USA > Indiana > A history of education in Indiana > Part 24
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Revised School Law of Indiana, March 5, 1855, by Superintendent Caleb Mills, p. 41.
282
UNDER TIIE NEW CONSTITUTION, 1851-'91.
the township as one school, that has done more for Indiana rural schools than all other influences combined. " Ad- mission to this school," Superintendent Mills continued, "should depend entirely on the ability to sustain a thor- ough and impartial examination in a given grade of stud- ies."
In accordance with this suggestion, perhaps because of it, the revision of the law, March 11, 1861, added to the origi- nal provision "and provide for admission into the higher departments of the graded school from the primary schools of their township such pupils as are sufficiently advanced for such admission." The law was perhaps in advance even of the average local sentiment upon the policy.
The same or similar provisions were made in every modi- fication of the law up to 1873. But neither in the law nor in the explanations of the department is any hint that grad- ing of schools in the country meant anything more than setting off the higher classes from the separate schools into one or a few upper classes in a township higher school. There appears nowhere the suggestion that a graded course of instruction might be profitably used with the district primary schools also. In the revision of 1873, however, were added to this one, legalizing graded schools, two para- graphs: one authorizing the employment of superintendents in cities, and another to the effect that trustees of two or more school corporations might establish joint graded schools. This possible co-operation of corporations, and the combination of schools, absorbing the smaller ones and strengthening the others, greatly hastened the movement toward a graded system. Such schools witnessed the benefi- cence of the class system, attracted more capable instructors, made longer terms possible, and, more than all else, empha- sized the need of uniform requirements and general agree- ment among primary teachers in preparing their pupils " for admission into the higher departments of these graded schools." ยท
The law, as last mentioned, remains practically the same
.
283
THE PRESENT SYSTEM.
at present. What it has achieved in twenty years remains to be presented.
In 1852, Superintendent Mills is authority for the state- ment that among all the corporations of the State there were but two that could make any show of buildings suita- ble for the accommodation of graded schools. Two years later his only reference to such (graded) schools shows that the term is used as meaning city schools only. In his second report, also (1856), in an elaborate and admirable discussion of the principles of gradation, its influence upon schools, and the public antagonism or indifference to it, the interests of rural schools are not mentioned. The fact is that graded work in district and township schools belongs to a later period. Nevertheless, there were in 1865, in the entire State, ninety-three graded schools reported. Ten years later there were three times as many in the districts alone.
In 1873 Albert G. Lane, principal of a ward school in Chicago, was elected superintendent of the township schools of Cook County, lying just outside the city. With the im- pulse toward systematic training acquired, Superintendent Lane began at once putting into practice in his country and village schools a tentative course, and spent the year in in- troducing it to his teachers and the people. It was admira- bly conceived, and laid the foundation for much similar work in other sections of the country. The year following, a complete course was formulated, and was made the basis of the instruction throughout Cook County.
About the same time Mr. A. S. Wade, Superintendent of Monongalia County, in West Virginia, "having long enter- tained the opinion that a common-school course of study could be completed in less time than is usually spent in ob- taining an imperfect knowledge of a few branches," began to apply his ideas to the county schools. They were similar to those in Cook County, Ill.
" The initial steps were the formation of classes in schools for the pursuit of studies in advance of the simplest rudi- ments, and reporting the names of the scholars in such
234
UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION, 1851-'91.
classes as an honor-roll in educational meetings," held statedly. The year following, a complete course of studies was put into operation, including public examinations, graduation, alumni associations, and annual register of names of graduates. The first examinations were held in February, 1876, one hundred and ninety-six out of two hun- dred and sixty-one receiving passes and diplomas. Similar classes have been since graduated annually. President Thompson, of the University of West Virginia, is authority for the statement that " the plan has produced in Monongalia County an educational revival." It dignified the work of the country school and gave it place among the efficient agencies for culture, and honored because efficient.
The law of 1873, in Indiana, requiring a superintendent in each county, re-enforced by a board of education, uniform books throughout the county, and a closer administration and inspection of schools, made uniformity in instruction, and in the means and conditions of best teaching, almost a necessity. The greater centralization of forces made the work easier also, and its direction more intelligent.
B. A GRADED COURSE.
In anticipation of the proposed law the State board began the consideration of a uniform course, and in 1872 had a report upon the subject, as follows :* The committee were "unable to prescribe definitely any course of study for ungraded schools." Their inability arose from "the diver- sity of conditions necessary to secure uniformity." Among these conditions were mentioned (1) the inequality in length of school terms; (2) the shortness of terms; (3) the inexperi- ence and inefficiency of many of the teachers; (4) the want of a thorough, systematic, intelligent supervision of the schools. Nevertheless, they recommended that there should be used but one series of books in any one subject in a given school; that reading, writing, and spelling, " as the ground-
* Indiana School Journal, December, 1872, p. 490.
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THE PRESENT SYSTEM.
work of an education," should be given daily attention; that fifth and sixth readers be introduced sparingly ; that simple first readers (not spellers) and the blackboard should be used with beginners; that in arithmetic the emphasis be put upon the fundamental processes; that a text in grammar should not be introduced before the fourth-reader work; and that the number of classes be reduced.
At the June meeting of county superintendents in 1874 a committee-consisting of Walter S. Smith, of Marion Coun- ty ; A. C. Goodwin, of Clark County; and John M. Wallace, of Bartholomew County-was appointed to consult with the State board and submit a course of study for the district schools. The year following, a course was reported and the judgment of the board asked as to its merits. This was in July, 1874. The committee to whom the subject was now referred comprised A. M. Gow, James H. Smart, and Will- iam A. Jones, who, three months later, reported unfavorably regarding the course submitted, as "too elaborate and ex- tended to be practicable." Several of the counties had delayed local action to receive the board's recommendations. In the mean time, however, the work of grading and unify- ing had in places already begun.
In the annual statement of Mr. Hopkins (1874), being an exhibit of the work of the schools for the academic year 1873-'74, twenty-six counties reported uniform requirements throughout the township, and most of them public courses. Floyd County, under Superintendent J. K. Waltz, intro- duced during that year (1873-'74) a common-school course of five grades, which, together with the code of regulations adopted by the county board, was "published in proper form and distributed to all teachers and school officers, to be observed and enforced." Gibson County, for the same year, under Superintendent W. T. Stilwell, reported "forty-two teachers in thirteen graded schools, eight schools being in un- incorporated towns and four in rural districts." A uniform course for the county had just been introduced. Superin- tendent John Carney accompanied his report of Jennings
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UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION, 1851-'91.
County with a copy of his course of study, distributed into six grades, and including the eight accepted legal branches. The most complete syllabus in the State for the time, per- haps, was that of Superintendent Smith, of Marion County- a syllabus which, no doubt, formed the basis of the course submitted to the State board in 1875, and later to the superin- tendents' convention. Besides the men already named, but who were forward in this movement, were J. H. Binford, of Hancock County ; James A. C. Dobson, of Hendricks County ; W. B. Chrisler, of Lawrence County; Richard Norris, of Shelby County ; and George Bowman, of White County-all of whom had adopted courses under authority of the County Board of Education, and in practical operation prior to Sep- tember, 1874.
In his official report to the department (1878), William M. Walters, of Adams County, presented a carefully formu- lated course of study, and discussed its relation to the grad- ing of schools in the districts. It comprised six classes, included all the legal branches, and suggested a daily pro- gramme with twenty-five recitations, and fifty minutes, upon an average, to each grade. Others discussed the various phases of the subject, and L. S. Major, of Shelby County, claimed that the district schools of the State were already (1878) "approaching a well-regulated system of gradation." The Superintendent of Stark County, on the other hand two years later, made report upon the same subject, but spoke of the attempt to grade county schools as "a kind of red-tape display, sounding well, but not accomplishing the object aimed at," and characterized grading as "only a method of teaching that might do well in certain localities, and not be the best in others."
For the next four years the question was variously dis- cussed, and with almost contradictory conclusions. Where opposition was offered-and there was opposition-it seemed to arise either from unwise suggestions and irrational claims of its advocates, or because the principle was not compre- hended. The need was for "a plain, simple, and practical
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THE PRESENT SYSTEM.
course of study for the schools of every county in Indiana- one which any county superintendent can easily and readily explain to the teachers; one which can be comprehended and fully understood by pupils and patrons of the district schools, and give alike to all the schools of the county the same system and the same regular work."
These discussions were published in the three biennial reports of the department, from 1878 to 1882, inclusive, and put into the hands of school officers, and particularly county superintendents, throughout the State. The grading of schools was a great educational want and a perennial theme for discussion.
In the latter year another course was submitted by Super- intendent E. B. Milam, of Knox County, followed by a paper before the County Superintendents' Association, June, 1883, by J. W. Holcomb, upon Our Country School System, in which he said: "Let us set down, then, as the first essential of a good country system, that there should be a well-graded district school within reach of the home of every pupil in the county. The gradation here considered means, of course, the classification of the pupils in one room, under one teacher, according to their advancement in their stud- ies."
The year following (in 1884) a committee of county super- intendents, previously appointed, and of which W. R. Wil- son, of Henry County, was chairman, submitted as a report * a course of five grades, and covering eight years of six or seven months each. The course as reported was almost unanimously adopted by the superintendents, and, through the county boards, accepted and introduced into a majority of the counties within the next four years. It was an effi- cient means in the elevation of the township schools, and in arousing and conserving local public sentiment on educa- tional matters.
* See Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for Indiana, 1884, Part II, pp. 188, 189.
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UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION, 1851-'91.
In the mean time the country and village school section had been organized in the State Teachers' Association, and in December, 1887, a committee of its members * was ap_ pointed to prepare a new course. This, with some minor changes, was submitted to the County Superintendents' Asso- ciation June 26, 1888, and was by that body referred to another committee for revision. After another year's con- sideration, and a third presentation, it was adopted and recommended to the counties. It bears the date 1890.
A great majority of the rural schools of the State attempt to follow, and do, more or less successfully, work to this course. Some localities, from local or unfavorable condi- tions, are unable to do so; others prefer one of their own making; a few counties make no effort to unify the work of the different schools. These are few, however, and public sentiment in Indiana favors a careful gradation of schools, even in the most sparsely settled districts. It must, of course, be understood that the use of no one of these " courses " has been or could be compulsory. The function of the conven- tion of superintendents, or the County or State Board of Education, is only to advise, not to require. The introduc- tion of graded lessons is not "legal " (established, even legal- ized, by statute), but the result of conference and co-opera- tion of those officially interested.
Since the adoption of a uniform series of books through- out the State, the course of instruction has been again revised, but only to adapt it to the new texts, and has not been greatly changed.
* H. M. La Follette, State Superintendent, James H. Henry, Fremont Goodwin, Miss Anna M. Brown, and T. D. Aker.
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THE PRESENT SYSTEM.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE PRESENT SYSTEM (Continued).
3. Graduation from Rural Schools.
THE process of grading schools involves (1) a carefully arranged course of studies, (2) the most equitable classifica- tion of pupils in terms of this course, and (3) a uniform plan and practice in promotions. But, logically and chronologi- cally, promotion implies a final promotion-hence gradua- tion.
Practically, also, the holding out of some final attainment as an incentive to pupils to systematic, persistent study in schools with a purpose, suggested the use and recognition of a form of graduation upon the completion of the common- school branches. Thirty years before, the principle had been actually applied in Indiana. Lewis Bollman, of Blooming- ton, had urged graduation from rural schools as a means of their improvement. Very early, therefore, after the adoption of uniform courses for the schools, superintendents began considering the introduction also of some form of graduation and honorable transfer to neighboring high schools.
Superintendent John M. McGee, of Monroe County, re- ported as already in operation in 1880 a fairly well devel- oped system. It included the examination in writing, at a central point in each township, of such pupils as had com- pleted the prescribed course, the percenting of papers by the County Superintendent, subsequent "commencement exer- cises " for the successful ones in public, and the presentation of diplomas. These certificates of graduation from the common schools were made, by previous arrangement, to admit the holders to the preparatory department of the State University or to the Bloomington High School without re- examination.
In other counties similar plans obtained, and with whole- some results. The examinations were annual in each town-
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UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION, 1851-'91.
ship, upon lists of questions prepared by the County Superin- tendent or by a committee of his appointment, and of the character of those prepared by the State board for the local examination of teachers As a result of the experiment it was found in most counties that a larger percentage of the children of the township completed the course, fewer claimed exemption from distasteful subjects, the course was more vigorously administered, and a wholesome influence left that carried many more boys and girls into the higher schools.
The subject was included in the superintendent's report to the department in 1881 and 1882, and in the following year the convention, after full and free discussion, resolved-
(1) That a standing committee be appointed by the con- vention, consisting of five county superintendents and one member of the State Board of Education, with the State Superintendent as chairman; (2) that this committee pre- pare lists of questions on the eight common-school branches and the United States Constitution, to be furnished the county superintendents for the examination of graduates from the district schools; * (3) that such examinations be held on the third Saturday of the month; (4) that diplomas be granted to pupils who shall attain an average of seventy- five per cent, and not fall below sixty-five per cent in any branch; (5) that graduating exercises be held in each town- ship under the supervision of the superintendent.
This plan has since been followed in a large number of counties, and with the most satisfactory results. It is per- haps true, as has been said, that "no greater impetus has been given to the work of district schools than that which has attended the introduction of this feature. Janus-like, it looks both ways-forward and backward. Backward over the entire school course, and necessitates efficiency at every
* The first committee appointed consisted of W. H. Ernst, Wells Coun- ty; O. P. McAuley, Owen County ; James Kilroy, Posey County ; J. L. Shauck, Rush County ; and Frank E. Cooper, Lake County.
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THE PRESENT SYSTEM.
point. It is destined to work a revolution, in that it strength- ens the work all along the line. It secures better instruc- tion, better gradation, and closer supervision. It looks forward to the high school, to which its diploma is a ticket of admission. It thus unites the district school and the high school, and as it marks a degree of success it is an incentive to good." It was the conclusion of Superintendent Holcomb in 1883, looking back upon two years of the experiment, that "each county may mark the date of its first graduations from the country schools as the beginning of a new era in its educational history."
To such pupils as have passed a satisfactory examination upon questions prepared as stated, a sort of diploma, called a " certificate of proficiency," is given, each bearing the seal of the State, and signed by the County Superintendent, the township trustee, and the teacher.
4. Joint Graded and Township Schools.
In addition to the district schools, whether graded or un- graded, the Indiana system includes also a class of schools drawing patronage, not from the district, but from the town- ship, sometimes from two or more townships jointly, having an extended course of study, employing two or more teach- ers, and to which the elementary, though graded, district schools contribute as preparatory departments. Out of the latter the pupils pass by regular promotion to the former, for instruction of somewhat higher grade than is offered by the local neighborhood school. This gives rise (1) to the township high schools, or (2) to the separation of the higher elementary classes from the others, and gathering them into one school from various parts of the township.
Reference has already been elsewhere made to the law * authorizing trustees to establish graded schools or such modi- fications of them as may be practicable, and providing for admission into the higher department of these schools cer-
* Section 19 of the law of 1852.
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UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION, 1851-'91.
tain pupils from the primary schools or departments; and to the supplemental section * authorizing the school trustees of two or more district-school corporations to establish joint graded schools with like privileges.
In 1877 the Legislature enacted that the trustees of two or more adjacent counties or townships may establish a joint school upon petition of their patrons, presumably for the better accommodation of pupils entitled to advanced instruc- tion.
Upon these three acts rests legally the township graded school. No discrimination is made in the law between dis- trict graded schools and township graded schools, or rather the original idea seemed to include the latter, but not the former. With the introduction of uniform books, however, a common course of study for the elementary schools, longer terms, and uniform administration of schools through the year, local conditions, and a growing public sentiment favor- able to education have created the township graded school of somewhat different rank and privilege, but still a com- mon school within the meaning of the law.
"A township graded school is more exclusively under the control of the trustees than is a district school. The people of a township do not meet for school purposes, and no director is appointed for a township school. Patrons have no right under the school law to prohibit the trustees from employing any teacher with whom they are dissatisfied by the exercise of the peremptory challenge, nor can they order the trustees to introduce additional branches of learning, or dictate as to the time of commencing school, as in case of the district school. Appeals can not be taken to the County Superin- tendent in regard to the location of graded (township) schools, as in the case of the district schools. Aside from these ex- ceptions, the graded school is subject to the same laws as are other schools. The teachers must hold a regular license, and must be paid out of the same revenue as the other teachers
* March 8, 1873.
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THE PRESENT SYSTEM.
are paid, and are subject to the same rules and regulations as all other teachers." *
Already in 1868 there were more than fifty such schools reported throughout the State; the number two years later had increased to sixty-two, and in 1872 to eighty-one. Ac- cording to Superintendent Hopkins, they were then "grow- ing rapidly in popularity, and, were it not for their essential interference with the duration of the district schools, they would soon become a part of the educational system of every township in the State." In 1876 the official reports show one hundred and twenty-seven township graded schools in fifty counties, as follows, viz .: Sixteen counties had one each, thirteen had two, fourteen had three, two had four, one (Noble) had five, three (Carroll, Park, and Posey) had six each, and one (Gibson) had twelve.
In the fifteen years since the number has been more than trebled, twenty counties reporting about one half of the en- tire number, or nearly one for every township. As yet, statistics are neither accurately kept nor uniformly reported. Summaries conflict. The place and constitution of the two forms of schools-(1) the township and (2) the district graded school-are not clearly distinguished.
Table exhibiting Graded Schools in Districts and Townships.
YEARS.
Districts.
Graded schools.
Townships.
Graded schools.
1868.
8,594
112
988
68
1870.
8,861
134
992
62
1872.
9,100
164
998
81
1874.
9,158
161
1,011
110
1876.
9,310
271
1,011
127
1878.
9,380
396
1,011
151
1880.
9,400
339
1,011
153
1882.
9,473
438
1,011
192
1884.
9,500
300
1,011
203
1886.
9,700
368
1,011
171
1888.
9,720
375
1,011
195
1890.
9,715
381
1,011
200
* Commentary on the School Law of Indiana, by Hon. James H. Smart, 1881, p. 81.
20
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UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION, 1851'-91.
The accompanying table is an attempt to show the growth of the idea of gradation and its incorporation into the sys- tem rather than to give exact figures. It is suggestive, how- ever, of an important movement in rural school administra- tion.
The schools marked in the table " district graded schools " are only those that employ two or more teachers, the num- ber varying more or less in different years. One thing is apparent, however : there is a constant though not uniform increase in their numbers. Notwithstanding the encourag- ing increase in the township high schools, it will be seen that the whole number is yet less than one fifth of the number of townships in the State.
Many of these-most of them perhaps-are located in the villages and towns, affording to the children of the village, as well as to those of the outlying districts, opportunities for more extended study than the most liberally managed dis- trict school could furnish. A few of these village schools, intelligently administered, as they may be under the general law, have developed into real high schools, covering fairly most of the preparatory work for the average college, and deserving of confidence and every encouragement as the high-grade common school-the people's college. One of these township schools offers as an advanced course of two years a critical review of the common branches, literary studies, grammar and elementary rhetoric, algebra, physical geography, civil government, and physics. Another course includes higher arithmetic, algebra, book-keeping, rhetoric, and Latin. General history, something of science, and occa- sionally geometry also, appear upon inspection of other courses.
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