•Visa % v\mhki ^ / (p i M BULLETIN First District Normal School Kirksville, Missouri L. XIV. DECEMBER, 1914 No. 3 Publisht by the First District Normal School. Issued Quarterly, June September, December, March. Entered June 25, 1902, at Kirksville, Mo., as second-class matter under Act of Congress, of July, 1894. (Spring term, March 2 to May 18, 1914. Summer term, May 26 to Aug. 6, 1914.) Q 1 A BRIEF STUDY OF A Twentieth Century Normal School SPECIAL ATTENTION IS CALLED TO TABULATIONS on PAGES 4, 5 and 6 A BRIEF STUDY OF A Twentieth Century Normal School (Comprising extracts from a report to the State Superintendent of Public Schools for the year ending Aug. 31, 1914.) By President John R. Kirk An Issue Raised and Met. A little while back, fifteen years ago, 1899, much fault was found with our Normal Schools by men in college and university circles because of alleged low standards of scholarship. I was Examiner of Schools for the University of Missouri. When suddenly notified of my election to the presidency of this institu- tion, I made haste to visit the President of the University for his advice, tho I well knew his views. He promptly urged me to resign, go to Kirksville, and “put scholar- ship into that Normal School”. I consulted other university and college men. There was no dissenting opinion. They all wanted better scholarship in the Normal School. Supported by progressiv Regents and a vigorous faculty, I have done my best to meet the issue, and I believe there is no college man or university man now urging more scholarship in this Normal School. Meanwhile, the institution has made even greater advancement in professional ideals and practices than it has in scholarship standards. An American Idea. The Twentieth Century Normal School prepares men and women to enter the teaching profession on a par with graduates of the law school and medical college, without the necessity of being recast or relabeld by any other institu- tion. It is not patternd after any European Normal School. It is an American idea; not a borrowd one. It is not a static mechanism. It is an adaptable, dynamic agency very close to the people whose necessities have brought it into being. It is a public utility and therefore retains plasticity to meet substantial changes in public needs. Its undeviating policy is to function in growing public service. Its program is like the railway ticket, “for this day only. ” The Normal School at Kirksville runs under high pressure. Members of the faculty visit institutions and participate in conventions of many states. They even keep tab on the fads and sensations of educational exploiters. They try to discriminate between good and evil. They are undoutedly aware of the best educational conceptions known in our country. And best of all, they exercise great freedom of initiativ based upon their own constructiv thinking. Many visiting experts from our own country and a few from Canada and Great Britain have lately looked in upon the school and given us the benefit of their judg- ment and their criticism. Some of these visitors have made definit comment on our ability to bring ideals and practices into unusually close relationship, a fact in which we take great pride. In Touch with Realities. The President and faculty of this Normal School are very close to the concrete problem of preparing teachers for the schools of our state. We have the “follow up” idea pretty well workt out. We follow our students and graduates into the schools where they teach. We discover their weakness and their strength. We are living our lives in close and vital relation with real people and actual conditions. We share activly in School Clubs, Parent-Teachers’ Associations, Boy Scout movements, Girls’ Camp Fires, and conventions of school boards, teachers and people at large. Adjustable Instrumentalities. This Normal School seeks to offer the best known instrumentalities for making studies intelligible and for developing skill. 3 These instrumentalities include the library, the farm, the shop, the laboratory, the museum, the stereopticon, and photography, motion picture making, dramatization, organized play, and numerous co-operativ activities among faculty, students, and practice school children. Six Groups. There were in 1913-14 the following principal groups of students which I believe to be worth deliberate study: 1. The 120-hour graduates, numbjring 22 2. The 90-hour graduates, numbering 51 3. The 60-hour graduates, numbering 22 4. The 30-hour graduates (“elementary certificate” class), numbering . . 199 5. The rural state certificate group, numbering 37 6. The non-graduating group, numbering nearly 1400 STATISTICS OF 120-HOUR DIPLOMAS ISSUED IN 1913-14. No. Init- ials Sex Age in Yrs. No. Mos. in High Sch. Stud- ies No. Mos. in all Stud- ies of Col- lege Grade No. Mos. Tchg in Pub. Sch. High Sch. Cred- its in units Semes- ter Hours in Aca- demic Stud- ies of Col- lege [Grade Semes- ter Hours in Semi- Peda- gogic Studies of Col- lege Grade Semes- ter Hours in Ped- agogic Stud- ies of Col- lege Grade Semes- ter Hours in all Studies of Col- lege Grade Present Occupation T EVA F 21 36 42 1 0 16.00 82.00 18.75 33.00 133.75 High School Teacher 2 SGB F 24 42 42 0 16.00 80.00 15.00 27.50 122.50 Librarian 3 AGC M 26 36 33 81 15.00 77.00 0.00 46.50 123 . 50 City Superintendent 4 BMC F 26 34 36 50 15,50 95.00 6.25 30.00 131.25 High School Teacher 5 JAC M 24 31 32 0 15.00 86.25 5.00 30.00 121.25 High School Teacher 6 IVF F 20 36 36 0 15.00 88.75 6.25 30.00 125.00 High School Teacher 7 VF F 22 36 36 32 15.25 90.00 0.00 30.00 120.00 Normal School Teacher 8 JAG M 44 36 37 120 16.00 75.00 0.00 48.75 123.75 City Superintendent 9 LEH F 23 36 36 18 15.00 77.50 11.25 37.50 126.25 Continuing Student 10 ELK F 34 39 42 30 16.00 93.75 7.50 28.75 130.00 Norma! School Dean 11 MEK F 23 39 42 12 15.50 61.25 30.00 32.50 123.75 Normal School Teacher 12 EK F 26 36 38 51 18.00 84.50 13.75 30.00 128.25 High School Teacher 13 EM F 28 33 36 99 16.50 98.00 5.00 38.00 141.00 High School Teacher 14 GEM M 32 39 36 72 16.33 71.50 19.75 32.25 123.50 Teacher Training Tr. 15 EM F 33 36 36 104 17.00 81.25 11.25 30.00 122.50 High School Teacher 16 JRM M 30 36 36 54 16.33 91.25 0.00 33.75 125.00 Normal School Teacher 17 JER M 31 36 41 63 15.00 116.00 0.00 30.00 146.00 Normal School Teacher 18 LBS M 34 36 36 72 15.33 I 66.75 18.25 35.00 120.00 Normal School Teacher 19 CHW M 26 36 51 12 19.00 127.50 12.50 36.00 176.00 High School Teacher 20 EOW M 30 36 57 27 16.50 100.00 22.50 35.00 157.50 City Superintendent 21 MMW F 26 45 37 9 15.00 87.50 0.00 35.00 122.50 High School Teacher 22 PFY F 29 36 33 36 15.00 87.50 | 8.75 30.00 126.25 High School Teacher Averages 28 36.63 38.68 42.82 15 . 92 1 87.19 9.63 33.61 130.43 Note: Semi-Pedagogic Subjects — forms of Fine Arts, Manual Arts, Music Studies, Physical Edu- cation, etc., necessities in the make-up of well prepared teachers and until recently not favord for credit by typical higher education institutions. Best Product. The best product in the gradual differentiation of teaching talent is the group of seventy or eighty individuals annually striving for the 120-hour diploma and a bachelor’s degree in Education. Many of them can attend summer terms only. They are from twenty to forty-five years of age. As a rule, they are actual teachers. Nearly all of them hold diplomas from schools or colleges of some kind. They are studying and struggling for a diploma which will guarantee not only entrance into their profession but permanent recognition in that profession. These are the crown jewels in the twentieth century Normal School; and the Nor- mal School offers them the means of securing both professional efficiency and permanent professional recognition. These are the people predominant in giving the institution its invigorating atmosphere and its characteristic school spirit in which the younger stu- dents and lower class students attain the conscious ideal that they may become integral and enduring factors in one of the greatest and most serviceable of all the professions 4 STATISTICS OF 90-HOUR DIPLOMAS ISSUED IN 1913-14. No. Ini- tials Sex Age in Yrs. No. Mos. in High Sch. Stud- ies No. Mos. in all Stud- ies of Col- lege Grade No. Mos. Tchg in Pub. Sch. High Sch. Cred- its in units Semes- ter Hours in Aca- demic Stud- ies of Col- lege Grade Semes- ter Hours in Semi- Peda- gogic Studies of Col- lege Grade Semes- ter Hours in Ped- agogic Stud- ies of Col- lege Grade Semes- ter Hours in all Studies of Col- lege Grade Present Occupation 1 KEA F 31 36 26 65 16.50 47.50 | 11.25 35.00 93.75 Teacher Training Tr. 2 MFB xM 30 36 24 48 16.50 47.50 l 12.50 30.00 90.00 Town Superintendent 3 SMB M 22 33 24 0 15.00 52.50 ! 7.50 30.00 90.00 High School Teacher 4 FB M 21 33 24 0 15.00 57.50 1 6.25 27.50 91.25 High School Teacher 5 WHB M 26 36 25 21 15.00 57.50 3.75 30.00 91.25 Town Superintendent 6 LGC F 26 45 30 25 18.00 60.00 5.00 32.50 97.50 High School Teacher 7 LDC F 20 36 27 0 15.00 65.00 10.00 25.00 100.00 Fourth Year Student 8 NC F 32 32 24 31 15.00 52.50 5.00 32.50 90.00 Elementary Teacher 9 FD F 22 36 30 9 16.00 50.75 10.00 30.00 90.75 Rural Teacher 10 GD F 22 39 27 5 15.00 56.25 3.75 30.00 90.00 High School Teacher 11 ED F 26 42 31 14 15.00 55.00 7.50 30.00 92.50 Elementary Teacher 12 GSE F 21 39 30 9 16.00 55 . 00 7.50 27.50 90. 00 [ Town Principal 13 SBE M 40 36 27 135 15.00 62.50 8.75 30.00 101.25 City Superintendent 14 LE F 24 36 27 25 17.00 52.50 8.75 30.00 91.25 Home Maker 15 MLE F 22 36 27 15 16.00 47.50 12.50 30.00 90.00 High School Teacher 16 MAF F 20 36 27 8 15.00 47.50 i 15.00 30.00 92.50 High School Teacher 17 MFG F 21 36 27 9 15.00 47.50 ! 17.50 27.50 92.50 Fourth Year Student 18 FG F 24 33 24 36 15.67 52.50 8.75 30.00 91.25 High School Teacher 19 LG F 25 36 30 0 16.00 47.50 12.50 30.00 90.00 Elementary Teacher 20 LMG F 34 36 36 54 16 . 67 57.50 11.25 32.50 101.25 High School Teacher 21 CMG F 21 36 36 0 17.00 98.50 0.00 30.00 128.50 At Home 22 GRG F 29 43 27 57 16.00 65.00 6.25 32.50 101.25 High School Teacher 23 LEH F 23 36 30 18 14.00 71.25 2.50 35 . 00 108.75 Continuing Student 24 BHJ M 26 36 32 27 18.00 56.75 5.00 30.00 91.25 Town Superintendent 25 JRK M 26 31 24 24 15.00 53.75 6.25 30.00 90.00 Student U. of Mo. 26 ELK F 34 39 36 30 16.00 80.00 3.75 28.75 112.50 Normal School Dean 27 ALM F 26 33 24 33 15.00 57.50 2.50 30.00 90.00 At Home 28 MFM F 27 31 24 45 15 . 00 57.50 2.50 30.00 92.50 High School Teacher 29 FLM F 22 36 27 30 17.00 47.75 12 50 30.00 90.25 Home Maker 30 TGN M 26 36 24 40 15.00 | 62.50 2.50 30.00 95.00 Town Superintendent 31 WO F 19 33 24 0 15.00 60.00 2.50 30.00 92.50 At Home 32 HMP M 22 35 27 14 15.00 50.00 10.00 30.00 90.00 Elementary Teacher 33 LEP F 23 36 28 23 15.50 47.50 13.75 32.50 93.75 High School Teacher 34 AGR M 22 34 27 12 15.00 50 . 00 15.00 30 . 00 95.00 City Superintendent 35 JBR M 23 36 25.5 15 18.00 48.75 8.75 32.50 90.00 Town Superintendent 36 EMR F 33 36 24 55 15.00 52.50 7.50 30.00 90.00 High School Teacher 37 RAS M 23 39 27 0 17.00 52.50 ! 10.00 30.00 92.50 Town Principal 38 BJS F 22 36 27 0 18.00 50.00 12.50 30.00 92.50 Elementary Teacher 39 RES F 21 36 27 0 16.00 65.00 2.50 30.00 97.50 Rural Teacher 40 BS F 27 36 30 49 22.50 60.00 6.25 30.00 96.25 High School Teacher 41 DT F 30 40 30 54 15.00 60.00 7.50 32.50 100.00 Supervisor of Music 42 OT F 20 36 30 0 16.00 57.50 7.50 35 . 00 100.00 High School Teacher 43 EMT M 27 33 24 40 15.00 58.75 0.00 31.25 90.00 City Superintendent 44 CHW M 25 36 51 0 19.50 139.25 2.50 38.50 180.25 High School Teacher 45 EOW M 30 36 57 27 16.50 100.00 13.75 35.00 148.75 City Superintendent 46 NEW M 24 30 24 11 15.00 57 . 50 2.50 30.00 90.00 Farming 47 LW F 25 36 30 27 18.00 67 . 50 7.50 35.00 110.00 Supervisor of Music 48 LGW F 22 33 27 8 16.00 57.50 7.50 32.50 97.50 Fourth Year Student 49 OBW F 25 42 28.5 24 17.00 50.00 8.75 35.00 93.75 High School Teacher 50 CJW F 23 36 27 6 15.00 37.50 25.00 30.00 92.50 High School Teacher 51 MSY F 23 36 27 0 15.00 57.50 3.75 30.00 91.25 High School Teacher Averages 25 36 28.5 23 16.03 58.85 7.92 30.90 97.67 The 90-hour Glass. The foregoing tabulation of the 90-hour class is illustrativ of what ambitious, would-be teachers will become for practical purposes when given opportunity and unhamperd by conventional restrictions. But nearly every one of these people has it in mind to teach for a period and then return to push forward and secure the 120-hour diploma. Many of them have definit plans to attain 5 this high purpose by teaching nine months in the year and attending the Normal School for three summer terms. A few of them will go to the University for their bachelor’s degree. Many of them are married men and women. The major part of them will become effecfiv propagandists and constructiv community leaders. STATISTICS OF 60-HOUR DIPLOMAS ISSUED IN 1913-14. No. Ini- Sex Age No. No. No. High Semes- Semes- Semes- Semes- Present tials in Mos. Mos. Mos. Sch. ter ter ter ter Occupation Yrs. in in all Tchg Cred- Hours Hours Hours Hours High Stud- in its in in Aca- in Semi- in Ped- in all Sch. ies of Pub. units demic Peda- agogic Studies Stud- Col- Sch. Stud- gogic Stud- of Col- ies lege ies of Studies ies of lege Grade Col- of Col- Col- Grade lege lege lege Grade Grade Grade 1 FEB F 36 36 21 45 15.00 45 . 00 11.25 22.50 78.75 High School Teacher 2 AB F 26 33 18 29 15 . 00 42.50 2.50 22.50 67.50 High School Teacher 3 EEB F 24 36 24 20 15.00 45.00 7.50 22.50 75.00 High School Teacher 4 WGB M 20 35 1 18 0 14.33 35.00 2.50 25.00 62.50 Elementary Teacher 5 GC F 22 37 21 9 16.00 30.00 11.25 30.00 71.25 Elementary Teacher 6 JMD M 22 39 24 0 16.00 27.50 11.25 25.00 63.75 Village Supt. 7 HF F 29 36 24 81 18.50 46.75 6.25 30.50 83.50 Rural Teacher 8 FF F 22 40 24 24 18.00 30.00 6.25 35.00 71.25 Elementary Teacher 9 GH F 25 32 16 54 15.00 35.00 2.50 27.50 65.00 Rural Teacher 10 EML F 26 36 15 69 15 . 67 25.00 8.75 27.50 61.25 Elementary Teacher 11 EM F 21 33 21 5 15.00 50.00 2.50 30.00 82.50 Rural Teacher 12 MEM F 34 41 18 42 18.00 27.50 5.75 27.50 60.75 Elementary Teacher 13 GLR F 24 38 24 22 17.00 35.75 14.25 30.00 80.00 Elementary Teacher 14 MR F 42 39 18 141 15.00 27.50 6.25 30.00 63.75 Village Supt. 15 EAS M 27 36 20 36 15.00 45.00 2.50 30.00 77.50 Village Supt. 16 WDS M 22 30 18 0 15.00 45.00 7.50 25.00 77.50 Training Sch. Supvr. 17 FAT M 24 36 21 22 17.00 32.50 5.00 28.75 66.25 Village Supt. 18 MV F 32 36 24 94 19.75 42.00 15.50 25.00 82.50 Elementary Teacher 19 CSW F 23 38 18 17 15.00 32.50 2.50 25.00 60.00 Home Maker 20 SMW F 23 36 21 13 16.00 27.50 10.00 27.50 65.00 Elementary Teacher 21 MW F 20 36 21 0 18.50 46.25 8.75 25 . 00 80.00 Elementary Teacher 22 JW F 23 33 18 0 15.00 42.50 5.00 25.00 72.50 Elementary Teacher Averages 26 36 20 33 16.12 37.08 7.07 27.12 71.27 The 60 - hour Group. A majority of the Normal Schools of our country long had the 60-hour course as their exclusiv offering for prospectiv teachers. In most of them the hope now is to attain higher standards. The year 1913-14 witnest the beginning of 60-hour courses for definit purposes in this Normal School. The diploma for these new courses includes a life certificate and the designation of ability to teach in elemen- tary schools. The table shows the variety of positions filled by the twenty-two persons receiving the new diploma. Three of the class have positions as high school teachers. But they are quite mature persons with valuable teaching experience and a good deal of extra study to their credit. They also hold other certificates which legalize their teaching in high schools. The diploma is doutless taken by them as a guaranty of landmarks past. The 30 - hour Group. One hundred ninety-nine individuals receivd elementary certificates authorizing them to teach for two years and guaranteeing completion of thirty or more semester hours preceded by the four years’ high school course. These people are most interesting in their very varying capabilities. I have enjoyd a study of their characteristics. They average twenty-three and one-half years of age. One hundred sixty-five of them have taught in public schools. They have been mainly self-supporting students.. Their average teaching experience in public schools is twenty-one months. Some of them have taught sixty-five months. Their average attainments in scholarship are: 1. Sixteen high school units coverd in thirty- six months. 2. Forty-four semester hours in academic and pedagogic studies of college grade coverd in fourteen months. What an array of productiv talent is presented in these one hundred ninety-nine young Missouri student teachers! They will render the state effectiv service. Most of them will yet alternate many times between student life and teaching. Three-fourths of them will be in summer schools of 1915. One-third of them will be in the Normal School or the University during the school year 1915-16. Nearly half of them hold the second or third elementary certificate. They will teach on that certificate to earn money to push forward and secure a diploma. After that, most of them will repeat the process for a higher diploma. But I have studied those of this group receiving their first elementary certificate. They have an average of nine semester hours in excess of what is required for the certificate. These facts reveal the spirit of the twentieth century Normal School in which the students are not hamperd by mechanical standards, tho well-defined measurements do designate minimum requirements. But the spirit of such a school rejects the idea of stopping at a minimum. The only recognized individual limits are the boundaries of what the individual has the ability to accomplish. The Rural State Certificate. This is a temporary expedient. The State Super- indentent of Schools has favord its use for a time. Thirty-seven candidates were rec- ommended to the State Superintendent. They average (a) twenty-one years of age, (b) six months’ teaching experience in public schools, (c) thirty-one months in school attendance above the eighth grade, and (d) credit of thirteen high school units including about one and one-third units in elementary rural school methods, management, and sociology. Most of them after a year or two in teaching will re-enter the Normal School to work in the direction of an elementary certificate. The Non-graduating Group. In 1913-14 there were nearly fourteen hundred students of the institution who did not secure or seek certificates or diplomas. Many of them are high school graduates or college graduates. Many others have certificates and diplomas from this institution and have not needed to graduate in any course during the year. In scholarship nearly half of them are of the rank of well-advanced high school students. They are all people of much promis. Hundreds of them are self-supporting. Without some such policy of plasticity and adjustability as characterizes the twentieth century Normal School, many of them would be forced to fall by the wayside. Most of them are above the age of high school students of equal academic attainments. They average about twenty-one years of age. Large numbers of them have been actual teachers. Each year increasing numbers of them join the regular classes and seek regular promotion and graduation. At the present time, December, 1914, six hundred of them while teaching are also taking correspondence courses or extension courses for which they are to receiv some credit in the records of the Normal School. The Major Interest. The characteristic occupation in Northeast Missouri is farming. Hence the major interest of this Normal School is the preparation of rural and village teachers. Conclusion. The major interest controls distribution of effort. Hence a more detaild study of this condenst report shows about four-fifths of the energies of this Normal School to be devoted to the preparation of teachers for the rural and village schools.