Part 40 (2/2)

The pupils are transported to and from school in hacks or motor- busses heated in winter. The school buildings are equipped with running water, modern heating and sanitation, telephone, restrooms for pupils and teachers, gymnasiums and outdoor physical apparatus, physical training and athletic compet.i.tion being carried on under supervision. The courses of study have been enriched, increased attention is given to vocational work, and music and art receive attention impossible in the district schools. Eleven of the schools have orchestras, and concerts are held which the community as well as the schools attend. There are auditoriums used for community lectures and concerts, Sunday- school conventions, community sings, parent-teachers' meetings, and exhibits of various kinds.

Report on the following:

School life in colonial New England; in colonial Virginia.

The first schools in your own community--length of school term, attendance, whether private or public, qualifications of teachers, methods of teaching.

What the family does for the education of the children that the school cannot do. What the school does that the family cannot do.

Organization of the schools in your district, towns.h.i.+p, county, or city.

Advantages of graded schools over ungraded schools.

Consolidation of schools in your county or state.

Debate the question: The district school is more democratic than the county organization.

Method of selection of the superintendent of your county and town.

Length of term of office.

Organization, powers, mode of election, etc., of your local board of education.

Authority, or lack of authority, of your county superintendent over the schools of cities and large towns in the county.

Qualifications prescribed for teachers in your county or town. How selected.

How are school books selected? Are they free to pupils? Advantages and disadvantages of free textbooks.

Evidence that public education is or is not a matter of common interest to the people of your community.

Examples of team work, or lack of it, in your community in the interest of the schools.

Are the methods by which school authorities are chosen in your community calculated to secure the best leaders.h.i.+p?

How the duties relating to the schools are divided between your school board and the superintendent. Does your board perform any duties that should be performed by the superintendent, or VICE VERSA? Explain.

Parent-teacher organizations in your community and their service.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE HIGH SCHOOL

Public education was long restricted to the elementary school.

High schools were at first private academies designed to prepare for college the few who wished to continue their education. While they still continue to give preparation for college, their development in recent years has been largely for the benefit of the greater number of boys and girls who do not expect to go to college. The high school naturally made its first appearance in cities. It requires more elaborate equipment and more highly trained teachers, and its cost is at least twice that of elementary schools. These facts, together with the small and scattered population of rural communities, have been obstacles to the development of rural high schools. The consolidated school has in large measure removed these obstacles, and a high school education is rapidly becoming as available for rural boys and girls as for those who live in cities.

Report on:

The history of high school development in your community.

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