not be ascertained. Seven per cent entered another school, and seven per cent completed the two-year commercial certificate course. Seventy-eight per cent of all withdrawals occurred in the eighth, ninth, and tenth grades. Only two per cent of the withdrawals were failures, while eight per cent were A or superior students. Forty per cent of all the withdrawals and fiftythree per cent of those who withdrew to enter employmnt were doing D or just above passing work. * * * The twenty-four most popular stories selected by fourth grade children in an experiment conducted in the University Elementary School of the State University of Iowa by Miss Wilma Garnett are as follows: work toward good citizienship in state and nation. The resolutions adopted by the committee regarding character education are: 1. That the objectives of education in a republic are the transmission of knowledge from generation to generation, the development of abilities and scholarship, the maturing of character according to wise standards based on human experience. 2. That the use of public money for public school education entitles the general public to a good citizenship product from the public schools, not merely intellectual development on the part of pupils. 3. That the sanctions for character 1. Brother Rabbit and the Little Girls. education in public schools be the Con 2. Wee Willie Winkie. 3. At Home with Grandfather. 4. Whittington's Cat. 5. Baker's Blue Jay Yarn. 6. Dog of Flanders. 7. Little Lord Fauntleroy, Chapter I. 8. Tom Sawyer, Chapter II. 9. The Ransom of Red Chief. 10. King of the Golden River. II. Gold Tree and Silver Tree. 12. Pinocchio. 13. The Cat That Walked by Himself. 14. Blue Beard. 15. Rikki Tikki Tavi. stitution of the nation and that of each 4. That the religious sanctions for conduct and character be taught the children and made effective by the churches. 5. That the curriculum be considered full and whatever school time is allowed to character education be deducted from present assignments to other subjects, so that neither the children nor the teacher shall be overworked; that character education be considered as permeating all 16. The Griffin and the Minor Canon. subjects and appropriate at any time. 17. Moufflou. 18. Robinson Crusoe Builds a Home. 19. Tom Sawyer, Chapter I. 20. Brothers of Angels. 21. Alenoushka and Her Brother. 22. Benjamin Franklin. 23. The Three Citrons. 24. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. -Journal of Educational Research. 6. That in planning character education as an important element in the public schools regard be had for the ability of the teacher and the capacity of the children for interest in, understanding and fulfillment of moral ideas. 7. That the unit for which character education in elementary schools should be planned is the school as a whole. 8. That normal school training school include preparation for character educational work.-School and Society. For the past two years the Bureau of Education has organized in co-operation with the American Legion, a week of discussion of educational matters under the title, “American Education Week." The dates selected for this year are November 17-23. A program has been arranged which will be brought to the attention of the people of the United States by proclamations issued by the President, by the governors of the several states, and by the local government officials. It is recommended that in special assemblies, in parent-teacher meetings, in churches, in clubs, and in the schools themselves, the week be devoted to the discussion of educational topics according to the following schedule: Monday, Constitution Day; Tuesday, Patriotism Day; Wednesday, School and Teacher Day; Thursday, Illiteracy Day; Friday, Physical Education Day; Saturday, Community Day; Sunday, For God and Country Day. Teachers and superintendents are urged to use their influence in securing as widespread attention to this program as possible. Special materials for publication in newspapers will be supplied by the Bureau of Education.-School Review. * West High School of Cleveland, in addition to its usual musical events and plays each spring, has an art program in the auditorium. In a recent program of this kind the cultural side of the art course was illustrated by two pupils who gave talks on Turner and Rosa Bonheur. Slides loaned by the art museum, showing portraits of these two artists and some of their best known pictures, were thrown on the screen. Next came a group of living pictures in which students posed as Sargent's Hosea, Carpaccio's Boy Playing a Mandolin, William Merrit Chase's Alice,. and Whistler's Mother. Five girls showed how a picture is made. A poem, The Little Artist, was read and each of the girls illustrated a stanza, the presentation being so arranged that a number of different media of art were Last year the children of Port Huron, Michigan, received first prize in the Better Homes contest for the model houses which they built and furnished. This year they are erecting and equipping a second house which they will convert into a laboratory for further study. The entire community has had a share in the undertaking. Architectural drawings were supplied by an interested group of architects; the city excavated ground for the house on the school campus; the Chamber of Commerce furnished the brick; and contracting firms gave material for construction. Labor unions worked with the boys and directed the actual building operations. While the boys made the furniture, the girls wove rugs, sewed linen and made other household necessities. When completed, the house will be turned over for community uses. Meetings will be held there and activities of all kinds will flourish. "This is the way I expect to teach them good citizenship," explains Miss Elizabeth Carlisle, Director of the Department of Civics at the Washington Junior High School, who has done most of the planning. "The children are learning community civics from life. The model home gives them a wonderful opportunity for service." * Mario Giani, writing from Rome, Italy, reports that playgrounds are to be established near every school in Italy, each with an adequately trained physician and trained nurse, so that the playgrounds will become centers of community hygiene as well as places of well directed play and activity. A special department of the national government has been established to deal with activities intended for the betterment of workers' conditions, physically and morally, during the leisure hours. This department is interested in the physical education of the young, more especially in relation to the hours following the daily work.-The Playground. * * A new book which should be of much interest to superintendents and high school principals, is one by Professors G. M. Whipple and J. B. Edmonson of the School of Education of the University of Michigan. The book is entitled "Problems of a High School Teaching Staff" and is designed for use as a basis of faculty meetings in the high school. It is one of the Whipple "Educational Problem Series," published by the Public School Publishing Company of Bloomington, Illinois, but it differs from the other books in this series in that it has been specifically prepared for high school faculty meetings and is not designed for college or university classes. In view of the fact that The United States Post Office has prepared a series of accounts of heroic acts by employees of the Department that deserves a wide use in the schools. Among the incidents recorded, those taking place in the outlying districts are most stirring. In the cities the storms are disagreeable enough, but in the sparsely settled country districts they try men's souls to the limit. Even the dwellers on islands in the great lakes must be reached, though ice and blizzard intervene. Peace indeed "hath its victories." The Journal of Educational Method. NEWS OF CHICAGO SCHOOLS A local daily had in large headlines recently: Three Billions for Crime in one year. The entire outlay during the past year for education in all of its phases; elementary schools, high schools, colleges and universities, did not exceed billion. Yet some people think our educational program is expensive. Is it? In the language of a poet: one "Were half the power that fills the world with terror, There are at present forty-eight vacant rooms in elementary schools of recent construction in Chicago. These rooms would afford great relief in the many overcrowded districts. The present building staff has been collecting data and is placing new buildings, and enlarging old ones in localities where relief is most needed. It is making recommendations to place buildings in accordance with these findings. When a problem is attacked scientifically relief is surely in sight. * * * The junior high schools began their important work with an enrollment of 5,000 pupils. By February 1, the beginning of the second semester, from 1,200 to 1,500 more are expected. This is a remarkable showing for so young an institution. Both pupils and parents are delighted with the new situation. There are now only five junior high schools. Within two years-by 1926fourteen more will be ready for occupancy. During the Christmas holidays there will be held another examination for teachers for junior high schools. Subjects: non-academic. During the absence of Professor Judd from his evening class on Junior High Schools, Mr. Gonnelly, District Superintendent in charge of junior high schools, conducted his classes. Following are the tentative curriculums for junior high schools, adopted by the Board of Education, September 3, 1924. Five tentative curriculums have been prepared for the Chicago junior high schools: General Academic, Technical, Commercial, Practical Arts, and Household Arts. Each one has been outlined to show by years the list of subjects and the number of periods per week. The school day of five hours is divided into seven periods-six recitation periods of fortyfive minutes each and one special period of thirty minutes to be devoted to miscellaneous work. In the seventh grade all pupils will take the same academic subjects. In the eighth and ninth grades differentiation is provided, but all pupils will be required to take a core group of subjects consisting of health activities, social studies, English, science, mathematics, music, art and shop or home economics. Each curriculum prepares for a similar curriculum in the senior high school. To provide for pupils who are out of harmony with their school environment special opportunity classes will be formed by modifying the curriculums to suit individual needs. GENERAL ACADEMIC COURSE SEVENTH YEAR WEEKLY PERIODS 3 5 5 Social Studies.. 322 5 180 .30 .30 Health and General Science.. Shop (Electric, Print, Metal, Wood, ten weeks of each)... Art 5 Shop (Electric, Print, Metal, Wood, ten weeks of each)... Art 30 3 5 EIGHTH YEAR Total.. EIGHTH YEAR .30 Physical Education and Health.. Social Studies.. English Music Mathematics Health and General Science. Shop (Electric, or Print, or Metal, or Wood) Art Foreign Language (Latin, or French, or German, or Spanish, Choose 1)...... Total...... NINTH YEAR Physical Education and Health. Social Studies.... English Art Mathematics 42432N 5 - .30 3 5 Each curriculum has been planned to attain these seven fundamental objectives of education: Health, Command of Fundamental Processes, Worthy Home Membership. Citizenship, Vocation, Worthy Use of Leisure, Ethical Character. All subjects will emphasize citizenship and service. The social studies, (geography, history, and civics), form the core of every curriculum. They will emphasize living together in harmony. To aid teachers in presenting these curriculums a syllabus has been prepared for each of the following subjects: Social Studies, English, Health and General Science, Mathematics, Art, and Household Arts. A syllabus for each of the other subjects will be prepared in the near future. Teachers who have not received the weekly bulletin of the Chicago Department of Health Health should notify the department. Copies are sent free of charge to all Chicago teachers and principals. |