A New System of Supervised Study

BY W. L. MASON, MEMBER OF THE FACULTY OF THE SANTA MONICA (CAL.) HIGH SCHOOL.

T

HE need in the schoolroom for some method by which every pupil can have an equal chance to progress, as well as the opportunity of making the most possible of himself and of his school time, is becoming more and more urgent. Interest in this problem is being manifested all over the country, as is shown by various plans which have been tried out in educational centers as widely separated as Newark, N. J., Chicago, Ill., and Oakland, Cal. The cry is going up for some practicable plan by which, on the one hand, the brightest pupils in a given class shall not have to loaf during one-fourth to one-half of the school time, while waiting for the slower ones to recite or have their errors corrected, and the lesson explained over and over again, and by which, on the other hand, the slower students in the same class shall not be "dragged along at a pace that is twice as great as it should be for them." For that is undoubtedly the condition which prevails in ordinary classes that are taught by the simultaneous recitation method.

In the schools of Pueblo, Colo., Oakland and San Diego, Cal., Holyoke, Mass., and St. Louis, Mo., as appears from an exhaustive report which has recently been prepared by a Committee on Supervised Study appointed by the Manual Arts High School, Los Angeles, Cal., the abolition of all class recitation and the substitution of supervised individual study has been tried for some time with satisfactory results. In the University High School and the Lewis Institute, Chicago, Ill., and the schools of Elkhart, Ind., the experiment has been made of dividing classes into "slow", "medium", and "fast" sections, each advancing at its own rate. In one or two other places, the plan of requiring only students who need the recitation to give attention to it, and providing special supplementary assignments for the "fast" pupils, has been

employed to some extent. In Fullerton, Cal., a study hall has been provided, supervised by a teacher who directs the study; in Newark, Ohio, Hillsdale and Jackson Mich., they have a study coach; at the University High School of Chicago, and at Detroit, Mich., delinquents in Algebra and Latin are formed into special review groups for review work together with the advanced work; in Santa Ana, Cal., the University of Missouri, and Joliet, Ill., Algebra, Geometry, foreign languages and Science are given twohour periods; at DeKalb, Ill., one period a week for each subject is given up wholly to study; at Long Beach, Cal., there are certain study hours in each department supervised by department teachers for pupils needing assistance, and at Batavia, N. Y., prescribed supervised study to supplement class instruction has been organized, while in New York City, one-fourth of the lessons of each pupil must be supervised.

Of all these plans for saving to the "fast" pupils the great waste of time which has been going on in schools where each class period has been used merely for class recitation on material studied at home, and where the slowest ones have been getting almost nothing out of the recitations, the one which seems to be meeting with the greatest favor on the part of the teachers, and with the most enthusiasm on the part of the students, is a modification of the Batavia plan. This modification provides a sixty-minute period, forty to forty-five minutes of which are to be spent in recitation, and fifteen to twenty minutes in supervised study. It is being tried at the present time in Newark, N. J., the Wisconsin University High School, Trenton, N. J., Morristown, Pa., Ogden, Utah, Duluth, Minn., Auburn and Syracuse, N. Y., Kansas City, Mo., Detroit, Mich., Seattle, Wash., Clinton, Iowa, Pueblo, Colo., and at Santa Ana, Pasadena, and Santa Monica, Cal.

This plan, by providing a minimum of twenty minutes of supervised study for each subject, works a decided advantage to two classes of pupils,--the two it is most urgently desired to help,viz., the slow worker, and the fast worker. For the former, it permits of extra instruction in the line of teaching him how to study, and for the latter, it provides "profitable, supplementary activity, thus stimulating enthusiasm." By giving the teacher an opportunity to show the pupils how to study, as this system does,

they learn how to approach the work, they come to realize the value of time, they receive assistance from a trained instructor rather than from a busy parent or an untrained friend, and they form habits of study while at the same time developing concentration. Not only this, but this plan "places the work of the school where it should be, under the direction of the teacher, besides giving to every student the advantage of studying in the atmosphere of study, with access to books, equipment, and the teacher's advice."

Wherever the system has been in operation long enough to tabulate results, it is found that from 85% to 90% of the backward students have passed instead of failing; hence, it would seem that it is saving this class of pupils from "despondency and educational suicide." On the other hand, the "fast" workers become better trained, more self-reliant, independent, and enthusiastic. In addition, by decreasing the number of failures and lessening the number of pupils obliged to repeat courses, there is, it is urged, a great saving to the tax payer.

From another point of view, it appears that the plan under consideration, by minimizing home study, requires only eight hours of study each day, six of which may be spent in school, and the other two occupied outside of the classroom without detriment to social life, home life, health, or sleep. Moreover, many students find that they can prepare their lessons wholly in the school study periods, with little or no outside work. The plan also saves much of the teacher's time and strength ordinarily spent in conference work after school, it is claimed. On the other hand, this system of supervised study has certain alleged disadvantages. They are thus set forth in the report already mentioned:

(a) Lack of proper technique on the part of the teacher may involve either "vague exhortations which dissipate attention," or too much assistance, resulting in "crippling the student's initiative, or in irritation resulting from too much talk about concentration."

(b) Teachers may use the whole period for recitation, and so work a hardship on the students.

(c) Teachers may be lazy, or rushed with routine work, and so use the extra twenty minute study period for themselves. These are the strongest arguments which have been urged against the

system, but they present no obstacles which are insuperable. A little watchfulness by the principal, a little care on the part of the teacher, will readily overcome them.

It is believed, by those who have had the opportunity of observing this plan in action, that its advantages far outweigh its disadvantages, since the former include, for the student, better scholarship, improved habits of study, general benefit to poor workers, reduction of failures, increase in capacity and independence for "fast" workers by providing favorable conditions for study, and the elimination of fatigue, and all making for better work and better health. For the school, better scholarship of students, better attendance, fewer cases of "ditching", longer school life for those formerly discouraged, saving of money through fewer failures and fewer repeaters, better spirit between pupil and teacher, better support from home and community. For the teacher, more time with pupils, involving a realization of students' difficulties and the gaining of their friendship; the revelation of impossible assignments, better student preparation, and therefore better work, as well as no conference work "after school."

Though there may be some disadvantages to the student arising from "lack of technique on the part of the teacher," involving the spending of the entire sixty minute period for herself, or the giving of too much help to the pupil, and, to the teacher, in requiring more energy and attention, in her endeavor to get a deeper insight into the pupil's thinking, while learning where progress is and is not being made, nevertheless, it is believed these are far more than offset, for the pupil, by the stimulation to progress without too much assistance, the direction or concentration of attention by arrangement of suitable physical conditions, and the inculcation of routine habits, and, for the teacher, by the lessened number of classes and the lightening of extra duties which are sometimes laid upon her.

Educators all over the country are watching with deep interest the working out of this new plan of supervised study, many believing it offers a satisfactory solution of a problem which has been puzzling school men and women for many years. (The writer of this article would be glad to hear from any one who has had experience with this or any similar plan. ]

Miss Anna Tolman Smith

We are sure that the readers of EDUCATION have for many years found its monthly. "Foreign Notes" of great interest and value. These have invariably been signed "A. T. S.", and have been contributed by Miss Anna Tolman Smith, of the Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C. We greatly regret to chronicle the death of Miss Smith, at her residence, 1335 Twelfth St., Washington, August 28th, 1917. By the courtesy of the officials of the Bureau of Education we are able to furnish the following facts about her interesting and serviceable career in connection with the educational interests of this and other lands.

Miss Smith was born at Boston, Mass., in 1840, the daughter of a prominent contractor and business man. She was educated in the Boston schools, graduating from the Boston High and Normal School, 1859-60. She immediately began teaching, first at Gloucester, Mass. Later she went South, teaching in a private school for girls at Hagerstown, Md., and in a girls' academy at Wilmington, Del.

In 1865 Miss Smith went to Washington and with her sister, Mrs. Abbie M. Condron, established the first girls seminary in this city-Park Seminary-located for 12 years at 5th St. facing Judiciary Square. Many prominent Washington women graduated from this school. The failing health of Mrs. Condron compelled the abandonment of the school, and on invitation of Gen. John Eaton at that time United States Commissioner of Education, for whom Miss Smith had already done special educational work, she was called to the Bureau of Education in 1879.

Miss Smith's work as specialist in foreign educational systems became known all over the world. For many years she contributed the section on Foreign Education to the reports of the United States Commissioner. She represented the United States Government at the Paris Exposition in 1900 and was a member of the Jury of Awards. Her report for the government on the educational exhibits at the exposition has been considered, by educators in this country, one of the best examples of work of this kind