II. STATE EDUCATIONAL EXHIBITS.

Only about one-fourth of the States had exclusive educational exhibits in the Palace of Education. A few States had limited educational displays in the State buildings, while nearly all of the States exhibited excellent educational collections in the Agricultural, Liberal Arts, Fine Arts, and Manufactures Buildings, educational in the broad sense, although not to be classed with school education. The State displays generally centered about one or two educational problems at the present time before the public eye in the several States. The exhibits of greatest interest and value to rural people in the State collections may be organized for convenience under these heads:

1. Improvement of the one-teacher school through standardization and vitalization of school activities by means of industrial club work. 2. Establishment of effective farm community schools by means of school consolidation and organization of rural high schools.

3. Organization of State-wide State-aided agricultural extension work through special schools and special agricultural projects, the purpose being to combine in a practical way "learning" and "earning."

IMPROVEMENT IN THE ONE-TEACHER SCHOOL.

Standardizing the one-teacher rural school.-In certain sections of the country where it is impracticable at this time to organize the one-teacher rural schools as centralized graded schools, a movement is under way to make the schools as effective as possible by improving their physical condition, including grounds, buildings, and equipment, organization for teaching purposes, and efficiency of teachers. This system of school improvement is popularly known as school standardization.

Several States had interesting exhibits illustrating school progress through standardization. Of these, Oregon perhaps had the most complete display, although the State was not the first to initiate the movement. Illinois was probably the first to undertake the standardization of its small one-teacher schools. The State department of

education, which in Illinois recognizes two grades of improved schools-standardized and superior-reported highly satisfactory results from what has been done in the State the past several years. Minnesota, although having no exhibit, makes the granting of State aid to schools contingent on certain high standards to be attained by the ungraded and semigraded rural schools. Texas has recently enacted a law providing State aid to weak schools in the form of $1,000,000 for the next biennium, to be distributed on the standardization basis under the direction of the State department of education. Wisconsin, Kansas, Georgia, West Virginia, and Oregon are other States that have reported satisfactory results from State or county systems of rural school standardization.

Vitalization of school activities by means of industrial club work.Many educators have despaired of making the one-teacher school sufficiently effective to provide country children the necessary education to give them a love of the farm environment and sufficient practical knowledge to enable them to make a good living by scientific farming. Without question, it takes more ability to teach effectively in a one-teacher school than to manage the large consolidated schools. Here and there over the country, where exceptional teachers of broad vision and good preparation are in charge of the small schools, much has been done in rallying community interests around the school and in doing some of the work for the farm and the farm home that the large schools are accomplishing. But in many sections the small schools continue to have little influence on the life of the people because their teachers, who are generally immature and inexperienced, must shift largely for themselves, without the advantage of close constructive supervision.

This great handicap is beginning to be overcome in some States by giving professional supervisors charge of the school subject instruction. In other States, the small schools are becoming vitalized through the organization of industrial clubs for school and home. These new industrial interests are infusing life into the teaching process in the small school and have done much to project it into the life of the farm people, making them feel that the school is established solely for its patrons.

The industrial work is bringing into the school field a new kind of supervision and a vital cooperation between the school and the home, and at the same time organizing all the small schools in the county, or even State, in a new community of interest. Industrial club work was given considerable space in several of the State school exhibits and also in a few of the educational exhibits in the State buildings. None perhaps emphasized this work in stronger terms than did Oregon.

ESTABLISHMENT OF EFFECTIVE FARM COMMUNITY SCHOOLS.

Consolidation of schools.-School consolidation is no longer an experiment in the United States. In some form it is practiced in practically every State of the Union. Probably more than 10,000 real farm community schools have been established, many providing so thorough a system of education that it is no longer necessary for rural people to send their children away to school. The ideal which is described elsewhere in this bulletin under the United States Bureau of Education exhibit is approximated in many States. These schools should, if possible, be established in the open country or in rural-minded villages. They should have a large area of land for laboratory purposes. Besides this, it is desirable to establish teachers' homes in connection with the schools. The school should, where possible, be graded on the 12-year basis, providing for four years of agricultural high-school work. In addition to the courses for the boys and girls of ordinary school age, it is desirable to offer special short courses during the winter months for adults, to afford them inspiration and practical help in making the most of life.

The facts were presented graphically in several State exhibits. Utah had an exceptionally satisfactory exhibit on school consolidation, emphasizing particularly the benefits derived from county unit organization in facilitating school consolidation. California likewise showed interesting miniatures, sample work, curricula, etc., of its consolidated schools, partly in the Palace of Education and partly in the California State building. But, unquestionably, Indiana offered the mcst instructive lesson in school consolidation, devoting its entire booth in the Palace of Education to this subject. Rural high schools. High-school development has been comparatively slow in rural communities. Rural children are still largely obliged to look to town for their secondary school education. Only here and there is the high school an integral part of rural education. There is still too much of the feeling abroad that the rural child should get to work as soon as the traditional eight-year elementaryschool course is finished. School consolidation, however, is doing much to modify the old standards. People are beginning to realize more and more that the demands on intelligence and technical preparation for life are at least as exacting in the country as for the average worker in town. To meet the new demands a variety of rural high schools are being established. They are variously known as district, township, and county high schools. The former may correspond to the ordinary school district organization, or may represent an entire congressional district, as in Georgia. Township and

county high schools, as the names would indicate, represent, respectively, their civil units of the same designation. Township high schools are common in New England and in some of the Middle Atlantic and Middle Western States. Kansas, Oklahoma, Utah, and several other Middle Western States have county high schools.

The most interesting exhibits of rural high schools were shown by Illinois, Utah, California, Indiana, and Virginia; some of these will be described below.

STATE-AIDED CONTINUATION SCHOOLS FOR AGRICULTURAL

COMMUNITIES.

In the past agriculture teaching in elementary and high schools has seldom had the results desired, because of its bookishness and removal from the vital things in real agricultural life. The average farmer has had little confidence in the old system because he profited so little from it.

Recently a new kind of agriculture teaching is gaining recognition in many sections. This teaching, like the industrial club work mentioned above, projects the agricultural activities right into the farm life; but it is more comprehensive and thorough in organization, offering opportunities to earn money while mastering the science of the profession. The new system is really a continuation school, with educational opportunities to young people beyond ordinary school age as well as for adults, through well-organized agricultural schools and a variety of carefully supervised, Stateaided home projects. The study is given in school and at home, and may be procured on full-time attendance, part-time, evening classes, and field-extension classes. The purpose of this State-aided agriculture teaching is to prepare definitely for self-support and skill. The most complete system of such continuation study in agriculture is found in Massachusetts.

These topics are described in detail below in the statements of the several State exhibits.

OREGON.

The Oregon exhibit was exceptionally complete, though limited to these three points: (1) Standard one-teacher schools; (2) industrial work in the schools; and (3) school play activities. The State department of education has accomplished excellent results for school improvement by standardizing small schools in those sections of the State where people are not yet ready for school consolidation. From the exhibits it is learned that Oregon school standardization began as a local plan in Polk County five years ago. Other counties readily

adopted the plan, and in 1914 at a convention held under the auspices of the State superintendent a plan was adopted for State-wide school

FIG. 44.-The Oregon education exhibit. The model in the foreground illustrates a "standard" school. Unusually attractive colored pictures showed typical activities of Oregon rural schools.

FIG. 45.-Model of Oregon standardized one-teacher school.

standardization. The standards are to be raised year by year, so that there shall be no stagnation.