Vice-President-JAMES Y. JOYNER, state superintendent of public instruction...Raleigh, N.C. . Chicago, Ill. FIRST SESSION-MONDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 23, 1914 The meeting was called to order by President Robert J. Aley at 8:00 P.M., in the auditorium of the Jefferson Hotel. The general topic of the evening was "Health Problems in the American Public Schools," which was considered under two heads: (1) "Plans for Promoting Improvement in the Sanitation of Rural Schools"; (2) "Supervision and Care of Personal Health of Pupils in Rural Schools." The following persons took part in the discussion: Thomas D. Wood, M.D., professor of physical education, Columbia University, New York, N.Y.; James Y. Joyner, state superintendent of public instruction, Raleigh, N.C.; R. W. Corwin, M.D., chairman, Committee of American Medical Association, Pueblo, Colo.; W. H. Heck, professor of education, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.; W. S. Rankin, secretary, State Board of Health, Raleigh, N.C.; Charles H. Keyes, president, Skidmore School of Arts, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; Jacob A. Shawan, superintendent of schools, Columbus, Ohio; D. B. Johnson, president, Winthrop Normal and Industrial College, Rock Hill, S.C.; Ella Flagg Young, superintendent of schools, Chicago, Ill. SECOND SESSION-TUESDAY FORENOON, FEBRUARY 24, 1914 The session was called to order at 9:30 A.M., in the auditorium of the Jefferson Hotel, with President Aley in the chair. "The Report of the Committee on Tests and Standards of Efficiency in Schools and School Systems-A Brief Statement concerning the Purpose, Nature, and Conduct of School Surveys" was presented by George Drayton Strayer, professor of educational administration, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, N.Y., chairman. A discussion followed the reading of the report in which the following participated: Frank E. Spaulding, superintendent of Newton schools, Newtonville, Mass.; Ben Blewett, superintendent of instruction, public schools, St. Louis, Mo.; E. C. Elliott, director, course for the training of teachers, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.; C. H. Judd, director, School of Education, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.; C. N. Kendall, state commissioner of education, Trenton, N.J.; Adelaide Steele Baylor, assistant state superintendent of public instruction, Indianapolis, Ind.; J. H. Van Sickle, superintendent of schools, Springfield, Mass.; John W. Cook, president, State Normal School, DeKalb, Ill.; C. E. Chadsey, superintendent of schools, Detroit, Mich.; John W. Withers, president, Harris Teachers College, St. Louis, Mo.; and L. E. Wolfe, former superintendent of schools, San Antonio, Tex. THIRD SESSION-TUESDAY AFTERNOON, FEBRUARY 24, 1914 President Aley called the meeting to order at 2:00 P.M., in the auditorium of the Jefferson Hotel. The following program was presented: "The Public-School Survey"-C. S. Meek, superintendent of schools, Boise, Idaho. "The Method, Scope, and Value of the Survey in Relation to the Course of Study"A. J. Kinnaman, dean, State Normal School, Bowling Green, Ky. "The Method, Scope, and Value of the Survey in Relation to the Teaching Force"— M. E. Pearson, superintendent of schools, Kansas City, Kans. Discussion: M. G. Brumbaugh, superintendent of schools, Philadelphia, Pa. At this point began a discussion of the topic "Sex Hygiene,” under which papers were presented as follows: "Wanted-A Twentieth-Century Ideal"-Grace C. Strachan, district superintendent of schools, Brooklyn, N.Y. "Sex Hygiene-What the Schools Can Do"-Carroll G. Pearse, president, State Normal School, Milwaukee, Wis. Discussion: J. W. Carr, superintendent of schools, Bayonne, N.J.; J. Stanley Brown, superintendent, Township High School, Joliet, Ill.; and Thomas A. Mott, superintendent of schools, Seymour, Ind. The death of A. C. Nelson, state superintendent of public instruction, Salt Lake City, Utah, was noted and a committee appointed to prepare resolutions relating to the same, which committee will report at the St. Paul meeting of the Council. WILLIAM B. OWEN, Secretary PAPERS AND DISCUSSIONS TOPIC: HEALTH PROBLEMS IN THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS THOMAS D. WOOD, M.D., COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK, N.Y., CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH PROBLEMS IN EDUCATION OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF EDUCATION The Joint Committee on Health Problems in Education of the National Council of Education and of the American Medical Association has made an exhaustive study of the problems of health and sanitation in rural communities. It has already decided at this meeting upon lines of action that will bear early fruit. It will issue in time for publication in the Proceedings a clear-cut statement of the "Minimum Sanitary Requirements for Rural Schools." Statistics show that most physical defects are as prevalent, or more prevalent, among pupils in rural schools than among those who go to schools in the city. School buildings and grounds in cities and towns are in general more attractive, more sanitary, and more adequate for the education of children than school buildings and grounds in the country. Many country schools are in schoolhouses and outhouses, not only dangerous to health, but deadening to the finer sensibilities and degrading to the morals of the pupils. The country school should be as sanitary and as wholesome in all essential particulars as the best private dwelling in the community. The expense of the things which really affect the health of the pupil in school should be estimated in terms of child life and efficiency and only for convenience reduced to dollar and cents. The welfare of our country depends upon no factor more indispensable, more vital, than the welfare of rural life. The rural school is the universal, the strategic, the incomparable agency for improving rural life. These influences of the rural school affect not only methods of agriculture, but all phases and standards of the lives of the people-physical, mental, social, and moral. If the rural school is to be considered fundamentally and passably efficient, it must be sanitary enough to conserve all health values, and a sure and sufficient supervision of personal health of rural-school children must be instituted and maintained. Medical inspection of pupils has been instituted in about four hundred cities of the country. Not one state in five provides even nominal medical inspection and health care for children in country schools. The Joint Committee on Health Problems in Education of the National Council of Education and of the American Medical Association is committed with conviction and enthusiasm to promoting improvement of sanitation of rural schools and care of health of country children. The committee is considering a plan for stimulating improvement of rural schools thru prizes to be awarded to states and communities which demonstrate the greatest relative improvement in their own schools. MINIMUM SANITARY REQUIREMENTS FOR RURAL SCHOOLS The following are the "Minimum Sanitary Requirements for Rural Schools" proposed by the Joint Committees on Health Problems in Education of the National Council of Education of the National Education Association and of the American Medical Association: It is the desire and purpose of this committee to help establish a standard of fundamental health essentials in the rural school and its material equipment, so that attainment of this minimum standard may be demanded by educational authorities and by public opinion of every rural school thruout the country. Possession of the minimum sanitary requirements should be absolutely necessary to the pride and self-respect of the community and to the sanction and approval of county, state, and other supervising and interested official or social agencies. Neglect of anything essential for health in construction, equipment, and care of the rural-school plant is at least an educational sin of omission and may reasonably be considered a social and civic crime or misdemeanor. The country school should be as sanitary and wholesome in all essential particulars as the best home in the community. Further, it should be pleasing and attractive in appearance, in furnishings, and in surroundings, so that the community as a whole may be proud of it; so that the pupils and teacher may take pleasure in attending school and in caring for and improving it. I. LOCATION AND SURROUNDINGS The school should be located in as healthful a place as exists in the community. Noise and all other objectionable factors should be eliminated from the immediate environment of the rural school. Accessibility.-Not more than two miles from the most distant home, if the children walk. Not more than six miles from the most distant home, if school wagons are provided. Drainage.-School ground must be well drained and as dry as possible. If natural drainage is not adequate, artificial subsoil drainage should be provided. Soil. As every rural-school ground should have trees, shrubs, and a real garden or experimental farm, the soil of the school grounds should be fertile and tillable. Rock and clay soil should always be avoided. If the soil is muddy when wet, a good layer of sand and fine gravel should be used to make the children's playground as useful as possible in all kinds of weather. Size of school grounds. For the schoolhouse and playground, at least three acres are required.1 Playground is not a luxury but a necessity. A school without a playground is an educational deformity and presents a gross injustice to childhood. Arrangement of grounds.-The school grounds should have trees, plants, and shrubs grouped with artistic effect but without interfering with the children's playground. The schoolhouse should be made as nearly fireproof as possible. Doors should always open outward and the main door should have a covered entrance; a separate fuel room should be provided, also separate cloakrooms for boys and for girls. A basement or cellar, if provided, should be well ventilated and absolutely dry. The one-teacher country school should contain, in addition to the class room: a) A small entrance hall, not less than 6 by 8 feet. If the rural-school plan includes the additional features (a teacher's home, a garden, and an experimental farm), which are already in some progressive states accepted and established as educational essentials, then the school grounds should contain 8 to 10 acres. |