LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. - 
 
 Deceived /%4Z/ls< , i8g 
 Accessions No.<5~^3 fa*"/ . Class No. 
 
GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 IN THE 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
 
 MARY H. PAGE 
 
 
 Head Mistress of the Skinners' School, Stamford Hill 
 
 JCoubou 
 
 SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & CO 
 
 NEW YORK : MACMILLAN & CO. 
 
 1894 
 
pa 
 
 BUTLER & TANNER, 
 
 THE SELWOOD PRINT/NG WORKS, 
 
 FROME, AND LONDON. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 IN view of the growing interest in Secondary Edu- 
 cation in the United Kingdom and the important 
 problems awaiting solution, the Gilchrist Trustees 
 decided in the early part of 1893 to send five women 
 teachers to America, for. the purpose of studying 
 and reporting upon Secondary Schools for Grirls and 
 Institutions for the Training of Women in different 
 parts of the States. The Trustees made their 
 intention widely known, and invited the governing 
 bodies of the various women's colleges and associa- 
 tions of teachers to submit to them names of per- 
 sons specially qualified. The Trustees received in 
 this way a list of some of the ablest and most ex- 
 perienced women teachers in the country. After 
 careful consideration of the qualifications of the 
 numerous candidates, the Trustees selected the fol- 
 lowing five, and awarded to each of them a travel- 
 ling scholarship of 100 to enable them to spend 
 two months in the * United States in prosecuting 
 their investigations: Miss A. Bramwell, B.Sc. 
 (Lecturer at the Cambridge Training College), Miss 
 
iv PREFACE 
 
 S. A. Burstall, B.A. (Mistress at the North London 
 Collegiate School for Grirls), Miss H. M. Hughes 
 (Principal of the Women's Training Department, 
 University College, Cardiff), Miss M. H. Page (Head 
 Mistress of the Skinners 7 Company's School for 
 Girls, Stamford Hill), and Miss A. Zimmern (Mis- 
 tress at the High School for Grirls, Tunbridge 
 Wells). The five scholars visited America during 
 last summer, and presented to the Trustees carefully 
 prepared Reports, of which one viz., that by Miss 
 Page is presented to the public in this volume. 
 The Trustees have aided in the publication of these 
 Reports, because they believe that a knowledge of 
 the educational systems and experiments which 
 have been tried by the English-speaking people 
 over the Atlantic cannot fail to be of interest and 
 value to those engaged in attempting to solve the 
 educational problems of the United Kingdom. 
 
 E. D. EGBERTS, 
 Secretary to the Gilchrist 
 
 Trustees. 
 17, VICTORIA STREET, 
 
 WESTMINSTER. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 THE following brief Report of the work undertaken 
 by me through, the help of the Trustees of the 
 Gilchrist Educational Trust has of necessity been 
 written hurriedly, in the midst of the daily pressure 
 of heavy work ; and is, I feel, totally inadequate 
 either to show the benefit I have personally re- 
 ceived or to give anything like a systematic account 
 of Education in America. 
 
 Travelling from the Atlantic to the Pacific, as 
 far north as Montreal and as far south as St. Louis, 
 I felt again and again that to know American 
 Education would need more years of study than I 
 had months in which to see and to hear. A 
 Western State I found to be a different country 
 from an Eastern State ; the former seemed bound 
 by no traditions, governed by no conventionalities, 
 narrowed or hampered by no class feeling, whether 
 as regards people or work ; and as u necessity is the 
 mother of invention," so a new State evidently 
 must be the parent of fresh experiment in every 
 profession, business, or trade. 
 
 6 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 The whole country is so huge, the possibilities so 
 enormous, and the resulting conditions so diverse, 
 that beyond the broad principles of government 
 which underlie the organizations of education, I 
 have found it impossible to give generalizations. 
 
 I felt, both before starting and increasingly 
 during my tour, that statistics were cold and hard, 
 and although very necessary in their place, were 
 not the main points for me to seek out in a 
 visit. I therefore endeavoured to enter into 
 the life which is being lived in the Schools, to 
 realize where possible the actual difficulties to be 
 contended with, and the aims kept in view by 
 superintendents and teachers ; and while I visited 
 schools so far as time and strength would allow, I 
 attached more importance to interviews with super- 
 intendents, teachers, and secretaries, than to cursory 
 inspection of schools. 
 
 At the close of my Report, I append a list, but by 
 no means an exhaustive list, of the schools and 
 institutions I visited, and of those friends who so 
 kindly gave me their time and much valuable infor- 
 mation ; and if ever this Report should reach their 
 eyes, I should be glad for them to know how much 
 I appreciated the generous way in which they so 
 liberally placed their time at my disposal. Especially 
 have I cause to thank Dr. Harris, the United States 
 Commissioner of Education, Professor Spice, of 
 
INTRODUCTION vii 
 
 Brooklyn, and Miss Cropsey, of Indianapolis, for the 
 courteous and untiring aid they rendered me, and 
 Professor Fitzpatrick, Superintendent of Omaha 
 City Schools (Nebraska), for the exceedingly kind 
 way in which he helped me, not only in educational 
 matters with advice and introductions both in the 
 Eastern and Western States of America, but also 
 as regards routes of travelling, and many other 
 details which are so frequently causes of hindrance 
 to a traveller in a strange land. 
 
 As regards the introductions kindly given by Dr. 
 Fitch, I much regret that I was personally unfor- 
 tunate. With but a few exceptions, the friends were 
 away from their homes at the times of my visits. 
 
 I propose in the following Keport merely to state, 
 in as concise and connected a form as I can, those 
 facts which came directly under my own cogni- 
 zance, particularly as Dr. Fitch has so admirably 
 stated the general laws of government in his "Notes 
 on American Schools and Colleges," of which book 
 one School Superintendent remarked to me, " It is 
 the best and most correct account of our American 
 education given by an outsider." But, although I 
 feel I cannot attempt any general account of the 
 system of education in America, I also feel that a 
 few words in reference to it are necessary, in order 
 to make intelligible the School expressions which I 
 shall be obliged to use. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 Education in the United States is national in the 
 sense of being provided for by the laws and of 
 drawing support from the taxes, but there is no 
 federal system of education, only "a number of 
 separate systems. Each State has its own educa- 
 tional laws, and raises, appropriates, and distributes 
 school funds in its own way." 
 
 " In one respect only has the Central Government 
 concerned itself with education. In 1785 it was 
 ordained that in all new States hereafter to be 
 added to the seventeen then existing, a special 
 appropriation of one-sixteenth of the public land 
 should be reserved for the purpose of supplying a 
 school fund. There are now forty-two States in the 
 American Union, but many of them sold the lands 
 in order to defray the initial charge of erecting 
 schools, and comparatively few now enjoy the rent 
 or use it as a permanent revenue for maintenance of 
 the schools. 
 
 " They all require further aid from State or local 
 taxation. The State of Indiana has the distinction 
 of having husbanded its resources with exceptional 
 discretion and ability." " Notes on American 
 Schools and Colleges," pp. 15, 16. 
 
 Each State has its own State Superintendent of 
 Education, and he usually appoints the County 
 Superintendents. The business of the County 
 Superintendent is to divide the county into school 
 
-INTRODUCTION 
 
 districts according to the population of that part 7 
 and to arrange generally for the education of the 
 county. But the State delegates to cities the con- 
 trol of their own schools ; hence the schools in two 
 cities in the same State may be as different in 
 detail as are the schools of two different States. 
 Nevertheless, I found a certain amount of unifor- 
 mity in all the schools that I visited. All have the 
 Primary Grrades passing on to the Grammar Grades, 
 and above the Grammar Grades the High Schools, 
 which last may lead to college life, but may also 
 lead to business life. 
 
 The term " school " is used in America in two 
 senses, first as the building, second as we use the 
 word form or class. 
 
 " Grammar School" is an historical term; and, 
 though it has lost its old meaning, which came from 
 the old English Grammar Schools, it is retained 
 in use. 
 
 The following was my route : 
 
 New York, Brooklyn, Vassar, Springfield, North- 
 ampton (Smith College), Boston (Wellesley College), 
 Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Indianapolis, 
 St. Louis, Kansas City, Leaveiiworth,0maha, Denver, 
 Bonanza, Maiiitou, Tacoma, Seattle, New "West- 
 minster, Winnipeg, Chicago, Niagara, Toronto, 
 Montreal, New York. 
 
 In conclusion, Ivmtaggto add that only one who 
 
INTRODUCTION' 
 
 has been able to enjoy the privilege of travelling 
 over some previously unknown country, with the 
 definite purpose of observing and studying the 
 methods, manners, and effects of the education of 
 that country, can at all realize the enormous amount 
 of benefit given and received by such generous 
 Travelling Scholarships as those offered last year 
 by the Trustees of the Grilchrist Educational Trust. 
 
 MARY H. PAGE. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Preface iii 
 
 Introduction v 
 
 General Plan of Work 1 
 
 Nationality 2 
 
 Freedom of Behaviour 9 
 
 Co-education 10 
 
 Foreign Element in Schools . . . . . .17 
 
 Compulsory Education 18 
 
 Teachers and Teaching 19 
 
 Appointment of Teachers 21 
 
 Boards of Education 27 
 
 School Buildings 30 
 
 Courses of Study 32 
 
 Manual, Technical, and Technological Training . . 55 
 
 Drawing 61 
 
 List of Interviews, also of Institutions visited . . 68 
 
berals m % 
 tates. 
 
 General Plan of Work. 
 
 As the work I especially undertook in connection 
 with the Grilchrist Scholarship was the study of the 
 Graded Schools, at each place I visited I sought 
 first the School superintendent, and learning 
 from him which were the most typical schools, 
 visited them ; afterwards, in so far as time allowed, 
 visiting hap-hazard any schools which I might 
 pass, and then comparing them with the schools 
 specially recommended. By this means I was 
 enabled to see those schools in which the special 
 aims of the superintendent were presumably carried 
 out according to his wishes, and also schools in 
 which the principals were less fortunate. Some 
 general points struck me in these visits. 
 
THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 Nationality. 
 
 The evident desire to cultivate in the children 
 the idea that they are but individuals of one 
 nation and that a very great nation. This seemed 
 to me to be evident in the way in which the 
 children are marshalled together to pass out of the 
 building in regiments ; the way in which lessons 
 in civil government are given, by which the duties 
 of a citizen are inculcated into the minds of the 
 pupils ; and the way in which the special national 
 holidays are utilised, by being made show days for 
 the school children, and oration days for their 
 benefit. 
 
 On one occasion " Commemoration Day " I 
 was present at the ceremony. 
 
 The children boys and girls together marched 
 out to the drums beaten by some of their own 
 number, then filed past the school building, where 
 a large concourse of people were assembled, paused 
 to sing National songs, listened to a stirring oration 
 from an old soldier as to the bravery of the soldiers 
 who fell on both sides in the war between the 
 North and the South, and whose fall they were 
 " commemorating," and, finally, after a National 
 song sung in full chorus, the children departed to 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 
 
 carry wreaths and baskets of flowers wherewith to 
 decorate the graves of those soldiers who were 
 buried in their immediate vicinity. 
 
 In many States they celebrate " Arbor Day," by 
 way of calling attention to the trees of their 
 country, and encouraging care and love for 
 them. 
 
 I give the following extracts from the " Arbor 
 Day " circular issued by J. F. Crooker, Esq., School 
 Superintendent at Albany. 
 
 " Chapter 196. 
 u An Act to Encourage Arboriculture. 
 
 " Approved, April 30, 1888. 
 
 " The people of the State of New York, repre- 
 sented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as 
 follows : 
 
 " Section 1. The Friday following the first day 
 of May, in each year, shall hereafter be known 
 throughout this State as Arbor Day. 
 
 " Section 2. It shall be the duty of the authori- 
 ties of every public school in this State to assemble 
 the scholars in their charge on that day in the 
 school building, or elsewhere, as they may deem 
 proper, and to provide for and conduct under the 
 general supervision of the city superintendent or 
 
THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 the school commissioner, or other chief officers 
 having the general oversight of the public schools 
 in each city or district such exercise as shall tend 
 to encourage the planting, protection, and preserva- 
 tion of trees and shrubs, and an acquaintance with 
 the best methods to be adopted to accomplish such 
 results. 
 
 " Section 3. The State Superintendent of Public 
 Instruction shall have power to prescribe from 
 time to time, in writing, a course of exercises and 
 instruction in the subjects hereinbefore mentioned, 
 which shall be adopted and observed by the 
 public school authorities on Arbor Day ; and upon 
 receipt of copies of such course, sufficient in 
 number to supply all the schools under their super- 
 vision, the school commissioner or city superinten- 
 dent aforesaid, shall promptly provide each of the 
 schools under his or their charge with a copy, and 
 cause it to be adopted and observed. 
 
 " Section 4. This Act shall take effect imme- 
 diately." 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 
 
 " Arbor Day, 
 
 " STATE OF NEW YORK, 
 " DEPARTMENT OP PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, 
 " Superintendent's Office, 
 
 " Albany, March 15, 1893. 
 " Dear Boys and Girls of our Public Schools, 
 
 " Another spring is almost upon us, and we shall 
 soon be called to celebrate the anniversary of that 
 day which should bring to each one of us so much 
 of happiness, for Nature will then be putting on 
 her fresh green gown, as though preparing for a 
 holiday, and we cannot help being glad and gay if 
 we will but look for the joyousness and gaiety 
 that are on every side of us. How beautifully it 
 has been said of Nature 
 
 * ? Tis her privilege, 
 
 Through, all the years of this our life, to lead 
 From joy to joy.' 
 
 Listen for it in the freshening breezes that whisper 
 stories of a happier time to come, and read it in the 
 opening buds and blossoms that reveal a multitude 
 of secrets. 
 
 " I would urge you, my dear young friends, to 
 keep your eyes open this year for all those wonders 
 of Nature which so many people pass by with 
 
THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 careless eye, never dreaming of the beauties that 
 might be disclosed if they would but attend. 
 Very true are the words of Ruskin : 4 There is 
 not a moment of any day of our lives when 
 Nature is not producing scene after scene, picture 
 after picture, glory after glory, and working still 
 upon such exquisite and constant principles of the 
 most perfect beauty, that it is quite certain it is all 
 done for us, and intended for our perpetual plea- 
 sure.' How few persons recognise the charm of our 
 woods in early spring, when the first flush of wood- 
 land beauty appears to greet the smiling sun, when 
 our trees put on that variety and harmony of 
 apparel to celebrate the return of the spring. Do 
 you know what trees bud earliest ? and did you ever 
 see the tiny early flowers of the maples and the 
 elms ? Observe this year the first tree to bud and 
 blossom, and make a note of the tree and the date ; 
 then follow this up with others in their turn. It 
 is surprising how little most persons really know 
 about the trees among which they have lived from 
 childhood. What in Nature ought to demand more 
 attention from us than trees, in being every- 
 where present of large size, of picturesque appear- 
 ance and of general usefulness? 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 
 
 li If you cannot all become accomplished scientists 
 in this line, it is at least possible for every one to 
 become interested in and acquainted with the trees 
 in his neighbourhood. 
 
 " I would recommend to your attention this year 
 a thorough and careful study of our maples. Let 
 me urge you to study up the question of forestry ; 
 be instrumental in helping along this great cause. 
 Those who live in or near farms in the vicinity of 
 woods or forests should have a watchful eye in 
 regard to forest fires, which are most frequently 
 started on farms, and every year burn tens of 
 thousands of acres of forest land in the United 
 States. Be practical in this work. 
 
 " Our prosperity is dependent, in a large degree, 
 upon the preservation of our forests. A good 
 forest is only an aggregated mass of trees. When 
 we, as a people, come to know and appreciate and 
 love trees, we shall learn to love forests too ; and 
 once loving them, we shall appreciate their value ; 
 and efforts to preserve and maintain them and to 
 make them useful and productive for all time will 
 then be a comparatively easy task ; but to do this 
 you, my young friends, must grow up to love them 
 and to appreciate their value. 
 
THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 "Perhaps you do not realize how much foreign 
 governments are doing to preserve their forests, 
 and how largely forests affect the rainfall, the 
 climate and the river courses of a country. Some 
 of our western States have awakened to these facts, 
 and are putting forth great efforts in forest-tree 
 planting; Nebraska particularly, so that, she who 
 was once 'the treeless State ' has become the 
 pioneer State in this great work, and is now thickly 
 studded with young forests, the result of setting 
 out from eighteen to twenty millions of forest trees 
 a year. 
 
 " It was a resident of Nebraska, Mr. J. Sterling 
 Morton, now Secretary of Agriculture in Mr. 
 Cleveland's Cabinet, who invented l Arbor Day ' 
 and had it legalized as a holiday ; and we, with" 
 many other States, have followed the example thus 
 set us. The custom of tree-planting is not, how- 
 ever, new, for the Germans have a commendable 
 habit, as one writer tells us, of each member of a 
 family living in the rural districts planting a tree 
 at Wissuntide, which comes forty days after 
 Easter. The old Mexican Indians also plant trees 
 on certain days of the year when the moon is full, 
 and name them after their children ; and the Aztecs 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 
 
 used to plant a tree every time a child was born, 
 and it bore the name of the child. 
 
 " Let us then take renewed interest in this day, 
 and in the beautiful custom of planting memorial 
 trees, remembering that at about the same time 
 many, many others with us are endeavouring to 
 repair the beauty of our land, to atone for the 
 ravages which civilization has made. 
 
 "Wishing you a very happy springtime, and 
 trusting that this year you may acquire a broader 
 and deeper interest in trees and tree culture, 
 " I am, 
 
 " Yours very cordially, 
 " J. F. CROOKER, 
 
 " Superintendent." 
 
 Freedom of Behaviour. 
 
 Freedom of behaviour exists in all classes 
 in America, and seemed to me to be specially 
 marked in the schools, whether day schools or 
 Sunday schools. Children in ragged clothes and 
 without shoes went to work at the blackboard 
 before the class with apparently perfect uncon 
 cern. The freedom with which the children 
 engaged in "busy work" moved about the 
 
io THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 whilst the teacher was engaged in teaching the rest 
 of the form, was striking, and at first sight seemed 
 to imply lack of discipline or order ; but, since this 
 freedom of behaviour is accompanied by admirable 
 order and discipline whenever general orders are 
 given for the Americans have strong reverence 
 for forms of law the lack of discipline was 
 apparent only, for it is clear that such freedom 
 could exist only where the highest kind of 
 discipline was exercised. 
 
 This national freedom has its drawbacks, for, 
 entering as it does into the State laws, it is found 
 that no reforms can go faster than those to which 
 the people are educated. 
 
 Co-education. 
 
 The Grade Schools (Primary and Grammar) con- 
 tain the bulk of the girls and boys of the country, 
 and in these schools boys and girls have, with the 
 exception of manual work, such as cooking, sewing, 
 and metal working, the same curriculum ; for it 
 is held that girls and boys require the same back- 
 bone of study, since, whatever their work, they 
 need equal readiness in using their powers. 
 
 In the High Schools also, though at certain points 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 
 
 subjects are elective and optional, the courses of 
 study for boys and girls are in the main the same. 
 Co-education, though now so largely practised, is 
 of comparatively recent date. Some fifty or sixty 
 years ago, the children who now attend the Primary 
 Schools attended dame schools or private schools, 
 while separate schools for boys and girls in the 
 grammar grades was the universal rule. 
 
 When the Public Schools were established, the 
 present condition of things came as the result of 
 development. 
 
 In Chicago, co-education is universal, except in the 
 Manual Training Schools. West of Chicago, I came 
 across no exception to it. In St. Louis separate 
 education was first tried, but had to give way to co- 
 education. In Indianapolis co-education is adopted 
 from the lowest primary grade up to and including 
 the State University. In the eastern cities the 
 arrangements of the present day often depend 
 largely on school tradition. In Pennsylvania co- 
 education is common in the State, but not in the 
 older cities, where, in places, a strong prejudice 
 exists against it, though in the Primary Schools and 
 in the Grammar Schools there is a strong tendency 
 towards it. The Pratt Institute in Brooklyn is co- 
 
12 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 educational throughout, and co-education is strongly 
 supported by the authorities. They say men 
 become more tolerant and appreciative through it, 
 and they claim it is good mentally, morally, and 
 intellectually. 
 
 East Boston and all suburban districts of Boston 
 have mixed schools, in which boys and girls work 
 together. In the Primary Schools at Boston, co- 
 education is universal with two or three inconsider- 
 able exceptions, and these only in the lowest 
 districts, and for the convenience of separating the 
 backward scholars, mostly the children of poor 
 immigrants who swarm into the country. In the 
 Boston Grammar Schools there is every condition of 
 co-education i.e., there are separate buildings, 
 separate rooms in the same building, separate sides 
 of the same room, and indiscriminate sitting. By 
 the Massachusetts law, the graduating class, or 
 highest class in the High School, is mixed, but in 
 Boston there is one exception even to this. 
 
 I was told and could see that the girls of a 
 High School, when educated with boys, have more 
 dignity, quietness, and self-possession of manner 
 than those who are educated with girls only ; while 
 boys, from mixing with girls, show the influence of 
 
LV THE UNITED STATES 13 
 
 wholesome restraint in their manners; otherwise 
 girls and boys do not seem to have much marked 
 influence on each other during school years. One 
 lady remarked that as a girl she took no notice of 
 boys, except of those above her in age and attain- 
 ments, though another remarked that she was not 
 sure that the apparent indifference was anything 
 more than superficial. 
 
 By one authority not wholly in sympathy with 
 co-education it was said that best results might 
 follow co-education in the hands of a strong teacher, 
 but worst results in the hands of a weak teacher ; 
 but with one exception that of a first year's class 
 in a High School under a master I was much 
 struck with the bearing of the American school girl 
 as being much more self-reliant than that of the 
 English school girl. 
 
 Dr. Harris, Commissioner of Education in Wash- 
 ington D.C., when superintendent of the schools in 
 St. Louis in 1870, makes the following quotation 
 from Richter's " Levana " in his Report of that 
 year : 
 
 " To ensure modesty I would advise the education 
 of the sexes together ; for two boys will preserve 
 twelve girls, or two girls twelve boys, innocent, 
 
14 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 amidst winks, jokes, and improprieties, merely by 
 that instinctive sense which is the forerunner of 
 natural modesty. But I will guarantee nothing in 
 a school where girls are alone together, and still less 
 where boys are." 
 
 Co-education is not restricted to the schools. 
 Ann Arbor was the first Co-educational Institute for 
 adults in America ; but now State Universities are 
 frequently co-educational, particularly in the West. 
 And here I may mention a fact curious to an 
 English mind, of the way in which women work 
 with men, side by side in the same room, in all sorts 
 of offices, whether of school superintendents, 
 librarians, Boards of Education, or purely business 
 or mercantile ; and I was told that girls frequently 
 act as draughtsmen in architects 7 offices. All 
 this probably is due to the way in which the 
 education of girls as well as of boys is claimed as 
 a right, from which belief, indeed, co-education 
 may be said to have sprung. 
 
 After having seen the results of co-education in 
 America, and having heard it spoken of by those 
 who are not only daily proving its effects, but also 
 have themselves been subject to its influence, I feel 
 that we, as a nation, are losing greatly by the way in 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 
 
 which we almost persistently keep our boys and girls 
 apart ; hence, as Dr. Harris in this same Report sums 
 up the advantages which belongs to co-education, I 
 venture to quote largely from him. He points out : 
 
 I. " That economy is secured because co-education 
 permits of better classification and larger classes/ 7 
 
 II. " Discipline has improved continually, not 
 only on the part of the boys, but on that of the girls 
 as well/ 7 
 
 " The rudeness and abandon which prevail among 
 boys when separate at once give place to self- 
 restraint in the presence of girls. The prurient 
 sentimentality engendered by educating girls apart 
 from boys, and manifested by a frivolous and silly 
 bearing when such girls are brought into the society 
 of the opposite sex, disappears almost entirely in 
 mixed schools. In its place a quiet self-possession 
 reigns. The consequence of this is a general 
 prevalence of milder forms of discipline. Boys and 
 girls originating according to Nature's plan in 
 the same family as brother and sister, their culture 
 should be together, so that the social instincts may 
 be saved from abnormal diseased action. The 
 natural dependence of each individual upon all the 
 rest in society should not be prevented by isolating 
 
16 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 one sex from another during the most formative 
 stages of growth." 
 
 III. Instruction is also greatly improved. " We 
 find girls making wonderful advances even in 
 mathematical studies, while boys seem to take hold 
 of literature far better for the influence of the 
 female portion of the class." 
 
 IV. " Individual development is far more sound 
 and healthy. It has been found that schools kept 
 exclusively for girls or boys require a much more 
 strict surveillance on the part of the teacher. The 
 girls, confined by themselves, develop the sexual 
 tension much earlier, their imagination being the 
 reigning faculty, and not bridled by intercourse 
 with society in its normal form. So it is with boys, 
 on the other hand. Daily association in the class- 
 room prevents this tension, and supplies its place 
 by indifference. Each sex testing its strength with 
 the other on an intellectual plane in the presence of 
 the teacher, each one seeing the weakness and 
 strength of the other, learns to esteem what is 
 essential at its true value. Sudden likes and 
 dislikes, capricious fancies and romantic ideals give 
 way for sober judgments not easily deceived by 
 mere externals. This is the basis of that quiet 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 17 
 
 self-possession before alluded to, and it forms the 
 most striking mark of difference between the girls 
 or boys educated in mixed schools and those 
 educated in schools exclusively for one sex." 
 
 " That sexual tension be developed as late as 
 possible and that all early love affairs be avoided 
 is the desideratum, and experience has shown that 
 association of the sexes on the plane of intellectual 
 contest is the safest course to secure this end." 
 
 Foreign Element in Schools. 
 
 A serious and disturbing element which has to 
 be taken into account in the American schools is 
 the great immigration that is always going on, 
 particularly in the sea-board cities, as Boston and 
 New York ; the immigrants are mainly from the 
 slums of Europe, among the worst being the 
 Italians, the Russian Jews, the Poles, Hungarians, 
 Portuguese, and Irish. The poorest immigrants 
 remain in the first city to which they come, and 
 create or swell slum districts, while the better class 
 of immigrants push on into the interior. In Omaha, 
 for instance, there are German, Bohemian, Swedish, 
 Polish, and Danish settlements. 
 
 The settlers rapidly assimilate the Ar 
 
 J7A. r ^^' 
 
 OK& 
 
1 8 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 ways, and though the new comers at first build and 
 live in the ways of their fatherland, the children 
 become Americans, which no doubt is due mainly to 
 the fact that they are educated at the free schools 
 of the nation. 
 
 At present it is felt that the schools are human- 
 izing the immigrant population, and improving 
 them for the next generation ; though the fear is 
 not absent that the rapidity with which immigra- 
 tion is going on will swamp the native American 
 element. 
 
 Compulsory Education. 
 
 Compulsory Education, though existing in some 
 States, is by no means universal. 
 
 I did not inquire about this in all the places I 
 visited, but found it did not exist in Omaha, 
 Indianapolis, District of Columbia, nor in Pennsyl- 
 vania, though in the latter place there is a growing 
 sentiment that it should be made so in consequence 
 of the large influx of foreigners. 
 
 In Omaha, although there is no Compulsory 
 Education, children who do not attend schools are 
 looked after by charitable organizations. 
 
 In Boston a yearly census is taken of the children 
 and the schools they attend. If a child does not 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 19 
 
 attend any school, the cause of his absence is 
 inquired into, and the parent is fined for the non- 
 attendance of his child at school. The Truant 
 Officers frequently find cases of distress, and thus 
 become the agents for charitable people. 
 
 By the Massachusetts State law, the private schools 
 must be as good as the public schools. The method 
 of proving is to lay a suit against the parent, who 
 at once appeals to the private school, so that the 
 onus of proof falls on the school. 
 
 Teachers and Teaching. 
 
 One superintendent remarked to me that the 
 American teachers are ambitious and enthusiastic. 
 
 There is very little prefunctory treatment of 
 work. The teaching is live teaching. 
 
 Teachers in District Schools under township 
 Committees show the same energy. Work is done 
 in all branches with almost savage industry and 
 ferocious energy, although done not unfrequently 
 by those who have no intention of making teaching 
 a profession, for many young men go in for teaching 
 first so as to earn and save money for fitting them- 
 selves for other work, or to raise capital to go into 
 other and more lucrative employments. This strong 
 
20 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 characteristic of energy, which, tends to produce 
 intense nervousness, is doubtless the outcome of the 
 history of the nation. 
 
 There is no leisure class in America. A man of 
 leisure is considered more or less a " loafer." The 
 position which women hold there is far above that 
 accorded to them in the " Old Country," and is, I 
 cannot but think, a source of strength to the nation. 
 
 They came into power at the time of the war. It 
 was necessary for them to take the place and con- 
 duct the business of the fighting men. Under the 
 emergency they proved themselves to be possessed 
 of powers with which they had not previously been 
 credited, and the standing they then secured has 
 never been resigned. 
 
 In some cities men and women teachers are paid 
 on the same scale, but this is by no means a 
 universal rule ; and since men can usually earn 
 better incomes than by teaching, while women 
 cannot, the supply of male teachers is not equal to 
 the demand, and the supply of females is in excess ; 
 for instance, in Philadelphia out of 2,900 teachers, 
 100 were men and 2,800 women. 
 
 In Boston, in 1892, the regular teachers numbered 
 1345; of these 158 were males, 1187 females, while in 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 21 
 
 the same city the special teachers for Evening 
 Classes and such subjects as drawing and physical 
 exercises numbered 269 ; of these 112 were males, 
 157 females. The positions most frequently secured 
 by men are those of Superintendents and Principals 
 of Schools, though they, not unfrequently, work 
 with women in the High Schools ; for it must be 
 remembered that women teach mixed classes of boys 
 and girls in the High Schools, where the students 
 often are from 18 to 20 years of age. 
 
 Appointment of Teachers. 
 
 The appointment of teachers is governed by local 
 laws, and as the details as to their appointments 
 and qualifications have probably as many variations 
 as there are States and Cities, it will be impossible 
 to do more than point out general resemblances, 
 and then cite particular instances. 
 
 One point to which I would call special attention 
 is the fact that nowhere did I find an instance of 
 any one being allowed to teach unless he or she 
 had passed some test which was accepted by the 
 appointing Board. These tests vary greatly. In 
 the District Schools they usually take the form of 
 Examinations held at regular intervals by the 
 
22 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 County Superintendent under the State Superin- 
 tendent. 
 
 As an instance, I quote from " The School Law of 
 the State of Colorado," the arrangements laid down 
 there being similar to those in many of the other 
 States. 
 
 " On the last Friday of February, May, August, 
 and November in each year, he (the County Super- 
 intendent) shall meet all persons desirous of passing 
 an examination as teachers, in some suitable room 
 at the county seat, notice of which shall be given in 
 some newspaper in the county, or in case there is no 
 paper published in the county, he shall give such 
 notice as may by him be deemed necessary ; at 
 which time he shall examine all such applicants in 
 orthography, reading, writing, English grammar, 
 geography, the history of the United States, 
 physiology, the laws of health, the elements of the 
 natural sciences, theory and practice of teaching, 
 and the school law of the State. " (See Section 15.) 
 
 " If the applicant is to teach in a school of high 
 grade, the examination shall extend to such 
 additional branches of study as are to be pursued in 
 such school. If satisfied of the competency to teach, 
 and of the good moral character of the applicant, he 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 23 
 
 (the County Superintendent) shall give such appli- 
 cant a certificate as provided in the following 
 section, but he shall not issue a certificate, except a 
 temporary one, except the applicant be examined at 
 the regular quarterly examination. " (See Section 
 15.) 
 
 " The certificates issued by the County Superin- 
 tendent shall be of three grades, distinguished as 
 first, second, and third. The first grade certificate 
 shall be valid for two years ; the second grade for 
 one year ; the third grade for six months." (See 
 Section 16.) 
 
 " The superintendent shall keep an official record, 
 in a suitable book, of the persons so examined, con- 
 taining the name, age, nationality, date of examina- 
 tion, and grade of certificate issued ; he shall also 
 retain for six months the written answers of all 
 applicants at the regular examinations, and hold the 
 same subject to the order of the State Board of 
 Education." (See Section 16.) 
 
 " No District Board shall employ any person to 
 teach in any of the public schools of the State 
 unless such person shall have a license to teach, 
 issued from the proper district, county, or State 
 authority, and in full force at the date of employ- 
 
24 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 ment ; and any teacher who shall commence teach- 
 ing in any such school without such license shall 
 forfeit all claim to compensation out of the school 
 fund for the term so teaching without license." 
 (See Section 60.) 
 
 This granting of temporary certificates acts as a 
 strong inducement to an ambitious teacher to carry 
 on private study side by side with the teaching 
 done, with the hope of securing a certificate of a 
 higher grade than that already held. To give 
 facilities for this study, Normal Institutes are held 
 in some States. These Institutes differ from 
 Normal Schools in that they are held during the 
 long vacation, for the purpose of helping those 
 teachers who are unable to take a full course at a 
 Normal School. 
 
 In addition to the certificates granted by the 
 County Superintendent, some States grant State 
 diplomas, and I again quote from " The School Law 
 of the State of Colorado " : 
 
 " The State Board of Education is hereby author- 
 ized to grant State diplomas to such teachers as 
 may be found to possess the requisite scholarship 
 and culture, and who may also exhibit satisfactory 
 evidence of an unexceptionable moral character, and 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 25 
 
 whose eminent professional ability has been estab- 
 lished by not less than two years' successful teach- 
 ing in the Public Schools of this State. 
 
 " Such diplomas shall supersede the necessity of 
 any and all other examinations of persons holding 
 the same by county, city, or local examiners, and 
 shall be valid in any county, city, town, or district 
 in the State, unless revoked by the State Board of 
 Education " (Section 3). 
 
 The tests which are imposed on teachers in cities 
 are regulated mainly by Boards of Education. 
 
 In some cases the Board will accept State certifi- 
 cates, either of a Normal School or of a University, 
 or any other recognised certificate. In other cases 
 they require the candidates to pass special Exami- 
 nations held under the Superintendent of the City ; 
 in one city where appointments of teachers are 
 made by examination only, the examinees are not 
 allowed even to write their names on their Exami- 
 nation papers. 
 
 No one can teach in a Public School in Boston 
 who has not either been through the Normal School 
 or passed successfully the Supervisors' examination, 
 for which one year's experience in teaching is essen- 
 tial. They are then appointed temporarily for one 
 
26 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 jT-ear, confirmed for three years, after which they 
 are appointed permanently on good behaviour. 
 
 In another city teachers were required rapidly, 
 because the Schools grew suddenly ; hence High 
 School graduates were appointed who had not gone 
 through Normal training. At first the Principals of 
 the Schools reported that the work of the High 
 School graduates was as satisfactory as that of the 
 Normal students ; but after a time the marks 
 given by the Principals to the Normal students 
 and High School graduates for teaching and dis- 
 ciplining were, as a rule, in the ratio of two 
 to one. 
 
 Some hold that the training of teachers can be 
 done as well by Principals as by Normal Schools ; 
 as an illustration of this, in Chicago the " cadet " 
 system is followed. Cadets watch work for some 
 months, acting as substitutes when such are needed, 
 and when appointed as teachers begin with the 
 lowest grade. 
 
 Teachers coming to Chicago from the outside 
 have only to pass the specified Examination, and 
 when once appointed, their position is fairly per- 
 manent. There are in this city between 3,000 and 
 4,000 teachers ; of these only 100 to 200 drop out 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 27 
 
 annually, and that mostly either by death or 
 marriage. 
 
 In the District of Columbia three Commissioners 
 are appointed by Congress ; these appoint Trustees, 
 who appoint teachers. The Trustees are guided in 
 their opinion by the Superintendent, who in turn 
 is guided by the Supervising Principals. Teachers 
 here must have a Normal School certificate, or 
 must pass the Examination set by the Supervisors. 
 Graduates of the High School must pass through 
 the Normal School before they can be appointed as 
 teachers in the Grade Schools. 
 
 The plan of educating teachers in a Normal 
 School attached to a High School is frequently fol- 
 lowed, and struck me as likely to be an element of 
 future weakness, though I was told that if the 
 Normal School was good, the fact that the whole 
 education of the teacher had been carried on in the 
 same place was an element of strength. 
 
 Boards of Education. 
 
 The importance which attaches to Boards of 
 Education in America makes me feel that I cannot 
 omit all mention of them. 
 
 The Board forms the governing body .&. the 
 
 jry& ' ; 
 far 
 
 ( v 
 
28 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 Schools within a given area, and the Superintendent 
 of the Schools is the executive officer of the Board. 
 
 All classes of people may be found on these 
 Boards, and they are appointed or elected in various 
 ways ; the following are a few instances. 
 
 The Board of Education in Boston consists of 
 twentjr-four members, elected by voters to hold 
 office for three years. 
 
 In New York, in Brooklyn, and in Chicago, the 
 Mayor nominates the members of the Board of 
 Education, and there was some talk of this plan 
 being adopted in Boston. 
 
 In Philadelphia the Board is composed of one 
 member from each of the thirty-six sections into 
 which the city is divided. These members are ap- 
 pointed by the Common Pleas judges ; two women 
 are on this Board. 
 
 The Omaha Board of Education consists of fifteen 
 members, about half of whom retire yearly. All 
 these are voted for " at large. " 
 
 In Indianapolis there are eleven members, who 
 are elected by the people; these, while taking 
 charge of the School finances, practically leave the 
 course of study to the Superintendent a good 
 arrangement, but only rarely seen. 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 29 
 
 The School districts in Indianapolis do not coin- 
 cide with political districts ; this is intentional, in 
 order to diminish possibilities of political interfer- 
 ence. So far this has been fairly well secured, and 
 it is hoped that it may continue so. 
 
 In Denver the Board of Education consists of six 
 members. Two are elected annually, and that 
 when no other elections are taking place ; hence no 
 politics have been introduced into the School 
 management. 
 
 Washington, District of Columbia, has one Super- 
 intendent, one lady assistant, and eight Super- 
 visors, each having a special district to supervise. 
 The Superintendent is appointed by three Commis- 
 sioners, and the finances are managed by six 
 Trustees. The Superintendent, the Supervisors, 
 and the Trustees, all visit the Schools. These visits 
 are recorded, and are reported by the Principals of 
 the Schools in their monthly reports. 
 
 These instances show some of the various ways 
 in which the Boards are appointed, and will, to a 
 large extent, explain the somewhat curious phe- 
 nomena occasionally met with, in reference especi- 
 ally to teachers. In one city, a Board suddenly 
 decreed that every teacher in that city, whatever 
 
3 o THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 his or her standing, should pass a fresh and rather 
 comprehensive examination, in order to retain his 
 or her position ! And when the Schools are 
 governed by a number of men who may or may not 
 know anything of education, the results must neces- 
 sarily be somewhat uncertain, and the position of a 
 Superintendent very difficult. One important part 
 of his work then becomes that of educating his 
 Board ! 
 
 School Buildings. 
 
 In the High Schools there is usually a large hall, 
 somewhat square in general form, well arranged 
 with seats ; but I remember no instance of a Grade 
 School having such an assembly hall. 
 
 The school-rooms are large and well lighted, but 
 kept at a very high temperature, 68 to 70 Fahr. 
 being considered the desirable temperature. In one 
 school I visited, the children were being dismissed 
 because, the heating apparatus being out of order, 
 the temperature could not be raised above 56, and 
 it was " not safe for children to sit in such cold ! " 
 
 In most perhaps all cities, all the Public Schools 
 are connected by telephone with the Superinten- 
 dent's office. 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 31 
 
 The dressing-room accommodation appeared to me 
 insufficient. 
 
 No school in Brooklyn had separate rooms for 
 dressing-rooms ; the arrangements made were vari- 
 ous. In one school presses were in the large corridors ; 
 in another the blackboards were fixed on sliding- 
 doors, which hid recesses where the hats and cloaks 
 were hung. 
 
 The money expended on these buildings is often 
 very large. Not infrequently, especially with Dis- 
 trict Schools in country places, the only building 
 not of wood will be the school-house. 
 
 In travelling across the prairies, or high up on the 
 Rocky Mountains, occasionally a good substantial 
 building may be seen, contrasting strangely with 
 the little shanties or log huts of the settlers. If the 
 traveller should inquire about one of these substan- 
 tial-looking buildings, the answer is invariable 
 " That is a school-house." 
 
 Nowhere do Americans seem to grudge money for 
 schools. In Denver the cost of the High School, 
 which has a magnificent entrance hall, was $325,000. 
 The total cost of fifteen school buildings in the same 
 city to May 5th, 1890, was $819,861, or an average 
 cost per building of over 10,000 ! These Schools 
 
32 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 struck me as being the best school buildings I saw 
 anywhere. The corridors were wide, the staircases 
 in central positions, the rooms lofty and of good 
 area, the desks arranged so as to leave abundance of 
 space by the blackboards, which go all round the 
 rooms, as well as good aisles between each row of 
 desks. Each class-room had three doors : one for 
 general entrance, one leading to girls' dressing- 
 room, one leading to boys 7 dressing-room. But 
 although the buildings were so good, the amount of 
 playground was small, and this latter I found to be 
 the case in most places. 
 
 Courses of Study. 
 
 I was very anxious when first starting on my tour 
 to America to see whether or not the way in which 
 courses of study were planned for all the Schools of 
 a city produced lack of individuality and crushed 
 out originality, or whether it was a source of 
 strength. 
 
 Speaking generally, the impression I received was 
 not only that originality and individuality were 
 allowed full play when they were good, but that the 
 course of study, followed up as it is with frequent 
 supervision, proved a great corrective of the mistakes 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 33 
 
 which so often take place in the hands of a weak 
 teacher. 
 
 In Boston the Board of Education aims at making 
 a man feel responsible, and yet feel that he belongs 
 to a system ; they therefore leave all liberty con- 
 sistent with order to the discretion of the teacher, 
 and, as a consequence, intense individuality is 
 noticeable everywhere in Boston. 
 
 Mr. Powell, Superintendent of the Washington 
 Schools, told me that great freedom is allowed to 
 the teacher, as much freedom as is consistent with 
 having a system. 
 
 The same sentiments were expressed by the 
 Superintendents both of Indianapolis and of Omaha, 
 and, while I have mentioned special instances, the 
 same, no doubt, might be said of many other cities. 
 
 In some places teachers have the right of claiming 
 a day for visiting other schools ; in one city one day 
 per annum is granted ; in another city one day per 
 term is not only granted, but must be so used, and a 
 report of the visits made and of the lessons heard 
 has to be sent in to the Superintendent. 
 
 In addition to this, the Superintendent may send 
 a teacher to visit a Grade at any time. 
 
 Teachers fully appreciate these advantages ; in 
 
34 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 one instance I met a teacher who, while her class for 
 some special reason was having a holiday, was 
 utilizing her time in visiting another class of the 
 same grade. 
 
 The fact that the same course of study has to be 
 followed in every school in a city gives to this visit- 
 ing a double advantage ; for a teacher can observe 
 not only general methods of teaching, but also how, 
 in another person's hands, the same work in which 
 she is engaged assumes quite a different form. 
 
 In Boston the Principals of schools, within broad 
 limits, organize their own schools. This condition I 
 found prevailing largely in the schools of the 
 various towns I visited, but in different degrees ; and 
 where fully carried out, the schools struck me as 
 being healthier, and freer from unnatural constraint, 
 amongst both teachers and taught. 
 
 No one will, I think, deny that the tone of the 
 teaching staff is an index to the tone of the scholars, 
 and I found that where the Superintendent attempted 
 to command in detail, as well as in general guiding 
 principles, the teacher lost the freshness and vigour 
 of work which comes from the need of exercising 
 one's own sense of responsibility, and the Superin- 
 tendent, in visiting the various rooms, was received 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 35 
 
 not so much as a friend who would give encourage- 
 ment, help, and advice, but as a taskmaster whose 
 presence was rather to be dreaded. 
 
 One great difference which struck me as existing 
 between the courses of study for the primary grades 
 and the usual curriculum for pupils of a similar age 
 in our own secondary schools was in the number of 
 subjects taught. 
 
 I give two instances, one taken from an Eastern, 
 one from a Western school. 
 
 The subjects laid down in the course of study of 
 the Boston Primary Schools, Class II., are : 
 
 Moral training ... ... \ hour per week. 
 
 Physical training ... ... 1| hours 
 
 Observation lessons and manual 
 
 training 3 
 
 Drawing 1J 
 
 Singing ... ... ... ... 1 hour ,, 
 
 Language (this includes oral 
 and written exercises, read- 
 ing, and writing) ... ... 11 \ hours ,, 
 
 Arithmetic ... ... ... 3^ ,, 
 
 In Chicago the course of study laid down for the 
 first year or grade consists of : 
 
36 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 Language (this includes oral 
 work, reading, writing, spell- 
 ing), arithmetic, singing ... 1 \ hours per week. 
 Form study and colour drawing 1 \ 
 
 Miscellaneous (this includes per- 
 sonal habits, conduct, physical 
 culture, sewing). 
 
 In Chicago the course of study is revised annually. 
 Not much is changed in the regular subjects, as 
 arithmetic, reading, and grammar, but subjects 
 taught in the grammar grades, such as science and 
 geography, are subject to revision. 
 
 As a general rule the study of languages and of 
 mathematics is deferred until the pupils enter the 
 high schools. Indeed, one striking point in nearly 
 all the graded schools of the country is the absence 
 of foreign languages in the school curriculum. 
 
 The fact that by far the greater portion of the 
 continent is English-speaking removes the incentive 
 to the study of foreign languages which exists in 
 England. 
 
 In high schools generally Greek, Latin, and 
 modern languages are taught, and the pupils may 
 by choice take two or three languages, according to 
 the special regulations of the place. 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 37 
 
 In St. Louis there is a large Grerman element, and 
 to a certain extent German was at one time studied 
 by the younger children, and became the medium of 
 instruction in the Public Schools. This continued 
 for about twenty years, when there arose against 
 the practice a strong native American feeling, and it 
 was determined to sweep Grerman out of the Primary 
 Schools ; this was done in St. Louis, and in other 
 cities to the west and south of St. Louis. 
 
 In some manufacturing towns, as Lawrence and 
 Holyoke, there is a large French-Canadian popula- 
 tion, where Jesuitical schools attempted to keep 
 their hold over the population by using French. A 
 law was, however, made thab if parents sent their 
 children to any school where the medium of instruc- 
 tion was other than English the parents should be 
 fined. Consequently the usage of French was 
 abolished, since the Jesuits, in order to retain their 
 pupils, adopted the English language. 
 
 One small but important point of difference in 
 management between a grade or class in America 
 and a form or class in a secondary school in Eng- 
 land is the time given to private work in school 
 hours. 
 
 A grade under one teacher is usually divided into 
 
38 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 two classes, a'nd, while the teacher is hearing or 
 teaching one class, the other is doing " busy work " 
 or preparation. 
 
 Even in the high schools each pupil usually has 
 one or more divisions in which to prepare work. 
 
 I now give some detailed account of work done in 
 certain subjects, as I feel that an examination of 
 parts of the " courses of study " will perhaps be one 
 of the best ways of estimating the kind of work 
 that is being carried on in the Graded Schools of 
 America. 
 
 Arithmetic. 
 
 I wish to call attention particularly to the teaching 
 of arithmetic in the primary grades, as the method is 
 very different from ours, and has many advantages. 
 
 Usually the first year's work is the " teaching 
 numbers from 1 to 10; this involves the teaching of 
 the processes of addition, subtraction, multiplica- 
 tion, and division (objectively) with these numbers 
 and their parts. The number of problems required 
 to do the work thoroughly would fill from 300 to 350 
 pages of an arithmetic book" (Springfield^ Mass., 
 Syllabus of Work). 
 
 Addition, subtraction, and division tables are 
 taught with the multiplication tables ; and no 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 39 
 
 example is given in addition or in multiplication 
 which involves the adding of any figures not learnt. 
 Thus in a first grade, where all tables of 2's are 
 learnt, the addition sum would be somewhat as 
 follows : 2 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 2; and not 
 until a child knows the addition table of 3's as well 
 as the multiplication, division, and subtraction of 
 3's, are 3's used in an addition sum. 
 
 All number is taught objectively, the children 
 making problems for themselves from pictures and 
 stones. " Every new thought process in arithmetic 
 must be developed at first objectively in any grade," 
 as, for example, square root and cube root in the 
 seventh and eighth grades, as well as work in the 
 primary grades. 
 
 In some schools, as in Springfield, Mass., and in 
 Denver, Colorado, elementary fractions are taught 
 in the first grade, where no number higher than 10 
 is used. The children learn (objectively) J, J, J, 
 and use them in connection with any number to 10; 
 while in the second grade, where the numbers to be 
 mastered are from 10 to 20, the fractions taught 
 (objectively) are J, J, \, J, J, |, f 
 
 In concluding this subject, I should like again 
 to quote from the Springfield Syllabus of Wor 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
40 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 u Nearly all topics in arithmetic are simple in their 
 elements, but difficult in their advanced develop- 
 ment. Hence it is a mistake in grading the work 
 in a course of study to assume that one topic is 
 to be ' finished ' before another is begun. On the 
 contrary, the elements of many topics should be 
 begun in the lower grades, and then the work in 
 each be made more and more difficult through the 
 various grades until it is finished.' 7 
 
 Geography. 
 
 While at Indianapolis I spent a whole day in 
 hearing the teaching of geography in the suc- 
 cessive grades, and was very much indebted to 
 Miss Cropsey, the Assistant Superintendent, for her 
 kindness in arranging this plan for me. 
 
 I found the teaching most intelligent, and the 
 children most interested. 
 
 I now give the directions as to the teaching of 
 geography extracted from the course of study in 
 the Manual of the Public Schools of Indianapolis for 
 1892-93, as it shows the care with which any par- 
 ticular study can be, and I find frequently is, 
 thought out in detail. In doing this, I also give the 
 work under " Beading " in the first two grades, 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 41 
 
 since this shows the way in which the elements of 
 geography are taught. 
 
 GRADE I. B. 
 
 Reading conversation lessons, based mainly upon 
 the study of nature plants and animals. The 
 instructions in reading and number should be closely 
 connected with the instruction in form and colour 
 and the observation of nature. (See Syllabus on 
 Observation Lessons, and general remarks under 
 Language, Grade II. B.) 
 
 The sand table may be used in illustrating reading 
 and number stories, and the children should be 
 encouraged to represent their ideas of hills, valleys, 
 streets, trees, parks, ponds, brooks. 
 GRADE I. A. 
 
 Supplementary reading should be based upon the 
 study of nature and appropriate literature, which 
 gives the relation of the child to nature, also the 
 literature which brings the child into true relations 
 with humanity, the family, the school, society, and 
 the nation. "Little People of Other Lands" read 
 to the children. 
 
 Plants, animals, and minerals should be studied ; 
 and pupils should be led to notice the phenomena of 
 each season. 
 
42 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 GRADE II. B. 
 
 Language composition. Oral in connection with 
 lessons upon plants and animals. 
 
 In presenting this work, it is best to give, first, 
 the poetic view, giving the life and habits of the 
 plant or the animal in its natural environment and 
 its relation to man ; second, the structure adapted 
 to the life of the individual, as " The root takes up 
 food for the plant/ 7 and at the same time to give 
 the relative position of parts ; third, a careful 
 description of parts with reference to form, size, and 
 colour, and other qualities given to the intelligence 
 through the senses. 
 
 This work should lead to a view of the unity of 
 each living thing in itself and its necessary con- 
 nection with other things. It should also lead to 
 habits of close observation, and to independent and 
 honest statement of facts. (All of this work should 
 employ the child's knowledge of colour and form in 
 illustration of the subject.) 
 
 Geography. All study of form, colour, plants, or 
 animals ; all observations upon the weather or upon 
 the phenomena of the changing seasons ; all stories 
 of children of other lands, are contributions to the 
 study of geography. The observations made by 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 
 
 each school upon the changes of season should be 
 recorded in some convenient way, and children 
 should often turn back and compare with the 
 present phenomena. u Seven Little Sisters " read to 
 the children. 
 
 GRADE II. A. 
 
 Geography. (See Grade II. B.) Stud}^ a few of 
 the typical forms of land and water, as children 
 have opportunities to observe them, as hill, valley, 
 river, pond. Use the sand table ; pictures can be 
 used to help make clear and permanent the concepts 
 based upon observation. Study water, as dew, 
 rain, hail, snow, ice, steam. " Kobinson Crusoe " 
 read to children. 
 
 GRADE III. B. 
 
 Geography. Continue work begun in previous 
 grades. Children should keep their own record of 
 the weather and of the phenomena of the seasons. 
 Note that the sun appears to move. 
 
 Head " Seven Little Sisters." Show the picture 
 of the earth as given in that book. Learn poetic 
 descriptions of the earth as a whole (" Great, wide, 
 wonderful, beautiful world "). Use the pictures and 
 descriptions of the School Header to aid in making 
 
44 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 permanent concepts gained elsewhere ; Appleton's 
 Third : By the Brook," " The White Bear," " The 
 Mountain," " Lost in a Balloon," " Caught by the 
 Tide," " The River," " North Wind." 
 
 Teach points of the compass. Draw the map of 
 the schoolroom, for the purpose of teaching the idea 
 and use of a map. 
 
 GKADE III. A. 
 
 Geography. Size and shape of the earth. (Story 
 of " Long Ago " in Appleton's Third Reader.) The 
 shape of the horizon on the water or on a plain. 
 What seems to be the shape of the sky ? Forms of 
 land and water, with water flowing over the land 
 (Frye's " Child in Nature," p. 82). Teach by observa- 
 tion if possible. Lessons from King's Geographical 
 Readers. Water flowing through the soil, and soil- 
 making (Frye, pp. 82-88). Read with the children 
 11 Brooks and Brook-basins," also lessons from 
 King's Geographical Readers. Air by experience ; 
 water in the air (Frye, pp. 89, 83). Stories of races 
 and religions, occupations and commerce (Frye, pp. 
 118-120). Read " Aunt Martha's Corner Cupboard." 
 
 Model and draw map of the school yard and 
 school district. Show map of the city, and note the 
 relation of the district to the city. Locate the 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 45 
 
 principal streets and public buildings. Occupations 
 of people at home, what they do for a living; 
 means of communication with other places ; laws of 
 the city, and who make them. 
 
 GRADE IV. B. 
 
 Geography. Elementary Geography, Indiana 
 Series. 
 
 I. The Earth as a Whole. 
 
 1. Teach form, size, motions, and position as to the 
 rays of the sun, as a basis for the explanation of 
 the general distribution of heat over the surface of 
 the earth (Lessons VI., XII., and XIII.). 
 
 2. From the foregoing lead the pupil to infer that 
 the hottest parts of the surface of the earth are 
 near the equator, and that as the distance from 
 the equator increases the heat diminishes (Lesson 
 XIV.). 
 
 3. Teach the general distribution of plants and 
 animals, and lead the pupil to see that it depends 
 upon the general distribution of heat (Lessons 
 XV. and XVI.). 
 
 4. Teach that the surface of the earth consists of 
 land and water ; that the large bodies of land are 
 called continents ; and that the large bodies of 
 
46 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 water are called oceans, and all the oceans together 
 are called " the sea " (Lesson VII.). 
 
 5. Teach that some parts of the land rise higher 
 above the level of the sea than others ; that as we 
 ascend high mountains we see that the temperature 
 grows cooler until we find ice and snow. This will 
 introduce the fact that elevation modifies the 
 general distribution of heat. Lead the children to 
 infer the kinds of plants and animals that are found 
 on high elevations (Lesson IX.). 
 
 6. Minerals. Teach where they are found. Men- 
 tion the common ones. Lead the pupil to see how 
 useful they are to man, and that he is likely to try 
 to discover where he can get them with the least 
 trouble and expense (Lesson XVII.). 
 
 7. Eefer to the fact that people must have food, 
 clothes, houses, etc., to make them comfortable ; 
 that these cannot be obtained without work, and so 
 we find people working to procure these things 
 (Lesson XVIII.). 
 
 8. Lead the pupil to get an idea of government 
 by referring to rules in games and school. See 
 directions in preceding grades. Tell the pupils 
 about the different kinds of government (Lesson 
 XIX.). 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 47 
 
 9. Read stories or descriptions that bear on any 
 part of the geography work of this grade. 
 
 10. Head stories of the different races of men in 
 the world (Lesson XX.). 
 
 II. Parts of the Earth. 
 
 1. Home observations. 
 
 (1) Have pupils note the apparent motions of the 
 sun, with results of same (Frye, p. 94.). 
 
 (2) Observe habits of plants and animals in the 
 different seasons (Frye, pp. 102 and 106). 
 
 (3) The common minerals found in our own local- 
 ity or state. 
 
 (4) The occupation of the people. 
 
 (B) Current events that have relation to the geo- 
 graphy study of the grade. 
 
 2. North America. 
 
 (1) Its position as to the direct rays of the sun 
 and as to the oceans that touch it. 
 
 (2) Its general outline. 
 
 (3) A general idea of its size. 
 
 (4) Its chief elevations. 
 
 (5) Its chief rivers and lakes. 
 
 (6) Its climate, plants, and animals. 
 
 (7) Its principal minerals, and where found (in 
 general Lessons XXII. and XXIII,). 
 
THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 3. South America studied by the same gene- 
 ral plan as North America (Lessons XXVII. and 
 XXVIII.). 
 
 4. The United States. 
 
 (1) Position. 
 
 (2) Size. 
 
 (3) Outline form. 
 
 (4) Chief elevations, slopes, rivers, and lakes. 
 
 (5) Chief plants, animals, and minerals. 
 
 (6) The people : their chief occupations (Lessons 
 XXIII. and L.). (See map on p. 68.) 
 
 GRADE IV. A. 
 
 Geography. Elementary Geography, Indiana 
 Series. 
 
 I. The Earth as a Whole. 
 
 1 . Review form, size, position, and motions of the 
 earth as taught in IV. B. 
 
 2. Show that the general distribution of heat 
 determines the general direction of the winds. Tell 
 about the trade winds. 
 
 3. Current events that bear on any work out- 
 lined in this or the preceding grade. 
 
 II. Parts of the Earth. 
 1. Review North America in order to teach the 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 49 
 
 physical features of the Dominion of Canada, 
 Greenland, Alaska, Mexico, and Central America 
 (Lessons XXIV. to XXVI.). 
 
 2. Study Europe and Asia in outline, and then 
 more in detail as separate continents. (See Parker's 
 "How to Study Geography," pp. 42-47.) Study 
 these continents by a plan similar to the one given 
 for North America in IV. B (Lessons XXX. and 
 XXXVI.). 
 
 3. Study the following countries : 
 
 (1) Europe, 
 
 (a) British Isles (Lesson XXXI.). 
 (6) Germany (Lesson XXXIII.). 
 
 (c) Eussia (Lesson XXXII.). 
 
 (d) France and Switzerland (Lesson XXXIX.). 
 
 (e) Spain (Lesson XXXV.). 
 
 (2) Asia, 
 
 (a) China (Lesson XXXVIII.). 
 
 (&) Japan and Indo-China (Lesson XXXIX.). 
 
 (c) British India (Lesson XL.). 
 
 GKADE V. B. 
 
 Geography. Elementary Geography, Indiana 
 Series. 
 
50 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 I. The Earth as a Whole. 
 
 1. Review IV. B and IV. A, and teach that the 
 rotation of the earth modifies the direction of the 
 winds. 
 
 2. Lead the pupils to see the earth as a great 
 ball, whose surface is composed of land and water ; 
 and that the land is made up chiefly of the con- 
 tinents studied ; also that the water or sea is made 
 up of the different oceans (Lessons XL VII. and 
 XLVIIL). 
 
 3. Compare the general structure of the land 
 masses. (See Parker.) 
 
 II. Parts of the Earth. 
 
 1. Africa as J^orth America in IV. B. Make the 
 work on the countries very light (Lessons XLII. 
 to XLIV.). 
 
 2. Oceania as given in the book (Lessons XLV. 
 and XLVI.). 
 
 3. United States by groups as given in the book 
 (Lessons LI. to LXII. inclusive). 
 
 GRADE V. A. 
 
 G-eography. Complete Geography, Indiana 
 Series. 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 
 
 I. The, Earth as a Whole. 
 
 (1) Mathematical geography. 
 
 1. Form, size, position, and motions of the earth, 
 as determining the general distribution of the heat 
 and winds (pp. 3, B, and 7). 
 
 (2) Physical geography. 
 
 1. Teach general direction of winds (p. 36) and 
 ocean currents (p. 35) as determined by general 
 distribution of heat. 
 
 2. Special distribution of heat, direction of ocean 
 currents and winds, as determined by elevation, 
 slope, and relative position of land and water bodies 
 (see Parker, pp. 62-54) (pp. 12, 13, and 14). 
 
 3. Distribution of rain fall and soil as determined 
 by the preceding. 
 
 4. Distribution of plants (pp. 43-52). 
 
 5. Distribution of animals ( pp. 53-63). 
 
 6. Distribution of minerals. 
 
 GRADE VI. B. 
 Geography. Complete Geography, Indiana Series. 
 
 I. The Earth as a Whole. 
 
 (a) Mathematical geography. 
 1. Review V. A. 
 
52 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 2. Study " change of season " more thoroughly 
 than in V. A. 
 
 (6) Physical geography. 
 
 1. Review ocean currents and winds and rain- 
 fall carefully, noting their effect upon the climate 
 of a country (pp. 33, 36, and 43). 
 
 2. Draw belts showing the general distribution 
 of plants and animals. 
 
 (c) Political. 
 
 1. Distribution of occupations and productions 
 (pp. 61-63) 
 
 2. Distribution of races ( p. 61). 
 
 3. Distribution of governments ( p. 64). 
 
 4. Distribution of religions ( p. 64) . 
 
 B. Commerce. Show that it depends upon the 
 physical conditions of a country (p. 130). Show 
 how it is carried on between countries and between 
 different parts of the same country. 
 
 GRADE VI. A. 
 Geography. Complete Geography, Indiana Series. 
 
 I. The Earth as a Whole. 
 Political geography. 
 
 1. Distribution of political divisions and govern- 
 ments. 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 53 
 
 2. In what belts are the principal cities of the 
 world ? Learn what each is noted for. 
 
 IT. Parts of the Earth. 
 
 1. Special study of the United States (pp. 68- 
 89). 
 
 (a) Mathematical. 
 (&) Physical. 
 (c) Political. 
 
 2. Special study of Indiana by the same plan. 
 
 GRADE VII. B. 
 Geography. Complete Geography. Indiana Series. 
 
 I. The Earth as a Whole. 
 
 (a) Mathematical. 
 
 Review what has been learned in order to show 
 that it is the basis of the physical conditions upon 
 the earth, because it determines the general distri- 
 bution of heat and moisture, 
 (6) Physical. 
 
 1. Review, showing that the divisions of land 
 and water and the elevation of land determine the 
 special distribution of heat and moisture, and that 
 out of this grows the distribution of plants and 
 animals. 
 
54 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 2. The distribution of plants, animals, and 
 minerals determines the distribution of occupations 
 of the people. 
 
 3. Study the continents enough to enable the 
 pupil to see that the general truths learned apply to 
 the individual continents. 
 
 4. Study the structure of the following countries 
 that have figured in history : Persia and Syria, 
 Egypt, Greece, Italy, Spain, France, Great Britain, 
 Germany, Holland, and the United States. (See 
 Parker.) 
 
 (c) Political. 
 
 1. Show all countries are related to one another, 
 and how they all depend upon the mathematical 
 and physical conditions of the earth. 
 
 2. Lead pupils from this to see that the earth 
 seems intended for the house of man. 
 
 3. Study the political features of the countries 
 named under " Physical " in this grade. 
 
 4. Distribution of nations (Parker, p. 388). 
 
 5. Distribution of races (Parker, p. 334). 
 
 NOTE. " Political " is used in this course of study to 
 include all human institutions. 
 
 In grades higher than VII. B I find the study of history 
 as a subject is substituted for that of geography, though to 
 the latter much attention is given in studying history. 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 55 
 
 MANUAL, TECHNICAL, AND 
 TECHNOLOGICAL TRAINING. 
 
 THE growing attention which is being paid to 
 manual training in America must eventually have 
 most marked results in the improvement of the 
 nation as a whole, and of the artisans and mechanics 
 in particular, as regards both intelligence and skill 
 in handling materials of all kinds. 
 
 I found in Boston and also in Brooklyn that 
 manual, technical, and technological training were 
 regarded as three distinct kinds of training. Pro- 
 bably this distinction holds good generally, but 
 the country is so large that I prefer to mention 
 instances rather than to run the risk of making 
 the mistakes which follow from generalising from 
 a few particulars. 
 
 In the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn the schemes 
 for manual and technical training are very com- 
 prehensive, and while classes for manual training 
 are open to all, only trade students learn technical 
 work ; and while learning they are not earning 
 money, but are supported by parents or friends. 
 Manual training is education given to develop 
 powers of body, irrespective of the articles? "made; 
 
56 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 technical training is education given to prepare 
 for mechanical arts; technological training is 
 higher than technical training, inasmuch as it 
 gives higher scientific study, and trains engineers 
 and physicists. 
 
 The Pratt Institute was established in 1887, and 
 was endowed by Mr. Pratt, senior. 
 
 The Drexel Institute in Philadelphia, more 
 recently established, is, I understand, on the same 
 lines. 
 
 I am unable to speak of the relative merits 
 of these institutes ; but having spent some time in 
 the Pratt Institute, will base my remarks upon 
 what I there saw. 
 
 It seemed to me most complete in organisation, 
 arrangements, and appliances ; no department, 
 except that involving a purely literary course of 
 study, being omitted. Co-education is believed in 
 very strongly, mentally and morally, and is fully 
 carried out. 
 
 A High School with a three years' course is 
 attached to the Institute, and is attended by girls 
 and boys. Evening classes are held on a variety 
 of subjects, attendance at which is not restricted 
 by sex or age ; but the main part of the work 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES $7 
 
 is carried on in the Institute proper, which con- 
 tains 13,000 students, of whom 9,000 are women 
 or girls. 
 
 To enumerate all the classes would take too 
 much space. Some parts of the course are com- 
 pulsory, but others are elective. Opportunity is 
 given and naturally is used almost exclusively 
 by girls of learning, in rooms specially designed 
 for the purpose, cookery, laundry, and needle- 
 work. 
 
 The cooking-room was most complete in its 
 arrangements, and allowed no perfunctoriness in 
 the teaching. All recipes had to be reduced or 
 enlarged ; e.g., one tomato might be the quantity 
 for each girl to cook, but the recipe might be given 
 for a peck of tomatoes. 
 
 The same thoroughness was manifest in the 
 laundry department. 
 
 Needlework included all its branches, as dress- 
 making, millinery, plain sewing, embroidery. 
 
 In the latter, original designing was greatly 
 encouraged. In reference to designing I may add 
 that, in addition to designs for embroidery, girls 
 boys too if they wish design for carpets, cloths, 
 silks, and silver; and their designs are not in- 
 
58 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 frequently bought by New York and other 
 merchants. 
 
 The architectural drawing class is frequently 
 attended by girls, who act as draughtsmen in 
 architects' offices. Miss Hayden, who was the 
 architect of the Women's Building at Chicago, 
 was a graduate of the Pratt Institute. 
 
 The Technological Institute in Boston was 
 equally interesting; but I omit an account of it 
 from my report, since the work I undertook had 
 special reference to the Graded Schools. 
 
 I will close this part of my report by referring 
 to the manual work I saw, which had more 
 immediate reference to Graded Schools. 
 
 In the Schools at Philadelphia, which city ranks 
 high for its manual training, I inspected a full 
 course of sewing, the general plan of which was 
 that each girl should at the beginning of a term 
 make a " term piece," i.e., a piece containing 
 specimens of all new stitches to be done in the 
 term. When this was completed, a garment might 
 be brought from home on which to practise the 
 new work learnt. Each term a review of all 
 work learnt in previous terms was required. 
 
 Clay modelling is largely practised in Phila- 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 59 
 
 delphia, and in Washington, D.C. ; in this boys, 
 being less deft with their fingers than girls, 
 require more practice of common things. 
 
 There are three kinds of clay modelling : scooping 
 out the clay, so as to leave the form desired in a 
 hollow in the slab ; cutting away surroundings, so 
 as to leave the form as if laid on the slab ; 
 building up the object desired with the hands and 
 free from any slab. 
 
 "Washington appeared to me very complete in 
 its appliances for manual training. They have 
 separate accommodation for cooking, for sewing, 
 for carpenters, for turning lathes, and for working 
 in metals ; and as manual training is made com- 
 pulsory for the last two years in the grammar 
 grades and the first year in the High School, it 
 is found that students generally wish to continue 
 the training so soon as it becomes elective, and, 
 consequently, very excellent results are seen. 
 
 In Indianapolis there is a Manual Training School 
 in connection with the High School ; but it chiefly, 
 almost entirely, confines itself to working in wood. 
 Some modelling in sand is done in the grades, also 
 drawing and needlework, otherwise I did not find 
 manual training taught in these grades. 
 
60 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 I was told that St. Louis is good for its perfection 
 of manual training, but this I had no opportunity of 
 inspecting. 
 
 In Chicago a special Manual High School is estab- 
 lished, which is distinct from the seven Classical 
 High Schools, though ranking equal with them. 
 It contains about 300 boys, no girls having at pre- 
 sent applied, and gives training in carpentry, iron- 
 foundry, and machinery work. A similar school, 
 supported by private individuals, has been estab- 
 lished for some of the Grammar Schools, and a few 
 schools, mostly experimental, for the teaching of 
 Slojd. 
 
 In Boston, as examples of the way in which 
 private individuals have helped and are helping in 
 the cause of education, I should like to mention that 
 one lady maintained a Cookery School at private 
 cost, until success was assured, and the movement 
 was adopted by the Board of Education, to whom 
 she then handed over her school for the benefit of 
 the city ; also a school for the teaching of Slojd has 
 been started by private enterprise, and one for the 
 training of normal students in physical exercises, 
 for the purpose of improving the physical exercises 
 in the Graded Schools of the city. 
 
IN THE UN J TED STATES 61 
 
 Drawing. 
 
 In most schools considerable attention is paid to 
 drawing all through the school career, from the 
 earliest primary grade to the High School. The 
 Prang Drawing Company, which has its head- 
 quarters at Boston, has, I should judge, been the 
 means of securing good work over a large area in 
 the Schools of the United States. 
 
 As a short sketch of the principles and origin of 
 the Prang system may be helpful in understanding 
 the power which drawing has become in the Ameri- 
 can Schools, I give some extracts of the system taken 
 from the pamphlets issued by the Company : 
 
 " The system, which was originated by Walter 
 Smith, was based on the South Kensington work, 
 and derived its name from Mr. Prang, who, with 
 Mr. Clarke, was publisher for Walter Smith. The 
 course of instruction, as arranged by the Prang 
 Education Company, covers eight years, or the time 
 spent by a child in the primary and grammar 
 grades ; but it does not stop there. It arranges for 
 normal art classes, and for teaching by correspond- 
 ence, and has now (1893) about 700 students in the 
 normal classes." 
 
 The Company says : 
 
62 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 "The first organised effort to establish drawing 
 as a fundamental study in the Public Schools was 
 made in Massachusetts in 1870. Ever since that 
 time the movement for art education has been 
 increasing in strength and influence. The kinder- 
 garten movement, the movement for manual train- 
 ing, and that for art education stand, in fact, for 
 three great educational forces, which are re-shaping 
 the whole system of instruction in our public schools. 
 These three great forces, working in unison, have 
 helped to bring about a radical change in the 
 character of school instruction in drawing. 
 
 " This study, as now conducted in the best 
 Schools, is no longer simply drawing. All the 
 various courses are based on the study of models 
 and objects, and include not only form study and 
 drawing, but clay modelling, paper -folding and 
 cutting, and the making of models and objects in 
 various materials. The instruction given has a 
 direct bearing on manual training, and much atten- 
 tion is paid to the connection of drawing with other 
 studies, and its helpfulness in all lines of school 
 work. 
 
 " All thorough work in drawing being based upon 
 the study of form in objects, the Prang courses pro- 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 63 
 
 vide first of all for the placing of well-chosen models 
 in the hands of school- children, from the lowest 
 primary grade upward. This is done in order that 
 pupils may become clearly and accurately acquainted 
 with 
 
 " (a) The facts of form, 
 
 " (6) The appearance of form, 
 
 and be prepared to reproduce their knowledge by 
 the two methods of 
 
 " (a) Constructive drawing and 
 
 " (6) Representative drawing. 
 
 " The courses provide also for thorough instruc- 
 tion in the principles of decoration, and expression 
 of the knowledge obtained by decorative drawing." 
 
 Side by side with this comes the effort to develop 
 colour, and I again quote from their pamphlets : 
 
 " Extended and careful observations of young 
 children, made by competent persons under the 
 most varied conditions, show it to be a fact that 
 children do not see colour as adults see colour. The 
 colour sense in most young children is imperfect in 
 action and limited in range. The Prang course of 
 instruction in colour begins by recognising this fact, 
 and appeals, in the first place, to the child's rudi- 
 mentary colour sense. From this beginning it 
 
64 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 unfolds through graded exercises, involving at 
 every step the activity of the pupil's individual 
 powers of colour observation and colour expression. 
 The object of these exercises is 
 
 " To develop in the pupil, through direct and 
 repeated observation of colour, the power to recog- 
 nise beauty and harmony in colour effects. 
 
 " To train the pupil, through the wisely guided 
 personal use of colour material, to skill in express- 
 ing thought and feeling by the use of such 
 material. 
 
 " To so connect the pupil's study of colour with 
 that of form, drawing, and other branches of school 
 instruction that his developing powers of colour 
 observation and colour expression may be of value 
 in his study of nature and of art." 
 
 In some schools the Prang system of teaching 
 drawing is followed closely ; in others a system 
 based upon the Prang system is used ; but in most 
 of the Schools which I saw the influence of the 
 system seemed to me apparent, even where the 
 system itself had been discarded. 
 
 In one school I visited, the teacher of drawing 
 had taught on the Prang system ; but this year had 
 been allowed liberty, and had tried various experi- 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 6; 
 
 ments with success, amongst others illustrating 
 poems such as "Wordsworth's "Poor Susan." 
 
 Drawing is frequently begun from the first year 
 of the school life. The children are early trained 
 to draw from nature : grass, radishes, and leaves 
 and flowers picked from the woods were being 
 drawn in various classes ; the grass, with its root, 
 being drawn by children of eight, the radish by 
 children of about ten. 
 
 In Washington girls of thirteen or fourteen were 
 drawing a plant very creditably, yet were receiving 
 no particular directions. 
 
 Drawing at the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, is based 
 on the Prang system of drawing, and graduates of 
 Class B in the Prang system may take the full 
 course at the Pratt Institute. 
 
 In one school Lincoln School, Philadelphia the 
 first primary grade children were sent to the board 
 in groups of fifteen to twenty to draw large circles 
 in chalk, first with right hand, then with left, and 
 finally with both hands at the same time, the 
 object being to give freedom of movement while 
 the child is young. 
 
 The instruction in drawing is so arranged as to 
 carry on simultaneously three lines of development : 
 
 p 
 
66 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 (a) The study of form, by handling the objects 
 and then representing them on paper. This is done 
 largely by the handling of small models and by 
 clay modelling, and is continued till the children 
 are twelve or thirteen years of age. 
 
 (6) Construction, i.e., the representation in draw- 
 ing of the various surfaces of an object say a 
 cube, a plinth, etc. with measurements which 
 would be required by a mechanic. 
 
 (c) Designing, when the forms studied are multi- 
 plied at will to form objects ; e.g., the 
 sides of a cube form a bedstead. With 
 this is combined stick-laying, together 
 
 1 
 
 with steel circles and semi-circles. In 
 one class where this was being done the children 
 / had produced original designs which 
 ** were very good. I give the accom- 
 
 panying, which I copied at the time, and 
 which the child (age about six) told me 
 was a tree with apples growing. 
 
 In the same School drawing is made to enter into 
 almost every department of school teaching. No 
 history lesson is given without a sketch of the 
 district concerned being drawn, while in geography 
 clay models are made to illustrate geographical 
 terms, and maps are made with sand. 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 67 
 
 In conclusion, I may say that I should judge the 
 time allotted to drawing, particularly in the younger 
 grades, is wise, and the plans for teaching drawing 
 carefully thought out ; but one point struck me as 
 being weak namely, that all grade teachers, irre- 
 spective of previous training and apart from talent, 
 or even capacity for drawing, or appreciation of 
 colour, have to teach drawing ; for instance, in one 
 school I specially noticed how the class reflected 
 the lack of training in the teacher. No trained 
 teacher of drawing would have failed to call atten- 
 tion to the way in which leaves grow out of a stalk ; 
 but in this school most curious representations of 
 such growth were allowed to pass unconnected. I 
 must, however, in justice say that in several cities 
 the plan of appointing supervisors of drawing is 
 being adopted, and this will no doubt in some 
 measure remedy this weakness. 
 
68 
 
 THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 LIST OF INTERVIEWS, 
 
 ALSO OF 
 
 INSTITUTIONS VISITED. 
 
 Place. 
 
 Institutions. 
 
 Interviews. 
 
 Brooklyn. 
 
 Vassar. 
 
 Springfield. 
 Northampton. 
 
 Boston. 
 
 Girls' High School. 
 
 No. 52, Ellery 
 
 Street. 
 No. 74, Kosciusko 
 
 Street. 
 
 Packer Institution. 
 Pratt Institute. 
 Pratt High School, 
 The College. 
 
 Schools closed for 
 spring vacation. 
 Smith College. 
 
 Centre Primary 
 School (Train- 
 ing School). 
 
 Girls' High School, 
 
 Dr. Maxwell (School Super- 
 intendent). 
 
 Mr. Patterson (Principal). 
 
 Prof. Spice (Professor of 
 Science in Girls' High 
 School, also member of 
 Faculty of Coopers' Union). 
 
 Miss Blanding (Vice-Principal 
 of High School). 
 
 Miss Emily Black (Principal). 
 
 Misses Franklin and Irvine. 
 
 Dr. Backus (Principal). 
 Miss Bird (Registrar). 
 
 President Taylor. 
 
 Mrs. Kendal (Lady Super- 
 intendent and teachers on 
 the staff). 
 
 Mr. Wood (Clerk to Superin- 
 tendent). 
 
 L. Clark Seelye, Esq. (Presi- 
 dent), also the Secretary. 
 
 Miss Kingsley and teachers- 
 in charge. 
 
 Mr. Seaver (School Superin- 
 tendent). 
 Mr. Tetlow (Principal). 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 
 
 69 
 
 Place. 
 
 Boston (con- 
 tinued). 
 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 Washington. 
 
 Institutions. 
 
 Girls' Latin School. 
 
 Prince School. 
 
 Normal School 
 building. 
 
 Students out visit- 
 ing schools. 
 
 Bice Schools. 
 
 Slojd School. 
 
 Mrs. Hemenway's 
 Gymnasium. 
 
 Technological In- 
 stitute. 
 
 Headquarters of 
 Prang Drawing 
 Company. 
 
 Wellesley College. 
 
 Mrs. Q u i n c e y 
 Shaw's Kinder- 
 garten. 
 
 Board of Educa- 
 tion meeting. 
 
 Private Training 
 College for 
 teachers in 
 Kindergarten 
 and Schools. 
 
 Landreth School. 
 Lincoln School. 
 Bureau of Educa- 
 tion. 
 
 Interviews. 
 
 Dr. Young (Principal). 
 A teacher. 
 
 Mr. Gustav Larsson (teacher 
 of Normal School Slojd). 
 
 Dr. Enebuske (Director of 
 Gymnasium). 
 
 Miss Homans (representative 
 of Mrs. Hemenway). 
 
 General Walker (Principal). 
 
 Lady in charge (name not 
 caught). 
 
 Miss Whiting (head of Science 
 
 Department). 
 Miss Tuttle and Miss Pendre- 
 
 ton (the latter of Newnham). 
 Various teachers. 
 
 Dr. Brooks (School Superin- 
 tendent). 
 
 Miss Wright (Assistant Super- 
 intendent). 
 
 Miss Stewart (friend of Miss 
 Graeff and head of private 
 college, also appointed by 
 State of Pennsylvania to 
 represent State in Educa- 
 tional Department at Chi- 
 cago Exhibition). 
 
 Miss Wallis (Principal). 
 
 Miss Cross (Principal). 
 
 Dr. Harris (Commissioner of 
 Educat ion^^S^^* 
 
THE GRADED SCHOOLS 
 
 Place. 
 
 Institutions. 
 
 Interviews. 
 
 Washington 
 (continued). 
 
 * Indianapolis. 
 
 St. Louis. 
 
 Franklin School. 
 
 Normal Training 
 School. 
 
 Manual Training 
 
 School. 
 
 (a) Cookery School, 
 i&)Carpentry School. 
 (c) Turning lathes 
 
 And machinery. 
 High School. 
 Polk School. 
 Henry Grammar 
 
 School. 
 
 Wayland Seminary 
 (coloured students) . 
 
 School No. 2. 
 
 School No. 11. 
 School No. 32. 
 School No. 10. 
 High School. 
 Normal School. 
 
 Franklin School. 
 
 Miss Smith(assistant in charge 
 of English and French de- 
 partments). 
 
 General Eaton (ex-Commis- 
 sioner). 
 
 Mr. Powell (School Superin- 
 tendent). 
 
 The Clerk of Superintendent 
 and a teacher of the Normal 
 School. 
 
 Dr. Lane (Principal). 
 
 Miss Jewett 
 teacher). 
 
 (assistant 
 
 Mr. Jones (School Superin- 
 tendent). 
 
 Miss Cropsey (Assistant Super- 
 intendent). 
 
 Miss Hamilton (Principal of 
 School). 
 
 Miss Kirlin (Principal). 
 
 Miss Nicholson (Principal of 
 Training Department). 
 
 Dr. Long (School Superin- 
 tendent). 
 
 Miss McClure. 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES 
 
 Place. 
 
 Institutions. 
 
 Interviews. 
 
 St. Louis 
 (continued). 
 Leaven worth, 
 Kansas. 
 
 Omaha, Ne- 
 braska. 
 
 Denver. 
 
 Manitou. 
 Chicago. 
 
 Jefferson School. 
 
 High School. 
 
 Morris School. 
 Oak Street School. 
 Coloured School. 
 
 Kellom School. 
 Farnam School. 
 
 Wyman School. 
 
 High School. 
 Longfellow School. 
 Emerson School 
 Corona 
 Whittier 
 Hyde Park 
 G-ilpin 
 
 School building. 
 
 Schools closed for 
 vacation. 
 
 Attended Chicago 
 
 University Convo- 
 cation meetings. 
 
 Studied American 
 educational ex- 
 hibits at World's 
 Fair. 
 
 Mr. Klock (School Superin- 
 tendent). 
 
 Mr. Evans (Principal). 
 Miss Scott (a teacher). 
 
 Mr. Fitzpatrick (School Super- 
 intendent). 
 
 Miss Foos (Principal). 
 
 Miss Truland (Principal). 
 
 Mr. Beggs (School Superin- 
 tendent pro tern.). 
 
 Mr. Long (Principal). 
 
 Miss Alderman and other 
 teachers. 
 
 Teachers on the staff. 
 
 Mr. Elder (Principal). 
 
 Brief interviews with the 
 Principal of each building. 
 
 Mr. Barker (Secretary of Board 
 
 of Education). 
 Mr. Sabin (Assistant School 
 
 Superintendent). 
 
 J. Shortall, Esq. 
 
 * Schools in Brooklyn City and in Indianapolis are known by 
 their numbers which were given them in the order in which they 
 were built. 
 
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