ond-Readjust the course of study. Third-Introduce such apparatus, tools and materials as is necessary to give instruction in branches not now included in our course of study. This plan will increase the efficiency of the teaching force by providing a community of interests and opportunity for consultation and advice, and by creating the spirit of emulation among the young people.

Referring again to the township of Orleans, the remedy for the conditions now existing there, it seems to me, is to unite all the territory of that township into one school district, and establish at or near the center of the township, a school for the lower grades and also a high school for the instruction of all children above the sixth grade, and construct an adequate building. Then discontinue the use of all of the present school buildings except four, which are conveniently located towards the corners of the township, and in these the instruction of the younger children, or those below the sixth grade, could be given by one teacher, and these pupils when they have passed the sixth grade would go to the central school. This plan would reduce the problem of transportation to the minimum, and through consolidation, not simply of territory but of the interest of the people and of the product of taxation, the people of that township could accomplish the thorough, practical training of all the children of the township almost at their own door.

LARGER CONSOLIDATION.

The discussion thus far has related to the consolidation of two, three, or four districts, as may be most convenient, and the establishment of at least two-room schools in the place of the present one-room school. This is an age of centralization, an age of economy and of the solution of economic problems. In the schools as at present organized the reports from the several school districts of the State prove conclusively that we are extravagant in the following items: (a) The child's time; (b) the administration of school affairs; (c) the expense connected therewith.

Economy

Under the first item, or the child's time, I call attention to the following points: We teach arithmetic for nine years, language of the and grammar for six years, geography for five years, history child's time. three years, and other subjects accordingly. This is an extravagant waste of time of the child. Teachers are continually complaining that they have not time enough to teach the various subjects, while the main trouble is that they use too much time in teaching. Yet the teacher herself cannot be blamed because our courses of study have been practically machine made all these years. All of arithmetic can be learned, and learned well, in the years from the seventh to the ninth grades. All of geography that is really essential and that needs to be learned from books can be secured in a half year. All of the technical grammar that is really essential, either for actual life or for advanced work, can be secured in a year, if the work is introduced at the proper time. What the child needs is to learn to speak and write the English language, and he will get this ability by speaking and writing, not through the study of technical construction.

The first reform, therefore, in connection with the larger consolidation of our schools is a consolidation of our course of study, thus giving ample

Reform courses.

time to introduce before the high school the foundational work necessary in manual training, domestic science, agriculture, nature study, that will meet the needs of the individual should his educational opportunities be limited, and which will give him

a proper foundation for the continuation of this work as well as the academic work of the high school and college.

Under the second head, or administration, we have in the average township ten school districts, each having a board of Adminiseducation of three members, thus making thirty men essential tration. to the management of ten schools. Every business man knows that this is an absolute waste of administrative powers. Under the statute school officers are given the power to look after the business affairs of the district, and if instead of having thirty men to care for ten schools, the people of the township could indicate and select five men, it would increase the efficiency of the administration many fold.

The third item, or expense, is one where the greatest study along the line of economy is needed. The administration as Economy indicated above is unwieldly and expensive. Every school of- of expense. ficer should be paid something for his services, and if we suppose

that they are paid even a small amount the compensation given to thirty men in a township will not adequately pay any of them for the time he must necessarily use, and yet if the same amount of money could be used in paying one or two executive officers of a board of five we would have secured the maximum of efficiency at the minimum of expense.

To provide apparatus such as maps, globes, dictionaries, libraries, stoves and other material for ten schools in a township where only five schools are needed, and when five would produce much better educational results, is an absolute waste of money. The amount of money that has been used by the school officers in the purchase of useless charts and apparatus, in the purchase of fuel which has been allowed to go to waste, in improper construction or improper repairs of school property, and particularly in the employment of unskilled and untrained teachers, amounts to an immense sum. Close estimates show that the amount of money expended for these items and wasted during a year amounts to nearly a million dollars in the State of Michigan.

My plea, then, is for absolute economy in the time of the children, in the matter of administration of the schools, and par- Economy of ticularly in the expense connected therewith. A careful study buildings. of these conditions will lead the student to the clear conclusion that instead of thirty officers in a township there should not be more than five. In the place of ten school buildings there should not be more than five. In the arrangement of the course of study we should secure the broadest possible course that will give us the maximum result. This conclusion will lead us, first, to the consolidation of the schools of each township into one school district, the election in each township of one school board, the organization in each township of not more than five primary schools and not less than one high school.

I have not exaggerated in any of these statements and I call the attention of the people of the state to these matters because in my judgment it is high time that the grange, the farmers' clubs and the school officers' organizations should take hold of this problem of the readjustment of the rural schools with a firm hand, with clear and definite aims in mind and with a resolute purpose to solve the greatest school problem of our age, the rural school problem, in a manner that shall bring to the children of the present generation the greatest and best possible preparation for those duties of life which they will be called upon to discharge in the next gener

GRADED AND CITY SCHOOLS.

The legislature of 1859 enacted a law that any school district having one hundred or more pupils of school age might organize as a graded district, elect a board of education of five members and establish high schools. Prior to this enactment there were a number of so-called union schools and private academies in the State, this idea having been brought to Michigan from New York. The enactment of the graded school law, however, provided for free education in the advanced subjects, through the establishment of high schools, and the system grew rapidly. The private schools and academies were replaced by the public high school. At the present time there are 578 graded school districts in the State, and of Number of this number 100 may be classed as city districts. Of the entire graded number of graded school districts about 450 maintain twelveschools. grade courses of study, and all of the cities maintain such courses. The balance of the graded school districts have courses varying from nine to eleven grades.

Under the Michigan system it has been the aim of all these high schools to secure recognition by the University, and the courses of study have been to a large degree shaped and controlled by University authorities. Until recent years the courses in high schools have been purely academic, and the training which the children were required to receive was controlled by the idea of higher education.

The result of this has not been all that could be desired. Within High school the last few years a demand has come that our courses of study course of be made more practical, and three years ago a committee of study. the State Teachers' Association reported to the State Superintendent a uniform course of study for high schools. This course of study represents the minimum amount of work required for recognition by the University. It provides for several elective subjects, also for the introduction of music, drawing, manual training, domestic science, and commercial branches. In many of the city schools some or all of these special subjects had been introduced before this general course of study was prepared. The course of study here mentioned has been adopted by a large number of the city and village schools, and thus the work of these schools is becoming more nearly uniform. At the present time, however, there is great diversity in the work done in the graded school districts, and there seems to be a necessity for some radical reforms along the line of public education in high schools.

Weak points.

The number of students who after completing a high school course enter the colleges and University has been variously estimated from two to ten per cent of the graduating classes. The records of the past show that we have been compelling the ninety per cent of our students to conform to the special courses that meet the needs of the ten per cent. As a result of this, large numbers of students have found public school work irksome and the necessities of the bread and butter problem have caused them to drop out of school. The unfortunate part of this condition is the fact that the young people who do not complete the high school courses leave the public school with little more than a smattering of the common branches. Nothing has been done in the graded

and city schools by way of giving them special instruction for particular lines of work. Thus they are prevented from entering immediately into the activities of life upon leaving school.

It is my opinion that within the scope of public education we may properly include such lines of special instruction as will in a measure fit young people to take up particular vocations upon leaving school. While it may not be possible to attach to our public school system such departments or trade schools as will turn out skilled workmen, yet we can give to our young men the rudiments at least of vocational training. It appears to me that the problem of the next ten years in the public schools of our State is the revolutionizing of our courses of study along these lines.

Special reports to this Department give the following results as to the introduction of special courses:

70

Number teaching commercial branches...

From this statement of fact it will appear that a considerable start has been made along the line of special instruction, and the attention of our superintendents and boards of education is earnestly directed to this particular phase of education.

NORMAL SCHOOLS.

The normal school system consists of four institutions, the State Normal College at Ypsilanti, the Central Michigan Normal School at Mt. Pleasant, the Northern State Normal School at Marquette, and the Western State Normal School at Kalamazoo. The actual head of each of these institutions is as follows:

President L. H. Jones of the State Normal College.
Principal C. T. Grawn of the Central Normal School.
Principal James H. Kaye of the Northern Normal School.
Principal D. B. Waldo of the Western Normal School.

These gentlemen constitute the Normal Executive Council,

and the function of this Council is to recommend to the State Executive Board of Education courses of study, instructors for each of Council. the schools, recommendations as to buildings, and needed appro

priations. These gentlemen act in harmony in all these matters and thus

produce uniformity in the work of the normal schools and simplify the labors of the State Board of Education.

The State Board of Education under the statute is the controlling body of the normal school system and has full power under the constitution to regulate the work and decide upon the conditions of graduation, also the character of the certificates that shall be granted. The following is a summary of the attendance during the current year:

(a) Total number of different students enrolled during the entire year, July 1, 1906, to July 1, 1907:

(c) The number of graduates from each of the institutions for the year, July 1, 1906, to July 1, 1907, in the several courses as follows:

This summary shows that the product of our normal schools for the current year is 800 graduates who are at once added to the available teaching force of the State. As will be seen, a large majority of these graduates are prepared for the work in the graded and city schools.

It should always be remembered that the excellence in quality of work done should be the real merit of an educational institution as of any other institution, and Michigan may take pride in the announcement that our normal schools rank high when compared with similar institutions in other

states.

In addition to the work of our normal schools and the number of "graduates therefrom it is proper to report that the State Board of Education has granted 91 four-year certificates to graduates of denominational colleges and the Agricultural College during the year. Also, 33 college life certificates were issued to those who had previously received the regular college certificate and had complied with the statute in regard to experience in teaching.

Under the law authorizing the State Board of Education to conduct teachers' examinations, the State Board has held two State examinations, the first during the last week of March, the second during the second week of August. From these examinations five State life certificates were granted.