30Z I 302 16 M6 '"" ^ TED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION WHOLE NUMBER 542 BUli£TlN. 1913. NO. 32 AN EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF A SUBURBAN AND RURAL COUNTY MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. By H. N. MORSE and E. FRED EASTMAN DEPARTMENT OF CHURCH AND COUNTRY UFE OF THE BOARD OFHOME MISSIONS OP THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH tnd A. C. MONAHAN UNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1913 Monograph BULLETIK OP TH£ BUREAU OF EDUCATION. INoTE.— with the exceptions indicated, the documents named below will be sent free of charge upon applicaHon to the tk>inmIssIoner of Educatlofi, WaShfiigton, D. C. Tho^ marked with an asfcertsk (♦) are no longer available for free distribution, but may be had of the Superintendent of Documents, Gov- ernment Printing Office, "Washington, D. C, upon payment of the price stated. Documents marked with a dagger (t) are out of print. Titles are abridged. J 1910. No. 1. Reform ia teaching religion in Saxony. Arley Barthlow Show. No. 2. fetAtd school fey^ms: Octobef 1, 1908, to October 1, 1909. E. C. filliott. fNo. 3. List of publications of the United States Bureau of Education, 1867-1910. No. 4. The biological etations oi Europe. Charles Atirood Kofoid. No. 5. American Bchoolhouses. fletcher B. Dresslar. *No. 6. Statistics of State universities, etc., 1909-10. 5 cts. 1911. *No. 1. Bibliography of science teaching. 6 cts^ No. 2. Opportunities for graduate study in ^^culture. A. C. Monahan. *No. 3. Agencies for improvement of teachers in service. W. C. Kuediger. 15 cts. *No. 4. Report of the commission to study the public schools of Baltimore. 10 cts. No. 5. Age and grade census of schools and colleges. George Drayton Strayer. No. 6. Graduate work in mathematics in universities. No. 7. Undergraduate work in mathematics in colleges and universities. No. 8. Examinations in mathematics. No. 9. Mathematics in technological schools of collegiate grade. *No. 10. Bibliography of ediication for 1909-10. 15 cts. *No. 11. Bibliography of child study for the yeStrs 1908-9. 10 cts. No. 12. Training of teachers of elementary and secondary mathematics. No. 13. Mathematics in elemental^ schools. *No. 14. Provision for exceptional childrossible membership of 234. Just how well this field has been cultivated may be inferred from the fact that the 20 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. average membership of all churches is only 81 ; harclly 35 per cent of the population are in the churches. Of the 86 Protestant churches mentioned, 62 are growing, 3 are barely holding their own, 16 are losmg ground more or less rapidly, 5 are practically on their deathbeds. Ten other churches not included in this total have passed away within recent years and must be numbered with the departed. Worlcing force. — There are 44 nunisters working regularly in the county, of whom 39 are Protestant and 5 are Koman Catholic. 4i IVM/TC CHt//fC^ ^ COi-OfSO CH(J/fC» Fig. 1. — Location of churches. Three churches — Hicksite and Orthodox, Friends and Christian Science — do not have regularly employed ministers; 8 other churches are at present pastorless. The 39 Protestant ministers are in charge of 75 churches. In the distribution of this force we see the remnants of that old system of farming out churches on circuits which has always con- stituted the great weakness of the country church. Of the 39 Protestant ministers, 15 have 1 church each; 13 have 2 churches each; 3 have 3 churches each; 7ha\. i churches each; 1 has 5 churches. BUREAU OF EDUCATION 3ULLETIN, 1913, NO. 32 PLATE 2 A. EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT LAYTONVILLE. B. COLORED CHURCH AT ROCKVILLE. ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS. 21 Of the churches over which these men have charge 49 are without a resident muiister. Here is the source of one of the great problems of church efficiency. Fifty churches aim to hold a preaching service every Sunday, 41 have services every second Sunday, 4 have services every fourth Sunday. In these are included 11 churches which at the present time, for various reasons, are not holding regular services at all. Forty-nine churches are without any form of organization for young people and 81 have no organization for their men. The church is here neglecting not only an effective method of religious work, but also an opportunity to teach men the needed lesson of cooperation in all their affairs by helping them to practice it in their church life. The churches are making little effort to serve the community as a social center. Their activities are undertaken for the sake of the money to be raised by them and not because the church feels itself obligated to furnish recreation and social facilities for their own sakes. In general, the social life of the churches is at a distinctly low ebb. The communit'i/s service to the church. — The aggregate annual bud- get for all the Protestant churches is $88,519. The total amount ex- pended on salaries per year is $31,247, and the average per minister is $842, the maxunum being $1,500 and the minimum $250. Of every dollar, 35.3 cents is for the minister's salary; 24 cents is contributed toward various benevolences, practically all of it going to the estab- lished boards of the different denominations; 3.3 cents is the cost of maintaining Sunday schools, while the remaining 37.4 cents is re- quired for the care of the church property and other runnmg expenses. The colored churches. — The colored churches are not so evenly dis- tributed throughout the community as the white churches, for the reason that the colored population is not evenly distributed. There are 40 in all, one to every 231 of the colored population. Three de- nominations are at work in the county, one of these having more than half of the churches. The average membership is 49.5 per church, and the total is 1,981, which is only 21.2 per cent of the population. That is to say, each church is reaching hardly more than one-fourth of its possible fol- lowing. At almost every point the colored church is much more inefficient than the white church. Not only have they a smaller proportion of their population enrolled, but their efforts at progress are in comparison feeble. In six years their net gain has been only 10.8 per cent, as against 28.2 per cent for the white church. Only 15 of the 40 churches are growing at the present time, 10 are stationary, 10 are steadily losmg ground, while 5 are unmistakably dying. These churches aU cling to life with a remarkably tenacious grip. They rarely make an end of dying. Hence none of them have been abandoned. Yet very few of them have robust health. 22 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. There are 37 church buildings, valued at S37,260, the average value being about SI, 000; 33 of these are one-room structures. Perhaps one-fourth of them are in reasonably good condition; the remainder are in various stages of dilapidation and deca3^ There are 18 mmisters in charge of 38 churches, 2 churches at the present time being pastorless. Of the 18 colored ministers, 6 have 1 church each; 7 have 2 churches each; 2 have 3 churches each; 3 have 4 churches each. On the face of it, this seems like a fair record, but it looks better than it is; for with two possible exceptions, the churches which have a minister on full time are in poorer condition than many of those on circuits. Of the 40 churches, 12 have a service every Sunday; 24 have two services a month; 4 have one service a month. The total attendance in all churches holding service is, on an average Sunday, a Httle more than 1,000. Thirty-eight of the churches have Sunday school, of which 28 are in session throughout the year. Their total membership is 1,402, and the total average attendance is 991. This is an average attendance and membership per school of 26 and 37, respectively. There are in all 164 teachers, 1 to every 6 pupils in regular attendance. ' There are 15 young people's organizations, with a membership of 418; 7 women's societies, with a membership of 370; 3 organizations for men, with a membership of 33, and 2 other organizations, with a membership of 75. This makes a total of 37 organizations, with an aggregate membership of 896. Twenty -five churches have no organizations at all excepting the Sunday school. The colored church appears to occupy a larger place socially in the lives of its members than the white church does. A great majority of the churches have some regular social features. The relation be- tween the church, the school, and the lodge usually is a close one. Most of the entertainments have the same financial consideration as in the white churches, but their social significance is great. The annual budget of the churches totals $10,867, an average of about $272 per church. Of this amount, $6,560 is for salaries. The average salary is only $364.45; the maximum is $748, the minimum $50. Chapter II. EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS. I. GENERAL FEATURES. Any discussion of the educational conditions of the county must center about the public-school systeni. It is here that the niost accurate register is foun'd of the general characteristics of the people as a whole. The public schools are not only by far the most important single factor in the educational process for the average community; they also sympathetically register the achievements of a people. An intelligent and progressive people build for themselves strong, adequate schools. An ignorant and nonprogressive people build their schools on the normal level of their hves. This is because the school is a social institution. Prosperous social institutions must always presuppose a prosperous population. As society is now organized, the school offers the conununity probably its one best opportunity to act as a unit. This opportunity it does not always grasp. Nevertheless, the school is apt to be a fau'ly accurate index both of the spirit of a community and of the ideals to which it responds. Organization and supervision. — The management and supervision of the public schools of Montgomery County are intrusted to a con- tinuing board composed of 6 commissioners, each appointed by the governor of the State for a term of 6 years, and to a county super- intendent appointed by the board. Each school has 3 local trustees, also appointed by the county board, who cooperate with it and under its direction has the immediate oversight of the work of the school. The county board, however, has complete and final control over the schools, and all matters of policy and administration rest with it and with the superintendent. Separate schools are provided for the white children and for the colored children, but both are under the same management and supervision and are parts of one system. Under this organization the management of each individual school is very direct and complete. The unit is the county. The superin- tendent as an agent of the board is required to visit each school in the county and personally see to its needs. One advantage of the system lies in the uniformity of its results. In no case can one school or the schools of one locaUty faU much below the general level for the county. The same standards of teaching efficiency are main- tained throughout the county. The course of study and the schedule of work are planned for all schools and given to the various teachers by the superintendent. All examination questions are also sent 23 24 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. from his office. The instructional work of the schools is supervised as far as it is possible for one man to do so by the county superin- tendent.^ However, the county is so large and its schools so numer- ous that the proper supervision involves more work than one man can accomplish well. In organization for the management of the schools, the system in Montgomery County is the general type of organization for the entire State of Maryland. The Montgomery County board is composed of highly efficient men, genuinely concerned for the welfare of the schools and discharging their duties faithfully and with marked ability. In the detailed discussion which follows it is convenient to discuss the schools for white children and those for the colored children in separate sections. The former will be considered first. II. SCHOOLS FOR WHITE CHILDREN. Number, distribution, and Jcind of schools. — The total population of the county between the ages of 5 and 20 years is 10,800. Of this number, approximately 7,710 are white and 3,090 colored. There are in all 106 schoolhouses in the county, 76 of which are for white pupils.^ The county owns 103 of the buUdings and rents 3. There is one school for every 101 of the white population of school age and one for every 103 of the negro population of school age. The 76 schools for white children include 7 high schools and 69 elementary schools. Of the elementary schools, 52 are one-room one-teacher schools, with seven or eight grades. The other 17 elementary schools have two or more rooms, and many carry the work as far as the tenth grade. The following table gives the distribution of the schools by election districts : Distribution of schools. Election districts. One-room elementary schools. other elementary schools. High schools. Total. 1. Laytonsvillo. . 2. Clarksburg . . . 3. Poolesville... 4. Rockville. 5. Colesville 6. Darnestown.. 7. Bethesda 8. Olney 9. (Jaithersburg. 10. Potomac 11. Barnes ville.. . 12. Damascus 13. Wheaton Total. 76 1 An office clerk is employed to assist the superintendent and the county board in clerical work. 'Several additional schools were opened in September, 1912. EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS. 25 Seventeen of the schools are located in towns ; 59 are located in the open country or in very small villages. The geographical distribu- tion is fairly even, and there is no section of the county without a school reasonably accessible; 41 of the schools are so situated as to be adjacent to stone roads, railroads, or trolley lines. Only one school in the county is a consolidated school with trans- portation of pupils at public expense.^ This is the Poolesville School, which maintains both an elementary department and a high- D fXJ/!/'L D/STf?/Cr SCYOOL ^IVfJ/TSj ■ />Uf/IL O/STff/Cr SCHOOL (COLOfEOj }ipmvyirc SCHOOL o/f colccge Fig. 2. — Location of schools. school department. A glance at the school map above shows that this does not exhaust the possibilities for consolidation in the county. It will be noted that there are many groups of three or four small schools so situated that their pupils live within easy haul of some convenient center. Indeed it would not be at all difficult to plot out the county into districts, say from 15 to 20 in number, within which aU the schools might be centralized. In several sections agitation has aheady begun for some such readjustment. I Two additional consolidated schools have been established since the survey was made. 26 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. Tie material equipment— The 76 schools occupy 77 buildings, 70 of which are frame structures, 5 are brick, and 2 are stone. The total number of rooms is 151, of which 140 were used for school pur- poses in 1912. The school law requires the maintenance of a certain average attendance before two teachers can be assigned to one school, so that a number of two-room buildings were in effect only one-room schools. In the following the total number of rooms, the number used for school purposes last year, and the number of one-teacher schools is shown by election districts: Schoolrooms by election districts. Election districts. Laytonsville. Clarksburg... Poolesville... Rockville Colesville.. . . Darnestown . Bethesda Olney Gaithersburg Potomac Barnesville.. Damascus. . . Wheaton Total Number Used for of school school rooms. purposes. 12 10 11 11 8 7 20 19 8 6 10 10 5 5 20 20 16 14 6 6 7 6 12 11 16 15 151 140 One -room one- teacher schools. The one-room school is the greatest problem in the development of rural education. The most frequent criticism brought against the rural schools is that their courses of study and their teaching methods have been borrowed from the city schools, and that nothing has been offered the country pupils distmctly adapted to their actual sphere in life. In another connection is discussed the movement for broad- ening the curriculum of the rural schools by the introduction of studies intended directly to equip the pupUs for farm life. The later discussion of this subject may be anticipated by calling attention at this point to the relation which the proportion of one-room schools has to the problem. It must be remembered that the demand for broadening the curriculum is accompanied by an equally insistent demand for more efficient teaching. In the school in which one teacher has 30 or more pupils in 8 different grades, with the average length of the recitation period from 10 to 15 minutes, it is very diffi- cult to increase the efficiency of the teaching and to introduce new subjects into the curriculum. The chief defects of the school buildings are defects of architecture, rather than of equipment or condition. In general, it must be said that their equipment for school })ur])oscs is above the average for similar communities. All of the buildings are in a fair state of repair, and most of them are in good condition. Nearly half of them have EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS. 27 been built within the past 10 years. They are of suitable size, con- taining on an average about 650 square feet of floor space, with a ceiling 10 to 12 feet high. Their weakness from an architectural point of view arises from the fact that they appear to have been built with one idea in mind, that of providing seating accommodations for a given number of pupils. Little attention was paid to the questions of proper lighting, heating, and ventilation, three considerations of prime importance. In regard to the lighting in the 102 rooms in the buildings wliich contain the one, two, three, and four room schools, the arrangement Fig. 3.— Proportion of one-teacher schools. of the windows is as follows: 64 rooms have windows on the right and the left sides; 10 rooms have windows on the right and left sides and also in the rear; 16 rooms have windows at the left and rear; 10 rooms have windows at the right and rear; 2 one-room buildings have windows on all four sides. It has been very generally agreed by authorities on the subject of school architecture that no schoolroom should be lighted from more than two sides and that, preferably, the light should come from one side only. In all cases, the strongest light should fall over the left shoulder of the pupil. If windows are provided on two sides of the building, they should be at the left of the pupils and at their rear. Windows at both the left and right cause a cross light which is very 28 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. confusing and is harmful to the eyes of the children. Windows at the front of the room should not be tolerated under any conditions. There is no room in all these smaller schools which is lighted from one side only, and only 16 in which the windows are placed at the left and rear of the pupils. In 86 out of 102 rooms the method of lighting is distinctly faulty. The amount of window surface relative to the amount of floor space in the room is a matter of importance. Authorities agree that the total window space should equal at least one-fifth of the total floor space. Figures on this point are available for 90 rooms. In 41 of these the total amount of window surface was adequate, that is, it was equal to or in excess of one-fifth of the floor space. In 49 rooms it was inadequate, the amount of window space varying from one- sixth to one-tenth of the floor space. The color of the walls of a schoolroom has its effect on the lighting and on the pupils' eyes. Data were obtamed on this point from 77 rooms. In 36 of these the walls are now, or were at one time, white. In 19 they are of a tan or buff color, m 9 cream, in 6 green, and in 5 light blue. Wliite has several disadvantages, among which are the facts that it is easily soiled and when finished with a smooth surface has a glare that is relatively hard on the eyes. The most satisfactory color is a light-buff tint or a light gray. The space between the wm- dow sills and floor might be light brown. The heating arrangements in the 77 separate buildings are as fol- lows: Seven of tlie buildings are heated by furnaces; 10 are heated by jacketed stoves; 60 are heated by unjacketed stoves. Witli the jacketed stove it is comparatively easy to lieat a school- room evenly and to a proper temperature and to assure proper venti- lation. With an unjacketed stove it is very difficult to do either. The question of ventilation is a serious one in the one-room schools. Pupils can not do their best work without a ])roper supply of fresh air. The jacketed stove furnishes this fresh air at an even tempera- ture to all parts of the room, and it also removes the foul air from the room. In schools with the unjacketed stove the usual method of ventilation is by use of the wmdows. In cold weather particularly it is difficult to heat the room satisfactorily even with the windows closed. With them open for vpntilation it is practically impossible to secure a satisfactory temperature in all ])arts of the room. In regard to the blackboard space provided: In 90 rooms from which data were obtamed this varied from 25 to 245 square feet per room. The average for the 90 rooms was 86 square feet, an amount sufficient to accommodate amply 9 pupils at the board at on time. In 31 rooms the amount provided was insufficient. The quality of the board used was in most mstances satisfactory. In most of the rooms the bottom of the board was 36 inches or more from the floor. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1913, NO. 32 PLATE 3 A. LAYTONVILLE SCHOOL. JH^ fc^B^ "^W IHr A 11 ii j i £. CLARKSBURG SCHOOL. EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS. 29 This is a convenient height for pupils above the third grade, but it is too high for those in the lower grades. In 46 one-room schools with eight grades each only 4 had the blackboard 26 inches or less from the floor, the proper height for the youngest children. In 17 other rooms, used for first and second grades only, only 5 had the blackboard placed at this height. In all but 13 schools the seating facilities are quite ample for pres- ent needs. In the Poolesville, Rockville, and Damascus districts there are two schools each without ample seating facilities. In all of the other districts, except Wheaton, Bethesda, and Laytonsville, there is one school each without sufficient seats for all the pupils. In 28 schools there are musical instruments, either piano or organ. Twenty-two per cent of all rooms are fitted with single desks; practically all of these rooms are in the high schools and the larger elementary schools; 78 per cent have the old double desks. Only a very few rooms have adjustable desks. In the one-room schools particularly desks of proper size for the pupils were not found, and many children were using desks either too large or too small for them. In almost all of the schools throughout the county more or less attention has been paid to improving the interior by the use of pic- tures of noted men and women and of buildings or of scenery. These decorations represent all degrees of artistic appreciation and taste, but for the most part they are good. The Rockville High School deserves especial mention. It has recently purchased some excel- lent plaques and friezes from funds amounting to several hundred dollars raised by the pupils themselves. Fifty schools have pupils' cloakrooms; 26 have not; in only 6 schools are teachers' rooms provided. All but 11 schools have good water supply; 56 have wells and 9 have springs on the school prop- erty or within a convenient distance. Sanitary conditions are in the main good. Ail but 4 schools have outside toilets, but only 12 of them are in any respect msanitary. Certam special features in equipment should be mentioned. As- sembly halls are provided in 5 schools. Well-equipped domestic- science and manual-training rooms are provided wherever these subjects are taught. The domestic-science room at the Rockville High School is particularly complete. Here each pupil is furnished with a small alcohol stove for the cooking experiments. Brookeville High School has a special domestic-science building. The latter high school is interesting in another respect also, m that it has room- ing and boarding accommodations for nearly 20 pupils, who drive in from the surrounding country on Monday morning and return to their homes on Friday night. Both as regards buildings and equipment, the pohcy of the present school administration has been one of expansion; 26 new school 30 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. buildings have been erected within the past six years. Only 6 of these have been one-room buildings. In many of these provision has been made for a considerable growth in the future. The Woodside school, for example, is a two-story brick building with 7 recitation rooms and an assembly hall. Only 4 recitation rooms are at present requu-ed. The other 3 will be finished and opened as soon as there is need for them. Grounds. — The total acreage of the school grounds is 98^. This includes a 32-acre farm adjacent to the Brookeville High School, which is used in connection with the courses in elementary agri- culture. Thu-teen of the school lots are fenced; 36 are fairly level; 41 are either rolling or hilly; 11 have good walks; 63 have trees; 13 have flower beds; and 1 has a vegetable garden. The grounds of the larger schools are frequently well kept. The Brookeville High School is the best illustration of this. A fine lawn, beautiful trees, and a good athletic field make the appearance of this school veiy attractive. At the newer schools the grounds have not yet received much attention, and little effort has been made to beautify the surroundings of the one-room schools. In planning buildings and grounds, except as noted below, rela- tively little attention has been paid to the needs of the pupils for recreation. In another connection the lack of recreation facilities in the county is noted, and attention is called to the fact that there is apparently no institution which at present furnishes such facilities for their own sakes. It is very much to be desired that the school should enter this field and provide recreation in a systematic and thorough fashion. At several of the larger schools, notably the Sandy Spring, Brooke- ville, Gaithersburg, and Eockville High Schools, provision has been made for recreation. Tennis courts, basket-ball grounds, and baseball fields are available. Rockville High School has equipment for formal indoor gymnastics. Dumbbells and Indian clubs are pro- vided. This school also has guns and uniforms for a boys' battalion. In only 11 schools of the entire 76 is there any sort of play apparatus. At nearly one-half of the schools there is not even a suitable play- ground. The school lots are either too small or undrained, and therefore apt to be muddy in winter and spring, or they are so rough and broken that the ordinary games can not easily be played upon them. In only a very few instances was it found that the teachers superintend the play hour and teach the pupils games. It has been found that with a little oversight by the teacher the pupils learn through play many valuable lessons. Forty-seven schools do not have a United States flag. The following table gives the value of the school buildings and grounds by election districts, the Darnestown and Brookeville High EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS. 31 Schools not being included in the totals for their respective districts or for the county, since they are not the property of the county: Value of Election districts: 'buildings. 1. Laytonsville |6, 850 2. Clarksburg 6, 750 3. Poolesville 3, 700 4. Rockville 35, 900 5. Colesville 9, 300 6. Darnestown 2, 250 7. Bethesda 10, 500 8. Olney 17, 700 9. Gaithersburg 24, 100 10. Potomac 2, 650 11. Barnesville 3, 600 12. Damascus 7, 700 13. Wheaton 24, 050 Total value 155, 050 Teaching force. — The total teaching force in the white schools when the survey was made was 128, of whom 27 were males and 101 females. An attempt was made to obtain information as to the general education and professional training of these teachers. The data obtained were incomplete, but accurate data were obtained of the teaching force for the term beginniag in September, 1912. They are included in the table below. It will be noted that the white teaching force has increased from 128 to 145. The general education and professional training of the white teaching force is as follows: Teachers who have completed — Elementary schools only 9 One year of high school 2 Two years of high school 7 Three years of high school 9 Four years of high school 48 One year of normal school 7 Two years of normal school 13 Three years of normal school 14 Four years of normal school 7 One year at college 6 Two years at college 5 Three years at college 4 Four years at college 14 145 Twenty-seven teachers attended summer school for 1 year; 9 attended for 2 years; 7 for 3 years; and 3 for 4 years. One of the chief weaknesses of rural schools in the United States as a whole is due to the constant shifting of teachers from one school to another. It is probable that, for the United States as a whole, more than 50 per cent of the rural schools are taught by a different 32 EDUCATIONAL SUEVEY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS. 33 teacher each year. In this respect Montgomeiy County is fortunate. All the teachers in the spring of 1912 reported the length of time in the position they were then holding. The average length of time for the entire county was four school years. The average is very high. It is partly due to a few teachers whose length of service has been exceptionally long. Omitting these, the average tenure was approxi- imately three years. The average number of positions held by all the teachers during the past five years was 1.6, which is low when compared to averages for the United States. The average number of years of teaching experience was 8.1. An inquiiy was made to determine whether the teachers looked upon their teachmg occupation as a life work or not. Fifty-five reported that it was their intention to continue teaching indefinitely; 50 had definitely decided to give up teaching in the near future; and 20, mostly of the younger group of women teachers, had not as yet made up their minds on this point. Nine special teachers are employed in the county — four for domes- tic science, two for commercial branches, and one each for manual training, agriculture, and music. The four domestic science teachers are in the high schools at Rockville, Gaithersburg, BrookevUle, and Sandy Spring. The commercial teachers are in the Rockville and Gaithersburg High Schools. The Rockville and Gaithersburg elementary and high schools and the Kensington elementary school share the time of the manual training teacher. Sandy Spring and BrookevUle High Schools share between them a male teacher of agriculture. Sandy Spring elementary and high schools have a teacher of music. Pupils. — The total enrolhnent of the schools is 3,927 — 1,999 boys and 1,928 girls. The first table which follows gives the total enroll- ment by districts. The second gives the enrollment by grades: Enrollment in election districts. Election districts. Male. Female. Total. lis 228 105 280 134 133 82 151 152 96 99 166 255 117 170 106 263 99 114 74 164 188 87 126 157 263 235 2. Clarksburg 398 3. Poolcsville .-. 211 4. Rockville 543 5. Colesville 233 6. Damestown 247 7. Bethesda 156 8. Olney 315 9. Gaithersburg 340 10. Potomac 183 11. Bamesville 225 12. Damascus 323 13. Wheaton 518 Total 1,999 1,928 3,927 34 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. Enrollment by grades. Election districts. First.i Second . Third. Fourth. Fifth. Sixth. Seventh. Eighth.2 High school. 52 102 43 102 46 55 39 31 75 54 62 53 115 29 35 27 64 28 31 15 26 32 14 14 46 68 31 65 22 65 34 31 31 29 40 20 30 37 79 33 69 38 54 39 39 20 25 45 26 31 51 ~ 71 36 53 21 70 36 27 16 24 52 26 11 42 47 29 30 23 47 26 26 15 39 25 21 16 39 S3 21 12 17 51 16 23 24 31 31 22 16 45 47 6 1 2 2 3 3 7 16 2. Clarksburg 3. Poolesville 22 4. Rockville 83 6. Damestown 12 8. Olney 101 38 10. Potomac 12. Damascus 13 13. Wheaton Total 829 429 £14 541 461 389 356 40 269 > Under "first grade" are included the beginner's class as well as the first grade proper. Two years is required in many cases for admission to second grade work. 2 Pupils pass directly from the seventh grade to the high school. Those under this heading are taking advanced work in elementary schools not located within easy reaching distance of any high school. The total white population of school age in the county is 7,710. The enrollment of the schools is 50.9 per cent of this total. For the entire contmental United States, according to the United States Bureau of Education, the proportion of the population of school age enrolled in the public schools is 64.2 per cent. Montgomery County, then, is nearly 14 per cent below the average for the country as a whole, even allowing for the number (probably 60 to 70) who attend private schools and colleges. The State legislature has just passed a compulsory attendance law (1912), requirmg the attendance of children under ,14. This law was adopted by the Montgomery County board, and goes into effect in the fall of 1913. It should do much toward remedymg this condition.^ The total average daily attendance for all schools was 2,629, or 67.3 per cent of the enrollment, and 34.1 per cent of the school population 5 to 20 years of age, inclusive. This means that 65.9 per cent of the total number of white children of school age were not in regular attendance upon the public schools, a proportion large enough to cause serious concern. The schools might reasonably be expected to show a larger proportion in regular attendance. There were some interesting differences between the dififerent districts in this respect. I The low enrollment was due in part to the large number of children in Bethesda and Wheaton districts attending school in the District of Columbia. Regulations regarding the attendance of nonresident children in the schools of the District of Columbia, effective in September, 1912, increased the enrollment in the Montgomery County schools by approximately 600. EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS. 35 Fig. 5.— Enrollment. Fig. 6.— Average attendance. 36 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. Table showing the total average attendance, average attendance per school, and the per cent of attendance to enrollment by election districts. Election districts. Average number attending daily. Average attendance per school. Number attending dally for every 100 enrolled. 161 243 146 398 125 156 122 246 239 97 118 210 378 20.1 27.0 29.2 56.8 25.0 26.0 61.0 49.2 47.8 19.4 23.6 30.0 54.0 68.6 61.0 68.8 73.3 53.8 63.4 78.2 8 Olney - 78.1 70.2 53.0 52.0 64.0 13. Wheaton 72.9 Total 2,639 347.0 65.9 The percentage of attendance to enrolbnent is relatively high (68 per cent or more) in districts 1 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, and 13. The reasons for this are not far to seek. Poolesville had at the time of the survey the only consolidated school with public transportation of pupils in the county. The other sbc districts have the best transportation facilities, both as regards roads and accessibility of railways and trolleys. The proportion m regular attendance is relatively low (64 per cent or less) in districts 2, 5, 6, 10, 11, and 12, where the transportation facilities are not good. There is nothing finally conclusive about this, and certain local variations are not thereby to be accounted for. This would not explain, for example, why the attendance is better in the Damascus district than in the ColesviUe district. It does, however, show a general tendency and indicates that the school as well as the farm needs good roads. Student organizations. — There were last year in existence only 13 student organizations of any sort in the schools in the county. Of this number, 8 were debating and literary societies, 2 were athletic associations, and 1 was a boys' brigade. It does not appear tliat fuU advantage is taken of a fine opportunity. The total membership of these 13 societies was about 250, a very small proportion of the pupils who might profitably have been organized in a similar way. In 1911 a step was taken toward a larger service to the bo3^s in the schools when a corn-growing contest was initiated by the president of the board of school commissioners. Not much interest was manifested in this the first year, although the contest was successful in a small way. This year the Agricultural High School at Sandy Spring has taken charge of the matter and will make this contest a permanent feature of the year's program in connection wdth an annual "corn congress," to be held in the faU. Prizes ranging from $5 to $50 have been offered and the contest is open to all boys from 10 to 15 years of age. The conditions of the contest are: EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS. 37 (1) All of the work must be done by the boy except the plowing. (2) The corn grown on the acre shall be the property of the boy, whether he wins a prize or not. (3) The following basis shall be used in awarding the prizes: Per cent. Greatest yield per acre 40 Best showing of profit on investment 40 Best written account showing history of crop 20 Total 100 (4) Boys must keep a record of the time spent in doing the work and of the expendi- ture for seed, fertilizer, etc. (5) The amount of land used shall be 1 acre for each boy. The contest in 1912 was well advertised, and great interest was manifested in it. It is hoped that results of considerable importance will follow. Studies. — The teacher in a one-room school has many things to do and very limited time to do them in. Tliis is one of the prime reasons why the criticism holds true here, as in every place where the one-room school exists, that the curriculum of the country school contains little or nothing that distinctly prepares for country life. In spite of the fact that conditions are far better here than in many other rural communities, the fact is that each teacher in the county must conduct on the average 23 recitations per day with the average tune allotted each recitation only 15 minutes. In the one-room school the number of recitations is even greater, being approximately 30 in each school. The tune for each recitation is of course shorter, the average being 1 1 minutes. A program so f uU leaves opportunity for very little beyond the limits of the prescribed course of study, which contams only those subjects familiarly referred to as the "common branches." This course of study and the plan of work based upon it are prescribed by the county school commissioners, and are patterned largely after the town and city school course. It emphasizes, particularly in the higher grades, the cultural rather than the industrial. It needs to be revised for the country school. The curriculum does not take into account the special conditions under which the country pupil is to live and work. There is need of a fundamental readjustment which will in part take the form of the introduction of certain courses having direct bearing upon the country pupil's needs and in part take the form of a shift in emphasis through- out the entire course of study. It is not to be supposed that cultural studies should be dropped from the curriculum of the rural school. In certain instances they might well receive increased attention. The pupils might devote more time to music and drawing than they are now doing. A beginning has already been made in the larger schools of the county toward this readjustment. Special courses have been mtro- duced and in some instances special teachers have been procured to 38 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. train the pupils along certain practical lines. An inquiry was made as to the extent to which certain subjects, deemed of special impor- tance for rural children, were taught. These subjects were nature study, elementary agriculture, domestic science, manual training, music, and drawing. The following table indicates the number of schools teaching each and the extent of the work. By "little" is meant that approximately from 15 to 30 minutes per week is given to talks, observation, or elementary exercises; by ''medium" is meant that some systematic effort is made to teach the subject at prescribed periods throughout one or two years, enough time being given to it to assure some thoroughness; by "much" is meant that there is a full four 3^ears' course offered, with special teachers. The figures refer to the number of schools in which these studies are taught. Number of schools teaching certain subjects. Subjects. Nature study Elementary agriculture Domestic science Manual training Music Drawing Not at all. Little. Medium. 43 20 4 52 13 4 m 4 67 1 3 48 19 4 46 22 4 Much. It will be noticed that the greater proportion of the schools give no time at all to these studies, while only a small number attempt to teach them thoroughly. Four high schools — Rockville, Gaithers- burg, Brookeville, and Sandy Spring — each have a special teacher of domestic science; three schools — Rockville, Gaithersburg, and Ken- sington—share the time of one man as an instructor in manual train- ing. Sandy Spring and Brookeville High Schools share between them the entire time of one man for teaching elementary agriculture. Rockville and Gaithersburg each have a commercial teacher. Sandy Spring has a special teacher giving her entire time to nxusic. The Sandy Spring and Brookeville High Schools are probably the most interesting schools in the county in these respects. Each is a genuine rural high school, making definite and successful efforts to adapt their pupils to the conditions of country life. Fifty-one schools have libraries varying in size from 1 volume to 2,000 volumes per school. The total number of volumes in all the schools is over 7,000, the average for each school reporting being about 138. The schools reporting libraries may be gi'ouped as follows: Schools having libraries with from — Schools. 1 to 25 volumes 4 25 to 50 volumes 11 50 to 75 volumes 9 75 to 100 volumes 5 100 to 2C0 volumes 17 200 to 500 volumes 4 Over 500 volumes 1 EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS. 39 The books are mostly general literature, histories, essays, poetry, and fiction. For the most part the selection is from a list approved by the State board of education. About 50 per cent of the pupils above the fourth grade use the books more or less regularly. Forty-sLx schools reported that they gave in 1911 a total of 151 pubhc entertainments. These were variously literary or musical programs, home-talent plays, lectures, or celebrations arranged for various holidays. They were largely attended by the school patrons in most instances. Nine schools are so located that they are affected by private or parochial schools. Several schools near the line of the District of Columbia lose a number of their pupils to the Washington City schools. The schools in Takoma Park are slightly affected by the Seventh Day Adventist Seminary. The RockvUle High School is affected by the Rockville Academy. High schools. — There are in the county seven public high schools, located at BrookeviUe, Darnestown, Gaithersburg, Germantown, Poolesville, RockvUle, and Sandy Spring. Tliere is one in each of five election districts, Poolesville, Rockville, Colesville, Gaithersburg, Darnestown, and Damascus, and two in Olney. The school at Rock- ville is the county high school. It is the only high school in the county listed by the State department of education in "Pubhc high schools of the first group." The BrookeviUe, Sandy Spring, and Gaithersburg High Schools are listed by the State department as schools of the "second group." To be classed in the "first group" a high school must have 80 or more pupils, four or more academic teachers, a four-year course of at least 36 weeks a year, a course of study prescribed by the State department, and must conform to several other regulations of the State department. A "second group" school must have 35 or more pupils, two or more academic teachers, a three-year course of at least 36 weeks a year, and must conform to the regulations of the depart- ment. The State contributed to each of the schools in the second group $1,400 for the year ended in June, 1912, and to the Rockville High School $2,300. Of the three graduates of Sandy Spring School in June, 1912, one entered the Pennsylvania State CoUege and one the University of Vir- ginia. Of the eight graduates of BrookeviUe, two entered the State Normal School at Baltimore, two the Western Maryland College, and one St. Johns CoUege at Annapohs. None of the four graduates at Gaithersburg is in a higher institution, but two are teaching in the county. 40 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. The following table gives data regarding the seven schools: High schools in Montgomery County. Years in course. Days in ses- sion. Teach- ers. Students, by years. Grad- uates, June, 1912. Books in library. Value of grounds and buildings. Appa- ratus, Districts. First. Sec- ond. Third. Fourth. equip- ment, and fur- niture. Brookeville Damestown Gaither.sburg... German town... Poolesville Rockville Sandy Spring. . . 4 4 3 3 3 4 4 180 190 195 190 180 180 ISO 6 2 2 4 21 G 19 23 10 40 18 19 3 19 5 12 27 14 13 4 7 4 19 5 8 4 n 4 8 4 4 3 12 3 200 269 975 200 200 360 259 $15,000 35,000 20,000 5,000 5,000 40,000 5.000 S600 500 1,500 100 500 5,000 500 HI. SCHOOLS FOR COLORED CHILDREN. Numher, distribution, and Mnd. — There are 30 schools for colored children m the county, one to every 103 of the colored population of school age. They are all elementary schools with six or fewer grades. The number of schools for colored children, by election districts, are as follows: Laytonsville, 3; Clarkesburg, 2 ; Poolesville, 3 ; Kockville, 2; Colesville, 3; Damestown, 4; Bethesda (a colored school was opened in Bethesda district in September, 1912), 0; Olney, 4; Gaithersburg, 3; Potomac, 1; Barnesville, 2; Damascus, 1; Wheaton, 2; total, 30. These schools are so located that there is no considerable settle- ment of negroes anywhere in the county without a school reasonably accessible. In the Bethesda district, which is the only district with- out a colored school, the children go to the schools in the District of Columbia. The colored schools are a part of the county school system, con- trolled, supervised, and maintained in the same manner as the white schools, but there is a feeling among many in the county that few of the negroes are taxpayers and that, consequently, the support of their schools by the county is more or less of a missionary enterprise. The material equijjment. — There are 28 school buildings, of which 23 are owned by the county and 5 are rented. One school holds its sessions hi a church, and one occupies a room in a hall. These build- ings contam in all 38 rooms, of which 34 were last year used for school purposes. Twenty-eight schools are one-room, one-teacher schools. This proportion raises the same problem as with the white schools. The colored children stand as much m need of training along industrial and agricultural Imes as the white cliDdren. But the introduction of such courses into the curriculum of a one- room school is impracticable without good teachers and adequate supervision. The school rooms vary in size from 374 square feet to 1,000 square feet. The average-sized room contains about 560 square feet of floor space. In more than one-half of the schools this is not sufficient p BUREAU OF EDUCATION SULLETIN, 1913, NO. 32 PLATE 4 A. COLORED SCHOOL, LODGE HALL, AND CHURCH, NORBECK. ' rv^ ;*';'-'li " V^^ iH ^^ ^ Aill / ^ ^ .J ^^ P^^H^B n t Va^ ■ B. NORBECK COLORED SCHOOL. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1913, NO. 32 PLATE 5 A. TYPICAL COLORED SCHOOL. B. TYPICAL COLORED SCHOOL. EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS. 41 for the accommodation of the pupils who desire to attend. In 16 schools the seating facilities were not sufl&cient for the number of pupils enrolled. In all of these rooms the light comes from both sides, and in several it comos from both sides and the rear. In no mstance is the light received either from the left only or from left and rear only. In at least 20 of the rooms the total amount of window space is insufficient, according to the rule that the total amount of window space should equal or exceed one-fifth of the total amount of floor space. The average amount of blackboard provided per room is 48 square feet, enough to accommodate five pupils at the board at a time. Figure 7. Very few schools have as much board space as they need. In at least 10 schools the amount provided is wholly inadequate. With a single exception, the blackboard is placed from 30 to 42 inches above the floor. The average for all rooms is about 36 inches. In 20 rooms there is provided some sort of decoration, mostly unframed pictures and posters. The walls of more than one-half were originally white, but age and use have reduced most of them to about the same condition, variously described as cream, buff, or drab. In general, nearly all of the schools are in a more or less dilapidated condition. All the buildings are frame. Most of them were origi- nally as well put up as the schools for white children, but they have 42 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. not been kept up. Consequently they are out of repair. Few of tliem have been pamted. Their general appearance is one of neglect. Twenty-eight of the 30 schools are equipped with double nonad- justable desks; one has single desks, and one, bemg a church, has pews. All of the buildings are heated by stoves, these being in 26 cases nonjacketed. Only one building has a cloak room, while none has a teacher's room. At 19 schools there is either a well, a spring, or a cistern on the school property; 11 have no water supply. All of the schools have outside toilets. At 14 schools these were in an insanitary condition, and at 10 they were improperly placed. Twenty-one schools had globes, maps, and charts of some sort, although these are in many cases old and poor. Nme schools have none at all. The county furnishes the books for all pupils in the colored schools. Not very good care is taken of them by the pupils; consequently, there was usually found an insufficient number of books, and those found presented a very ragged appearance. The total acreage of the school grounds is 24. All but 2 schools have at least a fair plat of ground, 7 of the lots are fenced, 16 are level, 12 are rolling or hilly, 6 have trees, 3 have flower beds, and 1 has a vegetable garden. Practically no attention is paid to beauti- fying the surroundings of the schools. None of the schools has any play apparatus of any sort, and prac- tically no provisions are made for the recreative life of the pupils. The school grounds are not usually very well adapted for playing games. Only three are provided with American flags. The county has invested $10,750 in the 23 school buildings which it owns. The average value per building is about $470. The follow- ing table gives the number of schools owned, the total value, and the average value per school by election districts: BuHdings used for colored schools. Election districts. School buildings owned. ■ Total value. Average value. Laytonsville 3 1 2 2 3 3 4 1 2 1 1 $850 500 800 1,000 1.300 1,300 2,700 250 950 a50 750 S283.33 Clarkesburg .... 500.00 Poolesville 400.00 Roekville 500.00 Colesville 433. 33 Darnestown 433.33 Bethesda 0.00 Olney 675.00 Gaithersburg 250.00 Potomac 0.00 Barnesville 475.00 Damascus 350.00 Wheaton 750.00 Total 23 10, 750 467. 39 EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS. ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS-7 GRADES 43 VII Fig. 8.— Enrollment by grades in the schools for colored chUdren. (The figures at the left Indicate the percentage of the total enrollment; the figures at the bottom indicate tlie grades. There are no pupils beyond the seventh grade.) 44 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. Teaching force. — The 30 schools have a teachmg force of 33 (6 males and 27 females); 27 of these reported that they had had a normal or industrial school training. The average number of years of teaching experience is 9.6. Only 4 teachers were teaching for the first time last year. The average length of time spent in the present position was reported as 3 years. This average is in part due to a few cases of exceptionally long tenure, but more than one- half of the teachers have held their present positions 2 years or more. One-fourth of them have held their positions 4 years or more. The average number of positions held during the last 5 years was 1.8 per teacher. This means a more than ordinarily stable teaching force. The advice of the president of the colored teachers' association to the teachers on this point of tenure was brief but pithy: "Stay in a locality until you know it, and until you make the people love you; then leave it whUe they still love you." Of the 33 teachers, 30 declared that it was their intention to contmue teaching permanently. The average salary paid last year was $24.86 per month, or $174 per annum. ^ The general education and professional training of the colored teach- ing force is as follows : Teachers who have completed — Elementary scliools only 1 One year of high school 1 Two years of high school 1 Three years of high school 4 Four years of high school 10 One year of normal school 1 Two years of normal school 12 Three years of normal school Foiir years of normal school 1 One year at college 2 Two years at college 1 Three years at college 1 Four years at college 3 38 Five teachers attended summer school for 1 year, 4 attended for 2 years, and 2 for 3 years. Pupils. — The total enrollment of all schools last year was 1,782 — 918 boys and 864 girls. It will be noticed that for the county as a whole there is a decided drop in the enrollment after the fourth grade. In 2 districts this drop is postponed until after the fifth grade, but in no case is the enrollment kept up to the normal standard in the sixth and seventh grades. EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS. Enrollment, by sex and by grades. 45 Election districts. Male. Female. Total. Grades. First. Second. Third. Fourth. Fifth. Sixth. Seventh. Laytonsville Clarkesburg Poolesville Rockville 61 51 122 92 96 78 167 81 31 63 23 53 54 49 122 61 79 69 174 90 28 66 20 52 115 100 244 153 175 147 341 171 59 129 43 105 50 45 125 73 58 77 135 66 30 68 18 59 16 25 34 23 32 9 56 23 6 13 8 9 26 12 30 33 29 23 67 26 9 24 3 21 18 6 29 10 29 19 29 48 6 16 8 7 5 8 10 9 25 6 22 8 4 3 4 8 5 8 4 4 5 3 1 4 2 2 1 2 1 Coles ville Dam8sto^vn Bethesda Olney 4 Gaithersburg Potomac . . Bamesville Damascus Wheaton 2 Total 918 864 1,782 1804 254 303 223 112 39 9 1 ITnder first grade is included a beginners' class and the first grade proper. A large number of pupils require two fuU years before taking second-grade work. The total colored population of school age is 3,090. Of this num- ber, according to the figures given, 57.6 per cent are enrolled in school. The average attendance is 1,087, or 36 per school, which is 60.9 per cent of enrollment and 35.1 per cent of the school population — 5 to 20 years of age, inclusive. This means that only 35.1 per cent of the entire number of colored children of school age regularly attend school. There were only 4 organizations for pupils, 2 of which were literary societies and 2 temperance societies. They had a total membership of 160. Studies. — The length of the year's session is fixed by the county as 140 days. This term, it is generally felt by those in touch with the colored schools, is too short for satisfactory work to be accom- plished. In certain school districts enough money was raised locally, by private subscriptions, to keep the schools open for 2 months longer. The average number of recitations held per day was 20 per teacher, and the average length of the recitation period was 18 minutes. The following table shows to what extent the 6 special subjects which we have previously mentioned were taught. The figures refer to the number of schools. Number of schools in which certain subjects are taught. Subjects. Not at all. Little. Medium. Much. Nature study 20 24 21 19 13 12 8 4 7 8 14 18 2 2 2 2 3 Elementary agriculture Domestic science 1 Music . 46 EDUCATIONAL SUKVEY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. Fair progress has been made in the work of introducing manual training and domestic science. The most interesting school in this respect is the Sharp Street Industrial School near Sandy Spring. This school offers complete courses in various forms of manual train- ing work and domestic science. The need of these courses and their practical value for the colored children are readily seen, and efforts are making to introduce the work generally throughout the county. In the spring ot 1912 an industrial exhibition for all colored schools was held at Sharp Street. The results showed that, all things con- sidered, in those schools in which industrial training is undertaken at all the work done is of a very high class. The school as a social center. — It is probably true that the colored school fills a larger place, socially, in the lives of its patrons and pupils than the white school does. More than half the schools reported pubHc entertamments of some sort, such as concerts, special pro- grams arranged in celebration of hoHdays, etc. These were generally very well attended. IV. THE SCHOOL BUDGET. The total cost of the schools for the 3'ear 1911-12 was $105,807.95. Of this amount $78,897.01 was spent directly on schools for white children and $6,158.41 on schools for negroes, as follows: Expenditures for schools. Items. White schools. Negro schools. $3,645.22 714. 70 58, 942. 80 6, 599. 43 2,075.38 4,511.00 $526.05 39.46 4, 728. 30 165.98 105. 62 462.00 Fuel Apparatus and furniture Teachers' salaries New buildings and repairs Sanitary expenses and incidentals Cost of books Total expenses 78,897.01 6, 158. 41 The statement of receipts and disbursements for the year ended July 31, 1912, given by the county school commissioners, is as follows: Receipts. Balance on hand July 31, 1911 $2, 540. 28 State school tax 31, 237. 07 State free-school fund 2, 297. 76 County school tax 37, 500. 00 Interest on deposits -86 High-school fund 6, 500. 00 Sales of books 58. 00 Library fund 10. 00 Brookeville fund 600. 00 Free-book fund 4, 139. 06 Colored industrial fund 1, 500. 00 Sale of abandoned schools (Spencerville, |310; Old Germantown, $75) . . . 385. 00 Proceeds of notes 13, 500. 00 EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS. 47 Tuition fees received from adjoining counties $303. 50 Darnestown fund 500. 00 Anticipation county commissioners 10, 000. 00 Refund ^ 46. 00 Sale of coal (1-4, |63; 1-9, $38.90) 101.90 Rent hall, 1-7 50. 00 Sale from agricultural department 3. 44 111, 272. 87 Disbursements. Rent $867. 50 Fuel 4, 171. 27 Repairs 5, 291. 41 Apparatus and furniture 754. 16 Teachers' salaries 63, 671. 10 New buildings 1, 473. 99 Sanitary costs 301. 58 Incidentals 1, 879. 42 Kindergarten and manual training 1, 671. 99 Office expenses 150. 52 Salaries of secretary, treasurer, and county superintendent 1, 400. 00 Salary of assistant 750. 00 Salaries of school commissioners 600. 00 Commissioners' incidentals 44. 94 Tuition fees paid to adjoining counties : 102. 50 Colored industrial department 1, 785. 79 Commencement exercises 50. 00 Discount and interest 1, 352. 15 Superintendent's traveling expenses 250. 00 Agricultural department 1, 224. 72 Commercial-course expenses 1, 193. 55 Record books 53. 00 Printing 337. 15 Domestic science 818. 62 Advertising 154. 75 Telephone 103. 30 Freight and drayage 268. 64 Term reports 53. 15 Stamps and stationery 153. 70 Insurance 398. 28 Expenses of institutes 322. 42 Furniture to schools 1, 121. 31 Expenses of State and county association 156. 00 Free books and distribution 4, 989. 72 School libraries 35. 00 Examinations 181. 45 Auditing accounts 62. 50 Teachers' registers 45. 00 Attorney's fees 30. 00 Bonds 90. 00 School supplies 447. 37 Notes paid 7, 000. 00 Balance cash on hand, July 31, 1912 5, 464. 92 111, 272. 87 1 Armour Co., $17.44; W. J. C. Pulany Co., 68 cents; Wood?icie trustees, $26.77; domestic science, $1.11. 48 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. The total amount raised during the year, excluding the balance on hand at the beginning, was $108,732.59. This money came from the following sources: Per cent. From the State 42. State school tax 28. 7 State free-school fund . 2. 1 High-school fund 6. Free-book fund 3.8 Colored industrial fund 1.4 From local sources: County school tax 34. 5 Proceeds of notes 12. 4 Loans in anticipation of the county commissioners '. . . 9. 2 Other sources 1. 9 100.0 The expenditures grouped under the general headmgs used by the United States Bureau of Education in classifying school expendi- tures are as follows: Per cent. I. General control (school board, superintendent and office expenses) 3. 9 II. Instruction: Salaries of teachers 60. Textbooks, stationery, supplies 11. 9 III. Operation and maintenance of school plant (fuel, repairs, etc.) 11. 8 IV. Miscellaneous 4.5 V. Liquidation of debts (bonds, loans, etc.) 6. 6 VI. Interest on indebtedness 1. 3 Data for 1911-12 showing the amount expended in each election district were not available at the time of this survey. The figures for 1910-11 were obtained, and are as follows: Expenditures for schools for irhites and for colored. AVhite schools. Colored schools. Election district.s. Salaries. Apparatus, new build- ings and repairs. Fuel and inci- dentals. Total. Salaries. Total. All schools, grand total. $4,152.50 4,551.58 2,675.10 7, 802. 50 3,313.48 3,663.72 2,579.15 5,434.55 5,531.80 2,331.30 2,978.13 4, 181. 75 7,181.08 $31.00 158. 00 1,085.35 1,413.03 5,155.02 224. 05 10.75 623.79 8, 717. 95 33.46 49.55 4, 776. 79 991.81 $253.23 1,139.31 373.39 486.50 323.57 180.59 147. 48 569. 79 462. 04 187.02 209. 88 175. 09 732. 24 $4,678.73 5,411.54 4,274.84 11,528.53 9,045.07 4, 299. 36 2,881.38 8,300.13 15,215.23 2,761.78 3, 455. 45 9, 499. 78 10,319.77 $450.80 324. 40 499. 20 490.00 4.57. 89 573.50 0.00 1,599.50 479.00 163. 40 344. 00 144. 00 317.00 $526. 81 406. 47 601.52 587. 27 605.85 701. 87 0.00 3,064,82 687. 81 196. 50 476. 14 194. 62 398. 40 $5,205.54 Clarksburg 5,818.01 4,274.84 11,528,53 Colesville. 9,045.07 4, 299. 36 Bethesda 2,881.38 Olney 11,364.95 15,903.04 2,958.24 Bamesville 3,931.59 9,694.36 Wheaton 10,718.17 56,381.64 23,270.55 5, 220. 25 99,771.59 5,852.69 8,448.08 108,219.67 BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1913, NO. 32 PLATE 6 A. GAITHERSBURG HIGH SCHOOL. B. POOLESVILLE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL. BUREAU OF EDUCATION 5ULLETIN, 1913, NO. 32 PLATE 7 A. ROCKVILLE ACADEMY. B. DOMESTIC SCIENCE BUILDING, BROOKVILLE HIGH SCHOOL. EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS. 49 - The total expenditure for the county for 1910-11, based on the average daily attendance, and including the expenditure for new buildings, amounted to S37.83 per white pupil and $7.77 per colored pupil per year. The money spent for supervision, office expenses, etc., divided equally among all pupils, colored and white alike, assuming that each shares equally in advantages which it purchases, would be $2.72 per pupil. This would make the total average cost of education for each white pupil in average daily attendance $40.55. The annual expense for each colored pupil, figured m this way; would be $10.49 per year. The following table gives, by election districts, the average cost for white and colored pupils. The variation between districts is partly accounted for by the difference in the amount spent last year for new buildings and repairs upon the schools of certain districts. Cost of schools per capita of average attendance. Election districts. White pupils. Colored pupils. Lay tonsville Clarksburg Poolesville Rock ville ColesvUle Darnestown Bethesda Olney Gaithersburg Potomac Barnesville Damascus Wheaton Average, entire county S31.77 24.99 31.99 31.68 75.08 30.28 26.33 36.45 76.38 91.19 32.00 47.94 31.23 «9.22 8.14 7.34 8.96 9.09 10.18 No schools. 18.91 8.59 7.51 7.89 16.62 8.75 40.55 10.49 If the cost of the new buildings is omitted, the total cost per white child amounted to $30.90. This, including the $2.72 for administra- tion, amounts to $33.62. The white schools cost, therefore, for main- tenance more than three times as much per pupil as the negro schools. Including the cost of new buildings, the county expended 3.87 as much on every white child in average daily attendance as on every negro chUd. V. PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. There are six private educational institutions in the county — the Rockville Academy; Miss Simpson's Primary School, at Rockville; the Bliss Electrical School, at Takoma Park; the Chevy Chase College and Semmary; the National Park Seminary, at Forest Glen; and the Washington Foreign Missionary Seminary, at Takoma Park. Only the first two and the last have direct local importance. The RockvUle Academy was established over 100 years ago and has been maintained continuously ever since. It was one of a group of four 96359°— 13 4 50 EDUCATIONAL SUEVEY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. academies, of which the other three — the Darnestown Academy, the Brookevillc Academy, and the Sherwood School, at Sandy Spring — have been taken over by the county and made part of the public school system. The Rockville Academy, however, continues as a private institution. It has practically the same course as the public schools, beginning with the sixth grade and continuing through the high school. It has a weU-equipped brick building with fine grounds. The enrollment last year was about 40. The faculty consists of two men. Its pupils are drawn from Rockville and vicinity, aU living in the county. Miss Simpson's school has an average enrollment of about 20, all from RockviUe. The school is held in a private home, which is, however, very conveniently arranged. The Washington Foreign Missionary Seminary is the only other school which draws pupils from within the county. This is a training school for candidates for the foreign mission field, and is operated by the Seventh Day Adventist denomination in connection with a large sanitarium at Takoma Park. Academic work of high-school grade is offered, and a number of pupils from the town of Takoma Park are enrolled in the school. The number, however, is never very great. The majority of the students come from other States. The equipment of the school is very complete, and its grounds are beautifully arranged. The Bliss Electrical School offers a one-year course in electrical engineering and similar subjects. It has two buildings, with class- rooms and laboratories and several dormitories. It has a faculty of seven. The graduating class of 1911 numbered 104. It had in 1912 no pupils from Montgomery County or from the State of Maryland. The two girls' seminaries in the county draw nearly all their students from other localities. They have considerable influence upon the social and educational life of their respective neighborhoods and have some economic significance in that they furnish employment for a considerable number of residents. Otherwise they are not locally unportant. Each school has beautiful grounds and splendid build- ings. Chapter III. PATRONS OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. In order to estimate the significance of the public-school system and to place the proper value upon the work which it is doing, it is necessary to ascertain what place it actually fills in the life of the community. The first step toward this end is to consider the schools objectively, i. e., to investigate the material equipment, the teaching force, the enrollment and attendani*e, and all the various activities of each individual school. The second step is to study the attitude of the people toward the schools in order that a correct understanding may be had of what the schools mean to the people. The latter study was Undertaken. The inquuy was made for the following purposes: (a) To determine whether in the opinion of the school patrons the schools as actually operated were servuig their respective communities in a satisfactory manner. (b) To determme what the patrons consider to be the principal weaknesses of the local schools, and of the general school system of the county. (c) To obtain suggestions from the patrons for school improvement. (d) To secure statements expressing their attitude toward the adoption of a policy of consolidation of schools with the transporta- tion of pupils at public expense. (e) To secure information relative to the general temper and atti- tude of the people of the county toward education. The study was made in. the following manner: In the course of the general survey of the county, mvestigators discussed various phases of the school question both privately, with representative men and women, and publicly at meetmgs of farmers' clubs and similar organizations. In addition to this, a questionnaire was prepared and sufficient copies were sent by the county superintendent of schools to aU the public-school teachers in the county, so that they might obtain from the heads of families in their districts written answers to the six more or less pertinent questions on the blanks. These ques- tions were as follows: 1. What, in your opinion, are the principal weaknesses of the country school? 2. Do the schdols need a different course of study? 3. How may they serve the community other than as an ordinary day school for children? 4. Do you think consolidation of schools and the transportation of pupils in school wagons feasible? 5. Are the schools as they are now operated satisfactorily progressive? 6. What would you suggest to improve them? 51 52 EDUCATIONAL SUKVEY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. The total number of public-school patrons in the county was roughly estimated as about 2,800, of which number 2,000 were patrons of white schools and 800 of the colored schools. Both groups were included m the investigation. About 2,000 blanks were distributed and about 700 were returned filled. The investigators labored under no delusion as to the efficacy of the questionnaire method to finally exhaust any subject. They appreciated thoroughly the danger of trustmg too implicitly in the accuracy and value of answers to set questions asked in this fashion. Also they realized that the number of blanks returned was hardly a sufFicient proportion of the whole number to form a safe basis for any very definite final conclusions. The answers, however, seemed quite representative. They came from all classes and conditions o{ people, and represented all degrees of education and general enlightenment. Moreover, though differmg widely from each other in many particulars and mcluding many shades and varieties of opmion, there are yet certain general lines of cleavage running through them all. As a result, then, of the two lines of inquiry followed, certain con- clusions seem safely established. First, in relation to the white schools, it is apparent that on the whole the county has pride in its present school system and is satisfied that its present admmistration is making substantia,l progress along the right lines. Fifteen per cent of the patrons answering offered no criticisms at all, favorable or otherwise. Sixty-five per cent stated that they considered the schools satisfactorily progressive and gave reasons for their belief. Many others indorsed the school admmistration, but included adverse criticisms and suggestions for improvement. The chief criticisms advanced were aimed, not so much at the method of conducthig particular schools or at any particular points in the methods of supervision and general admmistration practices in the county, as at the wliole principle involved in such a scliool system. Implicitly and explicitly the one-room one-teacher school was attacked. Certam weaknesses of the schools which exist principally in such schools were clearly indicated. Certain remedies involving fundamentally a departure from such schools were advocated. Yet it was evidently not often clear in the mmds of the writers where the remedy for the defects which they pointed out must inevitably lead, or what sort of a reconstruction the reforms wliich they suggested would make necessary. Approximately 75 per cent of the answers received are covered in effect by the f ollowmg criticisms : (1) There are too few teachers for the amount of work to be cov- ered. Each teacher is compelled to teach too many grades. (2) The common branches are not taught with sufficient thorough- ness, and yet the special branches of particular value to country pupils can not be undertaken at all. PATRONS OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 53 (3) There is no room iii the curriculum for speciaUzation, nor would the teachers be able to prepare themselves for it if there were. (4) The salaries are too low, and in consequence there are too many relatively inefficient, poorly trained teachers. (5) There is no proper mducement for highly trained men and women, desirous of making teaching a life work rather than a tem- porary means of gaining a livelihood, to devote themselves to the work of education in the country. (6) The buildings and equipment are not always up to the stand- ard, and the rooms are frequently overcrowded. (7) The work is not carried far enough in those schools upon which a majority of the pupils are dependent. In many sections pupils desiring work beyond the seven or eight grades offered in the one- room schools must travel away from home to obtain it. The children of poorer families are not able to go away from home to school, con- sequently theiir education is brought to a premature close. The attendance of pupils, particularly of the younger pupils, is very irregular whenever weather and roads are bad, and consequently satisfactory results are hard to obtain. These are all conditions which would be in large measure ehminated by closing the small schools and providing educational opportunities in a single school centrally located. The demand for more highly specialized courses of study was particularly insistent. There was a widespread feeling expressed that the country schools do not prepare adequately for country life. Suggestions which found many supporters had to do with the intro- duction of classes in agriculture and nature study, in domestic science and manual traming, and in the principles of business procedure. Such courses are already given successfully in a number of the schools of the county. Other districts wish the same advantages. As one instance of this feeling, a recent meeting of the Goshen Farmers' Club may be cited. For five hours the following proposition was discussed: A large sum of money is now raised by taxation in Mont- gomery County for the support of the Maryland Agricultural College ; is Montgomery County getting the largest possible return for the money spent, or might not a larger return be received if the money were used in the county for teaching the principles of agriculture in the public schools? The 30 representative farmers present finally put themselves on record as in favor of the following propositions: That the principles of scientific agriculture by all means ought to be taught to country children; that the proper medium for this is the public school; that, therefore, such courses ought to be established in every school; and, finally, that the money now raised for the support of the agricultural college would produce better results if used to teach agriculture in the public schools. At a meeting of the Mont- gomery Farmers' Club of Sandy Spring a similar proposition received 54 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. the general support of those present. This indicates the attitude of the progressive and thinking farmers throughout the county. They are ready to have the ordinary branches of study supplemented by these special branches, but do not recognize the difficulties in securing instruction in these subjects as long as the school system contains so many isolated one-teacher schools. All the defects m the schools which are mentioned by the patrons are inherent in a system of separate one-room schools. The condition is one which the school admmistration is helpless to remedy, unless public sentiment will support a sweeping policy of reconstruction and reform. The school administration is dependent upon the sentiment of the people, not only to furnish adequate funds but also for moral support. Both of these must be forthcoming in larger quantities before any fundamental reconstruction can take place. There are two ways to remedy the conditions. One way would be to decrease the present number of schools, making each school at least a two-room, graded school, equipped with modern appliances; to increase the salaries paid teachers, thus attracting to these schools trained, efficient men and women; and m addition to provide special- ists to teach the various branches of agriculture, domestic science, manual training, business, music, and drawing m each and every school. The other way is to abolish as rapidly as possible the crossroads one-room school, with its one poorly paid teacher strugglmg to teach 30 or more pupils in seven or eight dilTerent grades, and to establish at convenient centers consolidated or centralized schools. Grades of high-school rank could be added to every such school, and teachers with special traming for agriculture and domestic science be provided to teach those subjects now almost necessarily omitted from the curriculum. Public transportation could be provided for the pupils, thus doing away with irregular attendance on account of bad weather and poor roads. However, the people in those districts which suffer most under the present system are not yet ready to indorse the establishment of consolidated schools. The opinions among all the school patrons as expressed in the returns to the questionnaire were two to one against consolidation with public transportation of pupils. It is not the purpose here to attempt to include a discussion of consolidation. A brief statement only will be given to point out that in a consolidated school it is quite possible to remedy the defects and meet the demands mentioned by the school patrons ; to broaden the curriculum, mcrease the number of grades, and at the same time raise the standard of teaching efficiency. Several thousand consoli- dated schools in the United States testify to the success of the plan. The cost is not prohibitive, for the expense of such a school is but PATRONS OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 55 little, if any, more than the expense of maintaining the schools which it displaces. The Baltimore County Agricultural Pligh School, a con- solidated school with a high-school department, provides training of the mind and couples with it an extensive and varied service to the conmaunity as a whole at a total cost per year of only ^34 per pupil. The schools in Montgomery County cost $40.55 per pupil. In the strictly rural schools the cost is at least $30. The question of consolidation is a point on which there needs to be much public education. The term "education" is used advisedly. At the present time, judging from the results of the inquiry, the term "consolidation" is entirely misunderstood by a great many who oppose it in Montgomery County. Many fear that public transporta- tion of school children would never be satisfactory because attended by such grave moral dangers to the children or because they would be subjected to exposure while waiting for the wagon. These diffi- culties have not been found insurmountable where children are transported. As evidence that many did not understand what was involved in the query regarding their opinion of consolidation included in the inquiry a few answers might be quoted. One man replied: "I did not know that the schools had a wagon in them to transfer the pupils to the different rooms." Another wrote: "No; the chil- dren are away from home too long as it is." A third declared that he "did not think it right for the school children to hang on the wagons passing along the road." Aside from these, other interesting criticisms were made touching points more easily dealt with. For example, many asserted the chief weakness of the schools to be in the lack of intelligent cooperation on« the part of parents and trustees. They asserted that a teacher could not be expected to conduct a school to the entire satisfaction of a community unless she had such cooperation from the patrons and the board of trustees. Others pointed out defects in ventilation, or lighting, or sanitary conveniences, or expressed regret at the lack of proper playgrounds, recreational facilities, and attractive surround- ings. These things they considered an important part of the school's equipment. Still others very properly advocated the elimination of politics from the school system. One wrote in language that deserves to become classic: "I respectfully suggest that the school secures a divorce from politics and sees to it that politics gets a life sentence at hard labor." Others suggested a compulsory school-attendance law.* A more uniform and careful grading of the schools to facilitate passage from one school to another in case of removal ; some system of moral train- ing; facilities for giving proper attention to deficient and backward children are all points deserving careful consideration. 1 Such a law has since been passed by the State legislature and becomes effective in Montgomery County in the fall of 1913. 56 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. The question as to whether the school could serve the community other than as an ordinary day school for children was asked in view of the possibility of making the school something of a neighborhood center, ministering to the community as a whole as well as dispensing elementary knowledge to its youth. Many of the answers anticipated this conception of the school's possible function. "Make it a social and civic center" was frequently suggested. "Make it a place where the school patrons may meet both formally and informally to discuss questions of mutual interest and import." Few of the schools are at present doing anything of this sort for their patrons, but this is a field possible of extensive development, which should add materially to the school's value to a community. By the fifth question, "Are the schools as they are now operated satisfactorily progressive?" it was desired to learn if the people felt that the school administration has been making sufficiently substan- tial progress in adapting the schools to changing conditions and in keeping up with modern ideas of school administration, equipment, and teaching methods. Of course it was discovered that there are some who have no conception of progress, either of its nature or of its reason for being; who feel, as one expressed it, "that we have the same old arithmetic, a geography describing the same territories, and the same methods of spelling; why should the school be progressive ? " Why, indeed! "The school is good enough as it is, so let it be." For the most part, however, the attitude of the patrons was that prog- ress is necessary and that the schools have been making it to a satis- factory degress, and that, taking everything into account, they are doing all that can reasonably be expected of them. Taking the county over, it is undoubtedly true that the patrons are not sufficiently impressed with their responsibility toward the school. It has already been remarked that the school provides the community, in its present state of organization, with its one great opportunity to act as a unit. In their religious life they are split up into denominations and factions; in their struggle for economic ad- vancement they are working as individuals and not as a group. But the school is the property of the whole community and furnishes practically its only opportunity for concerted action. The people have, however, almost uniformly failed to grasp the full significance of this opportunity and have hampered the school administration, sometimes by their total indifference, sometimes by active criticism and opposition to progressive policies, and always by not giving them suflicient funds to carry out their plans. Several happy exceptions are to be recorded. The Sandy Spring school was recently remodeled and the Woodside school was built with a large amount of local help. These two schools especially are receiving the intelligent and able cooperation of their communities. PATRONS OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 57 The situation as regards the attitude of the colored patrons is more simple. Little needs to be said, but that little may be said with emphasis. The same opinions wore uniformly expressed by intelli- gent and ignorant alike, by preacher and layman, by teacher and patron. These all said in substance: "Give us a longer school term; give us better school buildings and equipment; pay our teachers more nearly adequate salaries; add to the curriculum courses in manual training and domestic science and extend the course of study through the eighth grade." Three ways were suggested by which the schools might enter upon a larger service for the colored population. These were to conduct a night school for those who had been compelled to leave school early, to have classes in domestic science and industrial training out of school hours for any of the patrons who felt the need of instruction along those lines, and, lastly, to make of each school a social and civic center. As to the progressiveness of the schools, the opinion was about evenly divided. In general, it must be said that the patrons of the negro schools display a most commendable interest in their welfare and progress. As we have said before, in several instances they are raising funds and keeping the schools open two months longer than they would be other- wise. In other respects they are for the most part ready to assist the teachers and respond gratefuUy to their influence. Chapter IV. GENERAL SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS. In this discussion of the educational conditions attention has been called to what appear to be defects in the pubhc-school system; in the buildings and equipment, in the management, or in the general poHcy of administration. A model county demands a model school system. The existing school system has been compared with the ideal. The comparison may create an impression that the schools of Montgomery County are not as adequate and efficient as the schools of the State as a whole. This is not true. Montgomery County schools compare very favorably with those of the other counties of Maryland. However, they, with the others, fall short of the ideal of the school system nocossary if the country children are to receive equal educational opportunities with those of the best American cities. Summing up conditions, the chief weaknesses noted are as follows: The preponderance of one-room schools and the absence of con- solidation; defective methods of lighting, heating, ventilation, and of seating pupils; the lack of organizations for punils and of recre- ation facilities; the low proportion of children of school age enrolled or in regular attendance; the slight attention paid to the beautifying of the surroundings of the school buildings; and the absence from the curriculum of studies preparing for country life. Over against these weaknesses we must cite other and very important sources of strength: Direct and capable supervision; uniform grading; a suffi- cient number of buildings in good repair; a teaching force experi- enced, relatively stable, and efficient; a fair beginning of introducing into the curriculum those subjects most closely adapted to rural needs; and a number of high schools which in equipment and in the grade of work done are well above the average for similar communities. In view of the facts brought to light by the study, several recom- mendations are offered: Organization and supervision. — The management of the schools of Montgomery County, as in all Maryland counties, is centralized in the hands of one board of education. Such a system is known as the "county system" of organization and is probably the most efficient and economical of all systems for rural schools in the United States. Only four other States are so organized. Under this 58 GENERAL SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 59 system are provided the best opportunities to promote the educa- tional interests of the entire county. Under no other form of organization has such rapid development taken place in rural school affairs, except under the township organization as found in New England and in a few other States. The township system, however, has proven especially efficient only in thickly settled sections. Any system to be effective must have at the head of its school affairs a board of education composed of capable persons who will perform their duties for the best interests of the schools and the communities, regardless of the demands of political party affiliations. The Mont- gomery County board is unquestionably composed of capable men, and in the management of school affairs it seems to be free from political influence. The school system of the county is weak in the amount of super- vision given the teacher in her work both m managing the school and in teaching. Expert supervision is given by but one person — the county superintendent — and he must divide his time between work as an agent of the county board in the management of the school affairs of the county and as a supervisor of the teachers and their work.^ The county includes approximately 521 square miles of territory, with 106 separate school buildings distributed quite evenly over the entire county. There are 162 teachers. Under such condi- tions little personal supervision is possible. The school year is approximately 180 days in length, the school being in session 5^ hours per day, or a total of 990 hours in the entire year. If the county superintendent could spend this entire 990 hours in the schools while classes were reciting, he could give but 9 hours to each building during the entire year and but 6 hours to each teacher. In actual practice he can not devote more than one-half of his time to visiting schools, and part of this time is consumed in driving from one school to another. Contrast this condition with the amount of supervision in the city of Baltimore. In 1910 there were 58 supervisory officers devotmg half or more than half of their time to supervising the work of the 1,778 teachers employed. And the city was criticized in "The Report of the Commission Appointed to Study the System of Education in the Public Schools of Baltimore" because the super- vision was considered by the experts who made the study inadequate in amount! Baltimore had but one such supervisor for every 32 teachers, while the average for the 18 largest cities in the United States that year was one for every 19 teachers. It is on account of this supervision in city systems that the great progress has been made in city schools and for the lack of it that the country schools have failed to keep pace. In every business enterprise but public 1 The county superintendent has an office assistant but no field assistant. 60 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. education it is recognized that to obtain the best results supervision from bottom to top is essential. With the present number and distribution of schools Montgomery County should employ at least 3 assistant superintendents, who would devote their entire time to supervising the work of the teachers. This would give 1 to every 35 schools, or 1 to every 54 teachers. The amount of supervision would still be inadequate, but would be a vast improvement over the present amount. These assistants should be under the direct authority of the county superintendent. Each should be assigned a definite part of the county, so that they would come to know their schools and their patrons, and could acquire close, definite mformation relative to their district, not only as regards educational affairs, but all interests of the community. It is only when in possession of such knowledge that it is possible for the supervisors to so direct the schools and their work that they would fill more nearly the place which the country schools should occupy in their communities. Other counties in Maryland are seemg the necessit}^ of assisting the county superintendent m his field work. Four are now employ- ing assistant superintendents to visit schools and assist and supervise their work; four employ from one to six special supervisors, such as a "primary supervisor," "rural school supervisor," etc. TTie course of study. — The curriculum of the schools of Montgomery County includes little but the common branches which have been taught in country and city schools for the past decade. A readjust- ment is desirable, so that the studies pursued would be more closely correlated with the life and interests of the community. More time and attention should be given to mstruction in elementary agriculture, domestic science, manual traming, music and drawing, and the com- mon branches should be taught in terms of these subjects. It is realized, of course, that the ordmary country teacher herself can not do much to bring about this readjustment, on account of lack of training and lack of information relative to how the readjustment may be effected. The county superintendent alone, with the mani- fold duties thrust upon him, can do but little. Such readjustment and redu'ection of the work of the schools can be accomplished sat- isfactorily only by a county superintendent assisted by several supervising officers working under his authority and direction, who can direct and aid the teachers in the introduction of work in these newer subjects and in establishmg the proper balance and relation- ship between them and the older subjects. The problem is greater than the mere addition of new studies to the curriculum. Under present conditions the average teacher in the one-teacher country school conducts about 26 recitations per day of approximately 12 minutes in length. There is no time for additional classes. The GENEBAL SUMMAEY AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 61 new subjects must be taught by means of and through other subjects ah-eady in the curriculum in place of useless portions now included. Such being the case, the necessity of expert supervision is made all the greater. Number of schools. — The number of schools contained in the county, from the standpoint of efficiency and economy, is too great. There are 69 elementary schools for white children, or one for every 7| square miles of territory. This means that, if the schools were symmetrically distributed, no part of the county would be more than 2 miles from a school, 90 per cent of the territory would be within 1 h miles, and 42 per cent within 1 mile. If the number of schools for white children should be decreased to 35, there would be one school for every 15 square miles. If the schools should be located at the center of squares 15 square miles in area, or less than 4 miles on a side, one-fifth of the territory would be within 1 mile of the school, four-fifths within 2 miles, and the farthest point would be but 2.8 miles from the buildmg. By a proper arrangement taking into con- sideration the geographical features of the country and the location of the population, the 35 schools could be so placed that approxi- mately 95 per cent of the school children would five within 2 miles of a school and at least 60 per cent within 1 mile. Under such condi- tions transportation at public expense would be necessary only on exceptional days, as the children would be withm walking distance. While it might not be possible to extend the area for each school to 15 square miles, there are many sections where consohdation with transportation of pupils at public expense is entirely practicable and where the school might serve an area of 25 square miles. Decreasing the number of schools would not lessen the number of teachers in the county to any great extent, as the number of pupils to each teacher under present conditions is high. It would, however, increase the size of each school to two or three-teacher schools with enough pupils to permit a classification m such a way that the effi- ciency of the teaching would be doubled or trebled. It would allow also adequate expert supervision at a comparatively small cost and would decrease the cost of mamtenance appreciably. It would mean a much more efficient school service at about the present outlay. On the whole the white schools of Montgomery County may be said to rank high in the excellence of their work in comparison with other county systems. The same may be said about the negro schools, although they are relatively inefficient as compared to the white schools of the county and are poorly housed, equipped, and sup- ported. It is probably true that the county is expending upon the negro schools an amount as great as is paid by the negro population in direct taxes. It is becoming a recognized principle of economy, however, that the responsibility of a city, county, or State to its 62 EDUCATIONAL SUEVEY OF MONTGOMEKY COUNTY, MD. people or to any part of them for the best interests of all the people in the political unit can not be measured in terms of the direct taxes paid. The criticism made relative to the lack of supervision and to the over- abundance of small schools would apply equally as well to the larger number of counties in the majority of States in the Union. From the 2,000 inquiries made during the recent survey of the county a general appreciation of these two needs seems to exist. In concluding this discussion of the educational conditions, the investigators desire to express their appreciation of the kindness of all those whose assistance made the survey possible. In particular they are indebted to the teachers m the public schools, who all cooperated with them in the work, and to Mr. Earle B. Wood, the county superintendent of schools, who not only extended every personal courtesy, but also assisted the progress of the investigation in every way possible. APPENDIX. Table No. 1. — How the total value of farm property is distributed. Land in 1910 $12, 678, 278 Land in 1900 9, 491 , 930 Buildings in 1910 5, 163, 580 Buildings in 1900 3. 525, 170 Implements and machinery in 1910 733, 843 Implements and machinery in ly U 576, 010 Domestic animals, poultry, etc., in 1910 2,282,768 Domestic animals, poultry, etc., in 'P' 1,486,558 Per cent of value of all property (1910) in— Land 60. 8 Buildings 24. 8 Implements and machinery 3.5 Domestic animals, poultry, etc 10.9 Average values (number of all farms, 2,442): AH property per farm $8, 542 Land and buildings per farm 7, 306 Equipment and stock 1, 236 Table No. 2.—Hotv the land is held — Size of farms. Size of farms. Per cent of all farms operated by white farmers. Per cent of all farms operated by colored farmers. 17.67 13.4 18.2 24.46 13.23 11.61 1.33 69.3 20-49 acres 16.0 50-99 acres 6.8 100-1 74 acres 5.4 175-259 acres 1.7 260-499 acres .9 500-999 acres Table No. 3. — How the land is held — Kind of tenure. Per cent of all farms operated by — White. Colored. Owners 68.7 .1 5.8 21.7 3.7 71.3 .0 Part owner 7.4 19.4 1.3 Table No. 4. — The age of farmers. Ages. 24 years and less . 25-34 years 35-44 years 45-54 years 55-64 years 65 years and over I Per cent Per cent of total 01 total number number white colored farmers. farmers. 3.2 0.6 15.8 11.5 24.3 16.1 23.6 26.2 18.8 24.7 13.6 21.5 63 64 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. Table No. 5. — Distribution of public roads. Macadamized and ordinary pikes. Dirt. District. State built. County built. Turn- pikes (toll road). Total stone. Grand total. 3. 800 1.295 0.435 1.830 4.2.35 12.875 56. 550 61.8^5 60.500 65. 795 51 290 59. 250 57 450 76. 300 50. 430 44. 750 37 i80 45.375 60.250 60.55 9.750 74 75 Damascus 60.50 4.875 .735 3.000 .330 2.435 5.205 3.i70 3.000 4.590 2.450 12. 320 4.500 12. 5'0 8.8"5 25. 250 71 00 Gaithersburg 58 58 62 25 4.590 2.450 7.650 4.500 12. 570 8.500 9.830 62 00 78.75 4.670 62.75 Potomac 49.25 49.75 .375 14.125 54.25 Wheaton . 1.295 85.50 Total 99. 040 829 88 Table No. 6. — Census table showing population by districts andtoiunsfor 1890, 1900, 1910. In 1910. In 1900. In 1890. Montgomery County District 1 , Laytonsville, including Laytonsville town Laytonsville town District 2, Clarksburg, including Hyattstown town Hyattstown town District 3, Poolesville, including Pooiesville town Poolesville town District 4, Rockville, including Rockville town and part of Garrett Park town Garrett Park town (part of) Total for Garrett Park town in districts 4 and 7 Rockville town District 5, Colesville District 6, Darnestown District 7, Bethesda, including Glen Echo and Somerset towns and part of Garrett Park town Garrett Park town (part of) Glen Echo town Somerset town District 8, Olney, including Brookeville town Brookeville town District 9, Gaithersburg, including Gaithersburg town Gaithersburg town District 10, Potomac District 1 1 , Barnesville District 12, Damascus, including Damascus town Damascus town District 13, Wheaton, including Kensington town and part of Takoma Park town Kensington town Takoma Park town (part of) Total for Takoma Park town in district 13, Montgomery County, and district 17, Prince Georges County 32,089 1,866 133 1,995 98 2,170 175 3,459 111 185 1,181 2,234 1,589 3,217 74 203 173 2,826 160 2,623 625 1,329 1,865 1,809 170 5,107 689 1,159 1,242 30, 451 1,981 148 2,013 81 2,343 236 3,488 175 175 1,110 2,192 1,675 2,027 3,321 158 2,383 547 1,630 1,685 1,770 148 3,943 477 756 27,186 1,950 1,812 '2,' 416 3,045 1,568 2,280 1,684 1,143 3,216 2,260 1,422 1,876 1,522 2,559 164 164 Table No. 7. — Division of population according to residence. In 1910. In 1900. Population. Per cent. Population. Per cent. Town 2, 340 2,611 27,138 7.3 8.1 84.6 1,866 1,889 26,696 6.1 Village 6.2 Rural 87.7 Total 32,089 30,451 APPENDIX. 65 Table No. 8. — Division of population according to residence, omitting districts 7 and 13. In 1910. In 1900. Population. Per cent. Population. Per cent. 1, 181 1,472 21,112 5.0 6.2 88.8 1,110 1,342 22,029 4.5 5.5 Kuial . 90.0 Total 23,765 24,481 Table No. 9. — Denominational strength. Presbyterian, U. S. A Methodist Episcopal Protestant Episcopal Baptist Methodist Episcopal South Methodist Protestant Presbyterian, U. S Seventh Day Adventists Friends Christian Lutheran Free Methodist Primitive Baptist Christian Scientists Catholic Colored churches Baptist Methodist Episcopal African Methodist Episcopal Churches. Buildings. Minis- ters. Member- ship. 8 6 815 16 6 1,.346 16 11 1,043 8 2 570 17 7 1,769 4 2 372 2 1 113 1 406 2 291 2 1 80 1 1 40 2 1 79 3 2 63 7 9 5 2,707 7 4 209 23 9 1,467 7 5 305 Value of property. $67,500 45,000 106,400 36,309 65,348 10,400 16,300 "'6,'566 9,000 3,000 1,000 3,500 2,660 28,700 5,900 Table No. 10. — The cost of the church and the cost of the school. Protestant white churches and schools: Total amount invested in property Interest on this investment at 6 per cent Total cost of maintenance Total number days in use per j-ear — aggregate days. . Actual cost per day in use, per church or school Cost per day — rent equivalent of interest on property Total cost per day in use, per church or school Colored churches and schools: Total amount invested in property Interest on this investment at 6 per cent Total cost of maintenance Total number days in use per year— aggregate days . . Actual cost per day in use, per church or school Cost per day — rent equivalent of interest on property Total cost per day in use, per church or school Churches. 1364, S21, «37, S2, 757. 00 885.42 245.00 4,216 S15.71 S5. 19 $20.90 260.00 2.35. 60 150.00 1,875 $4.35 $1.19 $5.54 Schools. $155, 050. 00 , 303. OO , 949. 67 14, 288 $7. 4a $0.67 $8.15 , 750. 00 $645. 00 ,393.62 4,200 $2.71 $0. 15 Benevolences excluded. Blanks used in collecting data relative to the schools and the churches. — The school blanks were filled by the school-teachers. The investi- gators, however, visited the majority of schools in the county. Tlie blanks for the opinions of the heads of families were distributed and re-collected by the teachers. The church blanks were filled by the pastors of the various churches, assisted by the investigators. 96359°— 13 5 66 EDUCATIONAL SUEVEY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. School Blank. No. of school ; name ; location (distance from nearest town) . Principal or teacher's name and address 1. MATERIAL EQUIPMENT. a. Building. (1) Material (frame, brick, or stone) (2) Number of rooms ; if 4 rooms or less, answer the following questions: Dimensions, 1 ,2. .,...., 3 ,4 Square feet of window surface, 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 Square feet of blackboard surface, 1 , 2 3 , 4 Height of blackboard from floor, 1 ,2 ,3 ,4 Color of walls, 1 ,2 3 4 What decorations are there? 1 ,2 ' 3 ,4 Desks, single or double, 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 Desks, adjustable, 1 ,2 ,3 ,4 (3) Lighting, from one side , from two or more sides From what side do pupils get light? Right* , left , both (4) Heating, un jacketed stove, jacketed stove, or furnace (5) Are seating facilities ample? (6) Globe, maps, and charts ; musical instrument (7) Cloakroom ; teacher's room (8) Water supply, well, filtered cistern, or unfiltered cistern (9) Toilets, outside or in ; sanitary or insanitary ; decently placed (10) Other outbuildings 6. Grounds; (1) Size (acres) ; fenced ; liilly, rolling, or level ; good walks ; trees (2) Flower beds ; vegetable garden (3) Play apparatus Nation's flag c. Value of buildings and grounds 2. TEACHING FORCE. «. Number, male ; female b. Qualifications (if there is more than one teacher answer here for principal only, and for the others use the reverse side of sheet). (1) Academic training (grade school, high school, normal, college, summer school, correspondence school) ; diploma held (2) Certificate held (3) Number of years experience ; how many different positions held during last five years? ; how long in present position? ; does he or she intend to make teaching a permanent profession? c. Sala3y (for this position). (1) One year ago, monthly ; yearly (2) Now, monthly. .....; yearly d. Number of teachers' institutes attended during the year a. Enumeration, male , female ; total. b. Enrollment , male , female ; total . . APPENDIX. 67 c. Number of pupils in each grade and average attendance: Grade I — Enrollment, male , female ; average attendance II — Enrollment, male , female ; average attendance Ill — Enrollment, male , female ; average attendance IV — Enrollment, male , female ; average attendance V — Enrollment , male , female ; average attendance VI — Enrollment, male , female ; average attendance VII — Enrollment, male , female ; average attendance VIII — Enrollment, male , female ; average attendance d. Number of graduates last year, male , female ; number of these who have gone to higher schools, male , female e. Organizations in the school, names ; membership /. Average distance from home to school ; means of transportation 4. STUDIES. a. Length of the year's session in days b. Number of recitations per teacher per day ; average length of the recitation period c. To what extent are the following studies taught? (1) Nature study (4) Manual training (2) Elementary agriculture (5) Music (3) Domestic science (6) Drawing 5. LIBRARY. a. Number of volumes ; total value b. Amount spent this year c. Is the selection one advocated by the State board of education? ; if not, what is the character of the selection? d. What proportion of the pupils use the books? 6. THE SCHOOL AS A SOCIAL CENTER. a. Number of entertainments given a year ; character of the entertainments ; to what extent attended by the school patrons? b. Other purposes for which the building is used MISCELLANEOUS. a. Is the school affected by parochial or private schools?. b. Remarks Patrons' Blank. 1. What, in your opinion, are the principal weaknesses of the country school? 2. Do the schools need a different course of study? 3. How may they serve the community other than as an ordinaiy day school for children? 4. Do you think consolidation of schools and transportation of pupils in school wagons feasible? 5. Are the schools as they now are satisfactorily progressive? 6. What do you suggest to improve them? , 1912 Sign ,Md. 68 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD. Church Blank. Name of Church Denomination Location County State. Filled out by Address Date. . . 1 . N umber of preaching Sundays a month 2. Membership — 10 years ago 5 years ago (If you can not give approximate fig- ures, state whether membership was greater or less ten and five years ago.) Now Male Female , Total 3. Additions to this church during the last church year — By confession By letter Total 4. Attendance on an average Sunday — Morning Evening • 5. Sunday school — (a) Numberof months a year Sunday school is held (6) Total membership (c) Average attendance (d) Membership in — Cradle roll Primary department Junior department Intermediate department Senior department Total (e) Number of teachers Male Fem ale Total (/) Is there a teachers' training class? (g) Does the Sunday school do any mission or charity work? 6. Organizations — Young people's Number ; membership 6. Organizations — Continued . Women's Number ; membership Men's Number ; membership Others Number ; membership 7. Annual expenses — Salary of pastor 10 years ago 5 years ago Benevolences Sunday school Other expenses Total 8. Church property — Value Encumbrances Equipment — Number of rooms Fumitiu-e, condition Stove or furnace Grounds — Acres Fenced? Trees? Flower-beds? Cemetery in connection? Outbuildings? 9. Is there a parsonage? How many rooms? 10. The pastor — (a) WTiat other source of income has the pastor? (b) How many children has he?. . . (c) Does he carry life insurance? (d) How many volumes in his li- brary? (e) Does he reside in town or coun- try? (/) Within his parish? 11. Pastor's name and address o BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION, (Continued from p. 2 of cover.) 1912— Continued. \*No. 17. The Montessori system of education. Anna Tolman Smith. 5 eta. *No. 18. Teaching language through agriculture. M, A. Leiper. 5 cts. *No. 19, Professional distribution of college graduates. B. B. Burritt. 10 cts, *No. 20. Readjustment of a rural high school. H. A. Brown. 10 cts. No. 21. Urban and rural common-school statistics. H. Updegraff and W. R. Hood, No. 22, Public and private high schools. *No, 23, Special collections in libraries. W. D. Johnston and I. G. Mudge, 10 cts. No. 24. Current educational topics, No. III. No. 25. List of publications of the United States Bureau of Education, 1912. No. 26. Bibliography of child study for the years 1910-11. No. 27. History of public-school education in Arkansas. Stephen B. Weeks. No. 28. CxUtivating school grounds in Wake County, N. C. Zebulon Judd. No. 29. Bibliography of teaching of mathematics. D. E. Smith and C. Goldziher. No. 30. Latin-American universities and special schools. Edgar Ewing Brandon. No. 31. Educational directory, 1912. No. 32. Bibliography of exceptional children and their education. A. MacDonald. No. 33. Statistics of State universities, etc., 1912. 1913. No. 1. Monthly record of current educational publications, January, 1913. No. 2. Training courses for rural teachers. A. C. Monahan and R. H. Wright. No. 3. The teaching of modern languages in the United States. C. H. Handschin. No. 4. Present standards of higher education. George Edwin MacLean. No. 5. Monthly record of current educational publications, February, 1913. No. 6. Agricultural instruction in high schools. C. H. Robinson and F. B. Jenks. No. 7. College entrance requirements. Clarence D. Kingsiey. No. 8, The status of rural education. A. C. Monahan. No. 9, Consular reports on continuation schools in Prussia. No. 10. Monthly record of current educational publications, March, 1913. No. 11. Monthly record of current educational publications, April, 1913. No. 12. The promotion of peace. Fannie Fern Andrews. No. 13. Standards for measuring efficiency of schools. G. D. Strayer. No. 14, Agricultural instruction in secondary schools. No. 15. Monthly record of current educational publications, May, 1913. No. 16. Bibliography of medical inspection and health supervision. No. 17. A trade school for girls. No. 18. Congress on hygiene and demography. Fletcher B. Dresslar. No. 19. German industrial education. Holmes Beckwith. No. 20. niiteracy in the United States. No. 21. Monthly record of current educational publications, June, 1913. No. 22. Bibliography of industrial, vocational, and trade education. No. 23. The Georgia Club. E. C. Branson. No. 24. Education in Germany and the United States. G. Kerscheneteiner. No. 25. Industrial education in Columbus, Ga. R. B. Daniel. No. 26. Good roads arbor day. Susan B. Sipe. No. 27. Prison schools. A. C. Hill. No. 28. Expressions on education by American statesmen and publicists. No. 29. Accredited secondary schools in the United States. K. C. Babcock. No. 30. Education in the South. No. 31. Special features in city school systems. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS III mil 019 876 295 7 HoUinger Corp. pH8.5 30Z