Those who apply for such certificate by examination shall submit evidence of at least forty months' successful experience in teaching. Applicants who present diplomas shall after graduation teach for at least two years on a provisional certificate before being entitled to the permanent certificate.

G. W. NASH, of South Dakota, Chairman;

E. A. JONES, of Ohio;

W. T. CARRINGTON, of Missouri;

C. P. CARY, of Wisconsin;

Committee.

ROUND TABLE OF CITY SUPERINTENDENTS

CONDUCTED BY F. B. DYER, SUPERINTENDENT OF CITY SCHOOLS, CINCINNATI, O.

TOPIC: THE MERIT SYSTEM OF APPOINTING AND PROMOTING TEACHERS

I. The advisability of a merit system of appointing teachers, and the difficulties in the way.

II. Methods of ascertaining fitness of candidates, and of rating them for appointment.

III. Methods of promoting teachers on merit. Should there be promotion by grades?

IV. The influence of promotional examinations, and of other methods of promotion based upon efficiency and scholastic advancement.

THE MERIT SYSTEM IN ST. LOUIS

BEN BLEWETT, ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF INSTRUCTION, PUBLIC SCHOOLS,
ST. LOUIS, MO.

It seems quite impossible that one should now seriously raise the question whether any criterion but merit should determine the appointment and promotion of teachers. It seems axiomatic that, if a teacher is to be chosen for the training of children, the most capable and the best-trained persons that could be obtained for the money available should be employed. The importance of the interests involved would suggest this as the only logical procedure, and this is the procedure that wise men follow in the administration of all business enterprises. A teacher should be selected because of her peculiar fitness for the work to be done, and for no other reason.

Fitness determined by competent authority.-What constitutes this peculiar fitness is a complex question, which can be properly answered only by competent and responsible judges. Those who are to make the selection should, thru professional training and an extended experience, know the essential qualifications of a skillful teacher and the requirement of the particular work to be done. They should, further, be held responsible for their selections, that errors if made, may be traced to the source and the responsible party be made to bear the burden of his mistakes. If the superintendent, to whom is intrusted the direction of the schools, is not to have the power of nominating all teachers, how can he be held responsible for results? On the other hand, if this power is given him and his selection proves to be inefficient, the responsibility is traced back directly to him, and the remedy is quickly suggested and easily brought about by removing the cause of the mistakes.

The promise of fitness.-That the teacher selected must be peculiarly fitted for the work to be done, does not mean that no one must enter upon the work of teaching until she be sure that her first efforts will be rewarded with eminent success. All strength has its period for development and has its beginning in weakness. The one who judges of

fitness must take all this, with a thousand other things, into consideration, and be able to foresee the possibilities that lie concealed under the cloak of inexperience, to recognize the power that will develop with experience. Few mistakes will be made if the choosing of teachers is assigned to experts, and they are held responsible for their selection.

Degrees of efficiency.—But even when these selections have been wisely made, and all the teachers chosen prove to be valuable, still different degrees of efficiency are sure to manifest themselves, and the recognition and classification of these ranks should be left to the same competent and responsible authority that recommended the original appointment.

Degrees of compensation.—These differences in efficiency suggest and justly demand difference in compensation. The increased experience is in itself an increase in value, and, consequently, if the teacher is retained there should be an annual increase of salary for a certain number of years, altho she were not advanced by promotion to a higher rank. A growth in power that is unusual should be recognized by promotion to a rank receiving a higher class of salary, and there should be an annual increase in salary in this new rank for a certain number of years. Still a third rank would give opportunity for a greater degree of efficiency as it manifests itself in the second rank. The natural selection in these three ranks suggests logically a decreasing number of teachers in each rank in the ascending scale and an increasing schedule of salaries in the ascending ranks.

Security in tenure.-One of the fundamental conditions of success in the educator of children is a spirit loosed from annoying anxieties, and a teacher should be absolutely secure in her position, provided her work is valuable. She should have no occasion to feel that her fate is at the mercy of the narrowness, prejudices, or whims of a principal or superintendent. The character of these officers should be a sufficient guaranty against any littleness, and boards of education should see to it that the superintendents are largeminded men. The feeling of security in tenure, however, is not dependent upon an appointment for a long term, but upon the certainty of repeated reappointments as long as efficient service is rendered; and there are some pronounced advantages to both the teacher and the public in appointment for a short term, a year for instance. Under this arrangement

it is possible to dispense with the services of an undesirable teacher simply by not reappointing her, and such teacher is by it saved from the notoriety of a dismissal after a more or less public announcement of the reasons for dismissal.

Principals of schools.—The same general principles that govern the selection, appointment, promotion, retention, or discharge of assistants apply to principals of schools, with the modifications naturally suggested by the difference in rank. As the principal must be intrusted with the responsibilities of administrative duties, his position presupposes experience with ripened knowledge and judgment, and less tolerance should be accorded to deficiencies that may appear in his work.

To recapitulate:

1. A teacher should be appointed because of her promise of proper fitness for the work to be done. 2. The right of nomination should be vested in the superintendent.

3. Her salary should increase with increasing value of services, within the limits of available funds. 4. She should feel assured of retention as long as her work is efficient.

A practical application of these principles has already been made under the following plan:

Eligible list. For supplying the new teachers needed, a list is prepared from one or both of two sources of supply. One of these sources is the training class maintained by the city; the other, the teachers from out of the city, who are selected thru diplomas, certificates, or the result of written and oral examinations, submitted as evidence of their preparation and experience. The candidates from the city training class are put on the list in the order of the date of their graduation and of their standing in their several classes. The candidates not coming from the city training classes are placed on the list in the order` of relative strength, as nearly as a competent authority can determine from the evidence submitted.

Assignment to work.-Assignment to teaching positions in the lowest rank are made from the eligible list, arranged as just described in the order in which the names appear on the list. The young teacher acts in the capacity of a substitute for a period of several months, which is used as a term of probation, and she is not regularly appointed as a teacher until this time of probation is completed, and her efficiency has been attested by the principal of the school and the visiting supervisor. When these conditions have been complied with, her appointment is recommended by the superintendent, and his recommendation is approved or rejected by the board of education.

Promotion.—After the teacher has been assigned to her school, the principal becomes the responsible officer of the board of education in promoting her success, and in making an impartial and sufficient report in regard to her work; and his report is worthy of, and receives, respect. Should he recommend promotion or discharge after consultation with the supervising officers, his recommendation is approved by the superintendent and made part of his report to the board.

Principals. The plan does not include a training school of grades suitable for preparing men and women for administrative school work; consequently, the material for these positions must be selected from the graduates of the universities or teachers' colleges, or from candidates who have had successful experience in this class of work in other places, Because it is not practicable to have as complete an eligible list for this class of positions as for assistants, and because it is neither proper nor practicable to depend upon a probationary trial as an introduction to their work, the superintendent is left very free in selecting his candidate for a principalship vacancy. After the principal has been appointed by the board, his efficiency is estimated thru the observation of the superintendent and his assistants. When a vacancy in a more important position occurs, the nominee for the position is selected by a conference of the superintendent and his assistants, and the choice is determined by the best qualifications, including length of service, as shown in the record of his work.

Records. To eliminate as far as possible reliance upon the unaided memory of supervising officers, a system of records is kept on file in the office of the superintendent. In this file there is a card placed for each teacher when she enters the service. The card shows the date of her entrance upon the work, her previous training, and the three reports made upon her work annually by the principal. These reports from the principals cover six points:

1. Management of children.

2. Instruction.

3. Attention to details of school business.

4. Scholarship.

5. Professional zeal.

6. Personal qualifications.

Their ranking on each point is classed as "excellent," "good," "medium," or unsatisfactory," and is indicated by the initials e, g, m, or u. In addition to this abbreviated marking recorded on the card three times a year, the principal makes each year a detailed report on each teacher who has come under his supervision that year for the first time, or upon any of his former assistants who remain with him and whose work has so changed as to merit a changed report. In this detailed report the principal writes out his reasons for the markings given under six heads. As supplementary to the marking card, a teachers, deportment file is kept, into which is placed correspondence, notes of supervisors, records of peculiar incident, or other information that form important evidence of the teacher's weakness or strength. Where papers of this kind are filed, the envelope containing them is numbered, and the number is placed on the teacher's card, so that the card shows their existence and tells where to find them readily. A record of the principals, similar in character, but differing somewhat in detail, is made from the reports of visiting superintendents. These records not only aid the memory of officers who have known the whole of the work

of a teacher, but are of the greatest value where principals and superintendents change, these records standing as important evidence of what the teacher has been to the school. The following outline of the report on principals, made by assistant superintendents of instruction, indicates the scope of the records of merit:

1. Personality. What is his scholarship? Is he active and industrious? Are his personal habits in every way such as you would expect from a teacher? Does he bear a good reputation concerning payment of his debts? Is the school of which he has charge, in your opinion, too large for his abilities?

2. Professional qualifications.—Is he a progressive principal, in the sense that he adapts himself readily to modern methods of management and instruction? Does he give any attention to other work that interferes with his school work? How does his present work compare with work observed heretofore? If there is any change, to what do you attribute it? Would you recommend his continuance in his present position?

3. Practical work with regard to instruction and discipline.—What is the quality of the discipline of the school? What is your estimate of the educational work of the school of which he has charge? Does he give sufficient attention personally to class-room work? Is he amenable to direction from his superior officers, without difficulty or sensitiveness?

4. Business qualifications.—Has he good executive ability? Is his care of the premises, text-books, and other school property sufficient? Are the reports required by the instruction department satisfactorily rendered in points of candor, regularity, and completeness? Does he lend willing and intelligent support to the rules of the board?

5. Relation to teachers.-Does he secure the respect and co-operation of his teachers? Does he show the necessary frankness and directness in his professional intercourse with them? Does he give them proper support in the discipline of their rooms? Is he efficient in training his teachers, thru his general influence, teachers' meetings, etc.

6. Relation to the community.-Is his relation to parents and community satisfactory? Is he courteous and considerate in his manner? Is he well adapted to the class of children and parents in the locality of his school?

OUTLINES OF METHODS OF APPOINTING AND ADVANCING TEACHERS IN VARIOUS CITIES

THE BALTIMORE METHOD

JAMES H. VAN SICKLE, Superintendent of Schools, Baltimore, Md.—In Baltimore the responsibility of the superintendent in the appointment of teachers is set forth in the following charter provisions:

It shall be the duty of the superintendent of public instruction and his assistants, as examiners, to ascertain, by appropriate committees, appointed as hereinbefore provided, the training, knowledge, aptness for teaching, and character of every future candidate for the place of teacher, and to report to the board of school commissioners graded lists of those whom they deem qualified for appointment, from which graded lists all nominations of teachers shall be made by the superintendent of public instruction and his assistants to the board of school commissioners.

All such nominations of teachers shall be made in the order in which the names of the nominees appear upon such graded lists. In the preparation of these graded lists the superintendent of public instruction and his assistants shall ascertain by competitive examinations the relative qualifications of those candidates who desire appointment, and shall place the names of the accepted candidates upon said graded lists in the order of their relative qualifications, so ascertained by such competitive examination.

After a substitute period, the applicant, if successful in substitute work, is appointed, for one year on trial. If successful in the work in the trial year, the appointment becomes permanent, and removal can be effected only upon "charges made and trial had." Salaries increase automatically by annual increments, until the regular minimum salary is reached. Further promotion depends upon superior efficiency, as determined by observation of regular schoolroom work and an examination, the character of which is left to the superintendent of schools.

The superintendent is required to make annual report to the board of the work of teachers thus selected for promotion. The board thus has the power from year to year to determine whether all such teachers are entitled to remain upon the promoted list.

The plan of promotion embraces a careful record of efficiency of all teachers in the service made annually by the principals. The various items entering into the record of efficiency have been copied from the St. Louis plan. Any teacher admitted to the examination must have the approval of the principal and the superintendent of schools. Promotion does not depend upon the grade in which the teacher works, nor does it mean a transfer to a higher grade. It is open to teachers in the primary grades and grammar grades alike. The plan of examination aims not to withdraw the teacher's interest and attention from the work in which she is engaged from day to day, but to make it possible to secure promotion by study and thought in fields that will contribute to her increased efficiency in the grade in which she teaches. To this end, she is allowed to choose a subject from a list of subjects approved by the superintendent, and to prepare a thesis. The examination consists in an oral defense of the thesis before the board of examiners, consisting of the superintendent and two assistants, the examination lasting from twenty to forty minutes, and embracing references to at least two standard educational books which the teacher has studied carefully.

In the past three years 250 teachers have thus been selected and promoted, and about twenty-five vacancies in the list have been filled. As the advance in salary available was not large, $100, it did not seem best to make promotion dependent upon extremely rigid requirements as to examination, the main purpose of such examination being accomplished by the impetus given to professional study both on the part of those invited to take the examination, and upon the part of others who look forward to the time when they may have the same opportunity. An examination conducted in this way attains a dignity that the ordinary examination lacks, and it affords the superintendent and his associates an opportunity to know more fully the professional equipment of a teacher than is possible by the observation of schoolroom work alone or by the ordinary written test. The most important qualification insisted upon is superior skill in regular schoolroom work. Those who do not manifest this skill are not invited to take the examination.

THE DENVER METHOD

L. C. GREENLEE, Superintendent of Schools, Denver, Colo.-We are fortunate in Denver in having a great number of applications from teachers of other cities and states. Our teachers come from almost every state in the Union, as Colorado cannot yet supply the demand. The examination board is appointed by the superintendent. We have what we are pleased to call a scholarship examination and a personal examination. All applicants must take the scholarship examination except the graduates of the Colorado State Normal School. Two days are given to the scholarship examination, and the third day to this personal examination or interview before the board of education and the superintendent. No outside application is considered, unless the applicant has had at least twenty-four months of successful experience in some other school. We employ no normal school graduate who is not unqualifiedly recommended by the president of that school thereby making him in a way responsible for those employed from his institution. The examination is competitive. The written examination and the personal examination are marked separately on a scale of one hundred. These two standings are added and divided by two for an average standing. The eligible list is made up by placing at the head of the list the one who has the highest average standing, and so on down, until we have a sufficient number on the list to fill all places made vacant during the year. If we were in need of a certain number of teachers, we send before the board twice that number, and the selection would be made from these. A teacher is placed upon the force, as the man said when he was taken into the Methodist church, "on six months suspicion." The probation period in no case can be shorter than three months. The superintendent