A A I ^ UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES UNIVERSITY OF OREGON BULLETIN New Series JULY, 1915 VoI.XII.No.il CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM OF ASHLAND, OREGON Published monthly by the University of Oregon, and entered at the postoffice in Eugene, Oregon, as second-class matter. Eugene, Oregon. October 15. Please accept the accompanying copy with the compliments of the undersigned. It is interesting to note that at the present time, six months after filing the original report with the Ashland school board, all but three (3, 10 t &n& 23) of the twenty-four recommend- ations of the committee have been put into operation or are well under way. Fred C. Ayer CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM OF . ASHLAND, OREGON FINAL REPORT, APRIL 15, L915 FRED C. AYER Professor of Education, University of Oregon, Director of the Survey CHARLES R. FRAZIER Superintendent of Schools, Everett, Washington DON C. SOWERS Professor of Municipalities and Public Accounting, University of Oregon km. OREGON : State Printing Department 1915 LA TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THE REPORT Page Introduction 5 1. Letters of Transmittal 5 2. Scope of the Survey 5 Chapter I — Grounds, Buildings, and Equipment 7 1. External Appearance 7 2. Internal Appearance 7 3. Fire Drills 10 4. Sanitation 10 5. Regulation of Noise from the Manual Training Rooms 10 6. Special Data 11 Chapter II— The Teaching Staff 12 1. General Statement 12 2. Training, Experience, and Retention 12 3. Methods of Improvement 13 4. Salaries of Teachers 14 Chapter III — The Course of Study in Its Relation to the Educational Needs of Ashland 16 1. The Community and the Public School Graduate 16 2. Vocational Education 17 Commercial Training 17 Teacher Training 18 Domestic Science and Normal Training 19 Agriculture 20 The Vocational Problem 20 3. Physical Education 20 Recess 20 Athletics 21 4. Incidental Civic Conditions 21 Chapter IV — Instruction. Methods and Supervision 23 1. General Methods and Results of Instruction 23 2. Cooperative Supervision 25 3. Departmental Instruction and Supervised Study 27 Chapter V — Instruction. Special Tests 29 1. Dictation Tests 29 2. Tests in Spelling 32 3. Tests of Handwriting 33 4. Eighth Grade Examinations 36 Chapter VI — Progress of Pupils 38 1. Retardation 38 2. Promotion 40 3. Elimination 11 ilW'iV.) CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF Page Chapter VII — Administrative Organization 43 1. Organization of the School Board 43 2. Financial Procedure 43 3. Recording of Teachers' Certificates 45 4. Payroll 45 5. School Records at High School 46 6. The Budget 47 7. Record of Receipts 47 8. Perpetual Inventory .' 49 9. Annual Report 49 Chapter VIII— Summary of Recommendations 51 ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS INTRODUCTION 1. LETTERS OF TRANSMITTAL March 8, 1915. To the Board of Education, Ashland, Oregon. Gentlemen: In response to your invitation issued through your Superintendent of Schools, Mr. George A. Briscoe, the undersigned committee has made a study of the Ashland Public Schools and submits its report herewith as follows. Signed : Fred C. Ayer, Charles R. Frazier, Don C. Sowers. To the Patrons of the Ashland Schools: The Committee for the Constructive Survey of the Ashland Public- Schools wishes to assure you that your school system is rendering- efficient and economical service. We believe that your sons and daughters are receiving excellent training. Moreover, the parents and taxpayers of Ashland are to be congratulated upon possessing a public school system of exceptional merit in spirit and practice. It should be remembered, however, that the standards of education are progressive and that the opportunities and demands of life daily grow more complex. It will not do to rest upon the oars now. We therefore urge you to be ever on the alert to keep your schools in the van of progress so that Ashland's greatest product, the coming genera- tion, will grow to its fullest fruition and yield returns in most abundant measure. 2. SCOPE OF THE SURVEY The materials upon which the report of the committee is based have been gathered from various sources. During the year 1914 the superin- tendent of the Ashland schools under the direction of Professor Ayer of the University of Oregon (a member of the survey committee) made an exhaustive analytical survey and statistical report of the grounds, buildings, equipment, enrollment, distribution, teaching staff, and admin- istrative and instructional units and costs of the Ashland schools. In this work the forms used were those elaborated by Dr. J. F. Bobbitt of the School of Education, University of Chicago. This was followed by a detailed analytical study of promotion, retardation, and elimination in which, for the most part, the forms elaborated by Dr. Leonard P. Ayres of the Russell Sage Foundation were followed. Much credit must be given to this preliminary work on the part of Superintendent Briscoe in supplying data to the survey committee which has taken occasion to verify the authenticity of the statistics. Two members of the committee, C. R. Frazier, Superintendent of the Everett, Washington, Public Schools, and Fred C. Ayer, Professor of Education, University of Oregon, worked diligently for six days in a CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF personal examination of the Ashland system. After a preliminary survey of the entire system, daytimes were devoted to the collection of data, while evenings were given to joint analysis of the facts at hand. At all points the committee worked in cooperation and all differences of opinion, which were rare, have been excluded from the final report. Superintendent Frazier and Professor Ayer were joined the last two days by Don C. Sowers, Professor of Municipalities and Public Account- ing, University of Oregon, (formerly connected with the New York Bureau of Municipal Research), who made a special study of the business administration of the Ashland schools. The main report has been prepared and elaborated since the time of the local survey. Some of the students in Professor Ayer's advanced classes in education at the University of Oregon have assisted materially in judging and tabulating the results of some of the special tests of instruction. The committee has conscientiously endeavored to make the survey upon a scientific and impartial basis, and in their recommendations have constantly kept in mind the future needs of the Ashland schools in particular rather than school systems in general. The report represents the unanimous and unreserved opinions of all the members of the survey committee. No effort was made to make an exhaustive study of every phase of the Ashland school system but the time and attention of the committee were so distributed as to consider adequately the educational factors which seemed of greatest import to future constructive effort. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS CHAPTER I BUILDINGS, GROUNDS AND EQUIPMENT 1. EXTERNAL APPEARANCE Ashland has three school buildings. The high school building, the newest of the three, has been in use for five years. It was erected at a cost of $75,000.00. It is a handsome building of unique construction and highly satisfactory in its arrangements. There are six acres in the high school grounds. Aside from standing room for the building, there is a school garden covering an acre and a half, an athletic field covering two acres and generous parking strips of lawn. The East and West grade schools are well housed in well kept brick buildings. The East School has three acres in grounds and the West School two acres. Portions of both these grounds are parked and the balance is devoted to playgrounds and athletics. Both grounds are equipped for baseball, basket ball, volley ball and tennis. Upon all three of these grounds very complete sprinkling systems have been established. It is evident that much thought and care have been expended upon the school buildings and grounds by the school authorities and that the work of the janitors at all three buildings is being thoroughly and conscien- tiously done. 2. INTERNAL APPEARANCE Aesthetic surroundings have long been recognized as a prime agency in forming good taste and a discriminating appreciation of the beautiful. The natural environs of Ashland are a powerful asset in this direction. Moreover the school grounds and buildings of Ashland are uniformly artistic; indeed rather exceptional in this respect. Probably the 'most potent influence of static beauty upon school children lies in the decora- tions which ornament the walls and interiors of the rooms in which they spend a large share of their time. Conditions in the Ashland schools are variable in this respect, even within the same building. On the one hand we desire to commend very highly the admirable selection and arrangement of pictures found in the high school assembly room. The aesthetic effect is unusually pleasing and can not fail to exert a powerful refining influence upon the pupils. On the other hand, while certain rooms in the grade buildings are artistically decorated, the colorless prints and bleak photographs which hang upon the walls of many of the rooms are not of a nature to guide children to better standards of taste and appreciation of what is good design or artistic decoration. The committee recommends immediate attention to the interior deco- rations of the rooms of the grade buildings. We suggest that efforts be made to encourage various agencies to present good pictures, mural decorations, and pieces of sculpture to the schools. We also suggest that pa rtnts and friends make temporary loan of good examples of the spatial arts to the schools. We believe that this practice will result to Ashland children in a decided uplift in aesthetic appreciation. CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF HH ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 10 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF 3. FIRE DRILLS The provision made for fire drills is commendable. A fire drill at the East School was given at the request of the committee which resulted in the emptying of the building of its 300 children in 58 seconds. The children had returned to their rooms, marching to music, and all doors were closed with classes ready to work within two and one-half minutes after the first alarm sounded. 4. SANITATION In the grades hourly blackboard records of temperature are kept. In spite of these and other precautions we found so many instances in the different buildings of a temperature of 73 degrees or 74 degrees and even 76 degrees that we believe the working efficiency of pupils and teachers is interfered with and we recommend that the temperature be kept at 68 degrees as the standard with a permissible range of two degrees either way, and that means be found for making permanent a temperature between 66 and 70 degrees. We found the buildings clean and neat and that disinfectants are used frequently in corridors and toilets. In the East School the hallways and corridors are cold at all times. It would be an improvement if heat were provided so that pupils passing from class rooms to basement or from room to room would not experience too sudden changes in tempera- ture. We found in both grade buildings that the stalls in the toilets were not provided with doors. The advisability of providing doors for these stalls or of providing a sort of partition or screen, placed 3 or 4 feet in front of these stalls is urged by the committee. The committee believes it is wise to conserve the natural sensitiveness of childhood. The objections made by social reformers do not hold, it seems to us, against our recommendation of having a partition or screen placed in front of these stalls. 5. REGULATION OF NOISE FROM THE MANUAL TRAINING ROOM The manual training shops at the high school are placed in the basement. The class rooms meeting directly overhead are much disturbed from the necessary noise arising from the operations of the manual training classes. This condition should be remedied either by providing very effective deadening for the floors above the manual training rooms or by moving the manual training work to special shop rooms to be constructed on the outside of the main building. Since it is only a question of a little time until the present high school building will be overcrowded, the committee is of the opinion that steps should be taken soon to provide a suitable frame building for the shopwork erected somewhere on the high school grounds. We further suggest that when this project is undertaken, the boys who have had training in the manual training shops of the high school should be employed to do much of the work under the direction of an instructor or a master carpenter. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 11 6. SPECIAL DATA The following data with reference to the buildings and grounds shows definitely the provisions that have been made for the Ashland schools together with certain items of cost valuable for comparison. ESasI West Hlgn School School School Value of all BCience apparatus anil equipment $1,200 Value per pupil iii average dally attendance ~ - ♦* i Total No. hours janitor ami engineer services per week.... 60 50 Average No. pupils per hour, of service 6.8 6 3.4 Weekly cost per pupil 033 ."4 4 .09 Weekly cost per 1,000 sq. ft. floor space cared for 1.08 .774 Total No. hours per week building is used by pupils and community 37.5 : . ■ 50.0 Cost of janitor service for each hour of use 36% .43 .45 Cost of janitor service each hour of use per 1,000 cu. ft. of building spa.-,- .0017 .0011 .00088 Cost of fuel for each hour of pupils' and community's use .156 .216 Cost of fuel for each hour per 1.000 cu. ft. building space .00072 .oiio:,!*. Total cu. ft. of building space (used or usable) 215.74" 372.64;, 50i No. cu. ft. per pupil 523 1,226 2,111 Size 3f school site in sq ft 18&87S 8 f.* ■ = ■ " Total outdoor play space in sq. ft 115, DiO ;,.i,49, 1,3. M.i* Total school garden space in sq. ft 4 8.00 No. sq. ft. per pupil ■• - -°0 No. toilet seats for boys 5 No. toilet seats for girls 6 No. times per year recitation rooms are scrubbed 2 - No. times per year windows are washed No. times per year walls are cleaned or brushed down.... 2 2 2 No. times per week erasers are thoroughly cleaned by janitors Chalk ledges \ Blackboards sponged 1 l Total No. books in library 303 495 1,200 No. books per child !•' 1-3 No. books of fiction 126 14a 340 No. books per child -3 -4 1.4 Total floor space in recitation rooms (not laboratories) 7,664 8,000 7 ,000 No. sq. ft. per pupil 18.1 21.7 29 Floor space of corridors 792 4,053 5,000 No. sq. ft. per pupil I- 9 H - 1 Total window area in recitation rooms 996.8 1,176 1,00 Total floor area in recitation rooms 5,694 8,000 •'•""" Ratio of window area to floor area -17 .22 .-0 No. of drinking fountains 4 4 4 Average No. pupils to each drinking fountain 100 92 60 No. stationary washbasins for pupils' use 4 16 No. pupils per washbasin 100 92 12 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF CHAPTER II THE TEACHING STAFF 1. GENERAL STATEMENT In great part our description of instruction in a later chapter indicates the efficiency of the teaching staff of the Ashland schools. Favorable comment upon the type of instruction reflects favorably upon the teaching staff while the reverse is equally true. Nevertheless, whether instruction be good or bad, it is a matter of importance to note in so far as possible the peculiarities of the teaching staff which produces the results and to emphasize such characteristics as are seemingly related to good or bad teaching. The unanimous verdict of the survey committee is that the chief cause of the efficiency of the Ashland school system is to be found in its superintendent, George A. Briscoe. The more the committee has studied existing conditions the greater has become its admiration for the head of the Ashland schools. He is superintendent of the system in the fullest sense of the word. Quiet, dignified, considerate, we have found him master of every phase of administrative work with time left over to devote to class instruction and clerical duties. In short, the Ashland school system is a reflection of the personality of its most excellent superintendent. 2. TRAINING, EXPERIENCE AND RETENTION Tables one and two present data which show the training and experi- ence of the grade and high school teachers. Table One — Training and Experience of Ashland High School Teachers. Teacher's Name Graduated Hi eh School When and Where Yrs. Normal Training Yrs. University Yrs Experience to 1914 Yrs. in Ashland to 1914 Astoria, Oregon, 1903 Peru, Nebraska, 1911 Medford, Oregon, 1910 Tabor, Iowa, 1905 3 2 2 2 4 8 4 4 5 1 ¥t 2 6 1 1 4 3 4 2y 2 4 4 8 2y 2 2 5 1 22 4 Delmar C. Harmon *Otto Klum Ashland, Oregon, 1914 Sterling, Nebraska Ashland. Oregon, 1911 Denver, Colorado, 1908 Eugi ne, Oregon, 1910 i'ru\ idence, Kentucky, 1910 1 4 1 2 G. M. Ruch L T. Hodge ... C. Kennard Anne B. Harris Geo. A. Briscoe, Supt. ... New Albany, Indiana, 1907 Edgington, Illinois, 1908 .... Marengo, Indiana. IS87 6 4 * Graduates of local high school. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 13 Taih.k Two— Training and Experienct ol Ashland Elementary School Teacl Teaoher'i Name Graduated from Hitch School When anil Where Yrs. Normal Training B e 1 s a .£ Afl* ■0 G. W. Milam, Prin. I irippery Springs Academy, Texas 1 S St; 2 2 6 2 2 3 1 4 2 2% 1 2 2 1 2 3 1 1 1 1 2 22 15 4 4 3 6 6 8 2 1 8 8 10 1 6 8 13 15 6 12 *G Engle Ashland, Oregon, 1898 12 2 N B Ross .. Ft. Morgan. Colorado. L909 Ashland, Oregon, 1901* Ada ins, Nebraska, 1905 .... Spencer, Indiana, 1906 1 *B. Eliason 2 1 ■■ M M Muir .. Portland Academy, 1908 .... Storm Lake, Iowa, 1906 .... Ashland, Oregon, 1905 2 years in Ashland Ashland, Oregon, 1911 Ashland. Oregon, 1908 , , St, Louis, Missouri, 1907 .... McMinnville, Oregon, 1903 Chariton. Iowa, 1896 Ulysses, Nebraska, 1905.... 4 •E. Poley . 4 *E. Hurley 5 *B. Caldwell 4 3 G. Updegraf 5 12 2 * Graduates of local high school. The two tables show that the teachers of the Ashland schools are well prepared by way of training and experience, averaging well above the mean found in cities of similar size in the west. Including all subjects the average length of training of the high school teachers is over 3% years beyond the high school, while in every instance save one the standard subjects are taught by university graduates with profes- sional training. The medium length of experience for the high school teachers is four years. This is the same as found in the high schools of the middle west belonging to the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. One-half of the high school teachers are new this year in Ashland. This is an undesirable situation but is caused partly by the addition of new departments. School work is carried on to greater advantage from year to year by slight changes in the teaching staff, rendering as little readjustment necessary as possible and permitting increasing accommodation to the local environ- ment on the part of the retained instructors. Conditions are bad in this respect in schools throughout the country, two years being the median term of tenure in similar North Central high schools, although about 40 per cent of the teachers stay three or more years. The committee recommends that the present high school staff with possibly one or two exceptions be retained for several years and that future changes occur as gradually as financial pressure will permit. In point of training, experience, and local retention the teaching staff of the elementary schools is commendable. There is a conspicuous absence of untrained teachers, while the average experience (seven and two-thirds years) and the average local retention (three and three- fourths years) are unusually high. 3. METHODS OF IMPROVEMENT The survey committee made careful inquiry into the methods of improvement which were being used by the Ashland teachers. They were questioned as to magazines and books read (both pedagogical and 14 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF general), teachers' meetings and institutes attended, correspondence work, summer schools and special courses attended, and plans for self- improvement. The committee found much to commend. Practically every teacher is endeavoring to better his or her ability as a teacher, both by reading and by attendance at higher institutions of learning. One rather serious drawback in this respect for those who plan to remain progressive teachers is the general lack of records of methods and progress. Few of the teachers keep records of their plans and methods of teaching, depending upon the text-books or course of study to supply the organiza- tion and stimulus for preparation of lessons from year to year. The committee believes that a permanent written record of such items as references, materials and methods used, successes and failures of attempted plans, when and where to get teaching accessories, and similar notes of class-room procedure will prove of great value to the growing teacher and we urge more general use of what may be called a diary of plans and progress. . It is suggested in this connection that several of the teachers may well take account of their own grammar and pronunciation. We have described the spirit of cooperation in another part of the report but it seems proper to emphasize here the esprit de corps of the Ashland body of teachers. The spirit of a "common cause" is every- where present and whether it be athletic, academic, social, or cultural function, mutual friendship and common endeavor prevail and present ample evidence of their ultimate worth. 4. SALARIES OF TEACHERS The schedule of salaries for the elementary teachers is as follows: First Year Second Year Third Year Fourth Year $65.00 $70.00 $72.50 $75.00 The high school schedule begins at $80.00 and reaches the maximum of $90.00 the third year. There is no schedule for principals or superin- tendents. At present the superintendent receives $1,800 annually. How this compares with the salaries of superintendents in other cities in the first class districts of Oregon outside of Portland is shown in Table 3. Ashland ranks twelfth in total enrollment and is tied with three other cities for thirteenth position in size of superintendent's salary. Table Three — Enrollment and Superintendents' Salaries in Oregon First-class Enrollment, 1913-14 Superintendents' Salaries 1. Salem 3306 1. Salem $2,750 2. Eugene 2635 2. Eugene - 2,700 3. Astoria 1727 3. Baker ... 2,400 4. Medford . 1584 3. La Grande .. .. 2,400 5. Baker 1556 3. Pendleton 2,400 6. La Grande .. 1450 6. Astoria 2,100 7 Albany 1292 7. Albany 2,000 3.' Corvallis "... 1238 7. McMinnvllle 2.000 9. Roseburg 1152 7. Medford 2.000 10. Pendleton 1096 7. The Dalles 2,000 11. St. Johns 1067 11. St. Johns 1.950 12. Ashland 1034 12. Oregon City .. - .900 13. Oregon City 1015 13. Ashland . 1.800 14. The Dalles 1009 13. Corvallis .. 1.800 1.-,. Newberg 913 13. Grants Pass, l.fOO 16. Klamath Falls 899 13. Klamath Falls 1.800 17. Grants Pass 845 17. Roseburs 1,500 18. McMinnville 830 18. Newberg 1,360 19. Dallas 670 19. Dallas 1.200 ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 15 Ashland pays its high school principal $1,250 annually and its grade principals $1,000 annually. Table 4 shows how this compares with similar salaries in other Oregon first-class districts. As against twelfth in enrollment, Ashland is thirteenth in salary of high school principal and seventh in salary of grade principal. Ashland pays to its high school teachers an average annual salary of $742 and to its grade teachers an average annual salary of $630. Table 5 shows that Ashland ranks seventeenth in average high school salary and twelfth in average grade salary. Table Four — Salaries of I'tinci/xils in Oregon First-class Districts. High School Principal's Salary 1. Eugene $2,000 2. Klamath Falls 1,800 3. Salem 1,600 4. Pendleton 1,500 4. Astoria 1,500 4. The Dalles 1,500 4. Medford 1,500 4. Corvallis 1,500 4. Roseburg 1.500 10. St. Johns 1,400 11. La Grande 1,350 12. Albany 1,300 13. Ashland 1,250 14. Baker 1,215 15. Oregon City 1,200 15. McMinnville 1.200 17. Newberg 855 18. No principal 19. No principal Elementary School Principal's Salary 1. Eugene $1,200 2. Oregon Citv 1,150 3. St. Johns 1,092 4. Astoria 1,050 5. Salem 1.043 6. Medford 1,025 7. Ashland _ 1,000 8. Roseburg 967 9. The Dalles 900 10. Baker 855 11. Pendleton 855 12. Corvallis 825 13. Albany 795 14. Klamath Falls 788 15. La Grande 780 16. Newberg 765 17. Grants Pass 765 18. McMinnville 700 19. Dallas 585 Table Five — Average Salaries o Average Salary Grade Teacher 1. Oregon City $ 879 2. The Dalles 764 2. 3. St. Johns 760 3. 4. Astoria 750 4. 5. Eugene 731 5. 6. Salem 723 6. 7. La Grande 715 6. 8. Pendleton 701 8. 9. Klamath Falls 686 9. 10. Medford 678 10. 11. Albany 676 11. 12. Ashland 630 12. (3. Baker 630 13. 14. Roseburg 621 14. 15. Corvallis 615 15. 16. Grants Pass 591 16. 17. McMinnville 585 17. 18. Dallas 540 18. 19. Newberg 514 19. f Teachers in Oregon First-class Districts. Average Salary High School Teacher 1. Klamath Falls $1,299 2. La Grande 1.069 The Dalles 1.009 St. Johns 1.007 Medford .. Pendleton 971 Baker 9 i 1 Astoria 942 Salem 935 Eugene 909 Roseburg 905 Albany 837 Corvallis 815 Grants Pass 808 Oregon City 806 McMinnville 65 Ashland 742 Dallas 698 Newberg 69S The committee believes that the city of Ashland is getting full measure for money paid to its teaching staff. While its salary budget is not as heavy as in many other first-class districts, it is undoubtedly true that this deficiency is made up by the vigor and discrimination with which the superintendent seeks out new teaching talent, a condition made possible by the commendable non-interference of the school board. In this respect there is a desirably limited number of local graduates in the teaching staff, all of whom have taken work elsewhere and who are well up to the average of the entire group of teachers. The committee does not recommend a general increase in salaries at present, but it suggests to the board the advisability of making occasional specific increases to the best members of the teaching staff rather than lose them to other districts. 16 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF CHAPTER III THE COURSE OF STUDY IN ITS RELA- TION TO THE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF ASHLAND 1. THE COMMUNITY AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL GRADUATE Each community presents its own educational problems. In attempt- ing to get some light upon the needs of Ashland from the standpoint of the pupils themselves, certain information was collected from the members of the senior class in the high school and from members of the eighth grade classes. From this it would appear that the population of Ashland does not fluctuate seriously. Of the 42 members of the senior class, including those doing post-graduate work, only eight have attended school in Ashland less than four years, and 34 have attended school in Ashland four or more years. These pupils were asked what they expected to do next year. To this 12 replied that they expected to attend college or university, seven expect to do post-graduate work in the local high school, six expect to work and some of these are working with a view to gaining funds for a future education. Two expect to attend normal school, seven expect to teach and eight were uncertain. To the question, "Have you definitely decided on a life occupation?", 15 replied "Yes," 24 replied "No," and three gave a qualified answer. An opportunity was given for those who were in doubt to express what they now considered their preference of occupation. These preferences, including those who answered positively are as follows: Teaching 16, business 5, agriculture 2, engineering 2, and one each cartooning, civil service, law, librarian, draftsman, artist, physician, metal worker, stenographer, journalist; and one expressed the intention of trying several things. Also six expressed themselves as doubtful. To the question, "Do you expect to make Ashland your future home?", 22 answered "No," 12 "Yes," and 8 were doubtful. Those who expect to remain in Ashland gave several reasons reflect- ing intense loyalty and pride in the community, some saying, "It is the best place in the world," others expressing confidence as to its future when the springs are developed. Of those who do not expect to make their future home in Ashland, several gave as their reason that there were no occupational opportunities or that there were no opportunities for their particular line of work. The statistics obtained from the eighth grade class will not be given in detail as they have the same general tendencies. 73 of the 76 expect to be in school next year. The other three expect to work. 16 have already decided to become teachers, 10 to become farmers, 5 engineers, 5 will enter business, 6 nursing, and 18 occupations claimed from one to four each. 43 out of the 76 expressed themselves as not definitely decided upon an occupation. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 17 There is no one large industry in this community attracting young people in large numbers. There is a population above the average in intelligence and a large appreciation, both on the part of parents and children, of the advantages of a good general education. So far as' the young people have shown an inclination towards their future occupations, the figures point quite overwhelmingly toward the occupations in which a good general education is essential. Basing our opinion upon the character of the population, the limited industrial opportunities and the bent and inclination of the pupils them- selves, we feel convinced that the main effort of the educational authori- ties in Ashland should be directed toward maintaining strong courses in so-called academic branches with fundamentals, character, mental disci- pline and culture as the chief aims. There are, however, other educational needs so fundamentally important in the community that they should be considered as almost equally important with the foregoing. We refer to physical education and industrial education. These are discussed below. Important as it is that those who are to go into the professions and into business and technical occupations calling for extensive preparatory education should be provided for, there is also an imperative demand that those who would enter the so-called humbler occupations should have provision made for their specific needs. The fact that twenty-seven of the forty-two high school seniors and forty-three of the seventy-six eighth grade pupils are still very much in doubt as to their preferences for an occupation seems to argue for some sort of provision for vocational guidance in order that the choice of an occupation may be intelligently made when the time comes. While following the State Course of Study as a general guide, there is much evidence that the Ashland course has been worked out with the particular needs of Ashland young people in mind. 2. VOCATIONAL EDUCATION Under this caption we include a discussion of the commercial work in the high school, the teacher training course, and the industrial work carried on in both grades and the high school. Commercial Training.— The commercial work in the high school includes a one-year course each in bookkeeping, typewriting, shorthand, penmanship and spelling, with an additional year each in bookkeeping and shorthand. Students are, under certain circumstances, permitted to double up on commercial work and take a two-year course. At the present time there are 31 enrolled in bookkeeping, 28 in shorthand, 78 in typewriting, while over 100 are taking penmanship and spelling. There probably are in the city of Ashland 25 positions for stenogra- phers and 15 positions for bookkeepers. It would therefore seem that possibly this branch of work is being overdone and that many of the young people will be disappointed. Upon inquiring among the students the committee learned that many of the students look upon this work as a stepping-stone to some other occupation. Some count on making use of it while doing college work and others are looking toward the civil service. However, we believe that the school authorities will be 18 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF justified in hedging about to a certain extent the privilege of taking these courses. For instance, excellent preparation in penmanship should be a prerequisite for bookkeeping and an inquiry into the purpose of each applicant might well be made to prevent pupils enrolling in type- writing because it is new or attractive and without a more serious purpose. The equipment and character of the work being done in this department justifies us in saying that the department is meeting a real vocational end and meeting it in a good way. Teacher Training. — The chief vocational activity of the Ashland schools is devoted to the Teachers' Training Course which, therefore, merits specific treatment in the report. The emphasis given to this course relates directly to the vocational opportunities of the community. Twelve of the graduates of the high school Normal Training Course in 1914 are now teaching at salaries ranging from $55 to $80 per month. Teaching careers lead as the choice of both high school students and eighth grade pupils. The Oregon school law provides that a one-year State certificate (renewable only once) shall be granted without exami- nations to applicants who have completed four years' work in an accredited high school upon completion of the teachers' training course. Among other requirements, the law provides that the course in Teachers' Training shall consist of: (a) A review of at least nine weeks each in reading, grammar, arithmetic, and geography. (b) A study of American history. (c) At least twenty periods of professional training to include a study of methods, school management, and observation work. The class is also required to take elementary agriculture, spend at least one hour a day for at least sixteen weeks in observation and practice work, and such other work as the Superintendent of Public Insti-uction may require. This regime has been somewhat modified in practice by the interpretation of the State Superintendent, but in spirit is carried out both in the superintendent's instructions and by the Ashland schools. One year in civics and American history is required and may be taken in the junior year. One and one-half units of professional training are required in the senior year. This embraces the following three courses, each the equivalent of one-half a unit, i. e., one-fourth of the student's entire work for one-half of one year: (1) Methods, school management, etc. (a) Nine weeks' work follow- ing Strayer's "Brief Course" and O'Shea's "Everyday Problems." (b) Nine weeks' work in Oregon school law and history of education, (lectures from Monroe). (2) Professional reviews. (a) Nine weeks, Watson and White's Complete Arithmetic, all topics not exempted by State in eighth grade examinations, (b) Nine weeks, Kimball's Elementary English, Book II. (3) Observation and practice teaching. Fifteen weeks in the elemen- tary grades. In connection with (3), the first two days in each week are given to observation of the work of a regular teacher, the second two days to teaching, and the fifth day to writing a report. Lesson plans must be submitted in advance which are satisfactory to the regular teacher, and cadet teachers must do standard teaching or with- draw from the course. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 19 Wherever normal school or university training is beyond the reach of prospective teachers, the committee recommends the high school training course. We believe that the Ashland course is well arranged and efficiently administered. The hearty cooperation of the grade principals and teachers greatly strengthens the local course. The course, moreover, meets a present vocational demand and, in our opinion, is decidedly superior as a criterion for certification to the examination system also in operation in the State of Oregon. The high school training course is an agency adapted to the training of rural teachers and its completion should not certify graduates to teach in city schools or in one, two or three-year high schools. We advise prospective teachers who plan to take advanced work in a Normal School or in a university to defer the professional training until they reach such institution. This will add approximately two units to the cultural work in the high school and permit the student to take his professional training at a more mature age. At present there is but a single normal school in Oregon, which is situated at Monmouth. The Monmouth Normal is so far distant from the counties of Southern Oregon that only a few students are attracted from this region. Some years ago there was also a normal school at Ashland which was legislated out of existence. The buildings still remain but are vacant. In light of the numbers of possible teachers to be trained in Southern Oregon and who are now receiving limited training, the committee desires to go on record as favoring the re-establishment of a State normal school at Ashland. Domestic Science and Manual Training. — All the girls in the sixth and seventh grades are enrolled in sewing classes and all the girls in the first year of high school do sewing with their regular course. In addition to this a one-year elective course is offered. A minimum of time is spent upon working models and the classes are wisely, we think, set at work early upon useful articles. The courses are logically arranged and are being well carried out. During the first year of high school these girls make one complete outfit of underwear, two dresses, have some work in crocheting, some fancy work, draft patterns and do fitting. The second year they study household decoration, make a study of materials and make a tailored suit. Cooking is taught to all eighth grade girls and to all girls in second year of high school with one additional year elective. The accommoda- tions of cooking and sewing in the high school are not adequate to the real needs of the large classes. As it is, much of the work has to be done by girls sitting in ordinary recitation chairs without tables, there being insufficient room for the tables. The cooking department could make use of a dining room, although the present arrangement by which one of the sewing rooms is used for a dining room is not a serious handicap. Manual training is taught in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades and for two years in the high school. The work is confined to wood work and drawing. The interest in the classes seems to be good. The boys are allowed much choice as to the articles which they shall make and this tends to keep the interest high. There seems to the committee to be a lack of real vocational purpose in this department and we believe 20 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF that boys should be encouraged to master the elements of the carpenter's trade, cabinet maker's trade or other wood working trades, and that definite undertakings should be launched from time to time in more pretentious constructive work. It is entirely possible for two or three groups of boys to be working at the same time on different courses, some taking conventional manual training work, some working toward carpentry, others toward furniture making, etc., all being directed by the same instructor. Excellent work is being done in mechanical drawing in connection with this department. Agriculture. — In agriculture the Ashland schools are complying with the State requirement that agriculture shall be taught in the eighth grade. This course is organized with the manual training course in such a way that a portion of the students are working in the school gardens while others are working in the shop. The boys are permitted to have what they raise and are encouragfed to develop gardens of their own at home. There is also a high school course in agriculture covering one semester. This course is based upon a text, is taught in the laboratory and is supplemented by work in the high school garden. Instruction is given by the regular biology teacher. The Vocational Problem. — The problem in vocational work in Ashland is not the same that would be encountered in an industrial center. Nevertheless, Ashland has its vocational needs and while the committee has nothing but praise for the development that has been made in providing for these needs, we desire to recommend that the vocational aim be made more pronounced in the shop work. The agricultural work should be placed upon a firm basis with the supervision of home gardens, and poultry raising clubs on the part of boys and girls from both grades and high school made a prominent feature. We recommend that wherever possible the boys taking the manual training course be given work on the making of furniture, running partitions, doing repair work or erecting buildings, for the schools. This will afford excellent educational opportunities for such boys. 3. PHYSICAL EDUCATION Making a study of the physical education in the Ashland schools, the committee found that no supervisor or special teacher was employed for this work. In the Grades. — The teachers are directed to give calisthenic exer- cises when children show evidence of fatigue or restlessness. As a matter of fact, we find, upon investigation, that while teachers mean to conscientiously carry out this plan, in many rooms these exercises are not given with regularity or, indeed, with frequency. A teacher interested in her work and pressed for time to accomplish results is not always conscious of this need. Recess. — The morning session begins at 8:45 and continues until 11:30, when an intermission of an hour and a half is given. The after- noon session continues from 1:00 until 3:40. These sessions are broken by short rest periods of not exceeding five or six minutes. The pupils ASHLAND PI'BLIC SCHOOLS 21 pass out or to the basement but no play or physical exercise is indulged in during this rest period. No other recess is provided for in the grades. The advisability of a so-called wild recess in the grades is perhaps debatable. The committee is inclined to favor such a recess about the middle of each school session but recognizes the fact that it is perhapt more or less a local question. The committee is emphatic in recommend- ing that in the absence of a recess there should be from five to ten minutes of vigorous, enjoyable calisthenic exercises about the middle of each session regularly or a run into the open air for a similar length of time. We also recommend that during all or part of such time the windows of each room be thrown open so as to thoroughly flush the class rooms with fresh air from the outside. If at a given signal, the windows are thrown open in all the rooms at once it will not interfere with the ventilating system and if the windows are not kept open too long it will not cool the walls sufficiently to prove an extravagance in the matter of fuel. High School. — The high school is fortunate in having a gymnasium, size 57x90 feet, well adapted for carrying on systematic instruction in physical education and also well adapted for basketball, volley ball, and indoor baseball. At the present time no class work in the gymnasium is undertaken but large use is made of the gymnasium in connection with the athletic activities of both boys and girls. It would seem to the committee that the next step in physical education would be to make provision for class instruction in gymnasium work and at the same time provision should be made for supervision of physical training in the grade schools. A physical training teacher or supervisor who appreciates the possibilities of this kind of work can be of great assistance, not only in improving the bearing and physical health of the children, but in quickening their mental and moral activity. Athletics. — The committee found that both in the grades and high school the athletic activities of boys and girls were wisely encouraged. In the grades, baseball, basketball, volley ball and tennis, with the running games for little folks, such as blaekman, tag, etc., are being played under the direction and supervision of principals and teachers. In each grade building two teachers assist in this work both noon and evening. In the high school, football, basketball, tennis, baseball, and the various track events are being carried on under faculty supervision and direction. The spacious grounds referred to in the chapter on buildings and grounds are a great boon to these activities in both the high school and grades. 4. INCIDENTAL CIVIC CONDITIONS From the chief of police it was learned that during the past two years two juvenile offenders have been sent to the State Training or Reform School. At one time during 1914, eighteen different boys were on probation making regular reports, most of them having been in an escapade not of a really criminal nature. There have been some cases of stealing during the past two years. These boys who have been in the hands of the police for stealing, truancy or depredations and 22 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF escapades have, so the chief of police testifies, always spoken highly of their teachers and the schools. At the time of this investigation no juveniles were on probation and no cases of truancy have been reported during the current school year. All the evidence obtained from this investigation indicates that the schools are gaining a stronger and stronger hold on the boys and are doing all that can be reasonably expected of them in this respect. Interviews were had with several mothers and several business men. Without exception these spoke in the highest terms of appreciation of the schools, expressing the greatest confidence in the school board, superintendent and teachers. Upon being pressed for suggestions as to how the schools might be improved, several suggestions were made. One thought that there was not enough analysis of problems in the intermediate grades. Another thought high school pupils were worked too hard. One mother expressed some disappointment that her boy did not get a great deal of good from one certain subject but was working hard and doing well in other subjects. One mother considered the history work too difficult in the fifth grade. One mother, prominent in the Parent-Teachers Association work, expressed herself in much the same way as Superintendent Briscoe expressed himself to the effect that the Parent-Teachers Association did good but failed to reach the parents who would be most benefited. One mother was very strongly of the opinion that the children without home conditions where it was possible for them to receive some help in their studies could not be adequately taken care of in the schools as now constituted. She considers that not only the Ashland schools but schools generally are inadequate in meeting the needs of the children that cannot have the work of the school supplemented by assistance at home. This is food for thought and a recommendation contained elsewhere in this report if carried out would make provision for auxiliary work done by i - egular teachers with such pupils as need it in every room while special teachers of music and drawing have charge of their rooms. The idea of having more physical training in the schools and of no recesses met the approval of the parents questioned upon this matter. An excellent plan of cooperation between the city library and the Ashland schools is in operation. A written contract exists between the two institutions according to the terms of which the district pays the city library a certain sum each year, of which a portion is to be spent for children's books and the remainder to be used to pay the expense of cataloging and repairing the books in the school libraries. The teachers are permitted to draw any reasonable number of books from the libi-ary and take them to their schools for the use of the children. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 23 CHAPTER IV INSTRUCTION, METHODS AND SUPERVISION The actual vitality of a school system varies directly with the quality of its instruction. The structure of a school system is important because it supports and renders possible the functioning processes within, but in itself is no guarantee of life and activity. Teaching is the life blood of the educational process and the measurement of the daily current of instruction is the surest index of the virility of the entire system. The committee has, therefore, given the largest share of its attention to the factor of instruction. 1. GENERAL METHODS AND RESULTS OF INSTRUCTION On the first day of the survey the members of the committee in company with Superintendent Briscoe visited each class room in the two grade buildings and all but three of the high school teachers. These short visits were followed on the following days by at least one longer visit to each class room, the members of the committee working separately. These visits were made delightful by the uniform courtesy of the super- intendent, principals and teachers, by the manifest devotion of teachers to their tasks, and by the wholesome cheerful atmosphei'e of work prevailing in the system as a whole. Teaching the Child. — While the Ashland schools are conforming to the requirements of their local course of study and to the State require- ments, which apply to certain districts of the first class, it is the opinion of the committee that it would be unfair to say that the Ashland teachers were teaching subject-matter rather than children. Teachers are aware of the child's viewpoint, adapting their instruction to the individual pupils in a way which shows real sympathetic insight into the workings of the child's mind. These characteristics stand out in the work of teachers both in the grades and high school. One of the evidences of this is the manner of criticizing imperfect recitations in such a way as to encourage and inspire to better efforts rather than to discourage or humiliate. Out of several similar instances two are here cited to illustrate how this is done. In a second grade a boy misspelled "thirsty" and had to go from midway to the foot of the class. The teacher remarked kindly, "Go down now but next time you will get it." A moment later she selected this same boy and one other pupil to play a prominent pai-t in the class going to the blackboard to point out words. The members of a high school class in English Composition, working under a really excellent assignment, were reading original stories based on a previously approved original plot. One pupil read a story which left his hero a pretty ordinary character with much to condemn and 24 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF little to admire. The language was rather stilted. The teacher, instead of telling- him he had written a poor story or in any way inciting a derisive attitude in the class, said, "I don't believe I quite understand the meaning of some of your hero's actions in the last part of the story but you can explain that to me when we look your paper over together. Do you think your language was sufficiently different from the language of the plot?" Pupil, "No Ma'am." Further adroit but kindly questioning made the pupil aware of exact weakness of his story and left him anxious to improve it. The way was thus prepared for a helpful, sympathetic conference with the pupil later. This rational and sympathetic appreciation of the pupils' point of view is commended. It should, however, be remembered that this attitude is not inconsistent with a policy of exacting a definite compliance with the requirements of a high standard of excellence in work and indeed it is evident that most of the Ashland teachers are conscious of both ideals. School Spirit. — Among the notable results attending the class room instruction upon which the committee feels justified in speaking positively is an intangible something which might be called the Spirit of the School. The spiritual product is large. There is a cheerfulness and a joy in work, a fullness of life and a contentedness evidenced in almost every room in the Ashland schools. Interest in work and an almost entire absence of any "problem of discipline" tend to confirm the minds of the members of the committee in the belief that the "Spirit of the School" above referred to is a very real as well as a very valuable product of the school. Fundamentals, Reading. — The practical subjects of writing, spelling, arithmetic, and reading are being well taken care of. One class that had just finished the second grade read such words as professor, Oxford, awkward, pretending, etc., as they appeared in the context without any hesitation but rather with fluency. A class that had just finished first grade and been two weeks in the second grade read from the blackboard the following sentences furnished the teacher by a member of the committee, "Mr. Briscoe is superintendent of the Ashland schools," "Mr. Engle is president of the First National Bank." These sentences were read by several members of the class with no assistance whatever, the pupils interpreting the difficult words by silently sounding them out. The same test was given another class of the same grade in another building with equally good results. Several tests made in these and other grades confirmed the committee in the opinion that the power which the children in these schools are gaining over new words is all that could be expected or desired. We do not advise attempting to improve the record now being made in this respect, believing that such effort would result in crowding the children too hard. Indeed, there is serious question if the course of study being followed in the first grade at the present time does not result in rather too much crowding for children of six years of age. The work necessary in carrying out the assignment in the State course of study interferes rather seriously with the freedom of the teacher in adapting subject matter for blackboard reading to the needs and interests of the particular classes. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS The committee wishes to express approval of the rich supply of reading matter provided for the grades ;ind also of the amount of reading done by each class. The class which has just finished the first grade has read six primers and three first readers. This i excellent record as to amount of reading to be done the first year, especially considering the difficulty of one or two of the books read. We recommend that emphasis be laid upon silent as well as upon oral reading. The power to get thought rapidly and silently from a printed page is in everyday life a more important acquisition than oral reading. This is not said to indicate that less emphasis should be placed upon oral but rather that more emphasis be placed on silent reading, especially in the upper grades. In this connection the committee desires to commend the plan of having both oral and written work in spelling daily, although of the opinion that the written work should be regarded as more essential than the oral. Arithmetic. — While the children seem thoroughly keen in their work in numbers and arithmetic we believe that the text-books in use set forth too many problems. The emphasis in the third and fourth grades should be upon processes with accuracy and speed as the main aims. The problem work undertaken below the fifth grade should be given orally rather than from the text, the teacher formulating problems and giving them out to the class as the class solves them mentally. The best problems will deal with objects not only concrete but familiar to the children. This should be varied by giving children practice in formulating problems for the rest of the class. This kind of work is valuable for the reason that it is a thought provoking exercise and at the same time affords practical application of the arithmetical processes. When problems are read from the book by the children, too much of the attention of the child is consumed by the interpretation of the printed page while the method above described has the advantage of leaving his mind free to attack the arithmetical problem unhampered. We believe that only very simple forms of analysis should be employed below the fifth grade, while in the fifth or sixth grades it should be made a very definite task of the teacher to develop power in the analysis of problems and that this be continued as a part of the work through the grammar grades. 2. COOPERATIVE SUPERVISION Early in our investigation it became clearly evident that the system of supervision of class-room instruction and other practices pertaining to the welfare of the children of the Ashland schools was unique in spirit and fruitful in operation. The supervisory relationships existing among the superintendent, the several principals, and the various teachers struck us as being decidedly at variance with conditions known to exist in many cities of similar size elsewhere. From the very outset we sensed a vital relationship between the seemingly evident efficiency of the school system and the plan of supervision. We were, therefore, led to give the type of supervisory practice a very thorough investigation. To this end practically all of 26 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF the teachers, the principals, and the superintendent were questioned in detail as to their parts in the existing scheme of supervision and as to their attitudes toward it. The result of this inquiry disclosed a system of supervision remark- ably free from discord and effective in administration which might well be copied elsewhere, and which may be described as cooperative super- vision. In this system of cooperative supervision and direction, influence radiates from the superintendent to the principals and to the teachers, but nowhere is to be discovered the presence of arbitrary exercise of power. Superintendent, principals and teachers are dominated by the aim: what is best for the welfare and development of the pupil. With this aim in view, the method of attaining it is cooperation of all forces. Consultations between and among the various members of the staff of the Ashland schools are frequent, remarkably so, in fact, but while suggestions for betterment come more frequently from superintendent or principals it is by virtue of their greater knowledge and experience and not by authority of position. Each teacher is free to use his or her own method when it seems to the best interest of the children. The principals and superintendent are quick to accept suggestions from any teacher as to means of bettering the efficiency of the work of the schools, and helpful ideas, regardless of the source, spread with great rapidity and are eagerly accepted by all who can use them. With this spirit of cooperation thoroughly dominant the teachers welcome every suggestion from the principals and superintendent. In such a system of cooperative supervision it • is interesting to note the spirit of loyalty on the part of the teachers for their principals and superintendent. It is seldom the lot of the surveyor to witness a finer spirit of loyalty than exists among the Ashland teachers. In spite of the most searching inquiry we were unable to elicit one word or sign of criticism or complaint from a single teacher or principal in the Ashland system concerning a superior. On the other hand, all available evidence, which was plentiful, indicates clearly that the support given by those in authority from the school board down, has been in every case prompt, adequate and cheerfully given. In our opinion the most important factors of supervision are embodied in the aim and spirit of cooperative supervision. We add some of the details of practice in the Ashland system. Superintendent Briscoe normally visits every teacher in the elementary schools from ten to thirty minutes once every week. The teachers are pleased with his supervision. The elementary school principals are in and out of the classes frequently; as one of the teachers expressed it, "Oh, she is here all the time." The teachers are pleased to have the principals present. The teachers of the grade schools have weekly meetings to discuss common problems. There are also frequent meetings between teachers of similar grades as the fifth and sixth grade teachers' meeting. The teachers act through their principals in routine matters. Both teachers and principals deal through the superintendent and never directly with the school board. The teachers in all cases are selected by the superin- tendent although the principals place instructors in their respective buildings. While members of the board are friendly with the teachers, all school relations are, without exception, carried on through the superintendent. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 27 In the high school there is much less supervision. Under the existence of departmental instruction individual teachers are given great liberty. While this is well for the most part, the committee found existence of a lack of knowledge of comparative values on the part of several high school teachers who could undoubtedly profit by more supervision. One of the characteristics of good teaching is the placing of emphasis upon the elements of the lesson which are of chief importance as related to human welfare in general and the child's own life activities in particular. All text-books contain details of varying importance which pupils by good teaching may learn to recognize and to discriminate. The com- mittee believes in thorough drilling wherever drill will eventually prove economical but it urges the danger, particularly in mathematics and the languages, of subordinating more important values to the single end of disciplinary drill. The high school teachers meet once a week under the principal for discussion of immediate problems and the occasional presentation of papers by teachers. The high school teachers have little to say in forming general policies. These are usually established by Superin- tendent Briscoe in consultation with the principal, and all work cheerfully in carrying them out. In both high and elementary schools the teachers report that they are thoroughly supported by their principals and superintendent. With the exception of a few instances of high school instruction the committee has only words of commendation to offer concerning supervi- sion in the Ashland schools. By relieving the superintendent and high school principal of part of their instructional duties, the time saved to be spent in high school supervision, an ideal system of supervision may be easily attained. 3. DEPARTMENTAL INSTRUCTION AND SUPERVISED STUDY For the past three years instruction has been given in the West Side School on the departmental basis. All of the eighth grade pupils of Ashland attend the West Side School and the departmental teaching in this school involves also the sixth and seventh grades. The sixth and seventh grades in the East Side School continue on the former basis. Penmanship has been placed in charge of one well qualified teacher in each grade school, and is reported to have improved under this plan. By virtue of the plan in the West Side School, teachers are enabled to give instruction in the subjects to which they are best adapted by train- ing and disposition. The committee believes that this change has been distinctly instrumental in improving instruction since its initiation. Coincident with departmentalization have come auxiliary teaching and supervised study. Each departmental teacher in the West Side School now has about four periods per week which are free from class or assembly work. Children not reciting remain in the large assembly room for the purpose of study. Here individual effort in an atmosphere of unbroken quiet, rather than directed or supervised effort, seems to be encouraged by the teacher in charge. During this time, however, the various instructors who are not teaching give their time to the interests 28 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF of needy pupils. By ones, by small groups, or if occasion demands, by entire classes, pupils with various difficulties are taken to the instructors' class rooms and helped according to their special needs. By this agency the school is enabled to set and maintain standards of progress to which a very large percentage of the pupils attain. The committee heartily approves of this type of supervised study and recommends its extension, for despite the evident utility of the present plan of auxiliary teaching there is evidence that there has been an occasional child who has failed because present facilities in supervised study have not reached all. We recommend that music and drawing be departmentalized above the second or third grade. The addition of another music or drawing teacher will permit all of this instruction to be given directly by specialists approximately two times per week. This will relieve the regular grade teachers and permit them to use this time for giving special aid to needy pupils in the same manner as now prevails in the West Side departmentalized grades. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS CHAPTER V INSTRUCTION-SPECIAL TESTS There has been a growing belief among: school experts for the past decade that such general descriptive terms as "good," "excellent," and "poor," do not measure adequately the results of education, but are relatively as indefinite as the terms, "warm," "cool," and "hot," when applied to such substances as iron or water. Moreover, just as the invention of the thermometer has established an exact scale of measure- ment for various degrees of heat, so too has the invention of various quantitative scales of mental ability permitted accurate measurement of individual skill or attainment in certain school subjects. Considerable progress has been made in the formation of definite standard tests, such as the Courtis tests in arithmetic, and in the construction of objective scales, such as the Ayres' scale for measuring the quality of handwriting. The use of such objective scales does not necessarily do away with the more common and general methods of observation of the results of school progress, for it is by no means certain that the results most easily measured by quantitative scales are the most important in school work. But wherever quantitative measurement is possible there can be no question of the greater merit of the scientific scale. Time limitations and the lack of exact comparative data have pre- vented the committee from making use of all of the standard tests. We have, however, given a dictation test for the purpose of measuring ability in punctuation and capitalization among the children in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. The handwriting thus obtained furnished material which has been graded on the Ayres' scale of handwriting. In addition to this, a special test was given in spelling, while the State eighth grade standard examination has afforded a com- parative test of a more general character. It should be noted here that the tests were given in Ashland just after the midyear promotion. Thirty-two of the eighth grade pupils (just graduated) are not represented in the results and part of the fourth grade is in reality "just over" third grade. The figures shown are at least one-fourth of a year inferior to actual average of annual conditions. 1. DICTATION TESTS Punctuation, Capitalization and Spelling. — One of the members of the committee dictated the stories given below to all the pupils of the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. The stories were read slowly while the children wrote the same sentences with pen and ink as accurately as possible, being cautioned to write, spell and punctuate as well as they were able. 30 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF 1. THE FOX AND THE CROW Once a crow was sitting on a branch of a tree with a piece of cheese in her mouth. A fox who wished to get the cheese said to her, "Good-morning, Mrs. Crow. How glossy, bright and beautiful your feathers are. If the crow's voice is only as fine as her looks, she is surely the queen of birds. Will you not sing for me?" The crow lifted her head and began to caw. The fox snapped up the cheese and ran off. "How foolish I've been," thought the crow, "to let him flatter me." 2. THE FOX AND THE STORK One day a fox invited a stork to dinner. The fox thought he would have some fun, so he had soup which he served in a plate. The fox lapped the soup with his tongue, but the stork's bill was not even wet. "I am sorry that you do not like the soup, Mrs. Stork," said the fox. "Don't be sorry," replied the stork. "Will you not come to dinner with me on Monday?" When the fox came, the stork had meat in a tall, slender, long-necked jar. She could get the meat with her long bill but the fox could not get his nose in the jar. "I see that you have fun, too," said the fox. After the test had been completed, the papers were collected and corrected for selected mistakes. Five capitals, five spellings, and ten punctuation marks were arbitrarily selected in each story and each paper was graded according to the number of mistakes in the twenty chosen places. All other mistakes were neglected. This method is not satis- factory for the exact measurement of the ability of any certain individual pupil but is excellent for obtaining the average ability of entire classes or of schools. The results obtained are shown in Table Six. Table Six — Average Number of Mistakes by Ashland Pupils in Dictation Tests. Grade Capitals (Five) Spellings (Five) Puncutations (Ten) Total (Twenty) Fourth 2.96 1.13 .92 1.21 1.21 1.27 .87 .73 3.88 1.74 2.40 1.95 1.30 ■2. m\ L.02 1.27 7.84 5.78 4.77 5.35 1.65 5.90 4 . G u 5.10 14.68 Fifth Si\tli-B 8.65 8.09 Sixth-A 8.51 7.16 9.23 'h-B 6.49 th-A 7.10 All 1.1 1 1.85 ",.1ii 8.06 Before commenting on these results it will be well to present Table Seven showing comparative results of the same test when given in (1) Ashland, (2) Pendleton, Oregon, (3) Boise, Idaho, and to (4) one thousand Oregon grade pupils selected at random throughout the State. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 31 Table Sbvbn — Total Mistakes in Spelling, Punotuation, ~. 10 Z )) H 'i ,2 .- " 14 15 Figure Kioups of - — * -I 1 1 1 1 — . . -j — — i BOISE" s / - / / — FEHD>|TOrt_ 2, ■" ^>s^ /- j ~ /-< <&'' y -'// *? - S* s* /' y - J (i--' WAVY LIME- - ASHLAND - - // // - ~ 1 — i i i i j i i • e 6b fe^ 7s SCHOOL GRADE 7A 8B a* 1. — Progress In Punctuation, Capitalization and Spelling among four children in the Upper Elementary Grades. The results of these tests as indicated in the tables and the graph above indicate to the committee that, as a whole, the efficiency of the public school children of Ashland in the fundamentals of punctuation and capitalization is about the same as that in the one other first-class Oregon district recorded (Pendleton), is somewhat inferior to the ability of Boise, Idaho, pupils, and is noticeably superior to the conditions found among average Oregon school children. 32 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF The results show, on the other hand, that, while there is general progress through the grades, it is neither steady nor satisfactory. Eight A is but little better than Seven B. There are numerous fifth grade pupils who are better than one-half the pupils of the entire eighth grade, while the average of nearly seven mistakes in twenty is certainly too large a percentage for pupils about to finish the grammar school. This condition is not peculiar to Ashland but is widespread. The com- mittee believes that this condition is due to lack of attention to the fundamentals indicated in the test, rather than to poor methods or teachers. Attention is called to the steady progress made from grade to grade in the Boise schools, where Superintendent Meek has been giving attention for several years to this work. The committee lacks definite information as to the conditions at the beginning of Superin- tendent Meek's work but the following comparison exhibits the improved result due to emphasis on this field of instruction. Table Eight — Percentages of Correct Punctuation, Etc., in Dictation Exercises at Boise, Idaho, in Successive Years. 4B 4 A 5B 5A 6B 6A 7B 7A 8B October, 1913 February, 1914 .. 44 68 52 74 59 77 71 84 71 87 77 88 79 89 81 91 82 93 The committee recommends that more attention be given to the funda- mentals of punctuation and capitalization. This should be accomplished either by special exercises in dictation or by critical attention given this phase of the pupils' regular written work, or if found necessary, to both. We believe, however, that a minor amount of definite concentrated effort in this field will accomplish satisfactory improvement. 2. TESTS IN SPELLING The part of the dictation test which included the spelling of a few simple words was far too restricted to be used as a basis for measuring the spelling ability of the Ashland schools as a whole. For this purpose the method used by Dr. Leonard P. Ayres in the survey of the Spring- field, Illinois, public schools was followed in detail, and may well be described by quoting from the Springfield report, (p. 71) : "Spelling tests of ten dictated words were given through the system in all of the grades from the second to the eighth inclusive. The words used in these tests were chosen from lists used by the Division of Education of the Russell Sage Foundation in an investigation that it is now conducting of the spelling ability of children in elementary schools. The Division has conducted studies to discover the 1,000 words most commonly used in writing and it has made these words into spelling lists with which children in nearly 100 American cities have been tested. From among these words 10 were chosen which this investigation has shown are on the average spelled correctly by 70 per cent of the children in the second grades of other cities. Similarly 10 words were chosen which children in the third grades of other cities spell on the average ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 38 of 70 per cent correctly. In the same way 10 words were chosen for each of the other elementary grades and in each case they were of such difficulty that on the average seven out of ten children spell them correctly while three misspell them." These lists of 10 words for each grade are shown in Table Nine. TABLE Nine — Words Used in Spelling Tests. (On the Average Seven Children Out of Ten in the Same Crudes in Other Cities Can Spell I hi Correctly.) Second Third Fourth Fifth 8ixth Seventh in, ii rade Grade Grade Grade Grade Grade ■ tk le foot fill forty Sr\ era! decide • listri.-t petrified get point rate leaving general consideration tuiiir for S I 1 1 I I • children publish manner at hletlc emergency horse ready prison o'clock too distinguish corporal Ion cut almost title running automobile evidence con\ enlence well high Betting known victim conference i, ,-.-jpt name Hveot need secure hospital amendment cordially room done t brow wait neither liquor discussion left pass feel mimner toward experience a ppreclate witli Tuesday spenk Might business receive decision The results of this test which was given to the children of the Ashland schools show that they spell on the average noticeably better than children in other cities. The average of 3,612 children in Spring- field, Illinois, is 70 per cent, or the same as the general average in other cities. The average of the Ashland children is 75 per cent. Out of 18 grade schools in the city of Springfield, but three average higher than either of the Ashland schools, one is equal to, and fourteen are below the Ashland standard. Table Ten shows the relative standing of the Ashland schools with those of Springfield, Illinois, and the general average of city schools. Table Ten — Per Cent of Words Correctly Spelled by Children in Each Grade in Ten Word Spelling Lists. Per cent correct in Per cent correct in Percent correct in all cities Ashland Springfield Si •con, 1 Third Fourth Fifth Sixtli Seventh Eighth Total Tii 7m 70 70 7o 7(i 70 sr, 7:: 81 61 73 75 70 65 70 7J t'.s 73 7.". 70 3. TESTS OF HANDWRITING The specimens of handwriting of the pupils in grades five to eight obtained in the dictation tests described above were graded by use of the Ayres Handwriting Scale. This scale is a device for measuring the quality of children's handwriting constructed by Leonard P. Ayres of the Russell Sage Foundation.* The scale measures the quality of hand- * A seal.' for measuring the quality of handwriting of school children. Division of Education. Russell Sage Foundation, 1912. 34 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF writing from very poor specimens graded 20 up to very excellent speci- mens graded 90. The average quality of writing for children of the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades combined the country over is scaled at 50. Each specimen of handwriting of the upper elementary pupils of the Ashland schools was graded on the Ayres Scale by twelve judges and the average of the twelve taken as the final grade. The average quality of each of the four grades is given in Table Eleven. Table Eleven — Average Quality of Handwriting of School Children of Ashland. Grade Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth AH Average quality .... S7 ',', 46 ■•', « The average quality of the four grades at 45 as compared with the average of the country at 50 indicates that the handwriting of the Ashland schools is below the average standard. Further investigation to discover the cause of this condition has revealed certain factors which tend to modify this judgment. During the year 1913 the vertical style of penmanship was superseded in the State of Oregon by the State adoption of the Palmer system. The Palmer system has now been taught over a year and the resultant slant is quite noticeable in contrast to the older vertical style. The tests revealed the fact that a large number of children are in the midst of a transition stage as far as actual practice is concerned. Some still used the old vertical style under the stress of the dictation test, some used the Palmer style, while many showed traces of both styles. The judges were unanimously of the opinion that as far as legibility was concerned (speed was not tested) the transfer in style has lowered the average quality of writing through- out the upper grades. The most significant result of the tests in handwriting is not the discovery of the general average quality maintained by the school but the remarkable variation which exists among pupils of the same grade. Reference to Table Twelve will reveal this condition which, it should be added, is not peculiar to Ashland alone. Table Twelve — Percentage of Pupils of Grades Five to Eight Writing Qualities Twenty to Eighty on the Ayres Handwriting Scale. Quality ."/ SO i,0 .10 60 70 HO 3 40 22 9 54 44 42 24 3 25 26 26 "9 14 24 "9 24 Grade Eight 2 All 1 18 40 20 12 8 1 The figures opposite each grade indicate what per cent of that grade wrote the quality in handwriting shown at the top of the column. Thus in grade five, 3 per cent of the class wrote quality 20, 40 per cent wrote quality SO, 54 per cent wrote quality 40, and 3 per cent wrote quality 50. Inspection discloses some noteworthy facts. Over one-half (57%) of the fifth grade pupils write as well (40) as one-fourth (2470 of the ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 35 eighth grade. One-third (34'/ ) of the sixth grade write better (50) than one-half (51%) of the seventh grade and one-fourth (2"4% ) of the eighth grade. One-fourth (23%) of the seventh grade write better (60) than one-half (50%) of the eighth grade. While the committee recognizes that schools should not be organized upon the basis of ability in handwriting, the great overlapping of the present classes in achievement in this art can not promote the best efficiency in teaching. When pupils writing the very poor quality SO are in the same classes with pupils writing 70, group methods are greatly weakened and the economy of proper classification lost. The degree to which the four classes overlap is concretely shown in Figure 2. One means of improving the effectiveness of instruction in penman- ship lies in a better classification of the groups of pupils receiving instruction at any given time. With a homogeneous group assembled, special methods may be used to bring the pupils to an appropriate standard. The Ayres scale may well be used both as a scale and as a standard. If the child and teacher each know exactly what individual progress is being made much more can be accomplished than by random efforts. 1 i " I — •— 1 ■ -SO - 7. -40 J - - - ' : -30 - _ J, v. 3] 9/ / T/ <7 fry q 1 v/ *l / ^iiLl CRMf - / «y / - - - -20 hi 3 H 1 ~7 J III y s $ V* uf 7 / \a v^> \ \ ^>J' \ -IO / <7 J hi / v \^N \ ^ — 1 XV? N^ \ GRADE OF AYRES SCALE Figure 2. — Overlapping of I'pper Elementary Grades in ability of Penman- ship. The curves Indicate the percentages of each grade Bcoring -.'». 30. i". 50, ,; ". 10 and B0 "ii the Ayrea Scal< 36 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF No ultimate standard of handwriting for elementary school children has yet been agreed upon. The importance of good writing varies greatly in different vocations and according to access to the typewriter. For purposes of school work and the ordinary demands of life, quality 60 may be considered quite satisfactory. This would indicate that probably one-fourth of the Ashland children write sufficiently well at present. On the other hand, approximately one-fourth of the children write around quality 30 which is decidedly poor for any purpose. It would be a decided uplift if this group could be raised to the standard of 60 before leaving the elementary school. The committee therefore recommends that the classes in penmanship be reorganized on the basis of ability and that a large share of the time given to the best one-fourth of the upper elementary grades be devoted to the poorest one-fourth. The higher one-fourth who have already attained a satisfactory standard may be well taken care of by a mini- mum of practice. (Recent investigation* indicates that skill in hand- writing does not increase in general with a greater amount of practice.) The time thus saved may well be given to other essentials of the elementary course of study not so well mastered. 4. EIGHTH GRADE EXAMINATIONS In the State of Oregon it is the duty of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to prepare questions for use in the examination of pupils who have completed the eighth grade in accordance with the provisions of the State course of study. Pupils who pass successfully are entitled to entrance into any ninth grade in the State without further examination. The eighth grade papers are graded by a county board of examiners consisting ordinarily of the county school superintendent and four special appointees. A number of districts of the first class in Oregon having high schools are in counties which maintain a so-called county high school fund. This fund pays to standard high schools within the county tuition varying in amount from $12.50 per pupil to $40.00 per pupil, amounting in some districts to five or six thousand dollars. It is necessary, however, that pupils shall have passed the eighth grade uniform final examination before drawing county fund tuition. It therefore happens that while some first class districts (containing 1,000 children of school age) do not give the State uniform eighth grade examination, a number of them, including Ashland, do so under the county high school fund law. The committee has secured from the several county superintendents statistics of the results of the uniform eighth grade examinations given in the years 1913, 1914, and 1915, in districts of the first class in the cities of Corvallis, Grants Pass, Eugene, Medford, Pendleton, and The Dalles, as well as in two large second-class districts, Cottage Grove and Springfield. In these districts a total of 1,717 pupils have attempted the examination within the past three years and 1,074, almost exactly two-thirds, have passed. The figures by years are given in Table Thirteen. •Freeman: The Fourteenth Year Book of the National Society for the Study of Education, 1915. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 37 'I'ahi.e I'hihtkkn — Results of Uniform Eighth Oradt I-. " '" Eight Representative Oregon Citia During the Year* /!'/.; / / 1913 1914 1MB (.Jan.) Total Pawed Failed TiiNKed Failed Pa— od Palled Paused Failed 430 219 469 66.5 236 33.5 175 66.5 88 33.5 1074 543 66.3 33.7 66.4 33.6 It is worthy of attention to note the regularity from year to year with which half as many pupils in representative Oregon first-class districts fail in passing the eighth grade final examinations as succeed. It indicates either that the examinations or the course of study is too difficult, or that the schools are not measuring up to their responsibility, for in the opinion of the committee, one-third is much too large a fraction of failures to record against a public school system. On the other hand, it is significant to note that during these same three years (see Table Fourteen), of 183 Ashland eighth grade pupils who took the same examinations, but seven pupils or less than four per cent failed to pass. Tablb Fourteen- Result of Uniform Eighth Gradi Examinations in Ashland During the Years 1913-1915. 1913 1914 191.') Total Passed Failed Passed Failed Passed Failed Passed Failed Number Per cent ... 72 3 96 4 72 96 3 4 32 97 1 3 176 96 7 4 It should be added that Medford, a second city within the same county (Jackson) as Ashland, had approximately the same figures, and that the better record may not be due exclusively to better schools but, in part at least, to the standard of grading used by the county board of examiners. In either event the situation in Jackson County is much more to be commended than that which exists elsewhere. 172639 38 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF CHAPTER VI PROGRESS OF PUPILS One of the most important measures of a school system is to be discovered by an analysis of the progress of its pupils through the grades. During the school year 1913-14, under the direction of one of the members of the survey staff (Professor Fred C. Ayer) , Superin- tendent Briscoe made a detatiled study of the promotion, progress, retardation, and elimination of pupils in the Ashland grade schools. The committee has before it a vast amount of tabulated data which, in this report, has been reduced to a limited number of tables and the more important generalizations. The truancy laws in Oregon apply to all children in ordinary health between the ages of nine and fifteen, living within three miles of a school building. This law is fairly well enforced in Ashland, but as the normal age for grade one is seven years, many children who are kept out of school until past nine, enter school two or three years retarded or over-age. Pupils who are in the various grades of the elementary schools are commonly described as being of "normal age," or "retarded," or "accel- erated." In the following discussion pupils who were seven years old and under eight in September, and in the first grade are regarded as being of normal age. In like manner pupils who were eight and under nine and in the second grade are taken as of normal age, and similarly up to the eighth grade where they should be fourteen in September. Pupils who are under the normal age for their grades are said to be accelerated. Pupils who are over the normal age for their grade are said to be retarded. 1. RETARDATION The retarded pupil is one of the great problems of the school. Late entrance and failure of promotion are the chief causes for retardation, but whatever the cause, the results are unfortunate. The retarded pupils ordinarily reach the compulsory age limit in the upper grammar grades and because of personal or economical reasons leave school per- manently, ill-prepared for the activities of modern life. On the other hand, those who remain by failure in promotion, bulk up the lower grades until in many schools the money cost of educating the children for an extra number of years is greatly increased, and in some grades practically doubled. Table Fifteen shows conditions in the Ashland elementary schools for the year 1913-14. The figures in the top of each square show how many boys of a certain age were in that grade, and the figures in the bottom of each square show how many girls of the same age were in the same grade. Then in Grade 1 there were 32 boys and 41 girls six years old, 17 boys and 9 girls seven years old, and 3 boys and no girls eight years old. How the ages scatter out in succeeding grades is plainly depicted. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 39 Table Fifteen — AH Grade*. Enrollment by Age anil Crude. Number of Boys ami Cirl.s of Karh Grade, and Nuynber of F.aeh Below Age for Qrodt . Number of Normal, and Number Above Age for Grade. Ages First Sucond Third Grade Grade Grade Fourth Kifth Grade Grade Sixth Seventh Eighth Grade Grade Grade . I Boys 6 -- i Qlrla , J Boys '-- - I Girls „ I Boys 8 I Girls *-• I Girls . I Boys 1U I Girls ., t Boys 11 * — | Girls ., \ Boys 12 I Girls ,o J Boys 13 --■ I Girls .. I Boys 14 --- 1 Girls ,. I Boys 10 | Girls ... i Boys 16 — 1 Girls 17 1 Boys 17 " ( Girls ia i Boys 18 I (Jlrls Total \ Boys lolal i Girls Grand Total Below t Boys Normal l Girls Normal J B °y s JNOrmaI I Girls Above rJoya Normal | Girls 28 17 14 2 ; :« » 24 e 39 6 13 15 4 88 IS 27 2 IS 8 1 14 7 17 21 7 14 1 3 42 46 3 8 15 18 16 11 5 2 o 39 38 2 2 6 9 7 26 21 5 8 44 42 1 2 1 4 5 11 13 16 14 11 10 44 43 3 9 7 B 11 13 16 33 87 2 2 4 5 3 11 13 20 20 6 1 I ■' 10 6 18 12 1 3 1 4 1 1 1 58 50 40 40 51 71 37 62 43 43 66 55 38 44 48 46 381 420 801 82 41 17 28 19 32 8 19 7 lti IS 8 7 8 11 10 113 162 17 9 13 13 17 27 17 21 18 15 26 21 15 14 13 16 186 136 134 120 The zigzag iine in the table divides the pupils into three groups, those below normal age for grades (accelerated), those normal age for grade, and those above normal age for grade ( retarded) . The number of normal pupils for each grade rests upon the zigzag line, while the number of retarded pupils is found below the line. The number of accelerated pupils is found in the squares above the one resting upon the zigzag line. 40 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF The following summary shows the general conditions which as com- pared with other school systems reported is very favorable: Table Sixteen — Age Distribution of Grade Children, V.)13-V,. Helow Age (Accelerated) Normal Age for Grade Above Age (Retarded) Total Boys Girls 113 162 136 136 134 120 • 381 420 Total 275 272 254 . 801 This table shows that the girls progress more rapidly through the grades than the boys, but the difference is decidedly less marked than in many other (larger) schools which have been investigated. 2. PROMOTION As the amount of retardation depends primarily upon the rate of promotion through the grade, and as all tables which neglect the pupils who have dropped out of school (elimination) are faulty, it is important to note these factors in the Ashland schools. Table Seventeen shows in detail the rate of promotion of pupils in the Ashland schools. Table Seventeen — All Grade Schools Promotion by Grades and Sex. First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Sev'nth Eighth Total Boys promoted .... Girls promoted .. 85 60 65 78 86 112 67 106 67 71 102 94 62 72 50 57 . 584 .650 Total promoted Boys failed Girls failed 145 13 9 143 5 4 198 4 5 173 5 3 138 8 3 196 11 3 134 3 4 107 2" 2 1234 ■ 51 33 Total failed Per cenl passed .. Per cent failed 22 86.9 13 9 94 6 9 95.6 4.3 8 95.5 4.5 11 92.6 7.3 14 93.3 6.6 7 95 5 4 96.7 3.2 84 93.6 6.3 It is seen that the girls made 650 promotions out of a possible 683, or 95.1 per cent while the boys made 584 promotions out of a possible 635, or 92 per cent. The combined pupils made promotions at the rate of 93.6 per cent. It is a striking situation in the Ashland schools that such a large rate of promotion is possible and even more striking that this rate is approximately uniform throughout the grades. Leonard P. Ayres, Educational Expert of the Russell Sage Founda- tion, in the School Survey of Springfield, Illinois, 1914, says with refer- ence to the Springfield schools, "In general the promotion rates are well up, ranging from 85 to 90 per cent." The Ashland standard exceeds the excellent record of the Springfield system by about 5 per cent. Providing promotion occurs by merit only, this high standard of promotion marks a great saving of money to Ashland and of time in the lives of the pupils. That promotion goes by merit is shown by the ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 41 success with which over 95 per cent of the Ashland pupils have met the test of eighth grade examinations imposed upon them by the State (described in a previous section). Promotions occur regularly twice each year. For pupils of the first three grades, no formal tests of any sort are given. The pupils are promoted on the initiative of the teacher who consults the principal with doubtful cases. From grades four to eight promotions (save a limited number of exemptions) are made by examination. The questions are prepared by the local teachers for all grades save the eighth which are prepared by the State Superintendent and graded by the County Board of Examiners. It has become a practice in the Ashland system to make conditional transfers in grades four to seven. Even when pupils fail to make the standard 75 per cent in each subject they may be transferred condi- tionally on the judgment of the teacher. Four years' trial has disclosed the fact that about 80 per cent of the "conditioned" pupils have kept up with the regular class. The committee commends this procedure very highly, believing pupils should be in classes where they will do the best work providing the class is not retarded as a whole thereby. 3. ELIMINATION There are two kinds of elimination of school children, preventable and non-preventable. When children leave school because of faults within the system, elimination is preventable, but when it is caused by children dying or moving away it is non-preventable and should not be charged to the schools. The amount of elimination by grades in the Ashland schools during the year 1913-14 is shown in Table Eighteen. Table Eighteen — Elimination of Pupils in Elementary Schools. Fir-t Grade Second Grade Third Grade Fourth Fifth Grade Grade Sixth Sev'nth Grade Grade Eighth _. , Grade '"'■'' Boys eliminated .. Girls eliminated .. 13 18 10 9 9 15 1 10 7 7 12 9 7 8 12 6 71 82 Total number .. 31 19 24 11 14 21 15 18 153 In the enrollment of 801, there were 381 boys and 420 girls. Of these 153 were eliminated, 71 boys and 82 girls. The per cent elimination is 19.1. The per cent of elimination for the boys based upon the number of boys enrolled is 18.9; for the girls based upon the number of girls enrolled it is 19.5. Table Nineteen gives an analysis of the causes of this elimination : Table Nineteen- — Causes of Elimination in Ashland EU mentary Schools. Moved Away Sick I'nkoown Work Bad Lazy Death 58 84 9 11 3 n 2 1 1 1 Girls 1 Total 122 20 3 2 3 2 1 42 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF A glance at the table shows that the schools could in no way be held responsible for the elimination of those pupils accounted for in the first and the last columns, i. e., by moving and death, which is 80.3 per cent of the elimination. In column two, there are 20 pupils or 13 per cent of the entire elimination caused by sickness. Just what part of the responsibility for the poor health of these pupils the schools should bear can not be known, probably a very small share, since most of the cases were of a chronic nature, and withdrawn from school upon the advice of a physician, a written statement of facts accompanying each with- drawal. The remaining 10 cases, or 6.5 per cent of the number eliminated and .011 per cent of the entire enrollment may be charged justly to the inefficiency of the schools. This shows a small amount of both preventable and non-preventable elimination as compared with other school systems. Strayer and Thorn- dike, in their Educational Administration, 1913, estimate that for every 100 pupils in the elementary schools 8 years of age there will remain 97 at 12 years of age, 88 at 13 years, 70 at 14 years, 47 at 15 years, and 30 at 16 years. Compared to this theoretical condition we find that in Ashland for every 100 pupils of 8 years of age there are 107 at 12, 110 at 13, 103 at 14, 82 at 15, and 81 at 16 years of age. This shows a marked decrease in elimination in the years 12 to 16 favoring Ashland schools from 10 to over 200 per cent. Further study of the high school shows that there are practically as many pupils in the early years of the high school as there are eight- year-old pupils in the same system, indicating that in Ashland certainly there is no call for a junior high school to prevent elimination. The committee commends the superintendent for making a detailed study of conditions of retardation, promotion, and elimination, and recommends that the study be continued with the view of learning and ameliorating as far as possible the individual causes which prevail against the backward or absent children. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 43 CHAPTER VII ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION OF ASHLAND SCHOOLS The public school system of Ashland is managed in accordance with the most approved principles of good corporate management with the exception of one or two points which will be discussed later. The Board of School Directors assumes the position of a Board of Directors in a large corporation and gives to its chief executive officer, the Superin- tendent of Schools, authority and freedom of action commensurate with his duties and responsibilities. The board does not interfere with or attempt to manage the details of school administration, but very properly leaves these matters to the decision of its educational expert. Matters relating to the outlining of the course of study, the selection of school books, the competency of instruction, and the selection, assignment, promotion, and dismissal of teachers and janitors are left to the judgment of the superintendent. This plan relieves the board of the petty details of school adminis- tration, from strong personal influences and pulls, and enables its members to devote their energies to the larger and more important needs of the schools. These larger needs comprise the following: the selection of its general manager; the larger problems of finance, present and future; the selection of school sites; the approval of building plans; the expansion and enlargement of the educational system; the determina- tion of the budget of expenses correlated with l-evenues and the presen- tation of the needs and policies of the school system to the people of the city. 1. ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL BOARD The school board consists of five members, elected at large, by the legal voters of the school district. The board appoints the school clerk who keeps the minutes of the board meetings, the financial books of the district, issues all warrants, takes the annual school census and makes an annual report to the county superintendent. No regular committees exist for the purpose of carrying on the work entrusted to the school board. That this method of conducting business apparently works satisfactorily is due doubtless to the small amount of business to be transacted. As the business grows with the growth of the school district, it will no doubt be found advisable to have several committees, as, for example, a committee on finance, a committee on buildings and grounds, and a committee on instruction. 2. FINANCIAL PROCEDURE Although no audit was made of the financial records and books, the financial procedure followed seemed to be correct. All claims are allowed by the board in regular session and properly recorded in the minutes of 44 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF the meeting. Warrants are then drawn in favor of the payee and signed by the chairman of the board and the clerk. Claimants and vendors are required to accompany their bills with a written order; this is deserving of special mention. It is customary in public business to require the person ordering supplies to certify to the following state- ments; viz.: (1) that the goods or services are necessary and that they are to be used only for the benefit of the schools, and (2) that the cost of the supplies or services ordered is fully covered by an unencumbered balance in the appropriation against which the cost is to be charged. The order blank used at present might be made to conform to the best modern practice by having the above-mentioned statements printed thereon and certified to each time an order is issued and instead of the words "For what used," there could be inserted the words "Fund to be charged." It would seem desirable and practicable to limit the authority to issue orders against school funds to the school clerk and the school superintendent and to specify in detail the particular funds each was authorized to issue orders against. This should be done by order of the board immediately after the adoption of the annual budget. Any janitor, principal, member of school board, desiring to have purchases made would be required to get an order from either the clerk or the superin- tendent, and no bill would be allowed by the board unless authorized by either the clerk or superintendent. This system. would definitely place the responsibility for exceeding the budget appropriation with the persons authorized to issue orders, which is the logical way to exercise control over expenditures. The attempt to exercise control over expenditures after the goods are ordered and have been received and the merchant has presented his bill is not founded on sound business principles. When the board audits the bills and allows the claims they want the following information: (1) Has the order been made by a person authorized to incur obligations against school funds; (2) Are there sufficient funds available for paying the bill in the particular fund against which it is to be charged; (3) Has the order been charged against the correct fund; (4) Have the goods ordered been actually received in good condition; (5) Does the claim of the merchant agree with the original order as to quantity, quality and price. The evidence now submitted to the board as to the receipt of the goods is the O. K. of the person ordering. It is maintained that this is not sufficient evidence and that there should be substituted a definite printed form known as a Receiving Slip upon which shall be entered in detail the goods received by the person receiving them. Any individual in the school system, whether it be a teacher, principal, janitor, superintendent or clerk receiving goods on behalf of the schools should immediately fill out one of these receiving slips, noting the date, goods received and whether in good condition, sign it, and send the slip to the superintendent. This would supply the board with all the information needed. The original order, to which should be attached the receiving slip or slips, and the merchant's bill should be presented to the board for audit. The policy of the board in securing bids on all purchases both from local dealers and outside dealers is to be especially commended. It is herein suggested that the board should formally adopt rules and regu- lations governing all financial procedure and that among these should be one requiring at least three bids to be obtained on all expenditures which ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS will aggregate $10.00 during the course of a year. As the business of the system increases it will doubtless be found more economical to have Bid Sheets printed especially for this purpose than to write- three or more letters each time bids are secured. 3. RECORDING OF TEACHERS' CERTIFICATES The Oregon school laws provide that "If any district school board shall draw a warrant on the school fund for the wages of any teacher who does not hold a valid teachers' permit, certificate or diploma, and lay the same before the boards of directors for inspection, such district shall forfeit its proportion of the school fund for the current year." (L. 1913, Chap. 172.) In order for the board to protect itself and the residents of the district against such a contingency, the board should require the clerk to keep on file in his office an authentic record of the certificate of each teacher employed. No warrant should be drawn for any teacher's salary whose certificate is not definitely recorded in the clerk's office. 4. PAYROLL The largest single item of expenditure in the school budget is for the salaries of teachers and yet Ashland has no payroll. Out of a total budget of $46,000.00, over one-half or $25,000.00 is annually expended for salaries of principals and teachers. A properly planned payroll accomplishes two very important pur- poses: (1) it serves as a voucher or receipt for money disbursed, and (2) it reveals the details of the cost of instruction by buildings and grades. The principal of each school or the superintendent, if he has personal knowledge of the actual attendance of each teacher, should prepare the payroll which should contain the name of each teacher, annual or monthly salary, time absent, deductions and amount due. and he should certify that the payroll as prepared is correct. The clerk should then proceed to scrutinize the payroll from the following stand- points: (1) Was each person named duly appointed or elected as shown by written evidence on file in his office; (2) Has each person named filed with him a copy of his certificate; (3) Will the amount mentioned in the payroll exceed the amount appropriated for this purpose in the budget. After being ordered paid by the board, the clerk proceeds to draw the warrants. A payroll should be made out for each building and as warrants are handed to teachers they should sign the payroll. or the teachers might authorize the principal in writing to sign the payroll for them in which case the principal might go to the clerk's office, sign the payroll for all the teachers, get the warrants and distribute them to the teachers. The following form of payroll is recommended : 46 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF P. s. Table Twenty — Sample Payroll Blank. District No. 5 Received from the Board of Education of Ashland the amount set opposite our hands respectively, being in full for services rendered from to . v, Position Name or grade Monthly silary Time absent Deduct- ions Amount due Warrant No. Signatures 1 5. SCHOOL RECORDS AT HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING The school clerk should be kept close to the educational management and made to feel that he is a part of the educational organization. The present isolation of the clerk with his books and records kept in the vaults of one of the banks at considerable distance from the office of the superintendent is not an economical or efficient arrangement. Cur- rent information regarding the operation of the school system, which the superintendent needs to have at hand in order to manage his work successfully can under the present arrangement be obtained only by telephoning to the clerk in another part of the city or making a trip to the clerk's office. Under the existing local conditions, and with the safeguards of the budget system of handling expenditures, the committee can see no objection in combining the duties now performed by the school clerk and the assistant to the school superintendent in one office, until such time as the work of these two offices shall have grown to such an extent as to demand the full time of two persons. For this position the board could afford to pay a salary sufficiently large to demand the full time of a competent bookkeeper and stenographer, who, in addition to keeping the books of the district could relieve the superin- tendent of a considerable amount of business duties connected with the purchasing of educational and other supplies. This person should be elected by the board, who should determine his tenure and compensation; he should be required to give bonds for the faithful performance of his duties, and the books of the office should be audited each year; he should make all purchases, approve all bills, and when ordered paid by the board draw warrants for their payment; pay all employes for service performed; act as secretary of the board and have general charge of the repair, operation and care of all school property. In addition to these duties, his remaining time would be devoted to assisting the superintendent. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 47 6. THE BUDGET The board prepares an annual budget and lives within this budget. This is to be commended. The form of the budget can be improved by following the classification of accounts recommended by the United States Bureau of Education. Standard classification of school accounts have been devised by the U. S. Bureau of Education which have been successfully applied to large and small school systems for a number of years. The committee has been advised that the legislature has just formed a law requiring the publication of the annual school budget. We feel, therefore, that it is important that the Ashland schools should adopt this standard system. The system is the best system yet devised and is capable of expansion as the school system grows, and hence will not have to be changed from year to year. A standard classification of expenditures becomes more valuable each year because it makes possible the comparison of expen- ditures of one year with those of another, and with those of other cities of similar size. The purposes for which school funds are expended are so nearly alike in all school systems, whether great or small, that standardization in school accounting is a comparatively simple problem. Every expenditure of school money can be classified under one of the following divisions: Administration, instruction, operation of school plant, maintenance of school plant, acquisition of plant or equipment, and fixed charges and contributions, and these have come to be regarded as the standard classi- fication for school purposes. By the very simple process of grouping the items of expenditure as set forth in the 1915-16 budget under different headings, the standard form of budget can be produced for Ashland and furthermore by simply inserting these new headings in the clerk's distribution book the account- ing can be made to confoi-m to the best modern standards in school accounting. There is given on pages 48 and 49 in parallel columns the budget for 1915-16 as prepared by the Ashland board and the same items grouped under standard classifications. The clerk's distribution of expenditures should contain columns for recording the following information. (1) Date; (2) Invoice number; (3) To whom paid; (4) For what; (5) For what school; (6) Total amount; (7) Warrant No., and then columns for distributing the item under the proper expense classification of the budget. 7. RECORD OF RECEIPTS The receipts of a school system are of two kinds, viz., revenue receipts and non-revenue receipts, and for recording these a book arranged with columns as shown in Table Twenty-two, page 50, will be found advisable. is CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF Table Twenty-One — Typical Budget Classifications. Ashland Budaet Classifications, 1915-1916 A. Fixed vearly charges $12,660 1. Fuel : a. Wood ....$900 b. Oil 800 c. Kindling .. 25 $1,725 2. Light 360 3. Telephone 75 4. Water 100 5. Sinking fund 5.000 6. Interest 4,750 7. Insurance 250 8. Freight, Teleg.... 100 9. Clerk and census 300 B. Salaries 27,720 1. Superintendent.... $1,800 2. H. S. Principal.. 1,250 3. Grade Principal.. 2,000 4. H. S. Teachers.. 9,095 5. East S. Teachers 5,200 6. West S. Teachers 6,075 7. Janitors : a. High School .. 1,000 b. West Side 700 c. East Side 600 C. Office 250 1. Postage $ 25 2. Stationery 75 3. Printing 150 D. School Supplies 2,240 1. Drawing $ 200 2. Penmanship 200 3. Agriculture 100 4. Man. Training.... 300 5. Cooking 200 6. Sewing 250 7. Chemistry 100 S. Phvsics 100 9. Phys. Geog 125 10. Biology 100 11. Primary 200 12. Janitor 75 13. Cravon 30 14. T. paper 35 15. Theme paper 100 16. Disinfectants .... 50 17. Floor oil 75 E. Apparatus 1,850 1. Tvpewriters $ 800 2. Library 300 3. Maps and globes 150 I. Dictionaries 100 5. Incidentals 500 F. Repairs 750 1. H. S. Hoof $ 250 2. West Side Roof.. 500 G. New Equipment 550 1. Drawing tables .. $ 175 2. Sewing tables .... 100 3. Commercial 100 4. Stools, 3 doz 75 5. Playground 100 U. S. Bureau of Education Standard Classifications. 1. Administration $2,200 1. Superintendent.... $1,800 2. Clerk and census 300 3. General expense.. 100 2. Instruction 25,875 1. Salaries $23,620 Principals 3,250 Teachers 20,370 2. Educa. supplies .. 2,255 Office : Stationery ..$ 75 Postage .... 25 Printing .... 150 Drawing .... 200 Penmanship 200 Agric 100 Man. Tr 200 Dom. Sc 200 Dom. Art.... 250 Chem 100 Physics 100 Phy. Geog... 125 Biology 100 Primary .... 200 Crayon, Pa- per, etc 130 3. Operation of School Plant 4,795 1. Janitors* sal $2,300 2. Janitors' supplies 235 a. Floor oil. ...$75 b. Disinfectant 50 c. T. paper .... 35 d. Other 75 3. Fuel 1,725 4. Water 100 5. Light 350 6. Phone 75 4. Maintenance of School Plant 1,000 1. Repairs to build- ings and upkeep of grounds $ 750 2. Insurance 250 5. Library 300 1. Books $ 300 6. Outlay — Capital Acquisition 1. Land 2. New buildings 3. Equipment, new buildings 4. Alterations, old buildings 5. Equipment, old buildings 6. Educational Equipment... 2,100 7. Other payments : 1. Interest $4,750 2. Debt reduction... 5,000 3. Sinking fund. ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 19 Summary. A. Fixed expenses $12,660 B. Salaries 27,720 C. Office supplies 250 D. School supplies 2,240 E. Apparatus 1,850 F. Repairs 750 G. Now equipment 550 $u;,oju 1. Administration $ 2.200 2. Instruction 25.875 3. Operation of school plant 4,795 4. Maintenance of school plant 1,000 5. Library 300 6. Outlay 2,100 7. Other payments 9,750 $46,020 8. PERPETUAL INVENTORY OF EQUIPMENT NEEDED Perhaps the most satisfactory way to keep track of the equipment in a school system is to make out a separate card for each class of equipment owned and file the card according to buildings and depart- ments. Whenever new classes of equipment are acquired, new cards can be made; if additional pieces are secured they can be entered on existing cards and if pieces are disposed of, lost or destroyed, the fact can be noted on the cards so that at any given moment the equipment cards show the quantity and value of the equipment on hand and all that is necessary is to check up the cards by actual count of the property on hand to establish the accuracy of the records. The equipment card shown in Table Twenty-three, page 50, is recommended. 9. ANNUAL REPORT It has been pointed out that one of the functions of the Board of Education is to bring the needs and policies of the school system before the people of the district. There is a danger, which in several cities in Oregon has developed into a fact, that the people of a community may fail to support the policies of the school board because they have been kept in ignorance of the actual situation. The citizens of a modern city need to know the facts regarding their school system, what has been accomplished and what remains to be achieved. Intelligent appreciation and cooperation in the long run is a matter of education involving a knowledge of the same facts which sway the school board in its decisions. Probably the best way of supplying this knowledge is by means of an annual or biennial report. This may be published as a separate tract or through the columns of the press. It is not necessary to publish a detailed account of the system each year, but certain phases of the system may be discussed in succeeding years. As the system grows in size the volume of the annual report may be more extended. The publi- cation of the report of the present survey committee should prove to be sufficiently extensive in the matter of publicity for a period of two years. The school board deserves commendation for supporting the present survey and for presenting the report of the committee to the public. 50 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY OF - * s s Cg'o. a°i < M *g K S 5« w _ w j- C ^* « *6« P S5 •«! K o 3j= 9 O90* _ . s r. T'T © •* - M a, . u a s Q a 3 o B < - a « ft c a ■ 5 a « B a c 3 O E c o a I « e 3 ft - - « 3 c o OS 3 9 a °3 c K e 3 C S < a _o 'fi Pk 3 * a — e ft ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 51 CHAPTER VIII SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS Careful perusal of the foregoing pages will disclose the fact that for the most part the survey committee has approved the Ashland public schools. The chief purpose of the survey was, however, not merely to indicate whether or not a favorable state of affairs as a whole existed, but rather to suggest proper points of departure for constructive improvements. Suggestions of this nature have been made throughout the report. It now remains to summarize the more important recommendations of the committee. It is not urged that all of these must necessarily be put immediately into operation, but it seems reason- able to expect that no great length of time shall elapse before, under the discreet direction of the superintendent of schools, authorized and sup- ported by the school board, the majority of the suggestions of the committee shall enter into actual school practice. The committee makes the following recommendations: 1. That an outside room be provided for the manual training classes, to be built largely by the work of the boys themselves, and that a larger room be provided for the sewing work in order that the girls may work at tables. 2. That efforts be made to secure by loan or gift a larger collection of good pictures, mural decorations, and pieces of sculpture. 3. That doors or screens be placed in front of the toilets in the grade schools. 4. That 68 degrees be established as the standard temperature of the school rooms instead of 70, and that the halls at the East school be warmed. 5. That vigorous physical exercise be required in each grade room for at least five minutes during each session, or a run in the open air for an equal length of time. 6. That the main effort of the Ashland school authorities be directed toward strong courses in the standard academic branches with knowledge of fundamentals, formation of character, development of disciplined mind, and acquisition of general culture as the chief educational aims, but that physical and industrial education be considered sufficiently funda- mental and important as to demand thoroughly substantial support. 7. That the aim of the manual training work be made more voca- tional, and that home gardens and poultry-raising clubs be organized under school supervision. 8. That prospective rural school teachers take the high school teachers' training course, but that prospective city elementary and high school teachers be advised to take their professional training later in higher educational institutions. 9. That more attention be given to the fundamentals of punctuation and capitalization. 10. That classes in penmanship be reorganized on the basis of ability. and that a large share of the time now given to the best one-fourth of the pupils of the upper elementary grades be devoted to the poo one-fourth. 52 CONSTRUCTIVE SURVEY, ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS 11. That good writing be made a prerequisite for admission to book- keeping courses. 12. That more emphasis be placed upon silent reading. 13. That a teacher or supervisor of physical education be employed. 14. That a greater length of tenure of position be maintained in the high school teaching staff. 15. That departmentalization be extended to include music and draw- ing above the third grade. 16. That more supervision be given to high school teaching. 17. That the teachers keep more detailed records of plans and progress. 18. That efforts be made to locate by use of quantitative tests the various abilities of individual pupils in the fundamentals, and that individual and auxiliary teaching be guided to a greater extent by such standards. 19. That the present study of conditions of retardation, promotion, and elimination be continued with the view of learning and ameliorating as far as possible the individual causes which prevail against backward and absent children. 20. That a more efficient system of ordering, purchasing, and record- ing supplies and equipment, and of accounting for other expenditures be adopted. 21. That a standard payroll be adopted. 22. That the offices of school clerk and secretary of the superin- tendent be combined. 23. That the budget classifications recommended by the United States Bureau of Education be adopted. 24. That an annual budget and report be published either in the newspapers or as a separate document. LA 354 Ashland f Or. 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