in order to cover the required work; that the mean average age of a class completing a ward-school course was a false standard by which to judge of the time in which a pupil should cover the work; and that such an arrangement materially increased the percentage of enrollment in the high school.1 This address brought out vigorous discussion, but no steps were taken at the time by other cities toward putting the Kansas City plan into more extended effect.

Beyond the discussion of Supt. Greenwood's address, the Department of Superintendence of the National Education Association has taken, during the past decade, little or no part in the discussions of this general problem of articulating the parts of our school system. On the other hand, the interest taken by the National Council of Education and the Department of Secondary Education during the first decade of the discussion continued unabated during the second half of the period, though the results have not been as noteworthy. Each of these departments appointed committees to carry on investigations, which, as the details worked out, came to cover essentially the same field.

The first of these investigations was started by the council in 1903, when, upon the suggestion of President Baker, a committee was appointed to report upon the desirability of an investigation of The Culture Element and Economy of Time in Education. In 1905 the committee recommended that the council appoint a committee of five persons, partly college men and partly school men, to prepare a report on the following topics: (1) The best period for the high school, whether four years, from 14 to 18, or six years, from 12 to 18; and (2) the devices already in use for shortening the college course, or the combined courses of college and professional school. Nothing immediate came of the proposal, but at the 1907 meeting of the council the suggestions were revived through a report by the committee on investigations and appropriations to the effect that the board of directors appropriate the sum of $500 to make a "preliminary inquiry into the contemporary judgment as to the culture element in education, and the time that should be devoted to the combined school and college course," and that a committee of five be appointed to make a report on the same. President Baker was asked to prepare a preliminary report upon the desirability of making the suggested investigation; which report was presented by him before the council at the Cleveland meeting in 1908.*

1 For address in full, see Nat. Educ. Assoc., 1903, pp. 247-260; also in Education, vol. 23, pp. 455-466; 538-545.

2 For report of committee, see Nat. Educ. Assoc., 1905, pp. 55, 56,

3 See Nat. Educ. Assoc., 1907, pp. 48, 49.

Ibid., 1908, pp. 466-478.

In preparing his report, President Baker sent to certain men, carefully selected from every field of education, an inquiry embracing such questions as the following:

At what age should formal general and special education end, as normally marked out for attaining a professional degree or the Ph. D. degree? If the entire period of general and special education should be shortened, where should time be saved? Is there important waste of time in elementary education? Should the period of elementary education be shortened? Where and how? Should the high-school period be shortened or should it be extended in either direction? What should be the length of the college course? How does the whole problem of culture and time elements in education relate itself to the demands of business and society to-day or to the ideals of our civilization?

In discussing the replies to his questionnaire, President Baker said, in part:

The first impression is that there is a real and widespread dissatisfaction with the results of education, especially as related to the time expended; that there is a growing consciousness of the need of adjustment to new ideals; that there is a demand for reinvestigation and reorganization. The people are ready for the leadership of any representative body that will attempt to reduce to some degree of order educational theories, methods, and standards. It is a surprise to me to learn that two-thirds of the correspondents believe the period of formal education should be shortened, and that very many would place the age limit at 24 or earlier. All ask for a shorter limit or better results for the time, or both. They recognize that since the early New England college, education has added eight years, the high school has taken the place of the college, four years have been set apart for the higher degrees; that the college to-day occupies an anomalous position, without a well-defined function; that each unit of the system is yearly increasing its demands; that quantity is the ideal rather than quality. There is a disposition to call a halt along all the line and have an inspection.

President Baker, furthermore, pointed out that the opinion that much time is wasted in elementary education is nearly unanimous; that a large majority claim that the elementary period should be shortened; that a majority favor a high-school period of six years, extending from the age of 12 to the age of 18; and that one-half of the correspondents would have university work begin at the junior year, with groups leading to various professional degrees, and would complete the professional work, or Ph. D. work, in two years more, or six years after college entrance. In conclusion, he recommended that the council should proceed with its proposed investigation through a committee representing elementary education, the secondary, the collegiate and university, the field of social science, and the science of education; and that this committee should cooperate with any other national organization pursuing similar inquiries, formulate results, and unite in a final report, with practical recommendations.1

1 For preliminary report, together with a condensed summary of replies to the questionnaire, see Nat. Educ. Assoc., 1908, pp. 466-478,

The recommendation respecting the desirability of continuing the investigation was approved by the council, which increased the committee to five, retaining President Baker as chairman. In 1909, at the Denver, Colo., meeting, the chairman presented a brief report, covering the steps which the committee was taking in pursuing its investigation and stating the thesis of the committee to be "that in the entire period of general education two years can be saved without loss of anything essential in culture, efficiency, or character making, this thesis to be proved or disproved." In this report President Baker also sketched the line of inquiry pursued by the committee respecting the college, which a number of correspondents had recommended to the committee the year before and which follows:

1. To end college work with the sophomore year, but allow four years, as now, for the A. B. degree.

2. To let university work begin at the junior year, with groups leading to the various professional degrees or the Ph. D. degree, the last two years of college counting toward these degrees.

3. To require two years of college for admission to all professional schools. 4. To complete the professional work, or Ph. D. work, in two years more, or six years after college entrance.

5. To let the college do the first two years of the professional work, instead of allowing the professional school, as now, in many cases, to do the last two years of college work.

6. To consider the possibility of advantageously building the engineering school upon the first two years of college.1

2

In connection with the foregoing report by the chairman, a member of the committee, William H. Smiley, principal of East Side High School, Denver, Colo., submitted a brief discussion of the progress of an investigation in the field of secondary education. He stated that the consensus of opinion is that time can be saved, both in the elementary and in the high school. He referred to the division of time suggested by Principal Armstrong, of the Englewood High School of Chicago, who would divide the periods on the basis of function, having four typical schools: The play type, or kindergarten, from 5 to 7; the motor type, or elementary school, from 7 to 12; the intermediate type, from 12 to 14; and the secondary-school type, from 14 to 18 years. He quoted Mr. Armstrong's comments on his suggested intermediate type of school:

Children at 12 to 14 should be isolated from the younger and from the more mature pupils in order to accord them proper environment for their peculiar condition. I believe this can be done in all our city schools by creating an intermediate school that would include the eighth grade and the first year of high school. I would not have them taught in separate buildings remote from the other sex, for then the social influence would be lost.

1 For report, see Nat. Educ. Assoc., 1909, pp. 373–376.

2 For the supplementary report, see Nat. Educ. Assoc., 1909, pp. 377-380.

In respect to the function of the high school Mr. Smiley quoted at some length from a communication by Prof. Alexis F. Lange, of the University of California, who said, in part:

The question is no longer, Shall the high school live unto itself; but, How shall it live with its neighbors on either side? Of what sort must the interschool railway be that all may travel for their health, some to the end, others to intermediate terminals, always with stop-over privileges? Education must become more continuous, not mechanically, but organically. The 16 or more grades of our school system must come to stand approximately for as many adaptations to unbroken growth. The educational edifice erected by the nineteenth century still resembles too closely an irregular pyramid of three boxes, the tops and bottoms of which are perforated in order that the more acrobatic pupils may vault from the known to the unknown, and their teachers above and below may exchange maledictions. The twentieth century can not accept this arrangement as final. The structure, as seen from the outside, may well remain intact; but the provisional tops and bottoms inside must be refitted, if not removed. Now, one essential in preparing for this task is to realize that adolescence begins at least two years earlier and ends about two years later than the inherited accidental high-school period. Divested of artificial meanings, secondary education is seen to cover not less than eight grades, instead of four. Another essential is, of course, to act on this insight. A high-school section is a physiological anachronism until its circumference is extended to include teachers of the upper grammar and of the first two college grades.

No further report was made by this committee beyond the statement at the Boston meeting, 1910, that progress was being made, until the San Francisco meeting, 1911, when President Baker presented the conclusions which he himself had reached. These will be found in full in the proceedings of the association, under the caption, The Reorganization of American Education.1 The time scheme which he recommended therein follows:

Elementary education____

Secondary education (two divisions-four years and two years).
College

University (graduate school and professional schools) _-.

Age in years.

6-12

12-18

18-20

or 16-20 20-24

In the discussion of this grouping President Baker wrote:2 The tools of education can be acquired at the age of 12, and there are reasons why high-school methods should begin at about that age, when so many pupils leave the elementary schools. The division of the secondary period into four years and two years lends itself to the plan for industrial education, as will be seen later. Moreover, smaller high schools can end at 16; larger high schools at 18 and 20. Small colleges can take pupils from 16 to 20, thus maintaining a four-year course. The universities can retain two years-namely, from 18 to 20. Let us see what are the essential consequences of this time scheme in terms of pedagogy. Many processes of mental training are easier in the earlier years. Beginning high-school methods at 12 will meet the need of pupils who at that 1 Nat. Ed. Assoc., 1911, pp. 94–103.

2 For the complete report of the committee, see Educ. Bull., 1913, No. 38, Economy of Time in Education.

age are restless and are seeking larger and more varied interests. Twenty is a better age to begin genuine university work than later, when the mind is less elastic, energetic, and adaptable. Elimination of useless material will stimulate the interest of pupils and result in harder and better effort; the time would be filled with important work. It lessens the period of work that to the pupil appears void of purpose. It makes a better division of time between receptive study and the larger motor activities.

Moreover, we must consider results, in view of the just claims of our civilization to-day. Educational aims must be adapted to civic needs. The history of education shows that it has always been closely related to the dominant needs and ideals of the people at any given period. There is no doubt about the public attitude to-day. The schools will be compelled so to reorganize as to meet them in the most efficient way. The proposed time scheme makes a better economic division between preparation for life and active life. It enables men to become established in life earlier and to give more of their best years to social service. It will keep a larger number in school through the elementary and preparatory period. It will eliminate waste and foolishness, and thus make more serious and efficient citizens. By introducing earlier the methods that produce power, and by selection of the fittest, the proposed reorganization of college and university will enhance the intellectual strength of the Nation.

Under the auspices of the Department of Secondary Education, during the second decade of the discussion, two valuable contributions were made, the one dealing with the relation of the elementary and secondary periods, and the other considering in particular the articulation of the high school and college.

The first of these grew out of a paper by Dr. E. W. Lyttle, State inspector of high schools for New York, on the subject, "Should the Twelve-Year Course of Study be Equally Divided Between the Elementary School and the Secondary?" This led, in 1905, to the appointment of a standing committee to consider the question of dividing the 12 years equally between elementary and secondary schools. Dr. Lyttle advocated, in the paper just referred to, such a division, on the grounds that the eight-year grade course is the result of a desire to attain "perfection in the fundamentals"; that there is a pedagogical point where secondary education should begin, which occurs when the child has acquired the tools of an education, and at a point coinciding with the dawn of adolescence; that this period is characterized by a marked mental change, which should be recognized in both the content and method of instruction; and that a six-year high-school course would lend itself in the eleventh and twelfth grades to a differentiation along lines of business, mechanical arts, and professional preparation.

The standing committee reported in 1907, at the Los Angeles (Cal.) meeting, that the trend of competent opinion strongly favored a six

1 See paper in full, in Nat. Ed. Assoc., 1905, pp. 428-436.