Resolved: REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS 1. That this Department recognizes the steadily increasing value of the United States Bureau of Education in gathering and making available educational facts and statistics. It recalls with satisfaction the prominent part taken by this Department nearly half a century ago in bringing about the creation of the Bureau of Education. It endorses the earnest efforts that members of this Department and other friends of education are making to increase further the usefulness of the Bureau as defined by the organic act under which it exists, and hereby authorizes the outgoing president of this Department to appoint a committee of five, of which he shall be chairman, to be known as the Committee on the Bureau of Education, which shall co-operate with the similar committee of the National Education Association in furthering the interests of educational progress thru the United States Bureau of Education. 2. The question of the extension of the amount and the character of federal aid given to education is assuming great importance and demands the earnest consideration of all interested in education. This Department recommends that this question be given a place upon the next program of the Department. 3. It is the sense of the Department of Superintendence that uniform school records and reports are essential to the intelligent comparison of school systems for the purpose of increasing the efficiency of educational administration. It therefore recommends the adoption by school authorities of the forms of record and reports as submitted by its Committee on Uniform School Reports, provided that said forms shall be modified and improved as may be found expedient from year to year by conference of the United States Bureau of Education, the Bureau of the Census, the National Association of School Accounting Officers, and the Committee on Uniform School Records and Reports of the Department of Superintendence. 4. The Department of Superintendence recognizes that the present lack of uniformity in nomenclature found in texts in English grammar is confusing and unnecessary. It therefore authorizes the president of this Department to appoint a committee of five to formulate and report at the next annual meeting of this Department a system of nomenclature for texts in English grammar, and recommends that publishers of such texts use this system if adopted by the Department. 5. The Department of Superintendence approves of the use of school buildings as community centers and recognizes in this movement a socializing force of immense significance. Genuine increase in efficiency is possible only where there exists the heartiest co-operation on the part of all agencies aiming at social advancement. The establishment during recent years of many organizations and societies devoted to the solution of various specific educational and social problems is most encouraging to all devoted to the public. 6. The Department is most heartily in sympathy with the policy of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to promote and encourage the attendance of Indian children in the public schools, and authorizes the outgoing president to appoint a committee of five to investigate the present conditions of the Indians with reference to their relation to the public schools for the purpose of determining what co-operation or supplemental work is practicable. 7. The thanks of this Department are hereby expressed to the local committee, the press, and to all concerned for the many courtesies shown to the officers and members of the Department. Respectfully submitted, A. H. WATERHOUSE, Chairman MASON S. STONE JAMES B. ASWELL Committee The report of the Committee on a Universal System of Key Notation was then read by Homer H. Seerley, president, Iowa State Teachers' College, Cedar Falls, Iowa. It was voted that the report be adopted and the committee discharged. Henry C. Cox, district superintendent of schools, Chicago, offered the following resolution, which was seconded by E. O. Vaile, of Oak Park, Ill., and adopted. Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed by the chair to bring the report on a Uniform Key Alphabet before the active members at the San Francisco meeting, to urge in behalf of the Department of Superintendence the adoption of a resolution declar ing the needs of uniformity of our key notation for indicating pronunciation in our cyclopedias, dictionaries, textbooks, and all other publications, and endorsing for that purpose the key alphabet just adopted by the Department of Superintendence. AFTERNOON SESSION-2:30 P.M. The afternoon was devoted to the respective round-table conferences, with programs as follows: (A) ROUND TABLE OF STATE AND COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS Leader-John Grant Crabbe, president, State Normal School, Richmond, Ky. Topic: A Story of Achievement and Endeavor in Co-operation (a) "The State Superintendent, the Educational Commission, and the Legislature”E. T. Fairchild, state superintendent of public instruction, Topeka, Kans. Discussion by John W. Zeller, state commissioner of common schools, Columbus, Ohio; J. J. Doyne, president, State Normal School, Conway, Ark.; and Harlan Updegraff, Bureau of Education, Washington, D.C. (b) "The County Superintendent and the Rural Communities"-Miss Edith A. Lathrop, county superintendent of schools, Clay Center, Nebr. Discussion by Lawton B. Evans, superintendent of schools, Augusta, Ga., and A. L. Cook, county superintendent of schools, Baltimore, Md. (c) "The State Superintendent and the People The Educational Campaign"— Charles G. Maphis, secretary, Virginia Educational Commission, Charlottesville, Va. Discussion by McHenry Rhoads, superintendent of schools, Owensboro, Ky. (d) "The State Superintendent, the County Superintendent, and the State Normal" -Charles P. Cary, state superintendent of public instruction, Madison, Wis. Discussion by James B. Aswell, president, State Normal School, Natchitoches, La., and J. Frank Marsh, supervisor of institutes and publications, department of schools, Charleston, W.Va. (e) "The State Superintendent and the General and Southern Education Boards"George B. Cook, state superintendent of public instruction, Little Rock, Ark. Discussion by P. P. Claxton, professor of education, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn., and Elmer Ellsworth Brown, United States Commissioner of Education, Washington, D.C. (B) ROUND TABLE OF SUPERINTENDENTS OF LARGER CITIES Leader-John H. Phillips, superintendent of schools, Birmingham, Ala. Topic: Some Problems of Economic School Administration (a) "Economic Aspects of Organization and Courses of Study"-F. B. Dyer, superintendent of schools, Cincinnati, Ohio. (b) "Methods of Classification and Standards of Promotion in Their Relation to Retardation"-J. A. C. Chandler, superintendent of schools, Richmond, Va. (c) "The Problem of the 'Repeater""-James H. Van Sickle, superintendent of schools, Baltimore, Md. (c) ROUND TABLE OF SUPERINTENDENTS OF SMALLER CITIES Leader-E. E. Scribner, superintendent of schools, Ishpeming, Mich. Topic: Unity of Ideals and Purposes in Teachers (a) "As Gained from Professional Training"-A. C. Thompson, principal, State Normal School, Brockport, N.Y. Discussion by Mrs. Eulie G. Rushmore, Northern Normal School, Marquette, Mich. (b) "As Gained from School Supervision"-E. C. Warriner, superintendent of schools, Saginaw, Mich. Discussion by George A. Works, superintendent of schools, Menomonie, Wis. (c) "As Gained from School Administration"-Mrs. Sarah E. Hyre, member of Board of Education, Cleveland, Ohio. Discussion by L. L. Wright, state superintendent of public instruction, Lansing, Mich. EVENING SESSION The meeting was called to order at 7:45 P.M. by President Davidson. After a violin solo by Miss Aline Rosen, George E. MacLean, president of the State University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, gave an address on "An Educational Epoch in New America." The session closed with a vocal solo by Mrs. C. B. Hervey. THIRD DAY MORNING SESSION-SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25 The Department was called to order at 9:30 A.M., and the following program was presented: Topic: The Coming of the Humane Element in Education Music: Song by pupils of the public schools. 1. "The Open-Air School"-Sherman C. Kingsley, general superintendent, United Charities of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. 2. "The Training of the Mentally and Physically Unfortunate"-Leonard P. Ayres, secretary, Russell Sage Foundation, New York, N.Y. 3. "The Peace Movement and the Public Schools"-Mrs. Fannie Fern Andrews, Boston, Mass. 4. "Education of the American Indian”—H. B. Peairs, supervisor in charge of Indian Schools, Lawrence, Kans. "Report of the Committee on the Mexican Centennial"-Horace H. Cummings, general superintendent, L.D.S. Schools, Salt Lake City, Utah. After the program, President Davidson announced the following committees: COMMITTEE ON ECONOMY OF TIME IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION Calvin N. Kendall, superintendent of schools, Indianapolis, Ind., Chairman. Frank E. Spaulding, superintendent of schools, Newtonville, Mass. Ernest O. Holland, superintendent of schools, Louisville, Ky. J. H. Francis, superintendent of schools, Los Angeles, California. This committee is to co-operate with the committee of the National Council on the same topic. COMMITTEE ON UNIVERSAL SYSTEM OF KEY NOTATION James H. Van Sickle, superintendent of schools, Baltimore, Md., Chairman. Ben Blewett, superintendent of instruction, public schools, St. Louis, Mo. COMMITTEE ON UNIFORM NOMENCLATURE IN ENGLISH GRAMMAR C. R. Rounds, State Normal School, Whitewater, Wis., Chairman. A. F. Lang, head of Department of Education, University of California, Berkeley, Calif. Henry F. West, assistant superintendent of schools, Baltimore, Md. AFTERNOON SESSION The last session of the Department was called to order at 2:30 P.M., President David son presiding. The following program was given: Topic: The Progress and the True Meaning of the Practical in Education 1. "In Agriculture"-P. G. Holden, Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa. Discussion by E. E. Balcomb, Department of Agriculture, State Normal School, Providence, R.I. 2. "In Vocational Training"-Carleton B. Gibson, president of Mechanics Institute, Rochester, N.Y. Discussion by Carroll G. Pearse, superintendent of schools, Milwaukee, Wis. 3. "In the Balanced Course of Study, and the All-Year-Round Schools"-G. W. A. Luckey, Department of Education, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebr. At the close of the program the meeting adjourned. ARTHUR DEERING CALL, Secretary PAPERS AND DISCUSSIONS TOPIC: A MESSAGE OF ACHIEVEMENT FROM THE SOUTHLAND A. THE PROGRESS OF ITS SCHOOLS HENRY J. WILLINGHAM, STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION OF ALABAMA, MONTGOMERY, ALA. This is an easy subject. Everybody likes to talk about what he has done and usually very few people are interested in hearing him tell about it. We in the South are willing to admit that ours is the best part of the United States, and that fact makes it the garden spot of the world. There are many evidences that this country in the Southland was the final and crowning work at the hands of the Creator. In referring to the progress of the schools of the Southland, dealing with a subject which covers nearly a million square miles, I shall necessarily be confined to broad and general terms. In 1865 the people of the South found for themselves more to do and less to do with than any other people in the history of the world. On every hand was utter destruction. All was gone save honor and hope. Our remnant of men who had not been left on the battle field found it necessary to rebuild first their homes before they could rebuild their schools. Previous to that time, thru the training received in their academies and seminaries and colleges and universities, the well-to-do and the great middle class in the South had been directing, in a large measure, the affairs of the nation. Our people, except those known as the "poor whites," were prosperous, contented, and happy. Whatever else the Civil War may have done, it created the equality of opportunity for all our people and resulted in the establishment of a real system of public education maintained for all alike. While removing the ashes to begin the erection of new schoolhouses and higher institutions of learning it was realized for the first time that ours must be a dual system-one system for the white children and another system for the negro children. Why this was so at that time, why it is still so, and why it will be so a hundred years hence, need not be discussed here today. Reference is made to our dual system of education only for the purpose of pointing out one of the difficulties peculiar to this section. I am happy in the belief that this difficulty will always be one of the educational problems of the South; because, under the directing hand and the wise counsel of native white men, the negro, as a race, must work out his own civilization. Looking back thru the period of years during which the South has been developing and maintaining a system of public education we find much cause for rejoicing and for making us to look with hope and good cheer toward the future. In the olden days a child's education was thought to be a matter wholly within the discretion, and subject to the financial means and also to the inclination, of his parent. We have come now to know that the public welfare requires a proper education and a suitable training of all the children at the public expense. Furthermore, the recognition of this fact has caused about half the southern states to take the additional step of requiring the parents to send their children to school, and within a few more years the seven remaining southern states will write upon their statute books a compulsory attendance law just as it is now in every state of the North, the East, and the West. In those days private schools were the dependence for the instruction of the children in the common branches. Now free public schools supported by taxation dot the South in reach of every child. In those days academies and seminaries were maintained for the few. Now there are hundreds of public high schools thruout each of the southern states and open to all alike. In those days denominational colleges were expected to provide in a large measure for the higher education of a limited number. Each southern state is now spending millions in providing for the higher education and for the technical training of the many. In those days three bales of cotton and one hundred bushels of corn could be obtained from the work of one mule in cultivating twenty acres. Now we can grow three bales of cotton on one acre and one hundred bushels of corn on another acre by means of the scientific methods taught in our agricultural colleges. In those days an education was considered necessary only for those boys who were to enter one of the professions. Now the South knows that a proper education and a suitable training are indispensable to the highest degree of success in any of the vocations of life as well as the professions, and, therefore, we are beginning to make provision for the industrial training of the children of the Southland. About every ten years the states of the South approximately double their investment in public-school buildings. This ratio of increase is approximately maintained also in the total amount expended on public education. The good example set by other states of making large investments in the cause of public education is beginning to have a good effect |