These figures are indicative of the tendency to establish courses in the part-time schools which more nearly meet the vocational needs of these employed persons. Many of the part-time schools and classes have been of the general continuation type, but as the possibilities of the part-time school as an agency for meeting the practical needs of the apprentice on the job are more fully realized the tendency is to offer courses which are more strictly vocational. Especially is this true for employed students more than 16 years of age. The courses organized for such students should be largely to meet their vocational needs. For this older group the function of the part-time school is to give definite preparation for vocational work and for advancement in employment. The success of the parttime school and the attitude of the local community toward it will be determined largely by the degree to which it realizes these objectives. For the pupils in the part-time school who are under 16 years of age more of the general continuation type of school work can be given successfully.

LEGAL PROVISIONS AFFECTING PART-TIME EDUCATION

Twenty-five States have enacted some form of part-time compulsory education laws. In other States the spending of money for part-time classes and for vocational education purposes has been legalized. The age of required part-time attendance by the laws of the different States varies, but the majority of the States place the lower age limit at 14, two States at 16, and one at 12. The upper age limit for attendance varies from 14 to 18. The hours of required attendance per week vary from four to eight. The number of weeks of required attendance usually approximates the full school year. The minimum number of minors required to establish part-time classes varies in the different States from 12 to 2,000, the majority of States requiring no more than 20.

Not only has there been an increase in the number of States which have enacted part-time compulsory school laws, but there has also been considerable extension of general education requirements. For example, Wyoming, in 1923, raised the age of compulsory education to 17 years. Nevada now requires full-time attendance to the age of 18. New York State has extended its part-time law to include towns between 4,500 and 5,000 population. This extension of the period for compulsory education is significant for industrial education in that many students who had formerly been going into employment are now by the hand of the law retained in school for at least a part of the year. It is the function of industrial education to aid in providing for the needs of this particular group. Three

million children between 14 and 18 years of age are out of school. Three hundred thousand of them are 14-year-old boys and girls, a half million are in the 15-year-old group, and those 16 and 17 years old number more than 2,000,000. In the course of time more and more of the children who are now out of school altogether will be kept in school for a part of the time. It will be the duty of industrial education to help formulate a program for them that will be worth while in helping them to make proper adjustment to social, economic, and industrial life.

It is well known that the percentage of the school population going to high school is increasing. In 1900 only 3.3 per cent of the enrollment in the elementary and high-school grades was in high school; in 1920 the corresponding percentage was 10.2; in 1922 it was 12.3. This increase in high-school enrollment gives an added responsibility for the further development of industrial courses to meet the needs of the increasing numbers whose chief interests are along industrial lines. This principle works both ways. Increased high-school enrollment not only creates an obligation for further development of vocational courses to meet the needs of those whose interests are along industrial lines, but the introduction of vocational courses increases the percentage of enrollment in the secondary schools.

Although only 25 of the States have enacted laws which provide for compulsory part-time school attendance by employed minors between certain age limits, a number of continuation schools have developed in States which have no such laws. Some of these schools are among the best part-time or continuation schools in the country. This leads us to the conclusion that the success attained in the establishment of part-time schools is largely a matter of education of the local community to an appreciation of the value of such schools for meeting the needs of the employed minors.

During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1922, the total enrollment in Federal-aided part-time schools of all types was 228,555. The enrollment for the same schools for June 30, 1924, was 321,138, of whom 256,133 were enrolled in part-time schools of the general continuation type.

It is a debatable question whether the best way of establishing continuation schools for employed minors is first to get a law through the legislature; second, attempt to enforce the law; and, third, educate the public sentiment in favor of part-time education. Experience seems to indicate that a more logical procedure is first to create public sentiment in favor of part-time education by demonstrating its value in specific cases. Following this it is relatively easy to secure the necessary legislation to make it universal through

out the State. If this procedure is followed, the question of enforcement becomes of minor importance, and it is possible to maintain continuation schools without running into conflict with public opinion.

MANUAL WORK, NOT VOCATIONAL

There is great confusion in the use of terms to designate manual and industrial courses other than those of a strictly vocational character. The terms "manual arts," "mechanic arts," "industrial arts," ," "mechanical arts," "practical arts," and "manual training," as well as a number of other terms, have been used frequently to mean the same thing and again to mean different things. In order to avoid the confusion resulting from the use of any of these terms, one large city school system is using "manual education" to cover all forms and phases of the work involving manual manipulative processes. Another large city, with an excellent program in this field of education, has issued a very commendable monograph covering all objectives and courses, under the term "industrial education." Included are courses for all manual activities beginning with the fourth grade and continuing through the senior high school. In connection with the descriptions of the courses, the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades are placed under the heading "elementary manual training"; the work for the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades (the junior high-school period) is listed under the title "prevocational industrial education "; and that for the senior high school under vocational and nonvocational education." Although the term "manual training" is still to be met, it is no longer in general favor. It is not meant to deal here critically with the use of these terms, but to point out the fact that there is lack of agreement as to nomenclature for designating work of a manual and industrial type, not vocational. It is to be hoped that out of this general confusion such an urgent need for standardized designations for different phases and levels of the manual work will be felt as will lead to some cooperative effort on the part of those responsible for the use of such terms and result in the adoption of a terminology that may meet with general approval and become standardized.

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The same general confusion found to exist with reference to terminology is also apparent with reference to subject matter and aims for the different courses offered in the manual arts type of work. There is no general agreement as to the variety of work to be offered or the values to be realized in specific courses for the different grade levels. Some individual systems have given careful consideration to the selection of courses and to specific worth-while objectives, but there has in general been a lack of appreciation of the real need for

careful definition and evaluation of the work to be done. Too often the courses selected and the aims set up are the result of tradition rather than of scientific investigation. Past practices and procedures are still too influential in determining content and aims of instruction. As a result of this situation money for equipment and instruction, as well as the time of the students, has been spent upon some types of work that are of doubtful value. For example, it is the judgment of some whose opinions are to be respected that many schools still place too much emphasis upon woodwork of the old type.

Forces are at work, however, for the correction of these shortcomings in the manual arts type of work in the public schools. The development of the definite objective for vocational industrial education courses as training for entry upon employment in some specific trade is forcing serious consideration of the place and value of manual arts education in our public-school program. Probably the greatest factor contributing toward the solution of the problems dealing with the selection, content, organization, and aims of such courses is the application of the principles of modern scientific curriculum making. Modern ideas of curriculum building, laying stress upon the development of specific abilities through natural forms of experiences, are doing much to change the conception of manual arts work from that of formal exercises of the old manual-training type and with general training objectives to that of practical activities of a project nature qualifying one to perform specific life activities.

Another corrective force exerting its influence for the clarification of subject matter and methods in the manual arts work is the better understanding and application of the psychology of interest and of habit formation. The application of the psychology of interest to the selection of activities for manual work has led to the development of more project work and less of the formal exercise work. In addition, it shows the need of selecting for each grade group projects of a kind and on a level with the pupil's interests. The making of kites, sailboats, bird houses, radio sets, and many other articles to be used in connection with the pupil's leisure-time activities, and the performance of many production and service jobs found in connection with the home and community life are now commonly accepted practices. A better knowledge of the psychology of habit formation is leading to less stress upon transfer values of the manual arts courses and to more emphasis upon the acquisition of definite types of manual experiences and industrial information. The work done in these courses must itself contribute specific values for meeting some normal living experiences.

HOME MECHANICS

As a result of the effort to give training that will develop abilities to meet successively normal living experiences, there has been considerable shifting and changing, both in the content of the courses in the manual arts and in its organization for instruction purposes. At present, the home-mechanics course is in considerable favor, as it organizes the manual work of the school upon a practical basis and affords opportunity for training in a variety of elementary, fundamental processes which qualify one for performing many of the repair and maintenance jobs of the home and community. Some school systems are organizing almost all the work offered above the elementary grades on this basis. This is especially true for the smaller school systems where trade shops can not be maintained on account of their cost. A number of State departments of education are holding regional conferences within their States for the purpose of developing courses in home mechanics. In such conferences emphasis is placed upon the values to be derived from such courses and is given to working out local programs with suitable content material. Special emphasis is placed upon the selection of projects that are of practical value in ordinary home life and which will appeal to the interest of the pupils, and whose learning difficulties are on a level comparable with the pupils' accomplishments.

THE GENERAL SHOP

The general shop as an organization for instruction is in considerable favor, especially for the junior high-school period, where all the activities are given in connection with one-shop organization under the direction of one teacher. Some of the advantages which may be derived from such a general shop organization are:

1. It brings together, in one-shop organization, activities dealing with a variety of materials and processes. It makes possible the completion in one shop of a project which is of special interest to the student. This is of value in that one teacher, interested in the boy's work, can direct his activities for all the work done on the project.

2. It makes possible the acquisition of a large amount of indirect experience covering a variety of activities and processes. Work organized on the one-shop basis affords opportunity for observation of the work of other students on various activities far beyond that which would be possible in a one-activity shop. Such experiences extend very considerably the trade and industrial knowledge of the boy.

3. The shop training and experience resulting from performing operations upon a variety of materials and the use of a variety of