The weekly Anglo-African., 1860-05-26
The Late Examin alton of the In
stitute for COlOred Youth.

u kAC 1AaAte O1 INC IN.
stitute for COIOred Youth.
AS your sensible correspondent "Banne-
kerr" of Philadelphia, has already given
the people good account of the eighth an
nual examination of the Institute for Col
ored Youth in that city, furnishing the
programme of exercises, the names of the
graduates, and of those who otherwise dis
tinguished themselves, will not take up
space by repeating the same thing, but
will siml ly say how the examination i'm
pressed me, viewing it from teachers
standpoint.
First, then, I was much gratifed at the
progress shown since it has been under its
present corps of teachers. Five years ago
the school was yet in its infancy, and how
ever well controlled then, change in gov
eminent, as often happens, might have Sc
riously checked its growth and confused
the counsels and plans of its friends. This,
happily, seems not to have been the case.
While the female Preparatory School has
kept steadily and industriously on, intro
ducing such new studies as the require
ments of the higher school demand, the
addition of a male preparatory, under an
able teacher, with the increased instruc-
ton from additional teachers in the main
room, has done much to give the school its
present advanced position.
The examination exercises were judi
ciously arranged and were of high order.
The charge so often made that our youth
lack concentration of mind in study, was
nicely refuted by the classes in geometry,
trigonometry and higher algebra. This to
me was the most interesting part of the
programme, and | watched to see if the
answers given were the result of mere
memorizing, or of actual comprehension.
There appeared much real knowledge of
what was talked about The letters to the
diagrams having been changed from those
marked on the text book and test questions
occasionally put in, as the examination
went on, it is fair to infer that the students
understood what they were doing. More
over, mere memorizing will avail but lit
tie in such high Algebra as Sturm's Theo-
rem. To comprehend this, careful and
thoughtful study must be given to the
General Theory of Equations" The
scholars acquitted themselves well. In
English grammar, too, the instruction
seemed thorough. In the lower class the
conjugation of the verb backwards, and in
the higher the correction of bad English,
were two exercises that showed careful
training The photography and etymolo-
gy of the one class, and the parsing of the
other, were also very good.
We do not intend to particularize all the
Rotations first, because it would be te-
dious to your readers, and next because it
would look very much like strain of
studied mechanical praise. To say that
the Latin, translation and parsing, Physical
Geography, Colonial History, u S. History,
and Arithmetic, were in their sew
eral places very satisfactory, is not to dis
parage other things done. We would like
to say more about the classes of the fe-
male teachers, but we were not in favor
able position to hear them, and SO cannot
speak of our own knowledge, beyond what
we have just said above. Taken as
whole, the examination compared most IA
vorably with any we have seen in our best
New York Grammar school; and, indeed, in
Latin and mathematics the pupils (if they
are as well posted in the intermediate SUBJ
jects, which lead to the grade of scholar
ship exhibited are in advance of our
best classes. 1t is true, the examination
was conducted by the teachers themselves,
oAuSAlnS III tHdl IcopoSt tiou ouI UHu ucIo
at home, where the superintendent, who,
perhaps, have not been in the school once
in the previous year, do all the question
ing. Yet, teacher can generally tell
what amount of labor must be gone through
before such results as we witnessed at the
Institute could be brought about. How
ever, now that the school has some age,
and solid progress to back it, we would
like to see it present itself to be tested by
any two of the best examiners in Philadel-
phia, taking two or three days, as we do,
if necessary, to do up the work in. AS it
was, questions were invited from anybody
present, and some were put, showing that
The teachers had no fears as to the prepa-
ration of their classes. We believe they
would stand the new test, and secure for
themselves greater praise than they have
already received