How Firm a Foundation?: An Appraisal of Threats to the Quality of Elementary Education [Reprint 2014 ed.] 9780674493667

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PREFACE
HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION?

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H O W FIRM A

FOUNDATION?

THE BURTON LECTURE 19 55

The Burton

Lectureship

In order to stimulate interest and research in elementary education, Dr. and Mrs. William H. Burton gave to the Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, a fund for the maintenance of a lectureship under which a distinguished scholar or leader would be invited each year to discuss national problems in this field. A lectureship was accordingly established by the Graduate School of Education and named in honor of the donors. Dr. Burton, who was Director of Apprentice Teaching at Harvard for sixteen years, taught for forty-three years in the fields of elementary education and teacher education. It is hoped that these lectures will help to advance a study to which he is devoted and to which he has made distinguished contributions.

How Firm a Foundation? An Appraisal of Threats to the Quality of Elementary Education

Hollis L. Caswell President, Teachers College Columbia University

HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS

1956

· CAMBRIDGE, MASS.

©

1956

T H E PRESIDENT AND F E L L O W S O F HARVARD COLLEGE

DISTRIBUTED IN GREAT BRITAIN GEOFFREY

BY

CUMBERLEGE

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG NUMBER 5 6 - 9 3 7 1 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

t PREFACE IT is a privilege to deliver the first lecture in the Burton lecture series on elementary education. The education of children has long been a field of exceptional challenge and interest to me. It is a pleasurable and exciting experience to see boys and girls first come to school. Their enthusiasm and openhearted response to good educational opportunities inspire one's confidence and faith, both in the young and in education. The spirit children bring seems to give the elementary school a greater sense of freedom and adventure than one finds at the later years. Certainly new ideas have been more readily received and tried in elementary schools than at the secondary and higher education levels. From Pestalozzi to Dewey educational proposals that depart from tradition have found a testing ground in elementary education. It is a source of special pleasure to me to share in an occasion giving recognition to Dr. Burton. His career in education has been a long and fruitful one. He has contributed at many points to the professionalization of teaching during the

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PREFACE

period of its most rapid development. From my view, his consistent, deep concern with the humane aspects of the educative process stands out. It is particularly fitting that a series of lectures on elementary education should honor him. It was more than ordinarily difficult to select a theme for this lecture. Elementary education is so manifold that the very breadth of possible choice complicated selection. But gradually, as I considered one possibility after another, I became convinced that there is one problem that is more dominant than all others in elementary education in 1955. This is not to suggest that there are not many important problems, for there most assuredly are; rather, it means that this one seems more central and urgent and many others are subordinate to it. The presentation, of necessity, covers considerable material with which any student of elementary education is already familiar. It is my hope that the analysis of these materials and the inferences drawn from them may introduce certain new considerations that will be worthy of attention. H. L. C. Teachers College Columbia University 1955

H O W FIRM A F O U N D A T I O N ?

¥ A CENTURY

OF

PROGRESS

FOR a century or more elementary education in the United States moved forward—sometimes rapidly, sometimes slowly, but nevertheless persistently—along certain fairly well defined lines. I say it moved forward because the course of development resulted in changes which students of education would generally agree afford improved opportunities for children. Indications of progress are to be found in a broadened curriculum, in the provision of experiences possessing greater meaning and vitality for children, in better prepared teachers, smaller classes, improved instructional materials, lengthened school terms, the more humane treatment of children, and in improved physical facilities. It is difficult to comprehend how great the change in elementary education was over this period. Comparisons that are truly representative are difficult to make because of the wide variations in practice in different communities

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at a given time. However, I am convinced that if a cross section of practice in elementary schools could be made for 1850, 1900, and 1950, tremendous improvements would be obvious. Contrasts from generation to generation are suggestive. My father attended elementary school from four to five months a year. The teachers had little if any formal education beyond the elementary school, being certified by county examinations. The curriculum was limited pretty much to the traditional 3 R's. Books were scarce, and other types of instructional materials were nonexistent. By the time I entered elementary school the term had been increased to eight or nine months. The teachers were all high school graduates, and a few had taken some college work. The curriculum had broadened to include music, art, history, and geography. Basic texts in each subject were available for each pupil. When my sons entered school the term was ten months in length. The teachers were all college graduates and some had Master's degrees. The curriculum had been further broadened to ininclude work in science, health, physical education, and safety, and activities in construction, dramatics, and library use. Not only did each pupil have a basic text in each subject but there was a special selection of reference books in the

HOW F I R M A FOUNDATION

3

classroom and a school library. Thousands of American families could cite the same kind of increase in educational opportunities from generation to generation. Improvements from 1900 to 1940 were especially great. Some critics of modern education would question this appraisal. However, all evidence which has an objective basis and the judgments of those who have made elementary education a field of specialization support it. Numerous studies indicate that in fields such as reading and arithmetic the pupils of today do as well as or better than pupils of earlier times, and in addition cover a much wider curriculum. A substantial number of studies have been made which compare achievement at some earlier period with a recent time. For example, surveys were made by the University of Minnesota of the Austin, Minnesota, public schools in 1921 and 1951. The same tests were administered in the same schools in 1951 as had been used in 1921. In 1921, 34.9 per cent of all pupils were retarded; in 1951 the rate dropped to 7.4 per cent. In the fourth grade, 34.8 per cent of the 1921 pupils were overage, while in 1951 the rate was 6.6 per cent. In the fifth grade the comparable figures were 43.5 per cent and 6.3 per cent; in the sixth grade they were 46.2 per cent and 7.7 per cent. In brief, the pupils of 1921 were substantially older and had

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been in school longer than those of 1951. Yet the tests showed that in every case the 1951 pupils were better readers than the pupils in 1921 and in spelling were as good or better.1 A publication of the Research Division of the National Education Association summarizes the major studies of this type which are available and concludes: "In fundamentals today's pupils are superior to the pupils of the past. They now read more books more rapidly and with more understanding. They understand and use arithmetic procedures more successfully. Their mastery of language is greater. In short, children today learn better than they did in times past." 2 The most significant advances that have been made in elementary education cannot be indicated by test results of this type. Comparative data are not available on achievement of many objectives which are now considered important, e.g., health habits, ability to use reference materials, musical and artistic appreciation and performance, readiness to assume responsibility, good human relations, and understanding of the community. 1

Austin School Survey, Part II (Bureau of Field Studies and Surveys, College of Education, University of Minnesota, 1952). 2 Comparative Achievement of Pupils Today and Yesterday (Research Division of the National Education Association, Washington, D.C., February 1952), p. 24.

HOW F I R M A FOUNDATION

ζ

The conditions existing in elementary schools in the old days are either forgotten or glamorized by those who hold that education then was better. At that time people were critical, just as they are now. Consider, for example, the following statement taken from an editorial in the New York Sun for October 5, 1902: When we were boys, boys had to do a little work in school. They were not coaxed; they were hammered. Spelling, writing, and arithmetic were not electives, and you had to learn. In these more fortunate times, elementary education has become in many places a vaudeville show. The child must be kept amused, and learns what he pleases. Many sage teachers scorn the old-fashioned rudiments, and it seems to be regarded as between a misfortune and a crime for a child to learn to read. It is my judgment that anyone who will study impartially and thoroughly the evidences of educational conditions, practices, and outcomes in elementary schools down through the years must conclude that in the century from 1840 to 1940 highly significant improvement was realized. THE WAR

INTERIM

Whereas improvement in American education was persistent and steady throughout its first fifty

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or sixty years, the decades from 191 o to 1940 were particularly marked by important developments. These included the growth of standardized testing, widespread recognition of the range of individual differences, introduction of the activity concept, and increased understanding of the importance of motivation inherent within school activities rather than that arising from external pressures. The decade of the forties, dominated by the war, was a period of quiescence, of little vigorous creative or modifying activity. A low birthrate during the depression years meant that the number of pupils was manageable with little increase in staff and facilities. Consequently, through this decade education was largely concerned with making immediate contributions to the war effort and with holding the line. The course of onward development was pretty largely halted; the staus quo was maintained. The latter years of the decade absorbed the initial shock of postwar adjustment.

THE DECADE OF THE FIFTIES SERIOUS PROBLEMS

BRINGS

The fifties present a markedly changed situation. Powerful forces have operated to create a group of the most serious problems education in America has ever faced. The condition now

HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION

7

existing appears to me to be critical. The central problem is what will happen to the quality of education in the years ahead. Will there continue to be improvement or will the course of a century and more be reversed? Will the next generation receive poorer educational opportunities than those enjoyed by their fathers and mothers rather than better? This problem has special bearing on the elementary school. In the early years pupils are most dependent and the kind of guidance they receive influences all their later education. During the elementary years the foundation is laid. As with all building, unless the foundation is firm, future development is jeopardized. But in spite of the basic importance of a pupil's early schooling there is a tendency to make reductions first and most drastically at the elementary level. Thus arises the query in the title of this lecture: "How firm a foundation will elementary education today and tomorrow provide for America's citizens?" BIRTHRATE,

ECONOMICS,

AND

WAR

The major factors which have operated to create the present situation are quite clear. They are widely discussed, although I suspect that none of us yet fully appreciates the powerful

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influence they have already exerted on education and will exert in the period ahead. First, there is the great and unexpected increase in birthrate which occurred during the war years and which has continued since. From 1935 to 1940 the number of births ranged between 2,150,000 and 2,350,000. By 1943 it had jumped to nearly 3,000,000; by 1950 it exceeded 3,500,000, and by 1954 it exceeded 4,000,000. The increase in births in the decade of the forties (over 1,190,000) was greater than that in the twenty-three years before 1940. There is no indication of a return to the earlier, lower rate. It is estimated that our population will increase over thirty-five million in the next twenty years. The birthrate, of course, has resulted in a greatly increased school enrollment. In 1949-50, when the effects of the higher birthrate were first beginning to be felt in the elementary school, there were approximately fifteen and threequarters million children enrolled in the kindergarten through grade 6. Last year the number reached nearly twenty million. Thus in five years the load on the elementary school increased more than 2 5 per cent. The increase in both the first and second grades was approximately one million pupils. The persisting high birthrate makes it certain that enrollments will continue to increase. It is estimated that by 1959-60 the kindergarten

HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION

9

through grade 6 enrollment will exceed twentythree and one half million. Thus, in the decade of the fifties elementary school enrollment will have increased by approximately 50 per cent. Or, to put it another way, for every two children for whom provision was made in 1950, three must be cared for in i960. Second, there is the great shortage of manpower in all fields that require extensive training. Even in those fields which offer the greatest attractions, substantial difficulty is being encountered in recruiting and training a sufficient number of persons to meet the need. This condition arises not only from the increased population but also from the fact that the age groups from which such recruits are drawn are comparatively small. For example, the number of births twenty-five years ago was only 2,203,000 as compared with the present (1954) 4,021,000. This means that the number of young adults to meet the needs of a very rapidly growing nation is disproportionately small. In 1945 the total number of 18-21 year olds exceeded nine million. In 1954 the number fell below eight million. There are fewer college graduates today than any time in the past five years. Third, our economy is developing at an unprecedented rate. It has been one of the greatest surprises of the postwar period that economic

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HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION

development should move forward so rapidly. Anyone who might have predicted at the close of the war what has occurred between 1945 and 1955 would have been considered an extreme and unreasoning optimist. The result is employment at an all-time high, at good wages. Many persons who otherwise might have taken courses of training for highly skilled and professional work accept jobs for which training can be quickly given. Fourth, along with economic expansion has gone continuing inflation. Prices that at the close of the war seemed high now appear low. As costs have mounted, white-collar workers generally have been placed in a less and less favorable economic status. As a result, these fields are at a greater disadvantage than before in competing for manpower. Fifth, there is the fact that during the depression and war years expenditures for all activities not considered essential to economic recovery and winning the war were maintained at close to a minimum level. As a consequence, schools entered the postwar years in a relatively poor condition. This condition is often overlooked in evaluating the needs of the educational system today. Yet its influence on the extent of present needs, especially for physical facilities, is very great indeed.

INFLUENCE

ON

QUALITY

OF

EDUCATION

These forces are exerting a pervasive and powerful influence on factors which determine the quality of educational programs. It is the thesis of this lecture that they are operating so as to threaten seriously the level of teaching and learning that has been achieved in elementary schools. In developing this thesis I shall discuss three factors which in my judgment are highly influential in determining educational quality and shall indicate the manner in which they are being affected in elementary schools. THE

TEACHER

The teacher is the central and all-important factor in determining how good an educational program is. N o t only do teachers affect pupils' achievement in the school subjects but there is evidence that the personal relationships they establish with pupils exert influence which extends beyond the school to home and community in subtle aspects of child behavior. 3 Other factors operate to aid or hinder their work, but in the final analysis the effectiveness of all provisions "Harry Levin, "The Influence of Classroom Control on Kindergarten Children's Fantasy Aggression," Elementary School journal 55:4/52-66, April 1955.

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HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION

and plans for education depends upon teachers' insight and ability. There is no substitute for a good teacher. Desirable Teaching Competences What is considered good teaching depends upon the way one views the educative process. Dr. Burton presents a conception of teaching which seems to me excellent. "Teaching," he writes, "is not a routine or rule-of-thumb process; it is a genuine intellectual adventure. Teaching demands the ability to adapt boldly, to invent, to create procedures to meet the ever changing demands of a learning situation. Continuous, imaginative anticipation of the mental processes of the learner is necessary. The ability to keep subtle and intricate learning processes moving toward desirable outcomes without domination or coercion does not result from training in devices and tricks of the trade." 4 if teaching is viewed in these terms the abilities required are very great. All teachers should of course have as a foundation a good general or liberal education. A person who is not himself well educated cannot possibly do a superior job of teaching. Example teaches so much more 4

William H. Burton, The Guidance of Learning ties (Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1952), p. v.

Activi-

HOW F I R M A FOUNDATION

I3

powerfully than words that the teacher who does not demonstrate in his living the values he is seeking to instill becomes largely ineffective. But persons with an excellent liberal education will · be ineffective teachers of children unless they also possess certain professional skills and insights. The following are major areas of professional competence that appear especially important to me: (a) The elementary school teacher should have a sympathetic appreciation and understanding of children and the ability to establish harmonious relations with them. (b) The elementary school teacher should have a thorough knowledge of how children grow and how various abilities develop. (c) The elementary school teacher should have command of the fields of knowledge upon which elementary education draws, knowing what subject matter may be useful for children and how the logical and psychological organization of the content relates to the development of the pupils' understandings and skills. (d) The elementary school teacher should have a wide acquaintance with resources of the community and the natural environment which may be used in the education of children. (e) The elementary school teacher should have

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HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION

understanding of behavior problems and how teaching contributes to their resolution. (f) The elementary school teacher should be able to guide the educational activities of pupils so that progressive achievement of desired goals is realized. (g) The elementary school teacher should understand the social role of education and the place and function of the elementary school in the educational system. ADEQUATE TIME AND

PREPARATION A SYSTEMATIC

REQUIRES PROGRAM

For a prospective teacher to achieve a good liberal education and the professional skill and insight needed for the effective teaching of children in the elementary school requires a substantial course of preparation. The idea persists in the minds of some people that the knowledge and skills needed to teach young children are much less than those required to teach older pupils. It is doubtful that anyone who has studied the matter seriously would hold this belief, yet it is so common that it cannot be ignored. The reason usually advanced to support this view is that the knowledge and abilities gained through a liberal education are generally sufficient for the elementary school teacher. It is sometimes

HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION

15

asserted that no further content is needed, that a few "methods of teaching" which can be mastered under supervision on the job are all that is required. The fact is that there is a substantial amount of subject matter that an elementary school teacher needs to command beyond that which is provided in a program of liberal education. Knowledge of children's literature, for example, is essential. This is not something that is dealt with in ordinary literature courses, nor can it be "picked up" readily on the job. Systematic study is needed. Or again, a good elementary school teacher needs far more knowledge of arithmetic than mere ability to perform the processes taught in the elementary school. He needs to understand the number system, the nature of various arithmetical processes, and the way a child's understanding and use of number develop if he is to guide pupils' mathematical learnings effectively. This is knowledge ordinarily not covered in courses in mathematics. Furthermore, the performance skills which an elementary school teacher needs in order to study and diagnose pupil needs and difficulties and to provide instruction to meet them are complex. If they are well mastered and effectively incorporated into teaching procedures they must be systematically cultivated. Methods

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HOW F I R M A FOUNDATION

of child study and instructional procedures are not superficial skills that can be picked up easily through on-the-job supervision. What I am saying is that good teaching depends upon professional skill and insight that can be developed most certainly and economically through a fairly extended program of systematic preparation. Just how long the period of preparation should be is a matter of judgment, but it is my opinion that a five-year program covering both liberal and professional education is desirable, and that anything less than a fouryear course is decidedly inadequate. Because of differences in aptitude it is impossible to relate preparation and teaching ability directly, but I believe the increase in teaching ability for a given individual arising from four- and five-year courses is very great as compared with any shorter period, and that for a large group of teachers the difference would be very substantial. The Shortage of Adequately Prepared Teachers

Larger enrollments have increased greatly the need for teachers. The small number of young adults in the present population and the comparatively unfavorable economic position of teachers have operated to reduce the number of persons entering teaching as well as to increase the number of those who leave the profession.

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17

The result is the serious shortage of qualified teachers with which we are all familiar. While this shortage is widely discussed, the limited scope of action being taken to correct it suggests that the seriousness of the problem is by no means generally recognized. T h e broad features of the situation are as follows: (a) There is currently a serious shortage of elementary teachers. (b) A l l the colleges and universities in the nation graduate annually only about 35,000 students prepared for elementary school teaching. The number prepared in 1955 dropped more than 1500 below the number in 1954. (c) More teachers leave elementary school teaching each year than are prepared for it. It is estimated that there are from 50,000 to 60,000 in this group. Consequently, the supply of newly prepared teachers is not adequate to replace those who leave the profession. (d) The rising enrollment in elementary schools will require approximately 30,000 new teachers annually. (e) Consequently, the annual demand for elementary school teachers will be more than twice the available supply under present programs. Dropping Standards of Preparation As a consequence, standards of preparation

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for elementary school teachers are seriously depressed. Thousands of teachers in all parts of the nation do not meet minimum standards and are teaching on emergency permits. For illustration, in Indiana in 1953-54 there were approximately 2500 emergency permits issued and 70 per cent of this group taught in elementary schools.6 T w o states certify solely on the basis of examinations on elementary school subjects. In many states emergency permits are issued to almost anyone a local system wishes to employ if it is certified that a person meeting minimum qualifications cannot be secured. Influence on standards is exerted also by the fact that many students preparing to be teachers are induced to begin teaching before their course of preparation is completed. Hundreds of students who are ready to secure adequate preparation thus have their courses shortened. This serves to lower still further the level of education achieved by teachers in the elementary school. The seriousness of this situation should be obvious to all. Nothing could strike more directly at the quality of education. Unless powerful action is taken the present downward trend in the level of preparation of elementary school 5

Wilbur Young, Merrill T . Eaton, and Berman N . Phillips, "Characteristics of Permit Teachers," Journal of Teacher Education 5:188-190, September 19J4.

HOW F I R M A FOUNDATION

19

teachers not only will continue but will worsen. Plans for Meeting the Situation

Efforts are of course being made to meet the situation. Three principal lines of action are being followed. First, there is the issuance of emergency permits, which has already been mentioned. This is a direct way of lowering standards for the education of teachers. While present circumstances force the use of this procedure, it is important to recognize that its inevitable effect is to lower the quality of education. Second, there is the development of new methods of recruiting prospective teachers. Many plans have been devised by teachers colleges, local school systems, and national associations to encourage young people to select teaching as a profession and to induce former teachers to return to teaching. It is difficult to appraise the effectiveness of these plans, for it cannot be ascertained what the situation would have been without them. However, it is obvious that more effective recruitment is the sound, long-range solution to the problem. Special effort has been made to recruit graduates of colleges of arts and science. With this purpose in mind, a number of fifth-year programs have been developed in which professional

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preparation is concentrated in a year or a year and a half. There is no doubt that liberal arts college graduates represent an important potential source of teacher supply and that efforts to tap this source more fully are desirable. Also, there has been considerable experience with fifth-year programs of this type which indicates that good preparation can be given. At Teachers College, Columbia University, such a program has been in operation since graduate work was instituted. Twenty years ago approximately 350 students were enrolled in this program; last year the number exceeded 450. Preparation is offered for both elementary and secondary teaching positions. Third, there is the development of plans of teacher preparation that require shorter periods of training. Such plans vary greatly. Some are strictly emergency programs of a few weeks' duration, while others undertake to modify significantly the existing patterns of teacher education. The emergency programs may be recognized readily for what they are—a stopgap measure that ameliorates somewhat the bad effects of introducing persons without adequate preparation into teaching, but which in no way assures the basic professional competence a teacher needs. Another approach shortens the period of

HOW F I R M A FOUNDATION

21

preparation by giving the large part of professional preparation on the job through an internship. This approach is urged not only as a means of securing more teachers but also as a fundamental improvement in teacher education. It is held that courses in education waste a great deal of time and that the association of practice and study greatly increases effectiveness. In appraising this approach it must be recognized that guided field experience is an important element of any good program of professional preparation. But so also is systematic study and the guidance of a variety of specialists in various aspects of educational theory and practice. It seems probable that whereas many traditional programs of teacher education may underemphasize the values in guided field experience, some of the recently inaugurated internship plans underestimate the importance of systematic study in education. Internship, properly conceived, surely assumes a considerable professional background based on study, observation, guided experience in dealing with specific and limited problems, and gradual induction into a position of major responsibility. My experience leads me to question the soundness of any plan which places a person in a position of major professional responsibility without such a background.

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Courses of Action Quality

That

Will

Foster

High

Present efforts to solve the teacher shortage are inadequate. The adjustments most widely used serve to lower standards and over a period of years will affect the quality of education in the elementary school most adversely. What is needed is a far broader, more powerful influence on the positive side than any which is now operating. It appears to me that there are three courses of action which, if undertaken vigorously, hold promise of improving the situation. The heart of the matter is recruitment, and any long-range solution must strike hard at this point. Present plans of recruitment should of course be continued, but there needs to be in addition some broad-scale, powerful influence to induce students to enter teaching. Such an influence would be provided, in my judgment, if the several states were to establish substantial scholarships for teachers in training. Such scholarships should be sufficient in number to meet the need of each state for teachers, and of such size as to cover the costs of tuition and maintenance. Each state would have to design a plan to meet its particular conditions and needs. Generally, it would be advantageous to grant scholarships directly to students, permitting them to study in

HOW F I R M A FOUNDATION

23

any approved institution of their choice. The level of preparation for which scholarships were granted would of necessity vary from state to state. In general, it would appear desirable to grant them first to college graduates willing to take a fifth-year program. This should attract a sufficient number of recent college graduates and former teachers in some states to meet the demand. In other instances, aid for the third and fourth years of college preparation might be required. The use of scholarships to recruit trainees for fields in which shortages exist is of course nothing new. The federal government has for several years provided scholarship grants through institutions and through states to attract persons into specialized fields of health and welfare service. A t the present time, for example, scholarships are provided in such fields as maternal and child health, clinical psychology, rehabilitation counselling, and psychiatric nursing. Many of these grants range between $2000 and $3000. There can be no doubt that this plan has been largely responsible for recruiting personnel in these fields. The states may well utilize this experience in dealing with the shortage of teachers for the public schools. N e w York State needs approximately 5000 new elementary school teachers annually. It is preparing fewer than 4000, not all

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of whom enter teaching. The number prepared in 1955 dropped more than 500 below the number prepared in 1954. Surely the need to stimulate recruitment through scholarships is as great here as in the fields mentioned above. It should be mentioned that there have been instances in which scholarship aid has been granted to teachers in training. However, these grants have been small—a few hundred dollars— quite limited in number, and generally granted through institutions rather than directly to students. Another point of critical importance is the salary level of teachers. One of the principal reasons more people do not enter teaching is its comparatively low economic reward. While salaries have increased in dollars over recent years, the economic position of teachers today, when compared with other wage and salary groups, is little if any better than it was in 1940. Teachers as a group fall at about the average of all wage or salary workers in the United States and are substantially below most other professional groups.® Teaching cannot attract large numbers of able people when many semi-skilled and skilled oc* "Salaries and Salary Schedules of Urban School Employees, I9J4-J5," Research Bulletin of the National Education Association, vol. 33, no. 2, April 1955.

HOW F I R M A FOUNDATION

25

cupations pay as well and when other professions requiring comparable training pay much more. If our communities want people of high competence for teachers they must make the position of teaching attractive. Consequently, any longrange solution of the problem of securing an adequate supply of well educated teachers must involve continued and intensified efforts to improve teachers' salaries. Finally, local school systems might give special attention to improvement of the sub-standard teachers now in the profession. In addition to providing customary salary bonuses for better preparation, under existing conditions school systems could very well consider paying tuition costs for course work taken by teachers while they are in service. This would provide an important stimulus to teachers to improve their training and would represent a good investment in improved teaching competence for local school systems. T o establish a substantial program of state scholarships for teachers in training, to advance teachers' salaries to the place where they are at least more nearly comparable to those in the other professions, and to provide tuition costs for course work taken by teachers while in service would add substantially to school costs. This is of course unwelcome, but it must be recognized

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HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION

that there is no positive way out of the present situation that will not increase school costs. The only alternative to increased school expenditures is deterioration of the educational program. THE SETTING FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING

Next to the competence of the teacher, the setting within which the teacher works is the most important factor in determining the quality of education. There are several things which influence the setting for teaching and learning. Of particular importance in the elementary school are the way classes are formed, the method of grouping, the size of classes, the availability of assistance from supervision and other specialists, and the length of the school day and term. The size of classes and length of the school day especially are being affected in the present situation. Class Size

Tradition has it that the best learning situation is provided with "Mark Hopkins on one end of a log and a student on the other." While this adage was probably intended more to emphasize the importance of the teacher than the desirabili-

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27

ty of a one-to-one pupil-teacher ratio, it does nevertheless reflect a widespread feeling that small instructional groups provide a better teaching-learning situation than large ones. Teachers and supervisors who work directly with pupils have consistently held that classes which are too large limit their effectiveness. In a study of the factors teachers found conducive to strain and a sense of heavy pressure, the highest ranking factor for elementary school teachers was the number and type of pupils.7 A survey of what elementary school teachers considered the best size of class resulted in a range of 20 to 29 pupils, with 24 as the most frequently mentioned figure. A class exceeding 30 pupils was considered large.8 The opportunity for the teacher to know each pupil well and to give him personal attention certainly is influenced by the number of pupils involved. The point of view of the classroom teacher is well expressed in the following statement: "If you asked me what it takes to make a good learning situation for young children, I 7 "Class Size as Related to Instruction in Elementary and Secondary Schools." (National Education Association, Washington, D. C., mimeographed, 1952), pp. j-6. 'William L. Gragg, "The Problem of Larger Classes in Public Elementary Schools," American School Board Journal 121:23-24, September 1950.

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FOUNDATION

would begin 'Now you take 2 5 children . . .' " The writer explains why the size of the class is important: "The children would all have a sense of Jbelonging that comes from being a part of a group that is not too big. The teacher would have a buoyant spirit because he is not crushed under a load· that is too heavy for human shoulders. I know because I have taught 40 children! I have also taught 25 children! The years that I like to remember are the ones in which I had only 25 children! There was time for all the little things that are important in a child's life. There was time to sit down beside each child and help with individual difficulties. There was even time to find out why some children were having difficulties." 9 Parents also tend to consider small classes an indication of good educational opportunity. Quite generally school systems in better communities which maintain schools that are recognized as being superior have smaller classes. One of the reasons which parents often emphasize for sending their children to private schools is that they receive more attention and better instruction because of small classes. Accrediting associations have generally considered class size a factor in effective teaching "Patsy Montague, " N o w You Take 2 j Children," Childhood Education 3 1 : 3 7 1 - 7 4 , April 19J5.

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and have imposed limitations on the number of pupils a teacher might teach in the secondary school. In brief, the opinions of those closest to teaching have quite consistently been that size of class is a matter of major importance in determining quality. This judgment must be tempered somewhat by the outcomes of a large number of studies of the relation of size of class to the achievement of pupils. There has been a quite consistent general outcome of these studies although details differ. The findings of one of the most recent studies is indicative. The investigator concludes: "Class size, within the range studied, is not a factor in achievement." 1 0 Thus the judgment which teachers and supervisors quite widely hold about the significant relationship of the size of a class to good teaching and the findings of studies of the achievement of pupils in classes of various sizes are in conflict. There are no doubt many factors involved, ranging from the limited outcomes which can be tested objectively to the fact that some teachers would teach no differently whether they were dealing with ten or one hundred. M y own experience and observation lead me 10

Herbert F. Spitzer, "Class Size and Pupil Achievement in Elementary Schools," Elementary School Journal 55:82-86,

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to believe that the work of good teachers is greatly influenced by the size of the group they must teach. Good teachers study their pupils with care and give individuals a great deal of attention. This is basic to good teaching and is severely restricted as class size increases. The better the teacher, the more important size becomes; and conversely, the poorer the teacher, the less difference it makes. It is my opinion that size of class is particularly important as pupils begin school. They are most dependent in the early years and need the largest amount of guidance from their teachers at that time. As they progress, habits of work are developed that make it possible for them to carry on with increasing independence. Consequently, it appears especially desirable to me that the size of classes through the early years of schooling be such as to make possible a large amount of individual pupil attention. The widespread agreement among teachers and supervisors that approximately 25 pupils is the best size for a class, provides substantial grounds for its acceptance as a desirable goal. Down through the years there has been a slow but consistent decrease in class size in elementary schools. The median number of pupils per class in cities between 30,000 and 100,000 population dropped from 34.3 in 1930-31 to 30.0 in

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1949-50; in cities over 100,000 population from 36.9 to 32.5. 11 While these decreases seem small, since they are averages, they represent substantial drops in a large number of classrooms. The trend in size of class has now been reversed. In many school systems there has been a substantial increase. The National Education Association study of the supply and demand for teachers for 1955 reported that a sampling study of elementary schools revealed 86 per cent of classes in excess of 25 pupils, 62 per cent in excess of 30 pupils; 27 per cent in excess of 35 pupils; and 6 per cent in excess of 40 pupils.12 In the largest cities the situation was worst. Thirty-nine per cent of all classes had more than 35 pupils and 11 per cent more than 40. For the nation as a whole it is estimated that more than one-fourth of all elementary school classes exceed 35 pupils in enrollment. The reversal of the long-range trend toward size of class considered best by teachers is an important threat to the quality of education in the elementary school. Especially will the work of good teachers who know their pupils well 11 Educational Research Service Circulars No. 7, 1941; No. 10, 1941; No. 4, 1950; N o . 6, 19J0. Research Division, National Education Association. " National Education Association Research Division, "The 1955 Teacher Supply and Demand Report," Journal of Teacher Education 6:23-71, March 1955.

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and adjust to their individual needs be handicapped. Larger classes represent increased strain for teachers and thus make teaching less attractive than it otherwise might be. Length of School Day The length of time a pupil receives guidance is an important factor in determining the quality of education he receives. In the past, length of school term has been a major consideration in this regard. Gradually, school attendance has been increased from five, six, and seven months to the place where nine and ten are accepted practice. The present situation is limiting the attendance of pupils in another way—the length of time attended each day. Half-day sessions are a widely used expedient in meeting the shortage of facilities and teachers. It is estimated that the number of pupils on half sessions now approaches one million and is increasing rapidly. Instances have been reported in which there were children who this past year completed the elementary school without ever having attended a full day session. This represents a drastic limitation on the quality of education. When Compromises Must Be Made Every effort should be made to avoid the use

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of large classes and half-day sessions. However, it is clear that the hard realities of many situations leave no other way open for the present. When they are used, consideration should be given to the following factors as related to elementary schools: ( 1 ) Younger children are more dependent than older children. They require more personal attention and are less able to carry out activities under their own direction than are older pupils. (2) The elementary school provides the foundation for all later education. It is of special importance that this foundation be well laid, for if it is, many later difficulties will be avoided. (3) In the early years of schooling the satisfactory social adjustment of the child is highly important. Achievement of this goal requires that the teacher know each child in a class very well and be in a position to give him individual attention. These considerations lead me to the conclusion that increases in class size and use of double session, when forced by conditions, should be related to the maturity of pupils. The practice of first applying these adjustments to the early grades is exactly the wrong thing to do. It would sacrifice far less in educational values, I am convinced, to increase a high school class in mathematics or history or English from 25 to 50 pupils

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than to increase a first grade class from 25 to 35. Similarly", it would be more readily possible to offset the deleterious effects of half-day sessions in thé fifth or sixth grades than in the first or second. Teacher Assistants A method that is being tested to enable a teacher to deal effectively with large groups is the provision of assistants. It is proposed that much of the routine work which falls on the teacher could be done by a person without special training and the teacher could be freed to care for a larger number of pupils. If such a plan would work successfully it would help relieve the shortage of teachers since assistants can be more readily secured than professionally prepared teachers. It is obvious, I believe, that if a teacher must have an overly large class there would generally be an advantage in having an assistant. The real question is whether such an arrangement is better as a matter of long-range policy than having smaller groups, each with a professionally trained teacher. M y work with elementary teachers and observation of good teaching procedures make me highly skeptical of the soundness of such an approach for a long-range solution. The root of the difficulty in using it is determination of what

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is routine in teaching. As I have watched good teachers at work, I am impressed with the extent to which they use every phase of the life in the classroom and on the playground to achieve the goals they are seeking. For example, a few years ago I visited a first grade which was taught by a teacher I knew to be an artist in her work. At the time I entered the room she was reading to one group, another group was engaged in individual tasks at their seats, and still another group was tearing down a play store that had been built in a corner of the classroom. It immediately became obvious that one boy in the group dismantling the store was creating a major commotion. He was throwing blocks and boxes right and left and talking quite loudly in the process. Everyone else was being disturbed. The teacher said nothing but went on reading as best she could under the circumstances. Naturally, I wondered why she did not quiet the boy down and on the first opportunity asked her about it. She said that this particular boy came from a home in which the parents directed his every action in greatest detail. When he came to school he was fearful and lost, unwilling to venture anything on his own. The dismantling of the store was the first occasion on which he had let himself go at all. The teacher viewed the incident as a highly significant one in the boy's

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development and events of the year proved it to be so, for from that time on he gradually drew out of his shell and began to develop self-confidence. Now what could be more routine than tearing down a play store? Supervision of such an activity is precisely the kind of assignment that would go to an assistant. And the assistant without professional training would never have recognized that what was happening to that boy was the experience of the entire year that may well have had the greatest import for his future development. Down through the years there have been recurring proposals that would routinize instruction, or at least parts of it, and decrease dependence on the individual teacher. The plans of Bell and Lancaster in the last century and various contract plans developed in the first quarter of this century were directed to this end. The Commonwealth Study of Teacher Education undertook to analyze and classify the activities of teachers as a basis for teacher preparation. All were used to a limited extent for a time and then passed. At the present time television is sometimes viewed as serving a comparable role. Some enthusiasts would go so far as to have a substantial part of teaching done over television to widely dispersed groups, with the role of

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those directly in contact with pupils pretty largely reduced to following out directions and checking on performance. The long experience of many people points so strongly to the critical role of teacher-pupil relationships in good education that it seems to me anything which weakens this relationship must be viewed with suspicion. Obviously, if a teacher has to teach an overly large group of pupils, it is better to have an assistant than not. But as to the best teaching-learning situation, a well trained teacher with 23 to 27 pupils in each group appears by all odds the most desirable arrangement. PHYSICAL

FACILITIES

The way in which a teacher teaches is greatly influenced by the facilities with which he has to work. If classrooms are small, if equipment is limited and lacking in flexibility, and if general provisions such as a school library and gymnasium are unavailable, the program that can be developed is severely circumscribed. Consequently, if one is concerned with the quality of education, he must give attention to the availability of good facilities. It is obvious that facilities in and of themselves are of little consequence. It requires a good

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teacher to utilize them in meaningful activities for children. A poor teacher can do as bad a job in a fine, new school building with the most modern equipment as in an old building. It is my observation that the better a teacher is, the more important the right kind of facilities becomes. Two Decades of Retrenchment

Physical facilities is an area in which the influence of the forces mentioned at the opening of this lecture has been tremendous. In fact, economic factors have operated with particular potency for the past twenty years to delay and hamper the development of a modern school plant of sufficient size to meet enrollment needs. During the years of the depression, local school systems avoided all possible capital outlays. While the federal government stimulated building in a good many fields, schools, being a local responsibility, were one of the principal points at which the people could act directly to hold down their taxes. As a result, when the war came in 1941 many school facilities were inadequate and antiquated. Through the war, building was of course at a practical standstill. Inflation discouraged the widespread resumption of construction in the early postwar years. Thus, the wave of children resulting from the higher birthrate during the

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war swept onto schools with physical facilities already seriously overloaded. The result is that in many school districts, in spite of present building programs and expenditures often up to the legal debt limit, facilities are becoming progressively less adequate. T o illustrate, more than 100 of the school buildings in Chicago were built before 1895. For the nation as a whole it is estimated that there is a shortage of 370,000 elementary and high school classrooms. Over 800,000 children are housed in sub-standard quarters, many of them firetraps, and 700,000 are in temporary and rented space. Federal Aid for School Plant Greatly and Fully Justified

Needed

T o considerable extent, the serious problem which many local communities face with regard to school plant needs is due to national problems and policies. The dislocation caused by the war was something about which the locality could do nothing. The tremendous increase in federal taxes has affected greatly the readiness and ability of communities to raise local taxes. Consequently, the proposal that the federal government, as a minimum program, help localities bring their school plants up to the level of present minimum needs seems fully justified. It is difficult to see any other way of meeting the accumulated

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shortage of trwo decades while at the same time making provision for the requirements of the greatly increased school enrollment. ECONOMIC

BOOM; EDUCATIONAL PRIVATION

The United States today is in one of the greatest periods of economic prosperity any nation has ever known. Income and productivity are at an all-time high and continue to mount at an astonishing rate. Automobiles are produced and bought by the millions, television spreads across the nation by leaps and bounds, billions are spent on roads and more billions are called for, purchases of tobacco and liquor reach the billions, a half million people travel to Europe in a single season. Never has there been a nation so favored economically and so ready to spend for things it wants. It is incomprehensible that in such a setting our schools should be permitted to go downhill and drift into a state of crisis. Yet this is precisely what has happened. People do not sense the situation. They compare what they spend today for education with what they spent yesterday and they feel they are doing a great deal. They fail to take into account that they are now paying more than twice as much for their automobiles

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and houses as they did during the time with which they make comparison; they fail to consider that for two decades of depression, war, and postwar adjustment, schools were held to a minimum level of support; they fail to recognize that when the number of children in families increases, proportionately more must be paid to provide education. The plain, unvarnished fact is that America must put a very much larger part of its income into the support of education than it has done any time in the past if a drastic reduction in the educational opportunities afforded our children and youth is to be avoided. The situation in the elementary school is especially critical, for the full impact of the forces which have created this situation is now being felt. An increasing number of inadequately prepared teachers, larger classes, half-day sessions, and progressively more inadequate school facilities can lead to only one result: a lowered quality of education. Major programs will be required to turn this tide. It will take action by localities, states, and the federal government. Our farsighted leaders down through the years have emphasized the dependence of our country upon widespread education of our people. If the need for good education in the past has been great, how much more important is it

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today. The elementary school, being the foundation of the entire educational program, is of particular importance. How firm this foundation shall be for the future is the question now being answered.