New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-02-10
EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS
VARIOUS SUBJECTS UNDER Drscuss,ov

eH0oND DAYS SESSION OF THE. SUPERIXTRNDgNcp !,
DEPARTMENT. OF THE NATIONAL EDucArIox.rf
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ON THE UNiFicArIoS ~ :
SCHOOL STATISTICS AND WEAK PlAcRs IN I'm,
| SCHOOL SYSTEM. 2
The annual meeting The Department of Suua,.
inteDdence of the Nato Educational Associates
which began Tuesday evening. was continued ves
terday at Association Hall. superintendent A. !
Marble, of Worcester, Mess. occupied the char In
view of the small attendance, the chairman said h
| calling the meeting to order, that the body was
small and deliberative one rather than a
large and popularssO owing to the lonr
distances many superintendent were compelled m
come. There were about seventy five persons Al
the morning session, which opened at $3.50 o'clock
several of then sere ladies. Among those present
were j. D. Phibrick Of Boston J. p. Wickershsm
j. O. Wilson. A. P. Stone. H. S. Jones, superin.
| tendent of Schools Erie, Penn; B. g. Northron
Aaron Gore, NJ. A. Newell State Superintendent Of
| Public Instruction, Maryland; A. F. De Wolf
| State Commissioner of Common Schools, Ohio.
Commissioners Pelew and Katzenberg. of this city.
Ellis A. Apgar. state superintendent OF Public In
structon, New-Jersey n A. Calkins, John Eaton
! and James p. Sade, Superintendent of Public In
structon. Illinois. The exercises consisted Of thu
reading of papers stated subjects, each Of which
| was followed by general discussion. .
The first paper was on 1.-THE Unfcation Of School
| Statistics" by Andrew Mcmillan. superintendent
of Public Schools at Utica n. Y. The speaker
urged the need of getting accurate statistics relat
ing 10 the public schools in the several States and
pointed out the lack of uniformity in the present
system. He recommended plan which he thought
would obviate the existing difficulties. BE-
marks on this paper were made by A.
p. Stone. John Eaton. John ID. Phibrck,
James H. Smart and James p. Wckersham.
On the motion of John Eaton the following COM
mittee was appointed TO review the paper read
by Mr. Mcmillan John D. Philbrick, j. p. Wicker.
sham, c. W. Van COLLEEN. A. Parish, j. 0. Wilson.
James b. Slade, w. W. Waterman. N c. Dougherty
and E. A. Hubbard. The following committee was
also appointed to urge the matter of uniform stats.
tics upon Congress j. H. Smart, A. T. Stone, Aaron
Gore. A. f. De Wolf and NJ. A. Newell.
J. p Wlckersham next opened the discussion on
1.-The Weak Places in Our System OF Public lnstruc-
ton" HIS address was in part as follows:
Many have criticised our school system. Gail Hami.
ton has opposed because as she terms ~ sne thinks
there rs too much orgsnzaG9n sSo sbe ssS ~
member that there is kind Of organization that Duds
may press heay D1t ssere eoc Her
book l. weak and seems to have been written BY soma
who Ga red Then fS get there another
eriticERtcEard Grant White. Who Is hsi
irS and abroad We know something OF him phiol
ogst as srch, he has written some good papers ont
hat p Prltu
1ag no nas Shs in Saying that Mr. Whites
and OF tho publication m which 1t appeared. H..
weak places IL ne the sysls fF o sG
have have enough special knowledge Of -, schools %ls
from ali OF the avocations OF lfe and are usually nte.
gent but they do not possess any special s
and that requires study to build schooinouse
aofh rick audm
principles Aud yet we have buildings golhg up all over
tne Thew might as we'll select tools for
dentist. Then they are lntrusied 10 seecung cones
of sudyOne OF the most important SUBJECTS oil all 70
Ancher weak place is the need of experts in the
and closer SUPERVISION There Is neeu o
mora men who are willing 10 devote themselves 10
school supervision We have ninety-two superin'end'
There il weakness in Ohio IN this respect aud also III
Massachusets Competent supervision ID the right 'rm
the tstus Of the teacher satisfactory
~ nlnt neIure. or to cnise statue But htle
preparation teachers make Tor thelr wors uSw
how re1uenty they change and how low salaries are
The standard ought to be raised The normal schools
| order thai better teachers might 10 secured
b. G. Mort hrop. who also assigned to this sub-
ect said thSt be thought me "a ,e lren
rotation III office through political influences from
| which they should be entirely removed. As TO cont
pnlsorv education il has been marked success IN
| Connecticut. The speaker SAID that he would con-
slder II worth a journey to remote corner OF ne
State to bring single child INTO the schools BiIet
| addresses were also made by A. +. DE Wolf ana A.
| Parrish. . ,,, .
thomas r. Cobb for his efforts TO secure an appIo.
praton from Congress for the public schools ~ the
District OF Columbia. and for his efforts 10 establish
| n high school at Washington. lie resolution was
| Al the afternoon session the discussion was
opened bv a paper on THE Conservation of Peda
gogic Energy read by Charles .. Thompson, OF
| Worcester, Mass. One Of the principal wastes, ns
said, was the insutiicency OF the training IN tns
| primary departments OF the schools. Much OF what
| was studied should be simphed and some omltteu
altogether thus encouraging greater proficiency IN
| what was it, There re by far too many pupliS
in most eases an evil that could be partly corrected
by having half of them attend In the morning aud
| the other half In the afternoon. The scbooroom
| should not be made day nursery. -,..
In the discussion that followed remarks were
| made by Il. =. Jones, who objected to W est Point
| being made model. as the conditions were different
| from those in the public schools. Commissioner
nasf liz speakIng despairnsly of West Point. Mr..
Northrop sprang TO his feet and SAD ne ala not IKE
| to hear West Point spoken OF IN that way, as no
Thought the Government had received a rlch return
| for the expense, Besides he considered IL ROod
model in some respects. although its aim was dlffer-
emf from that OF the high school. ., a
| J. G.. Murphy announced himself as student OF
the art OF tea hug; he said lie was sxty-two, ana
| had been teacher since he was seventeen ne
spoke at some length OF the need Oh 'aAing 'h''
| account the natural bent OF children
| The last paper was read by Is. l.. Hough, OF inc
Department Of Agriculture at ashington' on Ug
| Schools aud Our Forests" The speaker sketche1
the history of the schools of forestry in Europe anu
pointed out the necessity OF elementary trains III
this country Lectures on the subject, he fhougnt,
should be delivered at normal schools and aeade-
| mics and oral lessons taught tue children at tho
| public schools. can.ro,
The meeting will be continued to-day. Uehe III
Grant is expected to he present during part OF the
| afternoon session. .:.ul
! In the evening about $50 members and invited
/ gnasts of the association parto0k of dinner at
DeImonico's. William Dowd presided IN the i az,
scncc of stephen A. Walker, the chairman OF h .ng
rersiyed due attention Mr.. Dowd called upon the