Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

but the general use of intelligence and achievement tests has emphasized the fact that there is a wide spread of mental ability in the same class-that some pupils are of the highest intelligence and others of very low intelligence. With all these facts before them, school administrators have come to see how absurd it is to expect children of the same chronological age but of different mental ages to progress through school at the same rate.

In order to provide for these individual differences serious attention is being directed toward plans that promise to break up what is known as the lock-step system of grading and promotion. In fact, since the beginning of the graded-school system various attempts have been made to devise plans to assure pupils' continuous progress through school without repetition of entire grades. Semiannual promotion was considered a means toward this end. More frequent promotion intervals, however, are considered desirable if it is possible to provide them, and several such plans have been tried. When Dr. William T. Harris was superintendent of schools at St. Louis, Mo., he organized classes with about five-week intervals between them, so that the brighter and more industrious pupils could be advanced without skipping a grade, and so that pupils not able to sustain themselves in the classes to which they were assigned could drop back to the class below without losing a half year or even a whole year. Not many cities adopted this plan, yet it had great possibilities, especially in a large school building where five or six groups could be formed from the same grade. This plan may, however, be recognized to-day in the homogeneous grouping of pupils which is receiving serious attention in many cities. Of 215 cities furnishing information to the Bureau of Education as to the uses made of intelligence tests, 64 per cent are using them in the elementary school for grouping pupils according to ability, 56 per cent in the junior high school, and 41 per cent in the senior high school. A few years ago only a beginning had been made in so classifying pupils.

The question, however, has been raised whether the attempt to group children by ability would result in adaptation to individual differences. Dr. S. A. Courtis says:1

* *

The Detroit results prove conclusively that, whether instruction be individualized or not, children of each level of intelligence, as shown by scores in mental tests, have a very wide range of achievement and very different rates of progress in any special skill *. Intelligence is a factor determining progress, but by no means the only factor, so that grouping on an intelligence basis is only a partial solution of the problem of individual differences. A complete solution is furnished by individualization of instruction where any child, whether his intelligence is A, B, C, D, or E may go as fast or as slowly as his condition at the time demands.

1 Part II, 24th Yearbook, Nat. Soc. for the Study of Education.

It is conceded that it is impossible to obtain perfectly homogeneous groups, since no two pupils are exactly alike. Even children with the same intelligence quotients vary widely in their school progress. It is a matter of common observation that lazy, intelligent pupils may not make as rapid progress in school as do the industrious ones who are less intelligent. What may be considered good grouping at the beginning of the school term may be found very poor a month or two after. Dr. Ernest Horn, of the University of Iowa, in summarizing studies made in Detroit, Mich., Los Angeles, Calif., Winnetka, Ill., San Francisco State Teachers College, and the University of Iowa, says: 2

All these data, gathered by five groups of investigators working independently, point to this conclusion: Children do not fall into natural ability groups and can not be classified so as to yield homogeneous groupings; groups which appear relatively homogeneous at the time of classification soon vary more within themselves than they do from each other; different types and amounts of instruction are required by different children within each group; ability grouping does not solve the problem of adjusting schools to individual differences.

Although the homogeneous grouping of pupils is not an ideal plan for adjusting instruction to individual pupils, it is generally conceded that such grouping makes for better adaptation to individuals than does undifferentiated mass instruction. If, for instance, there are four fifth-grade classes in a school building, it is better to divide them into four or more groups on the basis of ability than it is to assign to each of the four teachers children of all degrees of ability and at all stages of progress within the fifth grade.

Designed to reach the individual child more completely than does any method of grouping, several plans of individual instruction that have attracted wide attention may be mentioned. One of these plans originated at the State Teachers College, San Francisco, and has been adopted in other places under city school conditions. Winnetka, Ill., has given the plan the most thorough trial.

Another plan of individual instruction, known as the Dalton plan, originated at about the time Winnetka began its experiment. The Dalton plan has been more widely adopted in England and other European countries than in the United States. Among the schools in this country that have adopted the plan are the South Philadelphia High School for Girls, Philadelphia Trade School, the Manhattan Trade School of New York City, and the Children's University School, under the direction of Miss Helen Parkhurst, New York City.

That more attention should be given to individualized instruction seems evident. The fact that children should be socialized must

2 Part II, 24th Yearbook, Nat. Soc. for the Study of Education, p. 166.

not be forgotten. The elimination of all class instruction is not advocated even by the most enthusiastic supporters of any of the plans of individualized instruction. The Winnetka plan calls for a large amount of socializing work, as does the Dalton plan, through its provision for conferences and discussions.

TEACHERS' SALARIES

Most cities have awakened to the fact that in order to maintain efficient school systems salaries equal at least in purchasing power to those of 1914 must be paid. Some cities have advanced salaries to such an extent that their purchasing power is greater than in 1914, and others have made only nominal increases-with the result that the real salary is less now than in 1914. On the whole, however, teachers' salaries in city schools to-day exceed in purchasing power the salaries paid in 1914.3 Since 1922-23 there has been little increase in teachers' salaries, amounting on an average to about 3 per cent.

During the biennium considerable attention has been given to the formulation of salary schedules and to plans for rating teachers. The single-salary schedule-that is, equal pay for equal training and experience-whether the teacher teaches in an elementary or a high school, is growing in favor among superintendents and teachers. The chief advantages claimed for this type of schedule are the following:

1. It is easy to operate and permits better business methods.

2. It eliminates class consciousness among teachers.

3. It contributes strongly to a feeling of unity and satisfaction in the corps. 4. By financial recognition of additional experience and training, it promotes tenure.

5. It attracts superior ability and training to the elementary schools and gives elementary teachers a higher appreciation of their services.

6. It emphasizes high standards of professional attainment and encourages professional study and growth, thus producing more efficient teaching in every grade.

7. It permits the transfer of teachers without financial loss from positions for which they are not adapted to positions where they can render efficient service.

One of the arguments that has been advanced against such a schedule is its cost, since the increased expenditure for instruction would be considerable if all the teachers placed in the elementary schools were graduates of four-year courses in teachers' colleges. The question of cost, however, should not be considered if teachers with four years of training are needed in the elementary schools. This is the point that should be settled in the minds of school boards adopting a single-salary schedule. If such a schedule is adopted and then the school board continues to employ teachers with only two

See Research Bulletin N. E. A., Public School Salaries, 1924-25.

years of training, the question at once arises, Why was such a schedule adopted? It is obvious, however, that whenever a school board sets the same standard of qualifications for elementary-school teachers as for high-school teachers the salary schedule should be the same. As already stated, the question to decide is whether elementary-school teachers should be required to attend normal school or college the same number of years as high-school teachers. If the answer is in the affirmative, there should be no hesitation in adopting a single salary schedule.

According to a study made by Elmer H. Staffelbach, of Stanford University, the average superintendent considers three years of scholastic training above the high school adequate for the elementaryschool teachers, four years of such training adequate for teaching in the junior high school, and five years for teaching in the senior high school.

Isaac O. Winslow, superintendent of schools of Providence, R. I., writing on the adjustment of teachers' salaries, says, regarding equal pay for equal preparation:

It is easy to understand that such a scheme as this may be very comfortable for the administrators of the system. The certificate of academic attainment is definite and automatically determines the salary. No troublesome questions can arise in the application of the rule. But there are serious questions that should be considered from an outside standpoint. Will the method stand the test of searching criticism? 5

EQUAL PAY FOR MEN AND WOMEN

The question of equal pay for men and women doing the same kind of work has been discussed pro and con for several years, and some cities have adopted the plan of giving men and women equal pay. As a result, the school boards in these cities are being confronted with the following problems: Shall the salaries of women teachers be increased so as to equal those of the men, or shall the salaries of the men be reduced to equal those of the women, or shall there be an averaging of the salaries so that the school budget may not be increased? If the salaries of the men are lowered, will not. many of them leave the profession? The question may be asked, If all salaries are raised to the level of the men's salaries, what will be the result? It has been predicted that more men will be employed. Heretofore school boards have been paying men more than women because men could not be had for the salaries paid the women teachers; but owing to the fact that men had to be paid more, only a few men have been employed in many school systems.

Certainly there should be no leveling-down process. If equal-pay laws mean anything, they mean that the salaries of women should be

[blocks in formation]

raised to equal those of the men; discrimination should not be tolerated, but the men must not be driven out of the schools by lowering their salaries to equal those now paid women in cities where the women receive less salary than the men.

RECENT SALARY SCHEDULES

A recent salary schedule that has attracted attention is the one adopted by Congress for the District of Columbia. After one year of satisfactory probationary service teachers serve on tenure. Teachers with experience elsewhere may be placed in the fifth year of the elementary schedule and in the sixth year of the high-school and normal-school schedules. The schedule provides for Group A and Group B teachers. The Group B schedule provides for those teachers whose superior teaching, advanced study, and higher professional qualifications justify larger salaries than those paid teachers in Group A. The schedule for elementary and high school teachers is as follows:

Teachers' salary schedule in the District of Columbia

[blocks in formation]

The salary schedule of Denver, Colo., given on page 7, may be cited as an illustration of a single salary schedule.

Teachers' salary schedule in Denver, Colo.

[blocks in formation]
« AnteriorContinuar »