decided tendency in all school groups, with the single exception of the small schools enrolling 100 or fewer pupils, to limit the participation of pupils in nonathletic activities by specifying the number of activities in which they may participate during the semester or year. A few schools indicated that limitation depended on the individual pupil and that the number of activities permitted varied with the marks and scholarship of the pupil. TABLE 22.-Percentages of schools in different groups employing methods specified to restrict the participation of pupils in number and type of nonathletic activities 11. General administrative regulation. 2. Scholarship marks. 3. Arrangement of schedule of activities. 4. Point system. 5. Individual cases. Methods of restricting the number of activities in which pupils may participate.-Five methods by which the number of activities of pupils in nonathletic activities are limited by the schools restricting participation are shown in Table 22, namely, general administrative regulation, scholarship marks, arrangement of the schedule of activities, point systems, and individual cases. All these practices are in use in all but four of the different school groups. The leading practice for the entire group of schools is restriction by general administrative rule; the other practices rank in use in the order just given. Certain practices are favored by certain groups of schools while others are favored by other groups of schools. The New England schools favor restriction by individual cases; the schools in the Middle West, the 6-year and senior high schools, and the schools enrolling 100 or fewer pupils favor restriction by scholarship marks; the 6-year schools favor equally the restriction of participation by administrative regulation and scholarship marks; all of the remaining school groups favor restriction by general administrative regulation. 4. TIME OF EFFECTING ORGANIZATION The development of a program of activities in any secondary school to meet the needs of its pupils requires an established policy with respect to the organization of activities. If the program is to be responsive to the interests and needs of the pupils, provisions must be made for the organization of new activities-provisions which should be understood by pupils and faculty. Otherwise, the program may tend to become formalized and lose its appeal to the pupils. The data presented in Table 23 show the practices of the different school groups with respect to the time of effecting the organization of nonathletic activities. The time most frequently TABLE 23.-Percentages of schools in different groups effecting organization of nonathletic activities at times specified 11. At beginning of school year only. 2. At beginning of semesters only. 3. Irregular. 4. As needed. 5. Miscellaneous. used by the groups of schools collectively is (1) at beginning of each semester only, or (2) at beginning of school year only. A small percentage of the schools organize activities as needed. The remainder are irregular or follow miscellaneous practices; a few schools failed to specify the time. The schools which organize their activities only at the first of the school year are found in largest numbers in New England and in the Western States, belong chiefly to the senior, 6-year, and 4-year high school types, and are in the lower enrollment groups (fewer than 750). The schools which follow the practice of organizing their activities only at the first of each semester are found chiefly in the Middle Atlantic, Southern, and Middle Western divisions, are of the junior high school type, and belong to the higher enrollment groups (more than 750). The schools whose practices are characterized as "irregular" belong chiefly in the New England division, are of the 4-year type and enroll either 101 to 300 pupils or more than 2,000. Those schools that observe the practice of organizing activities only "as needed" are found largely in the Western division, are of the senior or 4-year high school types, and have enrollments in excess of 2,000. The schools whose practices were classified as "miscellaneous" belong chiefly in the Southern States, are of the senior high school type, and enroll fewer than 100 pupils. Only a small percentage of the schools (3.6) failed to specify their practices. 5. TIME OF ADMITTING NEW MEMBERS TO ORGANIZATIONS An issue in the administration of a program of activities for a school is the practice of admitting new members to organized activities. Approximately three-fourths of the schools (75.9 per cent) admit new members to organizations at the beginning of the school year only, at the beginning of each semester, or at any time within the year or semester. (See Table 24.) Twelve additional practices classified in Table 24 as miscellaneous were reported, namely, at first of semester and at any time, at first of year and at any time, either at first of year or first of semester, when considered necessary, every six weeks, at the end of a marking period, three times a year, in November, in September and May, twice a semester, every three weeks, and at the first of each quarter. While each of these practices was reported by schools in several different groups, no single practice had a frequency greater than 4.9 per cent. Four per cent of the schools failed to specify the practice followed with respect to the admission of pupils to nonathletic activities. TABLE 24.-Percentages of schools in different groups admitting new members to organizations at times specified 11. At the beginning of the school year only. 2. At the beginning of each semester. 3. At any time within the year or semester. 4. Miscellaneous. Only the schools of the 6-year type employ the plan of admitting new members exclusively at the beginning of the school year. The schools which favor the plan of admitting members at the first of each semester belong chiefly to the junior high school type, have enrollments varying from 300 to 2,000 and are found in largest numbers in the Middle Atlantic, Southern, and Middle Western divisions. Those schools which admit members to organizations at any time belong chiefly in the New England and Western divisions, are of the senior and 4-year high school types, and belong to both the low (fewer than 300) and high (more than 2,000) enrollment groups. The practices with respect to the time of admitting new members to organizations vary more than the practices with respect to the time of organizing activities. However, the percentage of schools which admit new members at the beginning of each semester is approximately the same as the percentage of schools which organize new activities at the beginning of each semester. 6. OFFICIALS AUTHORIZED TO GRANT PERMISSION The regulation and control of the program of activities requires that the responsibility for initiating new activities in a school be definitely established. This is shown in Table 25 to rest chiefly with the school principal. The mean percentage for all of the school groups is 58 and the range for the different school groups is from 40 to 68.2. The schools of New England lead in placing the responsibility for the authorization of new activities on the principal, the percentage being 68.2; the Middle Atlantic division is second with a frequency of 62.5 per cent, the Middle Western division third with 59.3 per cent, the Southern division fourth with 55 per cent, and the Western division lowest with 45.2 per cent. The senior high schools lead the other types of schools in the observance of the practice with a percentage frequency of 65.8. The 4-year high schools have a median percentage of 60.7, the junior high schools, 56.3 per cent, and the 6-year high schools, 46.5 per cent. Of the different enrollment groups, the schools with 101-300 pupils lead with a frequency of 70.8 per cent. The schools of the enrollment group 7512,000 have a percentage of 59.7, and the schools of 100 and fewer have a percentage of 59.3 The schools which observe the practice least are those enrolling 301-750 and more than 2,000. A number of other officials share responsibility with the principal in organizing new activities. Chief among these are the director of activities, the vice-principal, and committees of the faculty and pupils. Considering the combined percentages of frequency with which the authority for the organization of new activities is vested in the director of extracurriculum activities and the principal and director of activities jointly, a total percentage of 14.7 is secured, which is approximately the same as that found by Reavis and Woellner for the director of activities in 522 secondary schools. Office Practices in Secondary Schools, Laidlaw Brothers, 1930. p. 38. |