as to be made to yield the most desirable information respecting the activities in the school system. Formulas are worked out and illustrated by tables in such a way that the study becomes a contribution to the material on school records for administrative purposes.

THE FORTY-EIGHT STATES.

In December, 1912, the division of education of the Russell Sage Foundation published "A Comparative Study of the Public School Systems in the Forty-eight States." The purpose of the study was to make

available to legislators, school workers, and others having at heart the interest in public education, salient facts concerning school conditions in all the States.

The study (33 pp.) comprises 11 tables, 12 diagrams, and 4 maps. The statistical material was based, so far as possible, on data published in the Report of the United States Commissioner of Education for 1911. The figures

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were derived from official sources and every care exercised to insure their accuracy. The object of the work is to render available to each State the experience of all.

The general method was to follow the lead of comparative columns in such a way as to establish on the basis of the "10 tests of efficiency" the approximate rank of each of the 48 States in 1910. The 10 tests of efficiency adopted were: The number of children enrolled in school; the value of public school property; the average annual expenditure per child; the number of school days of attendance by each pupil enrolled; the length of the school year; the average attendance; the amount of school expenditure compared with wealth; the daily cost of schooling a child; the number of students in high schools; and the annual salary of teachers.

The topics presented in the tables, diagrams, and maps are as follows: Children in school and out; half a billion a year for schools; investment in school plant; expenditure per child of school age; days of schooling per year if each child got his share; how long a year and how much attendance; compulsory-attendance legislation; what they have and what they spend; the daily cost per child attending; school mortality and survival; workers and wages; our army of illiterates; schoolhouse construction legislation; textbook legislation; medical inspection legislation.

By a simple, yet ingenious device, a final chart was tabulated in which each of the 48 States was given its ranking position under each of the 10 tests of efficiency, as determined by the data selected which its official departments had made public.

ATLANTA, GA.

In December, 1912, Mr. S. G. Lindholm, of the New York Bureau of Municipal Research, presented his report of the survey of the department of education of the city of Atlanta, which was made for the committee of municipal research of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. Four days' time was given to the examination of the city's department of education. The findings are represented under the following different headings: Evidence of progress noted; weaknesses in the present administration; defects in administrative records; recommendations; expenditures. This study emphasized "the importance of the record and publicity side of school work," because only through such "controlling records" can the satisfactory promotion of education be secured.

The report presents 21 "tentative constructive suggestions for correcting conditions noted in Atlanta's schools during a short field survey." Many of these enumerate from four to seven minor points, making the recommendations fairly exhaustive. They include among other items the following: The reduction of possible dangers from fire; importance of all forms of sanitary conditions; the installation of continuous record cards; the adoption of uniform financial records; taking an immediate school census; organizing the quality of classroom instruction; a fact basis of attendance, school property, etc., for the annual budget estimates; the importance of school playgrounds and the provision of adequate play space; the appointment of an assistant to the superintendent, who shall make continuous tests of the classroom efficiency of teachers; a wider use of the publicschool plant; and the strengthening of public-school sentiment through the school board and the chamber of commerce.

BOISE, IDAHO.

Two years after the inquiry by Supt. Kendall, a second study of the public schools of Boise, Idaho, was made by Prof. Edward C. Elliott, of the University of Wisconsin; Prof. Charles H. Judd, of the University of Chicago; and Prof. George D. Strayer, of Columbia University; and published as The Expert Survey of the PublicSchool System of Boise, Idaho. This report of 31 pages includes a special 4-page report on instruction, by Prof. Edward C. Elliott, based upon two days' investigation of the schools. The scope of the examination included the course of study, the methods of supervision, the character of the teaching staff, the distribution and progress of children throughout the grades, the material and equipment, and the expenditures involved in the conduct of the system. Most of the necessary material was available in the office records. Where additional facts were needed, they were secured through the

school officers or personal inspection. The study was greatly facilitated through the cooperation of the local officials.

The findings and recommendations of the committee are briefly summarized as follows:

1. As to the course of study: This has been arranged on a comprehensive basis with proper attention to fundamentals and with a commendable effort to adapt the instruction in the schools to the practical demands of modern community life.

2. The supervisory staff is organized in accordance with the practice prevailing in the most progressive cities of the United States. There is evidence of complete cooperation between the supervisors and the teachers. Further cooperation between the several supervisors of the elementary schools and the high school is suggested.

3. As to the teaching staff: A high standard of qualification has been maintained for the teaching staff. In the matter of selection, salary, and tenure of teaching, the present practices represent an enlightened and progressive school policy.

4. As to the classification and progress of children through the school system: By comparison with 318 other cities in the United States there is definite evidence that the problem of the proper classification of children as to over-age is being successfully handled; that adequate provision has been made to permit children of unusual ability to advance rapidly; that pupils are retained in school to an extent that is equaled by very few cities.

5. As to the school plant: This is in a highly satisfactory condition. The present policy of the school authorities as to the selection of sites, the construction, repair, and care of school buildings, and the provision for play parks is approved.

6. As to school expenditures: On the basis of a comparison with 37 selected cities, it is found that: (a) Owing to the high qualifications of teachers and the variety of school activities, Boise ranks fairly high in the cost of elementary education; (b) owing to careful management, the cost of high-school education in Boise is less than in half of the other cities; (c) owing to the very large percentage of children in the high school, Boise devotes to the high school a relatively large proportion of all the money spent for public education; (d) a larger part than is customary of the money available for public education is devoted to paying for instruction and a smaller part for maintenance and operation of the plant.

7. As to community cooperation: The community and the school system cooperate in a most commendable manner. The school officials enjoy the general confidence of the community and receive its undivided support in their efforts to develop the school system to the highest possible degree of effectiveness.

The specific recommendations were as follows:

I. That the school day, the school week, and the school year be lengthened, in order better to adapt the course of study and to utilize completely the school plant. II. That the eighth grade be eliminated.

III. That the high-school course of instruction be extended by giving advanced courses ordinarily given in the first years of college.

IV. That the work of the supervisory staff be developed by (a) continuing and changing exhibits of school work, (b) demonstration lessons, (c) the cooperation of teachers in the making of courses of study.

V. That a systematic record of teachers as to training, experience, appointment, promotion, and performance be instituted.

VI. That special classes for slow and backward children be established.

VII. That a system of cumulative records of pupils be instituted.

BRIDGEPORT, CONN.

On February 20, 1913, Supt. James H. Van Sickle, of Springfield, Mass., presented to the special committee on investigation of the school system his report on the condition and needs of the Bridgeport schools. In conducting the investigation, for the results of which he assumed "full responsibility for every portion," he was assisted in parts of the investigation named by the following persons: Dr. Leonard P. Ayres— The expenditures for schools compared with those of other cities; Dr. Andrew W. Edson-City normal school; Dr. Henry S. WestThe high-school situation; Mr. Wilbur F. Gordy-History in the grades and high school; Mr. Egbert E. MacNary-Industrial conditions; Mr. Edwin Hebden-Arithmetic work in the grades; and Mr. Edward H. Webster-Language work in the grades.

The report (129 pp.) deals with the following topics: The school board, the financial support of the school system, distribution of pupils in the schools, proposed changes in organization, the city normal school, the high school, the industries of Bridgeport, history, English, arithmetic. Fifteen tables, seven figures, and seven diagrams, with a number of minor tabulations, contribute to the exposition of the method and results of the investigation. This inquiry is marked because of the evident concentration of its studies on the teaching aspects of the school system.

The findings are summarized in 67 statements arranged under seven headings at the end of the report (pp. 124-129), while the recommendations with preliminary comments, under nine headings, are stated at the beginning (pp. 5-10). The former give a fairly complete view of the features of the school system, and are as follows: Financial Support of the School System:

1. How much education and how good an education a community actually gets for its children depends, first, on how much money it spends; and, second, on whether or not it uses each dollar appropriated so as to get the best and largest educational return.

2. Bridgeport spends annually for public schools more than a third of a million dollars received from local taxes, State funds, and tuition fees.

3. Bridgeport spends $26.81 each year for the education of each school child, while the average for 11 other cities of similar size is $41.13. To put the Bridgeport schools on a par with those of the average city of like population would cost about $200,000 additional per year.

4. Bridgeport teachers receive lower salaries and teach larger classes than do those of any other city compared, which means that Bridgeport children receive cheaper teaching and less of it than the children of the other cities.

5. Bridgeport spends less per child for every separate item of school expenditure than does the average city of like size, which means that Bridgeport children get a smaller quantity or a lower quality of every sort of educational opportunity than do the children of the other cities.

6. Bridgeport citizens spend less per capita for city support than do those of any other city of similar size save one, but they spend less for their public schools than do the citizens of any other city compared.

7. The particular items in which the Bridgeport expenditures are most deficient, when compared with those of other cities, are the support of the business office of the board of education, the purchase of stationery and supplies, the payment of janitors, the support of the superintendent's office, and the purchase of textbooks.

8. Among the 168 towns and cities of Connecticut, Bridgeport ranks second, third, and fourth in seven comparisons of educational resources, and one hundred and fiftythird and one hundred and fifty-fourth in two comparisons of educational expenditures. Differentiation of Functions, Supervision, and Organization:

1. All nominations of teachers should be made by the superintendent of schools. The board's function here is to accept or reject.

2. The supervision is notably insufficient in amount. Employ an assistant superintendent and at least one supervisor of primary work, and two assistant supervisors of drawing and handwork.

3. Employ a stenographer and an additional clerk trained in statistical methods to conserve the time of the superintendent.

4. Conserve the time of principals for supervision by relieving them of the bookkeeping incident to the penny-savings system as now conducted.

5. Carry further and make more systematic the grouping of upper grammar grades in centrally located buildings, and provide for differentiation of work in accordance with the needs of different groups of pupils. Conduct the instruction of these classes on the departmental plan.

6. The schoolrooms are overcrowded, and they lack adequate teaching equipment. 7. There are no rooms available in which to organize special classes for foreign-born, backward, and other exceptional children.

8. The city now needs 32 additional rooms to take care of ordinary classes. To provide these rooms at once, and in addition provide for further needs, involves too great a charge upon the resources of a single year. Future generations may properly be allowed to share the cost of improvements as permanent as schoolhouses.

9. According to generally accepted standards, too few children in the elementary grades are making either rapid or normal progress. Both retardation and elimination are excessive. In the fifth grade 59 per cent of the pupils are over age, and 51 per cent of all pupils enrolled have left school before reaching the sixth grade.

10. The schools are strong in drill processes, less strong in reasoning.

11. It is questionable whether formal examinations should play so prominent a part in the promotion of pupils as they appear to do.

12. The discipline of the schools is superior and the spirit of the teaching force notably good.

13. A higher maximum salary for teachers, if awarded strictly on the basis of merit and not merely on length of service, would be a wise investment.

The City Normal School:

1. The normal school is seriously handicapped by lack of facilities of every kind. It needs more rooms, more teachers, more books and apparatus, and more opportunities for observation work and practice teaching.

2. The entrance requirements are too easy.

3. The local normal school should not furnish more than two-thirds of the teachers appointed annually.

The High School:

1. Many of the obvious weaknesses of the school on the educational side are direct consequences of the unsatisfactory physical conditions under which the work is being conducted.

2. The discipline of the school is good.

3. Too little money is expended on the school to give the boys and girls the educational experiences to which they are entitled.