Many superintendents, realizing that if a teacher is to be judged she must know to what standards she must attain to be considered successful, have formulated standards of their own for the guidance of their teachers. It is impossible to give examples of all the many standards in use, but the following are presented as showing that superintendents are earnestly striving to place the testing of teachers upon a more rational basis. Petosky, Mich. 1. Was the assignment of the lesson (1) carefully made, (2) definite? 2. How much genuine interest was there on the part of the class? 3. What part of the class had prepared the lesson? 4. What part of the time was used by the teacher in explanation or demonstration? 5. Were the explanations or demonstrations (1) clear, (2) concise? 6. How much of the time was used by the students in actual recitation? 7. Did the students (1) rise promptly, (2) face the class, (3) answer in complete declarative sentences? 8. Were the teacher's questions (1) rapid, (2) clear, (3) to the point? 9. Was the work at the board done (1) neatly, (2) rapidly? 10. What was the inspirational power of the teacher? Ottawa, Kans. Native ability: (50) Initiative (originality). Vivacity Enthusiasm.. Tact. Sympathy Industry. Adaptability Sense of humor. Acquired efficiency: (35) Academic education.. Interest in educatiuon. Teaching ability. Discipline. Ability toga ornize and present subject matter. Appreciation of values. Professional growth (reading, study, travel). Preparation (daily, weekly, annually).. Social efficiency: (15) Ability to secure and hold the respect of pupils and com- Loyalty (to associates, principal, superintendent, board). Owensboro, Ky. 10 5 1. Teaching ability in (a) preparation, (b) skill in presentation, (c) results obtained. 2. Ability in discipline: (a) Attitude of pupils toward the teacher; (b) attitude of pupils toward each other; (c) attitude of pupils toward their work; (d) respect of pupils for school property; (e) ability to keep pupils busy; (f) behavior of pupils on school grounds. Owensboro, Ky.-Continued. 3. Personal and professional: (a) Cooperation with principal, school officers, and other teachers; (b) visiting homes-success in enlisting their cooperation; (c) patience and sympathy in dealing with pupils; (d) professional interest (interest in work, energy, and enthusiasm, efforts for self-improvement, such as reading educational periodicals, visiting other schools, attending and taking part in teachers' meetings, etc.). 0 to 40 4. Preparation- b. Pupils... 5. Skill..... 6. Thoroughness... 7. Assignment... III. Relation of Teacher to the School and Community. 1. Classification and gradation..... 2. Industry, and interest in the aims and plans of the school community............. 3. Governing ability... 4. Sanitary conditions and neatness.. 5. Care of school property, keeping records, making 6. Cooperation with the other teachers, the board, and 7. Libraries, reading circles, and journals.......... (0 to 5) (0 to 5)—. (0 to 5) (0 to 5) -(0 to 5) (0 to 5)-. (0 to 5) Total..... PROFESSIONAL INVESTIGATION. Ninety-four cities of the smaller group report a school survey within the last three years. Many of these cities, however, are in Ohio and other States that have had State-wide surveys. Again, others include surveys of retardation and elimination made by the superintendent and teachers. This bureau has no data showing just how many surveys have been made in cities of 25,000 population and less by committees composed of men from other school systems. In the Report of the Commissioner of Education for 1913 a summary was given of the surveys made in six of the smaller cities, namely: Boise, Idaho, Montclair, N. J., East Orange, N. J., Greenwich, Conn., Cohassett, Mass., and Newburgh, N. Y. The following is a summary of the surveys made in the smaller cities not included in the list given in the chapter on city schools in the commissioner's report for 1913: Grafton, W. Va.-The board of education at Grafton, W. Va., a city of 8,000 population, not being satisfied that they were expending the school funds to the best advantage, invited three practical school men of their own State to make a survey of the schools of that city and to make a definite report regarding the needs of the schools and the best method of economizing on the funds available so as to provide for these needs. The committee, composed of Dr. J. N. Deahl, head of the department of education in the State university, Mr. Joseph Rosier, superintendent of schools, Fairmont, and Mr. Otis Wilson, superintendent of schools, Elkins, were asked to make the survey, and accepted on condition that their report should in no way affect the standing of the superintendent. The board assured these men that the superintendent was leaving, and that it was desired to have an investigation before the election of a new superintendent. The investigation covered the following points: Educational needs of the community from an industrial standpoint, the professional training and equipment of the teachers employed, the course of study in use in the schools, the methods of teaching and the plan of school organization, methods of administration as related to the assignment of teachers, possible consolidation of departments and grades, current expenditures, the purchase of supplies, and high-school equipment. The committee made no attempt to discuss theories, but recommended among other things that a cooperative industrial course, similar to that at Fitchburg, Mass., be instituted; that night classes be formed for the boys and girls employed in the glass factories; that the present organization of the high-school work into four curricula should be made less restrictive; that the grades below the high school be reorganized so that the average enrollment for each teacher would be between 30 and 40 pupils and that the money saved be applied to the employment of instruction of manual training and domestic science; that the grade work could be improved by giving less time to the formal study of United States history, geography, physiology, and arithmetic, the time assigned for arithmetic being excessive. Ogden, Utah. The schools of Ogden, Utah, being criticized by some of the citizens of that city, the board of education asked the faculty of the University of Utah and the United States Commissioner of Education to appoint a committee to investigate conditions in the schools of that city. The following committee was appointed: Charles S. Meek, superintendent of schools, Boise, Idaho; George A. Eaton, principal of the Salt Lake City high school; Edward J. Ward, extension lecturer of the University of Wisconsin; W. G. Roylance, professor of sociology in the University of Utah; and W. S. Deffenbaugh, of the United States Bureau of Education. The committee, on account of the shortness of the time allowed for making the survey, divided their work, assigning to Messrs. Meek, Eaton, and Deffenbaugh the internal organization of the school and to Messrs. Ward and Roylance the social and civic relationship of the school and the community. The first-named gentlemen investigated those phases of school organization that had been most severely criticized, namely, the power granted the superintendent of appointing and dismissing employees, departmental teaching in the grammar grades, junior high schools, a free elective system in the high school, the course of study, the inability of the schools to keep pupils in school, character of the teaching, half-time plan as outlined by the superintendent for the seventh and eighth grades, and the method of supervision. The two other members of the committee discussed at length the systematic organization of the political, economic, and recreational life of the people of the city. They recommended that the board of education be abolished and that the schools be placed under the direct management of the city commission, saying in support of this recommendation: The various sorts of duties which are now handled by the school board without business-like division, such as would make the definite placing of responsibility possible, may easily be distributed among the several commissioners on the precise lines of their present division of responsibility. For instance, the finances of the |
