USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Melrose > City of Melrose annual report 1905 > Part 4
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Naturally, what one considers wise with respect to the con- tent and arrangement of a course of study depends largely upon his conception of the purpose that the course is intended to subserve.
To my mind, the end of wage-earning at the earliest possible moment is not the ideal in conformity to which public school
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courses should be shaped. To fit the individual to his environ- ment in the broad sense so that he may be as effective as possi- ble as a social factor is the real purpose for education at public expense. Clearly this purpose embraces as one of its elements training for self-support. Therefore, to the extent that it can be done without sacrificing the larger purpose, it is well to train those whose formal education ends with the public school course so that they may be equipped to earn a livelihood immediately upon graduation ; but we do wrong, in my judgment, to exalt this end to the chief place in the determination of any course of study for the public schools. This, I take it, is the fundamen- tal error of those who advocate a two-year commercial course for the public high school.
One who is familiar with the immaturity and limited educa- tional development of the average child fresh from the gram- mar schools knows that a two-year course of commercial train- ing in the high school immediately following the grammar school course can hardly do more in general than to develop inferior book-keepers, stenographers, and typewriters.
As I have already implied, the true object of high school training in a commercial line is broader than simply to train boys and girls for an inferior grade of clerical work, it is rather to give them a breadth of training that will fit them, not only to command the better class of opportunities at the start, but also to take advantage of the openings that lead to positions of leadership in the business world.
Educators who have studied carefully the progress of com- mercial training in the public schools and the increasing require- ments for success in the business world are practically unani- mous in the opinion that a two-year business course immediately following the grammar school course is thoroughly unwise for the public high school.
In 1901 the National Educational Association appointed a special committee of nine to prepare a monograph on commer- cial education in the American public schools. This committee, which was made up of six directors of high school commercial work, the state inspector of business education in New York, an author and publisher of business text-books, and the princi-
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pal of a large business college, early in its deliberations adopted the following statement as the principle upon which its conclu- sions should be based: "The paramount factor in shaping commercial courses in public schools should be the welfare of the student who goes directly from the high school to his life- work." With this principle in mind and after deliberations covering nearly two years, this committee declared uanimously in favor of a four-year commercial course for the public high school and submitted an outline of studies for such a course.
Commenting on the wisdom of the committee in not sub- mitting a shorter program, Principal Sheppard of the New York School of Commerce made this assertion :- "Short courses are always popular, but it is difficult to make them successful"'; and Superintendent Maxwell of Greater New York makes the fol- lowing statement based upon his experience with two-year com- mercial courses in the Brooklyn High Schools: "Two-year commercial courses side by side with four-year literary and scientific courses are simply a colossal blunder.''
A commission appointed by the Mayor of the City of Chicago to study the educational needs of that city submitted a report in 1898 recommending "That a commercial high school, with a full, liberal four years' course of study be established." In its discussion of the proposed course of study the commission added :- "We feel strongly that a short and so-called ‘practi- cal course' would be predestined to failure and would be an injury rather than a help to what will prove in the near future one of the most important developments in secondary educa- tion."
There have been placed in my hands recently replies from seventeen Massachusetts towns and cities to an inquiry as to the length of the course in commercial training in vogue in the high schools in those places. The places indicated are Worcester, Milford, Framingham, Cambridge, Newton, Somerville, Malden, Chelsea, Everett, Revere, Winthrop, Lynn, Wakefield, Beverly, Danvers, Marlboro', and Lawrence. The replies show that in every one of these places the course is a four-year course. It is worth noting, also, that the above communities embrace all types of social character.
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The following quotations represent fairly the general belief of those who have charge of the public educational interests in these communities.
Superintendent Southworth of Somerville says: "We have a four-years' course and would not change. The demand is for greater intelligence and education in office help. The market is glutted with the cheaper kind."
Superintendent Peaslee of Lynn writes: "We began with a two-years' business course. After a time we made it three years and now we have made it four years. This seems to us none too long."
Superintendent Hervey of Malden says: "We feel that it is all we can do to prepare pupils in four years to meet the require- ments in business at the present time."
Superintendent Gregory of Chelsea states: "If you are thinking of a two-years' course, meaning by that that that is the total time spent in the high school by the pupil who elects the business course, I think I can assure you that it is about the worst thing that you can do. I had ample experience with that plan in Trenton, N. J., an experience extending over years The course there was finally lengthened."
It is evident from the foregoing statements that our present arrangement for commercial training in the Melrose High School is in harmony with the best thought and practice of the day.
Expert opinion ought to have weight in the field of education as in other lines of activity. Unfortunately, however, it is too frequently assumed that education is a subject upon which any one of good judgment is competent to give advice; and so, because one may have been fairly successful in business or in some professional line, the public is quite likely to consider him as well qualified to outline educational policies for the public as another whose life has been devoted to the study and practice of education in its application to public needs.
I am convinced that the best results are not likely to be se- cured in public education until the public shall come to value the opinions of professional educators in their field somewhat as we do that of the lawyer or the doctor in his.
It has been intimated by some who advocate a two-year commercial course for our high school that the present longer
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course works hardship to many who cannot stay in the school long enough to complete the work.
It is not to be forgotten, of course, that, whatever may seem best theoretically, all educational policies in the management of public schools must be shaped somewhat with reference to local conditions. Therefore, if it were true that the great majority of those who desire a commercial training in our high school are so situated that they are unable to take advantage of the superior training of a four-year line of work, some modifica- tion of the present arrangement would seem to be justified. But do the facts warrant any such assumption?
1. A review of the reasons for which pupils have dropped out of school during the past few years, both from the high school and at the end of the grammar school course, indicates that relatively few do so from any consideration of the length of the commercial course.
2. The character of the homes from which the majority of our pupils come is such as to warrant the assumption that they are able to complete a four-year course of training if they so desire.
3. During nearly eight years of service as Superintendent of Schools in Melrose, I have had three parents ask whether or not it would be possible for their children to get a commercial train- ing in the high school in less than four years; and the Principal of the high school during nearly six years with us has had five similar requests. Now during this time scores of young people have been through the commercial course in the school; and when it is borne in mind that practically every one of them, before entering the school, either himself or through his parents, consulted the Principal or Superintendent regarding the choice of studies, it is reasonable to suppose that any general demand or need for a shorter course would have appeared.
Undoubtedly there are some who feel that a shorter course would meet their needs better, but the best interests of the great majority of those who wish the commercial training seem to be subserved by the four-year course, and, as conditions hardly seem to warrant the extra expense involved in an attempt to
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run both a two-year and a four-year commercial course in the school, it appears inadvisable to change the present arrangement.
PROGRESS IN GENERAL.
The limits of this report hardly permit the enumeration in detail of all that has been done during the year to make the school system more efficient. Nevertheless, it may be wise to consider a few features of the year's work to indicate in general the character of what has been attempted.
I. THE SCHOOL EXHIBIT. Near the latter part of the last school year an exhibition of the work done by the pupils in our schools in sewing, card-board construction, woodworking, draw- ing, and kindergarten handiwork was held in the high school building. During the three days that the exhibit was open hundreds of our citizens inspected the work, and, from the gener- al comment, I feel not only that the results shown were a revela- tion to the public as to what is being done in the schools in man- ual work, but also that many came to feel that the educational value of such work is much greater than they had previously thought.
A prominent citizen who vigorously opposed an appropriation for the introduction of wood-working into the schools came to me during the exhibition, after he had carefully inspected the work and had had explained to him the end sought and the methods employed in the instruction, and stated that his mind had been entirely changed by what he had seen and learned thereof.
While such exhibits consume an amount of time and energy in their preparation that makes it impracticable to think of them as annual affairs, they have great value in educating the public to a better understanding of the work that is actually being done in the schools and of the purpose for which it is done.
In this connection it seems wise to call attention to the prob- lem presented by the increasing number of pupils in those grades in which sewing and wood-working are taken. The size of these grades at the opening of the present school year made it necessary either to drop some of the classes or to secure assist- ance for Miss Ferson, the director. After some consideration,
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Mr. Carter, the supervisor of drawing, who has had training in sloyd, was employed for an extra day per week to take charge of some of the classes in woodworking.
Careful consideration of municipal conditions as affecting the appropriations for school purposes leads me to feel, not only that it will be impossible for the present to extend the manual training in our schools to other grades, but also that some cur- tailment of the work in this line will be necessary during the coming year at least.
However, I look forward hopefully to a time when the means will be available to provide a systematic course of instruction in constructive hand-work throughout the grades with an oppor- tunity either in the latter part of the grammar grades or in the high school for girls to have training in the science of household economy and home-making.
In the final analysis, the home is the hope of society. Unfor- tunately the trend of social life today seems to threaten the character of the home to a degree that is alarming to one who studies social conditions thoughtfully. Because this is true, and because the public school is the most available and effective institution through which to train the masses, it appears the part of wisdom to make earnest and definite effort in the schools to develop in young people an understanding of and a high degree of respect for those duties that pertain to the develop- ment of the right kind of homes.
II. THE LENGTHENED SESSION FOR GRADES VII, VIII, AND IX. For approximately one and one-half years we have had in operation a plan by which the daily session for pupils in the above grades is lengthened by a half-hour.
The reasons for adopting this practice appear in the following statements from my annual report for 1903 in which the propo- sition was first advanced :
1. "If the daily session should be lengthened by a half-hour and that time be given up to study, pure and simple, the desired opportunity would be afforded the teacher to teach pupils how to work as they should. I believe that, in the case of the average child, a half hour of such work in the school room would be
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worth inore in the preparation of the next day's task than twice that time in home study."
2. "The opportunity of preparing lessons at school under the direction and stimulus of the teacher would enable the pupil to come to his home practically free from whatever nervous strain may come from the omnipresent thought of a lesson to be pre- pared at some time before the next session of school begins."
3. "It is probable, also, that if lessons should be prepared at school as indicated, teachers would find it easier to hold pupils responsible for good results in their work."
Careful observation of the working of the plan confirms my belief in the wisdom of its adoption, and I heartily indorse its continuance.
It is true that some of our teachers have been disposed to feel that the plan placed upon them an added burden, and that occasionally a parent has expressed dissatisfaction with it; but such results were to be expected,-they are the natural accom- paniments of the introduction of any new plan of work and administration. It may be said, however, in this connection, that the complaints from parents respecting the operation of the present plan have been far less than were received under the former plan when more home study was required.
III. PROMOTION OF TEACHERS WITH THEIR CLASSES. By the common arrangement of public schooladministration, pupils, under normal conditions, remain one year with a teacher and are then promoted to another room and to a new teacher. As a rule, therefore, the child in passing through the nine grades of the elementary school course has at least nine different teachers. To my mind this is unfortunate for the best progress of children in the school. Whenever a teacher receives a new class, it becomes necessary for her to learn the mental peculiarities of her pupils and what they really know of the subjects in hand before' she is in a position to work effectively with them. So too, on the other hand, before the pupils can work at their best, they must understand the teacher's ways of working and manage- ment.
.
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During this process of mutual discovery there is considerable waste educationally in time and energy, and frequently more or less friction between school and home that interferes seriously. with successful work with the pupil.
To overcome this source of waste in our educational system, I have tried during the past few years in grades V and VI the practice of having teachers remain two years with their classes. This end was accomplished by promoting the teacher of grade V with her class in June and by transferring at the same time the sixth grade teacher to grade V. By repeating this process annually each teacher in those grades, after the plan is once in operation, gets two years with her class.
An experience of two or three years with this plan proved so satisfactory that the same practice was begun in grades III and IV at the opening of the present school year.
To some it may seem unfortunate, if there be a poor teacher in the corps, to have pupils under her for two successive years. It is not the intention, however, to keep a teacher in the corps for any length of time who is positively inefficient. Obviously there will always be teachers who are less efficient than others, but the relatively weak teacher can accomplish more the second year with a class than she can the first, hence, on the whole, she is put in the way of greatest efficiency for the system when we give her a second year with her class.
This practice also renders a teacher able to teach the earlier year's work more effectively, because, from experience in teach- ing the work of the higher grade, she comes to appreciate more fully than she can in any other way the things that need special emphasis in the earlier work in order that the pupil may do the advanced work successfully.
On the whole, therefore, the above plan seems productive of better results in the grades mentioned than can be secured under the common practice of having a teacher hold her class for one year only.
No attempt has been made to carry out this plan in the other grades (1) because the work of grades I and II in our schools is so arranged that it hardly seems wise to operate the plan in those grades and (2) because the character of the work in grades
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VII, VIII, and IX leads me to feel that a modification of the departmental plan of teaching is preferable in those grades.
IV. CHANGES IN CURRICULUM AND IN TEXT-BOOKS. There have been few changes in these lines during the year. In grade IX, English History has been substituted for the study of Physi- cal Geography and Niver's Short History of England adopted for use as a text-book.
A special course of study in physiology and hygiene indorsed by the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents was put in operation in our schools at the opening of the present school year and Conn's Elementary Physiology and Hygiene was adopted as the authorized text-book in that subject in place of Blaisdell's text-book which had been in use previously. The new book was placed in grades VIII and IX only during the present year but will be purchased for use in the other grades as new books may be needed.
In September Ginn's Medial Slant writing system replaced the vertical system that had been in use for the past nine or ten years. In making this change it was deemed wise to permit the pupils in grades VIII and IX to continue the use of the old system during the remainder of their school course.
The principal changes authorized in the text-books for the high school are as follows :- Cheyney's Short History of England has been adopted in place of Montgomery's Leading Facts of English History; Gleason's Greek Primer, in place of Gleason and Atherton's First Greek Book; Gano's Commercial Law, in place of Williams and Rogers Commercial Law; and Moore's New Commercial Arithmetic, in place of Sadler Rowe's Commercial Arithmetic.
V. SCHOOL ACCOMMODATIONS. At the opening of the present school year in September, the lack of sufficient school rooms in which to care for our pupils made it necessary to place two classes in the Lincoln School hall and one in the Franklin School hall. The Washington School hall has been used as a class- room for the past three years. Thus every hall that is available in our grammar buildings is now converted into a class-room.
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With the opening of the next school year, September, 1906, conditions will be still more unsatisfactory, for we shall have at least one additional ninth grade class and that only feasible method of providing accommodations for it is to crowd another class into the Washington school hall. If this should be done, it will be necessary to cut through the roof of that building in some way in order to secure the proper lighting of the room for study purposes.
The need forincreased school accommodationsin thenear future has been apparent to the school authorities for some time. The subject was mentioned in the school report for 1903. Again, in the report for 1904, attention was called to the need in this direction, and the public was advised of the fact that the School Committee had requested the Board of Aldermen to provide for an enlargement of the present high school building in order that the congested conditions in the different sections of the city might be relieved by centralizing the ninth grades in that building.
After careful consideration the Board of Aldermen by a two- thirds vote passed an order authorizing a sixty-five thousand dollar bond issue for the purpose of enlarging the high school building in accordance with the general plan suggested by the School Committee. This order was promptly signed by His Honor, Mayor Buttrick. Nevertheless, in accordance with a petition from the requisite number of citizens the proposition was submitted to a referendum vote at the annual city election in December and was defeated.
The rejection of the above proposition, which was the result of prolonged and thoughtful study of existing conditions, seems to me unfortunate for the best interest of the city educationally. However, the desire of the majority must prevail and it is the business of the School Committee, I judge, to accept that ex- pression of the will of the people philosophically and to formu- late the next best plan for providing the additional rooms that are clearly needed by our school population.
In my judgment, the immediate action called for under the conditions is the enlargement of the Mary A. Livermore build- ing.
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Consultation with the architects who designed the present building indicates that it can be enlarged so as to provide eight additional rooms and an assembly hall at a reasonable expense and without injury to the structure from an architectural point of view.
I trust that it may seem wise to the Committee to request the City Government to provide for such enlargement of our school .
accommodations.
VI. MUSIC. In May, 1905, Mr. Alvin C. Saunders, who had done excellent work as Supervisor of Music in our schools for several years, presented his resignation to take effect at the end of the school year.
After careful consideration of the qualifications of several candidates for the vacancy, Mr. Edward N. Griffin, at the time Supervisor of Music in Stoneham, Rockport, and Manchester, was chosen as Mr. Saunders' successor.
Mr. Griffin's work thus far indicates that the enviable stand- ing of our schools in this line will be maintained under his direc- tion. .
VACATION SCHOOLS.
The work that has been done in the city under this head dur- ing the past three summers through the instrumentality of our women's clubs is so helpful to the best educational interests of the community that it seems advisable to include in this report the following brief statement from the Chairman of the Educa- tional Committee of the Melrose Woman's Club, which had this enterprize in charge during the past summer.
MELROSE, April 7, 1906.
F. H. NICKERSON, Superintendent of Schools:
Dear Sir :- In answer to your request for a report of the vacation work of 1905, I submit the following.
For six weeks during the summer vacation, a school was carried on by the Educational Committee of the Melrose Woman's Club. This was the third and most successful season, which was due to two reasons, viz., that the committee was able to profit by past experiences and mistakes, and that the number of children was such as could be readily handled, while heretofore the attendance was so large, as to interfere with the efficiency of the work.
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This year the numbers were limited by allowing only a few days for ap- plications to be filed ; as a result four hundred were registered, against 660 the year before. Applications that came in after the period of regis- tration had closed were placed on a waiting list from which vacancies dur- ing the first two weeks were filled.
Basketry, weaving on hand-looms, cooking, chair-seating, embroidery, iron and brass work were the branches taught. Four competent instruc- tors were in charge of this work, assisted by ladies of the Club.
Instruction in each branch was given to every child desiring it twice a week, in periods of forty-five minutes. Cooking was the only exception to this rule. For obvious reasons, the number of cooking pupils, seventy in all, was divided into five divisions, each having one lesson per week of three hours' duration.
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