Report on a Questionnaire Submitted to the Principals of the Pittsburgh Public Schools by the Survey Commission. Manchester School. by H. W. McElree, Principal, and Stella S. Ladley, Assistant Principal, of the Manchester School March 31, 1927.
I. Name, Location and Type of School.
Manchester School is located on the North Side in one of the busiest sections of the City of Pittsburgh. It is bounded on all sides by busy thoroughfares. Three of these are main streets in the neighborhood. Juniata Street on the south is a wide thoroughfare leading down to the business center of the community, Columbus Avenue on the north is the car line, and Chateau Street on the east is a part of the Lincoln Highway. The school is flanked on all sides by stores, theaters, churches, homes, and garages, and veritably stands on the sidewalk. It is not relieved even by an elevation of land.
Manchester School is an elementary school of the platoon type, and is the largest elementary school in Pittsburgh, having over fifty rooms.II. History.
In the early days Manchester School was called the Sixth Ward School of Allegheny City and was only what we term as the "old building" in our present plant. It was built in 1871, but was preceded by a very small building put up in 1858. The new building was erected in 1896.
As the Sixth Ward School, the building adequately met the requirements of its type being the "one techer one room" type and was the pride of the neighborhood.
The Industrial Arts Building with a fine swimming pool on the first floor was erected in 1910 to meet the growing demands of the school and the community.
The name of the school was changed to Manchester School about fifteen years ago when Allegheny City became a part of Greater Pittsburgh. The name selected was representative of the Manchester district which is a small community of its own.
In 1920 the school was reorganized on the platoon type, making the fourth platoon school in Pittsburgh. Although the physical properties of the plan offered a challenge to the platoon organization in its lack of a suitable auditorium and adequate gymnasiums, and its narrow congested halls in the old building, the platoon school met the challenge bravely; it rose above the obstacles, and reveled in the wide halls and stairways in the new building, the fine swimming pool, the roomy quarters for the industrial arts, and the sunshiny rooms for the nature study classes.
The old stiff nailed-down furniture is being replace, gradually but surely, by the new movable furniture.III. Scope of Work.
A. Regular Day School.
Manchester School as a regular day school has about seventeen hundred pupils ranging from the kindergarten through the eighth grade. It has in its faculty of fifty-four teachers a representative from the Pittsburgh Training School for Teachers, called the training teacher, and two student teachers under her supervision. It has, also, three special classes for pupils mentally handicapped and is prepared to open a fourth. The principal has a clerk and an assistant in his office force, and the help of a school counselor.B. Evening Use.
Manchester School has a regular department for evening classes open five nights in the week. The work of the night school proper is carried on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights. The instruction offered academically is along two lines. Special help in English is give to the foreign born who wish to learn to read and speak the English language, and special help is given to those who wish to enter high school but were unable to complete the prescribed course in the day school. In addition there are classes in sewing and millinery. The building, however, is open five nights in the week for swimming, athletics, clubs for boys and girls, and various other meetings for adults. Manchester School has Girl Scouts, Y.M.C.A. Clubs, a Parent-Teachers' Association, Mothers' Meetings, etc. The average number belonging in the evening school is 133 and the average number attending is 90, but, as a center for the above named bodies, the average number in the school on any one night might be from 200 to 300.
- [Organization -- Use of Building -- Average Attendance]
- Allegheny Branch - Y.M.C.A. - Basket Ball - 70 boys
- Parent Teacher Association - General Meeting - 100 women
- Mothers of Democracy - General Meeting - 20 women
- Bethel Club - Basket Ball - 35 boys
- R. V. Bingay Club - Basket Ball - 39 boys
- Manchester Boys' Club - Basket Ball - 12 boys
- Superior Choir - Basket Ball - 125 boys
- Vagabond Ore - Orchestra practice - 50 boys
- Decatur Club - Basket Ball - 102 boys
- Manchester Church - Basket Ball - 37 boys
- North Church - Basket Ball - 38 boys
- N. S. Travelers - Basket Ball - 48 boys
- Mothers' Club of Parent Teachers' Association - 26 women
- Manchester Ladies' Class - Swimming - 26 women
- North Side Ladies' Class - Swimming - 26 women
- Allegheny Branch Y.M.C.A. - Swimming - 73 boys
No matter what the evening sessions are, there are certain restrictions governing them. Each body must have a permit issued by the Board of Public Education, must hold meetings between seven-thirty and nine-thirty, must be in charge of a competent leader who is held responsible for the activity and for the conduct of the group, and must permit no interference with the day school work or materials.
C. Use by Outside Agencies.
Manchester School is used as a center for industrial training by two neighboring parochial schools. St. Andrew's seventh and eighth grade pupils come on Wednesday morning and St. Joseph's come on Friday afternoon. The school is used, also, as the headquarters for a teacher who goes out into the community and gathers together small groups of foreign women for instruction in reading and speaking the English language.D. Playgrounds.
Unfortunately Manchester School has no playground, and has no chance of getting one because of the built-up condition of the neighborhood and the impossibility of providing one at a reasonable cost. The children have a long, narrow cemented yard. Its area is about 1200 square yards--less than a square yard per child. At its best it makes standing room only for a part of the seventeen hundred waiting at the doors. When the buildings are emptied by a fire drill, the pupils are crowded on the sidewalk all around the building.E. Other Phases.
Manchester is fortunate, however, in having a dental clinic in the building. Children from neighboring schools, both public and parochial, are brought for attention.
The compulsory attendance department has here a district office with its director and three truant officers.
The school counselor, spoken of before, is a teacher working under the Board of Public Education but financed by private means. The whole Manchester community has been benefited by her services, and it is to be hoped that similar positions will be created in all the schools financed and supervised by the Board of Public Education.
Note: Enclosed please find the complete report of the school counselor as prepared for the Superintendent of the Pittsburgh Public Schools. It will be found at the end of this report.IV. Characteristics of Community.
A. Racial.
Manchester has twenty-two representative nationalities but for convenience some of these, where numbers were inconsequential, were tabulated on the enclosed chart under one group as the English, Irish, Scotch, and Welsh under British. We sent out a questionnaire and succeeded in getting returns from 1658 children. In charting their characteristics we divided the student body into the following divisions:American Foreign Total Percent White 751 651 1402 85% Colored 218 218 13 Jewish 20 18 38 2 989 669 1658 100%About 40% of our pupils are foreign.
Italians 11% Croatians 4% Germans 2.5% Austrians 6 Russians 4 Lithuanians 2 Czecko-Slovaks 4.5 Polish 2.5 British 1 Serbians, Jugo-Slavs, Ukranians, Rumanians, Greek, Syrians and French 2.5%.In summing up we found:
30% of our pupils hear only the foreign tongue in the home.
10% of our pupils hear the foreign tongue and English.
60% of our pupils hear the English (very imperfect).
In Pittsburgh Public Schools, pupils are graded on their report cards with E for excellent, G for good, F for fair, U for unsatisfactory, and P for poor. By taking the average scholarship, conduct, and effort marks for the different grades in all divisions on the chart, we find the following summary:Scholarship Conduct Effort American (White) F+ G G Foreign (White) F+ G G Colored F F F Jewish G G GB. Occupational.
The majority of Manchester children have an industrial background. Nearly 80% of the fathers are industrial workers, skilled or unskilled. The following is the summary.
- 33% Industrial workers--skilled
- 5% Clerical workers
- 7% Business employers
- 2% Industrial employers
- 2% Professional men
- 46% Laborers--unskilled
- 2% Policemen, barbers, civil servants, etc.
- 6% Fathers dead a long time--mothers widows.
The background has had a marked influence on the school. Parents often can neither read nor write notes, and can't conveniently call at the request of the school. They are not specially interested in higher education. In many cases the highest ambition is to get the child through the sixth grade by the time he is fourteen and get him out of school to work. In our contacts with parents and pupils we make it a point to dignify labor but try to magnify the importance of getting an education so that the child may have a greater opportunity in the world then the parents had. About 77% of our eighth grade pupils enter high school but among these a large percent are underprivileged children.
In the last seven years the attitude of the parents has changed considerably toward the last grades in the school and this is due primarily to the Commencement Exercises. Now many children are kept in the grades until they are graduated because of the pride the community takes in the graduation exercises. It is the big semi-annual school and community project to which large numbers clamor for admission. Due to the inadequate size of the auditorium crowds are turned away each time. The program is furnished by the graduating pupils, the music is rendered by the school orchestra, and the dresses are made by the the girls in their home economics class. No one is permitted to receive flowers or gifts over the platform. At this time the school tries to recognize any child who excels in any worthwhile way.
As:
Attendance Athletics Scholarship Punctuality Swimming Leadership, Etc.The conduct of the audience has improved greatly within the last seven years. An officer is requested for fear of an emergency. Now, however, the audience refrains from applauding the invocation.
C. Community Agencies.
There is not place in the community for recreation. Children are on the streets until midnight. Churches do make an effort to interest young people, but none of them have the means nor proper facilities to take care of the non-church-going young people. The "Movies" are filled every night. The sidewalk presents a surging, restless crowd. Many of the parents are blind or apathetic to the dangers lurking everywhere. Some of the parents are members of the Parent-Teachers' Association and are striving for the betterment of the community even though in a feeble way. Our parents are not interested in lectures preferring entertainment of the jazzy type. There is a library in the school, but none in the community. The school library is not open to the public.D. Community Demands.
About eight percent of our pupils attend a church school after day school closes. This has only one bearing on the school. Those who attend must conform to school regulations so that they can be dismissed in time to reach the church school.
Nearly eleven percent of our pupils take music lessons. A great stimulation has gone out from the department in the school and a great reaction has come back upon the music in the school from the homes. Music lessons are given in the school during school hours without cost. Children are permitted to practice before and after school hours on school pianos.
From ten to twenty percent of our mothers go out to work. Some do housework while others work in industrial plants. This has a marked influence on the school. Children are kept at home to mind babies and do housework. Many are taken from the school at the earliest possible age. We have three urgent needs in the community:
- Recreation Centers.
- Day Nursery.
- Public Library.
E. Special Conditions.
Manchester School situated as it is on the car line and on the Lincoln Highway presents a problem for the safety of its pupils. Two street cars pass the building every ten minutes on the car line. It has been estimated that 600 machines pass the school every hour now on the Lincoln Highway. This does not present the true facts, however, because much of the traffic makes a detour due to the closing of a bridge in the vicinity. It would not be overstating the facts to say that nearly 1000 machines per hour, pass the school during the busiest hours in the morning and evening during normal times. We usually have a traffic officer in front of the school on the Highway, but seldom have an officer near the car line. Great demands are made upon the school for instruction along the lines of "Safety." Boys and girls of the upper grades help the smaller children outside.
In spite of the special traffic dangers confronting the school, no child has been killed in front of the school, but six children have met with accidents during the last two years in the neighborhood.F. Stability.
We are affected by frequent change of address by some of our pupils and, also, by the necessity of Catholic children attending the Catholic School for a certain period. There is a certain percent who flit back and forth due to home conditions as well as housing conditions. There is a small percent of the boys who are sometimes taken out and sent to a school of correction by the Juvenile Court and who later are paroled and returned to the school. The stability of the school is, also, affected by industrial conditions of the community. Roughly speaking the turnover in any one semester is about forty percent among the 1005 families represented in the school.G. Historical Sketch.
The racial and social characteristics of the community have changed greatly within the last twenty years. Twenty years ago the community was mostly American. Then it became quite foreign. The school enrollment was about 75% foreign. Another Americanizing change has crept in, showing by the statistics that now 40% of our pupils are foreign.
Formerly, the greater part of the property was occupied by owners. There was only one tenement house in the whole community. Now several families live in one house, and we often hear of eight or nine people living in three rooms.
The people were mostly German, Irish, and Scotch-Irish. Only a very few colored families were in the neighborhood and no foreigners at all. Now we have 13% colored and 40% foreign.
There has been as great a change in the outlay of the land as in any other way. The land along the river was a beautiful residential district with a lovely green lawn setting off each house. Industries came into the neighborhood due to the river and the railroad, and the better class of people vacated their homes.
People who have been prominent in the community and who have had a good influence on the school in their day are James Nelson Smith, for a long time the principal of the school, Adam Hahn, an old German director of the school, Mr. Schook, the janitor, Dr. Guilliford, George McFerron, James E. Morrow, and the Trimble, Demmler, Cochran, and Knox families.H. Characteristics of the School Today.
- Truancy - negligible
- Tardiness - "
- Cleanliness - good in the main
- Attendance - 95%
- Honesty - questionable.
- Banking- 95% of the pupils bank but this is due solely to the vigorous campaign carried on by the school. Naturally, our children are spendthrifts. They are poor, but they can get money to spend for anything.
- Great athletic spirit - always among the winners.
- Destructive - in the home, school, and community.
- Lie and steal - but very generous.
- Hasty - but no bolshevics.
- Courteous.
- Happy - great Manchester spirit.
- Under-nourished - about 5% according to the doctor's records
- Poise - in the classroom and auditorium.
- Mental deviates - enough for four special classes and more.
- 90% of the whole school is promoted at promotion time.
- Those who go to high school have a fair record among the leaders judging by the list of names on the "High School Honor Lists."
- Children come back to school after graduation or after going to work to visit and to ask for advice.
- Initiative - not always along the right lines, however.
- In any standardized tests given by the administration, Manchester School has so far stood among the best.
V. Objectives.
In June, 1926, when the program for the Fall Semester was being organized, reading, in its broad sense, and arithmetic were set up as the major objectives for the whole school along the line of immediate objectives, and ethics as a major objective along the line of remote objectives.
These objectives were set up because of a real need existing in our school. Reading was not getting its time allotment in the academic rooms above the third grade because of the pressure of other subjects, and arithmetic results were not satisfactory. Manchester faculty was greatly concerned by the steady growth of stealing among the pupils as well as the tendency to lie out of things, to destroy anything and everything, and to spend money foolishly.
- A. Reading - A Major Objective. (Immediate)
- 1. Factors entering in
- a. Took reading out of all the academic rooms above the third grade and made it a special subject.
- b. Selected teachers especially equipped to teach reading.
- c. Provided teachers with an outline that had been extensively and intensively worked out in the office, embracing various methods of teaching reading as both the work type and recreational type.
- d. Gave reading tests for comprehension and rate.
- e. Made diagnostic charts and analyzed them with the pupils.
- f. Arranged for demonstration lessons to be given before the whole faculty.
- g. Instructed each teacher to carry over into her own subject matter the methods most applicable.
- h. Emphasized oral reading for pleasure as a part of the program in the auditorium period from grade 1B up.
- 2. Subjects listed as best vehicles to put across the reading program.
- a. Reading.
- b. History.
- c. Civics.
- d. Geography.
- e. English.
- f. Expression.
- g. Literature.
- h. Nature Study.
- i. Arithmetic.
- B. Arithmetic - A Major Objective. (Immediate)
- 1.Factors entering in
- a. Failures in arithmetic on report cards.
- b. Study of the situation showed too much variance in pupils' marks in arithmetic as they passed from one circle to another.
- c. Decided upon remedial measures.
- d. Transfer of one teacher into the arithmetic field because of faith in her ability.
- e. Diagnostic tests given in accuracy and comprehension to determine the needs.
- f. Help from Dr. Davidson's department solicited.
- g. Desire to be made an experimental school to try out the new course of study with the hope of help in our own situation.
- h. Chosen as an experimental school.
- i. Great benefits derived.
- (1) Dr. Harry's expert teaching.
- (2) Suggestions, methods, and devices.
- (3) Supervised teaching.
- (4) Demonstration lessons.
- (5) Conferences with arithmetic teachers of many of the North Side Schools.
- Note: it has been said that word problems are hard for the upper grades because children cannot read.
- j. Experiment in reading arithmetic problems.
- (1) Five problems mimeographed with three or four questions under each problem.
- (2) Questions dealt only with the comprehension of the context
- (3) Results - The pupils of 5B1 made a median of 80%, 5B2 - 70%.
- k. Experiment to be carried into the arithmetic room. The same problems will be used.
- (1) Questions will be given under each problem and deal only with the arithmetical operations involved.
- (2) Results will be tabulated.
- (3) Later the pupils will be given the same problems and requested to solve them.
- (4) Results will be tabulated.
- (5) Comparisons will be made to see if reading is the cause of failure.
- 2. Subjects listed as best vehicles to put across the arithmetic program.
- a. Arithmetic.
- b. Reading.
- c. Geography.
- d. History.
- e. Civics.
- f. Manual Training.
- g. Household Economy.
- h. Elementary Science.
- i. Physical Education.
- j. Community Activities.
- C. Ethics - A Major Objective. (Remote)
- 1. Factors entering in
- a. Set up as a project for the school.
- b. Taken as the topic for a reading circle meeting. Approved by Mr. Foster as outlined.
- c. Called a meeting of the whole faculty and the spirit of the project put across.
- (1) Each teacher permitted and encourage to use her individual plan to put it across in her room.
- (2) A month was the first time limit.
- (3) At the end of a month all reports were compiled in the office. Results to be used for the reading circle meeting.
- d. During the month as children came in contact with the office there was a marked improvement in courtesy.
- e. Results, as evidenced by reports, showed that although the teachers had actually accomplished a great deal the reports handed in were not much more than a thesis on the subject of ethics and religion except in four outstanding concrete cases of which the following two were the best examples.
- (1) In a 7A class, the pupils laid down a working program for themselves, including do and don't. Each day they analyzed their conduct individually and scored themselves on one side or the other often making resolutions to try harder to accomplish the thing that was keeping the score down on the wrong side of the ledger.
- (2) A little party in the class of pupils marked mentally handicapped. The table was set with real linen and pretty dishes. The food consisted of milk, bread and butter and jam, with a dessert of fresh peaches and small cakes. The children were invited to sit. Boys carefully placed the girls first--the most troublesome one taking care of the teacher. A special grace was offered by the teacher asking a blessing on the food and on the little souls assembled, with a few words of grace given in concert by the group. The children began to eat in the most approved fashion. A pleasant conversation was carried on by the teacher and the pupils, during which they recalled the things they had learned about the "proper way to eat" during the previous days. They were careful not to take too much food at one time, not to speak while the mouth was full, not to drink until the lips had been wiped, to use the napkin properly, and all the other things that enter into good manners at the table.
- f. The campaign continued for the semester and, we hope, will continue for all time.
- 2. Subjects listed as best vehicles.
- a. Every subject and every activity connected in any way and every way with the school.
- D. Health.
- E. Happiness.
- F. Desirable Social Attitudes.
- G. Service to Others.
- H. Character Building.
- I. Good Citizenship.
- VI. Organization.
Manchester is a platoon school. It is organized on the plan of forty units running through all the grades from 1B through 8A. It has a faculty of more than fifty teachers and a student body of nearly 1700 children.
There are several outstanding features in the organization but none more significant than the treatment of English in the first three grades. English has been taken out of the home room where it might have been taught incidentally due to the stress on other more definite subjects, and made a special subject receiving forty minutes per day from four to five times per week. The language background of our children offers a problem to the school and in order to combat the situation it was deemed advisable to stress the subject in a special English room. The experiment has been carried on for seven years and we have proved without a doubt that the work is worthwhile.
Reading has been treated in a like manner. Believing that reading is the most important subject in the school since upon it hinges all the other subjects, it has been taken out of the home room from 4B through 8A where it might have been slighted because of time pressure, and stressed in a specially equipped reading room.
In the making of teaching schedules, it is easy to provide preparation periods for the special teachers without impoverishing their subjects, but not such an easy task to do the same for the home room teachers. Therefore, a great effort has been made to provide preparation periods for the home room teachers by sending the classes to a special room where home room subjects are enriched and reinforced.
The platoon school on the while presents the following outstanding advantages:- A. Offers an organization in harmony with the newest and most progressive thought in education.
- B. Enriches the curriculum.
- C. Stimulates greater interest on the part of both teacher and pupils.
- D. Makes possible a happier school life for both teacher and pupils.
- E. Provides for and satisfies more fully the social instincts of children.
- F. Furnishes a natural outlet for the physical energies of children.
- G. Fosters and develops those characteristics which make for character and citizenship.
Above the third grade, the work has been partially departmentalized. A home room teacher has four classes instead of two. For instance, one teacher teaches arithmetic, spelling, and writing to four classes and her companion teacher teaches the social studies to the same four classes. This offers a great economy in the use of text books and equipment. It makes a saving of 75%.
The day in any platoon school, of course, is divided into eight periods of forty minutes each with two pre-teaching periods of twenty minutes each, and about an hour for lunch. Great thought has been given to the time schedule of the home room teacher so that she might have her classes for eighty consecutive minutes. This rule is violated only where it is necessary to send the class out to provide the preparation periods for the home room teachers. This occurs five time out of the forty periods.
In a school of Manchester's size it is possible to give each teacher, home room or special, one preparation period each day in the week.
Manchester has classified her pupils in homogeneous groupings except in two spots in the school. In grades 1B, 1A, and 2B, the children are not classified because it seems better to allow the home room teacher to take her group on into the next grade. For instance, a teacher will take her 1B on as her 1A or her 1A on as her 2B. In the 8A grade, due chiefly to commencement, a social factor enters into and against the homogeneous grouping. A social and a scholastic stigma rests upon the 8A2 group since the honors at commencement never could go to the weaker division. In summing up the benefits, the happiness and the contentment of the pupils weighed more heavily than the benefits derived from a better classification.
Where homogeneous groupings are made from 2A through 8B, class size is regulated. For instance 4B1's enrollment would be 45, and 4B2's enrollment would be 35. Some allowance is made here for individual differences. However, on the average, we have about 35 in the seventh and eighth grades, and about 40 in all others. A point is made to keep the enrollment in 1B below 50 because of the great importance of grade 1B.
In physical education classes, boys and girls are separated from the fourth grade up because a better opportunity is afforded to take care of both the boys and the girls due to the difference in the type of activity.
In the industrial arts classes, the number is kept as near as possible to 20.- VII. Administration.
- A. In Relation to Dr. Davidson and the Central Office Staff.
Manchester School has enjoyed the happiest relations with the superintendent and his whole office staff from the first associate superintendent down to his secretary. Each time advice or help was requested either was granted most graciously. Contact with the Central Office has been so very helpful that Manchester is more than pleased to register its gratitude at this time.
From the angle of supervision, Manchester is greatly indebted at the present time to Dr. Davidson for help received in the subjects of reading and arithmetic through Dr. Graham's department. By choosing Manchester as a center for a demonstration lesson in fifth and third grade reading, a great stimulus went out into the school work. Before the demonstration lesson in fifth grade reading was given, Dr. Graham came over to supervise a lesson prepared by the teacher who was to give the demonstration lesson later on. The criticisms and suggestions made on the lesson were helpful. After going over a number of methods outlined for teaching reading, Dr. Graham selected the one to be used. The demonstration lesson was given before the fifth grade teachers of the North Side and later before the Manchester School faculty. The spirit of the thing pervaded the whole school but the greatest growth, perhaps, was in the teacher who was asked to do the work.
Later, another demonstration lesson in third grade reading was given before the third grade teachers of the North Side. This was followed at the same meeting by an able talk on reading given by Miss Bess Goodykoontz of the University of Pittsburgh. It was a rare treat to listen to one so well versed on the subject of teaching reading.
Manchester is still further indebted to Dr. Davidson for help received in a supervisory way in the teaching of arithmetic in all the grades in the school through Dr. Graham's department. Manchester has not measured up in arithmetic to the principal's expectation and special help was solicited of the Central Office. In being chosen as a center for experimentation in arithmetic under Dr. Harry of the University of Pittsburgh, the very help needed was given. Two splendid demonstrations in grades 1B and 3A arithmetic were given before arithmetic teachers of the North Side. The teachers who gave the demonstration lessons used devices and methods suggested by Dr. Harry and in both cases rendered a great service to the teaching body. Again a great impetus in teaching pervaded the school and the spirit of renewed energy was felt in all its departments.
Manchester is grateful for the help and for the supervision and, also, for the opportunity to be used at this time and at any future time for experimentation. Thoughtful experimentation means growth for the school.- B. In Relation to the Teaching Staff of the School and to the Outside Community.
A school with a faculty of over fifty teachers requires a school program that will run itself in regard to as many details as possible. Therefore, it is necessary to give to the faculty the best possible working program. First general instructions for the routine things in the school are given:- 1. Schedules for pupils and teachers.
- 2. System for ringing bells.
- 3. Making reports of all kinds.
- 4. Interpreting "Courses of Study."
- 5. Making out report cards.
- 6. Standards of conduct and effort.
- 7. Standards of rating and grading pupils.
- 8. Instructions from medical inspector.
- 9. Rules and regulations pertaining to Manchester School in particular.
- 10. Plans for work.
- a. On the quantitative side
- (1) Uniform interpretation of the Course of Study.
- (2) Subdivision of work of the term.
- (3) Teachers' records of plans and progress.
- (4) Daily time schedules.
- b. On the qualitative side
- (1) Securing uniformity of method.
- (2) Securing correlation.
- (3) Maintaining quality of pupils' work.
- (4) Giving model lessons.
The minor affairs of the school are managed through the use of the school bulletin board. Each teacher is held responsible for getting her information and instructions there.
The minor administrative details of the school are disposed of by short meetings for all the teachers held at lunch time for ten minutes.
The more important affairs of the school are taken up in teachers' meeting held for an hour after school on Wednesday evening, the evening set apart by the Superintendent of Schools for such purposes.
These meetings are scheduled and posted a long time before the date of meeting. The whole faculty meets in a body when the subject is a big educational problem, when a special speaker has been secured, when the organization of the school is discussed, when a campaign is to be launched, when it is a regular reading circle meeting, or when matters of importance from the superintendent's office must be put across. At other times, special groups are called together for consultation on topics vital only to a certain grade or a certain subject. All arithmetic teachers might be called together to work out a more uniform method for the school, or all the English teachers called together to plan a more effective way of meeting the demands of the school. The teachers of the fifth grade might be called together to discuss the attitude toward school of certain individuals in the class, and to plan some sort of salvation.
The Manchester School is indebted to the Pittsburgh District Dairy Council more than to any other outside agency. The Dairy Council supplies educational films for each and every grade and for a great variety of subjects. The films which play the most important part in the school program are those on health and hygiene, thrift, plant and animal life, authors of good literature, good stories, prominent people, and beautiful sites.
The school savings department has been a most worthwhile project for the school. The teachers have given unsparingly of their time and energy and have developed in our children a habit of systematic saving.
The Parent-Teachers' Association of Manchester is not as flourishing as it should be. The fault likes somewhere--perhaps on both sides. The parent half is not interested in educational matters at all. It wants to be entertained in a jazzy way and fed good things to eat. The faculty half doesn't want to spend an evening every month that way. Perhaps in the near future there may be a solution to this problem to clear the way for a more helpful Parent-Teachers' Association.
During "Educational Week" for three consecutive years, Manchester had an observation night for parents and anyone in the community interested in the school. The afternoon school session was omitted and the evening session was held from seven until nine-thirty using the regular afternoon schedule. The children came nearly 100% and rose to the occasion.
Teaching went on as usual with hundreds of visitors and parents thronging the rooms and corridors. Parents and teachers had an opportunity to sense situations and conditions of both the home and the school. Although it was a strenuous evening for all, it was voted a valuable experiment.
Manchester School receives great consideration from social agencies whose aim it is to help the needy. The Salvation Army provides shoes for many. In return, the school responds with a good collection when a subscription is made by the Salvation Army.
The Y.M.C.A. is active in so far as it can be with its limited facilities in the Manchester district. In return, the faculty of the school pledged itself for a subscription of $1000 toward the new Y.M.C.A. building on the North Side.- VIII. Improvement of Instruction.
- A. Practice for the Improvement of Instruction.
Manchester School with its faculty of more than fifty teachers, is an organization that demands a very carefully worked out program of direction and management and, above all, supervision. With the management of daily routine matters, monthly reports and records, and unforeseen interruptions, the task was beyond the work of one person, the principal. Six years ago, the Superintendent of Schools appointed an educational assistant whose mission was to be the supervision of the primary grades. Three years later this assistant was made the assistant principal.
It was deemed advisable to give standardized tests to determine the status of the school in order to check upon the achievement of the pupils. Intelligence tests were given first to determine the mental age of pupils. Then standardized reading tests were given to determine the reading quotient. Diagnostic tests were given to determine the needs of the pupils. Results were tabulated and analyzed. Difficulties were studied to discover just where the trouble lay. Where the difficulty arose from a difference in methods between two teachers, a conference was held to determine which was the better method; where the trouble came from weakness in fundamentals, a survey was made of the methods in preceding grades. Weak spots were strengthened, crutches eliminated, suggestions made, and methods revised. Remedial measures were determined upon. Achievement tests were given at intervals and records kept.
The promotions were made upon a classification of pupils into homogeneous groupings based upon a composite judgment. The I. Q., reading quotient, teachers' judgment, scholarship, results of tests, and the judgment of the principal and his assistant were all taken into account.
Each teacher was given a time allotment for all the subjects in the curriculum. Books on the newest methods in education were bought, and certain subjects outlined for a whole semester. Teachers were encouraged to visit other teachers who excelled in their particular work in the school. They were also helped to make arrangements to visit teachers of other schools.
Round table meetings were held with small groups, and teachers were urged to discuss their problems freely. Suggestions were made to the teachers of grades below and accepted from those above with good grace. The teachers were anxious to do their best, and a healthy cooperative spirit obtained.
A pre-view of the semester's work was made, and teachers were asked to show the portion of new work they expected to accomplish within a certain time. Plans were submitted to the office. After room visitations, lessons were analyzed by the principal and his assistant, and later analyzed with the teacher. Good points were stressed first, and criticisms were made constructive and as impersonal as possible. Model lessons were given. Demonstration lessons were requested from some of the teachers. Sometimes these were given before a few, sometimes before the faculty.
Whenever it was feasible, specialists were brought into the school. At one time it was possible, through the kindness of the John C. Winston Company, to have Miss Rena Weider, a specialist in primary education, brought to Manchester to teach a class and then to give a demonstration lesson before the faculty. This was followed by a very helpful talk to the primary teachers on "How to Teach Reading." We have had the help of Miss Grace Swan, director of the primary grades, and her assistants in supervising the first four grades.
In supervision, the idea of correlation has always been kept in the foreground. The aim has been to conserve good habit formation, knowledge, abilities, skills, and attitudes. Children of the upper third, who are not gifted children by any means but who progressed more rapidly than the others, were favored with an enriched curriculum, as far as the office could provide, on the horizontal plane rather than being projected into the grade above. An effort has been made to keep children in their own social setting.
Teachers have been encouraged, to take courses at the University of Pittsburgh or any school of higher education, and are urged to work out any legitimate problem in the classroom. Interest in all courses is manifested and help willingly given. Fifty percent of the faculty takes university work. Be it said to her credit, no matter how reluctantly Manchester gives up her good teachers, every effort is made to help a teacher who has earned her right to enter the high school field. However, a strong plea is made for an adjustment in elementary and high school salaries. The basis should be "equal salary for equal qualifications plus equal merit of work done," and thereby conserve for the elementary school, teachers who are specially adapted to teach younger children.
Manchester, being the first platoon school on the North Side, naturally attracted many visitors. The school's policy has always been to give visitors a hearty welcome. The visitors are asked to tell exactly what they wish to see. Then a schedule is prepared to economize the visitor's time and energy. When the number at one time is not too great to make it impossible, visitations are made with visitors. Reactions are welcomed so that the school may grow as a by-product of the visit.
Special supervisory attention is given to report cards. Failures are marked in red ink to arouse the parents to dangers lurking ahead. Each teacher sends her conduct and effort marks to the office where they are compiled. A list of the marks to be placed on the report cards is sent to each teacher. By our method, parents can tell with how many teachers their children are unsatisfactory, and the office has a very fine opportunity to scrutinize the same. Children come to the office after receiving report cards to find out who marked them unsatisfactory in conduct and effort. It is then the pupils' business to interview the teachers and make an effort to get things straightened out for the next report period. Parents come to school to find out what the trouble is, and are showing a greater interest in conduct and effort than ever was manifested before.B. Arrangement in the Order of Relative Value.
- Supervision, group meetings, and other means used by the central office staff for improving instruction in our school.
- Extension, summer, and other general and professional courses taken in approved institutions outside the school system.
- General reading, travel, and participation of teachers in social, civic and other interests outside the school.
- Unstandardized means of improvement.
- The four points above are arranged in the order given because it seems best to take the teacher as she is and study her problems with her. First help her to emphasize and strengthen her strong points. Then lead her to recognize her weak point. Show her the need of further professional training and greater social and civic interests. Make her a student of education.
The unstandardized means of improvement are the least fruitful. The most of these cases result in crystallized teachers who fail to realize that they have fallen into a rut. They need to discuss problems with their associates, broaden their vision with study of newer things in education, expand their spirits with renewed interest in people and places, and then, in the light of all this, work out their own salvation.- IX. Duties of the Principal.
- A. His first duty is to the Superintendent of Schools. He is his representative, and, by his loyalty and efficiency, should reflect the Superintendent in his school and community, and be ready to defend and uphold him. Therefore, he must
- Be aware of his obligations to society as a whole and to his school and community in particular.
- Have a thorough knowledge of school regulations in Pittsburgh.
- Organize a school program that will function as nearly 100% as possible.
- Direct, manage, and supervise his school with skill.
- B. His next duty is to his pupils. The schools exist primarily for the children. It is the principal's great privilege to take the rough timber of childhood and make of it a habitation of health--health in body, mind, and morals. Happiness is the child's birthright.
- C. His further duty is to his faculty. He must recognize them as his co-workers in carrying out the policy of the Superintendent of Schools and his staff in spirit as well as in the letter of the law. He must
- Impress upon them that the chief duty of the school is to serve the pupils.
- Assure them of his respect for their authority within bounds.
- Give them general and specific instructions.
- Help them with problems of discipline and teaching.
- Plan to help the different kinds of teachers in a specific way.
a. Guide those who are willing.
b. Prod those who are indifferent.
c. Labor with those who are colorless.
- X. Self-Improvement.
As the principal and the assistant principal of Manchester School, we have made every effort to fit ourselves for these positions. We have used every means at our disposal to broaden our minds and to keep them open, to widen our scope of work, to keep an ear to the ground, and to prepare ourselves to meet the problems of the day.
We submit this list in the order of relative importance:- A. Supervisory work done in conjunction with the Superintendent of Schools and his staff.
- B. University courses taken on administration, organization, management, and method.
- C. N. E. A. Conventions. We have made it a point to attend the conventions and have always been inspired by the meetings. As Pittsburgh school people we are proud of the place our superintendent holds in the educational affairs of the country.
- D. Visitations to schools in Pittsburgh and elsewhere. These have always repaid. We tried to catch the spirit of the work.
- E. Reading books on the newer educational ideas and methods.
- F. Social and Civic Work. It has not been an effort but a real pleasure to work with the different organizations connected with our school or the community at large. We name particularly the Parent-Teachers' Association and the Y.M.C.A.
- G. Pupil Reaction. We have tried to gain the confidence of the pupils by the spirit of fair play. Every child knows that he has access to the principal's office and that he has the right to defend himself as is the custom in a democracy.
- XI. Results.
- A. With Reference to Immediate Objectives.
Manchester School believes in systematic testing and has given tests in conjunction with the Department of Curriculum Study and Educational Measurement and Research. Standardized tests have been given in reading and arithmetic at stated intervals to measure achievement. Standardized diagnostic tests have been given in arithmetic. Intelligence tests were given five years ago to every child in the school so that Manchester might have the Mental Age of each child. With a turnover of 40% in a semester, this was too big a task. The Detroit First Grade Test is given to all kindergarten children before they enter the first grade. The results of all standardized tests are kept on individual history cards filed in the office. Office tests are given quite frequently, in some subjects more than in others. Sometimes these are group or grade tests, sometimes general tests on the fundamentals running through a number of grades.
An experiment in 5A spelling with two groups of equal ability was made over a period of five months to determine the value of having the speller in the hands of the pupils. The Pearson-Suzzallo Speller was used. The same teacher, who was unbiased, taught both groups. One group, only, had spellers for the pupils. The pupils were tested systematically and at the end of the semester stood equal in spelling ability.
Another experiment was made in reading in four 1B classes with four different teachers, using four new and approved methods. Materials and tests were supplied, and records were kept. At the end of five months, the classes stood high with no appreciable difference in reading ability.
These, with other experiments, prove that, after all, it is the teacher behind the method.
About 90% of the pupils are promoted at the end of the semester. The method of promotion has been explained. It is based on a composite judgment. Manchester does not wish to depend upon the results of tests alone, since we have found a variance in the results of the same test given to the same children at different times.
- B. With Reference to Remote Objectives.
Manchester School has a school spirit, among its pupils and its teachers, that warms the heart and keeps hope alive in the breast. Sometimes we get a reaction from pupils out in the world that makes us feel that perhaps all our efforts were not in vain. We have evidence, intangible, but none the less real.
- XII. Problems and Programs.
Manchester School has many problems. Two outstanding ones will be considered. One concerns the faculty per se; the other concerns the children in relation to their own community environment.
- A. Faculty's Problems.
- As a faculty from the principal down, we need to read the address given before the Department of Superintendence, Dallas, Texas, March 3, 1927, by James L. Hughes of Toronto, Canada, and face our problem of "the kindling of the child's special power." Since, as Mr. Hughes writes, "no child can ever do for himself or humanity what God meant him to do, unless his special power is developed," it is our duty, as well as our problem to discover the best way to help the child develop his own individuality or selfhood. Children are not all alike in their selfhood and can not be kindled by the same subjects. Every child should be free to develop his own selfhood by his own selfactivity.
We, as principal and assistant, have felt this need in our own circle but could not express it as ably as Mr. Hughes had done.
We have planned to make this problem our major objective for next semester. Our aim will be the complete development of that one power greater than any other power that every child has.
1. Factors entering in
a. Study the history of education.
b. Be alert for signs.
c. Show appreciation for the doing, planning, and achieving of children.
d. Study individual differences.
e. Read on the subject.
f. Work whole-heartedly.
- B. Children's Problem.
- The children of the Manchester district need special help to counteract the effects of their environment upon health and morals. The following prevail in the district;
- Smoking
- Drinking
- Swearing
- Fighting
- Cutting
- Stealing
- Shooting
- Lewdness
- Arrests
- This condition in the neighborhood has been a great worry to the school. Some of the children see and hear it all. Naturally they form habits while young that hang as millstones around their necks.
We have purposed to help our children but have no definite plans made as yet.- XIII. Remarks
- It has been our desire to paint a picture of Manchester School and the community for the Commission. In closing, we would say that with existing conditions, we should have two relief teachers to make it possible for teachers to visit the homes, and help more definitely in the social and moral uplift.
Report of Manchester School Counselor, March 1, 1927
- Number of cases handled since March 1, 1924
- Regular (carried through long period of time and case record kept) 182
- Closed cases reopened 15
- Special (short-time service or referred immediately to another agency; briefer memoranda kept) 72
- Number of open regular cases March 1, 1927 46
- Average number of regular cases open during a month 65
- Average number of new cases referred during a month 6
- Average number of special cases referred during a month 2
- "Special cases," requiring often simple, immediate adjustments, either within the school, or through another agency, do, nevertheless, consume considerable time, necessitating interviews, telephone conversation, often the use of the Social Service Confidential Exchange (referred to elsewhere in the report) and sometimes a visit home; although usually when a home visit is made the case is registered as a regular one and a case record kept.
- Analysis of Regular Cases Open March 1, 1927
- Number of boys 30
- Number of girls 16
- Total 46
- Grade child was in when first referred to counselor
1B 1 5B 3 1A 8 5A 1 2B 4 6B 1 2A 4 6A 5 3B 2 7B 4 3A 3 7A 1 4B 4 8B 2 4A 2 8A 0 ------ ------ 28 17 Out of school 1 Total 46These children have been under the counselor's care for such various lengths of time as from one month to two years; so that now they would show a different grade grouping and no special significance would attach to a present grade classification of the same children.
Of 55 cases active on September 7, 1926, the following distribution was shown at the end of the term, February 7, 1927: 9 were out of school, with working or domestic certificates; 6 had been transferred to other schools in the city; 1 to a township school, with a successful adjustment; 5 were in special classes; of the remaining 34, 31, or 91%, had been promoted. This percentage is the same as that for the entire school for the same period of time, figured on the same basis. Because these have been problem cases, we feel this is worth noting.
The above grade classification indicates the greater emphasis laid by the counselor on having incipient problems referred from the early grades. There is a rather natural increase in cases in the 6th and 8th grades, when problems in scholarship, or the question of "drop outs," or of educational and vocational guidance come up; although behavior problems are also referred, of course, from those grades. Further on in this report the classification by grades of closed cases shows this more definitely, since many 8th grade children were referred who are no longer in Manchester School.
It has been the counselor's plan to interview, in the 8A grade, only those students, who, the teachers feel, present problems in connection with their future school plans, the type of school to be chosen, or the question of discontinuing; to arrange for visits to the specialized secondary schools where students desire to do so; and to advise concerning employment for those who are discontinuing. many of these 8A contacts amount only to interviews and advice; often, however, the counselor scents a real social problem with which she then goes on as a regular case. The counselor feels that, while individual interviews and guidance in the 8A grade are undoubtedly essential, to do this on a more extensive plan would be a time consuming work which would not achieve the desired aims of the "social worker" in a school. She has, therefore, asked upper grade teachers to be constantly on the alert, to try to "feel out" problems before they reach the crucial stage of the few months before completion of the 8A grade.
It is the counselor's "working theory," and one which seems to have validity, that we should try to recognize children's problems as early as they arise. This applies to school difficulties in any line, personality, scholarship, health, adverse home conditions. By gaining a thorough understanding of the child and by removing and lessening the force of those factors which cause his maladjustment, the number of acute problems arising in the upper grades should decrease; and the educational or vocational guidance of the problem child will be greatly simplified by the personal knowledge and the recorded case history kept by the school counselor.
Mary. A child referred to the counselor in March, 1924, from the 6B grade, would have been graduated from the 8A in February, 1927. Such a child was Mary, described by the counselor in her report of March 1, 1925. For so-called "laziness" and indifference, Mary was the despair of many teachers. How many deep rooted factors, physical, mental, social, helped to make up the overt school difficulty, has been indicated in an earlier report. Here it may be said the counselor has known Mary very thoroughly during a period of almost three years, working intensively with her and her family and techers when necessary, or letting her go for long periods of time on her own resources, when that seemed, for Mary's sake, the strengthening thing to do. Although teachers have not ceased to despair, periodically, over her, they have understood her much better, and thereby done much toward her adjustment. She finished the 8A grade creditably; one of her teachers who had been most interested in her progress, saying "Well, Mary certainly has a good mind and could do something very worth while." This meant much to Mary. There was no question of her entering any of the high schools, since her interests did not lie in that direction, and she ought, rather, to be experiencing the sense of achievement in employment.
Bobby. Again, briefly, speculating on younger children now known to the counselor, is it not logical to "take in hand" a little boy in the 2B grade, a charming open-eyed youngster, friendly and well behaved, but timid, hesitant, erratic in accomplishment, and inclined to be unnerved by competition and the exigencies of speedy drill work in Arithmetic and Spelling? Intelligent, cooperative parents and teachers did much in this instance. Physical and mental examinations and treatment, specific recommendations for social treatment at home and in school with a view to overcoming the fear and distrust attitude, and developing independence and self-reliance, and the youngster is now safe on his feet in the 3B grade. One of the helpful factors was the interest of a young teacher in training, getting her practise work in the Manchester School. The counselor would like to make special mention of the many teachers who have been interested, sympathetic, and by their own willingness to individualize, and to give personal time and attention to problems have done much to adjust difficulties satisfactorily. Looking ahead for the child described above, may we not prophesy smoother school progress and, through the knowledge accumulated and accessible in a progressive case record, a helpful understanding of him as he goes along in school?
Continuing with an analysis of the cases open at date, the following classifications may be of interest.
Referred by: Principal 14 Teachers 26 Family 5 Social Agency 1 --- 46 Reasons for referring: (in several instances more than 1 reason was stated) Scholarship 13 Behavior 15 Home Conditions 18 Health 6 Application for Summer Camp 1 Vocational 1 --- 54 Nationalities and Races: American 32 Colored 7 White 25 Italian 3 * * Austrian 2 Polish 2 Ukranian 2 * Croatian 1 Lithuanian 1 * Russian 1 Serbian 1 Welsh 1 --- 46 *Indicates child born in foreign country. Analysis of 136 Closed Cases March 1, 1924, to March 1, 1927 Number of boys 69 Number of girls 67 Total 136 Grades from which children were referred: 1B 12 5B 4 1A 10 5A 5 2B 7 6B 10 2A 10 6A 5 3B 8 7B 9 3A 11 7A 0 4B 7 8B 8 4A 6 8A 14 ------- ------ 71 55 Total 136 Referred by: Principal or Assistant 23 Teacher 91 School Doctor 5 Attendance Officer 1 School Employment Service 1 Self or family 4 Social agency 11 --- 136 Reasons for referring: Educational 28 Behavior 23 Home Conditions 65 Vocational 3 Attendance (under compulsory school age) 9 Health 9 Friendly Interest and Supervision 3 Problems Found During Work on Case: Subnormality 20 Retardation 44 Deficiency 17 Ability 7 Maladjustment 6 Behavior: Behavior in School 33 Behavior out of school 34 Psychopathic symptoms 3 Abnormal sex interest 11 Lying 7 Stealing 6 Home Conditions: Death 27 Improper guardianship 15 Parental carelessness 46 Domestic infelicity 28 Unemployment 25 Illness 31 Disability 12 Desertion 8 Imprisonment 5 Intemperance 10 Immorality 6 Domestic incompetency 2 Non-adjusted immigrant 5 Non-support 2 Bad housing 12 Insufficient income 28 Insufficient supervision 2 Vocational: Need of advice re: Aptitudes 29 Opportunities for further training 29 Occupations 3 Trades 5 Full time employment 18 Part time employment 6 Summer employment 6 Attendance: Truancy 1 Irregular attendance 22 Domestic certificate 3 Health: Underdevelopment 16 Malnutrition 7 Tuberculosis 4 Venereal diseases 2 Orthopedic defect 9 Chorea 2 Epilepsy 1 Insanity 1 Other nervous disorder 6 Eyes 16 Teeth 17 Hearing 5 Throat 22 Glandular disturbance 4 Skin 2 Speech 3 Asthma 1 Heart 2 Service rendered: Advice only 27 Personal service and guidance 82 Transferred to other agency 34 Roster adjustment 4 School changed 11 Industrial training 5 Tutoring 1 Special instruction 9 Physical examination 36 Psychological examination 19 Psychiatric examination 1 Medical care 21 Surgical care 11 Hospital care 9 Dental care 11 Full time employment 3 Part time employment 3 Summer employment 1 Institutional care advised 1 Institutional care secured 1 Court case 4 Cultural opportunities 8 Environment changed 6 Country outing 16 Church connection strengthened 1 Interest in school stimulated 35 Teachers' interest stimulated 22 Stimulated planning by parents 1 Scholarship granted 1 Referred to Educational agency 12 Recreational agency 14 Correctional agency 1 Health agency 12 Protective agency 3 Relief agency 10 Attendance department 6 Junior Employment Service 8 Treatment offered - refused 10It is always difficult, and sometimes hazardous to classify factors in maladjustment and name the treatment, or services rendered. One may very rightly be accused of arbitrariness. The above classifications represent a minimum; the counselor is aware that many more factors, especially of a personality nature, on the part of the particular child or his family, help to make up the overt school difficulty. The "services rendered" represent such services as were conscious steps in treatment on the part of the counselor. When a child or his family has been referred to another agency it is understood that similar services to those above are frequently planned by that agency.
Procedure
Organization: While general methods are much the same throughout the visiting teaching field, different types of schools and communities call for different procedure. A highly organized platoon school like Manchester very naturally requires more work on the part of the counselor within the school than a smaller and more simplified organization. There are many classes to visit and teachers to interview whose material and attitudes directly affect the child in question.
Since problems do not cease with the closing of school for summer vacation, the Manchester School counselor has organized her work on an eleven month basis. The summer month is usually devoted to the necessary case work, plans for summer outings, and office work, records and reports. During the entire working year a stenographer is employed for two days a week, the counselor using parts of those days for dictation.
Daily work is planned with an office hour from 9:00 to 10:30, longer when necessary, when the counselor may be reached by teachers, families, or social agencies. It is an encouraging sing, and indicative of the general friendly relation between school and community, that parents and relatives drop in frequently to talk over problems, either their own, or those of some relative or friend whom they wish to refer for advice. Recently a young mother from another school district came some distance to ask about employment, referred by a parent whose children at Manchester had never been under the counselor's supervision.
First interviews: When referring a problem for study, a 3x5 reference card is used noting the essential facts, a duplicate being placed on file in the principal's office. Before seeing the child, significant information of any kind is secured from teachers, from his permanent record and often his medical card.
A first interview with the child might or might not touch upon the problem in mind. It is always of a friendly informal nature, during which the counselor casually secures enough information about the family names and addresses to register it with the Social Service Exchange, a clearing house maintained by the Pittsburgh Federation of Social Agencies. A telephone report can be obtained in fifteen minutes, stating what agencies, if any, know the the family.
Relations with other agencies: If there are other registrations, e.g. relief, children's protective organizations, Court, information regarding their knowledge of a family is always secured before the counselor visits the parents. Sometimes the school problem is of such a nature that it can be taken up directly by the agency which is already working with the family. Again, especially when the family is known to a relief agency, after mutual consultation the counselor goes on with the problem as it relates to the school, the other agency doing the family work. Approximately 48% of 182 regular cases had been known to other agencies (many, however, having had only slight contact with the families).
Treatment: Sometimes a single visit is sufficient to clear up misunderstanding or offer a remedial suggestion. More often, though, it is a long time contact, seeing parents, teachers and child frequently, planning for physical and mental examinations and treatment. It is often necessary to see a child during school hours. The counselor tries to plan this with as little interruption as possible to the school program, between classes, after school, or in a period when the child might most reasonably be excused.
Frequent conferences with the doctor, nurse or attendance officer have helped to bring about good results. Recently a conference including all of these, the principal, and a case worker from the Associated Charities resulted in mutually clear understanding and practicable suggestions on one chronic problem.
[An Addendum.]
Submitted to the Survey Commission by Stella S. Ladley, Acting Principal of the Manchester School, June 29, 1927
- I. Participation of School Units.
Manchester School has taken "Health" as her main objective and strives to carry out the Health Program by making full use of the advantages which happen to be hers.
She has the advantage of having a doctor's service an hour every morning and two afternoons per week, and the services of one nurse for an hour and a half each morning and another one for an hour and a half per week. A dental clinic is located in the Manchester building and, although Manchester School, like every other school, has her allotted time, yet the dentist is to be found in an emergency.
Manchester has been most fortunate in having splendid cooperation with the dentist, doctor, and nurses and takes this opportunity to express her gratitude.
Being a platoon school, Manchester has specially trained teachers in the Physical Education Department and has a more centralized supervision of classes. The supervisor is able to give his whole time to the four physical education teachers in the faculty.
Manchester School has gone along faithfully against many odds. The boys' gymnasium is in the auditorium and often one activity interferes with the other. The girls' gymnasium is in the basement, where there is no sunlight, little fresh air, and the annoyance of the fans.
When Manchester's opportunity comes for greater facilities, she will be able to carry out a more effective program for physical education.
The swimming pool is a great asset to the school. Although some children do not take advantage of it, the majority of them clamor if a swimming period is denied them because of some change in the day's schedule. The swimming teacher is devoted to the pupils and will at all times inconvenience himself to any extent to cooperate one hundred percent with the school. The pool is used every day and night, almost, during the summer. Since the temperature of the water was lowered from 80 to 70 degrees, we have not been able to keep the younger children, who are learning to swim, in the pool.
Manchester School has made an honest effort, through the help of the Visualization Department and the Pittsburgh District Dairy Council, to put before the student body the finest films on Health and Hygiene. These are used in a number of auditorium periods. When the films were not available by requisition, some of our teachers have gone for them and returned them. This last statement means more to one who has carried films about!
- II. Services of the Central Department to the School Units.
The Central Department has given the school unit definite time requirements and a definite program. The summary of which is as follows:
- A. Health inspection
- B. Relief Exercises
- C. Talks on Hygiene
- D. Physical Education Activities
- Games
- Athletics
- Gymnastics
- Group Dancing--etc.
- E. Definite program of graded lessons for the class room, as well as for the gymnasium
- F. Splendid supervision
- III. Improving the Service
- A. Of the Central Staff
- The Central Department could improve the service by formulating more general rules so there would be more uniformity of practice. A Physical Education teacher should know her rights where a principal is too strict, or her limitations where the principal is too lax.
- Time for practice in the field. In school time or after school hours? With a teacher or without a teacher?
- Games scheduled for 4:00 P.M. If it takes forty-five minutes to get there, how about early dismissal for teacher and pupils? How about taking care of teacher's fourth period class in the afternoon when she goes with the team?
Note: A platoon schedule is flexible, but its flexibility must not be overworked to the extent that teachers of other activities are robbed of their preparation periods. In a winning school, as Manchester has been, the schedule for games is lengthened to play off the district winners. Also the practice for the games becomes a vital factor.- Where a school has no play ground, rules should govern the going to and from a field in the vicinity. Responsibility for accidents on the way should be removed from the school unit.
- Accurate means of measuring the work of the physical education department to determine whether or not we are attaining the ends for which we are striving.
- Provide better gymnasiums with plenty of air and sunlight, dressing rooms with lockers, and at least minimum equipment so the teacher could carry out to better advantage the program given her by the administration.
- B. Of the School Unit
- The school unit could render better service through a finder organization--of time--and material. The program for the semester, outlined as it is, would be vitalized by careful planning to insure more interest, greater variety, definite skills and abilities, and special achievements.
- IV. Remarks:
Manchester hopes the day will come when the State will provide some way to persuade or even force parents to give their permission to have corrective measures taken for defects found in children, especially where cases are diagnosed as very serious for the future well being of the child. Doctors and nurses can do all within their power to no avail if parents, through ignorance, refuse required hospital treatment.
Manchester hopes further that the day will come when a spacious play ground will be available for her nearly 1800 children, whose homes are in alleys or right on the highways.