USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Oakham > Town annual report of the officials of Oakham, Massachusetts 1900 > Part 4
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An examination of the registers will show that a large pro- portion of the absences are charged to a small proportion of the pupils. The large majority of parents exercise due care in the matter, and their children are fairly regular in attendance. If is the minority that the compulsory attendance law is de- signed to reach. It is plain that prosecution under the law will be necessary in some cases to remedy the difficulty. I have the names of abont thirty parents who "have failed for five day sessions or ten half-day sessions within a period of
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STATISTICAL TABLES.
HOLDEN.
SCHOOLS.
TEACHERS.
TERMS. 1901-'02.
No. Weeks
in Term.
Average
Membership.
Average
Attendanee.
of Attendanee.
Per cent.
for Year.
No. Cases of
Tardiness.
High School,
- A. K. Learned, Prin., Lily E. Gunderson,
Spring. Fall, ( Winter
12 16
39.0 48.2 48.8
36.6 45.2 46.0
94.0 93.9 94.1
94.0
2
-
Sadie G. Dexter, Alma M. Atwell,
Spring, Fall, Winter,
12
23.9
22 2 30.0 24.0
92.9 91.0
42
88.8
11
Center Primary,
..
Spring, Fall.
12
16
8
52.5 40.3 36.6
45.0 35.7 30.1
85.0 88.5 82.2
85.2
35
Jefferson Higher,
Edward B. Jones, Prin Spring, M. Bessie Tidd.
Fall, Winter.
12 16
22.0 19.0
21.1 17.9
93 0 94.7 92.5
93.4
44 18
Jefferson, Room 4,
Clara K. Bascom, ..
Spring, Fall,
16
8
23.7 35.9 30.8
22.3 33.0 25.6
82.9
89.5
61 15
Jefferson, Room 3,
Florence G. Holden, Elizabeth Hoxie, ..
Spring, Fall,
12
48.1 38.1 36.6
44.3 35.3 32.0
92.1 92.0 89.3
91.1
40 24
Jefferson, Room 2,
Grace F. Mulcahy. Esther C. Hendricks,
Spring, Fall, Winter,
12
30.0 38.8 37.7
28.3 35.9
95.4 92.6
91.1
15
Jefferson, Room 1,
Esther C. Hendricks, Mary L. Gove,
Spring, Fall.
16
38.5 27.7 24.9
34.9 23.7 17.8
75.1
85.0
4
Chaffin,
Florence L. Johnson, =
Spring, Fall.
12
26.1 32.2
25.0 30.0 30.8
96.0 93.3
1
Grammar,
..
Winter,
8
34.8
29.1
26.5 23.6 19.0
72.2
85.9
5
Quinapoxet, Grammar,
G. Georgiana Gibbs, Effalene H. King, Alice Frye,
Spring. Fall,
16
14.6 28.9
13.9 27.0 24.2
95.2 93.2
31
Winter,
8
29.4
81.9
90.1
40
Quinapoxet,
Jennie M. Childs, Lillian A. Warner, .+
Spring, Fall,
16
33.7 26.7 25.5
32.0 24.8 19.8
77.6
88.3
32
Winter,
8
12 16
17.7 16.2 15.9
16.6 15.8
94.5 97.5 96.5
96.1
5 13
Spring, Fall,
12
19.0 19.0 14.0
17.4 14.6
91.6 88.0
6
Springdale,
1.
Winter,
8
8.0
59.0
79.5
15 4
Dawson,
Catherine E. Crowe, 46
Spring, Fall.
12
23.0 16.4 19.1
21.3 15.2
92.0 92.0
3
Winter,
12
1
South,
Sadie I. Packard, .6
Spring, Fall, Winter,
16
1
8
02.4 21.2 20.8
21.0 19.9
95.8
98.1
16
3 1
5
Chaffin, Primary,
Mabel C. Reid,
Spring, Fall.
16
25.6 27.5
91.1 94.4
6
Winter,
8
12
0
1 Primary,
Margaret G. Fleming, Spring, ..
Fall,
..
Winter,
8
15.4
88.4
92.4
21
8
32.3
85.5
91.6 88.4
8
Winter
8
19.0
17.5
93.9 91.7
Winte ,
16
8
29.0
82.7
Margery A. Rice,
68
111
Winter,
8
12
16
Winter,
8
16
12
16
12
12
15
49
4
North Woods,
A. Florence Kirby.
9
16
17.7
92.0
02.0
11
22.3
99.7
98.9
10
18
Assistant,
11
12
Center Grammar,
34
7
22
24
33.0
Per cent.
94.9 92.5
16
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PAXTON.
SCHOOL.
TEACHERS.
TERMS. 1901-'02.
No. Weeks
in Term.
Average
Membership.
Average
Attendance.
of Attendance.
Per cent.
for Year.
No. Cases of
Tardiness.
Grammar,
Mary H. Dow, Rachel U. Cornwell, ..
Spring, Fall, Winter,
12 13
14.9 17.0 15.6
13.0 14.8 12.9
87.3 87.4 82.8
85.8
80
Intermediate,
1
Rena Chadwick, Lulu M. Baker, ..
Spring, Fall, Winter,
13
26.4 24.1
22.8 21.1
87.5 84.2
86.0
28
RUTLAND.
-
Frank P. Ayer, Prin., Spring, Edith Brown. Assistant,
Fall. Winter,
9
15.8 33.9 31.2
14.9 32.4 26.1
89.4 96.1 83.3
89.6
52
Jenme B. Burnham, ..
: :
Spring, Fall, Winter,
12
12
39.9 48.9 44.4
36.0 44.1 36.2
90.2 90.0 81.3
87.1
29 84
Center
Jennie B. Haskell, Louise Livermore,
Spring, Fall,
12
32.0 36.5
28.9 32.9 31.1
90.0 89.0
30
Intermediate,
Helen H. Jacques, Annie M. Jenness,
Spring, Fal .
12 12
59.4 44.8
52.5 38.8 26.5
84.0 86.0 69.0
79.6
50
North Rutland,
..
Winter,
10
32.6 28.3 28.4
21.3
75.0
81.9
46
West Rutland.
:
:
Spring, Fall. Winter,
12
26.0 30.0 31.0
29.0
91.0
93.5
9
OAKHAM.
Center Grammar,
:
Fall. Winter,
10 11 11
18.0 15.2 16.9
17.5 14.6 15 8
97.6 96,4 93.6
95.8
21
1
Minnic M. Mellen. ..
..
..
Spring, Fall. Winter,
10
21.5 20.0 20.2
20.7 19.0 19.4
95.7 95.3 96.3
95.7
0
Coldbrook,
Lena R. Edmands,
Winter,
11
13,6
13.2 12.0 11.5
97.6 93.3 84.0
05.6
3
South,
1 1
Alice Dwelles. Julia M. Barnard, Mrs. Minnie Woodis,
Spring, Fall.
10
14.7 16.8
13.2 15.2 11.0
87.0 90.0 87.0
88.0
10
West.
1 1
Julia M. Barnard, Althea Russell, ..
Spring, Fall, Winter,
11
13.7 15.7
13.0 1.1.8
95.0 94.0
()
11
17.0
15.8
93.0
91.0
15
-
9
23.1 20.8 23.5
20.5 19.2
88.9 92.0
20
83.8
88.2
63
29
Primary,
2
9
23.9
20.1
25.0 28.1
93.6
32
Florence E. Bothwell, Spring,
12 13
Center Primary,
Alice Fliteroft. ..
Spring, Fall,
13 10
13.5 12.8
27.3 24.6
83.6 87.0
36
Winter,
9
31.6
79.1
86.0
58 98
Winter,
44
Center Primary
Grace E. Damon, .. ..
Spring, Fall,
12
18
75
Lucy M. Grant,
12
96.0
0
9
12 12
14 17
18
Center Grammar,
M. Alice Converse,
Spring, Fall, Winter,
12
40
13
12
9
12
38.6
12
11
11
1
5
11
Winter,
11
15.9
10
18
0
19.6
86.4
36 70
9
High School,
Per cent.
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six months" to cause their children to attend school as the statute requires. Such parents, on conviction, are liable to a fine of "not more than twenty dollars." One father is ap- parently liable to suchi fine twice during the past year for each of five children.
The school authorities are permitted to excuse cases of nec- essary absence, and the responsibility of determining the necessity is placed upon them alone. The school authorities are therefore legally entitled to know the reason for the ab- sence. The teachers are instructed to ascertain as promptly as possible the reason of each absence, and to make a record on the register as to whether it is excused or unexcused. Ill- ness, extreme inclemency of the weather, and a few other rea- sons are accepted as valid. Absence on account of work re- quired by the parent is the kind which the law specially aims to prevent, and therefore is usually unexcused.
The truant officers of a town are often at a distance, and it is sometimes impossible to report to them promptly cases need- ing their attention. Teachers will be instructed to use all dili- gence in accounting for absences, and to call on the officers when it is necessary. A blank for the teacher's report will be furnished, and also for the officer's report of his investigations. The truant officers usually find that the parent, not the child, is the blameworthy party, though a few voluntary truants have been found.
The "Summary" shows that Oakham has the highest aver- age per cent. of attendance, as last year. A glance throughi the tables will show the comparative regularity of the differ- ent schools. The South school, in Holden, still has the best record of any in the district, and its per cent., 98.1, is higher than that of last year. The teacher has been many years in this school, and there has been developed in the neighborhood an ideal public sentiment on the matter of attendance. The children go to their business as regularly as older persons go to theirs, and the parents are as interested in getting the chil- dren to school as in getting the milk to the market.
It will be seen that there are several schools which are not far behind Miss Packard's. With the co-operation of children.
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teachers, parents, committees, and of truant officers when re- quired, it is hoped that the number of such schools may be largely increased.
Emphasis is placed on this subject as a matter of business. We wish to have the towns receive in school benefits what they pay for. But more important than this is the moral value to the child of the training into habits of regularity and promptness which school attendance involves. Such habits are the foundation of success in any sphere of life.
THE BUSINESS VIEW OF SCHOOL WORK.
In my report of last year I presented some ideas on the school regarded as a business enterprise. The article was honored by a reprint in The Journal of Education. Dr. N. C. Schaeffer, superintendent of public instruction in Penn- sylvania, presents another phase of this subject in such an impressive manner that I wish to bring his view to the at- tention of our citizens. Superintendent Schaeffer writes:
Assuming that an ignorant man has work three hundred days in a year and earns a dollar and a half a day (certainly a liberal estimate), he ean in forty years earn $18,000. The work of an educated man is paid by the month or the year, seldom by the day. Assuming that an educated man earns $1000 a year (a low average estimate), we see that in forty years his earnings will amount to $40,000. The difference of $22,000 should be credited to the years spent in getting an education. Dividing this amount by the days necessary to get a good education, say twelve years of nine months each, or eleven years of 200 days each, we get as the value of a day properly improved at school a sum equal to ten dollars. * * *
The figures do not appear ineredible to those who are familiar with the well-known calculation of United States Commissioner Harris, who eom- pares the average earnings of every man, woman and child in the United States (average school life equal to four years of two hundred days each) with the average earnings in the State of Massachusetts (where the aver- age school life is seven years of two hundred days each) and finds an ex- cess of carvings which amounts for the entire population of that Common- wealth to the magnificent sum of two hundred and fifty million dollars annually.
If a boy has not made a mistake in selecting his parents, that is, if he has been born with a sound mind in a sound body, if he grows up in a good home and enjoys the tuition of good teachers for the time above spee- ified, which, of course, includes a good high school course, the calculation that a boy's time at school is worth ten dollars a day will not be found
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far wrong. If to the high school course he adds college and professional courses, a simple calculation will show that the time properly improved in study is worth double, if not many times, this amount. If, on the other hand, he abridges his school days by irregular attendance or by ab- sence either at the beginning or end of the term, he inevitably diminishes the value of the days on which he attends school. In other words, the value of school days is enhanced by regular attendance, by the length and thoroughness of the course of study pursued, whilst their value in future earning power is diminished by breaks in the attendance, by short terms of school, by poor teaching and by failure to improve the time spent at school. * * * * *
It is apparent that if a farmer keeps his ten-year-old son at home to do work which is paid for at the rate of a dollar and a half a day, while every day of the boy's time properly spent at school yields ten dollars in future earning capacity, he is really robbing cight and a half dollars from the family estate. Even if this result is two or three times as high as it should be, the foregoing still remains a case of robbing the boy of future earning capacity.
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THE WORK OF THE SUPERINTENDENT.
The only specific power granted by statute to a school su- perintendent in Massachusetts is that of approving "age and schooling certificates" for children over fourteen employed in factories. His function of "the care and supervision of the public schools" is exercised "under the direction and control of the committee." Whatever theoretical confusion may exist as to the respective duties of the committee and superintend- ent, no practical difficulty has arisen in this district. Some of the work performed "under the direction and control of the committee" is described below :
1. Visiting Schools .- Nearly all the school days have been spent in the school-rooms, only an occasional day being taken for pressing work at the office. School visitation includes the observation of the work of the teacher and pupils, the giving of lessons intended to illustrate or suggest future lines of ef- fort for the teacher, the testing of pupils with reference to suggestions previously given, and general consultation with the teacher on matters of instruction or management. Com- mendation or suggestion is frequently written in a note-book furnished for the purpose to every teacher's desk.
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2. Teachers' Meetings .- Two regular meetings have been held in each town in each of the fall and spring terms, and one in the winter term. At these meetings the broader as- pects of our work have been discussed, with a view to making them helpful to teachers of all grades. At several of the meetings special papers by teachers have been presented, and in all, opportunity for general discussion has been given. The winter meeting had for its topic "Moral Culture in the School."
In the spring term, four special meetings, described else- where, were held for instruction in drawing. In the same term an institute was held at Rutland for all the teachers of the district. At this meeting we enjoyed the helpful services of Mr. J. W. MacDonald, agent of the Board of Education, and of Mr. Walter Sargent, the assistant agent for drawing. In the fall term nearly all our teachers attended the meeting of the Worcester County Teachers' Association.
At the next regular meeting in the towns, "The Teaching of Geography" will be considered. Members of the committees and all others interested are invited to attend and participate.
3. The Teachers' Portfolio .- Each teacher has been furnished a durable portfolio in which to preserve mimeographed pages of directions, outlines of topics for meetings, suggestions for special study, and other matter sent to her by the superin- tendent from time to time. She is directed to place in the same portfolio her own notes of teachers' meetings. This portfolio is very useful to the permanent teacher, and is even more so to the new teacher as a means of informing her of the plans of work in progress with which she is expected to fall in line. The portfolio now contains thirty-seven pages. A few of the titles included in its contents are the following: "Train- ing and Teaching," "Some Fundamentals in AArithmetic," "Di- rections for Written Examinations," "The Care of School Ma- (erial," "Notes for the New Year," "Patrons' Day," "Notes on the Three R's," "Morals and Mamers."
4. The Nomination of Teachers .- Except in a few instances where satisfactory teachers have been immediately available,
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the filling of vacancies in the teaching force has involved con- siderable preliminary correspondence, and the sifting of can- didates. The superintendent has done this work, and has nominated to the committees the best teachers he could find at the salary allowed. In several instances committees have placed upon the superintendent the entire responsibility of the choice.
5. Examinations and Promotions .- The superintendent in- tends, through both oral and written examinations, to keep informed as to the progress of classes, and to have before him in tangible form the data on which to base his action in deciding cases where promotion is doubtful. Examinations are given also for the purpose of learning the results of teaching on special points, with a view to the guidance of the teacher.
6. The Purchase of Books and Supplies .- In the choice of books to be recommended for purchase the most careful con- sideration has been given to the character of the books, and to the special needs designed to be met by their use. By care- ful investigation of the market, and by purchasing for the whole district, the standard school supplies have been ob- tained at low prices.
Miscellaneous Duties .- The correspondence of the office, the examination of new text-books, the reading of current educa- tional periodicals and a few, at least, of the best new books in pedagogy, together with the special preparation of his daily work, furnish occupation for the superintendent's evenings, Saturdays, and the school vacations. He himself can take no vacations from September to June, and only a short one in the summer.
When the long rides incident to a country superintendency are added to all the foregoing, it may be inferred that the of- fice is no sinecure. However, the interesting nature of the work. the co-operation of loyal and responsive teachers, the support of able committees, the opportunity of acquaintance with so many intelligent citizens, and the pleasure of seeing progress in the schools have rendered the labor very enjoy- able.
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TEACHING AND TEACHERS.
A new and higher conception of the importance of the work of the public school in our social development, formerly held only by the few, has now become general. The spread of this higher conception of school work has greatly increased the de- mands upon the teacher. A love for children and power to control them, patience, evenness of temper, natural tact, and a high moral character, are as essential as ever, but, in addi- tion to all these qualities, the teacher who perfectly fulfills the obligations of her position must be capable of being and willing to be a student.
The modern conception regards the formal work of the school-room as an attempt to stimulate to fullest exercise, and to guide in the most profitable channels, the native activi- ties of the child. This conception requires on the teacher's part an acquaintance, the fuller the better, with the whole "circle of the sciences," with history and literature, and with all the fields from which she is to draw nutriment for the minds to whose growth she is called to minister. Whatever her previous academie preparation, if she is to arouse and maintain the interest of pupils in the subjects she teaches, her own interest in those subjects must be kept alive by fresh and extended study of them.
The child himself, his nature and peculiarities, and the laws of his growth, form another field to which the teacher must apply her mind. This phase of the teacher's work has be- come in recent years one of the most vital interest. The re- sults of the labors of specialists in "child study" are becoming available to the common school teacher, and she must reduce them to her service.
Again, the whole subject of methods of teaching, or the best ways of adapting the material of instruction to the growing mind, demands constant study from the teacher.
About all these lines of investigation there now exists a growing body of valuable literature, with which the earnest, progressive teacher must seek acquaintance.
In short. the instruction and management of a school is a complex and difficult art, requiring for its most successful
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ـيميناجـ
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practice a sound body and a vigorous intellect, warm emotions, with unfailing tact and self-control, strong sympathy with children, and, added to all this, liberal scholarship, special professional preparation and continued study of the art and its underlying science. The attempt on the part of conscien- tious teachers to meet all these requirements, added to the nervous expenditure incident to vital, vigorous teaching, ren- ders necessary the greatest economy of time and energy. Ra- tional recreation and occasional relief from the burden are re- quisite in order to maintain the desirable physical and mental condition. Parents may do much to lighten the labor of teach- ers by expression of appreciation, by avoidance of uninformed criticism, and by seeking to establish unity of aim and effort in the relations of home and school. The teacher has been taken into partnership with the parent in the great en- terprise of educating the children. Mutual acquaintance and esteem are essential to the highest success of the enterprise.
THE COURSE OF STUDY.
No complete course of studies for all the schools of the district has yet been formulated. Conditions vary so much in the several towns, and even among the schools of a town, that it has been thought wiser to let the process of growing together continue for at least another year before attempting definite common requirements in the various subjects. Unity of purpose and common observance of fundamental principles have been sought, however, and soon a definite though flex- ible general course of studies will be useful. Some of the aims and results of our work in special subjects are described below.
Reading .- The development of power to read well orally has been particularly emphasized. Pupils are now generally re- quired to stand before the class, and to read to the class and the teacher. . Good oral reading is conceived as involving. (a) thinking the author's thoughts and sharing his feelings; (b) adequately expressing with the voice those thoughts and feel- ings; and (e) arousing similar thoughts and feelings in the
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minds of the hearers. As a result of persistent effort on the part of teachers there has been marked improvement in the oral reading.
Another phase of the subject was emphasized in a circular to teachers, which I quote:
Development of power to study is one of the pressing needs in all the schools. Ability to read the text is one of the essential conditions prelim- inary to the study of the text. The oral reading of matter to be studied will often be valuable in showing the teacher the pupil's difficulties. Prob- lems in arithmetic, grammar lessons, geography and history lessons may all be used in learning to read, and thus giving the pupil power to read to learn.
I ask every teacher to give special attention to this matter of developing power in pupils to read and to study the printed matter in their hands. Try experiments and report results. Persevere in devices found useful.
In the purchase of material for reading, it has been the aim to secure one good standard series of reading books as far as the fourth book, which every child should carefully read, and to add to this series as many other good books of corre- sponding grade as can be profitably used. An increased amount, as well as improved quality, is desired in our school reading.
Arithmetic .- In my report of last year I referred to certain fundamental ideas which we were seeking to incorporate into the thinking and the school-room practice of the teachers. Some of these ideas may be thus stated:
1. Numbering is a mode of judgment used in measuring quantity. The result of the measurement is a number.
2. The child begins to measure and number long before he comes to school. Men are constantly measuring and number- ing in all the arts of life. The intervening school period should train and develop the numbering instinct as a preparation for the needs of later life. Becoming acquainted with the units of measurement, and learning to use them by using them should form a large part of the arithmetic work.
3. All number work should be upon material which is real to the child. Hence, in neither elementary nor advanced arithmetic, should the work be pushed far beyond the pupil's experiences and needs. All arithmetic should be mental, in
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the sense that the mind is employed upon the realities in- volved, whether at the same time the pencil is used or not.
4. In the daily class-room exercises, the following aims should be persistently sought: (a) The development of power to image and hold before the mind the magnitudes, conditions, and requirements of the problem in hand. (b) The develop- ment of power to reason upon the conditions given. (c) The development of power to perform the computations required with accuracy and reasonable speed. (d) The development of power to express in an orderly, clear, and positive manner the thinking involved in the solution of the problem.
As was reported last year, the Werner series was consid- ered the best text-book help to the teacher in her efforts to embody these ideas in practice. The books have now been in use more than a year in some schools, and where the teacher has comprehended and faithfully applied their plan, superior results have appeared. The introduction of the books has now been begun in all the towns of the district, and it is expected that, as pupils come up through the new course, a distinct ad- vance over previous results will be evident.
Physiology .- An extract from a circular to teachers will show what has been attempted in this subject:
Each teacher will give a course of at least thirty lessons in physiology during the winter. In buildings of two or more rooms, the lessons may be given to all the pupils of a room at. once. In "ungraded" schools it will usually be advisable to form two classes.
In conducting the course, the following considerations should be ob- served :
1. The subject as defined by statute is "physiology and hygiene, which, in both divisions of the subject, shall include special instruction as to the effects of alcoholie drinks. narcotics and stimulants on the human system." It is to be tanght to "all pupils in all schools as a regular branch of study."
2. The general method should be observational and experimental, with the study of a text-book in the higher grades as a means of reviewing and fixing the matter presented in previous oral lessons. Observations of the living human body should be supplemented by the study of material from the butcher, microscopie slides, charts, pictures, and other illustrative ma- terial.
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