USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1883 > Part 22
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A strict observance of No. V. of the following directions for keeping the registers has materially diminished the apparent per cent. of school attendance.
Half-holidays are given to pupils in the lower grades who have not been absent or tardy for one month. The standing of the pupil is not affected by such an absence, provided his recita- tions are good. But the absence is counted ; and this has dimin- ished the number of pupils reported as perfect in attendance. The number of such has decreased about one-half.
CONCERNING REGISTERS.
To Teachers :
The purpose of the register is to note facts in accordance with the require- ments of law, and not to make a good showing.
I. On receiving a pupil with the proper ticket of admission, ascertain at once his age in years and months, residence, parent's or guardian's name, and the nationality of the parent, and make a record in a book kept for the purpose.
II. Keep the State register in accordance with the "directions" on the second page. In so doing observe the following :
III. When a class is promoted the first of September, count, as the whole number belonging, only those pupils who enter your school, not the number on the promotion list; but it is your duty to ascertain, so far as possible, what has become of those named on the list, who do not appear.
IV. At the beginning of each succeeding term the whole number belonging will be the same as the whole number belonging at the close of the last term.
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If any one has left school during a short vacation, he will be so recorded for the succeeding term.
V. "Every pupil shall be considered a member of the school from the time of his first entrance to the day of his last attendance for the term. If, how- ever, a pupil withdraws from the school with no purpose of re-entering during the term, and gives notice of the same, but subsequently re-enters the school, he shall not be considered a member during such absence."
VI. If a pupil has been absent several days or weeks, and you then learn that he has permanently left your school, correct your record by calling the number belonging one less for the time during which you have counted his absence. Always keep this record in pencil so that it can easily be altered if necessary.
Do not make out the per cent. of attendance weekly, but at the close of the term.
VII. If a pupil remains in school less than one hour during any session, count him absent for that session.
TARDINESS.
I. Count all pupils tardy who are not in the school-room when the bell rings at nine or at two o'clock.
II. If a pupil comes to school, and, on finding that he is late, does not enter school, but is absent during the whole session, count him both absent and tardy for that session.
HALF-HOLIDAYS.
A half-holiday does not cancel a mark for absence, or a tardy-mark from the register. All absences and tardinesses are to be reckoned in making term re- ports; but in the report to a pupil's parents the half-holiday absences are to be kept by themselves ; and a pupil not otherwise absent is “ perfect in at- tendance."
A. P. MARBLE,
Supt. of Schools.
Worcester, December, 1882.
HIGH SCHOOL.
The number of pupils registered has increased by 74; and the ratio of those remaining at the close of the year to the whole number is greater by six per cent. than in 1882. Ninety- eight only have dropped out of the school, against one hundred and twenty-three the year before. This shows the public interest in the school, and its satisfactory character.
A special teacher of drawing has been employed in this school one day each week, at an expense of $150 per year. This study is optional ; about 225 pupils belong to the class.
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SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
Practical book-keeping, by an expert, is also taught the last half of each year, to a class of volunteers, at an afternoon ses- sion, from 3 to 4 o'clock. This class numbers about 40, from the three higher classes in the school. The cost will probably be about $400 per year.
The custom of studying individual authors instead of a kind of picked-up dish of many writers, has lately been introduced into this school with great profit ; the pupils learn something about a few prominent writers from the writings themselves. The observance of a day each year to commemorate one of our best writers, or some English poet has also become a custom here; and in this way the characteristics of the author become indelli- bly fixed in the minds of the pupils.
Through the activity and interest of the principal, Memorial Tablets to the graduates of this school who fell in the late war, have been placed in the main corridor of the building, facing the front entrance. The following correspondence explains itself :-
To the School Committee of the City of Worcester, and to the Teachers and Pupils of the High School : -
Monuments to the memory of the dead affect little those who have departed, but to the living they may be of lasting consequence. The erecting of memo- rials for the loved and cherished is as old as man; and from these, the acting generation derives inspiration for successful lives, to be in turn remembered.
Already the years separating us from the beginning of the Civil War have stretched away into almost a quarter of a century.
The noble structure of granite and bronze, erected upon our common, has for many years reminded the passers by of the Nation's sacrifice; but thus far the High School has had no permanent memorial of those who, once pupils here, went forth in the strength of their youth and manhood to do valiant work for Justice and Right.
Here they studied and fitted themselves for excellence in pursuits of peace ; but when aggressive Wrong strove to overcome Truth and Liberty, they were ready to defer or give up the ambitions of their lives for the higher and holier claims of country.
During these more than twenty years, classes have come and gone, middle aged men have become old; youth and childhood have advanced to the active stations in life; but those who left this school as boys and perished in the Nation's defence have changed not.
What more fitting than that the names of the young and brave who from
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 38.
school went forth to the dangers and privations of army life and thence to the graves of valiant soldiers, should be preserved here in marble tablets ?
It is this thought that has prompted the preparation of these slabs, in the hope that the enduring character of the material from which they are fash- ioned may represent the lasting impression to be made upon the minds of students gathered here. If these names, thus sculptured, serve to keep alive precious memories; if they shall encourage a spirit of patriotism, making these youth and those who come after them equally zealous and devoted with the loyal dead, my highest wish will have been attained.
It is with this thought and this hope that I present these Memorial Tablets to the High School of this City.
EDWARD A. GOODNOW.
IN SCHOOL BOARD, June 5, 1883.
The following was adopted by a rising vote :
Resolved : That the thanks of this Board be extended to Mr. Edward A. Goodnow, for his generous gift of the Memorial Tablets placed in our High School Hall. These marble records cannot fail to inspire in our youth loyal sentiment and patriotic devotion. The gift is timely and worthy of imita- tion.
*
DULCE ETDECORUMEST
PRO PATRIA MORI.
HOW SLEEP. THE BRAVE . |
42 D.
GEORGE C. HARRINGTON. ALEXANDRIA, SEPT, 20, 1864.
57 TH. E.DEXTER CHENEY, PETERSBURG, JULY 19, 1864
CHARLES A. FITTS, SPOTTSYLVANIA,MAY 12,1864.
JOSEPH W. GIRD, WILDERNESS, MAY 6,1864 2D. U. S. SHARPSHOOTERS, DARIUS STARR, ANDERSONVILLE, SEPT. 2,1864. 102 D. N.Y. FRANCIS BACON, CHANCELLORSVILLE,MAY 3,1864
EDWARD L. BARNARD, NEW BERN, DEC. 3, 1862. JAMES R.ESTEY, NEWBERN, JAN. 1, 1863.
36 TH. CHARLES H.BOSWELL, BELLE ISLE, FEB, 15, 1864.
17 3 D. N.Y. WILLIAM N. GREEN, JR., NEW ORLEANS, MAY 13, 1864.
THE GIFT . OF EDWARD.A. GOODNOW MAY 30. 1883
THE GIFT.OF EDWARD A.GOODNOW MAY30.18 83.
MURAL TABLETS PRESENTED TO THE WORCESTER HIGH SCHOOL BY EDWARD A. GOODNOW.
SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
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HNO SINK TO REST.
2D. HEAVY, EDWIN M. STAPLES, ANDERSONVILLE, OCT. 3, 1864 15 TH.
J. WILLIAM GROUT BALLS BLUFF, OCT. 21, 1361. SAMUEL F. HAVEN, JR., FREDERICKSBURG, DEC. 13, 1862. THOMAS J. SPURR, ANTIETAM, SEPT. 27, 1862. CHARLES W. UPHAM, RICHMOND, DEC. 14, 1861. 25 TH.
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 38.
THE GRADUATING EXERCISES
Took place in High School Hall, Tuesday, June 26th.
PROGRAMME.
-
MUSIC.
Chorus and Solos : - Wandering in the May-time (Glover). Misses Wood, DeLand and Class.
*1. Salutatory : - with Essay ; Two Views of Acadia. Evangeline G.Nelson. Willard E. Ballou. 2. Oration : - Wolfert's Roost; from Irving.
3. Essay : - The Character of the Gentle Boy ; from one of Hawthorne's stories.
4. Essay : - Longfellow.
Grace R. Everett. Anna F. A. Hunt.
MUSIC.
Piano Solo : - Sweet Recollections (Ascher).
5. Essay : - Hawthorne.
6. Oration : - Cicero.
7. Essay : - Macbeth.
Estella A. Pinckney. Anna T. Lovering. Francis C. Huntington. Katie A. Ruddy.
MUSIC.
Solo and Chorus : - The Evening Bell (from the German). Etta M. Holbrook and Class. Carrie A. Thompson.
8. Essay : - The Poetry of Bryant.
9. Oration : - Protection. George A. Ward.
10. Essay : - Some Women of Virgil; with Valedictory. M. Alice Chase.
MUSIC.
Solo and Chorus : - Ave Maria (Mendelssohn). Evangeline G. Nelson and Class. Pianist - Estella A. Pinckney.
Presentation of Diplomas by His Honor the Mayor.
* The Essays and Orations were not prepared specially for this occasion; they are selected from regular class work during the past two years.
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SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
CLASS SONG.
Words by JOHN A. CHAMBERLIN. Music by EVANGELINE G. NELSON.
1. As a landscape, from a window Covered o'er with dust of years, Stretches on in misty dimness, Viewed through eyes that fill with tears, So our future lies before us, And to us it is unknown
But it must be what we make it, For it rests with us alone.
2.
We're already at the window, We must brush the dusty pane, -. Pause a moment to regard it, For we never can again. There are spots, almost a blackness,
Hiding from our earnest gaze,
Everything which lies beyond them -- Strive to meet these doubtful days.
3.
Days when low the clouds will gather, And our pathway gloomy be, For we all must have temptations, Pray that all may come forth free. But as yet the sun shines brightly, Not a sign the clouds foretell,
So we'll all be glad together, Ere we say our last " Farewell."
CLASS OF '83.
COLLEGE COURSE. Francis Cleaveland Huntington.
FOUR YEARS COLLEGE COURSE.
Charles Benjamin Stevens. Anna Eliza Welch.
CLASSICAL COURSE.
Willard Earl Ballou. John Avery Chamberlin. Hiram Spencer Haskell. Thomas Joseph Higgins. George Austin Ward. Norman Porter Woodward. J. Henrietta Athy.
Sarah Eliza Barrett. Mary Agnes Carney. Mary Anastasia Daniels. George Bosworth Churchill.
Walter Henry Tapley.
Carrie Whitcomb Chancellor. Mary Alice Chase.
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 38.
Jessie Milne Denholm.
Grace Rebecca Everett.
Etta May Holbrook.
Annie F. Arnold Hunt.
Mary Jillson. Anna Temple Lovering. Anna Eliza McDonald.
Louis Henry Buckley. Annie Scoville Hunt.
Emma Augusta Jefts. Annie Blanche Leland. Ella Marilla Lincoln. Ella Teresa McNamara.
Frank Harris Howland. William Henry Wilson. Annie Bowen Deland. Josephine Wheeler Gird. Gertrude Nancy Gordon.
Evangeline Gertrude Nelson.
Lucy Day Perry.
Lois Orne Paine.
Estella Adelia Pinckney.
Katie Agnes Ruddy.
Emma Frances Spurr.
Effie Luella Warner.
ENGLISH COURSE.
Stella Houghton Plummer. Carrie Anita Savary. Alice Allen Stevens. Carrie Alona Thompson.
Emily Gertrude Whittemore.
PARTIAL COURSE.
Carrie Carleton Kinsley. Mary Elizabeth Knowlton. Eleanor Rowena Rawson. Adeliza Rebecca Wood.
There is a feature of these graduating exercises as recently conducted, which deserves special commendation : " The essays and orations were not prepared specially for this occasion ; they are selected from regular class work during the past two years."
The good consequences of this custom are far-reaching. Every essay for the two years is written carefully, for it may be selected as a graduating piece; and at the close of school, when the reviews take place, pupils are not oppressed with the nightmare of a great essay for a great occasion ; and the essays whatever they are, will be the genuine work of the pupils.
The custom of the self-reporting of pupils as to both their schol- arship and their deportment is forbidden by vote of the School Committee; and reference is made to this action in the School Report for 1874. This action has more especial reference to those schools where the pupils are constantly in the care of the same teacher. In the High School, without violating the spirit of the rule, each pupil inakes an estimate of his conduct each week of the term; this estimate is not the record of the pupil's standing in the school, as appears from the card itself ; it is made
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SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
to inform the teacher what is the opinion of a young man or a young woman concerning good conduct. This gives the teacher an opportunity to modify that opinion. In practice the effect on this school is believed to be good. The form of the report is as follows :
WORCESTER HIGH SCHOOL.
Below is an estimate of my conduct in school each day of the ten weeks ending
188
Signed
M.
T.
W.
TH.
F.
AVE.
1
TOTAL AVERAGE.
This estimate is an index of the above pupil's notions concerning good con- duct. Both the estimates and the notions are liable to revision at the discre- tion of the teacher.
ALFRED S. ROE, Principal.
TWO CLASSES.
In 1881 the following was adopted by the School Committee, on the recommendation of the Committee on Teachers :-
" That each teacher below Grade IX. be requested to divide her class into two divisions, in order that one may have an opportunity to study while the other recites ; and in Grades I., II. and III. there may be more than two divi- sions."
The instructions to the teachers then given are now substan- tially in force. They are as follows :-
The object sought is to give each child a chance to work by himself, and in school. One teacher objects to the division because it is so much better, · in her judgment, for the children of the Fourth Grade, for example, to study with the teacher : that is, she reads over the lesson and the children follow, with the book before them; they ask questions and she answers; she asks questions and they answer; she suggests, calls attention to this or that, and they take notice.
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 38.
Nobody doubts that with young children this process is a good one; the children are learning how to study ; they pick up a little here and there.
There is nothing in the division of classes to prevent this kind of teaching, hereafter, as much as is best. But this is not the only kind of study for even small children. The objecting teacher herself wants the children to do some kinds of work out of school. The committee want the children to do more independent work in the school; and for this the plan proposed furnishes op- portunity. One division is engaged with the teacher; the other is engaged with their books, or slates, or paper. Judicious aid is given; and judicious work is expected from the pupils. The time is all occupied. There is no opportunity to wait for the hour to expire. Nothing is more demoralizing than the habit of staying in school and doing nothing.
In Grades I., II. and III. there may be more than two divisions. Some of the best teaching in primary schools is done in little divisions of twelve or fifteen pupils each. Nothing has made Quincy famous more than the possi- bility of so dividing classes. In order to interest young children it is necessary to know them individually; and the attention of pupils in these lower grades can not be kept on one subject more than fifteen or twenty minutes at a time. While a small class is engaged with the teacher the rest of the pupils can be occupied, each by himself. The number of divisions in these grades is not, therefore, limited.
In making these division, the question has been asked, on what principle shall the classification be made ?
1. In the first place do not put the boys in one class and the girls in another.
2. It will be harmful to sort out the nervous, brilliant reciters of lessons for one class, and the slow and dull for the other. The nervous, high-strung, ambitious boys and girls are not the ones to be pushed forward in advance. It is better in many cases for them to go along moderately, and to fill up the spare time by broadening the range of what they learn, than to push them forward or allow them to rush forward too rapidly in the school curriculum. This broadening may be done by directing their reading and turning their attention to what goes on around them, in the shops, on the street, and in the business which they may happen to know about. Instead of adding to the set and formal lessons of this class of pupils, they may be allowed to set down in writing what they know of any subject, or any process of manufacture. They thus get ease of expression and a definiteness of thought, which less practice does not give the other pupils. The interest of this class of pupils in the les- sons which it takes only a small part of their time to master, may be kept up by incidental attention to correlative subjects. It is not always best to hurry a bright and active pupil into the next grade. So much by way of sugges- tion as to these smart pupils.
3. Again : In each of the rooms there is a class tolerably well graded; they are never exactly graded : if they are subdivided, the classes will not long remain exactly graded. It is not necessary, and not desirable that they should be kept exactly graded. Now, by dividing the room into two classes, the matter stands about where it did before-no more difficulty; no less. If
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it happens that the two elasses keep on, neck and neck, no matter. If it turns out that one class gets along faster than the other, no harm in that. But the bright division, if there be one, should not absorb the teacher's time; and pupils are not to be put from one to the other as a reward of merit or a pun- ishment. In either case, the two divisions will go on together to the next room, just the same as if there were but one class.
4. Music is taught to the class in a room, all together, whether they be in one grade or in two. All are in one class in this study. The same is true of drawing and penmanship. The division should apply to all other studies.
The classification or grading of pupils has been adopted step by step, as difficulties have arisen for which this grading was thought to be a cure. How close the classification should be, must be determined by circumstances. If all the ninth grade pupils in the city were in one building, it is not unlikely that they might with advantage be divided into six classes, each different from the other. In this city there happen to be nine grades below the High School ; in some cities the same ground is divided into twice as many classes or grades. Possibly this double classification of ours may result hereafter in as many grades in some schools, though not necessarily in all. But it is of no serious consequence whether it so results or not.
The danger with all this classification and grading is that the class or the grade will come to be more important than the scholars; that more thought will be given to grading the pupils than to teaching them ; that what has been adopted as a means, will be treated as an end. All the machinery of schools- the organization with principals and assistants, the grading, the course of study, the programme of exercises which every teacher is required to have, all this has been set up like the staging to a house for the purpose of building up the children, and not as a part of the house; all this is only for a help; the aim and the end is manly and womanly character in the pupils.
RANKING AND MARKING.
This subject was acted upon by the School Board in connection with the High School in 1875; and the following sets forth the principles of marking adopted in all the schools of the city :-
It has long been the custom for teachers to keep a record of the scholarship of their pupils, both in the daily recitation and in the term examinations, and to send to the parents a report showing the pupil's standing in each study, and until recently his rank in the class. Blanks have been provided for these reports. The sending of such reports has not, however, been insisted on in all cases. The teacher has been allowed to make as much use of the reports as he finds to be best for himself and for his school-except that the parent ought always to be notified if a pupil is not doing his duty. Some teachers find the reports useful; others prefer other means. It is best, so far as pos- sible, to let each work in his own way.
A few of the teachers think that the members of the class can be wisely stimulated, by marks, with figures all the way from 1 to 100; if one child is
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 38.
marked 67 and the other 68, both will strive, they think, with all their might to see which will be ahead. In some schools the plan has worked well, and no injury has been apparent. In some schools, on the other hand, the evils of that practice are apparent. However well the plan may work in the hands of a wise teacher, the principle at the bottom of marking, as often practiced, is wrong; and the time will come when everybody will find a better way.
In the High School, years ago, there was a fund devoted to paying for prizes to be distributed among the pupils. It was found in practice that the effect was harmful; a few of the best scholars simply ruined their health in the attempt to get the prize, while the mass of the pupils, the very ones who most needed a stimulus, were not affected by it at all; they had no hope of getting it. The fund was afterwards devoted by the donor to the purchase of apparatus and books for the library.
Later in the history of that school, an elaborate system of book-keeping was devised by which the daily recitations, the behavior, and the natural ability of every pupil could be recorded and preserved for the perusal of coming generations. Twenty years hence, if the record had been continued, John Smith, a candidate for mayor perhaps, might have it tossed in his face by his opponent, that on a certain day of a certain week he failed in the Worcester High School to recite the binomial theorem. Each teacher kept a book; and "another book was opened," which required almost the entire time of one teacher, besides the time which each of the other teachers would have to spend in the recitations, in making marks. It was abandoned, and the school did not " go to pieces."
The last plan in that school is similar to that in practice in the Grammar Schools. To show the standing four letters are in use : A, excellent; B, good; C, passable; D, impassable, or words to that effect. Even here the girl who is marked B, is very anxious to get A; and the one marked C, wants to get B. In this school there seems to be a necessity for something to stim- ulate those boys whose parents wish them to pass the college examinations. Probably there is now nothing better to take the place of this stimulus. This particular school has been referred to as illustrating some of the effects of the various systems of marking, and the present mild form, which omits the "rank in the class."
Let us examine the marking system as ordinarily practiced : A class of fifty pupils are ready to recite. The first performs his part, whatever it is, and the degree of excellence must be judged and recorded. A judgment and the record of that judgment in a book, opposite a name, takes time; call it ten seconds. Here are five hundred seconds for each of the recitations of the day, perhaps six in all, making three thousand seconds, or fifty minutes, daily. Written exercises must be taken home, fifty of two pages each, it may be, and a paper in each of the six studies; six hundred pages; discount this estimate and call the aggregate four hundred pages. At one minute a page it will take six hours and forty minutes to correct and mark these papers ; six hours which ought to have been devoted to rest, perhaps. All this time and strength is so much deducted from the work of teaching and training the pupils.
This marking tends to poor teaching: for where every answer is to be marked, the question is likely to be framed with reference to marking the
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answer, rather than to instructing the pupil. In preparing questions for written examinations a tendency is often seen to frame them in sections of two, five, or ten parts, like sausage links, so that each section may be " marked " on a scale of ten. All such calculations interfere with the best teaching.
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