3. Attendance absence, tardiness, truancy. Of these he helps keep an accurate record.

4. Supervision of study periods. Pupils spend all vacant hours in the House unless given permission to be elsewhere.

5. Scholarship and discipline. The teachers report to the House principal the poor scholarship of their pupils, poor deportment, or any other deficiency. Likewise they bring to his attention noteworthy achievements. The House principal learns from the teacher what a boy's difficulty in any particular class seems to be, whether lack of ability, or indifference, or laziness. The teacher learns from the House principal the degree of studiousness of the boy during his vacant hours, his attitude in other classes, facts of his home life, or other details that enable her to understand the boy better. Then, after conferences with several or all of the boy's teachers and a talk with the boy himself, the House principal decides on the best course to follow in the attempt to help the boy. If the scholarship or conduct, as the case may be, does not improve, he sends for the parents in order to gather other facts and to secure their co-operation.

6. Supervision of the duties of any school or class officers who are members of his House.

But looking after the routine studies and daily program of his students is only part of a House principal's work. His biggest job is to direct the self-expression of his pupils in a way that will bring the best results for them. This development comes only partially from activity in the classroom: it comes from their participation in the issue of publications, "service committee," Junior Red Cross, student self-government movements, plays, musicals, science clubs, and the like. Every day each House has a record or assembly period, for twenty minutes, sometimes for forty. Each pupil signs a record slip. This is the "clearing house" time. The House principal reads notices and directions

from the principal's office. Then he discusses some activity in which the House is interested, such as a championship House basketball game, the school paper. the next opera, or the scholarship of the House compared with that of the other Houses. A good example of this was shown on Thursday and Friday of a recent week. There was but little interest in the opening basketball game. One boys' House challenged the other three to a ticket buying contest for the game. Great enthusiasm was aroused, with the result that nearly 1,100 of the students attended the game. The House is also the ideal unit for intra-school athletics. Beginning ninth grade students cannot compete with 12B's but House vs. House gives equality.

Besides discussing questions of local school interests, the students consider at these daily "record" periods many topics of state or national interest, such as: "thrift week," "Junior Red Cross," "conservation of trees," health, etc. At these times the principal often calls on various members of the House to give their ideas and opinions. Sometimes the students will do nearly all the talking, the principa! offering only a word now and then. Sometimes a business or professional man give a vocational or inspirational talk, or an alumnus of the House makes remarks. It is the period corresponding to the autorium period in the platoon schools, or the class period in social arts of our proposed new curriculum. In other words. the House is used as the organization uni for the development of all kinds of extr classroom activities. It is easy to see that in units of from 250-300 these things can be done much more effectively than wher the whole school meets together in one bi assembly. In fact, in only one school in the city is the auditorium large enough c seat more than half of the pupils.

The House principal is the foster father of his boys. Much of this time is spent in heart to heart talks with them, not on about their studies, present and future.

onl

to

it about their personal appearance, their bits, associates, associates, their relations rents and teachers, their ambitions in e, and countless other things. The ouse principal is the administrative ficer, the moral counselor, and the ucational and vocational guide for his ys. Because of his intimate relation th them his influence is far greater than at of any other of their teachers. To a eat extent he is their model, the source of eir inspiration. His House reflects him. he is very particular about his personal pearance and that of his room, and tremely neat, this will be reflected in s pupils. If he is athletic or musical, a turalist, or is particularly interested in achinery, so will he influence the memrs of his House along these lines, to an tent far greater than could another could another acher. Likewise, if he is untidy in his pearance, or slip-shod in his methods, s pupils will have a tendency to be the

me.

This is easy to understand: the contact tween the average teacher and his pupil almost entirely within the classroom d is, according to the ordinary pedagy, quite formal. Nearly all the recitaon period is spent in reciting facts, or in ill. So much "ground" must be covered the end of the fifth week, tenth week, d so on. This may be necessary in odern education, but the fact remains intimate acquaintance and real mpathy between teacher and pupil is e exception rather than the rule. But w different is the relation between the ouse principal and the pupil. There is tle formal instruction by the principal, it much informal. He has to do with the al life of the boy-the spontaneous, tural things which he likes or dislikes; hletics, school publications, student lf-government, debating, and so on, nich do as much or more for the boy an his formal studies, and are vital. He mes into close personal contact with m, too, when he investigates the reasons r his poor scholarship, absence or tardi

ness, the same for discipline. At these times he makes it his business to probe, as it were, into the very depths of the boy, and to win his confidence if possible. He knows the parents and the home surroundings of most of his boys. It is with him that all the boys in the House do things-he is their leader-to raise money for French orphans, win the House championship in baseball or track, win the scholarship cup for the semester, or turn out more students for the championship basketball game than the other Houses will. Because he is their leader, their teacher, the one who admonishes, scolds, encourages them, the one who teaches them to be good sports, the one who unifies or co-ordinates their formal classroom work with their other activities, the one to whom they confide their ambitions and desires-because of these things is it any wonder he has more influence on most of them than have the other teachers?

So it is with the women principals, their relation to their girls is just as intimate; their influence is just as strong, though they are not leaders in House rivalry to the same extent as the men, for among the girls' Houses there are not as many contests. But the relation of the girls' Houses to one another is admirable Two Houses often unite at record period to listen to a talk. As the man principal is a foster father to his boys, so the woman principal is a foster mother to her girls. Just as his problem is to bring out the manly traits in his boys, so hers is to develop the womanly attributes in her girls. Hers, if anything, is the more difficult task, for the girl is more sensitive, her feelings are more delicate than those of most boys. Naturally the men and women chosen for House principals are those of the broadest experiences, deepest sympathy, and the best judgment; in addition they have high scholastic qualifications. In rank and pay they equal heads of departments.

The organization and spirit of the House is much like that of a community. in real life. Each House has student

officers and a council or committee, elected by the students themselves. These officers and the council have considerable influence; and in some of the Houses relieve the principal of much work. In the House just as in the community, the older pupils direct the activities. They are expected not only to set the right example in conduct and scholarship for the younger pupils but they often sponsor the younger. Unquestionably the older pupils have a direct and wholesome influence on the younger. The extent of the student government idea and the influence of the older brother and sister idea depend largely on the enthusiasm and direction of the House principal. In several high In several high schools the practice of older pupils coaching and generally helping the younger is carried on extensively.

After reorganization each semester, the students take charge of one record period a week. Sometimes an entertainment or musical program is given; sometimes this period is devoted to House business, such as talking about buying a new flag or the organization of the House football team. Sometimes the student entertainment committee secures a "live" speaker from the outside world to talk about his profession or some vital topic of the day.

The scope of what can be accomplished is limited only by the time and strength of the House principal. Three hundred is the maximum number that can be handled well in one group. When Houses have over 400, the principal has too much clerical work to do. In some schools the record period has been reduced to only 10 to 15 minutes, which is all the time that can be allowed in addition to the eleven or twelve class periods.

One phase of the House principal's work deserves special comment. During the last five years the problem of vocational counseling has received much attention. Many schools throughout the country are using two counselors, a man for the boys and a woman for the girls. A counselor cannot possibly become well enough ac

quainted with 1,000 or 1,200 boys or girls so that he can intelligently advise them either about their high school work or their life careers. He meets these pupils occasionally. Unless a boy knows the counselor well and has his confidence he will not talk freely. No boy or girl is going to sit down and confide his secre: ambitions to a stranger.

The House principal, on the other hand, knows his three hundred from ever angle. Moreover, he has the confidence ci most of them. Because of this confidence and his intimate knowledge of them, he is admirably fitted to council concerning their high school and college courses, and to help them get the right idea of what they should choose for a life work. L these high schools the House principals are the only counselors. All of them have taken at least one special course in Detroit to prepare themselves better to do this guidance work. Several have take summer school vocational guidance courses at Harvard and Chicago. At both of these colleges, great interest has beer shown in our House system and in the guidance done by the House principal: At both summer schools the verdict was that the House principal was the logical counselor. It might be well to state that every educator who has visited our schools and has seen the operation of the House system has been very enthusiastic about it

The only objection ever offered to the House system is that it costs more. This is a FALSE SUPPOSITION. Mr. Edward L. Miller, Assistant Superintend ent of Schools in Detroit, has investigated the cost of our schools with and without House principals. In a letter to Superintendent Frank Cody dated February 4 1926, he gives figures showing the personal service charges in all the city high schools for last December and concludes his lette: as follows:

"My conclusion from this whole study is that there is no substantial difference between the two systems."

In this day when so much is expected

for imposing other methods of navigation, and that the second statement is a proposition contrary to fact.

We are living in a period of stimulating curriculum reform. During the past quarter of a century the orientation of the curriculum has been based largely on the behavior of children. Now it is to be based on the behavior of adults. We are invited to make a delightful swing from one extreme to its opposite. Analysis of adult activities will provide our major objectives, which, upon further analysis, will yield detailed materials for the courses of study. Man the measure of the selection of materials, the child the measure of their graduation-this is the new gospel and slogan.

Now, let it be observed that few of the advocates of this engaging doctrine have ventured beyond the point of determining major objectives. Their program is still largely in the theoretic and preliminary stages. When the analysis of the leading activities and aspirations of adults is consummated, may we expect it to produce the content of a satisfactory course of study? In the most conspicuous case of such refined analysis the results enable us already to answer in the negative. It has been found that a spelling vocabulary based on the written discourse of adults has two outstanding deficiencies: (1) It provides the child with a considerable body of material beyond his intellectual level, and (2) It deprives the child of much material at his intellectual level. This has been shown by means of a detailed comparison of two composite vocabularies, one derived from eleven investigations of adult correspondence and the other from five investigations of children's themes. Nearly half (4459) of the words in the adult composite did not appear at all in the composite vocabulary of children. Careful analysis showed that the words used only by adults represented business and professional objects and activities; social, political, and religious affairs; domestic and recreational pur

suits; or general and abstract ideas, for the most part clearly beyond the mental and social maturity of the child. Advise bility, comprehension, diversion, extersion, facilities, beneficent, chronologica, feasible, hospitable-these represent the type of words in the group. Their nonappearance in the childhood lists is easily explained on psychologic grounds.

On the other hand, children were found to have word needs not included in the vocabulary of adults. The most striking examples are presented in the following group of words found in each of the ive investigations of children's themes and in no one of the eleven investigations of adult correspondence: bonfire

cannon

cart

sled squirrel

tiger

violet

dive insect elephant kite giant noble curl Indian onion When the 2437 words found only in the writing of children were classified, the fell naturally into the following categorie. which I list in the order of decreasing frequency: School Stories Home Conduct Animals Play

.576

Food

465

Farm

.358

Plants

..229

Health

.188 134

44

Clothing Miscellaneous 145

These categories, differing striking from those required for the classification of the adult-only words, suggest familia fields of interest, general, and fundament in their appeal to children; and the number and the character of the words with: the categories make it clear enough that the word needs of children differ marked from those of adults.

It was found, moreover, that the d tinctive elements in the two vocabularies cannot be explained, as one writer has claimed, on the ground of the unrelitbility of the childhood lists. A study the word lists entering into the two com posites showed that they were abou equally reliable, the childhood lists agreing with each other to approximately t