USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Rutland > Town annual report of Rutland 1900-13 > Part 28
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HOLDEN.
Term Expires.
Mrs. Anna P. Fay,
1907
T. Walter Howe,
1907
Mrs. Addie M. Holden, secretary.
1908
William J. Powers,
1908
James A. Holden, chairman,
1909
Mrs. Martha E. Graham,
1909
RUTLAND.
Term Expires.
Louis M. Hanff, secretary,
1907
Dennis E. Smith, chairman,
1908
William C. Temple,
1909
OAKHAM.
Term Expires.
H. W. Lincoln,
1907
Mrs. Minnie L. Woodis, secretary,
1908
Jesse Allen, chairman,
1909
PAXTON.
Term Expires.
Lewis S. Clapp,
1908
Walter E. Clark, Mrs. Susie E. Flint,
1909
1910
ANNUAL REPORT.
To the School Committees of Holden, Oakham, Paxton and Rutland.
Since the organization of your towns into the Central Wor- cester Union, your superintendent has aimed to unify the work of all the schools under his supervision so far as local condi- tions would permit. The elementary schools have the same course of study and largely the same text-books. All use the same system of records and reports, and the same general plans of supervision are applied to all. For these and other reasons, this seventh annual report, like its predecessors, is made to you jointly. As in previous years, matters of merely local interest are briefly treated under the title, "The Towns in Particular."
ATTENDANCE.
The usual "Summary of Attendance" inserted below, and the tables following, give the main facts as compiled from the school registers. The summary shows a falling off in the per cent. of
SUMMARY OF ATTENDANCE.
HOLDEN.
OAKHAM.
PAXTON.
RUTLAND.
Total.
No. enrolled since September 1, 1906.
508
102
82
262
954
Average membership for year.
453.3
90.7
71.5
222.7
871.5
Average attendance for year.
408.5
85.5
62.4
194.7
751.1
Per cent. of attendance for year
89.8
94.4
89.0
88.0
90.3
Per cent. of attendance for last year
91.2
95.0
86.8
90.6
90.9
. .
4
STATISTICAL TABLES.
HOLDEN.
SCHOOLS.
TEACHERS.
TERMS, 1906-'07
No. Weeks
in Term.
Average
Membership.
Attendance.
Per Cent. of
Attendance.
Per Cent. for
No. Cases of Tardiness.
High School.
A. K. Learned, Prin ... Marion E. Bascom Anjennette Newton ... Assistants
Winter .. .
15
65.4
58.6
89.6
91.1
Center Primary ..
Margery A. Rice
Fall.
12
37.7
34.7
91.2 92.0
30
Margery A. Rice
Winter .. .
12
35.2
28.7
82.0
88.4
59
Center Grammar ..
Elizabeth A. Brown.
Fall
12
34.7
32.4
93.0
49
Elizabeth A. Brown.
Winter ...
12
33.3
30.2
90.0
90.9
98
Jefferson,
Laura L. Chenery.
Spring.
13
46.4
41.1
88.5
20
First Primary ..
Josephine V. Judge. Ella Bartley.
Winter .. .
12
27.4
19.3
70.0
82.6
33
Jefferson,
Ella O. Peterson·
Fall
12
38.0
36.4
94.9
....
4
Second Primary
Ella O. Peterson
Winter ...
12
33.0
28.0
89.0
92.4
38
Agnes Dolan
Spring .. .
13
23.0
21.8
95.0
22
Jefferson,
Esther C. Hendricks ..
Fall.
12
33.1
31.0
93.5
15
Intermediate .
Esther C. Hendricks. . .
Winter ...
12
31.1
26.8
86.2
91.6
8
Jefferson,
Clara K. Bascom
Fall ...
12
30.1
28.2
93.5
26
Grammar
Clara K. Bascom
Winter ...
12
26.9
23.2
87.6
90.5
21
Chaffin Primary ..
Elsie H. Crawshaw
Fall
12
27.0
21.4
93.0
Martha Clark.
Winter ...
12
27.0
22.0
84.0
91.1
..
Spring . . .
13
26.2
23.7
90.0
1
L. Ula Skelton.
Winter. .
12
25.0
21.2
84.0
88.3
1
A. Florence Kirby.
Spring ..
13
21.0
20.0
94.8
3
A. Florence Kirby.
Fall.
12
15.4
14.5
94.2
4
A. Florence Kirby.
Winter .. .
12
21.0
18.3
87.0
92.0
Quina poxet Grammar
Ethel H. Crowe.
Fall .
12
20.4
18.9
92.8
15
Ethel H. Crowe.
Winter .. .
12
24.5
22.1
89.7
91.8
11
Margaret V. Gray.
Spring.
13.
21.0
18.0
85.6
30
North Woods
Margaret V. Gray
Fall
12
16.0
15 0
93.0
.....
15
Margaret Tracy
Winter .. .
12
16.0
14.3
90.0
89.5
2
Mary G. Cahill
Spring.
13
18.0
16.0
89.0
14
Springdale
Mary G. Cahill
Fall
14
12.3
11.2
91.0
90.0
13
Winter ..
Margaret Tracy.
Spring ..
14
28.0
24.1
86.2
58
Dawson
Margaret Tracy.
Fall
12
24.7
23.0
93.1
..
.
17 6
Mary Early
Winter .. .
11
21.3
17.9
83.8
87.7
Sadie I. Packard.
Spring ...
13
19.0
17.7
93.2
.....
South
Sadie I. Packard.
Fall .
12
18.1
18.0
99.4
Sadie I. Packard.
Winter ...
12
18.0
17.0
94.4
95.7
26
Agnes L. Kirby
Spring. ..
13
20.1
18.3
91.0
. .
15
Unionville
Agnes L. Kirby
Fall.
12
24.6
23.7
90.0
....
31
Agnes L. Kirby
Winter .. .
12
26.8
22.1
82.4
87.8
. .
Ella O. Peterson.
Spring .. .
13
30.0
28.9
96.3
1
Chaffin Grammar .
L. Ula Skelton
Fall.
12
25.9
23.6
91.0
....
Quinapoxet Primary .
Ethel H. Crowe.
Spring .. .
13
24.2
21.6
93 0
16
Clara K. Bascom
Spring .. .
13
20.9
18.9
90.5
19
Fall.
12
33.1
29.7
89.3
9
Esther C. Hendricks
Spring. ..
13
32.1
29.8
93.2
19
12
50.1 65.6
46,3 60.4
92.2 91.6
......
.
. .
...
555
Margery A. Rice
Spring.
13
49.0
44 7
26.2
89.7
62
Elizabeth A. Brown ...
Spring
13
29.2
Average
Spring. . . Fall .
12
Year.
...
71
L. Ula Skelton.
5
PAXTON.
SCHOOLS.
TEACHERS.
TERMS. 1906-'07.
No. Weeks
in Term.
Average
Membership.
Average
Attendance.
Per Cent. of
Per Cent.
for Year.
No. Cases of
Tardiness.
Primary.
Sarah T. Britton
Sarah T. Britton
Winter
6
21.5
82.3
87.4
6
M. Alice Converse
Spring ..
17
25.9
22.5
86.9
88
Intermediate
M. Alice Converse
Fall
12
31.0
28.2
91.1
60
M. Alice Converse.
Winter
7
27.1
22.8
84.2
87.4
52
Jennie R. Burnham
Spring
17
14.7
13.3 14.4
95.5
24
Jennie R. Burnham . .
Winter ..
6
14.2
12.9
90.7
92.1
19
RUTLAND.
William S. Dunn,
Principal.
Spring . . . Fall Winter . .
13 12 15
24.0 29.8 29.0
22.6 28.9 27.6
94.3 96.8 95.2
95.4
25
Beulah W. Higgins
Spring.
12
50.6
44.4 38.4
87.6 89.3 80.1
85.7
78
Martha E. Bemis
Spring .. .
12
42.9
40.9
95.3
29
Intermediate
Martha E. Bemis
Fall
12
43.0
40.2
93.5
27
Martha E. Bemis
Winter ..
10
40.8
37.0
90.7
93.2
35
Spring .. .
12
36.1
33.6
93.0
86
Grammar.
Louise Marcley Alice F. Dodge
Fall
12
41.0
36.5
89.2
91
Alice F. Dodge
Winter ..
10
37.4
31.7
85.2
89.1
54
Spring.
12
41.2
32.2
86.0
23
North Rutland
Anna F. Finnerty Maud A. Moynihan Georgiana Fiske
Fall
12
44.5
29.1
65.4
36
Winter
10
26.0
20.0
77.6
76.3
27
West Rutland
Marion Kelleher
Fall
12
38.1
34.4
90.3
24
Marion Kelleher
Winter ..
10
34.5
28.3
82.0
88.3
31
.
OAKHAM.
Center Primary.
Mrs. Minne M. Day ... Mrs. Minnie L. Woodis Fall Ethel Braman ..
Spring.
10
28.0 21.0 17.0
26.0 20.0 13.0
93.0 95.0 85.0
91.0
12
Florence E. Bothwell. .
Spring ..
10
13.8
13.2
96.0
6
Center Grammar .
Florence E. Bothwell . Florence E. Bothwell .
Winter
11
25.2
23.8
94.0
95.3
11
Coldbrook
|Ruth E. Butterfield . .
Fall
11
18.4
18.2
98.9
4
Ruth E. Butterfield .
Winter
11
17.0
16.6
97.6
98.4
1
Mrs. Minnie G. Woodis Spring ..
10
19.7
18.9
94.9
10
South.
Mrs. Minnie G. Woodis Fall
11
20.0
19.5
97.5
97.0
2
West
Julia Connelly
Fall
11
11.6
11.2
96.5
0
1
Julia Connelly
Winter ..
10
10.0
8.8
88.0
90.5
0
High School.
1
Louise Marcley,
Assistant.
51
Center Primary
Beulah W. Higgins
Fall
12
55
Beulah W. Higgins
Winter
10
44.0 38.6
34.1
90.0
4-4
Grammar.
Jennie R. Burnham
Fall
12
15.1
26.5
24.3
91.7
30
Marion Kelleher
Spring .. .
12
11
25.8
24.8
96.0
5
Ruth E. Butterfield ...
Spring.
10
14.8
14.6
98.6
0
Mrs. Minnie G. Woodis Winter
11
16.5
16.3
Julia Connelly
Spring ..
10
13.3
11.6
87.0
0
Mabel C. Reid.
Spring .. Fall
17
0
12
29.6 30.8 26.2
24.3 27.3
91.4 88.6
12
3
11
0
Winter
11
Fall
98.7
Attendance.
15 20
6
attendance in all the towns except Paxton, as compared with last year. The severity of the present winter, and the presence of a few cases of scarlet fever in several schools, may account for the decrease.
Let me again call your attention to the meaning of the figures in the column headed "Per cent. of Attendance," and in the following one. The Coldbrook school in Oakham, for example, secured through regular attendance 98.4 per cent. of the benefit of the town's expenditure for that school, suffering only a small loss. The North Rutland school, on account of irregularity, ex- cusable or otherwise, secured only 76.3 per cent. of the benefits intended by the town's outlay for that school.
Much of the losses caused by irregular attendance is, perhaps, unavoidable, but my inquiries indicate that a large part of these losses might be saved by fuller co-operation of parents, attend- ance officers, and teachers.
RECENT HEALTH LEGISLATION.
The Legislature of 1906 enacted a law which requires the school committees of the State to appoint one or more school physicians, except in cities in which medical inspection of schools is already maintained by the board of health. Sec- tions 2 to 4 of the law are here quoted :
Section 2. Every school physician shall make a prompt. examination and diagnosis of all children referred to him as hereinafter provided, and such further examination of teachers, janitors and school buildings as in his opinion the protection of the health of pupils may require.
Section 3. The school committee shall cause to be referred to a school physician for examination and diagnosis, every child returning to school without a certificate from the board of health, after absence on account of illness or from unknown cause; and every child in the schools under its jurisdiction who shows signs of being in ill health or of suffering from in- fectious or contagious disease, unless he is at once excluded from school by the teacher; except that in the case of schools in remote and isolated situations the school committee may make such other arrangements as may best carry out the purpose of this act.
7
Section 4. The school committee shall cause notice of the disease or defects, if any, from which any child is found to be suffering, to be sent to his parent or guardian. Whenever a child shows symptoms of small pox, scarlet fever, measles, chickenpox, tuberculosis, diphtheria or influ- enza, tonsilitis, whooping cough, mumps, scabies or trachoma, he shall be sent home immediately, or as soon as safe and proper conveyance can be found, and the board of health shall at once be notified.
The town of Holden has already made the appropriation which the law prescribes shall precede any expenditure required under the act, and has appointed two school physicians. At the coming town meetings in the other towns, an appropriation should be made for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the act. As the duties of the school physician are limited to the examination and diagnosis of children referred to him by the teachers, the appropriation for his compensation need not be large.
A further provision of the law is as follows:
Section 5. The school committee of every city and town shall cause every child in the public schools to be separately and carefully tested and examined at least once in every school year to ascertain whether he is suf- fering from defective sight or hearing or from any other disability or defect tending to prevent his receiving the full benefit of his school work, or requiring a modification of the school work in order to prevent injury to the child or to secure the best educational results.
The test of sight and hearing shall be made by teachers. The commit- tee shall cause notice of any defect or disability requiring treatment to be sent to the parent or guardian of the child, and shall require a physi- cal record of each child to be kept in such form as the state board of edu- cation shall prescribe.
Reports from teachers on the tests of sight and hearing are not yet complete. Of 560 pupils examined, 144, or about 25 per cent., are reported as defective in sight, and 65, or about 111/2 per cent., as defective in hearing. As this is the first time the teachers have made the tests, errors are quite possible. The test of hearing is more difficult to make than the eye-test, and errors are more likely.
It is too early to report definitely regarding the practical re-
8
sults of the eye and ear tests in our schools, but experience in towns and cities where similar inspection of pupils has been practiced for several years, indicates that much good comes of such inspection.
The superintendent in Quincy, Mass., reports :
There have been many cases of marked improvement, not only in schol- arship, but in conduct, where the defects have been corrected. The hand- writing of some has undergone a gratifying transformation; others have already attained a rank in their studies much above their previous record; others are no longer troubled with headache or pains in their eyes. In many cases attention, interest and ambition have displaced indifference and dullness, and in several instances the change in deportment has been as commendable as it has been noticeable.
It will be seen that the results desired depend upon the prompt attention of the parent or guardian to the notice re- ceived from the teacher or the school physician. This notice advises securing competent professional advice regarding the defect discovered. For example, if a child is reported as hav- ing insufficient visual power, an oculist should be consulted, and, if glasses are prescribed, they should be procured at once.
THE PROBLEM OF THE TEACHER.
To the less thoughtful onlooker, educational work may appear very simple and easy. There are many educational questions which those without experience and only casual knowledge are ready to answer off-hand and with much positiveness. A great scientist once said, "If you want to be cocksure of a thing, look at it once and never look again." He himself had learned cau- tion through numerous blunders. So those who have given many years of practical study to the vital problems of the school have learned the exceeding complexity of those problems, and by such persons conclusions are stated with reserve. Educators are still looking for light on some of the oldest and commonest questions of theory and practice in school teaching and manage- ment.
9
The central problem, on which many others depend, is the one named at the head of this article.
What the school may do for the pupil is conditioned by what the teacher is, in equipment, in experience, in professional spirit, and in personal worth. Everywhere and always the cry is for splendid teach- ers. The issues involved are of such far-reaching consequences that we shall never be content with anything short of ideal teaching by ideal teachers .- Supt. M. G. Brumbaugh, Philadelphia.
We shall never get the ideal teachers in any great numbers, therefore we shall never be content. But the schools must go on, and the practical questions of how to secure competent teachers, how to keep them alert and growing in efficiency, and how to retain proved efficiency for the benefit of our own children, are questions ever with us, and they seem to be growing in difficulty.
At the present time the supply of good teachers is exceedingly limited. The condition is the same as exists in other lines of - industry. Even farm help is very scarce, and the demand for competent skilled labor is everywhere far beyond the supply. The condition in the various industries has caused a decided in- crease in the market value of labor, and wages have risen. Nat- urally the same result must take place in the industry in which we are engaged. The Secretary of the Board of Education has written :
Higher wages would tend to secure all the elements of efficiency. Abler persons might be drawn from other employments; teachers could afford to spend longer time in preparation and so gain in scholarship and training; they could afford to avail themselves of forms of self- culture now beyond their means, and thus grow in efficiency. Fortu- nately the country at large is awakening, though slowly, to the fact that the teachers make the schools, and that in the last analysis the success of the public school system is a matter of wages.
No increase of salaries that we can make will by any means relieve all the difficulty we meet in securing and retaining satis- factory teachers. But our towns are able to make such an advance over present salaries as to overcome a part of our trouble. At
10
the proper time I shall be prepared to recommend reasonable action regarding the salaries of teachers whom we desire to re- tain, and as to the amount to be offered when vacancies are to be filled.
THE PROBLEM OF SUPERVISION.
Given a force of teachers as good as the compensation offered will secure, the practical question of such oversight and direction of the work of the force as will bring the best returns from the town's expenditure, is the one with which the superintend- ent mainly has to deal in his daily work. His work closely corresponds in general aim to that of the superintendent of any business or manufacturing enterprise. Each is the execu- tive officer of a board of directors, who in turn represent a body of stockholders, to whom all are finally responsible. Both must see that dividends are earned for the stockholders. But there is, however, an important difference. The superintendent of a mill can show his results by a balance sheet and by cash in hand, whereas the material with which the schools deal is spir- itual, and the dividends, though real, are too precious to be measured in dollars. Hence the popular failure to appreciate the significance of the school enterprise.
Though the office of superintendent of schools is a compar- atively new one, considerable has been written regarding the office and its duties. Your superintendent tries to keep in touch with current discussion of questions of supervision, as well as with that of the general educational problem.
Nothing is more surely established in pedagogy than that the fundamental ends in teaching, knowledge, power, and skill, can be developed in the pupil only through his own activity. "It is what the pupil does, not what the teacher says, that deter- mines the success of the teaching process." Hence the teach- er's function is to arouse and direct the activity of the pupil. In the exercise of his function of a teacher of teachers, the superintendent is under the same law. If a teacher is to ac- quire knowledge which will aid her in teaching, if she is to
11
attain power in its use, if she is to develop skill, or the ability to do her work easily and well, it must be by means of her own activity in study and practice. The thinking or the work of no one else will aid her, except as it may lead her to think and work. One of the problems of supervision is how to induce teachers to study, definitely and practically, the questions which pertain to their daily work. Routine is easier than study, and the teacher is in constant danger of falling into it.
A teacher of high intelligence and professional spirit will study the broader aspects of education, and in order to coun- teract the narrowing influence of constantly dealing with im- mature minds, and to keep her own soul alive and growing, will read much in other lines. But so far as my own direction of the studies of teachers is concerned, I have thought it best to keep very close to daily school-room needs. A teacher ought to read Browning and Tennyson, but she must know how to teach spelling. She ought to read the best fiction, but she must know how to run a school programme in a business-like way.
"Utilizing Educational Resources" is one topic discussed in teachers' meeting during the year, and planned for continuous study. The study of the topic was designed to lead teachers to "scrutinize" their own work day by day, with a view to eliminating waste, just as industrial concerns do.
" Class-Individual Teaching" has been studied with a view to establishing firmly in daily practice the plan of which I wrote in my report of last year.
"Training Pupils to Study" has received attention in teach- ers' meeting, and is expected to receive the teachers' attention in practical ways every day.
"Points in Teaching Reading," "Points in Teaching Writ- ing," "Points in Teaching Spelling," and "Points in Teaching Drawing" are the titles of outlines furnished teachers, and dis- cussed with them, and which they are expected to study and reduce to practice.
I wish I could report extensive reading by teachers of the many helpful professional books now accessible. I have in-
12
sisted that every teacher should own and study one book of that class, White's "The Art of Teaching." This book has proved its worth as a clear presentation of fundamental peda- gogical truth, and teachers are often referred to its pages.
The response to the call of the superintendent for definite study of school problems on the part of the individual teacher as a means of increasing efficiency in daily work, is not uniform in results. Such uniformity could not be expected, for we have the young teacher whose experience has not yet fitted her to see the large meaning of the work she has undertaken, and the older teacher whose feeling of self-satisfaction pre- vents vigorous effort for improvement. But in many cases the results desired have been realized in a high degree.
SOME RESULTS OF THE YEAR'S EFFORT.
Results in school work are accomplished mainly in the school- room when teacher and children are working together. The chief factor in good results in the thoughtful, vigorous, persist- ent effort of the faithful teacher. The superintendent's main duty is to secure if possible an increase of thoughtfulness, vigor, and persistency on the part of his faithful teacher, and to direct her effort in the most fruitful lines. By frequent visits and by other means, the superintendent keeps informed as to the quality of the work being done in the various school-rooms, and is ready to give the committees a critical estimate of the ability and accomplishment of each individual teacher. As one means of acquaintance with the facts, I have asked each teacher a few questions regarding a part of the year's endeavors, and the answers are before me. I give three of the questions, and select a few answers :
1. Did the topic, "Utilizing Educational Resources," treated on pp. 91-95, Portfolio I, and discussed in teachers' meeting, so take hold of your mind as to cause you to "institute economies" in the lines indicated?
13
Miss A : Yes, it did. I found I had been wasting time in various ways, but since the meeting I have tried very hard to remedy it.
Miss B: Throughout the past year, and especially since our September meeting, I have tried to utilize educational resources. Time has been saved by training the pupils to move more promptly. Paper, writing books, etc., are passed at a given signal or stated time, by a monitor. I have studied my plan of work each day with the same end in view.
Miss C: I have tried to apply the idea of economy: (1) By definite as- signment of definite tasks. (2) By making thorough knowledge of the work necessary to meet my demands. (3) By requiring rapidity of thought and expression. (4) By insisting on the lesson being learned and recited by the pupils. (5) Especially by making them understand that the work is to ad- vance every day. I have found it very important to have a backward pupil understand that the class work goes on and his failure will not retard the whole class.
Miss D: I have made an effort to save time in the following ways: (1) By opening school at the appointed time. (2) By distributing materials before the session begins. (3) By avoiding useless repetitions. (4) By trying to have the work done well the first time. (5) By trying not to spend time in useless thinking of the past day's work.
Miss E: I have tried to secure good use of the study time in the fol- lowing ways: (1) By the definite assignment of work. (2) By demand- ing a good recitation. (3) By trying to arouse interest in the lesson. If you can get the boys and girls interested, the rest is easy.
Miss F: Time and strength have been saved by using the "class-indi- vidual" method, thus securing better work from bright pupils, since they are not kept back by lazy pupils or those mentally lacking.
Miss G: I have tried to economize time in these ways: (1) Deciding what I wanted to do. (2) Doing it as nearly as possible. (3) Letting pupils who were not prepared to recite, sit down, and then taking them in- dividually.
2. Have you in regular daily practice a definite plan of individual teaching, as "the supplement and corrective" of class teaching ? State the plan and the results secured.
14
Miss K: I have in regular daily practice a definite plan of individual teaching. I devote thirty minutes of each day, at the time allotted on the programme, to giving individual instruction to those pupils whose need of it I have previously discovered. I also alternate written class work with oral class work, thus gaining more time for individual teaching.
Miss H: Before beginning my individual instruction, I assign to the pupils in their seats, written work, which must be done and done well. Then, when every child is at work, I call the individual to my desk and seat him beside me. My first object is to find, by questioning, the stum- bling block; this found, we go to work together and work patiently and cheerfully. My aim is to awaken the child's activities and help him to help himself.
Miss I: The results secured were better class recitation, more interest in the work, better expression and manner of recitation, promptness, and accuracy. P. does much better work than before, B. recites with more freedom, F. is more active, and S. is more careful, L. thinks more before she attempts to perform her work, and many more do far better than formerly.
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