The following table will show comparisons with every year from 1885 to 1894, inclusive: The increase in attendance has not been marked, but it is a satisfaction to know that it has exceeded expectations. The per cent. of average attendance is the greatest ever shown, and this result has been reached without friction and with scarcely a criticism or complaint. Teachers and the public seem to know that the Department is sincere in its desire to benefit the schools of the State, by encouraging teachers to see and realize the privileges of association in its best and widest sense. Any statistics which may be presented, while they show almost perfect attendance and great regularity, cannot give a clear idea of what teachers' institutes are intended to do. The vital work cannot be shown by figures. Close attention and observation have convinced me that, in the spirit which our workers and teachers have shown in loyal endeavor to accomplish good results, the institutes of the past year have never been surpassed. There has been a brighter look in teachers' faces, there is more professional spirit, the desire to know more and to do more has been increased, the ambition to teach better schools has been awakened, and teachers have learned to magnify their calling, and have shown an appreciation of the encouragement which has been given. Altogether, the institutes have been, with hardly an exception, cheerful, helpful assemblages of earnest, thoughtful teachers, ready to give and willing to get more light in the work of an exacting profession. The Department has lost no opportunity to give teachers every assurance of interest and encourage For eleven months. + For year ending December 1, 1891. For eight months ending ment, and it has been repaid for all it has done. It has endeavored to uplift the profession of the teacher, to clear away the discouragements which are so often felt, to strengthen and widen the teachers' self-reliance and self respect, to establish closer relations between the public and the teacher, and we have the pleasure of knowing that loyal teachers have not only been profoundly thankful, but have freely expressed their satisfaction. It is a great point gained for efficient teaching when a great army of educational workers can be inspired to look upon the bright side. The effect is shown upon the pupils and upon the patrons, and the educational system is strengthened everywhere. The written reports of the conductors and instructors which are given herewith present views from different standpoints, but all agree that the year has been both pleasant and profitable. No attempt has been made to make striking changes in the general institute plan. The aim has been to make the instruction practical and helpful-principally along the line of the best methods of teaching. Interest in drawing has been maintained and with good results. It seems plain to me, however, that to secure the best results in drawing, the subject must be presented in some way to the pupils at a very early age. Fingers which do not early learn how to handle a pen or pencil readily are apt to find it difficult to acquire the art in later years. Drawing must be made attractive before an interest will be aroused which will bring the benefit which the law intends. There is a great demand for a popular text-book in drawing, and I am painfully aware that much of the interest in the subject seems to vanish when a person has " "passed" in a drawing examination. It is feared that in many schools the subject of drawing is still much neglected, for the reason that the teacher has no taste or ability in that direction. Primary methods have received some attention during the year, and should receive more. It is evident that "child study" is coming to be a very live topic with the live teacher. How to understand a child, should first be known, and then may properly be considered how the child may be taught. Everything that is done, that can be done to lead teachers to study the nature, character and ability of a child, is a vital step in the right direction. The subject of spelling has received its due share of attention during the year, and has proved the necessity of calling attention to this fundamental but much neglected branch. The fear is too well founded that too little attention is paid in our common schools to right instruction in this direction. Some effort has been made to arouse an interest in mental arithmetic, with satisfactory results. Proper method of drill in this subject may well engage the attention of teachers who are anxious to arouse a desire in their pupils to think quickly and accurately. The evening exercises of the institutes have been largely attended, especially those lectures which have been illustrated by stereopticon views. These have drawn toward the institutes thousands of the patrons of our schools who would not otherwise have been attracted to them. The Department has steadily encouraged the attendance of school officers at some particular period during the institute, for conference and consultation upon matters of interest to trustees and other officers. In many cases deep interest has been manifested, and if school commissioners would continue their efforts in this direction, there would soon come a better understanding among all of the workings and necessities of our school system. It is pleasant to commend school commissioners generally for prompt and close attention to all details connected with this work, and for the interest manifested. Reports have been prompt and were uniformly correct. Care has been taken in reference to local expenses, and it seems very plain that no part of the expenditure for school purposes has reached more people with better things to show for it than that which has been expended for teachers' institutes. The general increase in expenses during the year has been the result of added instruction in drawing and primary work, and of the publication of a large supply of a syllabus in drawing, which has been furnished to every teacher in attendance at an institute. It has increased the interest in the subject, and has been an aid to progressive teachers in mastering the subject.; Graded institutes have been tested during the year with satisfactory results. It is now generally conceded by all that where the right conditions exist, an institute may be graded to great advantage. This was strikingly shown at an institute held at Saratoga Springs. All connected with it united in earnest commendation of the results attained. I am sure that the teachers generally have been gratified at the visits which you have made to the institutes, and thank you for your generous assurances of sympathy and encouragement. Respectfully yours, August 1, 1894. CHARLES R. SKINNER. 2. REPORTS OF INSTITUTE CONDUCTORS. REPORT OF DR. HENRY R. SANFORD. Hon. JAMES F. CROOKER, State Superintendent of Public Instruction: DEAR SIR:-Another year of institutes has passed with an excellent record of good work, which omens well for the schools represented. Practically all the teachers teaching under the jurisdiction of the several commissioners have been present at their respective institutes, and their attendance has been remarkably regular. The former inter est and enthusiasm in the work manifested by the teachers, especially the most experienced and best qualified, have been fully maintained. An institute is not a school; its plans and methods are peculiar to itself, dependent, to a large extent, upon the conductors whose individuality will be impressed upon the work of the institute. The success is, however, frequently seriously impaired from the lack of proper accommodations for the sessions. The better adapted schoolroom is for the purposes of a school, the less so is it for an institute. For the former, single desks, many of which are comparatively low, are a necessity, but adults can not sit comfortably at such desks. These are in the way, and audiences are too much scattered. Opera houses and public halls are seldom well adapted to this work. Many of our sessions are held in churches, which usually are found very convenient and conducive to the best results. Our institutes are State institutions, and, as such, they reach the teachers all the teachers except those of the cities and certain villages - but the people are an important factor in giving to a school its highest degree of success, but we do not to any considerable degree reach them in our institutes. Usually very few, except teachers, attend the day exercises; the evening lectures, however, which are of a more general character, call out a large attendance of citizens. In some States it is customary for the people to attend the regular day exercises, particularly in the afternoon when they are present in large numbers. Such attendance must lead to the development of a healthy public sentiment in favor of a liberal and intelligent support of public schools, which must be of the greatest value; for neither teacher nor trustee can go far in advance of the people. It, therefore, becomes an important question whether special efforts ought not to be made to bring them into the institutes. SPELLING CONTESTS. The spelling contests have been continued during another year, and with unabated interest, and it is believed that the results have convinced the teachers that spelling has been seriously neglected in the schools and that it can not be learned merely as an incident in connection with classes, but that it requires a daily exercise devoted to the one principal purpose of learning to spell. TRAINING CLASSES. The development of the training class under the direction of the Department of Public Instruction has become a question of vital importance to the interests of the common schools. These classes present the most feasible, in fact the only means of supplying the rural schools with trained teachers, and institutes being universally recognized as important agencies in the improvement of teachers of all grades, certainly members of training classes should always be present at institutes held in the commissioner district in which the class is located, yet many are not present. Various reasons are given for their absence, the chief of which is that they can not afford the expense of travel and board, yet their attendance is so important that it ought to be possible to devise some means for its accomplishment. DRAWING. For a number of years the State has been making strenuous efforts to introduce drawing into the schools, and to that end ample provision has been made for instruction in this branch in all of the institutes, and it has been made a requisite in the examination of all teachers except those of the lowest grade, but this subject is still a more fruitful source of failure to teachers in examinations than any other. Drawing is now taught in the schools of cities and the larger villages, but not to any extent in the single schools in the country, and it is doubtful if many teachers employ drawing in illustrating their own teaching. The question of drawing in the common schools is yet an unsolved problem. FREQUENT CHANGES OF TEACHERS. Perhaps the greatest cause of the poor condition of our rural schools is the fact that it is customary in very many districts to retain the services of a teacher for only a single term. When the personal influence of the teacher is just beginning to be felt in its inspiring power upon the pupils, these relations are rudely sundered, often from the |