USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Arlington > Town of Arlington annual report 1907-1908 > Part 18
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206
SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
The committee offers certain considerations pertinent to the subject : -
1. The Relation of the Teacher's Salary to the Requirements of Her Position.
To compare the pay of teachers with the remuneration in other fields of labor hardly affords a satisfactory basis for judgment on this question ; nevertheless, for the benefit of those who are inter- ested in such comparison, it may be said that useful data may be found in the nineteenth annual report of the Commissioner of Labor in the United States, in which it is shown, by statistics from 48 cities in different parts of the country, that, if 50 weeks be assumed as the basis of a year's work, the earnings of unskilled laborers on streets and sewers in all except Chicago, Ill., Columbus, Ga., Meridian, Miss., and Washington, D. C., exceeded the minimum yearly salary of grade teachers in those cities.
In spite of the difficulties in the way of securing reliable data for comparison upon this point, your committee believes that the prevailing salaries of grade teachers today are not commensurate with the requirements made upon them in the way of professional equipment and standards of living.
The better class of positions at the present time, at least in the area covered by this report, are open only to those who have had reasonably broad academic preparation, supplemented by a full course in the normal school and some successful experience in teaching. Not only are the higher standards that are justly being set by school officials in these respects compelling the would-be teachers to a larger expenditure of time and money than formerly was required in preparation, but also they are compelling those who now are in the ranks to take up special courses of study in order to be eligible for advancement.
Again, the advancement in the social standards of living in gen- eral during recent years, as the natural result of the great prosperity in the business world, has operated to put upon teachers the necessity for greater expenditure in the way of dress and social requirements. This comes about because, necessarily, from the social sphere in which teachers are expected to move, and in which they should move, they must be governed in their expenditures to a greater or less extent by the example of those whose incomes in a great many cases are not only more generous, but also respond more quickly to more prosperous business conditions.
2. The Relation of Salaries to the Character of the Teaching Corps.
The importance of a high standard of personality and professional efficiency in the public school teaching corps is so well understood that it needs no discussion.
In this connection, however, it should be noted that, owing to the
207
SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
increasing opportunities for women to earn in other lines of effort as much, if not more, with less expenditure of energy than they can in teaching, there is grave danger that ultimately the character of the teaching force in our schools will suffer unless a higher standard of salaries can be secured for teachers.
Low salaries for teachers, if maintained in face of general pros- perity in the business world, mean certain inevitable results :-
First .- Although school boards may require complete professional training on the part of those whom they employ, the character of those who take up the work of teaching will gradually deteriorate, because many of the brightest and strongest personalities will prefer other fields of labor in which the remuneration is greater. Already complaint is being made quite generally that it is becoming increasingly more difficult to secure the type of teacher wanted for the average salary paid.
Second .- Low salaries mean shorter periods of service by first- class teachers.
Third .- A prevailing low rate of wage means less ambition on the part of the teachers and less opportunity for professional growth while in service,-a fact that operates distinctly against the best results in our schools.
A reasonably high standard of salaries, therefore, is even more. important to the public than it is to teachers themselves.
You may ask how this concerns us, who have just made an in- crease of fifty dollars in the maximum salaries of the grades. It is a matter of history and in this connection I would say, that while our condition is much improved because of the increase, relatively our condition is not so greatly improved as we could wish. This is owing to the fact that many of the surrounding Towns have already advanced their maximum salary to a point of, from fifty to one hundred dollars a year in advance of ours, so that we are still a prey in their search for teachers. Again, in investigating the matter of janitor's salaries at the request of the committee, I in- quired the maximum salary paid to women teachers in the High schools. In looking that schedule over carefully, as I know you have, you have discovered that none of the Towns whose conditions can be fairly compared with ours, pays a smaller maximum salary to the women teachers, that four have the same maximum and that all others pay a larger salary than we pay to our teachers.
Our present schedule of salaries is as follows: in the grades, usual initial salary $550, with an increase of $50 a year to the maximum $650; special teachers in the eighth grade, teaching in more than one building, $700; ninth grade teachers, maximum $700; principals of eight-room buildings, $900; principal of four- room building, $700; High school teachers, initial salary $700, with an increase of $50 a year to the maximum of $800. Begin- ning January 1, 1908. one teacher in the High school is now re- ceiving a salary of $900 by special vote of the committee.
208
SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
I respectfully recommend a consideration of the salaries of the principals of the eight-room and four-room buildings.
PUBLIC DAYS. In May, all of the schools with the exception of the Russell School had a public day. At the unanimous request of the teachers of the Russell School, public day was omitted in that school owing to the sad loss of the principal, which occurred the month previous.
These days have proved directly helpful to teachers, supervisors and superintendent. In this busy world of work and social duties, parents find little time for visiting and therefore something must be done to attract them. No one supposes for a moment that the ex- hibition of work in the various rooms on these special days is a com- plete representation of what the school is doing. The intercourse and relation between pupil and teacher, the broad bases of school management, the cleanliness and order of the rooms, the general sur- roundings, the ventillating and heating, the individual work with backward children, the direct teaching and character building and the host of little things that conduce to the atmosphere of the school cannot be exhibited. Nevertheless, the broadness of the present school curriculum, the development of work from grade to grade, the display of means and methods of fixing subjects taught, a certain degree of the correlation of the several subjects, the training and placing on paper with exactness and neatness the matter in mind and the variety of work of the special subjects are in evidence. Parents must justly infer that good writing, drawing and industrial work can not be produced in rooms that are not well-governed and well-taught.
It is only fair to the teachers and pupils to say that these parents days are not in the large part formed from work especially prepared for the occasion. A few exercises are especially prepared but they are simple type exercises of a kind used at various times during the year in the regular school work.
Most of the work is not and can not be specially prepared, for there is so much of it that this is impossible. In addition to the opportunity of getting a general idea of what is being done in the schools, the parents days are helpful because they are an excellent incentive to teachers and pupils to do better work than ever before. The knowledge that the parents, members of the School Committee, and many other visitors will inspect and appreciate their productions ·encourages all to greater effort. After school on the public day at each building, most of the teachers from the other schools visited the buildings and inspected the work. They were thus able to see how the work of their own grades compared with the corresponding grades in other schools. This was by no means the least valuable feature of these occasions. It is not desirable that all teachers should do their work in just the same way but it is well to have a general uniformity in method and progress.
In some towns, these days are called "appreciation days," because
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
of- the number of visitors and the expressions of pleasure and appreciation which are so general. The attendance at these days was very gratifying in all schools except the High School. Parents visit the High School but very little. . There seems to be no good reason for this so far as I can learn, except that it has never been a custom to do so and the result is that pupils are opposed to having their parents visit the School, because their friends' parents do not come. A better understanding and appreciation of the High School would certainly follow if parents more frequently visited the school when it is in session.
SCHOOL CONDITIONS. A year ago, I spoke of the action of the school committee in changing the district lines between the Cutter and Locke Schools, thereby relieving the Locke School of the unreasonably large numbers that were enrolled in some of the grades during the preceding year. The change worked very well during the last school year. In September of this year, however, it was found that the numbers in the Locke School had again increased to almost alarming proportions and no further relief by a change of district lines was possible. The committee brought this matter to the attention of the Town at the November Town meeting and a committee was appointed to investigate conditions in the Locke and Cutter districts. It seems probable that action will be taken by the Town to furnish larger accomodation in the Locke district. In investigating the conditions, certain facts became evi- dent which, as a matter of school history, I will briefly mention.
AVERAGE MEMBERSHIP ARLINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS, YEAR ENDING JUNE.
Russell and Parmenter.
Crosby.
Cutter.
Locke.
Total Grammar.
High Building.
1895
433.0
103.0
179.0
136.0
851.0
165.0
1896
457.8
216.3
162.7
155.6
992.4
183.3
1897
431.7
256.8
174.6
184.5
1,047.6
177.5
1898
426.7
256.7
186.2
194.3
1,063.9
196.0
1899
476.9
267.6
187.2
209.5
1,141.2
206.0
1900
470.4
263.9
189.1
207.5
1,130.9
206.1
1901
504.9
250.2
201.4
237.1
1,193.6
200.8
1902
527.3
279.0
219.5
278.7
1,304.5
222.2
1903
507.3
298.3
241.8
307.2
1,354.6
232.1
1904
505.2
287.1
260.6
308.1
1,361.0
250.5
1905
563.9
260.1
270.1
315.1
1,409.2
252.8
1906
562.6
255.5
293.6
353.6
1,465.3
253.9
1907
579.8
267.3
324.4
313.2
1,484.7
293.7
December.
1907
630.4
289.3
333.0
354.8
1,607.5
337.3
NOTE .- For much of the above statistics as well as for some statistics in the ap- pended tables I am indebted to Mr. Frank Hodgdon who has kept statistics of the Town for a long period of years.
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
From the accompanying table giving the average membership in each district for the years 1895 to 1907 it may be seen that the increase in the average membership is quite regular. This is espec- ially true from the year 1900 to the present time. If the same. ratio of increase continues, as it is reasonable to suppose, it seems almost certain that within the next four years additional accommo- dations will have to be furnished in the Cutter district by at least two rooms and in the Russell-Parmenter district by one room in addition to whatever increase it seems wise to make in the Locke district. This estimate is made on the assumption that an average membership of forty pupils to a room is maintained.
Another necessity which must be faced immediately is additional accommodations in the High School. . At the present time there are 208 pupils in the High School and 130 in the ninth grade. The arrangement by classes is as follows : Post graduates, 2; seniors, 33; juniors, 37 ; sophomores, 56; freshman, 80.
Each class consists of at least three sections brought about by the three courses pursued. Because of the number of classes reciting at the same time, an additional recitation room must be furnished. It is possible to use the hall for a recitation room temporarily, but it is very poorly fitted for recitation work and would necessitate the heating of that auditorium at all times to sixty-eight degrees, which would be an additional strain on the heating plant. It is possible in the present building to fit up at least one recitation room, possibly two, and I respectfully recommend that the committee investigate the matter with the idea of having a room prepared dur- ing the next summer vacation. That something will have to be done in the way of substantial additional accommodations in the High School within a few years is apparent.
WRITING. Last September Arlington changed from the vertical penmanship to the medial slant. Excellent progress was made dur- ing the year in the new system. A good feature of the new writing is the fact that with it comes an excellent system of arm movement exercises which will later develop into better form and greater speed, but for a time will yield poorly formed letters. I have not urged that teachers insist on children writing with the forearm movement in all their work, but we do urge the children to try to master the arm movement, and we find at the present time many children who are doing all their writing with the fore-arm movement and accom- plishing very satisfactory results. It seems to me that no feature of the year's work has been more satisfactory than the improvement in writing. It is too much to expect that the new system be mas- tered in one or two years. The writing of many children, especially in the higher grades, where they have been for years trained in the vertical system, still retains some of the form of the vertical, but the manner of doing the work, the pen holding, sitting positions and the form of movement are vastly improved. I have a firm belief
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
that with a few years' work with the Whitehouse System we shall produce better writers than ever before.
TARDINESS. Principals and teachers are making a strenuous fight against tardiness. They realize the loss from the school work and the demoralizing effect on school management ; but more than that, they feel that the habit of carelessness and indifference is worse than all other evils. It is a difficult matter to handle because of the fact that in many cases of tardiness the children themselves are not to blame but the fault lies with the parents. To punish a child for the fault of his parents seems unjust, but unless the matter is dealt with most strenuously, tardiness will continue.
In the years 1905 and 1906, the number of tardinesses averaged 1.27 tardinesses for every pupil in the average enrollment; during the school year of 1906 and 1907, the number was reduced to 1.03 for every pupil enrolled in June. For the four months of school up to to the present time, the number is much less than for the correspond- ing period of a year ago. From the record of twenty different and widely separated cities and towns in New England, an examination of attendance shows that the average tardiness for a pupil is a small fraction more than one. Through the efforts of principals and teach- ers a spirit of strong disapproval of tardiness and of tardy pupils is being developed in the children. This spirit is sure to bring about the desired result.
THE HIGH SCHOOL. As stated before there are at present in the High school 338 pupils, including 130 ninth grade pupils under three teachers. By our arrangement, the ninth grades are to all intents and purposes a part of the High school. This is a very satisfactory arrangement and one which I hope will permanently endure. The school in its discipline, in the character of the work being done, and in the standard of scholarship is in excellent con- dition. A greater spirit of freedom and initiative is being encour- aged and developed which tends to make a good atmosphere in the school.
Our High school has an enviable reputation in the colleges to which graduates have been sent either on certificate or examination. During the last ten years, the school has graduated 212 pupils, 94 of whom entered higher institutions of learning. The school has the right of certification form the College Certification Board and pupils have been admitted on certificate to the following colleges : Boston University, Mount Holyoke, Smith, Vassar, Wellseley, Amherst, Bowdoin, Dartmonth, Tufts, and University of Michigan. From none of these has any unfavorable criticism been received, while many have sent commendatory reports. By far the larger num- ber of graduates, however, enter Harvard, Radcliffe and the Institute of Technology, which do not admit on certificate. In all of these institutions our students have made satisfactory and often
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
distinguished success. It may be seen from this that one of the im- portant duties of the High school is to prepare pupils for college. This, however, is not the main object of the High school.
High schools are frequently referred to as the " people's college," and this title is more appropriate now than ever before. Most high schools furnish a curriculum equivalent to that of the average col- lege not many decades ago. This condition of affairs should be a mat- ter of civic pride, especially at the time when there is a strong feeling that the New England States, like those of the West, should furnish still higher education at the public expense. A good curricu- lum must appeal to a variety of interests, but when it is broad, and at the same time permits a choice of subjects, the number of classes is increased, the program is complicated and a larger corps of teachers is demanded.
The commercial course is proving to be an excellent means of keeping in school many children bent upon a commercial career who would otherwise leave school to go to work. It is always difficult to secure from a boy who is attending school because his parents in- sist on it, a high standard of accuracy in spelling or arithmetic, or any strong interest in English composition. When such a boy enters upon a business course, there is immediately a new conception of the necessity for learning to spell, to compute quickly and accurately, and to express himself correctly, for he knows that the business world sets high value upon these things and if he is to succeed there, he must set himself earnestly to work to acquire these things. A com- mercial course should prove of material service in raising the stand- ard of work in pupils, who are not preparing to enter college. The course, as its name indicates, is to do what is possible in a High School, without sacrificing the general knowledge and culture so es- sential to future activities, toward fitting pupils for entering upon business life. The question is sometimes asked why we do not make a business course of two years. This has been tried in many places and in most of those places discarded. The work that applies par- ticularly to business can be done in two years, but a knowledge and practice in the use of English such as is needed in the commercial world can not be acquired in two years. There are now a large num- ber of stenographers and typewritists whose knowledge of English is so meagre as to render them undesirable, if not unserviceable. They occupy the least remunerative position in the commercial world. Our aim is to fit pupils for the best position and this can not be done in less than four years.
A revision of the High school course of study with the hope of permitting a greater choice of subjects is now under way, and will be presented for your consideration at the February meeting.
Our most conspicuous failure seems to lie in our seeming inability to induce a larger proportion of the pupils entering our High school to continue for graduation. This is a fault common, in a greater or less degree, to high schools. It is a fact greatly to be regretted.
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
There are several reasons for it. 1. Some children enter the High school intending to remain only a year or two before going to work. 2. Children who are not physically strong find the amount of home work required of them too much of a strain and so leave school. 3. Some who do not learn easily, finding themselves gradually dropping behind their classmates. get discouraged and drop out. 4 Some- times pupils of good ability have not acquired studious habits and at the end of the year are so far behind in their work that, rather than make up the failures, they prefer to go to work. 5. Some pupils have an almost entire lack of ability along some particular line of required work. 6. Children who are endeavoring to make a serious study of music and at the same time carry on the work of the school find they must drop either one or the other interest.
If some of the children who are not strong or who are slow to learn or have not formed good habits of study would make up their minds to take five years to complete the course they could do the work with comparative ease. No disgrace or discredit would attach to such a course. It is quite common for young men to take five years to complete the course in the Institute of Technology and some of these have turned out to be among the most successful graduates. For pupils lacking ability in some branch the most liberal arrangement for substitution of studies should be made. If a girl cannot master geometry let her take an additional course in history or English instead.
The number of pupils who possess great musical talent and wish to pursue the study of music, while not large, there are yet enough of them to justify an attempt to reconcile the conflicting claims of school and special study.
A year ago our supervisor of music in her report quoted the following from the report of the Music conference held under the auspices of the New England Educational League,-"A frequent example of the neglect of a serious consideration of music in public education : A youth reaches the High School age desiring to study music with a serious purpose, which desire is approved by parents and teachers. He is met by these school conditions ; first, he must add music to his High School course as an out of school study and thus run the peril of over-crowding, a condition which occasions much parental complaint, and may result in permanent injury to the pupil, or, second, he must drop music, which, in the deliberate opin- ion of his advisors, may be to him one of the most valuable studies of the High School period; or, third, he must leave the High School; for the present school system neither teaches, credits nor favors the serious study of music. These conditions make it diffi- cult for parents to carry forward the musical education of their children, and at the same time secure the general High School advantages. They curtail the opportunity of the musical element of society for literary and general training."
In order to correct this evil Harvard University and Tufts College
214
SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
already accept work done in music, giving points on entrance exam- inations, other colleges are considering it. A number of our High Schools, accordingly, allow credit for work done on piano, organ violin, cornet or harmony out of school (if the High School course cannot offer it) to count toward a diploma.
I quote a part of the plan now used in Brookline to meet condi- tions similar to ours with the hope that you will give some such plan consideration.
A PLAN FOR CREDITING OUTSIDE STUDY IN MUSIC UNDER PRIVATE INSTRUCTION.
FOR STUDENTS OF VOICE, PIANOFORTE, ORGAN, OR INSTRUMENTS OF THE SYMPHONIC ORCHESTRA.
A pupil of the Brookline High School who is taking regular instruction in music, voice, pianoforte, organ, or some instrument of the symphonic orchestra, may, by complying with the following conditions, secure credit from the school for work done, and such credit will be entered upon the pupil's report card and upon the school records.
I. There must be an application from the parent or guardian requesting the recognition of such instruction and agreeing to the conditions stated below.
II. There must accompany this application a recommendation from the private teacher giving such details as to present musical status of pupil as are called for, and agreeing to furnish such infor- mation regarding the proficiency of the pupil and the character of the work as shall be necessary for purposes of examination and record.
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