Examples of great men: Ovid, Lucan, Ursinus, Alexander the Great, all were taught with the highest profit when young. Teach early, but teach well. (The Epilogue.) Consider well, what portion and If children are only sent to learned men And unto such as gentle are, Which teach them all by play: The remarkable metrical composition is in substance translated (see Mr. A. H. Bullen's account of Hake in the Dictionary of National Biography) from a Latin tract," De pueris statim ac liberaliter instituendis." Warton, in his History of English Poetry (ed. Hazlitt, vol. iv, p. 204), says: In the dedication to Maister John Harlowe his approved friend, he [Hake] calls himself an "Attorney in the Common Pleas," observing at the same time, that the name of an Attorney in the Common Pleas is nowadays grown into contempt. He adds another circumstance of his life, that he was educated under John Hopkins, whom I suppose to be the translator of the Psalms, "You being trained up together with me your poor schoolfellow with the instructions of that learned and exquisite teacher, Maister John Hopkins, that worthy schoolmaister, nay rather that most worthy parent unto all children committed to his charge of education. Of whose memory, if I should in such an opportunity as this, be forgetful, etc.” I regret that I can not give the passage in full, but Warton stops short at this point, and the dedication and early pages of the tract are missing from the British Museum copy. The reading of the passages quoted carries with it the confirmation that the John Hopkins referred to is the translator of the Psalms. CHAPTER VII. THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEMS OF THE UNITED STATES. By AARON GOVE. Superintendent of Schools, Denver, Colo. The public school systems of the United States present a scheme of education not national, but, by an interesting history and experience, so nearly unified as to be not improperly designated a "national school system." The sovereignty of each State of the United States and its relation to the National Government virtually prohibit the interference in or direction of such conduct of public schools as may be prescribed and executed by each individual State. One finds, whether he look to Massachusetts or Missouri or California, State public school plans modified one from the other by changes of environment, by geographical and industrial conditions, and more especially by circumstances attending the admission of the State into the National Federation. Throughout the entire Union, in the fortyfive States is found provision for the education of the children at the expense of the public purse. The property of the State is taxed for the education of the children of the State. Whether this school attendance is compulsory or voluntary, and to what extent free text-books and other instruments are provided, depend upon the legislation of the State. However, certain general methods of management obtain in all, modified only by the above-named conditions. The conduct of city schools of municipalities of 10,000 people or more is quite similar, whether East or West, North or South. The controlling power of the schools consists of a public corporation, its composition varied in size and sex, though not many women in the country have been placed upon school boards. The members of this corporation board are variously determined, sometimes by election by the people; sometimes by appointment of a court of justice; sometimes by appointment by the mayor or other officer. Usually the board is scarcely limited in power except by the statute under which it exists. In a few cities the municipal government controls the expenditure of money-that is, the appropriation of money to the school board must have the approval of the municipal government. Usually, especially in the newer parts of the country, the school board is absolute, not only in the expenditure, but also in the power to levy a tax on the property of the city, limited only by the constitution of the State. This board organizes the schools of the city, usually by the selection of one executive officer, commonly termed the superintendent of schools, and by the erection and conduct of as many schools as are necessary for the accommodation of the children of the city between the ages of 6 and 14; in some cities 6 and 21. In a few States provision is made for the kindergarten system, providing for the education at public expense of children under 6. The school buildings in the large cities are of various sizes, sometimes accommodating 2.000 and even 3,000 pupils; in the smaller cities, one or two room houses are found. The medium-sized city of the country has for its typical schoolhouse a building of 12 or 15 rooms, which means schoolrooms from about 28 to 32 feet square, each seating 50 pupils, with 1 teacher, and a principal or master of the building, who has charge of the whole school. The course of study provided includes all the elementary branches, from a first reading book and primary arithmetic to the completion of the arithmetic, English grammar, United States history, and during later years much hand and tool work, for which shops are provided in some one of the rooms. For convenience and corresponding efficiency in work, although rigid adherence is not always found, eight years are commonly set apart for elementary education and for the course of study in the typical city school, and for further convenience the work of each year, set aside by itself, is called a class or grade, thus making eight grades in the elementary schools, the 6-year-olds being called the "first grade" and the 14-year-olds the "eighth grade." In well-conducted schools the limitations upon promotion are few; the brightest pupils find it easy and possible to complete the eight years' work in seven and frequently in six years. Beyond the elementary schools, at the time corresponding to the period between the fourteenth and eighteenth birthdays, high schools are provided. The term “high school" is quite indefinite, and the courses of study provided in the high schools, while they are similar in a general way, yet are varied in detail and frequently in sequence of studies. The adjustments and appointments of the high school are necessarily different from those of the lower grades; more complete apparatus and quite well-appointed laboratories, for instruction in physics, in chemistry, and in biology, in fact, in all natural sciences, are provided. The instruction demanded in the high school requires a different assignment of teachers from that in the graded school. A great change with the pupils takes place at this period of public school life. Up to the fourteenth year they are gathered in groups of between 30 and 50 pupils in daily and constant association with one teacher, who conducts all the studies and respectively covers the entire ground for which provision is made by the course of study. When the pupil leaves the graded school and enters the high school he becomes associated with many teachers daily; specialists are necessary in language and history and science; the pupil or teacher passes from room to room, and if the school is of sufficient size, numbering several hundred, the pupil daily is in the company of no one teacher to exceed one recitation period of from forty to sixty minutes. This wrench of school habits, occurring at the time of life when the young people are changing most, is a source of some embarrassment. The pupil no longer has one teacher in whom to confide and to whom to go for direction and assistance. The intimate ties between teacher and pupil are broken, so that the boy or girl finds that the personal equation of previous life has been materially changed. It would be better for the training of character and disposition if this change could be postponed until entrance to college, when the student is more mature; but competent instruction can not otherwise be given covering so large a field as does the course of study in the high school. The high school, or secondary, education, as it is termed-synonymous terms-to distinguish it from elementary education on the one side and college education on the other, is generally well equipped. Frequently large and complete reference libraries are at hand for the use of the student. Specialists in the several branches are employed who devote their time exclusively to the work in hand. Examinations occur from time to time to test the scholarship of the pupil, the results of which determine largely the advancement or promotion of the individual. The expense of educating the pupil in the high school is two and sometimes three times as much as in the elementary school. Perhaps a fair statement of the expense of the education would be $25 per capita in the elementary schools and $50 in the secondary schools. Both sexes attend the usual high school, although in some of the older cities will be found separate high schools for boys and for girls. Coeducation, which is looked upon by our European friends with so much dread, seems to have been productive of good results in America. There is, however, a respectable minority in the nation, which it is believed is increasing, tending toward the separation of the sexes during and after the high school periods. The industrial, commercial, and professional interests of men, relating especially to the training of the money-making ability, permit and cause secondary schools to enroll more girls than boys. In the common American city it will be found that the enrollment of girls stands to that of the boys as about 3 to 2. While many of the sisters are so situated that they are able to remain in school during their early teens, the demands of the homes of the common people compel the brothers to leave school in order to increase the financial income of the household. The course of study in the secondary schools is identical for the sexes, but latitude is given in the election of studies. Equivalents are substituted and accepted, so that at the end of the four years, when the young person has completed the prescribed course of study, it does not follow that each has pursued the same line of training. Mathematics frequently is dropped by the girls before the end of the course, and literature or history or language substituted. Three distinct and posi-tive lines of training, however, are demanded, namely: Mathematics, science, and language. These three lines in some form will be found, continuing from the first to the fourth year. Some modification in the secondary school course is necessary on account of the career planned by the home for the young person. Training in Latin, Greek, and mathematics is required for the boy or girl who looks forward to the college beyond, while practical commercial and business branches are more sought by that larger class with whom the high school course terminates school life. It is noticeable how little one high school in the country differs from another in the amount and kind of acquisition demanded-more remarkable when it is remembered that each of the States and even each of the cities is permitted to make its own adjustments with regard to the course of study. Many beautiful and expensive houses have been erected during the last twenty years devoted exclusively to secondary instruction. Some of them are noticeable in architectural design and construction, and so admirably adapted to hygienic conditions as to attract the attention of the civilized world with their completeness and the wonder and admiration of most people at the willingness of the community to make such vast expenditure for the education of the young. Secondary education includes the teaching always of the Latin, Greek, French, and German languages. To these, in communities connected commercially or geographically with Spanish-speaking people, is added the Spanish language. French and German are the chief modern languages taught. In all first-class schools, both elementary and secondary, attention is given to physical training. In the largest and best-equipped schools skillful and professional drill is required, and the health of the young people receives high consideration. Frequently well-equipped gymnasiums will be found in the buildings, where classes under competent instructors are trained in gymnastics. This part of public school education is increasing in importance and attendance from year to year. The hours in the elementary schools range from five to six daily-three hours in the morning, from 9 to 12, and two hours in the afternoon, after a noon interval of from one to two hours for luncheon. Secondary school hours, although about the same in duration, are bunched into one session, with a short interval at noon for luncheon. This plan does not meet with the approval of the medical profession, because a long noon rest is deemed desirable, but it is forced upon many communities because one high school only in quite a large city is sufficient to accommodate the pupils, even though some homes are 1 or 2 or even 3 miles away. The enrollment in the high schools of a few cities is 3 per cent of the enrollment ED 1903-23 in the elementary schools, while others can be found where 12 per cent of the enrollment of the elementary schools is equal to the enrollment of the high school. Throughout the country will be found secondary schools where the enrollment ranges between 3 and 12 per cent of that of the elementary schools. The history of a community, the industries, the commercial and agricultural interests, and the antecedents of the people are some of the factors that cause this noticeable modification in the attendance at secondary schools. The schoolhouses in the United States that have been erected within the last ten years are superior in hygienic appointments, fan ventilation being the rule. Closets and conveniences are of quite complete character, but the schoolhouses have not yet generally reached in their construction measures of safety from fire that obtain in European houses. Many wooden staircases are found instead of stone and iron, yet disasters from fire have been of very rare occurrence. School furniture-that is, seats for the children-has received special notice and attention. The "adjustable boy," spoken of by a Massachusetts superintendent, in the minds of some specialists in hygiene seems to have passed off the stage of action, and one great city has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in an adjustable seat-a seat so constructed that the seat and desk can be raised or lowered, according to the physical form of the pupil. A few cases are recorded of spinal curvature and other malformations of boys and girls, said to be caused by badly constructed sittings in school. Like many other improvements in the school world, the efficiency of a seat perfectly adjusted to the child is conceded. The practice, however, so far has not seemed to justify the position of the extremist, who insists that every seat shall be accurately adjusted to the form of the individual, who at most occupies it not to exceed four hours a day, five days in a week, and two hundred days in the year. A large elementary school containing 500 pupils probably should have 10 per cent of its sittings capable of readjustment on account of abnormal physical forms. Ninety per cent of the young people can be accommodated safely and healthfully in an ordinary seat. The typical American child who enters school at 6 completes the elementary grades in eight years, at which time he is 14 years old. Continuing his course in the free schools through the secondary course of four years he has arrived at the age of 18, and is now ready to pursue his studies in higher institutions, or in the great majority of cases to enter the active world for life's duties. Many of the States provide for free instruction beyond the eighteenth year; college and university are maintained by taxation, to which institutions those who have completed the high school course are admitted, usually without examination, and are permitted to remain to the end of the university course, when they receive college degrees with their diplomas. Thus it will be seen that the American free school institution provides in some States for the education of the child from the time he is 3 years old in the kindergarten, from 6 to 14 in the elementary schools, from 14 to 18 in the secondary schools, and from 18 on indefinitely, usually for four years more, in the college and university, all without expense to the private treasury of the home, except such expenses as food and clothing and medical attendance. In addition to this free contribution to the training of American children, many communities and States provide for free books, a custom that seems to be on the increase. A conservative opinion is expressed that where the home is put to no expense whatever for books, paper, pencils, and in some cases luncheon, as well as instruction, the ultimate effect of such paternalism on the part of the government will tend to make a weaker and more unreliant people. This, however, evidently is not the general opinion of the country to-day. The extreme conservator insists that there is no proper stopping place; that with every instrumentality furnished at public expense, including food, the same reasoning will ask for clothing, umbrellas, nurses, and medical attendance. |