UNIVERSITY OF OREGON BULLETIN t . New Series NOVEMBER, 1906 Vol. IV, No. 1 NOVEMBER, 1906 Published bi-monthly, and entered at the postoffice at Eugene, Oregon, second class matter. STATE SYSTEMS OF HIGH SCHOOL CONTROL HENRY DAVIDSON SHELDON Head Department of Education A STATISTICAL STUDY OF FOUR-YEAR HIGH SCHOOLS IN OREGON GEORGE W. HUG Bulletins of the University of Oregon New Series VOL. I 1. General Announcements. November, 1903. Exhausted. 2. Beowulf. Prof. I. M. Glen. January, 1904. 3. Water Power on the McKenzie River. Prof. E. H. McAlister. March, 1904. Exhausted. 4. Mineral Resources and Mineral Industries of Oregon. For 1903. Compiled by the Department of Chemistry. May, 1904. 5. Catalogue for 1903-1904. VOL. II 1. Water Power on the Santiam. Prof. E. H. McAlister. November, 1904. 2. Tendencies in Recent American Road Legislation. Prof. F. G. Young. January, 1905. 3. General Register of the University of Oregon, 1873- 1904. March, 1905. 4. General Announcements for 1905-1906. Exhausted. 5. Catalogue for 1904-1905. Exhausted. VOL. Ill 1. State Normal School Systems of the United States. Prof. H. D. Sheldon. November, 1905. 2. Annual Report of the President of the University. Jan- uary, 1906. 3. Some Botanical Notes from the Biological Laboratory. Prof. Albert R. Sweetser. March, 1906. A New Fossil Pinniped. Prof. Thomas Condon. Supple- ment to No. 3. May, 1906. 4. Catalogue of the University of Oregon, 1905-1906. May, 1906. The University of Oregon Bulletin is issued bi-monthly during the University year, and will be sent free on application. Requests for Bulletins, or letters of inquiry concerning the Uni- versity, should be addressed to THE REGISTRAR, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon. ll r - / UNIV£ftSi(> ILLINVfS. STATE SYSTEMS OF HIGH SCHOOL CONTROL HENRY DAVIDSON SHELDON Head Department of Education A STATISTICAL STUDY OF FOUR-YEAR HIGH SCHOOLS IN OREGON GEORGE W. HUG Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates https://archive.org/details/statesystemsofhi00shel_0 STATE SYSTEMS OF HIGH SCHOOL CONTROL The early English settlers on the Atlantic seaboard brought with them, as a part of their heritage, the institution of secondary education, known at that time as the “grammar school.” This is better designated today as a “ Latin school,” owing to the ap- plication of this old term to the upper grades of the common school. The course of study in this school was almost en- tirely confined to the Latin and Greek languages and literatures, with a slight element of mathematics. The school was essential- ly aristocratic in character, its aim being to prepare boys, usu- ally of the more well-to-do classes, for college and the professions. Latin schools, in the main, were supported by a public tax levied by the towns or counties. Regularly organized systems existed in four of the colonies — Maryland, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire. If we can judge from the records, these Latin schools were never popular, and were sustained with increasing effort on the part of their promoters. Their inelastic curriculum was poorly adapted to the needs of a new, struggling community, and the sparsity of population prevented the concentration of pu- pils necessary to make municipal institutions a success. Consequently there arose, during the period of the revolu- tionary war, a new type of school known as the “ academy,” which for many years provided most of the secondary education of the country. The academy differed from the “ Latin school ” in possessing a much wider and more elastic curriculum, includ- ing the sciences and English branches. It also depended for its initiative and control on private individuals or religious denomina- tions, rather than on the state or municipality. This’fact did not prevent the state from granting large tracts of land and sums of money to the academies. Pennsylvania, New York, Massachu- setts and other states adopted schemes for chartering and subsi- dizing academies. At the outset, the academies were promoted as a protest against the classical formalism of the old “Latin 5 schools ” and the colleges, but later on they took the place of the “Latin schools” in preparing students for college. They were not closely connected with the common schools at any period of their existence, and, while popular in their origin, as time went on, the academies became more and more the schools for the upper, middle, or well-to-do classes, and flourished at the expense of the people's schools. From 1815 on, however, a more democratic ideal began to prevail in American society. Class barriers were obliterated and a strong demand for increased efficiency in the common schools arose. The public high school appeared as a phase of this com- mon school movement, many of the first high schools being re- garded as simply the upper portion of the elementary school. The first American high school vas founded in Boston in 1821, but for many years the increase in the number of high schools was slow. In 1850 there were only forty public high schools in the country, and at the close of the civil war the great majority of the secondary pupils were in the academies. in the last generation a great change has taken place. Ow- ing to the increase in wealth, the greater concentration of popu- lation in cities and towns, and to the development of excellent systems of gradation for the smaller children, the number of pub- lic high schools and students has increased by leaps and bounds. In 1889-'90 there were 221,522 secondary students in public institutions, as against 145,481 in academies and other private institutions. In 1903-’04, the last year for which the commis- sioner of education has given us the statistics, the number of stu- dents in public institutions had increased almost three-fold, being 652,804, while the number in private institutions had remained almost stationary, the exact figure being 169,431. At the pres- ent time ( 1904) there are 822,235 pupils in the secondary schools of the country, which is slightly mere than one per cent, of the population. This is a ratio larger, all facts considered, than that of any other great nation. An analysis of the following figures shows the varying fortunes of the private secondary insti- tutions in the different sections of the country. In the South, alone, are they able to maintain their hold, and even there the public high school leads in the number of students, the figures 6 being 53,701 for private schools to 88,191 for the public insti- tutions. The statistics for the other sections run as follows: East — New England and Middle States, 211,304 public, 51,477 private. West — Mississippi Valley, Rocky Mountains and Pacific Coast, 353,309 public, 64,253 private. Along with this rapid growth in numbers, has gone a great change in the attitude of the public toward secondary education. It was formerly regarded as a luxury for the rich and well-to-do, and, therefore, an unjust burden on the public treasury. On this ground, several cases were carried into the courts. The most famous of these was the celebrated Kalamazoo case, in which the decision of the Michigan supreme court was prepared by the distinguished jurist, Thomas M. Cooley. Judge Cooley defined the attitude of the state of Michigan on the subject of public ele- mentary education in the following sentence: “ We supposed it had always been understood in this state that education, not merely in the rudiments, but in an enlarged sense, was regarded as an important practical advantage to be supplied, at their op- tion, to rich and poor alike, and not as something pertaining merely to culture and accomplishment, to be brought as such within the reach of those whose accumulated wealth enabled them to pay for it.” The court ruled that a tax for high school pur- poses was constitutional, a decision concurred in by the state supreme courts of Illinois and other states. The early high schools were local in their origin and varied greatly in courses, standards, and methods. In many cases, the time was divided among so many subjects that efficiency in any was impossible. Oftentimes the teachers had no special prepa- ration for high school subjects, and wasted the time of the pupils by using methods suitable only for smaller children. In the early ’nineties the need for greater uniformity in the courses offered and a reduction in the number of subjects studied at any one time became so evident that the National Educational Associa- tion appointed a committee, known as . the “ Committee of Ten,” to arrange a number of standard courses and to recommend methods of teaching them. Although the detailed recommenda- tions of this committee have not been in general followed, the 7 publication of its report, in 1893, marks the opening of anew period. As a result of the discussion of this report, three impor- tant practical reforms have gradually been adopted: First, the average high school student studies only four subjects at any one time; second, with one or two exceptions, each subject is studied for at least one year; third, instruction in each subject is offered by teachers especially qualified to teach that particular subject. Another field for reform lay in the fact that there was no supervision or inspection of secondary schools. As the high schools had grown up as the result of local initiative and were supported entirely by local taxes, the state hesitated for many years to interfere in any way with their local management. In fact, it has been only within the last ten years (U 896-1906) that there has been any considerable legislation on the subject. In the remainder of this paper we shall endeavor to describe the dif- ferent problems which gave rise to this state legislation, and then discuss the different policies adopted, with a view to the future policy of our state. In reviewing these efforts, one is struck with the lack of uniformity in the legislation of the different states. One state has experimented along one line, the next common- wealth has proceeded in an entirely different direction, and so on through the list. Only three or four states, New York, Wiscon- sin, Minnesota, and California, have dealt adequately with the subject. Ten years ago nearly all the states in the Union left the initi- ation of high schools entirely to the localities, with the result that a large portion of population living in rural districts were entirely without high school facilities in their home neighborhood. The sparsity of the population, and particularly the school unit in vogue in many states, the district with its small population, rendered the establishment of high schools of any efficiency impossible. The deficiency was more important, as experience had shown, that the class thus denied high school privileges, the sons and daughters of the farmers, was the class, on the average, which prized education most highly and produced the largest number of social leaders. Two methods of grappling with this problem occurred to the school men of the country. The first was to fix the financial re- 8 sponsibility of secondary education in the home district or town- ship, which must either provide the high school education at home or else pay the tuition fee of the pupil at some other high school. Massachusetts was the first state to inaugurate this plan. In the last few years the other states of New England — New York, Penn- sylvania and Wisconsin, have adopted the idea in their school codes. The Pennsylvania law, passed in 1905, may be taken as typical of this legislation. It reads as follows: “ Permitting children, residing in school districts in which no public high school is maintained, to attend a high school in some other district, located near their homes, and providing for the payment of the cost of tuition and school books. “ Section 1. Be it enacted, etc., That children, residing in school districts in which no public high school is maintained, may attend a high school in some other district, located near their homes; provided the consent of the directors of the district in which said high school is located be first obtained; the cost of tuition and school books, which shall not exceed that of the tui- tion and school books of children in the same grades or courses in the district maintaining such high school, shall be paid to the district receiving such children, out of the moneys raised by taxa- tion for public school purposes in the district in which said chil- dren reside; Provided, That, before admission to a high school, such pupils shall be examined and found qualified for high school work, by the principal of such high school.” Such legislation, valuable as it undoubtedly is in providing secondary education for the exceptional pupil in very backwood and poor communities, falls far short of being an ultimate solu- tion of the problem, inasmuch as the tuition is only a small per- centage of the total expense, where the pupil boards away from home. Because of this fact, the great majority of country chil- dren would be debarred from high school privileges under ordina- ry conditions. Another objection to this plan is that, just in pro- portion as it is successful, it tends unduly to bring country chil- dren to town at an impressionable age, and would, therefore, in- crease that drift away from country life, which is one of the dis- couraging features of present day society. The next solution of the country high school problem is to 9 organize larger units than the school district for high school pur- poses. Some states have already abolished the district entirely and substituted the township for school purposes. This move- ment, while undoubtedly sound for thickly settled Eastern and Middle-Western states, is impossible for the states of the far West, where distances would in many sections prevent the ad- ministration of a township system. The school laws of the great majority of the Western states permit districts to combine for high school purposes. The procedure in such cases is simple. A certain percentage of the voters in each district petition either the county superintendent or local board. Upon receiving this petition, the officials must call an election, the details of which are carefully specified. If the result of the election is favorable to the high school, another election must be held to elect a union board of high school directors. Those interested in this method of forming union high school districts will find in the appendix the legislation of California and Arizona on the subject, In each state where such legislation has been enacted, some few union high school districts have been successfully established and operated, but in the main the country population refuses to use the machinery which is thus placed in their hands. The reasons for this are probably two: First, the number of districts possible to combine is in most cases too small, not more than three or four. A small additional tax on the property in proposed union districts will not support a really efficient high school; a heavy tax, the people are not anxious to levy. Then again, to secure the proposed high school, much time must be spent by .somebody in travelling about, answering questions and securing signatures to petitions. In the absence of some public-spirited person or persons to do this, the people, although well disposed toward high schools, fail to get together and organize. So that as long as conditions render the adoption of the township for general school purposes out of the question in the states of the far West, better results can be obtained on the basis of organization by counties, the largest of our units of local gov- ernment. California, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Texas report the enactment of laws for the organization of county 10 high schools. The procedure here is similar to that in the for- mation of union high school districts. A certain portion of the voters or tax-payers petition the county authorities, an election is held, if a majority favors the proposed high school the county board of supervisors levies the required taxes and appoints the first board of trustees for the high school. In Oregon, where the law has been in force five years, seven counties out of thirty- three have established county high schools. In all cases they have been counties with a small population, usually with only one considerable town in the county. Where there is a considerable population in a county, the towns and villages remote from the county seat have always, thus far, been strong enough to defeat the proposition. It is evident that the idea needs modification in the larger counties, so that instead of voting to establish a single school,, a plan could be submitted providing four-year high schools in towns of considerable size, with two- and three-year high schools in important village centers. The situation calls not for one strong institution, but for a county system of high schools. In many small communities, the essential problem is not to establish high schools, for the ambition of the people insists on founding them regardless of resources, but in securing sound work in the struggling schools already established. County superinten- dents all know towns which expect the principal of a three- room common school to teach, in addition, most of the subjects of a high school course. For the sake of ten or twelve pupils in the secondary stage of instruction, the training of forty or fifty chil- dren in the grammar grades is sacrificed. Under such condi- tions, the influence of an outside authority is undoubtedly needed. As the structure of our school system is extremely loose, it is difficult for an outside authority to exert much influence unless it has some means of reaching the schools financially. The grant- ing of special appropriations for high schools is, therefore, per- haps the most significant step thus far taken in the control of high schools. In all the states, pupils attending high schools draw their rel- ative share of the common school funds. Besides this, special appropriations for high schools have been made in the states of California, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The sums voted vary all the way from $590,000 in New York, and $217,000 in Min- nesota, to $8,000 in New Hampshire, the average amount being in the neighborhood of $50,000 per year. The value of the appropriations depends, to a considerable degree, not only on their amount, but also on the method of dis- tribution adopted. Massachusetts, Nev Hampshire, and Ver- mont, endeavor to afford the largest amount of aid to the weakest communities. Thus, in Massachusetts, “ any town having less than five hundred families and having a valuation of less than $750,000 is entitled to receive from the treasury of the common- wealth all necessary amounts actually expended for the mainte- nance of pupils in approved high schools. Towns whose valua- tion exceeds $750,000, but whose number of families is less than five hundred, are entitled to receive from the treasury half of all necessary amounts expended for high school tuition in approved high schools. Towns of less than five hundred families, main- taining a high school of their own, and whose course and equip- ment are approved by the state board of education, and employ- ing at least two teachers, are entitled to receive annually from the state treasury $300 for the support of the high school.” In New Hampshire and Vermont, the tax rate is made the criterion, all towns taxing themselves beyond a certain limit are entitled to support from the state. The Western states apportion the same amount of financial :aid to all high schools, regardless of community wealth or neces- sities. Wisconsin grants each high school one-half the cost of instruction up to the limit of five hundred dollars. Minnesota is more liberal and appropriates $1,500 to each school. North Da- kota and Pennsylvania discriminate between three- and four-year high schools, granting larger sums to the latter. In both states the four-year schools receive $800 and the three-year $600. Pennsylvania also appropriates $400 to the two-year high schools, a policy the wisdom of which is open to some question. New York has enacted a much nqore complex system of high school support than any of the foregoing commonwealths. Firstly, $100 is appropriated to all the high schools of the state; 12 ir • ’ / Of Ht, UNIVINWIiy wt ILLINOIS. this amounts to $70,000 a year; then the state duplicates all sums which the high schools have spent for laboratory and library equipment. Last year $120,000 covered this item. In addition to these, the state appropriated $250,000 to the secondary schools on the basis of attendance, and $150,000 to the more sparsely settled country districts, enabling them to pay the tuition of their high school pupils away from home. The granting of state aid enables the state authority to deter- mine the standard of high school efficiency, below which no money will be granted. California and Minnesota provide that each state-aided high school shall establish at least one course admitting to the state university. The following regulations passed by the New Jersey board of education are typical of the stricter system of control now adopted by many states. The rules are for “approved” or four-year high schools. Special regula- tions were also adopted for “partial ” or three-year high schools. (66) In order to be approved, a high school must meet the following conditions; (A) It must have at least one course of study, approved by the state board of education, covering four full years of school work. ( B) The teaching and equipment must be approved by the state board of education. (C) The teaching force must be adequate in number, and shall, in every case, consist of at least three teachers, each of whom shall be engaged exclusively in high school work. (D) Diplomas shall be granted only to pupils who shall have completed a full four (4) years course, aggregating at least seventy-two (72) academic counts. The counts shall be reck- oned in accordance with the number of recitations per week of a school year of at least 38 weeks, and the recitation periods shall average at least 40 minutes. The systems of financial aid are yet, in most cases, so new that it is impossible to determine their exact results. The effects are confined to the smaller communities. The larger towns and cities do not need the money, and value still less the supervision. Dr. F. E. Bolton, of the University of Iowa, who has written an able article, “ Special State Aid to High Schools,” in the Edu 13 cational Review, February, 1906, has collected a large mass of expert testimony from school men of experience supporting the policy of financial aid. A striking example of the influence which support can create is found in Virginia, as described by the state superintendent. “ The success of the high school act has been phenomenal. The $50,000 appropriation by the state has been supplemented to the extent or at least $200,000 by local high school funds and voluntary contributions, and nearly one hundred fifty high schools have been established in Virginia during the past six months.” The states have worked out several different plans of super- vising and inspecting high schools. In a majority of the states of the South and West, it is performed by the representatives of the state university. Sometimes this is distinctly provided for in the school law, as in California, but it is usually done by the univer- sities on their own initiative and for their own ends. Exceptions to this general policy are Kansas, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, and Wisconsin, which provide special high school inspec- tors under the control of the state department of education, or a special high school board, as in Minnesota. A few states try to control the standard of the high schools through an elaborate system of written reports without inspection. If rigidly enforced, such a system has value, but it can never be an adequate substitute for actual visitation and supervision. In the past the state universities have performed, in many states, a distinct service for the high schools in insisting on a better quality of teaching. Frequently theirs was the only influ- ence available. As a permanent policy, however, it may be ques- tioned whether the interests of society are likely to be promoted by intrusting the shaping of any educational institution to another institution which has its own selfish and distinct ends to serve. This theoretical distrust is strengthened by the knowledge that in a few states the universities have actually abused their authority, by refusing to accredit work done by graduates of other universi- ties, and in sacrificing the mental development of the high school student to the technical requirements for university courses. The university demands are frequently framed by men who have no acquaintance with high school conditions, and no other ideal in 14 education than the prosperity of their own particular department of study. As a temporary stimulus, university inspection is use- ful; as a permanent policy it tends to submerge the original pur- pose of the high school. To place the important function of inspecting high schools in the hands of men acquainted only with the conditions and meth- ods of elementary schools would be a much more serious mis- take, because the high schools have been so recently emanci- pated from the dominion of elementary ideals and methods, that a reversion to these must be constantly guarded against. The nearest approach to a balance of these divergent interests is found in the plan devised by Minnesota, where the high schools are con- trolled by a board consisting of the state superintendent of educa- tion, the president of the state university, the president of the state board of normal school directors, one other superintendent, and one person appointed by the governor. This board has entire control of the schools and appoints a state high school inspector, who has the actual administration of the schools. Another tendency in the direction of centralization takes the form of state high school courses of study, which are now found in twenty-eight states. In two-thirds of these the course is merely advisory in character; in the other one-third it is mandatory. As a matter of fact, nearly all the smaller communities use the high school course as a guide, regardless of its legal status, while the cities arrange their courses without much reference to it. With the exception of Louisiana and Montana, which have three-year courses, all the other states provide for a course four years in length. The newer high school courses of study favor great flex- ibility, which is secured either by a number of parallel courses or a list of options. Many of the states publish high school manuals, which furnish detailed instructions as to method and subject mat- ter. These, together with the courses of study, have very largely standardized secondary education in the last few years, so that an observer is able to determine just how much work in any course a student should have done in a given length of time. The high school course for the state of Washington, printed below, will give the reader an excellent example of a subject schedule of the newer type. The long list of options in the last column of the table would only be possible in a large city high school. The commer- cial course would also be omitted in many schools. 15 . it: .< f WNI verify yflLitHQi^ FOURTH YEAR THIRD YEAR SECOND YEAR FIRST YEAR OUTLINE COURSE OK STUDY KOR HIGH SCHOOLS 'repai REQUIRED IN ALL COURSES Both Semesters Algebra English Plane Geometry Rhetoric and English Classics SCIENTIFIC COURSE CLASSICAL COURSE ENGLISH COURSE COMMERCIAL COURSE OPTIONS First Semester Physical Geography Option Latin Option Physical Geography Option Commercial Arithmetic or Bookkeeping Option Ancient History or European History Drawing Physical Geography Latin Physical Geography Commercial Geography or Bookkeeping Modern Language Manual Training or ! M Option Option Option Option Household Arts Botany or Physiology Latin Botany or Physiology Bookkeeping or Commercial Arithmetic European History or Ancient History iZ E CO Option Option Option Option Drawing 0 "** Botany or Zoology Latin Botany or Zoology Bookkeeping or Commercial Geography Modern Language Manual Training or S E CO