group being the largest is represented as being iooo in number and the other groups are represented proportionately. This means that the number of children of each age is such that if there were iooo in the 8 year old group, there would be 147 in the 5 year old group, 412 in the 6 year old group, and so on. the per cent of overage children in these schools, for the eliminated are practically always the overage or those who will become overage. The graph of distribution by grades reveals the least retardation in the first grade of any of the groups, but a remarkable piling up of children takes place in the third grade, and this is substantiated by the graph for this grade. This retardation probably must mean that the third grade is the most difficult for the children in these schools, and that the first is comparatively easier than the first in the union or rural schools. The evidence of elimination gained from figure 15, is borne out by figure 16, for there is a shrinkage in the size of the grades beyond the third. There are in the eighth 54 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OP NEW YORK grade 42 children to every 100 in the first. This is smaller than is found in the other groups of schools and may be testimony to the fact that a late start in school means overage conditions and these FlG. 16 DISTRIBUTION BY GRADES OF CHILDREN IN GROUP E WHO ATTEND THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS The number at the foot of each bar designates the grade and those within the bars the number in each grade on the basis of there being 1000 children in the first grade. conditions mean elimination of many children before the eighth grade is complete. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 55 Age-grade Distribution for Grades in the Various Union and Parochial Schools The age-grade distribution for' the various union and parochial schools is found in the following tables. These figures represent all the children in the grades of the various schools, including the children in groups E and F and those from the rural districts. Table iq Age-grade distribution for the various union and parochial schools SCHOOL NO. OF PUPILS PER CENT UNDER- AGE PER CENT NORMAL AGE PER CENT OVER- AGE 1 Avon Union 293 177 234 59 342 130 9i 74 249 201 78 103 82 76 177 322 420 188 .55 4 12 IO 6 5 12 7 8 6 1 11 6 8 19 12 10 16 13 58 40 48 66 . 6 4 78 67 66 70 57 56 46 57 63 57 48 42 56 67 38 1 Avon: St Agnes' 60 Caledonia Union 40 Dalton Union 24 Dansville Union 3° Dansville: St Mary's 17 Dansville: St Patrick's 21 1 Geneseo Union 27 1 Geneseo Normal Training School . . 1 Greigsville Union 22 37 Groveland Station Union 42 Hemlock Union 43 Leicester Union School 37 Lima: St Rose's 29 Livonia Union 24 1 Mount Morris Union 40 1 Mount Morris; St Patrick's Nunda Union 48 28 Springwater Union 20 1 These schools have many pupils in group F. The overage column in this table represents the children who will be beyond the compulsory school age before they complete the eighth grade and thereby tend to leave school before completing that grade. For the good of all concerned these per cents should be kept at the minimum. When a child becomes very much overage, he becomes a serious problem for the school authorities. He may be much overage because of a late start in school, sickness, slowness to learn, or inability to follow the work outlined for normal children. No matter what may be the cause, a child much overage is sure to become discouraged, to lose interest and in very many cases to become a problem in 56 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK discipline. He is sure to demand more than ordinary attention- In any school where there are ten or more children who are three or more years overage, there should be provided a special ungraded class for them. In such a class those capable of making rapid progress should be given the opportunity to make it, and those incapable of so doing should pursue a special course of study designed to meet their needs. Fairness to these children, to all the other children, and to the teachers demands this step. Table 20 shows how many children there are in each school who are three or more years overage. Table 20 Number of children who are three or more years overage SCHOOL NO. OF PUPILS 3 YEARS OVERAGE MORE THAN 3 YEARS OVERAGE 1 Avon Union 1 Avon: St Agnes' Caledonia Union Dalton Union Dansville Union Dansville: St Mary's Dansville: St Patrick's 1 Geneseo Union 1 Geneseo Normal Training School 1 Greigsville Union Groveland Station Union Hemlock Union Leicester Union Lima: St Rose's Livonia Union 1 Mount Morris Union 1 Mount Morris: St Patrick's Nunda Union Springwater 293 177 234 59 342 130 9i 74 249 201 778 103 82 76 177 322 420 188 55 13 a 22 10 1 9 o 1 5 6 13 6 5 2 3 7 22 32 5 1 10 a 19 3 o 7 1 2 4 o 6 2 3 2 3 o 17 33 6 o 1 These schools have many children who are in group F. a The children in this school do not enter the first grade until 7 years of age. Retardation and Elimination in the Secondary Departments The number of pupils in each of the four years of high school is as follows: first year, 382; second year, 255; third year, 185; fourth year, 154. These data are depicted graphically in figure 17, in which the number of pupils in the first year of high school is repre- sented as being 1000 and the number of pupils in each of the other years is computed on that basis. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 57 F/rst year - /ooo chifcfre/) Secendyear- 669 cfif/dnm Th/rcf year- 4Q4 c/if/cfrcn f&urftj year- -9 Q3 c/?//d+ej? 204 Crf~<%c(c<#tes Con-fi numf lis i~i "fist /v ey> s . FlG. 17 DISTRIBUTION OF THE PUPILS IN THE SECONDARY DEPART- MENTS ACCORDING TO THE YEARS OF WORK The number of puoils in the first year is represented as being iooo in number, and each of the other years are computed proportionately on that basis. The schools define a first year pupil as one who has completed the work of the eighth grade but has not earned 17! counts; a second year pupil as one who has earned from 17! to 35 counts inclusive; a third year pupil as one who earned from 36 to 53 counts inclusive; and a fourth year pupil as one who has 54 counts but has not com- pleted the requirements for graduation. The number of first year pupils is much larger than the number of second year pupils. This is undoubtedly due in part to retarda- tion and in part to elimination. The fact that there were 246 pre- liminary certificates earned in the whole county during the year 191 7 and that in the same year there were 382 pupils classified as first year pupils, may indicate considerable retardation. Retardation may also be evident from the fact that 154 children were classified as fourth year pupils and only 106 of them were graduated. There is a very serious break in the continuity of the twelve years of public school work, at the end of the eighth year. During the month of January 19 17 there were 520 children in the eighth grades in the county. During that year only 246 of the 520 earned the Regents preliminary certificate, which is the high school entrance credential. This is due probably to three causes: (1) very many of the rural children do not intend to enter high school, and there- fore do not try the Regents examinations; (2) many of the eighth grade children drop out of school before finishing the year; (3) many pf the children fail to pass. in one or more subjects required for the. 58 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK preliminary certificate and therefore fail to be classified as first year high school pupils. Of these reasons the third is a powerful one. The requirements for promotion from the eighth year to the ninth year of school are much more difficult than for any other promotion in the elementary school. Of the 1 06 pupils who were graduated from high school, 78 con- tinued their education in other institutions. Twenty-eight of the 78 went to college. The courses of study of all the union schools in the county, with the exception of the high schools in Nunda, Greigsville, Mount Morris and Dansville, offer only the courses whose aim is the prepara- tion for college or normal school. These courses are designed for the preparation of the 78 who entered the institutions of higher learning. These schools practically compel their high school pupils who will never go to college or to any other institution of learning to pursue the same course as those planning to attend such insti- tutions. In addition to the preparatory courses, the Mount Morris and the Nunda High Schools offer a commercial course; the Greigs- ville High School offers courses in vocational agriculture and voca- tional homemaking; and the Dansville High School offers a com- mercial course, a course in vocational agriculture, and one in vocational homemaking. In these schools the children who do not expect to continue their education after completing the high school work may find subjects that will appeal to them as being of a practical value. The tendency in the county to force all the children through one type of course of study is undoubtedly responsible in a large measure for a considerable amount of the retardation and elimination of the pupils. Those children who do not intend to continue their education beyond the high school should be given the opportunity to study and train for some sort of productive efficiency. It is impossible to do this in all the vocations, but since Livingston county is predominantly an agricultural county, there is a demand for vocational agriculture and vocational homemaking. Every union school would do well to establish these courses to direct the train- ing toward the farm and homemaking. The time has come when the problems of the farm demand solutions based on scientific principles, and it is the function of the schools to help meet these demands. The expense of maintaining such vocational courses is not great. The State and the Nation give most liberal financial support to the maintenance of vocational agricultural departments by providing LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 59 for a very large part of the salaries of the instructors, as is shown in the following table: Table 21 Showing the proportion of the agricultural teacher's salary paid by the local community, the State and from federal funds 1 TOTAL SALARY PAID PORTIONS PAID BY Local com- munity State Federal 5noo 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 Woo 333! 366| 200 233* 266! 300 333 1 366! 400 $800 866f 933* 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 $200 266f 3333 400 466f 5333- 600 No federal aid is given toward the maintenance of the vocational homemaking departments but the State pays one-third of the instruc- tor's salary. As another means of reducing the retardation and elimination of the pupils, particularly those in the eighth and ninth years, the junior high school organization may be used. This organization covers the seventh, eighth and ninth years and has as one of its basic principles the differentiation of the program of study into the preparatory courses and the vocational courses. In communities large enough to warrant its formation a commercial course should be added. Not only should there be the differentiation of the pro- gram of study, but the work of the teachers should also be depart- mentalized. The pupils should be promoted by subjects, and the teachers should teach only those subjects in which they have special- ized. The fundamental object of the junior high school seems to be to guide the children vocationally, particularly by the enrichment of the program. The junior high school organization has been found to be quite successful in reducing the amount of retardation and elimination in the many schools throughout the Nation that have adopted it. l Page 61 of the Journal of the Meeting of the Board of Regents, March 28, 1018. 60 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK The Dansville High School has such an organization. In 1911-12 this school had an enrolment of 99 pupils in its ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth years. In 191 7-18 the enrolment was 174. During this period the increase in population of the community has been small. The credit for this increase in high school population is given to the introduction of the courses in commercial work, agri- culture and homemaking, and also to the .establishment of a junior high school. Summary of Recommendations 1 Permanent record cards should be kept on file and up-to-date in every school in the county for each child attending it. On these cards should be recorded the date and place of birth and the nation- ality of the child, the nationality of the child's parents, the child's residence, the date when he began school, the progress he has made, and the different schools he has attended. 1 Children transferring from one school to another should be required to present a transfer card on which is recorded this information. If some such plan as this were followed, it would be possible to determine exactly and with comparatively little trouble the data concerning acceleration, retarda- tion and elimination. 2 Every effort should be made by the school officials to have the children begin school at 6 or 7 years of age, preferably at 6. They may then complete the eight grades within the time limit of the compul- sory education law. 3 School officials should not permit a first grade to number more than 40 children. 4 Schools which have many children in group F should have kindergartens in which these children may learn the English language and prepare for the first grade work. These grades should be restricted to not more than 30 children. The local communities are in need of the aid and guidance of specialists to study the problems presented by these children. The communities feel the need of state truant officers to cooperate with the local truant officers to keep these children in school. 5 Schools in which there are 10 or more children who are three or more years overage should form special grades in which these children may receive special instruction suited to their needs. 6 It is advised that the union schools of the county add to their program of school work courses in vocational agriculture and in 1 Recommendation in conformity with the National Education Association record forms. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 6l Vocational homemaking, and that the school authorities give con- sideration to the establishment in their schools of junior high school departments. THE TEACHING CORPS — THE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS Introduction In Livingston county the teaching corps of the public schools for 19 1 7-18 consisted of 3 district superintendents of schools, 12 union school principals, 4 teachers of vocational work in agriculture or homemaking, 14 teachers of physical training, 46 teachers who spend all or a part of their time teaching secondary subjects in the union schools, 62 who teach only grade work in the union schools, and 166 rural school teachers. With the exception of 4 physical training teachers, 1 union school grade teacher, 1 union school secondary teacher, 2 rural school teachers, and the faculty of the State Normal School at Geneseo, all the public school teachers in the county are included in this study. The material for this chapter which deals with the teaching corps of the public elementary schools was gathered as follows : 1 On November 23, 191 7, the district superintendents held at Geneseo a conference of all the rural school teachers in the county. At that conference a questionnaire was given to each of the teachers present. Each question was carefully explained, and after each explanation the teachers wrote their answers. The district super- intendents and two of the surveyors gave the individual teachers what aid they could in answering them. At a later date the district superintendents called on the rural teachers who were absent at the conference, and secured their answers to the questions. 2 The same day all the principals of the union schools met at Geneseo. To these were delivered a questionnaire for those of their teachers who taught grade work only. These questions were explained to the principals who in turn made the explanations to their teachers and assisted them in preparing the answers. 3 The district superintendents and the principals answered questionnaires specially prepared for them. District Superintendents The county is divided into three supervisory districts with a district superintendent in charge of each. These superintendents have authority over all the public schools in the county with the exception of the State Normal School at Geneseo, though they 62 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF, NEW YORK confine their efforts mostly to the rural schools. The supervision and administration of the union schools are left mainly to the prin- cipals. The superintendents estimate that more than half of their time is taken up in clerical and administrative work. The remainder is spent in supervising the work of the schools. These men are all graduates of the Geneseo State Normal School. One has had a summer course at Syracuse University and another one year of work in Columbia University. One had a year of experience as a teacher of a one-room rural school before he took office as a district superintendent. Another taught a one-room rural school one year and for five years was principal of a high school in a village of about iooo inhabitants. The third taught a one-room rural school for one year, was principal of a two-room rural school for ten years and of a small rural high school for four years. Each has lived on a farm all of his life and is an experienced farmer. The salary of each of two is $2000 with an extra $300 for expenses, and that of the third is $1800 with an extra $300 for expenses. These superintendents are in sympathy with the rural schools and seek conscientiously to serve their best interests. But they are handicapped in their work of supervision because of the large amount of time demanded of them in dealing with the problems of 156 indi- vidual trustees of the rural schools. It would simplify the super- intendents' work very much if the unit of administration were increased at least to the town. Principals of Union Schools as Supervisors of the Grade Work The complete data regarding the principals are found on page 86. At this point only the facts concerning them as supervisors of the grade work will be dwelt upon. One principal has to spend 86 per cent of the school day teaching secondary school subjects, four 75 per cent, one 57 per cent, three 43 per cent, and three 29 per cent. In all but one case the schedule of high school classes is fixed. The result is that only the grade work done when the principal is not teaching can be supervised unless he takes time from his secondary school classes. In one small union school the program is flexible so that the principal may supervise at different times of the day without interfering with his classes. In five of the union schools the principals have as heavy a schedule of teaching as have many of the teachers. Five of the twelve principals have had instruction in the methods of teaching grade work either in a training class or in a normal school. Of the other seven, four have had collegiate courses in psychology, LIVINGSTON COUNTY SU&VEY 63 principles of education, and other professional subjects. None of these four has had training in the supervision of the teaching of ele- mentary subjects. The other three principals have had no pro- fessional training. Of the twelve principals, four came to their present positions with- out experience as teachers. Two of these four have had no profes- sional training. The other two have had only the general professional training offered by the colleges. One came to his present position with two years of experience as secondary school teacher. He has had no professional training in a normal school or a college. Elementary School Teachers Salaries The salaries of the rural teachers 1 and of the union school grade teachers * are given in the following table. Table 22 Salaries of the elementary school teachers SALARIES RURAL SCHOOL TEACHERS UNION SCHOOL GRADE TEACHERS $350-$374. • • • 375-399-.. 400 - 424. . . 425-449... 450 -474- ■ • 475 -499- ■ ■ 500-524... 525-549..., 550-574-.-. 575-599---. 600 - 624. . . . 625-649.... 650-674.... 675-699.... 700 - 724. . . 750-774.... 775-799- • • Total Median salary 5 12 9 34 40 6 29 13 6 2 1 1 1 2 I 1 a 1 164 $464 I 2 1 1 8 3 4 15 9 5 61 5 12 9 34 41 8 40 21 9 6 16 10 6 2 4 1 1 225 $502 1 For definitions of rural schools and union schools see page 36. The teachers of grade work in the state normal school are not included. a Male principal of a rural four-department school. All union school grade teachers are women. 64 fHE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF &EW YOfcK This table is read as follows : there are 5 rural school teachers who receive a salary between $350 and $374 inclusive, 12 who receive a salary between $375 and $399 inclusive, and so on. The median salary of the rural school teachers is $464, and that of the union school grade teacher is $603 . To term a salary a median or middle salary means that there are as many teachers receiving salaries less than it as there are teachers receiving salaries more than it. The amounts paid weekly by the teachers for board and room are shown in the following table : Table 23 Amounts paid by elementary teachers for board and room AMOUNT A WEEK RURAL SCHOOL UNION SCHOOL $2.... 3- • ■ 3 SO. 3-75- 4.... 4-25- 4-5°- 5. 5 5 6 6.25. 6.50. 6-75. 7.. • 8.... 25- 50. 1 6 12 1 23 6 8 29 1 6 5 3 2 Total no. of answers . No answers given . . . Median amount 1 6 12 1 24 6 8 41 1 10 11 3 11 2 14 1 108 44 56 17 152 73 $4-50 Although the teacher actually teaches from 36 to 40 weeks of the year, yet she has to meet her living expenses for 52 weeks. If the median amount paid for board and room by the rural school teacher is $4.50 a week, then the median for the year is $234; for the union school grade teacher it is $312. Therefore the median amount left of a rural teacher's salary after her bill for board and room is paid is $230; for the union school grade teachers it is $291. The salaries of neither the rural nor the union school grade teachers can be called satisfactory. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 65 Experience The distribution of the teachers according to experience is shown in the following table : Table 24 Distribution of elementary teachers on the basis of experience YEARS OF EXPERIENCE None 1 2 3 4 5 6-10 n-15 16-20 21 or more Total Median no. of years of experience RURAL TEACHERS No. of teachers 27 25 15 20 H 9 3i 11 164 Per cent 17 15 9 12 9 5 19 7 2 5 3 years GRADE TEACHERS IN UNION SCHOOLS No. Of teachers 6 9 6 4 6 12 1 6 3 61 Per cent 13 10 15 10 7 10 20 2 10 5 4 years No. of teachers 35 3i 24 26 18 15 43 12 10 11 225 Per cent 16 13 11 12 8 7 19 5 4 5 This table is read as follows: There are 27, or 17 per cent, of the rural teachers, 8, or 13 per cent, of the union school grade teachers, and 35, or 16 per cent, of both rural and union school grade teachers who have had no experience previous to that of the current year, and so on. The facts are revealed by this table that the rural schools have a larger per cent of inexperienced teachers than the grades of the union schools; and that the per cent of rural teachers who have had more than five years' experience is less than that of the union school grade teachers. The median number of years of experience is 3 years for rural school teachers, and 4 years for the union school grade teachers. Relation between Salaries and Experience The relation between salaries and experience is shown in table 25. The median salary of the rural school teachers who have had no experience is $442 ; of those who have had from 1 to 5 years' experience inclusive is $464; of those who have had from 6 to 10 years' experience 3 66 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK inclusive is $502; and of those who have had 15 or more years' experience is $463. The lack of financial encouragement for the successful teachers to remain in the rural schools is reflected in the fact that no of the 164 teachers have had 5 or less years' experi- ence in teaching. It is a significant fact that those teachers in the rural schools who have taught n or more years receive a median salary which is only $21 more than the median salary received by those rural school teachers who have had no experience previous to the year in which the data for the survey were secured. Table 25 Relation between salary and experience Rural Teachers Union School Grad 3 Teachers EXPERIENCE EXPERIENCE SALARY 1 H >> 10 1 u >» vO u 10 V CI 1 10 u >» u > "3 H a 5 1 1H >. O 7 to l-i >> 10 1 to H >. O 1 CO H >. O O "is O 4 5 3 IS 26 4 13 6 3 2 I 6 4 2 8 3 2 1 I 5 12 9 35 40 6 29 13 6 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 164 s 3 8 5 2 2 I I I 4 2 1 2 3 2 1 2 3 1 1 3 2 2 1 5 4 1 3 10 4 3 1 4 1 1 3 1 2 11 8 I 3 1 4 1 15 1 2 2 9 1 2 5 1 1 1 I 3 1 27 $442 Total 83 $464 3i $502 11 4 $463 8 8 $508 3i $606 12 S550 I 6 I638 3 61 The corresponding data for the union school grade teachers follow: No experience : Median salary. . . . 1 to 5 years of experience Median salary .... 6 to 10 years of experience Median salary .... $550 More than 10 years of experience Median salary. . . . It is observed that there is a greater financial inducement for the successful teacher to remain in the grades of the union schools than there is for the successful teacher to remain in the rural schools; and that the median salary of those who have served a long term LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 67 of years as a teacher and who are teaching in the union school grad es is larger than that of the rural teachers who have had like terms of service. Surveys made of rural schools in Saline county, Missouri, the state of North Dakota, and Lane county, Oregon, give the following data concerning rural teachers' salaries: Lane County, Oregon — iqi6 Average monthly salary of teachers in one-room rural schools, $55 Average monthly salary of assistant teachers in rural schools of more than one- room, $72 North Dakota Average yearly salary paid teachers in one-room rural schools in North Dakota for the year 1918, $449.16 Saline County, Missouri — 1914 Monthly salaries paid rural teachers: highest $80, lowest $32.50, median $50 Cost of board and room a week: highest $5, lowest $1.50, median $3 Median yearly salary on 12 month basis $600 Median yearly board and room bill on 12 month basis $156 Median balance $444 Tenure Table 26 shows that one-half of the rural teachers are just beginning their first year in their present schools and that the grade teachers remain in their positions for a longer period than do the rural teachers. Table 26 Year of service of the teachers in their present positions YEAR OF SERVICE 1st year . 2d year. 3d year. 4th year . 5th year . 6th year . 7th year . 8th year . 9th year . I oth year. 1 2th year . 22d year. 26th year. Total RURAL SCHOOL TEACHERS No. of teachers 82 38 20 11 5 2 1 1 2 2 164 Per cent 50 23 12 7 3 I 1 1 1 1 GRADE TEACHERS IN UNION SCHOOLS No. Of teachers 26 8 4 6 4 3 2 1 1 1 2 1 2 61 Per cent 43 13 7 10 7 5 3 2 2 2 3 2 3 TOTAL No. of teachers 108 46 24 17 9 5 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 225 Per cent 48 20 11 8 4 2 1 1 1 2 68 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK One hundred twenty-one rural school teachers who have had experience previous to that of the year 191 7-18 reported the number of different schools in which they have taught. The study of the relation existing between the number of schools in which these rural school teachers have taught and the number of years of their experience 1 shows that 2 have taught on the average less than one year in each of their schools; that 46 teachers have taught on the average from one year up to two years in each of their schools; that 54 teachers have taught on the average from two years up to three in each of their schools, and that only 19 teachers have had an average length of service of three or more years in each of their schools. In other words, 40 per cent of the rural teachers remain on the average less than two years in a school, and 86 per cent of these remain less than three years in a school. Only 14 per cent of these teachers have an average tenure of three or more years in a school. The longest average tenure of any of the 121 reported is five years. It is a significant fact that one teacher has taught in thirteen different rural schools in 21 years and another in sixteen different schools in 30 years. Teachers Employed in their Home Districts There were 18 per cent of the 164 rural school teachers, and 31 per cent of the 61 union school grade teachers teaching in their home districts. By home district is meant the district in which the teacher made her residence before taking the position she now holds. These facts refute the commonly accepted statement that the rural schools employ more teachers in their home districts than do the union schools. Teachers who Have Lived on a Farm All but one of the 164 rural teachers gave information as to whether they have ever lived on a farm. Of the 163, 125, or 77 per cent, lived on a farm a part or all of their lives. Of the 61 union school grade teachers, 51 per cent lived all or a part of their lives on a farm. Distribution of Teachers According to their Home Counties and States The location of the teachers' childhood homes was determined on the basis of the location of the high schools or preparatory schools from which they were graduated. The distribution of the teachers on this basis is shown in the following table. 1 See table 8 in the appendix. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 69 Table 27 Distribution of rural and union school grade teachers by states and counties COUNTIES RURAL TEACHERS UNION SCHOOL GRADE TEACHERS TOTAL Livingston 50 12 2 3 6 7 3 1 23 2 3 7 2 2 1 3 73 1 Allegany 14 1 Genesee 5 1 Monroe 10 1 Ontario 8 1 Steuben 9 4 1 1 Wyoming Broome Chemung 1 Cortland 1 Erie Niagara 1 1 1 Onondaga 2 Orleans 1 Oswego 1 2 1 Wayne 7 1 Yates State of Vermont 1 Total 89 54 143 Not graduates of high or preparatory schools . . 69 5 74 No answer 6 2 8 1 Counties bordering Livingston. Of the 89 rural teachers whose home county was determined, 81, or 93 per cent, have come from Livingston county or those counties bordering it, while of the 54 union school teachers, 40, or 74 per cent, have come from Livingston county or those counties bordering it. 70 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Distribution of Teachers According to Age The median age of both the rural and the union school teachers is 24 years. The range of ages for the former is 18 to 62 and for the latter 19 to 44. Table 28 Distribution of rural and union school grade teachers according to age 18. 19- 20. 21 . 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 3i 32 33 • • 34 35 36 37 38 :. 39 41 42 43 '••■> 44 47 49 50 5i 57 58 62 No age given . Total Median RURAL TEACHERS 4 5 21 19 17 13 14 9 8 4 9 3 3 7 2 4 1 1 2 1 5 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 164 24 UNION SCHOOL GRADE TEACHERS 6l 24 TOTAL 4 7 24 23 26 19 22 12 12 7 11 4 3 9 2 5 2 2 2 2 2 6 1 2 3 1 1 1 2 1 I I I 4 225 24 LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 71 Number of Grades and Children per Teacher The median number of grades taught by the rural teachers is five and the median number taught by the union school grade teachers is one. Table 29 Number of grades taught by the teachers NO. OF GRADES NUMBER OF RURAL SCHOOL TEACHERS NUMBER OF UNION SCHOOL GRADE TEACHERS 9 TOTAL I I 9 29 37 28 35 • 18 6 40 II IO 41 20 2 3 39 37 28 4 5 6 35 18 7 8 6 Total 163 I 61 224 1 No report Median 5 grades to the teacher i grade to the teacher 4 grades to the teacher This table is read thus: there are one rural teacher and 40 union school grade teachers who have charge of only one grade, 9 rural and 11 union school teachers who have charge of two grades, etc. The rural teacher, therefore, has a much greater range of school work to cover than the union school grade teacher. In order to cover this successfully she -needs a general and thorough training in the methods of teaching each of the eight grades, while the union school grade teacher may become a specialist in the primary grade work, the intermediate grade work or the grammar grade work. /^ THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Table 30 Number of pupils to the teacher 2 or 3. 4 or 5. 6 or 7 . 8 or 9. 10 or 11. 12 or 13. 14 or 15. 16 or 17. 18 or 19. 20 or 21. 22 or 23. 24 or 25 . 26 or 27. 28 or 29. 30 or 31. 32 or 33 . 34 or 35 . 36 or 37 . 38 or 39 . 40 or 41 . 42 or 43 . 44 or 45. 46 or 47 . 50 or 51 . 56 or 57 . 74 or 75. Total. Median . . . NUMBER OF PUPILS RURAL SCHOOL TEACHERS 5 15 16 11 16 23 16 14 16 12 4 2 5 3 1 1 1 164 12 or 13 group UNION SCHOOL GRADE TEACHERS 6l 32 or 33 group 5 15 16 11 16 23 17 17 17 14 9 11 2 225 16 or 17 group While the rural teacher has many more grades to teach, she has a median number of only 12 or 13 children in her charge, against a median of 32 or 33 children for the union school grade teacher. The distribution of the children according to grades is shown by table 31. This table is read as follows: there are 61 rural schools which have 1 or 2 pupils in the first grade, 64 which have 1 or 2 pupils in the second grade, 64 which have 1 or 2 pupils in the third grade and so on. Some union schools departmentalize their seventh grades and most of them their eighth grades and the children in them are promoted by subjects instead of by grades. Because of this there are few seventh and eighth grades reported. One union school has a kindergarten of 2 1 children which is not reported in the above table LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 73 S jss en H «! K o M H n "3 O co c^cc co too co co -tf h to tteo CO •>* i- o to CO -^H CO N ft o o w *-* IN M * CO H M 0i H Ifl M ft o o M M H IN HUM oa IN P, u 3 °2 CO M a 00 •0 co MonHCi M M M M M ■* « ft h bo •a H H 01 IN H H M W cq M v. 3 o o CO 00 S M H co 01 CN w • 0) M M •<*• CO IN ft °2 r^ bo H Q cn a ^ S °2 m bo rt ,3 CO ^t ft •- s o o CO 00 13 CO rrOO N IN O IN M O N ft O m bo •d rf t- 01 co H o N ft So H bO -tj M ro tOsO CO CN vO co h M s 01 ft m bo i t f i |3 C u c -c c oc l- c c c • C \ H c f o f « c c C o oc O C O c 0] o f f o V f OC rr o c -t c o 1" O w ■3 -t -1 f -t u -r O V u O a lO IO t^ ■a so o a. 74 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK The median number of children in the rural first, second, third, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades is either i or 2, and in the fourth grade it is either 3 or 4. In the union school grades the median number of children to the grade varies from, 11 to 28. Hiring of Teachers In the union schools the teachers are hired by the board of edu- cation upon the recommendation of the principals. In the rural schools most of the trustees hire the teachers solely upon their own judgment, though some consult the district superintendent about the candidates' qualifications. One district superintendent estimates that about 50 per cent of the trustees hire without regard to anything except price. Another states that about 70 per cent of the trustees hire without recommendation from him. In one county in Wisconsin " careful inquiry showed that for two years past (19 12) no rural school teacher had been employed without the advice and consent of the county superintendent." Certification of Teachers Distribution of teachers according to certificate held. The dis- tribution of the teachers according to the kinds of certificate held is shown in table 32. Table 32 Certificates to teach held by the elementary teachers LICENSE RURAL TEACHERS UNION SCHOOL GRADE TEACHERS Temporary Academic Rural renewable . Training class C 1 , Training class B 1 Training class A 1 First grade Normal school College grad. prof, pro v. College grad. prof, life . . Total. 9 25 3 45 10 12 7 53 164 54 I I 61 10 25 3 45 11 15 7 107 1 I 225 draining class A, valid in any school in the State; training class B, valid in the grades in any school in the State; training class C, not valid in the union school grades. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 75 In this table all certificates listed above the heavy line are those which are valid in a rural school only. Therefore, only 50 per cent of the rural teachers have certificates which will permit them to teach in the union school grades. One union school has a teacher with a temporary license. The holder is a graduate of a Vermont state normal school. Twenty-nine, or 18 per cent, of the rural teachers have certificates other than the normal school diploma that will permit them to teach in union school grades, yet it is a rare thing for teachers with such certificates to be engaged by boards of education of union schools. Education and Professional Training of the Teachers Of the 120 rural teachers who have completed a course of pro- fessional training (other than a six weeks' summer course at a normal school), 67, or 56 per cent, have completed a one-year training class course, and 53, or 44 per cent have completed a two-year or four-year normal school course. Of the 61 union school grade teachers 4, or 7 per cent, have com- pleted a one-year training class course, 55, or 90 per cent have completed a two-year or four-year normal school course, and 2, or 3 per cent, a four-year college course. It is surprising to find that 44, or 2 7 per cent, of the rural teachers either have had no professional training or else have completed only a part of a course in professional training. These facts show that the standards set for the rural teacher are inferior to those set for the union school grade teacher. The education of the rural and the union school grade teachers is shown by table 41. Ninety-five, or 58 per cent, of the rural teachers and 56, or 92 per cent, of the union school grade teachers are high school graduates. One hundred twenty, or 73 per cent, of the rural teachers and 61, or 100 per cent, of the union school grade teachers have completed a course of professional training in either a training class or a normal school. The rural school teachers, therefore, are not the equals of the union school grade teachers in either education or professional training. /6 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Table 33 The teachers' education * EDUCATION RURAL SCHOOL TEACHERS UNION SCHOOL GRADE TEACHERS TOTAL Part high school 2 2 42 I 9 1 1 1 1 20 I I 2 5 46 2 4 High school Part high school and training class 43 1 9 Part high school and part normal school Part high school, training class and part normal school Part high school, training class and normal school High school, part training class 1 High school, part training class and part normal school 1 High school and training class 21 High school, training class and part normal school 2 High school and part normal 28 2 2 1 37 1 28 High school, training class and normal school . . High school, part normal school and part college High school, training class, normal school and part college 7 2 i High school and normal school 83 1 High school and part college High school and college 2 Normal school 12 1 16 Part normal school 1 Total 164 61 225 1 Four teachers who are credited in this table with a training class education failed to qualify for a training class certificate. Nature of the Rural Teachers' Professional Training The normal schools and the training classes are the two institutions at which the rural school teachers in the county received their pro- fessional training. The normal school trains teachers primarily for the elementary schools. Their graduates secure positions almost exclusively in city and village schools. Those graduates who accept positions in rural schools begin their duties with little training for the problems peculiar to the rural school. If they have attended a rural school in their childhood, the memory of how it was conducted may help them in meeting their problems. The candidates for an academic license must be graduates of a high school and must take a summer term of six weeks in a norma 1 LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY J7 school during which term the candidate must take thirty periods of 45 minutes each in rural school administration. 1 Unless she has lived on a farm she goes to the rural school with a very meager knowledge of rural life. Such a short course of training is quite inadequate for the complex problems of the rural school. The training classes are designed to train rural teachers. The requirements for admission are three years of high school training. The course is one year in length and is in charge of one teacher. She has to instruct her pupils in methods of teaching arithmetic, English, physiology and hygiene, reading, writing, spelling, history and geography; to give them instruction in the subject matter of nature study, agriculture, and drawing and handwork, and in the methods of teaching them; and lastly to instruct them in psychology and principles of education, school management and hygiene, and school law. No instruction is given in rural sociology or homemaking. The instruction in agriculture is necessarily very meager . and consists almost entirely of book knowledge with no field or observation work. In fact, the syllabus of the work to be covered in agriculture is the same as that for the pupils the prospective teacher is preparing to teach. Before a training class pupil is licensed to teach she has to pass Regents examinations in the subjects studied and these examinations naturally aid the training class teacher to interpret the syllabus of instruction. The last examination paper in nature study and agriculture consisted of ten questions, eight of which the candidate had to answer. Of the ten, seven concern nature study, one concerns forestry, one the milk industry and the tenth potato growing. An alternative is offered for the tenth. This deals with junior home project work. It is possible for a city-bred person who has had good instruction in high school biology and hygiene to pass this examination in nature study and agriculture without special preparation for it. It is evident, therefore, that the rural school teacher does not receive so thorough a preparation for her work as the union school grade teacher does for hers. Rural Teachers who Have Had Instruction in Agriculture and Household Art Of the 164 rural school teachers 34, or 21 per cent, have had instruction in agriculture, 23 of whom received it at a training class, 8 at a normal school, 1 at a high school, another at Cornell, and one 1 Summer session catalog of the Geneseo State Normal School. 78 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK at a summer school. Seven studied agriculture one year, 23 a half year, 2 ten weeks, and 1 two weeks. : Forty-one, or 25 per cent, of the rural school teachers have had instruction in homemaking, 31 of whom received it at a normal school, 5 at a high school, 1 at Cornell, 1 at Mechanics Institute, I at a training class, 1 at St Lawrence State School of Agriculture, and 1 at the hands of a private tutor. The length of the courses varied from two years to six weeks. Sixty, or 37 per cent, of the rural school teachers have read books on agriculture, 30, or 18 per cent, books on homemaking and 18, or II per cent, books on rural life and its problems. In this connection it should be remembered that 38, or 23 per cent, of the rural teachers have never lived on a farm at any time during their lives. Professional Magazines Read All but 9 of the rural teachers and all but 1 of the union school grade teachers read professional magazines. One magazine which is devoted very largely to methods and devices to aid the teachers in rural schools and in the grades of village schools is read by 145 of the rural teachers and by 50 of the union school grade teachers. The rural teachers select their reading from seven different pro- fessional magazines, while the union school grade teachers select theirs from nine. The Rural Teacher and the Parents At the conference for rural teachers held at Geneseo November 23, 19 1 7, there were 95 rural school teachers who had taught in Livingston county rural schools the previous year. These furnished the follow- ing facts. There were no meetings for other than children in 40 of the 95 schools. Each of 33 schools had one entertainment, each of 2 had two entertainments, and each of 2 had three. Five schools had mothers' or parents' meetings, 8 had picnics, and 2 had socials. In 14 schools meetings in no way connected with school work were held. Of these 12 were religious, 2 were Red Cross meetings, and 1 was a meeting of the Dairymen's League. In 29 school districts no parents visited the school during the year, and in the remaining 66 the median number who visited the schools is four. In 17 school districts there were no meetings which the parents attended nor were there any parents who visited these schools. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 79 Those teachers who had mothers' or parents' meetings deserve commendation. Other teachers will do well to follow the example set. To interest the parents in the school, its work, and its problems will aid the teacher very materially in her work. So are the teachers to be commended who had entertainments to which the parents were invited. Teachers do well who encourage community meetings. In this connection it should be recalled that only 10 rural schools make provision for tying horses. School Fairs and Home Projects Forty-eight of the 95 schools had school exhibits or fairs during 19 1 7-18. Twenty of these schools had exhibits at the Hemlock Fair !% 35 at the Avon Fair and 8 in the school buildings. Ten schools had 36 pupils in all carrying on home projects in agriculture and 6 schools had 19 pupils in all carrying on homemaking projects. The teachers of these schools deserve commendation, particularly those who have succeeded in introducing the home project idea. Such is considered the best way to carry on elementary vocational work. If the teacher knows enough of agriculture or homemaking to give the child preliminary instruction for carrying on the proj- ects, she will be more successful in this respect than she would be without such knowledge. Attitude of the Rural Teachers toward Their Positions The rural teachers were asked the following question: If you were offered two positions for the coming year that would net you the same amount of money a year, one in a rural school, the other in the grades of a union school, which would you accept (assuming that the license you hold would permit you to choose the latter if you so desire)? Of the 164 teachers, 117 said they would accept the position in the grades of a union school, 44 the position in a rural school, 3 either of them, 1 neither, and 1 made no answer. The teachers were asked to give their reasons for their choice. Table 34 gives the answers of the 117 preferring the position in a union school. So THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Table 34 Reasons for preferring a grade position in a^union school REASONS GIVEN NO. OF TEACHERS GIVING THEM There are fewer grades to teach Better equipment is available Boarding and social conditions are better There are better advantages — lectures, plays, libraries etc The work is more interesting because there are more children There is a greater opportunity for advancement . .• The teacher does not have to do janitor work The professional conditions are better The supervision is better Her training is for grade work in a city or village It would be an advancement to secure a position in a city or village The sanitary conditions are better There is no " spite work " in a union school district The attendance of the pupils is better The pupils must have books Total 80 50 34 17 13 12 5 4 4 3 2 1 1 1 1 228 This table is read as follows: 80 teachers give the first reason, 50 give the second, and so on. Some teachers gave more than one reason which fact accounts for the 228 reasons given by 117 teachers. It is significant that the reasons — "fewer number of grades," " better equipment," and " better boarding and social conditions " — are 72 per cent of all given. Table 35 gives the reasons why the 44 teachers prefer the rural school position. Table 35 Reasons for preferring the rural school position REASONS GIVEN Love of rural life Sympathies with rural pupils A better understanding of rural life and pupils Fitted by experience for rural school work More independence and freedom in a rural school Preference for rural schools The work is more interesting A greater field for service A better opportunity for nature study A better opportunity to take part in community affairs " Satisfied with rural schools " The possibilities for the future promise to be great .... A better opportunity to know the pupils The rural schools need trained teachers More money can be saved Can live at home . . . ' More healthful in the country Total NO. OF TEACHERS GIVING THEM 20 6 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 63 LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 81 Some of the 44 teachers gave more than one reason, which fact accounts for 63 reasons being reported. The only outstanding reason given is the first — "love of rural life" — which is 32 per cent of all. The question was asked, " What kind of position do you seek as an advancement? " The answers given to this question by those who would choose a grade position in a union school follow : Table 36 Kind of position sought as an advancement by those who prefer a union school position NO. OF TEACHERS Grade teacher , Teacher in the lower grades , High school teacher Teacher in the higher grades Teacher in the intermediate grades Commercial teacher , Kindergarten teacher Principal Training class teacher , Specialized work One grade to a room , Teacher of homemaking Principal of elementary school Physical training teacher , Preceptress of a high school Teacher in a private school Departmental work in the grades . . Position in town No decision No answer Total 25 14 10 7 7 6 5 2 2 2 2 4 24 117 In answer to the question why they would choose such positions, 41 teachers said it was the position in which they were interested or for which they were adapted; 3 said it was the position they were trained for; 2 said they preferred to teach older pupils; 1 said the environment is better; 1 said it is a better position; another that the work is easier; and the remaining 40 failed to give a reason. Those who said that they would prefer rural school work to grade work in a union school gave the following answers to the question, " What position do you seek as an advancement? " 82 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Table 37 Kind of position sought as an advancement by those who prefer a rural school position NO. OF TEACHERS High school teacher Principal of a high school Physical training teacher Business Teacher in a consolidated rural school Drawing teacher Primary teacher in a two-department school Teacher of homemaking District superintendent Large rural school First grade work Higher grade work Teacher of one grade No answer Total 23 44 The reason for the choice given by 10 was " interest in rural school work." One said a principalship is more satisfactory, another that a consolidated rural school teacher would have fewer grades to teach, another that the salary for high school work is higher, and the remaining 10 gave no reason for the choice. It is interesting to note that not more than 8 of the 23 teachers answering the question seek what may be termed a rural position. What the others seek are really village or city positions. It may be safely concluded from these facts that the rural teacher is not content to remain in the rural school but seeks a position in the union schools or in the city schools. If she is ambitious and has ability she will ultimately find her place there; if not, she remains in the rural schools. Conclusions and Recommendations The rural school teachers in Livingston county receive lower salaries and are less experienced than the union school grade teachers. As long as they remain in the rural schools they have practically no promise of much advancement either in position or in salary with the result that there is very little, if any, incentive for ambitious and successful teachers to remain in these schools. The rural teacher has many grades to teach with very few pupils in a grade. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 83 The requirements for certification to teach in a rural school both as to education and professional training are lower than those to teach in the grades of a union school. This fact means that as a whole the education and the professional training of the rural teachers are inferior to those of the union school grade teacher. The inevitable result is that the rural school position is regarded by the teachers as inferior to the grade position in a union school. The child living in the town of West Sparta or Ossian or Sparta or Portage is entitled to as good instruction as the child living in the village of Avon or the village of Mount Morris or the village of Dansville. It is only fair to the former to require that his teacher be as well educated, as well trained, and as successful as the teacher of the latter. With this fact in mind the following suggestions are made. 1 The common school district unit stands in the way of providing better supervision and administration of rural schools and should give way to the town unit or the county unit in the control of a board of education. 2 The district superintendents of schools should be given powers similar to those of a village or city superintendent of schools and they should be provided with sufficient help to enable them to give their schools very close supervision. 3 No teacher should be hired for a rural school position without the recommendation of the district superintendent of schools. 4 A salary schedule should be established for the rural schools with a minimum salary and a maximum salary comparable with the schedules in the best village schools. Such a schedule should provide for a definite yearly increase in salary to make it an incentive for a teacher to remain in the same school for a long period of years. 5 The chief complaint of the rural school teacher is that she has too many grades to teach. This may be overcome in many cases through consolidation of school districts. There are in the county many pairs of districts which might well be consolidated, many trios, and in some cases four or five districts which might well be consolidated and the pupils be transported to a central school. District 7 of the town of York is an excellent example of voluntary consolidation and the results are most satisfactory. Kansas, Missouri, Wisconsin, Indiana, Minnesota and several other states afford many illustrations of successful consolidation of rural schools. In very many cases the present districts could not be consolidated advantageously. This is particularly true of the southern end of 84 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK the county where the land surface is much broken by ravines and hills and where the roads in certain seasons are very bad. 6 The educational and professional requirements for rural teachers should be on par with those of the best village schools. 7 The rural school presents problems distinct from those of the village and the city school. It is a distinct type of school which demands specially prepared teachers. It is a mistake to think those who are prepared for village and city schools are prepared for rural schools. The teacher should be made familiar with rural life and be trained to become a community leader. She should know the rural child and have a general idea of the mind content of such children. She should be prepared to promote the home project method of teaching agriculture and homemaking. She should have a rigorous course in rural school hygiene, sanitation and manage- ment. She should be trained to give instruction in physical training and to supervise play and recreational work. In addition to these she should be trained in psychology, and in methods of instruction, and should have practice teaching in a rural school. The rural school teacher, therefore, should have a distinct type of training for her work. 8 To carry out these suggestions would involve necessarily additional expense. The rural communities may well increase their budgets to meet a part of this expense. The State may well afford to meet a larger part of it. And since the rural school problem is nationwide and since its solution is essential to the best interests of the Nation, there are sufficient grounds to justify the national government to aid the states financially in its solution. The pre- cedent has been set by the enactment of the Smith-Hughes act which gives very substantial aid to industrial and agricultural education throughout the Nation. 9 The qualifications required of a principal of a union school, should include training in the methods of teaching the elementary school subjects, and in the supervision of the elementary school work. In lieu of such training, successful experience as a supervisor of elementary school work might be accepted. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 85 TEE TEACHING CORPS — THE SECONDARY TEACHERS Introduction In Livingston county, secondary school instruction is given in the twelve union schools, the Geneseo State Normal School, and the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary. Only the work of the union schools is included in this chapter. The departments in which secondary school instruction is given in the New York State union schools are commonly called academic departments. These are grouped in four grades. The lowest is called an academic school of junior grade which is limited to two years of secondary school work. The next is called an academic school of middle grade which may not offer more than three years of secondary school work. The third is called an academic school of senior grade which may give four years of secondary school work. The highest grade is the high school. Although these departments are termed academic they may also offer commercial and vocational courses. One of the twelve union schools in Livingston county has an academic department of middle grade, four have academic departments of senior grade, and seven have academic departments of high school grade. When speaking of the secondary school work the distinction is commonly made between the first five and the last seven by calling the former union schools and the latter high schools. A comparison will be made in this study between the union school faculties and the high school faculties. Ten of the 38 high school teachers and 4 of the union school teachers teach some of the higher elementary school grade work in addition to secondary school subjects. The material for this chapter was gathered through the use of questionnaires. A meeting of all the principals of the public second- ary schools was called at Geneseo, November 23, 19 17. To these principals were delivered questionnaires for their teachers of secondary and vocational subjects and for themselves. The questionnaire was carefully explained to them and they in turn explained it to their teachers and aided them in making their answers. Ten of the 14 teachers of physical training in the public schools of the county were present at the conference of teachers held by the district superintendents at Geneseo the same day. These teachers were asked to answer a questionnaire under the supervision of the district superintendents. The Principals The following table gives the salaries of the union and high school principals : 86 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Table 38 Salaries of union and high school principals UNION SCHOOL PRINCIPALS HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPALS No. of principals Salary Years of exper- ience Years in present position No. of principals Salary Years of exper- ience Years in present position C$850 1000 1000 1 150 1550 1 4 3 4 16 None 1 3 4 4 $1300 1400 1600 1600 1700 1750 2100 10 13 9 4 6 II 12 4 None None 2 None 11 6 a This principal is a woman. All others are men. This table is read as follows: one union school principal receives a salary of $850, has had one-half of a year of experience, and has held her present position since September 191 7; one high school principal received a salary of $1300, has had 10 years of experience, and has held his present position 4 years. The high school principals as a whole receive larger salaries and are more experienced than the union school principals, though there are more new principals among the former group than among the latter. The ages of the principals of the union and the high schools are as follows : Table 39 Ages of the principals UNION SCHOOL PRINCIPALS HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPALS No. of principals Age No. of principals Age 24 26 27 29 35 1 '27 28 1 30 35 47 LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 87 All the union school principals are teaching six secondary sub- jects each day. Four of the union schools have eight periods a day and one has seven. These facts mean that the union school prin- cipals have in four cases two periods for supervision and adminis- trative work, and in one case only one period. Under such circum- stances it is very difficult for these principals to supervise properly the teaching in their schools. Three high school principals have to teach two periods daily, three have to teach three periods daily, and one four periods daily. All but one of the schools have seven periods a day. These principals are afforded ample time for supervision and administrative work. Four of the union school principals are college graduates, one of whom is also a graduate of a normal school. The fifth union school principal is a graduate of a training class and has earned a state life certificate by passing some twenty rigorous examinations which cover the secondary school curriculum and courses in school law, school management, methods of teaching, and history of education or , psychology. None of the principals has taken summer school courses. since they have been graduated from college or training class. One high school principal is a graduate of a normal school, two of a college, one of a normal school and a college, one of a college with considerable credit earned in summer courses toward a master's degree, one of a college with both a bachelor's and a master's degree, and one of a normal school and a college with both a bachelor's and a master's degree. The certificates to teach held by the union school principals are : State life certificate 1 principal Normal school professional diploma 1 principal College graduate limited 1 principal College graduate professional permanent 2 principals Those held by the high school principals are : Normal school diploma 1 principal College graduate permanent 1 principal College graduate professional permanent 5 principals The college graduate limited certificate is granted to those who have been graduated from college without completing the course in professional training prescribed by the State for a professional license. When the holder has had three years of successful experience and has passed certain professional examinations, he is granted a college graduate life certificate. The college graduate professional provisional certificate is granted to college graduates who have com- pleted the course in professional training prescribed by the State. ■88 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK After three years of successful experience the holder is granted a college graduate professional permanent certificate. All these facts may be summed up by saying that as a whole the high school principals are higher salaried and more experienced, have had more professional training and have more time available for supervising the work of their schools than have the union school principals. It may also be said that the union school principal has a heavier teaching schedule than has the average high school teacher. The Secondary School Teachers Salaries The salaries of the union and the high school teachers are shown in this table: Table 40 Salaries of the secondary school teachers SALARIES M5o 500 550 560 575 600 620 650 675 700 725 750 775 800 850 1200 Total Median. . UNION SCHOOL TEACHERS HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS 4 3 I 6 3 7 3 3 1 1 1 01 38 $675 45 a Male science teacher. This table is read as follows: one high school teacher receives a salary of $450, one union school teacher and one high school teacher receive a salary of $500, etc. The median salary of the union school teachers is $600 and that of the high school teachers is $675. It is not to the credit of a high school to pay one of its teachers $450. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 8 9 The amounts the teachers pay for board and room are given by 39 teachers. Table 41 Amounts paid for board and room AMOUNT PAID WEEKLY UNION SCHOOL TEACHERS HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS TOTAL 25- 5°- 25- 50. 25. 50. 75- No answer. Total. Median. . . 38 $6 50 45 50 The median amount paid by the union school teachers for board and room is $5 a week and that paid by the high school teachers is $6.50 a week. The yearly cost of living on these bases is $260 for the union school teachers and $338 for the high school teachers. Since the median salary a year for the former is $600, the median amount left after the cost of board and room is deducted is $340. For the high school teachers the median annual salary is $675. Deducting the median annual amount paid for board and room $337 remains. The union school teachers, therefore, are better off financially at the end of the year than the high school teachers. The average annual salary received by the women teachers in each of the union and high schools was computed and from these averages was subtracted the average annual amount paid for board and room. This average annual board and room bill was derived by multiplying the average of the teachers' weekly board and room bills by 52. The results follow: 90 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Table 42 Average net salary received by women teachers after their board and room expenses have been met Groveland Union. . . Mount Morris High . Greigsville High .... Caledonia High .... Avon High Dansville High Springwater Union . . Hemlock Union .... Nunda High Dalton Union Livonia High Moscow Union AVERAGE BOARD NO. OF AVERAGE AND ROOM NET TEACHERS SALARY SALARY EXPENSE I $750 .. $260 . . $490 . . 6 741 66 360 90 380 76 4 631 25 260 . . 371 25 4 681 25 325 •• 356 25 5 700 . . 344 •• 356 .. 7 710 72 379 16 331 56 2 580 .. 260 . . 320 .. 2 575 •• 260 . . 315 ■■ 5 604 . . 315 25 288 75 2 550 -. 286 .. 264 . . 6 545 83 329 33 216 50 no report The Groveland Union School and the Mount Morris High School are commended for the salaries they are paying their teachers. These schools, however, have begun to pay these high salaries only recently. Experience and Tenure The following tables show the number of years' experience the union and high school teachers have had and the number of years they have held their present positions. Table 43 Experience of the teachers YEARS EXPERIENCE No experience. 1 year 2 years 3 years 4 years 5 years 6 years 7 years 8 years 9 years 12 years 16 years 18 years Total Median UNION SCHOOL TEACHERS No. Per cent 43 H 14 14 14 1 year HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS No. Per cent 29 11 16 11 3 8 3 5 3 5 3 3 3 J8 2 years TOTAL 14 5 7 4 1 4 1 2 I 2 2 I I "45 LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 91 This table is read as follows: 3, or 43 per cent, of the union school teachers and 11, or 29 per cent, of the high school teachers have had no experience as teachers previous to the year the data for this study were gathered; and so on. Table 44 Tenure of the teachers YEAR IN PRESENT POSITION UNION SCHOOL TEACHERS HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS TOTAL No. Per cent No. Per cent First 5 2 7i 29 20 IO 3 1 1 1 2 53 26 8 3 3 3 5 25 10 Second Third 5 1 Fifth Sixth 1 Seventh 1 Eighth 2 Total 7 38 45 Median First year Secon d vear First year This table is read as follows: 5, or 71 per cent, of the union school teachers and 20, or 53 per cent, of the high school teachers were teach" ing their first year in their present positions when the data for this study were gathered; and so on. Although the union school teachers as a whole receive larger salaries than the high school teachers, yet the median amount of experience of these teachers is only one year and that of the high school teacher is two years. In both types of schools about 75 per cent of the teachers are just beginning their first or second year in their present positions. The union schools to a large degree and the high schools to a lesser degree are schools in which young graduates " win their spurs " and after winning them they secure positions in schools paying larger salaries. Teachers Employed in Their Home Districts None of the union school teachers and 3, or 8 per cent, of the high school teachers are teaching in their home districts. It will be recalled that 31 per cent of the grade teachers in these schools live 92 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK in their home districts. This wide difference is probably due to the facts that the boards of education hesitate to have young home teachers in charge of the older pupils; that the salaries paid are not high enough to attract the experienced and successful teachers to their home schools; and that a relatively small number of the young women in the various communities qualify for academic positions. Perhaps a cause of this last fact is that the secondary teacher has to spend two years more in completing her preparation to teach than the grade teacher, yet her net salary is approximately only $46 more. In this connection it must be remembered that the cost a year for a college education is considerably more than the cost a year for a normal school education. The distribution of the academic teachers according to their home counties (determined by the preparatory schools which they attended) shows that 26 counties and 2 states other than New York are represented by them. Distribution of Teachers According to Their Ages The following table shows the ages of the union and the high school teachers: Table 45 Ages of the teachers 21 22 23 24 25 27 28 29 30 31 32 34 37 54 No answer . Total. Median. . . . AGE UNION SCHOOL TEACHERS 23 yrs. HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS I 5 8 7 1 4 4 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 3«_ 24 yrs. TOTAL 2 7 IO 7 1 5 4 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 45 24 yrs. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 93 The median age of the union school teachers is 23 years and that of the high school teachers is 24 years. The former is less than the median age of either the rural or the union school grade teachers. Hiring of the Teachers In all cases the boards of education in both the union and the high schools expect the principals to pass upon the candidate's quali- fications before she is elected to a position in their schools. For this they are to be commended. Length of the School Day The length of the school day and the number of class periods a day for the union and high schools are shown in the table 46. The time taken for opening exercises, recess periods, passing to and from classes, and physical training is included in the length of the school day. In Mount Morris and Dansville seven periods are devoted to classroom work and the eighth to physical training, which is given in their gymnasiums. No class period is less than 40 minutes in length. Table 46 Length of the school day and number of class periods into which it is divided Union schools SCHOOL TIME OF OPENING TIME OF CLOSING LENGTH OF NOON HOUR NO. OF MIN. IN SCHOOL DAY NO. OF CLASS PERIODS Dalton 9 9 9 8.55 9 3-40 4 3-40 3-30 4 70 70 60 75 60 330 350 340 320 360 8 Groveland 8 Hemlock 8 Moscow 7 8 Avon ......... Caledonia Dansville Greigsville. . . . Livonia Mount Morris. Nunda 9 9 8-45 9 9 9 9 High schools 3-45 3-3° 4 3 3-30 3-45 3-30 90 315 75 315 80 355 60 300 75 315 70 335 75 315 94 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Number of Classes Taught by the Teachers The following table shows how many classes each of the teachers instruct in the union and the high schools. Study hall supervision is not included as classes taught. Table 47 Number of classes taught by the teachers NUMBER OF CLASSES A DAY NO. OF UNION SCHOOL TEACHERS NO. OF HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS TOTAL 5 15 12 5 1 5 15 6 I 4 1 1 l 3 4 8 I Music and drawing throughout the school. . . Two elementary grades and two other classes. 5 1 1 Total 7 38 45 7 classes 5 classes 6 classes The median number of classes taught each day of school by the union school teachers is 7 and by the high school teachers is 5. It is the tendency for the union schools to divide the school day into 8 periods and for the high schools to divide it into 7. This means that as a rule the union school teacher has a longer school day, has more classes to teach, and has one less free period a day than the high school teacher. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 95 Size of the Classes The size of each of 42 union school classes and 166 high school classes is shown in the following table : Table 48 Size of the classes NO. IN THE CLASS UNION SCHOOL CLASSES HIGH SCHOOL CLASSES I or 2 . . 3 or 4 . . 5 or 6. . 7 or 8 . , 9 or 10. 11 or 12. 13 or 14. 15 or 16. 17 or 18. 19 or 20. 21 or 22. 23 or 24. 25 or 26. 27 or 28. 29 or 30. 31 or 32. Total... 10 20 11 17 19 14 12 8 7 9 9 8 6 4 4 42 166 15 29 17 24 23 H 14 10 9 8 6 4 4 209 Median . 7 or 8 m a class 11 or 12 ma class 11 or 12 in a class The median size of the union school classes is 7 or 8 and of the high school classes is 11 or 12. Fourteen per cent of the union school classes and 5 per cent of the high school classes have less than 3 pupils in attendance. The union school classes which number less than 3 pupils are intei mediate algebra, Latin third year (both taught in a school limited to three years of academic work), German third year, English third year, German first year and elementary repre- sentation. The high school classes which number less than 3 are two classes in Latin fourth year, two in German second year, one in shorthand second year, one in mechanical drawing, one in inter- mediate drawing and one in third year high school drawing. Diversity of the Teachers' Work In the high schools there is a distinct tendency to restrict a teacher's program to two departments of work such as mathematics and science, g6 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK or English and history, or a modern language and Latin, etc. Of the 45 high school teachers (including the principals) only 9 teach in three departments. All the others teach in one or two depart- ments. Of the 7 union school teachers who spend three-fourths or more of their time teaching academic subjects and the 4 union school principals, 1 teaches in two departments, 5 in three depart- ments, and s in four departments. The daily programs of two union school teachers follow: English 1 8 pupils Latin 1 6 pupil s English 2 6 pupils Latin 2 6 pupils English 3 I pupil German 1 5 pupils English 4 3 pupils Elem. design 15 pupils Commercial arith 15 pupils German 1 2 pupils English 2 8 pupils German 2 9 pupils English 3 9 pupils English history 9 pupils English 4 5 pupils The teacher who has the first of these two programs has had twelve years' experience and is a graduate of a normal school. The teacher who has the second is an inexperienced college graduate. The two heaviest and most diversified individual teacher's pro- grams in the high schools follow: American history German 1 German 2 (two classes) German 3 Latin fourth year The number of pupils in each class was not reported. Ancient history (two classes) 36 pupils Biology ( two classes) 40 pupils German 1 25 pupils German 2 12 puplis Both of these programs belong to experienced teachers who have had college work in the subjects taught. One union school has a faculty, including the principal, of 5 teachers. In this school 8 years of elementary school work and 4 of secondary school work are taught. One of the 5 teachers devotes her entire time to the first three grades; another teaches the fourth, fifth and sixth grades and in addition a class of 22 in business writing; a third teaches the seventh and eighth grades and in addition a class of 10 in first year high school English and a class of 19 in book- keeping. This school is located less than 3 miles from a high school. Between the two schools is an improved macadam road over which runs an omnibus daily. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 97 Another union school, which is restricted by its charter from the University of the State of New York to teach not more than three years of academic work, is teaching classes in each of the four years of high school English, three years of history, two years of science, two years of German, three years of mathematics and three years of Latin. The Teachers' Education Four, or 57 per cent, of the union school teachers and 28, or 74 per cent, of the high school teachers are college graduates. Five others of the high school teachers have had some collegiate training. The remaining 3, or 43 per cent, of the union school teachers and 5, or 13 per cent, of the high school teachers have had no instruction beyond that given in the normal schools. Table 49 The teachers' education EDUCATION UNION SCHOOL TEACHERS HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS TOTAL High school I 3 4 1 1 27 1 I High school and normal 3 6 High school, normal, and part college 4 1 Normal school High school, training class and college 1 High school and college Part high school, part normal, part college .... 4 31 1 Total 7 38 45 The normal schools and the colleges from which the union and the high school teachers were graduated are as follows : 4 98 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Table 50 Normal schools and colleges from which the teachers were graduated SCHOOL OR COLLEGE NO. OF TEACHERS Geneseo State Normal School Plattsburg State Normal School ... . Brockport State Normal School University of Rochester Syracuse University Cornell University Elmira College Smith College St Lawrence University Alfred University New York State College for Teachers Teachers' College Mount Holyoke College University of Michigan Hunter College Pamona College Kalamazoo College ■Graduates of neither Total 45 Professional Periodicals Read All the teachers in the Dalton, Hemlock, Moscow and Springwater Union Schools, and in the Dansville, Greigsville, Mount Morris and Nunda High Schools read at least one professional magazine. One teacher in each of the remaining schools does not read such a magazine. In almost every case the teacher reads a periodical that deals specifically with at least some of the subjects she teaches. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 99 Teachers 1 Certification The certificates to teach held by the teachers are shown in the following table. Table 51 Certification of the teachers CERTIFICATE UNION SCHOOL TEACHERS HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS TOTAL First grade I I I I 6 I 6 15 2 4 I Temporary for music and drawing I Normal school — special music and drawing . . . Normal school — special commercial I I Normal school diploma 3 6 Special music certificate — college and tem- porary for Eng I College graduate limited 1 3 7 College graduate professional provisional College graduate life 18 2 College graduate professional permanent 4 Total '. 7 38 45 Thirty-seven, or 82 per cent, of the union and the high school teachers have had some form of professional training as far as their certification shows. If the 7 teachers who are holding college gradu- ate limited certificates intend to continue teaching they are undoubtedly making preparation for the professional examinations which they must pass in order that they may receive a life certificate. The Range of Subjects the Certificates License the Holders to Teach The holder of a special license is permitted to teach only the special subject covered by it; but the holders of normal school diplomas, 1 and college graduate certificates may teach any secondary school subject taught in the union or the high schools, regardless of whether they have ever studied the subject or not. This " blanket form " of license is the cause of much poor teaching. The form of contract most generally used makes no mention of the subjects to be taught by the teacher. The result is that teachers are often required to teach subjects of which they have a very meager knowledge and in which they have little or no interest. 1 Limited to elementary "grades in 1018. IOO THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Undesirable effects of the " blanket form " of certificate are ■ felt in Livingston county. To show these effects each of the teachers (including the principals) who are college graduates and who teach secondary subjects were asked in what three departments of study they have the largest number of hours of collegiate credit. Thirty- five gave this information very completely. A comparison of the departments named by each with the program of classes taught by her reveals the fact that 15 are teaching subjects which do not belong to one of the three departments in which they specialized. An illustration will make this clear. One young lady specialized in the biological sciences, English and Latin. She is teaching American and ancient history, neither of which subjects she studied in college. Another case is that of a union school teacher who specialized in history, economics and English. She is teaching geometry, Latin, German and French. She has had no instruction in German save in her high school preparatory course. Five other teachers in the county teach subjects in which they have had no instruction beyond that received in their high school preparatory course. A table follows which shows the departments in which 1 5 teachers specialized and the subjects they teach which do not belong to these departments. ■ Departments in which teachers special- ized^in college History, German, English Greek, Latin, German German, history, sociology French, German, biological science Biology, English, Latin German, French, mathematics History, zoology, botany German, Latin. English Greek, Latin, philosophy German, history, English Sociology, biology, German History, German, mathematics History, economics, English History, mathematics, Latin Science, mathematics Subjects taught which are not included in those departments Biology English, history Business arithmetic, English, English history Modern history Ancient history, American history English 1, 2, 3, 4 Algebra, geometry Elem. typewriting, adv. bookkeeping,. elem. and adv. shorthand x Algebra Latin 4 Physics Physics Geometry, Latin, German, French Physics Latin 1 1 She has had summer courses in these subjects in 191 7 and teaches them on her college graduate certificate. This table is read as follows: one teacher who specialized in history, German and English in the order named is teaching biology; another who specialized in Greek, Latin and German in the order named is teaching English and history; and so on. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY IOI Four of the 15 teachers are teaching in the union schools and 12 are teaching in the high schools. With the small teaching force and the large number of different subjects to be taught, one might expect worse conditions in the union schools, but in the high schools with their larger faculties better conditions should exist. The State Department of Education recognizes the difficulties presented by the " blanket license." In the field of modern languages a plan of " approving " teachers has been in operation for some years. If a teacher holds a master of arts degree for which she specialized in a modern language she is " approved " without examination as a teacher of that language. Others are " approved " as teachers of a modern language who have passed rigid written and oral examinations in it. Of the 13 union and high school teachers of modern languages in Livingston county, only 3 are " approved " teachers. One of these has only a temporary approval. The pupils who study under an " approved " teacher are not required to take the full Regents examination in that language. Vocational Teachers Two high schools have vocational departments of agriculture and household arts. The four teachers in charge of this work are gradu- ates of the State College of Agriculture at Cornell University and in all but one case they have had special courses in rural education. One of the two men receives a salary of $1200 and the other one of Si 400. They are under contract for twelve months each year. Of their salaries the State pays $200 for the two summer months and two-thirds of the remainder. The summer months are spent in inspecting the projects of the pupils, and in gathering material for the coming year's work. One of the two teachers of household arts receives a salary of $600 and the other one of $700. Of these the State pays one-third. These teachers are employed for ten months each year. One of the men came to his present position with two years of experience as a rural school teacher. All of the teachers have lived on a farm and have had actual experience in farm duties. The licenses held by these are the special vocational certificates which permit them to teach only the work in which they have specialized. Physical Training Teachers Of the 14 teachers of physical training, data were secured for only 10. Of these 10 teachers, 1 received $1350, 5 received 102 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK $1200, i received $1150, 1 received $1100, and 1 received $1000. One teacher made no answer. Of these salaries the State pays one-half. Three of the teachers are men. Each of two has charge of the work in both a high school and a union school, and the third has the work in one high school. Of the 7 women, 4 have charge of the instruction in physical training in both a union or a high school and some rural schools; the other 3 teach in rural schools only. Although these teachers receive comparatively large salaries, yet those who teach in rural schools are put to heavy expense in traveling from school to school. When the data were collected the teachers had not had long enough experience in their present positions to be able to give accurately the amounts of such expense. All but two of these teachers are graduates of a high school. One is a graduate of the Springfield Y. M. C. A. College of Physical Education, 6 are graduates of normal school courses in physical education, and 3 have not completed the requirements for graduation from any course in physical education. Of these 3, 2 have had one summer of physical training instruction in college, and the third has had no such instruction at all. Seven of the 10 teachers have special licenses to teach physical training and 3 have temporary licenses. This special form of license permits these teachers to teach only physical training. Six of these teachers have had from one-half a year to 2 years' experience as a teacher. The other 4 have had no experience. Conclusions A large majority of the secondary school teachers in Livingston county are college graduates. The annual cost of a college education is considerably more than the annual cost of a normal school edu- cation, and the time required to complete a college course is twice that required to complete a normal school course. Yet the high schools pay their secondary teachers a net median salary that is ' only $46 more than the net median salary paid the grade teachers in the union schools. 1 The union schools pay a net salary to their secondary teachers that is $3 more than the net salary paid by the high schools. Neither the union nor the high schools are paying salaries high enough to retain the teachers, as is shown by the facts that about 75 per cent of the teachers are beginning either their first 1 The term " union schools " in this sentence includes all public schools main- taining secondary departments. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY IO3 or second year of service in the schools in which they are now teaching. The median age of their teachers is about the same as that of the grade teachers, in spite of the fact that they were required to spend two more years to complete their education than were the grade teachers. The union and the high schools of Livingston county are really schools in which inexperienced teachers gain the experience required of them before they can secure positions in the high schools which pay higher salaries. The union school teachers are required to teach a median number of seven classes a day, and these cover a very wide range of subjects. The " blanket license " granted to the graduates of colleges and normal schools makes it possible for a teacher to conduct classes in many different subjects, in some of which she may have but little knowledge. The high school teachers teach a median number of five classes a day and in almost all the cases these classes are in different subjects. With these facts in mind, the following suggestions are offered: 1 The boards of education should increase their salary schedules for secondary teachers so that they will attract the best inexperienced teachers or, better, teachers who have had successful experience. 2 The principals should use a great deal of care to recommend teachers who have had intensive training in the subjects they are expected to teach. 3 With the amount of teaching force available the union schools are evidently trying to cover too much ground. One of two things ought to be done : either the teaching force should be increased in the union schools, or else the number of years of work should be de- creased. It is questionable whether the first of these is advisable when the number of pupils who are given secondary instruction in these schools is taken into consideration. The second course would probably seem to the communities supporting these union schools to be out of the question at the first thought, for they pride them- selves upon providing their children with the opportunity of securing a secondary school education. This is a most worthy ambition and in many cases these communities have taxed themselves heavily to pursue it. But the question that these people should consider is whether or not they are doing the best thing for their children in providing for them such an extensive course of instruction that it can not be covered successfully. The state of Vermont is attacking this problem of the small secondary school by forming what are called junior high, schools which offer 10 years of school work. These schools have six grades 104 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK and a four year junior high school. This junior high school work covers that of the seventh and eighth grades and the first two years of the secondary school. The principal is usually a vocational teacher of agriculture and one of the other teachers is trained to give vocational instruction in the household arts. In addition to the vocational subjects instruction is given in English, algebra geometry, a science, a history and a foreign language. The children attending these schools, therefore, may take vocational work, or begin a course that prepares them for college, normal school, or other institutions of higher learning. Such a plan might be carried out in Livingston county. 4 The " blanket form " of license to teach is a cause of considerable poor instruction in Livingston county. Conditions will be very much improved when this form of license is no longer issued. A license should permit the holder to teach only those subjects in which she has specialized. If this can not be done, an extension of the plan of " approving " teachers in the subjects in which they have specialized would probably help to improve conditions. If this plan were followed, it would seem advisable to make " approved " teachers desirable in the eyes of the boards of education, either by allowing such teachers a larger quota of public money or else by accepting certification of the work done by pupils under the direction of such teachers in lieu of the state examinations. It would help improve conditions very materially if the teachers of secondary subjects were trained to present the subjects to the boys and girls of high school age. Dean Russell writes in the Regents Report for the year 1899: Graduates of colleges and normal schools alike must fail in technical skill if they teach as they have been taught. The work of the secondary school is unique. It requires' an arrangement and presentation of the subject matter of instruction in a way unknown in elementary education and unheeded in most college teach- ing; it requires tact, judgment and disciplinary powers peculiar to the manage- ment of youth. Herein is the need of that technical skill which is not, as has been well said, " a part of the natural equipment of every educated person! " LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 105 Table 52 Distribution of all the rural children in group E by age and grade GRADE m (4 u a « 09 co u U u 0) a , >» >> >> >> >> >, >, >> >> >. >. CO I/} ■* 10 . t^ 00 First 5 55 1 124 102 92 41 63 25 58 I 28 57 2 3 24 2 1 7 I 4 1 3 I 384 28 7 85 69 297 3 I Third 90 Fourth 67 6^ 5fi 16 254 Fifth 25 68 70 65 38 24 6 Sixth 28 58 53 39 28 5 5 35 47 67 46 26 4 3 Eighth 4 10 39 45 36 6 6 2 148 Total s 56 1 59 241 242 267 249 252 204 204 154 93 18 10 3 2157 Table 53 Distribution of all the union school children in group E by age and grade GRADE 1- Ct) CD >< OS 1/1 CO u nJ >> Cfl IH ca CD >, u CS >> CO cS CD >> Ov CD >» O u cs CD >> CM u a >> at CD CO CCj >> 10 CO t-l a CD >» u CO CO 2 TOTAL First 5 40 117 91 80 27 10 38 3 12 37 62 74 26 1 I 24 39 21 2 77 63 35 3 1 6 20 36 73 57 19 3 9 16 39 ~~ 76 76 I 6 11 29 5i 79 I 3 4 12 3i 63 Third. .. 13 4 73 77 223 255 Fourth.. . Fifth 13 1 87 50 244 I 6 40 2 15 7 1 13 5 237 Eighth. . . 305 Total 5 40 140 188 206 212 215 219 211 219 177 114 47 17 7 1 2013 io6 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Table 54 Distribution of all the parochial children in group E by age and grade GRADE 0> Efl U c3 >> to u >. w n! !>. 00 CU a a >> aj Xfl u a) a) >< m ct! a) u 10 CjJ CU > ■O I* 00 cS >. CU CU >. O u cti a) cu a! cu >> t<5 nl cu >> ■c* a > 10 u as •0 Efl l-i cs CU >> cd >. 00 TOTAti First I I I 3 | 3 2 I 3 9 Third 2 2 2 2 I Fourth . . 3 1 8 I Fifth .. 5 6 7 5 2 9 1 1 4 4 12 10 22 3 14 13 19 46 7 2 Eighth 5 29 98 Total I I 2 4 8 6 13 14 37 41 32 17 7 2 185 LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 107 Table 56 Distribution of all children in union schools who do not live in rural school districts GRADE to u u CO i-< (H co CO w TOTAL cb 1 co tu . >> >, >. >. >> >> >> >. >1 >. >. >> >. >. *d- in -O r. 00 0, *a- m i> oo a First 5 39 117 9i 78 26 9 35 3 12 37 290 I 24 37 20 74 63 220 6 3 9 I I Third 13 4 71 75 221 Fourth . . . 35 59 247 Fifth 3 13 73 R? 35 t6 II 4 237 Sixth .... 1 1 25 SO 69 S3 34 27 42 12 21 41 I 3 26 220 2 8 S I 7 5 63 57 191 Eighth . . . 14 50 207 Total 5 39 139 186 202 204 209 206 197 182 136 1 182 30 10 s I 1833 Table 57 Distribution of all school children who live in rural school districts GRADE CO u cd O Cd >> u cd CO >. u cd CO >> cd 0) >. 00 CO In CO >. u cd CO >> cd 0) >> *-< cd CO u cd d) >> CO u a CO u cd CO >. 10 u cd CO CO cd > u cd . 00 TOTAL First 5 56 1 124 102 94 64 26 61 I 28 57 3 24 58 2 1 7 19 66 I 4 16 38 44 1 3 I 387 29 7 88 69 3 8 24 30 55 I Third 41 4 1 1 92 69 305 Fourth 23 2 65 69 262 6 22 36 58 I 5 7 20 Fifth 25 2 75 58 307 I 3 13 I 4 29 6 57 5i 249 41 4 80 58 280 Eighth 15 74 246 Total ? 57 160 243 246 275 255 26s 218 241 195 125 35 17 5 2342 io8 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK o vO 1*3 (»} f* < ro CI 2 <=> to S.6 1 w 1" 1 ro a i 1 1 1 : ■g i ! 1 1 : & i 1 I 1 : ^ i ' " 1 1 i H s -- "ti- ro 1 "1 3 3 " I n " 1 " a 00 " r~ O H u •A in 3 -t " M H X H ro : " " 2 H i 1 « IN ■* o " "I; rO Cs .,-< _C ps3d S OOO^NOONiHiM N OO iO o .-c -h N o •6 -a a w i-iNHOJOOHMN i^i^nb OONOCOOOO ,_H^^H HHH oxio».oioco«:c5 3ui[pd3 -*ir— o-^o^-^co CJ M CO CO Q lO m *J3 83BJ8Ay HiOMWONN CO ■* cq -st< o c* ro co 2 3 anquJX MM'MMHC.i^it c OS CN CM O L^ C3 lO ^ anqcjx ■— < -^ rt< -+i i— f CO' CN ^ "3 s o lO lO O (M iO M O (N o anqwi '-OtNMCJ^HCSI cocoi-H»ftir5ioco*-( g snqBJx H*£iCONOi-iOCO Z eqd[y 3urpsaa coooaoi>.'«*ir--Tjioo CM ^h H CO :o (N «5 00 aS-BjaAy I0^t0»0 , ^ | i0-^ILO « CM CO C"? COtJHHCiN 03 -3 *g co-.cco;o-. 0«-CCCGOiO<0 "3 <3 O > a'SV ■*# t>- -* CD ^f if?-"^ CCJ 9§BJ8Ay HWCOt-lrHCCNN iO'0'0>— toit— csas | uoisuiq cor^ooiiooascs 'T, zx lO CO 00 i-l CO Oi CO OJ 3"S noi|Bai[dp[nj^ cq co co co « ■* 't 'j s c - norpBJjqng o-*noocmmh 3 th COr- Ifflt- 1 CO CO CM CO noptppy CNeOiOCOCO»OTt o t- r~ Oi o Oi m v O M CO Tj" IT 00 o m ro ro O 0, lOvO io t^OO O M H X o ro 0\ 01 o\ Tj-OivC H 00 h roNO ro t- OwC H 1-1 t^ M too w M 0. ■* 01 •* H N M M M *o f, P)V 00 1/ M M w 01 M m rOsO "1W f • M ^i- r~ to ro o~ dec io M H H Ol M 0C m ro^O O m 0, ro <) 01 m o *Ooo ro rooo 00 oi O ro m oi ^ r 01 01 01 M 1- o t; ro m ro lO "si" o o ■* rt-t- Ol LO M lO TO O H H 1-1 0, H M 0, Ol M M m tv M CI M r- rooo 00 m roO OvO ■* *o c m- : m tJ-00 *-( OO ro m ci a O ClO OltO rooc M io O O Oi ■* N Ol ta o ro Ov W Os r-« H n g 5 00 hh MH 0,0, » c~ W")*H lo C\ MM Oi ro ro H OCO N H\Q K -o lO C~ W M N^-MH C~vC O hco ro« io ro ro M ■ O, CO ro -rt - ro w ro oi m ■* MD • H rO » CO 00 i> ro ro - "»" 0, co o\ • oi H MM MH - » ro ro m « 00 '■ " -vtN H H o •^- 0, H -t" H • h to o d . ft. o s o n-a - Ov n ■* Oi ►- - •a m 2 Oh 8 o rt-LOO c~oc § Tt lO-O t^cc e •*« ^C r~oc TJ-lOO I>00 8 0) "3t3 ■a O T3 S (is j 3 ; a s a 3 a a £ ga 4 a * SO ScS "a rt -So ^ 00 si CI LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 125 .3 00 f^. 1 <* s +-! u pq •0 < ctj H WD 0\ t^ fO M-^t.O ^O CN w i/)vo 00 o LOCO "-J-W IO fO CO 0\ O 0\ ro »0 O -*-i ro HI 01 CO IO 'O rf Ov. O w i> CO LO Tt t> I> rt 10\0 r-oo ""^-lOsO t^co IcS" §0 126 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK *•• oo 9 .3 ro tj- t}- i/>o 0\ H» O »> ^f rooo >^s w . Tj-t~>0 N NOW Hf*;uioo io fOO-^-toro ^^O M r~ ' fO^O Ov^O ci «o nio c^cir^ro^J - m m i/j*o oo t> O O 0*ir> coooOpoc~ N-O&tCl COr^H p-JOi »ot^t« t^oo iflron vOoO N tj-^o o^*too 0*0 OfOO oo won « io ej C\ *-< -3- t--oo Oiwifl r~ o vO '^■oo r~ O N 00 CO OnO^J"* CO "} C* hi «^ Oi O ■* N "t ^■lOO t^W *tl/}\Ot-00 rf iflvO t~00 -3- LOO t~00 «8»» «0 LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 127 X t- m ^o T !Z f O Tl-vOOO 0\ ^ H W M M M S £• M • ■ O t^ 0\ n • • M W c § H lOOQOO m m r*9 a 0\ « t>Oi« M V) •<-> CO bO a 00 ^tONOOO > 3 r- f0\O O N N H (flH M C- CO r-00 m CO J3 JO r- ^J- ro t*- PO CO a ^t- O N "3 rO m >-t M 2 U fO OCONtt 1 H « O is -t-> « OMHtlH U T3 CS H C\ O *0 »0 N s fc GQ < O >onciH l_l fcc 1 CD 0) Eh a Ov O "00 N 03 H -S 00 » ^tH H d 00 ffl 1 r~ N IO W ■H CO 13 >o 00 W M cd Vh bJO 10 in 01 1-1 O »*< ■* M ' H ro H H « J3 5, N M • tuO g H * M ^ rt V O tH .5 fo A OOlN NO CO O ►J M Tf-O H M CD u c £ 3 z fu CO «H £3 .2 3 .o •c CO 5 Tf msO t~00 rod r-*- coco mm co nio m r> OiO NfJfO O (M W ^iO O m cs ro ^ M -NOOO nco Ovoo r^ co t>- wo *o WOO^O't OC000MO MHMNOJ NN M H MMNNM HNfOMN MMfOMN MMN M O* POOO M CO ^ ^ I^CO IC *C 0\ ^O *0 COOCOt^-PO t"*«\O00lO lO tJ-vO t^H W PO ^f PO P0 Tt M M f0 N CO M M N CO ^ CO TO H POO CO N rO in\0 m tf PO *0\0 m ^ ^ ^t" Tf- O ► OCOOPOP-J MCONPOPO vO^trj-OvW ^ioo r^co „ -^i/io r^co ^ *d-mo t-co £° 1* r)->nvO t-00 LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 129 00 »o roo cd "stoo .0 r- po wco OOO rOO ^ CO CO ^•"OOO N "0\ ro 0\ mo m j> o 10 m m iomD 10 cs tN fOO 10 n 1 z < -^-0\ O»o0 ^t t-at^HTt *fr "^ -co Tf fOfOC^H N O «fllflO N 4« W N W H M A& lO^^tO N t* fO ^ "3" M 2« TfM • H ■ A^ r»H m con .j3 Ifllfl-tClH c D z Ph rf 10*0 c^oo « •d rt» « » « o U LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 131 Table 77 Comparison of achievements in grades 4-8 of one-room and two-room schools in Livingston county MEDIAN SCORES IN Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade Addition — Woody Subtraction — Woody . . . Multiplication — Woody Division — Woody Arithmetic reasoning Stone 1 Stone 2 Vocabulary tests A 2 x B x A2y B y Reading — Alpha 2 Completion tests Trabue B Trabue C Trabue D Trabue E Spelling Handwriting Quality Speed 10.4 8.9 10.2 5-2 4.1 35 3-9 4- 10.7 9-9 9-5 10.7 10.8 5.8 8.9 47-4 11. 8 10.2 12.7 7. 9-1 49-9 13-7 11. 8 IS- 8.9 3-9 3-6 4.4 4-7 4-6 4.8 16.4 IS-3 9.7 47-9 14. 1 13. 1 IS-7 10. S 18.6 13. 133 14. 1 132 17.6 10.6 51.8 6.3 6.2 6.4 6.8 7-4 7.6 19.4 14.2 13.9 IS- 1 14-7 193 II. 3 54-4 Table 78 Comparison of achievements by boys and girlg of grade 6 for all schools MEDIAN SCORES Boys Girls SUPERIORITY Boys Girls Addition — Woody Subtraction — Woody . . Multiplication — Woody Division — Woody Arithmetic reasoning Stone 1 Stone 2 Vocabulary tests A 2 x B x A 2 y B y Reading — Alpha 2 Completion tests Trabue B Trabue C Trabue D Trabue E Spelling Handwriting Quality Speed 139 11. 6 14-5 9.1 14. 1 11. 5 IS. 9-7 4.4 4-3 3-S 3.3 4.4 4-5 4-5 4-9 4.6 4-8 5-9 6.2 16.4 17. 11. 6 11. 9 13-3 12. 5 12.7 12.5 13.6 I3-I iS-2 16.6 9.8 60. 10.9 60.2 .3 1.4 1.3 I.I .6 .3 .6 1.1 .2 132 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK THE SUPPORT OF SCHOOLS IN LIVINGSTON COUNTY The district system of school administration and support is best adapted to sections that are newly settled. Under the conditions that obtain in such regions, there are usually no marked differences in wealth because commercial centers have not been developed, railroads are few in number and interurban lines are still unbuilt. As a result, the tax burdens that different communities have to bear in order to furnish their children with essentially equal school facilities are about the same. Marked Differences in Assessed Valuation of School Districts But students of school administration have frequently pointed out that such a system is not well adapted to a state that has been settled for many years, as has New York State, because of the marked differences in wealth that come as a result of more complete development than obtains in recently settled states. In spite of the fact that Livingston county is primarily rural and hence not char- acterized by such marked differences in aggregation of population and wealth as obtains in many other portions of the State, it is evident from table 79, compiled for the school year 19 .17-18, that there were great inequalities. Although only common school dis- tricts are included in this table, the range in assessed valuation is from $16,149 in district 5, in the town of West Sparta to $405,018 in the town of Caledonia, district 3. This means that the latter district had resources for school support that were twenty-five times as great as the former, although it actually raised less than twice as much for the support of its schools. Table 79 Assessed valuation and total school tax in the common school districts District Assessed valuation Tax on property Town of Avon #142 260 241 280 123 900 123 750 150 195 79 650 89 161 132 995 131 440 375 061 289 381 S383 25 3 ; 613 35 /j/]6 T5 350 00 6 524 00 7 S 382 32 340 17 425 00 550 00 12 1 251 49 District Assessed valuation Tax on property Town of Caledonia $102 640 151 014 405 018 153 653 366 670 $342 51 398 44 3 6 9 '■ 617 00 419 49 500 00 LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 133 Table 79 {continued) Assessment valuatiDn and total school tax in the common school districts (continued) District Assessed valuation Tax on property Town of Ceneseo $308 532 90 000 141 328 131 172 97 401 176 492 140 940 124 800 89 735 400 00 6 8 10 385 00 13- I4- 15. 16. 17. IS. 10. Town of Leicester $70 103 96 832 $368 03 407 67 223 903 425 00 385 792 76 948 167 460 2 970 46 434 81 284 60 192 090 46 517 83 603 410 00 350 76 360 00 Town of Conesus $150 193 ior 161 70 513 186 290 68 490 69 079 59 162 72 681 40 312 Town of Livonia $170 924 128 070 69 800 164 420 199 020 148 765 112 881 Joint 112 464 Joint _ 9 4 450 Town of Springwater $115 70S 33 135 59.202 Ontario co 56 140 39 207 66 586 26 62s 39 625 81 973 50 370 24 305 45 760 41 740 42 075 74 515 40 790 86 259 $380 32 394 42 400 52 926 95 375 00 a 99 96 349 64 435 71 292 21 $512 92 2 114 54 375 00 [ 288 34 : 069 00 698 27 400 00 338 25 "378'84 S254 66 331 45 261 25 257 48 300 32 283 29 277 37 409 97 253 00 263 80 379 80 332 32 383 17 447 09 303 17 354 48 District Assessed valuation Tax on property Town of Groveland $182 195 145 031 126 827 105 781 73 728 334 744 225 773 5626 37 562 68 459 11 431 13 6 325 00 1 921 00 8 450 00 Town of York Town of Lima Town of Sparta $159 565 227 786 166 223 294 976 Joint 103 030 .265 761 82 033 131 304 220 032 117 092 5i39 940 145 264 267 120 106 383 244 274 163 829 130 130 190 249 $63 345 87 297 175 794 175 697 79 880 Data 54 642 85 767 41 758 Town of Mount Morris $81 963 108 633 55 836 86 795 69 143 84 905 75 973 45 955 Data 65 743 41 840 77 242 S903 51 683 35 586 74 [ 472 88 334 85 [ 351 42 328 13 400 00 990 21 0120 00 $375 00 310 47 390 00 400 00 897 00 347 31 400 00 426 5 S $218 03 305 22 375 00 525 00 583 00 lacking 382 48 343 07 282 96 $403 97 452 12 329 08 400 15 394 II 373 58 372 30 305 16 lacking 361 52 260 31 448 00 a Contracted. 134 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Table 79 (continued) Assessed valuation and total school tax in the common school districts . {continued) District Town of Ossian Assessed valuation $71 688 28 S80 62 no 37 590 71 680 68 308 55 791 38 336 39 498 38 5S6 Tax on property District Town of West Sparta 3- 4- 5- 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 606 52 666 61 001 83 000 16 149 57 148 59 314 57 149 31 126 45 918 52 971 19 624 $311 68 228 01 aso 00 371 76 369 34 324 43 351 4S 245 84 256 31 278 17 $374 02 301 86 384 18 426 69 239 75 317 76 355 88 320 00 290 63 320 00 300 34 63 46 Town of Dansville Assessed valuation Town of Nunda Town of Portage $75 140 $38 846 33 600 38 080 43 236 40 000 63 232 49 750 62 465 85 244 27 193 $55 300 51 080 Wyom 45 142 Dissolved 115 084 15 96o 42 921 87 r 5 i 138 729 142 000 176 315 Tax on property $328 72 $291 35 234 05 250 00 432 33 250 o 7 316 I« 269 82 312 38 319 99 232 76 $359 46 300 00 ing co. 236 65 402 87 63 00 0278 31 304 02 471 60 355 96 439 07 a Contracted. b No children in district. It is interesting to note that in the union free school districts, these districts maintain both elementary and high schools, that three of the fourteen districts had an assessed valuation which was less than the highest valuation represented by a common school district. See the following districts: Livonia no. 4, Springwater no. 2, Nunda no. 12 in table 80 and district 3, Caledonia, in table 79. Table 80 Assessed valuation and total school tax in the union free school districts Town District Assessed valuation Tax on property 1 5 5 4 3 9 9 4 2 1 1 1 12 $1 408 948 1 241 346 2 370 070 516 653 426 435 S76 925 609 592 598 966 383 238 192 600 1 459 536 2 089 801 671 486 210 695 York 5 884 40 Mount Morris 15 376 57 1 983 17 a Schools are conducted in cooperation with the state normal school which is located in the village of Geneseo. LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 135 Differences of Tax Rate When a comparison is made of the valuation per pupil based on average daily attendance and the tax rate per thousand dollars of assessed valuation, the results are even more interesting than in the case of the total assessed valuation per district. By a com- parison of tables 79 and 81, as might be expected, it is found that in nearly all cases the districts of high assessed valuation had a low- tax rate. In general, this means that the wealthy districts, those best able to pay, had the lowest tax rate. This is well shown by a comparison of district 1, Geneseo, which had a total assessed valua- tion of $308,532, an assessed valuation of $22,038 back of each pupil, and as a result had to pay only $1.29 a thousand, while in West Sparta, district 5 with a total assessed valuation of $16,149, an assessed valuation of $5383 per pupil, had a tax rate of $14.23. The latter district paid a tax rate more than eleven times as great as the former but the sum which it yielded when combined with the state aid could not have been sufficient to adequately support an ele- mentary school. Table 81 Valuation per pupil in average "daily attendance and tax rate per thousand dollars of assessed valuation District Valuation per pupil Tax rate Town of Avon I12 158 98 10 490 43 12 029 13 26 902 17 8 031 82 11 378 57 7 821 14 14 148 34 19 329 41 14 260 87 6 808 97 $2 69 2 83 6 3 49 7 4 80 8 9 10 II 4 32 Town 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 Town 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 of Geneseo $22 038 00 6 040 27 11 216 51 25 720 00 Contr 27 576 87 16 778 57 13 565 22 8 628 36 of Leicester $8 345 60 16 412 21 20 354 82 4 538 73 6 412 33 20 932 50 19 209 00 9 691 04 5 971 64 acted 29 41 65 05 26 55 08 30 District Valuation per pupil Tax rate Town of Caledo nia $6 183 13 10 560 42 28 929 86 23 280 76 30 555 83 13 34 2 64 3 6 1 52 2 73 9 1 36 Town of Groveland $7 287 80 10 987 20 6 309 81 15 556 03 11 342 77 8 583 18 37 on 97 Tow n of York $5 483 33 18 369 84 9 777 82 8 752 .70 Joint n 078 49 7 402 81 7 525 96 9 514 78 7 858 28 Contr $3 44 3 88 3 62 4 08 4 41 5 74 I 99 $5 66 3 00 3 S3 4 99 acted 3 25 S 05 4 00 3 05 4 50 136 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Table 8i {continued) Valuation par pupil in average daily attendance and tax rate per thousand dollars of assessed valuation (continued) District Valuation per pupil Tax rate Town of Conesus $i6 688 II 9 196 45 5 876 08 5 821 56 9 784 29 Contracted 4 930 17 6 601 64 5 039 00 $2 S3 3 89 5 68 4 98 6 1 45 5 91 8 . -. 9 7 25 District Valuation per pupil Tax rate Town of Lima $19 991 43 9 079 00 20 547 70 7 598 79 6 979 26 27 304 83 6 196 67 IS 853 67 $2 68 3 76 6 8 2 24 Town of Livonia $10 054 35 3 766 76 II 633 33 5 303 87 7 654 62 7 829 74 9 406 75 Joint 11 246 40 Joint IS 741 67 $3 00 16 Si S 37 7 84 5 37 4 69 3 54 3 01 4 01 Town of Sparta 1 2 , 3 4 S 6 7 8 9 $6 334 50 7 936 09 14 649 SO 9 247 21 3 630 91 Data lack 4 553 50 3 098 17 6 959 67 $3 44 3 50 2 13 2 99 7 29 7 00 4 00 6 78 Town of Springwaler 12 856 11 s 522 50 3 482 47 Ontario 9 356 67 3 920 70 S 548 83 8 875 00 13 208 33 4 821 94 7 195 71 8 101 67 3 813 33 3 794 55 8 415 00 14 903 00 5 098 75 4 107 57 $2 20 10 00 6 91 4 65 6 57 4 5i 10 64 7 00 5 00 5 02 10 85 8 29 7 96 9 11 6 00 7 43 4 11 Town- of 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 13 Mount Morris $7 451 18 ' $4 93 5 717 53 4 16 4 653 00 5 89 6 199 64 4 61 5 318 69 5 70 6 064 64 4 40 10 853 29 4 90 4 177 73 6 64 Data lack ing 7 304 78 s 50 S 977 14 6. 22 5 149 47 5 80 Town of Ossian $5 120 57 4 813 33 Contracted 2 506 00 4 480 00 6 209 82 4 291 61 6 389 33 6 583 00 7 717 20 $4 35 7 90 Town of Dansville I $9 392 50 I Town of Nunda $4. 316 22 2 240 00 3 461 82 4 323 60 5 000 00 7 025 78 4 522 73 6 246 50 21 311 00 L3 596 SO $4 38 $7 50 6 97 6> 56 10 00 6 25 5 00 S 43 S 00 3 75 8 56 LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 137 Table 81 (continued) Valuation per pupil in average daily attendance and tax rate per thousand dollars of assessed valuation (continued) 12 District Town of Por 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Valuation per pupil $5 027 27 3 004 70 Wyoming IS 047 33 Dissolved 6 769 64 No children Contracted 6 225 07 8 670 56 9 466 67 7 346 46 Tax rate $6 50 S 87 5 24 3 SO 19 6 48 3 49 3 40 2 51 2 49 District Valuation per pupil Tax rate Town of West Sp aria $9 067 33 4 787 82 8 714 43 4 611 11 5 383 00 8 164 00 6 590 44 9 S24 83 7 78i SO 11 479 SO 3 531 40 Data incom- plete $4 58 5 73 6 30 5 14 14 23 5 56 6 8 5 56 9 3 23 Assessed valuation per pupil When a comparison is made of the wealth back of each pupil as shown by assessed valuation, it is found that district 8 of the town of Groveland stands first with $37,011.97 for each pupil as based on average daily attendance. It should be noted that this was greater than the total assessed valuation of each of ten districts. The lowest assessed valuation per pupil is found in the town of Nunda, district 4, in which case it is $2240, approximately one- seventeenth as much as in case of the district which stood first. There are, however, even more striking facts to be considered. Five districts with an assessed valuation of nearly $400,000 con- tracted with other districts and thus all except one avoided paying more than a nominal tax. Another district in which there were no school children escaped by levying a total of $3 ! These six districts, representing an assessed valuation of nearly $500,000, escaped with- out bearing a fair share of the burden of educating the children of the county. A comparison of tables 81 and 82 shows that the difference in assessed valuation per pupil in union free school districts is nearly as great as in common school districts, although the disparity in tax rate is not so marked. It is evident from an examination of these tables that the assessed valuation per pupil in most of the common school districts is higher than that of the union free school districts if the exception is made of Geneseo and Lima. In this connection, it should be borne in mind that the union free school districts are supporting both elementary and high schools. These data seem to 138 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK indicate that the villages are spending money more liberally for schooling in proportion to their wealth than are the rural districts of Livingston county. Table 82 Assessed valuation per pupil in average daily attendance and tax rate in union free school districts Town District Valuation per pupil Tax rate Avon Caledonia. . . . Geneseo Groveland .... Leicester York Lima Livonia Livonia Springwater . . Mount Morris Dansville Nunda Nunda $4 311 32 4 392 09 37 620 16 6 078 03 4 665 59 3 284 33 13 252 00 2 684 27 3 615 45 3 057 14 4 099 82 4 436 94 2 971 18 2 772 24 $9 38 10 02 3 84 8 73 7 34 10 77 3 80 9 82 17 13 22 99 10 54 10 82 12 66 9 4i a School is conducted in cooperation with the state normal school located at Geneseo. Means of Improving Present Conditions The marked differences in assessed valuation, the pronounced variation in wealth back of each pupil and the large tax rate in the case of some districts whereas other districts having essentially the same school facilities escape with a very low tax rate, are weak- nesses of the district system. It will be difficult if not impossible to avoid them as long as this system is retained. What the tax- payers of Livingston county should seek is a system that will make provision for each dollar of wealth bearing its fair share of the burden of educating the children of the county. They should also endeavor to provide elementary school facilities for all portions of the county that are essentially equal and make high schools reasonably accessible. It must be evident from these data that these ends can not be accomplished under the district system. During the school year 19 18-19 the township system was in operation but a considerable measure of well-directed dissatis- faction resulted in its repeal. That it was a step in the right direc- tion so far as equalizing the burdens of school taxes was concerned is shown by a comparison of tables 79 and 83. No such marked differences existed under the township system as were to be found under the district system. The differences which ex'sted were too great, however. This is also shown by table 84, since the town LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 139 having the greatest wealth per inhabitant has nearly three times as much per person as does the town having the least wealth per inhabitant Table 83 Assessed valuation and the tax rate per thousand for the year 1918-19 when township system prevailed Town Assessed Tax valuation rate $1 408 948 $10 59 1 879 073 4 17 2 420 341 6 07 1 202 999 4 15 2 370 070 C4 00 1 710 732 8 18 1 769 683 6 79 1 650 710 5 26 876 925 11 86 817 881 7 07 1 996 781 5 OO I 479 96S 10 47 703 033 12 13 764 180 8 04 I 116 612 11 11 1 459 536 9' 61 794 028 8 94 2 089 801 11 67 75 140 4 49 928 480 11 96 435 347 II 82 S12 467 7 55 853 722 6 30 617 672 8 81 aAvon 1 Avon 2 b Caledonia Geneseo i aGeneseo 2 fcGroveland b Leicester York 1 York 2 Conesus iLima fcLivonia 1 6 Livonia 2 Sparta JSpringwater . . . aMount Morris I Mount Morris 2 oDansville 1 . . . . Dansville 2 . . . . tNunda 1 ftNunda 2 Ossian Portage West Sparta . . . % a Union free school district. 6 School unit contained a union free school. g£ c. Schools maintained in cooperation with the state normal school. Table 84 Population, assessed valuation and valuation per inhabitant for the year 1918 when the township system obtained Township Population I9IS Assessed valuation Valuation per inhabitant 3 862 2 102 3 348 1 699 1 811 2 802 1 041 2 118 2 999 894 1 689 5 005 4 200 2 289 666 962 800 $3 288 021 2 420 341 3 573 069 1 710 732 1 769 683 2 527 635 S17 881 1 996 781 2 182 998 764 180 1 116 612 2 253 564 2 I64 941 I 363 827 512 467 8S3 722 617 672 SSsi 38 1 151 45 1 067 23 1 006 91 977 18 York 902 08 785 67 942 77 727 91 854 79 661 11 450 26 504 64 595 82 769 47 887 44 772 09 X4° THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK To remedy these marked differences, it is suggested that the county should be made the unit of school administration and tax- ation. If this were to be done, it would not be difficult by a sys- tem of state subsidies to make the burdens of maintaining the minimum school facilities essentially the same the State over. These changes can be brought about without loss of local initiative and support. INDEX Academic departments, defined, 85 Acceleration, 42-54 Age of a child, defined, 36; table for computing, 37; age-grade dis- tribution, 38-42, 55-50 Agricultural teacher's salary, 59 Agriculture, rural teachers who have had instruction in, jj; de- mand for vocational agriculture, 58 Arithmetic, test in, ill, 114; tables, 121, 124, 125 Bells, 24 Blackboards, 20 Buildings, rural schools, 8; interior, 8-13 Caledonia, modern rural school, illus., n Clocks, 21 Community meetings in rural schools, 78 Completion tests, 112, 115; tables, 122, 128 Desks, pupils, 18 Desks, teachers, 20 Dictionaries, 22 District superintendents, 61 Drinking facilities, 27 Elementary grades, age, grade and progress of children in, 36-61 Elementary teachers, 61-84; amounts paid for board and room, 64; certification, 74; dis- tribution according to age, 70; distribution according to home counties and states, 68-69; edu- cation and professional training, 75; experience, 65; relation be- tween salaries and experience, 65-67; hiring of, 74; professional magazines read by, 78; number of grades and children per teacher, 71-74; salaries, 63; tenure, 67 Elimination, 42-54, 56-60 English, tests in, 112, 115 Equipment, 18-24 Finances, support of schools in Livingston county, 132-40 Fire protection, 17 Flags, 24 Floors, oiled, 25 Furniture, 18-24 Globes, 24 Grade work, principals of union schools as supervisors of, 62 Grades, see Elementary grades Handwriting, test in, 112, 116; tables, 123, 130 Fleating, 13 High school teachers, see Second- ary teachers High schools, reasons for small en- rollment, 57 Homemaking, see Vocational home- making Household art, rural teachers who have had instruction in, jj Janitor service, 24-27 Junior high school, object of, 59 Lavatory facilities, 28 Libraries, 21 Licenses, range of subjects the cer- tificates license the holders to teach, 99-101 Light, 10-13 Lighting, artificial, 13 Livingston county, description, 2>~7> map, 6; schools, 7 [141] 142 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Magazines, see Periodicals Map of Livingston county, 6 Maps, 24 Measurements of achievements of pupils, 109-31 Mental tests, 109-31 Musical equipment, 23 Parents and the rural teacher, 78 Parochial schools, comparative study of children, 48-54; distribu- tion of children in, 52, 106; re- tardation, 53; age-grade distribu- tion for grades in, 55-56 Periodicals, professional, read by elementary teachers, 78; read by secondary teachers, 98 Physical training teachers, 101 Pictures, 21 Playground apparatus, 32 Playgrounds, 31 Pointers, 24 Principals of secondary schools, 85- 88 Principals of union schools as sup- ervisors of grade work, 62 Readers, supplementary, 23 Reading, paragraph, tests in, 112, 115; tables, 122, 127 Retardation, 42-54, 56-60 Rulers, 24 Rural schools, 7-36; buildings, 8; interior of buildings, 8-13; com- munity meetings in, 78; com- parative study of children, 48-54; distribution of school children, 51; tables, 105, 106, 107; equip- ment, 18-24; furniture, 18-24; grounds, 30-33; heating, 13-18; janitor work and supplies, 24-27; result in tests in, 113; toilets, 28- 30; ventilation 13-18; water sup- ply, 27-28; conclusions and recommendations, 82-84; sum- mary, 33-35 Rural teachers, professional train- ing, 76-77; who have had in- struction in agriculture and household art, yj; and the par- ents, 78; attitude toward their positions, 79-82; relation between number of schools in which they have taught and their experience, table, 108 Salaries, elementary teachers, 63; principals of secondary schools, 85-86; secondary school teachers, School buildings, see Buildings School day, length, 93 School fairs and home projects, 79 School grounds, 30-33 Schoolrooms, number, 8; size, 9 Secondary departments, retardation and elimination, 56-60 Secondary schools, principals, 85-88; length of school day, 93; size of classes, 95 Secondary teachers, 85-104; certifi- cation, 99; number of classes taught by, 94; distribution ac- cording to their ages, 92; di- versity of teachers' work, 95-97; education, 97-98; employed in their home town, 91; experience, 90; hiring of, 93; licenses, 99- 101; professional periodicals read by, 98; salaries, 88-90; amounts paid for board and room, 89; tenure, 90-91; conclusions, 102-4 Spelling, test in, 112, 116; tables, 122, 129 Superintendents, see District super- intendents Support of schools in Livingston county, 132-40 Sweeping and dusting, 25-27 Taxes, support of schools in Liv- ingston county, 132-40 Teachers, see Elementary teachers; Physical training teachers; Rural teachers; Secondary teachers; Vocational teachers Tests, measurements of achieve- ments of pupils, 109-31 Thermometers, 14 Toilets, 28-30 INDEX TO LIVINGSTON COUNTY SURVEY 143 Union schools., age-grade distribu- tion for grades in, 55-56; com- parative study of children, 48-54; courses of study, 58; definition, 36; distribution of children, tables, 105, 107; principals as supervisors of grade work, 62; secondary school instruction given in, 85; result of tests in, 113 Ventilation, 13, 15, 17 Vocabulary tests, 112; table, 126 Vocational agriculture, demand for, 58 Vocational homemaking, 58 Vocational teachers, 101 Walls, 9 Waste baskets, 24 Water supply, 27-28 Window shades, 12 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 022 115 431 9