of the High-School Conference held at the University of Illinois, November 28, 1908. Such outlines or syllabi authorized in a similar manner are given in this manual for almost all the courses listed in it.

2. Definition by syllabus.-An examination of the statements concerning subjects prepared by the standardizing bodies and agencies to which reference has been made will convince the reader that those who have had to do with definition-making have frequently been content with the mere framing of syllabi. It is not to be denied, however, that there are exceptions. The main contention here is that the framers have too frequently seemed to be concerned with little else.

The Committee of Ten specifically directed' the conferences to make a report on the topics or parts of the subject that might reasonably be covered during the "whole course" or during the last four of the eighteen years of the elementary- and secondary-school period, but it requested, in addition, statements concerning places of appearance, time to be devoted to the work, relation of the work to the question of college entrance, methods of teaching, and the "best modes of testing attainments." The reports and recommendations of the conferences have usually given some attention to all the matters in this list, but an examination of the reports as a whole indicates that the problems of content and details of method in dealing with the content, especially the former, have, in general, been given most attention. For instance, 10 of the 16 pages of the report of the conference in Latin2 are devoted to content and method; a still larger proportion of the report of the conference in Greek3 is devoted to these topics; the reports in physics and chemistry are accompanied by extended lists of experiments to be performed;4 courses in natural history are carefully outlined, etc. Some of the reports are not so readily analyzable into extent of answer to the several queries put by the committee, but examination of them will show how prominent the questions

I

1 Report of the Committee of Ten on Secondary-School Studies (American Book Co., 1894), p. 6.

2 Ibid., 1894, pp. 60-75.

3 Ibid., pp. 76-85.

4 Ibid., pp. 124-37.

5 Ibid., pp. 145-58.

of content and details of method were in the minds of the members of the conferences.

The College Entrance Examination Board has made almost exclusive use of the syllabus method, which lists the content and sometimes makes reference to some aspects of method. The definition in English,' which follows the recommendations of the National Conference on Uniform Entrance Requirements in English, besides briefly stating the aims of the work, outlines both the work to be covered in composition and the literary selections to be read and studied. The definitions in history consist merely in the divisions of the field to be covered as suggested by the names of the courses listed. The definitions in French3 and German4 include, besides the statement of "work to be done," a statement of aim. The definitions in mathematics are mere syllabi. The definition in physics offers a preliminary statement as to the mode of class instruction and is then given over to lists of topics and experiments extending through six pages. Other definitions of the College Entrance Examination Board conform in organization to those here referred to.

The North Central Association, although following the syllabus method of definition, has not done so as closely as has the College Entrance Examination Board. The definitions in English," as in the case of the latter institution, are those of the National Conference on Uniform Entrance Requirements in English. The definitions in mathematics include, besides description of content, a statement of aims and some reference to method. The definitions in history9 contain, in addition to the statement as to content, some reference to method, preparation of the teacher, collateral reading, and classroom equipment. The definitions of Latin and Greek" bear exclusively on content. The definition in zoölogy" outlines the

content of the course, gives its aims, and deals somewhat with method and equipment. The definitions here referred to typify those in other subjects and will be seen to have as their one constant constituent a statement of content.

The final results of the work of the Commission of the National Education Association on the Reorganization of Secondary Education have not yet been published, but this commission entertained the hope that the subcommittees would "formulate statements of the valid aims, efficient methods, and kinds of material whereby each subject may best serve the needs of high-school pupils." If this hope is being realized, the descriptions of courses will not be limited to mere lists of topics to be covered in given courses.

The universities in general have followed the syllabus method in their descriptions of subjects of study required for admission. These have been and still are in many university catalogues very brief, but their brevity does not prevent the statement of the content of the courses, although it does seem to forbid the inclusion of other aspects of course description. This is probably due to the fact that originally the universal mode of admission was via the entrance examination and that a definite statement of content would be the best sort of clue to the line of preparation for the examination to be followed by the student. The Harvard University Catalogue for 1881-82 contains the following statement as to what should be included in the student's preparation in Latin, a statement essentially typical for the other prescribed subjects listed, viz., Greek, ancient history, mathematics, physics, English composition, and French or German:

I, 2. Latin. (1) Caesar, Gallic War, Books I-IV (or Books I-III and Sallust's Catiline), with questions on the subject-matter and on construction and grammatical forms. Virgil, Aeneid I-IV (or Eclogues, and Aeneid I–V), with questions on the subject-matter and on prosody; (2) the translation at sight of average passages of Caesar, with general questions on grammar, history, and antiquities suggested by the passages set. Translation into Latin of simple English sentences, to test the candidate's practical knowledge of grammar.2

U.S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1913, No. 41, p. 8.

2 Harvard University Catalogue, 1881-82, p. 64.

1

Examination of the statements contained in a recent Harvard catalogue concerning subjects in which examinations are held discovers that for English' they are identical with those already reported above as used by the College Entrance Examination Board and the North Central Association and as recommended by the National Conference on Uniform Entrance Requirements in English. This is accompanied by a statement of the nature of the entrance examination given in English. Almost all other statements concerning subjects describe the nature of the examination to be given in them, thus expressing definitely or implying in at least a rough way what the content of the courses preparing for the examinations should be. For example, the examination in advanced Greek is reported to consist of "(a) The translation at sight of Homer, with questions designed to test the candidate's understanding of the passages set, and questions on ordinary forms, constructions, and idioms, and on prosody. There will also be questions on Homeric poems and Homeric life. . . . . (b) The translation into Attic prose of a short passage of connected English narrative. . . . ." Then follows a statement of the amount of class and reading work the examination presupposes, as well as a brief description of the methods of teaching recommended. In the statements as to some of the subjects, viz., geography, botany, zoology, drawing, and shopwork, reference is made to "Outlines of Requirements" published by the university, to which courses in secondary schools preparing students for entrance should be equivalent.4

The same method of describing content is also generally characteristic in catalogues of Yale University, as may be seen by an examination of the "Detailed Statement of Subjects" in a recent issue. It was true also when the only subjects listed were Latin, Greek, mathematics, and French or German," and when the 1 Harvard University Catalogue, 1914-15, pp. 480-83.

2 Ibid., pp. 484-501.

3 Ibid., p. 485.

4 Ibid., 1914-15, pp. 499, 500, 501.

5 Bulletin of Yale University, General Catalogue, 1914-15, Eleventh Series, No. 5

(February, 1915), pp. 81-96.

"Catalogue of Yale University, 1886–87, p. 27.

description of that of which the examination in Latin would consist was as follows:

1. Latin Grammar.

2. Caesar Gallic War, books i-iii.

3. Cicero-Orations, against Catiline and for Archias.

4. Vergil-Bucolics, and first six books of the Aeneid, including Prosody. 5. Ovid-Metamorphoses, translation at sight.

6. The translation, at sight, of passages from prose Latin.

7. The translation into Latin of connected passages of English prose.

8. Roman History: Creighton's Primer of Roman History is suggested as a basis for instruction.

The "Description of Subjects Accepted for Admission" by the University of Illinois' is for the most part very brief for each of the subjects, and frequently, as in the case of algebra,2 is a list of main topics, although in some instances this method has not been used. Nevertheless, when these descriptions are reproduced in the university's "High-School Manual," they are accompanied, as has already been pointed out, by extended syllabi. An older catalogue of this institution made use of a very brief variation of the syllabus method of description; it merely made reference to what was considered a standard text in a subject, as, e.g., "Physics.-The elements of physics as given in Gage's Introduction to Physical Science, taught with the use of apparatus for illustration and experiment."s

3. Definition-making without adequate regard for the facts of practice. The definition-making has heretofore had too little regard for the facts of practice; that is to say, relatively few extended investigations into contemporaneous practice have been used as bases of the definitions. Of course it is not to be denied that bodies of specialists drawn from wide areas would be acquainted to a considerable extent with the facts; it is merely contended that a thoroughgoing investigation would throw more light on the status of the teaching of any given subject than would the informa

1 Catalogue of the University of Illinois, 1892–93, pp. 85–91.

2 Ibid., p. 85.

3 University of Illinois Bulletin, Vol. XII, No. 43 (June 28, 1915).

4 Catalogue of the University of Illinois, 1892–93, pp. 150–52.

5 Ibid., p. 152.