THE CONNECTICUT SCHOOL AT WILLIMANTIC.

The acts creating a second State normal school and locating it at Willimantic were passed in 1889. Section 1 of the organic act relates that "The State board of education shall maintain two normal schools as seminaries for training teachers in the art of instructing and governing in the public schools of the State, one of which shall be located cast of the Connecticut River [the one already established being west of the Connecticut], and such sum as the State board of education may in each year deem necessary for their support, not exceeding in any year $40,000 in the aggregate, shall be annually paid therefor from the treasury of the State on the order of the said board. The appointment and general management of teachers is under the control of State board, as also the finances.

Tuition is gratuitous and the regulations for admission and the number of pupils are fixed by the State board. The candidates for admission are selected by the school visitors of each town, and must file with the board a written declaration "that their object in securing admission to such school is to become qualified to teach in public schools, and that they intend to teach in the public schools of this State." The State board may establish and maintain model schools.

By a subsequent act the school was located at Willimantic, and $75,000 appropriated for its establishment. This appropriation, however, did not become available until the township of Windham bad furnished a satisfactory site and had agreed to furnish "suitable and sufficient school buildings and model ana practice schools in connection with the training department of said normal school."

THE NEW YORK SCHOOL AT PLATTSBURGH.

By "an act to establish a normal and training school at the village of Plattsburgh" it is related that

SECTION 1. There shall be established at the village of Plattsburgh, in the county of Clinton, a normal and training school: Provided, however, and upon the condition, That within one year from the passage of this act a suitable site shall be conveyed to the State for said institution, to be approved and accepted by the commission

ers.

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SEC. 2. Upon the acceptance of such conveyance, the superintendent of public instruction shall appoint a local board of managers for such school, consisting of not less than three persons.

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SEC. 3. Upon the appointment of such board of managers, there shall be erected upon such site suitable buildings for such normal and training school an expense not to exceed $60,000.

at

THE TRANSFER OF THE TRAINING CLASSES IN THE ACADEMIES AND UNION SCHOOLS OF NEW YORK FROM THE MANAGEMENT OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS TO THAT OF THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT.

The board of regents of the University of New York was established in 1784, and reorganized with power to incorporate colleges and academies in 1787. The office of State superintendent was created in 1813 and abolished in 1821 and reëstablished in 1854. The regents in 1834 established classes for the training of teachers in the academies, and in 1844 the deputy secretary of state having cognizance of school affairs and the regents were jointly charged with the mauagement of the first State normal school. By the act recreating his office in 1854 the State superintendent became a member of the board of regents, and by an act of the following year that board was authorized to prescribe a course of study for teachers' classes in academies. The normal schools proper, with the exception of the first, have ever been under the charge of the State superintendent. In 1870 a bill making the regents subordinate to the superintendent was vetoed by the governor, since which the two educational authorities of the State have been superintending the training of teachers each in its own sphere. We have given the State superintendent's solution of the difficulty on pages 437-8 of our 1887-88 report as far as it relates to normal schools and classes. In the sequel the solution recently made by the legislature will be given. The matter is quotedfrom the 1890 report of the State superintendent, Mr. Draper, being his "regulations and course of study for the training classes in the academies and union schools of the State," of June 15, 1889.

"Teachers who have had experience in the instruction of training classes in the academies and union schools of the State have felt that a great advance would be attained if a uniformity of subjects pursued by these classes could be secured and a uniform standard of examination could be reached. The accomplishment of these advantages has been reached by an act of the legislature (chapter 137 of the laws of 1889), transferring the manageinent and supervision of these classes to the superin

tendent of public instruction. This law also enables the superintendent to harmonize the work with other instrumentalities of the State for the qualification of common-school teachers.

"In the instructions which follow, an effort has been made to secure these results. Attention is therefore called to the changes which have been made to the regulations which have been adopted and to the syllabus for uniform study and examination. "I. Appointments.-To receive due consideration applications for an appointment to instruct a class should be forwarded to the department of public instruction by the 1st of July for the ensuing year. In making assigaments to institutions, reference will be given to the following considerations: (1) The proper distribution of the classes among the counties of the State. (2) The location of the class to accommodate the greatest number of suitable candidates. (3) Such equipment of the institution as will give assurance of doing substantial work, both in the theory and practice of teaching. A blauk form of application will be furnished to institutions requesting the same.

The funds paid by the State for this instruction go to the management of the institution and not to any individual. Trustees [of an academy] who pay a fixed salary to their principal are requested not to allow teachers to share in this fund as an extra compensation. Where this is done it will be considered as sufficient ground for discontinuing the assignment.

"II. Qualifications for admission.—(1) Candidates must have attained the age of sixteen years (2) They must subscribe in good faith to the tollowing declaration, and the trustees, principal, and school commissioner must be satisfied that the candidates have the moral character, talents, and aptness necessary to success in teaching: We the subscribers, hereby declare that our object in asking admission to the training class is to prepare ourselves for teaching in the public schools of this State, and that it is our intention to become teachers.' (3) Before admission they must pass the examination for third grade license [v. p. 438, 1887-88 Report of U. S. Bu. of Ed.] under the State uniform examination; or hold the regents' preliminary certificate and a pass-card in physiology. (4) No applicant can be admitted to the privileges of the class who can not comply with all the conditious prescribed and devote the requisite time to the special work of the class.

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"III. Organization.-(1) The class organized under the appointment must consist of not less than ten members and must be instructed for a period of not less than ten or more than thirteen weeks. Institutions will receive $1 for each week's instruction of each member, and the whole number of weeks allowed each class must not exceed 250. (2) As one term does not afford sufficient time to accomplish the amount of instruction and training desirable to meet the progressive demands of the teaching service, on that account those institutions, having ample facilities and a good record in the grade and character of the instruction, may receive an appointment to instruct two classes during the year. (3) To secure the most promising candidates the following information should be fully announced some time prior to the organization of the class: The time when the class is to be organized, conditions of membership, the character and advantages of a professional course of study, the importance of this work in securing teachers' certificates. * (5) Two periods of forty-five minutes each every school day must be employed in the instruction on the topics laid down in course of study. Outside of the time giveu for this separate instruction, such members of the class as have time and ability may be allowed to pursue such other subjects in the school curriculum as will be most profitable, for which, however, no tuition may be charged. * * *

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"IV. Course of study.--The following course of study is prescribed upon the advice of a committee of principals representing the union schools and the academies of the State. This committee met, after consultation with the normal-school principals, and devised a plan of study which is intended to harmonize with the norinal-school work and the uniform examination for teachers' certificates.

"V. Observation and practice work.-The above course devotes, during the first term, six weeks to the study of methods in reading, spelling, and number; and during the second term seven weeks to the study of methods in language, primary geography,

and physiology. Part of the time given to these topics must be spent in observation and practice work under the direction of the instructor of the class, acting as critic teacher. One of the considerations specially noted in granting the application was the opportunity afforded for observation and practice work, and it is insisted that these opportunities be improved. The training class must be also a practice class. In addition to receiving the methods of teaching on the authority of the instructor it is very important that the members should be trained how to observe critically and to intelligently interpret the principles of teaching by being brought in contact with the pupils in the actual work of imparting instruction. To afford this training it is expected that the critic teacher, at least twice a week, will give an opportunity to witness practical work, either by taking the class to other departments of the school to observe the work of experienced teachers, or by bringing pupils from other departments to receive from the critic teacher a model lesson. In addition, it is recommended that each member be given actual work in teaching as often as consistent with the work of the school. At a subsequent recitation let this observation and practice work be reviewed by the critic teacher, the underlying principles clearly brought out and the proper methods forcibly presented. The time devoted to the observation work, and the criticisms on the work, will be accounted part of the regular daily periods of class instruction.

"Very much depends upon the instructor of these classes whether the instruction and practice drill are of a proper grade and character. The number of graduates sent out each year from our normal schools, the departments of pedagogical study instituted in some of our colleges, and the formation of summer schools for the special purpose of studying the best methods of teaching, are ample to furnish competent and thoroughly trained teachers to take charge of the classes. Duty to the common schools demands thoroughly trained teachers for this work. If the inspector in his visitation of these classes shall find any person in charge of the instruction who is not qualified by professional study or experience to properly conduct the class, he is instructed to report the fact to the superintendent, who will annul the appointment to instruct such a class."

The superintendent gives the syllabus of the course, but as this is very minute in its directions, covering eight pages, we are obliged to refer those who desire to study it to the superintendent's report for 1890.

For the fall term of 1889, sixty-one institutions were designated to instruct a class, of which twelve failed to organize for lack of a sufficient number to satisfy the advanced requirements for admission. For the forty-nine that organized, the following statistics are given:

The above figures show a diminished attendance as compared with the operation of these classes under the former order of things; but "a very gratifying advance in the grade of scholarship and the general maturity of the membership." The loss in attendance is attributed by the inspector, Professor Hawkins, to the advance in the standard for admission, the increased time demanded for study, and the greater ease in obtaining a second-grade certificate by examination immediately than by going through the course in order to obtain it.

STUDENTS UNDER TRAINING FOR TEACHING IN CITIES.

In cities normal schools, departments, or classes, are being so rapidly established and in such different ways that it is hard to keep up with the increase or even to tell where it is occurring. The following table will show the number of students in cities of 4,000 and over:

TABLE 1.-Statistics of training schools and classes, for the most part connected with city high schools, in cities with 4,000 inhabitants and over for 1888-89.

Until 1887 the questions asked on the blank forms of inquiry annually sent out by this Bureau regarding the scholastic character of the attendance at the normal schools of the country were these:

9. Number of different normal students in attendance during the last school year: Male, female,

10. Number of other students of secondary or high-school grade in attendance during the last school year: Male, -; female,

11. Is there a model school attached to the institution?

In the following year (1888) the form was changed to enable the Bureau to ascertain what number were actually being trained for teaching. The inquiry as to attendance was now couched in the following terms:

5. Number of different students enrolled within the year: *

Male,

; female,

; total,

a By referring to p. 956 it will be seen that for the first session 1889-90, 748 pupils were enrolled in the teachers' training classes in the academies and union schools of New York, a decrease. The statistics of the above table are for 1888-89; but of the 424 students in the North Atlantic Division, only 309 are for New York. In other words, it must be remembered that the statistics of the above table are for cities of 4,000 inhabitants and over.

b The answer to this question should not include students in the model department when such students are below the secondary or high-school grade.

Not including pupils in practice training school.

Nor was this satisfactory. The answer to the eighth inquiry was frequently larger than the answer to the seventh, and the seventh and the thirteenth were sometimes taken to be the same inquiry in different terms. In the inquiry for the following year an attempt was made to bring these questions into a series, thus:

This seems to have answered very well, but there are two objections to it. In the first place, a and b are not mutually exclusive, and in the second, each correspondent is left to interpret the meaning of the expression "the science and art of teaching' for himself. To come to some approximate knowledge of what meaning each placed on this term a number of questions were asked on the last page of the form of inquiry. What these questions were, and the answers to them, have already been given in Chapter XIII. In the following summary the answers to a, b, and c of the last scheme above are given by the side of the more important columns showing the number of pupils reported in the science and art of education. In some cases, however, it was impossible to exclude the replies to d, and, in two or three cases, to e.

PUBLIC NORMAL SCHOOLS.

Attendance.-During 1888-89 it appears from the following table that 22,618 persons were pursuing a course of study in the science and art of teaching in the 129 schools which report themselves as having such students. Of these students 71 in every hundred were women, a slight increase over the percentage of 1887-88, when 112 schools reported themselves as having students in a "teachers' training class." If we divide the number of students in the science and art of teaching by the number of schools reporting themselves as having such students during 1-88-89 we find that for the year under review (1888-89) there were 175 students to each of the 129 schools reporting. For 1887-88 there were but 154 to each of the 112 schools reporting for that year. During the year under review there were 28,092 pupils in 124 schools whose statistics may be used, or 228 students to each school. During the preceding year there were 243 students to the 133 schools whose statistics were used. In the 123 schools for 1888-89, 70 per cent. of the attendance were women, a slight increase over the percentage of 1887-88, when it was 69 per cent.

Twenty schools report 1,216 students under kindergarten training, and 56 report 8,370 students in secondary studies, but in some cases these secondary students appear to have been included also in the science and art of teaching course.