averted by the appointment of two Superintendents under the section referred to.

2. The act requires the County Superintendents to notify the Town Superintendents of the time appointed to visit the schools, and to invite their attendance. The Superintendents will also give notice to the trustees of the districts, of the time when their schools will be visited. To enable them to comply with these provisions they should make a previous arrangement of their visits, in reference to the means of travelling, so as to reach as many districts as possible in the shortest time; and for this purpose they will find it necessary to divide their counties into sections. Having fixed the time for visiting the schools in one or more sections, they should at once give ample notice, by transmitting a copy of their arrangement to the Town Superintendents of the town embraced within it, and request them to communicate to the trustees of districts information of the time appointed for inspecting their schools, or in some other way give publicity to their plans. It is presumed that publishers of newspapers would cheerfully insert such notices gratuitously. They have ever been found ready to render their assistance to disseminate information calculated to promote the interests of the common schools.

By a regulation of the department, the respective town clerks are required to furnish the Superintendents with the names of the Town Superintendents of their towns.

The inhabitants of the district, and particularly parents, who have children attending the school, should be invited to be present at the inspection by the Superintendent: and trustees of districts are hereby required, whenever they receive information of an intended visit, to communicate it as generally as possible, to the inhabitants. Their attendance will afford an opportunity for the public addresses of the Superintendents, before suggested.

3. Examination of the Schools.-Preparatory to this, the Superintendent should ascertain from the teacher the number of classes, the studies pursued by each, the routine of the school, the successive exercises of each class during each hour of the day, the play spells allowed, &c. and thus obtain a general knowledge of the school, which will be found greatly to facilitate his subsequent

duties. Every Superintendent is enjoined to call for and examine the list of scholars in the book which the statute requires the teacher to keep, in order that he may see whether the names are correctly and neatly entered. He will also examine the day roll and the weekly roll, which by the preceding regulations, teachers are directed to preserve, and will ascertain by the proper inquiries, whether they are exact in entering all who are present.

The Superintendent will then hear each class recite the ordinary lesson of the day. It will then be examined on the subjects of study. Generally it will be better to allow the teacher to conduct the exercises and examinations, as the pupils will be the less likely to be intimidated, and an opportunity will be given of judging of the qualifications of the instructors.

To enable him to compare the school with itself at another time, and with other schools, and to comply with the regulations hereinafter contained respecting the annual reports, the Superintendent should keep notes of his observations, and of the information he obtains on all the subjects on which he is required to report, and he should particularly note any peculiarities which seem to require notice in the mode of instruction, in the government and discipline of the school, and the appearance of the pupils in respect to their cleanliness of person and neatness of apparel.

4. The Superintendent will also examine the condition of the school-house and its appurtenances; whether the room has the means of ventilation, by lowering an upper sash, or otherwise; whether it is sufficiently tight to protect the children from currents of air, and to keep them warm, in winter; whether there is a supply of good water; the condition of privies, and whether they are provided for both sexes; and the accommodations for physical exercise. Their attention will be given to the arrangements of the school-room; whether the seats and desks are placed most conveniently for the pupils and teachers, and particularly whether backs are provided for the seats-a circumstance very important to the comfort and health of the children. They should also inquire whether blackboards and alphabetical cards, or any apparatus to assist learners, are furnished.

The preceding topics of inquiry are suggested, rather as hints of the most important, than intended to embrace the whole field. The judgment and observation of the Superintendents will discover many other subjects deserving their attention.

5. The Superintendents will also inquire into the condition of the district, in relation to its ability to maintain a school; whether its interest and the convenience of its inhabitants can be promoted by any alterations, without injury to others; and they will suggest whatever occurs to them, to the trustees.

In case of any gross deficiency or inconvenience, which the proper officers refuse or decline to remedy, the Superintendents will note it in their annual reports to the department.

6. They will also examine the district library, and obtain the information respecting it, hereinafter required to be stated in their reports.

II. ADVISING AND CONSULTING WITH THE TRUSTEES AND OTHER OFFICERS OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS.

This is made a special duty of the Superintendents by the act; they are to advise the trustees and other officers in relation to all their duties; and to recommend to them and the teachers the proper studies, discipline and conduct of the school, the course of instruction to be pursued, and the elementary books to be used. The notes which the Superintendents make during their inspection of the school, will much facilitate the discharge of this portion of their duty.

1. In regard to proper studies: if they find any important one omitted, or that pupils are hastened on without thoroughly understanding the preliminary or previous branches, they should point out the error and its consequences. For instance, they should urge the absolute necessity of children being thoroughly and frequently exercised in spelling, so that they make no mistakes in any words in common use. Without this it is impossible for them to be good readers. And in the exercise of reading they should insist on clear and distinct articulation, more than any other quality; and generally the ability of the Superintendent is relied upon to detect bad

habits in the manner of reciting, erroneous ideas of the subject, and superficial acquirements.

2. The discipline and conduct of the school. It can scarcely be necessary to remark on the importance of order and system in the schools, not only to enable the pupils to learn any thing, but to give them those habits of regularity so essential in the formation of character. Punctuality of attendance, as well as its steady continuance, should be enforced. Parents should be told how much their children lose, to what inconvenience they expose the teacher, and what disorder they bring upon the whole school, by not insisting upon the scholars being punctually at the school-room at the appointed hour; and above all, they should be warned of the injurious consequences of allowing their children to be absent from school during the term. By being indulged in absences they lose the connection of their studies, probably fall behind their class, become discouraged, and then seek every pretext to play the truant. The habit of irregularity and insubordination thus acquired will be apt to mark their character through life. Trustees should be informed that the omission of parents to require the regular and punctual attendance of their children will justify their exclusion, on account of the effect of such irregularity upon the other pupils.

The Superintendents should also observe whether the teachers are careful to preserve the respect of their pupils, not only by maintaining their authority, but by a becoming deportment, both in the school-room and out of it.

3. With regard to the course of instruction, the advice of the Superintendents will often be of great value. The usual order has been found by long experience to be the best, viz: the alphabet, spelling, reading with definitions, arithmetic, geography, history and grammar. No child should be put to any study beyond his capacity, or for which he is not already prepared. English grammar particularly, demands so much exercise of the intellect, that it ought to be delayed until the pupil has acquired considerable strength of mind.

4. The books of elementary instruction. It is believed that there are none now in use in our schools that are very defective; and the difference between them is so

slight, that the gain to the scholar will not compensate for the heavy expense to the parent, caused by the substitution of new books with every new teacher; and the capriciousness of change which some are apt to indulge on this subject, cannot be too strongly or decidedly resisted. Trustees of districts should look to this matter when they engage teachers.

One consequence of this practice is, the great variety of text books on the same subject, acknowledged by all to be one of the greatest evils which afflicts our schools. It compels the teacher to divide the pupils into as many classes as there are kinds of books, so that the time which might have been devoted to a careful and deliberate hearing of a class of ten or twelve, where all could have improved by the corrections and observations of the instructer, is almost wasted in the hurried recitations of ten or a dozen pupils in separate classes; while in large schools, some must be wholly neglected. Wherever the Superintendents find this difficulty existing, they should not fail to point out its injurious consequences, and to urge a remedy by the adoption of uniform text books as speedily as possible. To accomplish this, an earnest and systematic effort should be made, under the auspices of the Town and County Superintendents, to relieve our institutions of elementary instruction from the serious embarrassments resulting from the diversity and constant change of text books. The several County Superintendents are therefore enjoined by the department, to avail themselves of the earliest practicable opportunity to cause an uniform series of text books, embracing all the clementary works ordinarily used in the common schools to be adopted in each of the districts subject to their supervision, under the direction and with the consent of the trustees; and when so adopted, not to be changed for the term of three years. Whenever such uniformity can be extended throughout all the districts of the town, and throughout all the towns of the county, it is very desirable that such extension should be made; but from the great diversity of views in relation to the relative merit of different works, the progress of this extension must necessarily be slow. The foundations may, however, be laid by the attainment of uniformity in the respective dis