Part 10 (1/2)

REPLIES FROM CITY SUPERINTENDENTS

To question (1) Thirty replies were received, of which twenty-eight were negative, and two affirmative The tere frole normal school, and that, one of the best

To question (2) Twenty-eight replies were received, of which twenty-six were negative, and two affirmative

To be sure, correspondence upon this point was not sufficiently extended to be conclusive, but yet my correspondents were, in the main, leaders in their respective lines, and therefore represent the best educational thought and practise of the times The summary speaks clearly and to the point, and to the saht us The work of the norinning, devoted to preparation of teachers for the grades, while prospective teachers in the high schools should seek their preparation in the teachers colleges, under whatever specific names knohere the professional phases of the ill be as much emphasized, but be different, and be differently handled as befitting the different character of the work to be done, and where they can receive the broader academic outlook and equiper and more difficult situation

NOTE--Since the appearance of the January number of _Education_,institutions giving early attention to the preparation of secondary teachers I omitted some that should have found a place in such an enuht well have been e 224, line 3 of this work), I y of New York University, also Clark, Stanford, California, and Teachers College, Colue 228, line 18 of this work), I certainly should have added the School of Pedagogy of New York University and Clark University, possibly others, for the work is progressing rapidly But it was the movement I had in mind rather than the specific contributions of various institutions The omissions were not born of any desire to withhold from any institution the credit that it deserves

Since this ard to the New York University School of Pedagogy, just mentioned If I e,” that is, the first instance in which we see a ”Depart with other departments in a university, beco body, ”a professional school of equal rank with the other professional schools of the University” This change wasby results, it has been ae and splendid work--THE AUTHOR

X

CREDIT FOR QUALITY IN SECONDARY AND HIGHER EDUCATION

_From the ”Educational Review,” March, 1909, and the ”Western Journal of Education” (now the ”American Schoolmaster”), May, 1909_

In the _Educational Review_ for May, 1908, Mr W B Secor had an article under the caption, ”Credit for Quality in the Secondary School”

Mr Secor says, in his opening paragraph, ”The present systeraduation in use in the secondary school, takes account mainly of the amount of work done The student who barely passes his work gets just the saraduation as the one who passes high in the nineties It is to be expected, then, that the studentwill reason soraduated if I pass my work in the seventies just the same as if I pass it in the nineties What is the use of wasting tiests a syste which ”would not only fix a rees of quality by giving h quality than for lohich syste of the intellectual life of the secondary school” Mr Secor does not clai to President Hyde of Bowdoin that doubtful honor He also refers to two articles in the _Educational Review_, one in the issue of April, 1905, written by Professor Tho of the system as just introduced into that institution, and the other in the issue of Dece the system as then in use in the University of North Dakota After these references have been cited, the system is discust from various points of view and its extension into the secondary field favored, tho, in his closing paragraph, Mr Secor says, ”Now the plan here proposed does not claim perfection It may not even be a workable scheme when put to the test”

Mr Secor's article is but one oftried in a few of our higher institutions of learning, of atte to estimate and adequately reward quality as well as quantity of work done by students, is attracting considerable attention It is not at all strange that these experi and its justice seely so apparent Because of this interest I desire to examine some parts of Mr Secor's article and in the process of that examination briefly discuss the so-called ”Credit-for-quality” idea I shall be materially aided in such discussion by s of the system in the University of North Dakota, and shall take the opportunity of letting the educational world kno the systearded in the institution in which it has been receiving its most extensive and thoro trial For while the systeinate here, it was here first put into operation, and for years an earnest, honest, heroic effort has been put forth in its behalf I ht say, parenthetically, that the details of the systeests are almost identically the ones that have been in use in this institution

They were found to be faulty, however, and have been ed

I have read and re-read Mr Secor's article with both interest and apprehension; with interest, because the ”Credit-for-quality” idea has been engaging htful attention on both its practical and its theoretical sides for a considerable time; with apprehension, since the article seems to recommend the system for use in our secondary schools

I am sorry the recommendation has been made for the conclusions I have reached fro held by Mr Secor I seriously question the wisdo with students of college rank, much more seriously, then, when applied to those of the secondary school who are four years younger, much less mature, and therefore less able to profit by the meritorious features and at the sa influences attendant upon the system Indeed, I think its adoption in the secondary schools would be nothing short of a calamity Another reason why I feel impelled to speak is that reference isof the systehly satisfactory” In justice to the systeested extension, that io forth without modification or correction I shall attes, tho I shall not try to separate the three spatially: (1) to discuss thissystem on its s after an experience with it of five years, and (3) to urge against its extension into the secondary field

Let me say, at the outset, that I have been connected with the University of North Dakota for three years--the last three of the five during which the system has been in use I have had all the tirading has had to be done three times a year, since our school year, up to the present time, has been separated into three terms Let me also make plain the fact that in all I say I speak upon my own responsibility, not for the institution nor for its faculty, tho it is true that nearly, if not quite, half the faculty hold practically the sa the system

It is true, as Mr Secor says, that ”the present systeraduation used in our secondary schools takes account mainly of the amount of work done” It passes upon quality, as he says, only ”when it fixes a passing ranted, that it would be desirable to give credit towards graduation for quality as well as for quantity, but of this I a with secondary students It does not sufficiently take into consideration the value of content, and that, it seearded I think I value as highly as ained by close application; likewise, the habit of thoroness gained thru doing ell; but yet, in addition to those acquisitions, I confess that I also place high value upon knowledge as a possession In other words, I want the student, both high school and college, to know soladly admit, however, that it is very desirable to secure from the student quality as well as quantity That, I a that Mr Secor is really after He thinks the best way, or, at any rate, a very good way, to get it is thru the device of giving extra credit toward graduation for the higher grades of work My experience with the system does not lead me to that conclusion Interest in the subject h quality of work And such interest in the subjectso artificial as rewards s of the market So far as it can not be secured directly, and resort must be made to artificial incentives to secure it, I think that incentives can be found eneral spirit and purpose of education than the constant appeal to the co obtained The ordinary monthly report card sent to the ho done in the various subjects is indicated by ”excellent,” ”good,” ”poor,” etc, and even by the too coh Every teacher knohat an incentive the report card can be reatly in their ability to use this card skilfully, but so used it can exert great power Not long ago I discust this ”Credit-for-quality” matter with a class of about thirty university students, mostly freshmen, and, somewhat to my surprise, I discovered that with thethe ”A”

and ”B” (our raduation) was not that they bore the extra credit, but that the descriptive terood” secure extra appreciation froht not be true of any large percentage of university students, certainly would not be of the upper classes Added years have made them shrewder Under the influence of our systeain” But it certainly would be true of a very large percentage of secondary students

Considerable experience in the secondary schools leads h school student reasons as Mr Secor suggests in his first paragraph Some do, of course, and so do soreat body of either Barring a sh school and college, are an earnest lot of young people They are in these institutions for a purpose They are seeking, so far as their vision extends, well-developed manhood and womanhood Their chief desire is not to slide thru The two iressive growth and appreciation froer the majority are for this appreciation is well known to all All the stimulus needed, in addition to what the subjects and the student's own desire furnish, the resourceful teacher has at hand wrapt up in his own personality If any other sti of diploes I hold that to add to the e is both unnecessary and really subversive of the true ends of the school work As teachers we should seek to elevate ideals, not to lower the ones; to place before the developing youth high incentives, not low ones

Mr Secor says, ”the proposed plan is superior to the present systeives a natural and not an artificial incentive to high scholarshi+p” By what process of reasoning he reaches the conclusion that mere ”marks and honors” are more ”unnatural” and ”artificial” than the sa appended, I fail to see

The truth of the matter is, both are artificial As incentives, both are low, but it stands to reason that the latter is much lower than the former The best friends of the system here, in the University of North Dakota, admit that, as an incentive, it is both artificial and low Mr

Secor goes on to say, ”the system” (that is, the ”Credit-for-quality”) ”puts a pre the student to co forced to study so many subjects that he is not able to do any of theed as to force the student ”to study so many subjects that he is not able to do any of the with the courses of study But no evil can be rereater As a matter of fact, the application of the syste scholarshi+p,” at least not in the University of North Dakota where, for five years, an honest and faithful effort has been made to secure that result In all our discussions I have never heard one of its friends e has been repeatedly oes on to say, ”he” (the student) ”may substitute depth for breadth, if he so desires, and is encouraged to do so” Shall we, in the secondary schools, encourage depth? Yes, to be sure, relative depth, but not too much of it, and not then at the expense of breadth For is not the high school student in that stage of his development when he responds to the sense of breadth rather than that of depth? We could not make of him a student of research if we should try Let us not try

In the last paragraph of the article referred to we find a hint of a lack of thoro conviction on the part of the writer himself ”It may not even be a workable scheme when put to the test,” he says Letto be satisfactorily ”workable” even with students of college grade, and by a recent faculty action it has been entirely eliminated from our preparatory department