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20

STATE SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT

     Mr. Gregory graduated from Doane College in 1882, and later took advanced work in Amherst, Yale, and Chicago universities. He was principal of Gates College, Neligh, for twelve years; city superintendent at Redford, Oregon, three years; county superintendent of Jackson county, Oregon, two years; and superintendent of the Crete, Nebraska, city schools for ten years. He was a member of junior normal faculties for six years acting as principal of the Valentine junior normal in 1909. He has a wide experience as institute Instructor.

REPORT OF INSPECTOR

State Superintendent B. C. Bishop,
     Lincoln, Nebraska.

Dear Sir:

     In compliance with your request I submit the following report of the department of Inspection of Normal Training in High Schools for the school year 1909-1910.

     During this period each one of the one hundred three high schools and seven academies giving normal training have been visited once, and most of them twice. In these schools there were one thousand eight hundred ninety pupils enrolled. Eight hundred ninety-four graduated this year.

     Members of the normal training classes were generally the most vigorous and progressive pupils in the schools and it was quite rare to find a pupil who had entered the class expecting to find an easy way to graduation. Superintendents are discouraging weak pupils from entering the normal training work. This is the right attitude. These pupils go, as teachers, into the nearby rural districts and naturally those districts hold the superintendent and city school responsible for the qualification of the teacher. In some localities school officers have so much confidence in the quality of normal training teachers that they ask city superintendents to name teachers for their districts.

     City and county superintendents are usually working jointly and strenuously to secure better qualified teachers for rural schools and county superintendents are finding their greatest assistance comes from the normal training high schools.

     To encourage city superintendents to exercise still greater care in selecting pupils for normal training, it might be well to ask them to give normal training graduates a signed statement concerning their scholastic fitness and character. Each pupil would present this statement to the county superintendent before receiving a certificate.

     The question of securing substitutes for teachers who are compelled to be off duty is quite easily met In normal training schools. In numerous instances the inspector has found members of the senior class in charge of a room. The methods used and the discipline were usually very good.


NORMAL TRAINING HIGH SCHOOLS

21

     The quality of instruction was generally good and In some schools It was excellent Better qualified teachers are being demanded for normal training high schools than in previous years, and usually one more teacher is employed than before normal training was introduced.

     Superintendents, principals, and teachers in public schools, and principals and teachers in private schools have been very cordial in their attitude toward inspection of the normal training work and have offered every facility for a careful examination of equipment, methods and results in their schools. Boards of education have welcomed the inspector and gladly received his suggestions for betterment of any conditions that would make the work more effective. All parties interested have shown a commendable desire to co-operate with the state department of education in securing the best possible advantages for the normal training ciasses in their respective communities.

     Observation of methods and results lead me to the following recommendations:

     While not slighting the mechanics of reading, it would be well to place more emphasis upon the art of this subject. Give pupils more time in classes to qualify themselves better for presenting the subject in their schoolrooms. We have too many teachers who can discuss types, moods, and effects, who can neither read well orally nor teach others to do so.

     Require better qualified teachers in agriculture. Those who can inspire pupils with the beauty and dignity of the subject; those who can do better practical work in various lines of laboratory experiments.

     Each normal training pupil should be required to spend at least two days in visiting rural schools during the senior year, this time to be divided between two or more schools.

     In each normal training high school there should be some one of the faculty designated by the local board of education who should prepare all reports concerning the normal training; usually it should be the normal training teacher under the direction of the superintendent. A duplicate of every report sent to the state department or University should be kept on file with the city superintendent. He should be held responsible for all normal training reports being properly made out and sent to the proper department or left In the hands of the secretary of the board of education.

     Superintendents should be careful to see that every normal training graduate has had a full four years' high school course. Pupils passing from one school to another, during their high school course, must have their grades transferred and accepted by the school from which they finally graduate so that all the records come from the one school to the state department.

     Superintendents should be cautioned to decide all cases of attendance and grades, remembering that the record for each pupil must appear as coming from the school of graduation only. The school of


22

STATE SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT

graduation assumes responsibility for grades and attendance and must make a complete report on both..     G. A. GREGORY, Inspector.

TO NORMAL TRAINING TEACHERS.

G. A. Gregory.

     Someone said, "Teachers are born not made." That was perhaps true when fewer were needed and when the standard of fitness was much lower than at present. Now conditions and requirements are such that our teachers must first be born then made, through years of careful training, into that type of teacher who can meet the demands of the present progressive age.

     The best teacher of today is an executive, instructor, counsellor, adviser, leader, and companion. Such teacher must be strong physically, mentally, and morally; able to win and hold the respect of the adult community, secure the loyal support and co-operation of pupils and fire them with enthusiasm to conquer difficulties in their studies.

     It requires time to do all this. A pupil entering the normal training class at the beginning of the junior year has two years for preparation before teaching, but unless very much has been done before this, in the way of preparation, there is scant hope of success.

     For this reason, the wise superintendent and properly qualified grade teachers in our best normal training high schools are constantly laying stress upon the development of those qualities so essential to the cultured teacher. This can be consistently and profitably done with all the pupils, since they are thus made more capable for any life work

     During the past year many schools have been visited, hundreds of teachers noted and several thousand boys and girls in grades and high schools observed in class and in study rooms.

     In some of the schools the whole atmosphere seemed alive with those qualities and influences that form an environment which fosters and strengthens manly and womanly traits. The teacher in such places was an example of hat the child should become. Gentleness, firmness, sympathy, enthusiasm, and good will were dominating characteristics of such teachers.

     The well modulated voice, quiet, deliberate movement, clear expression in good English were so potent that pupils were acquiring, unconsciously, the same desirable qualities. In the same building sometimes were found teachers who had been born but not made. They were loud and vigorous in voice and action, their attitude and English were both bad. Pupils were following the example and often excelling it Such a teacher can and should reform or quit. Those in charge of schools should use all proper Influence to secure the first type of teacher. With such to guide pupils through the grades they will come to the high school with those qualities so essential to highest success well fixed in their natures.

     Nearly all the deficiencies noted among normal training pupils during the past year were such as could have been remedied very easily


NORMAL TRAINING HIGH SCHOOLS

23

had there been proper training during a few years preceding the junior year.

     Teachers generally, and in normal training schools especially, from primary through the high school, are coming to have a higher ideal of their calling and duty than merely presenting the subject of the prescribed text books, valuable though that may be. Normal training pupils, passing under their influence are to be the teachers who will train thousands of the most impressionable young people in our state, in rural and village schools.

     Every teacher then should study each pupil and In such way as seems best give that encouragement and uplift that will help the boy to be manly, the girl to be womanly, both to be honest, frank, alert, resourceful, vigorous, and ready in expression. Help all to feel that school life is a serious life but a very happy one if properly lived. Help them to experience that joy which comes from mastering the subjects in the course of study and from gaining full control and direction of their powers. They will then not only pass the good influence on to others, but will remember the one who helped them to know the better things In school life.

TO THE NORMAL TRAINING PUPIL.

     Since you are vitally interested In securing recognition for the work you do in the normal training department a brief statement Is. here made for your convenience. Records that are of value to you in securing a certificate must be on file in the state superintendent's office before they are available for your use. They cannot be sent to your county superintendent to place on your certificate until all preliminary conditions are fulfilled. Your city superintendent must report to the state superintendent your class attendance, each year, on blanks sent him. He must also report to the University of Nebraska on blank sent him, your grades for the entire normal course, except the six normal training subjects. The following is the method of procedure:

Declaration.

     Sign the declaration, which is sent for that purpose to your school, on entering the class. This must be done each year you are in the class. Failure to do this forfeits all rights to any grades.

Class Attendance.

     Be sure to attend all the seven required classes the full time. These classes are: Reading, grammar, arithmetic, geography, each not less than nine weeks; history, pedagogy, and agriculture, each not less than eighteen weeks. In case of absence from a class you must make it satisfactory with your teacher, for he must vouch for your attendance full time.


24

STATE SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT

Four Years' Attendance and Credits.

     You must complete the entire prescribed course in normal training and graduate from the regular high school course of study. All the above studies, except agriculture, must be taken in the junior and senior years of a normal training high school. Pedagogy must be taken in the senior year. You must graduate with not less than twenty-eight University credits. (See Bulletin No. 6, page 49.)

Examinations.

     Before you can receive credits for certification in subjects it will be necessary for you to register with the county superintendent and thereby secure a number, for which you pay $1.50. This should be done not later than early in the junior year.

     A grade once entered on a given registration number exhausts the candidate's rights for that subject on that number. To secure the entry of a different grade in that subject the applicant must re-register and secure a new number.

     The county number, too, is necessary before any attendance record can he certified to the state superintendent.

     Grades received in any normal training high school In English composition, algebra, geometry, botany, physics, physiology, civics, and agriculture, if accepted by the State University, may, at the option of the county superintendent, be transferred to the state superintendent's record and then to the county superintendent's record and placed on the pupil's certificate, thus obviating the necessity of s special examination in these subjects. Bookkeeping, when taken a full semester, receives credit with the above studies. When taken but six weeks, in accordance with suggestions given under "Four Years' Program (page 27), the pupil will be credited with the grade if It is given In the report with the other studies when sent to the State University. Only two university credits are given for the three semesters' work required to complete the four normal training reviews and pedagogy. Only one credit is given for two semesters' work done in reviews and pedagogy or in the four reviews.

     A pupil registered under a county number who takes an examination on one of the above subjects, loses right to the university grade on that subject under that number, but may re-register and then secure the university credit under the new number, at the option of the county superintendent.

Responsibility of City Superintendent and Secretary of Board of Education.

     Your records in the state superintendent's office are made up from material sent in by your city superintendent and secretary of the board of education. Any errors or omissions by either of them will make your records incomplete and will delay or prevent your certification.


NORMAL TRAINING HIGH SCHOOLS

25

Changing School.

     Should you change schools during your high school course, have all your grades transferred, because only the school from which you graduate can send the final report to the state department.

Grade of Certificate.

     Normal training graduates who have had no experience will receive a second grade certificate. After one year's successful teaching and doing the reading circle work, a first grade certificate may be issued without further examination. (See Bulletin No. 13, page 49, k.)

     The above rules are subject to change, but all county and city superintendents will receive due notice.

SUMMARY.

     From above statements It appears there are three groups of subjects from which grades are secured for normal training teachers.

     First -- Normal training special subjects:

     The four reviews, history, and pedagogy. Examinations are required in these.

     Second -- Those studies which are not accredited at the State University:

     Orthography, penmanship, drawing, mental arithmetic, and, if not studied in the high school, civil government, bookkeeping, and physiology. Examinations are required in these subjects.

     Third -- Subjects that are accredited by the State University and not found In the first group:

     Algebra, botany, geometry, physics, agriculture, and, if taught in the high school, civil government, bookkeeping, physiology, and English composition. In these no examination is required if the university grades are accepted by the county superintendent.

     For convenience of reference the law relating to issuance of county certificates to normal training pupils is given below.

CERTIFICATION.

     Sec. 7. -- First grade county certificates. -- Normal training. -- The first grade county certificate may be granted to any person of approved learning and character, and possessing evident ability to teach and govern a school, who shall pass a satisfactory examination in all the branches required to obtain a second grade county certificate; and in algebra, botany, geometry, and physics; Provided, That on and after September 1, 1907, no person shall be granted a first grade county certificate who has not had at least twelve weeks' normal training in a college, university, or normal school of approved standing in this or in another state, or in a state junior normal school of Nebraska, or In a high school of Nebraska approved by the state superintendent of public instruction as being equipped to give such normal training;


26

STATE SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT

Provided, further, That one or more years' successful experience as a teacher may be considered the equivalent of the normal training required by this section.

     Sec. 8. -- Second grade county certificates. -- Normal training. -- The second grade county certificate may be granted to any person of approved learning and character, who, in addition to the branches specified for the third grade county certificate, shall pass a satisfactory examination in civil government, bookkeeping, blackboard drawing, theory and art of teaching, and the elements of agriculture, including a fair knowledge of the structure and habits of the common plants, insects, birds and quadrupeds; Provided, That on and after September 1, 1907, no person shall be granted a second grade county certificate who has not had at least eight weeks' normal training in a college, university, or normal school of approved standing in this or in another state, or in a state junior normal school of Nebraska, or in a high school of Nebraska approved by the state superintendent of public instruction as being equipped to give such normal training; Provided further, That one or more years' successful experience as a teacher may be considered the equivalent of the normal training required by this section.

     Sec. 9. -- Third grade county certificates. -- The third grade county certificate may be granted to any person of approved character who shall pass a satisfactory examination in orthography, reading, penmanship, geography, arithmetic, physiology and hygiene, English composition, English grammar, and United States history,


STATE JUNIOR NORMAL SCHOOLS.


     Junior Normals Yet Needed. -- The establishment of two additional normal schools, during the present biennium, relieves to some extent the urgent necessity of provision for the training of teachers in sections of the state where the supply of teachers is less than the need. There is yet need for summer school courses in normal training in those sections of the state where the limited high school facilities cannot furnish a sufficient supply of teachers qualified for teaching in the rural schools of such sections of the state. Hundreds of these rural schools must yet be supplied with teachers. The ambitious young men and young women of these sparsely settled communities, when properly educated, make the best teachers for these schools. Their acquaintance with the home conditions of the people, and their dauntless courage, earnestness, and energetic application to duty, make them superior teachers where they have secured the scholastic and professional training needed for the beginning teacher. These communities need more of such teachers. These young people, deprived of high school and normal school facilities, which are within easier reach of those of


JUNIOR NORMAL SCHOOLS

27

more favored sections of the state, are entitled to the continued opportunity offered by the state for properly preparing themselves for teaching, through the state junior normal schools.

     Limitation of Courses of Study. -- In my opinion, there is no longer need for offering in the junior normal schools courses of study beyond that leading to the first grade county certificate. Those desiring to qualify for the state professional certificate can better be provided for in the regular state normal schools, and other institutions offering courses in advanced branches.

     It is, therefore, my recommendation that the state junior normals discontinue offering courses of study in the branches above those required for the first grade county certificate. That the regular courses be confined to first grade branches, a model rural school for observation work, and strong industrial courses In elementary agriculture, domestic science and manual training designed to meet the needs for rural school teaching. Music, physical culture, and other drills designed for general culture should be maintained. The lecture course should be limited to high-class entertainment. It should include educational lectures of inspirational and informational value, and other entertainment of purely ethical value, all of which will round out the student's time by supplying relaxation from the steady application to study and recitation, and a means of broadening the intellectual and spiritual horizon. Such lecture course should be maintained by the state, free to enrolled students.

     Union County Normal Institutes. -- The junior normal school should be maintained by the state until, by reason of the better settlement of the outlying sections of the state, they may be resolved into union normal institutes in which adjacent counties may unite for a strong session under direction et the state co-operating with the local county superintendents, the state providing such part of the instruction that is needed, and well balanced work may be offered which will meet the specific needs of the localities served. Such number of union normal institutes should be provided for by the state that every county which is unable from its own resources to maintain an institute of approved quality, and extent may through state assistance, by co-operation with adjacent county or counties, maintain an institute which will serve the schools as well as the institute of more favored communities.


28

STATE SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT

FINANCIAL STATEMENT, 1909.

Alliance
Alma
B'k'n Bow
Geneva
McCook
N. Platte
O'Neill
Valentine
Total

State appropriation.

   Salaries

$1,339.99

$1,274.36

$1,094.32

$1,270.65

$1,147.50

$1,101.31

$1,401.85

$1,086.29

$9,716.27

    Other expenses

446.40

$10,162.67

Local funds.

Receipts:

    Enrollment fees

348.00

233.00

246.00

298.00

288.00

216.00

404.00

176.00

    Lecture course

156.95

154.25

216.55

63.60

214.00

130.50

69.30

    Institute funds

238.55

179.97

359.90

187.00

247.75

349.00

175.33

237.81

    Other sources.

25.00

$768.50

$567.22

$822.45

$548.60

$749.75

$565.00

$709.83

$483.11

$5,214.46

Expenditures:

    Instructors

437.56

225.64

430.68

206.85

337.50

348.69

258.15

163.71

2,408.78

    Lecture course

226.65

237.50

305.00

237.50

250.75

146.00

266.75

207.50

1,877.65

    Supplies and

        music

46.95

37.25

31.65

47.15

123.86

19.91

91.15

74.10

472.02

    *Expense

24.20

45.39

45.12

41.08

23.25

26.70

52.58

11.78

270.10

    Other purposes

33.14

21.44

10.00

16.02

12.25

23.70

41.20

26.02

183.77

    Bal. on hand

2.14

2.14

$768.50

$567.22

$822.45

$548.60

$749.75

$565.00

$709.83

$483.11

$5,214.46

Cost of junior

   normals

$2,108.49

$1,841.58

$1,916.77

$1,819.25

1,897.25

$1,666.31

$2,111.68

$1,569.40

$15,377.13

     *Express, drayage, postage, telegraph and telephone.


ENROLLMENT 1909.

Alliance
Alma
Broken Bow
Geneva
McCook
North Platte
O'Neill
Valentine

Box Butte

89

Harlan

72

Custer

168

Fillmore

174

Red Will'w

69

Lincoln

112

Holt

216

Cherry

80

Buffalo

1

Chase

1

Adams

1

Adams

1

Chase

5

Cheyenne

1

Antelope

14

Brown

4

Cheyenne

11

Cheyenne

1

Blaine

9

Butler

1

Dundy

3

Dawson

5

Boyd

1

Dawes

1

Dawes

20

Franklin

21

Cherry

2

Clay

4

Frontier

16

Deuel

4

Brown

1

Holt

1

Grant

11

Furnas

5

Buffalo

2

Nuckolls

1

Furnas

25

Frontier

1

Cedar

1

Rock

1

Hooker

5

Kearney

3

Garfield

2

Saline

11

Hitchcock

36

Hayes

2

Cherry

1

Saline

1

Kimball

2

Nuckolls

1

Hooker

3

Thayer

3

Hayes

8

Keith

9

Douglas

1

Sheridan

10

Scottsbluff

19

Phelps

7

Logan

2

Seward

1

Unclassifi'd

I

Logan

3

Knox

3

Unclassifi'd

1

Sioux

7

Webster

12

Loup

4

Unclassifi'd

2

McPherson

10

Rock

4

Thomas

1

Thomas

2

Unclassifi'd

3

Kimball

1

Perkins

8

Stanton

1

Sheridan

9

McPherson

2

Unclassifi'd

3

Unclassifi'd

1

Merrill

24

Sherman

8

Unclassified

13

Thomas

3

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

   Total

208

126

202

193

162

158

244

100

Total

J. N.

1,394

Including
Including
Including
Including
Including
Including
Including
Including
Inst. only
Inst. only
Inst. only
Inst. only
Inst. only
Inst. only
Inst. only
Inst. only

Box Butte

10

Harlan

14

Custer

67

Fillmore

88

Red Will'w

16

Lincoln

46

Holt

84

Cherry

19

Unclassifi'd

24

Unclassifi'd

5

Unclassifi'd

11

Unclassifi'd

0

Unclassifi'd

22

Unclassifi'd

4

Unclassifi'd

0

Unclassifi'd

5

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

   Total

34

19

78

88

38

50

84

24

415


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