PUBLIC NORMAL SCHOOLS. [Tables 25 and 26, Pages 456 and 458.] In the following tables giving the statistics of public normal schools reporting to this Office for the year 1886-87, only those schools are included which receive appropriations from State, county, city, or Peabody funds. These number 124 schools, with 1,235 instructors and 30,296 students. Of the last mentioned, 26,594 are normal pupils, 7,576 of whom are males and 17,507 females, with 1,511 whose sex is not stated. Normal pupils are also reported from high schools (including public and partly public schools), the number aggregating 2,967, while private normal schools and academies increase the number by 18,386 pupils. To these are to be added 1,542 normal students reported from 58 colleges, giving a total of 22,895 in other than public normal schools, and a grand total of 49,489 normal students in public and private schools throughout the country. About two-thirds of the public normal schools receive State aid; a few are assisted by county funds; while many are supported wholly from the appropriations for city schools. The Peabody Education Fund assists liberally in this cause, distributing nearly $50,000 annually among normal schools in the South. PRIVATE NORMAL SCHOOLS. [Table 20A, Page 404.] Peculiar difficulties attend the classification of schools reporting under the head of private normals, on account of the following conditions: Their work is twofold; general and special. The general course is sometimes of an elementary grade, sometimes corresponds to the usual academic course, and is sometimes a union of the two. Again, the special or teachers' training course may consist of a brief series of lectures on methods of instruction or an extended course in the theory and art of teaching, including practice in a model school. In the former case the special course is not a feature of sufficient prominence to be made the basis of classification. In the latter case the schools are essentially training schools for teachers, and are so regarded in their respective communities. It is hoped that special inquiries now in progress may secure information that will lead to a more satisfactory exhibit of the number and character of the schools in question than is possible with the present data. Table 26A presents the statistics of twenty-six private normal schools, having 238 instructors and 8,470 pupils. TABLE 26.-Statistics of public normal schools for 1886-87; from a Seven hundred dollars from Sater fund for industrial training. b Except subcollegiate department, in which normal pupils teach some for practice. e Since 1879, inclusive. d The institution itself is a practice school. e Included in public school estimate. f These statistics are for the year 1885-86. g Includes estimated income from endowment and fees. h From Peabody Fund, $2,000 for school and $1,000 for institutes. iSchool located in high school building. Normal Training and Practice Class.. 1878 1836 M. A. Newell 1652 Sarah M. Taylor Larkin Dunton George H. Bartlett. 1840 Albert G. Boyden, A. M Ariadne J. Borden 1839 Ellen Hyde.. 1881 Cora A. Newton..... 1873 Miss L. P. Shepard.. 1854 Daniel B. Hagar, Ph. D |