St. Paul daily globe., 1892-06-29
NO CLAUSE FoK PAkTIALITY
In the System of Conducting An
nual Teachers Examinations.

In the System OF ConuuctinS An.
nual Teachers Examinations.
The claim is often made, and unjuStly,
too, that the examination of applicants
for appointments to positions as teach
erS in the public schools are conducted
under unfair conditions, and that the
rules admit of partiality. Such thing
is an absolute lmpossibllity under the
system that is in vogue in st. Paul.
The annual examinations began at the
| high school yesterday, and will continue
| through today. There are about fifty
| applicants for the examination and tile
work progressed fairly well yesterday.
and it is thought that it will be COM
| pleted today.
70 show that there cannot be possibly
any partiality shown, all that it seems
necessary to say is to give the rules
| that govern the examinations. The
! papers that are written by the candl-
dates in answer to the questions that
are propounded, are not marked with
| the names OF the candidate fillinglt out
Instead it is given number, and after
| it has been filled out it is sealed in an
envelo bearing the same number, and
! then it passes into the hands of the eX-
pert that does the marking. These pa
pers, it should be related. are examined
and marked by the experts in the high
school, absolutely without such experts
| knowing the candidate that had pre-
pared the paper. These experts go
over the subjects that relate to their
particular branches of study i'll the high
| school. For illustration, the teacher of
English history in the high school
passes upon all papers relating to that
subject, and so on to the end OF the list
| of studies.
The examinations are conducted by the
| superintendent of schools, the chairman
| of the committee OIL schools of the board
| of school inspectors, DR.. Bridgman and
Dr.. Keane. The questions that conSti-
tute the test have all been carefully
prepared by the superintendent, but the
| old system OF having them printed has
been abandoned. The object for the
change seems laudable. AS it is now
| there can be no opportunity of any Of
| the applicants learning anything con-
cerning the nature of the questions until
| they have been laid before them when
| they enter the examination room for
the same. The questions are not printed,
| but they are copied OH typewriter and
are then safely locked up IN the office
and kept until needed for the purposes
| of the examination. Consequently. it
HAY D6 SeeH llldI cNSIy pOoSlUiO piOSou-
ton ana safeguard is thrown around tie
system now in vogue. The more lnl-
| portant rule recites that:
! There shall be a committee on teachers eX-
| aminations which shall consist Of the super
Intendent of schools, the chairman of the
! committee on schools and another member
! of the board, to be appointed by the presi-
| dent of the board. who shall appoint and
! conduct all examinations of teachers. All
| such examinations shall be public. and shall
| be duly advertised for at least one week. The
/ questions for such examinations shall be
prepared by or under the direction of the
| superintendent of schools, and shall be sub
mitted TO and passed upon by the committee,
| who shall have power to make such changes
as they may deem wise. Each examinee
shall be assigned number. which, instead
| of his name, shall be placed upon all the ex-
! animation papers written by him. All
| papers shall be examined and marked
! by committee of teachers or pIinci-i
| pals in the public schools, appointed by the
| committee on examinations Any appe al
! from the markings of said papers shall be re-
! ferred to the committee on examinations,
| whose decision shall be final. ALI papers,
after they have been marked, shall be filed
i'll the office Of .,ne superintendent of schools;
J records OF same must be kept in books pre-
] pared for the purpose and each examinee
| shall be notified of the result of his examina-
! ton. In all cases Of applicants taking the
| elementary examination, failure to pass in
any Que subject shall constitute total failure !:
but teachers in the employ of the board de-
string TO pass an examination for higher
grade, may, upon obtaining the consent Of