The Worthington advance., 1882-01-05
MINNESOTA NEWS,
SCHOOLS OF MINNESOTA.

inSs~-1nterss;ing Papers and Discussions.
Some thirty OF forty county suporiutea:1eats
of schools, and others intereated in edu,aGon,
assembled 1T the state capitol OIL Tuesday last,
and w%rt c.lled to order By Ir D. L. Kiahle,
state :,.:'j:IIntendent Of public icstruoiou. A
temporary organization was effected by the
eeo'l9n Of ar v D: ELY, OF 0Ais!go county.
OF Hennepin county as secretary. After the
appointment Of committees and other routine
business, Prof. Kiohle ceirersl his address.
which was iistanod to with e.rnest at aation.
Without including SO, 700 pupils in tbs graded
schools OF cities, he said there were 143 300
children scattered over thia great ate, over
cLildron Of every nationality, the products OF
all kinds and grades OF civilization extart
10 be elevated BY "e1ncatiou Sr o''sH, :ts
begged leave to cali their attention to such in
tcrests as in his Judgment most mer.tei Their
attention, naming first thn matter Of blanks
,:i",rts, statistics snC the like which rs term st
ias bookkeeping department., asking them to
conn:tsor S;,ethor ths trasao system c5y i HOT
-e improved iii Sic tzc1,l3iT u .s.;or ard xc-
suite. The next important duty is the s,icc.
ION ii teachers for the sci, is su5ge .tn rat
viii, sicy sh,ud rather elevate than 10 ger tse
standard OF scholarship they ought to examine
y
cants. He spoke at length u2oa :raiaia5 '.:l..
have an institute every vea:; "a
vore.' Normal schools; called ths at enlInn OF
the county superliten,iynts to tho ncce3ei,y to
ke'r al oversight owe: the school house and
grounds, an:t tie consideration OF plans for
improving their coalition in regard to ventii
atiou ana cleanliness, etc.
Ga Wednesday,, paper on the examination
ara grading OF teachers was read by Supsrin-
tent ent Geoige c. amer Of Steel county The
reading of the paper was followed by an ami
mated discussion
A very interesting and instructive paper
was read by Superintendent D. NJ Lord Of
Wlnona county, on the subject Of How Shall
We Improve Our Teachers?
ll'e only sure test of q candidates ability up
on Which absolute reliance can be paced is
work in the school ROOM
How eau Visitatons be Made Most Profitable?
was read by superintendent john Brady Of
Fillmore county. we should always rap al the
1oor-gve the teacher warm shake of the
hand, and detain her moment in friendly con-
versat.on This will give her confidence to go
on with her work, and may save her much en-
barrassment. Itlsnot advisable for us to make
our visit is to see latber than to be roeI 1t is
a mistake upon the part Of the superintende It
to observe defects in school, and go away
without corr Getting them It is his paid auty to
corr ect errors aud Introduce the Lest methods
of instruction. This as we'll xs all clDer papers
wore discussed at lougth, and tho Programme
was 1nte spersed with fine music, vocal and
inst,un entail
paper was read on the question, How shall
the time of county schools be economical? bv
Superintendent P. German of Stearns coun-
ty, who answered it by saying that the time
could be economical when the best II tits for
which schools are established are attained He
1aG kf ytfy1Sft 70 e fr,<<;
cient teachers who are obstacles in the way Of
all economy and Of all progress in the schools,
and suggested that a full supply Of tho bss
teachers might be secured by taking the scho; IL
out OF politics, out OF the isna, and ,l ciua
them under the ma, agen.ent Of purely business
principles, aud making tie wages of the tesclo1
Commensurate with his work.
The 1cxtpsper on the subject Of higher cd.
ucation in eur common sct;'os was read by
Superintendent E. A. HcnGrickEon of Ramsey
county Make teaching profession, give it 4
place among tie professions, and pay it like
ether professions, aud we VIII then have teach
era and not merely text book drivers, who
hear reciations during school hours and pre-
pare themselves for other work when they
should be preparing their lessons for the NOR
row. Then We should have more teachers
capable Of isachin-: these higher niles, ac1
dtiigi,tiIg il the work Of leading tlleir people
UP to sorlet t!in:, Higher aud uo1ler than their
quite {, lively aiacus:1ou, T'hich was pa:tici-
patelin by Superintendents Roe, BIaly, Smith
and others.
Superintendent Tanner, chsirmsn on the
subject If tue examination and grading of
teachers made & report recommending:
First-That questions be issued senli- snnu-
ally by the stare superintendent in tue several
brsnches required 20 be taught i'll our common
schools.
Second-That legislation be seurod at an
carly Cay TO add 20 the Iiet of stndies now in
clrltled in the second grade, physiology, civil
government and elementary algebra, 80 that the
lines betwee,: tho secord and third grades NAV
he more marked
Third-Tnat no certificate of any grade be
granted to candidates under seventeen years of
age, and that leg islation be secured to this end
as soon as practicable.
Fourtl.-That private examination be dis
couraged.
FiftL-That superintendent has no legal
right to endorse certificate issued by any su-
perintendent Othor than himself.
The report Of the committee was, after some
discussion, adopted. The rest Of the day was
spent in answering questions by Prof. Kehle,
discussions. etc.
paper on the subject, els the County superin-
tendency Worth Preserving?" which was
strongly on the affirmative side Of the question.
The great Improvement in all departments Of
our public schools within the last decade and
their results are principally due to the efforts
Of the county and city superin ntendents.
Prof. Soaring Of the state normal school at
Iankato spoke Of tho relation Of county super
intendents to the normal schools, and request
ed the superintendent in their visits through
out their districts to pick out bright and capa-
BILE boys and girls to send to the normal school
and not send pupils who had no natural capa-
bilities for the positions Of teachers.
Superintendent G. W. Smith Of Hennepin
county addressed tho convention on the pracu-
cabili1y and advantage Of grading country
schools.
President Folwell, of the state university ex-
planned the workings of the new high school
aid law and requested that superintendent let
all who were desiring to prepare themselves to
enter college kucw OF tie advantages offered
by high schools which have taken aid under
the law
Superintendent George F. Cowing Of Otter
Tail county read an interesting and practical
paper upon the subject, How May Oar Blanks
aud Records be Improved? Suggesting various
changes from the form now in use.
The next~paper was on the formation Of
nav districts, and was read by Superintendent
W. H. Sanders of Douglas county, vino pointed
out the defects OF the present, the principal one
Of which was the absence Of any maximum or
mini.num in respect to the size Of the distl lets,
and the lack Of any maximum or minimum in
regard to tho amount OF taXIDle property.
Superintendent A. D. Roe, of Washington
county, was on the programme for paper on
t'How Shall the Office OF County Superintend-
ent Become Most Elficiept?" He spoke of the
difficulty in finding good teachers and cla- med
that the superintendent should have the dis
cyetion Of changing them from a higher to a
lower grade, or from a lower to higher grade
Tho committee on nomination reported the
following, who were elected officers of the con-
venton for the ensuing year.
Presidcnt-O n. Lord Of Winona.
Vice President-G F. Cowing Of Otter Tail.
Secretary-A II. ErgstrOm of Goodhue.
Committee Of Arrangements-C W. Smith OF
Hennepln; W. 81. Sanders Of Douglas, and c.
W. Levins Of Frseborn.
After adopting resolutions on the death of
Hon. David Burt and favoring the continuance
Of The sesoGiatio1 t ion. as
and the committee On arrangement, were also
adopted, and the convention adjourned sine
die.
Mr. McDougall OF WoreI,.ugtou from forty
acres OF land raised 1915 bushels OF oats.
The supreme court is busily engaged in de
Gliding the cases which have been argued ant
submitted, and expects to clt the docket by
the first Of the year.
NJ. v. Austin found near Forgus Falls ih
remains Of young Norwegian woman named
Peterson, who wandered from the home O
Mr. Smith, in Western, last summer.