The San Francisco call., 1898-04-03
TENDENCY TO GENERALIZATION Professor Brown Talks on American Educa-
 tional History. Urges the Importance of Sec ondary Schools in the
 System.
Superintenden Perhanl of Berkeley Discusses Department Work in
 Grammar Grades.

Professor Elmer E. Brown of the de- partment of pedagogy, in a lecture at the State University yesterday morning, dis cussed the attitude of American courts toward the establishment of secondary schools and emphasized the necessity and importance of the high school as part of a complete educational system. He spoke in part as follows:
 American courts have shown in their decisions a disposition to favor the estab- lishment of secondary educational in stitutions by local authorities. We often hear it asserted that it is un-American, contrary to the genius of our people and against the political principles of demo- cratic government, to provide by public taxation for schools above the grammar grades. I fail to see any truth in this assertion. In fact, when l read the his tory of American education 1 am proud of the fact that we have provision for a complete educational system, system which offers opportunity to students or all kinds, poor as well as rich, to achieve a complete education.
 "The history of education in Virginia shows a curious state of things. Thomas Jefferson and others aimed to establish a system consisting of a university at the top and a network of primary schools at the botuom-the two groups
 
 schools. The establishment of the Uni versity of Virginia fulfilled the first re- quirement, the establishment Of primary schools in the Hundreds" fulfilled the second. But the State was unwilling and failed to create the connecting link, the secondary school system:
 Tn arguing for the high school we should not take the ground that it bene- fits the few who enter the high schools, but that 1t makes complete system of education. Failure to provide for high schools would have very strong in fluence for the bad on pupils in lower schools whose ambition for an education would be overcome by the lack of oppor- tunity for satisfying that ambition.
 Tn addition to the tendency to embody in the statutes provisions for the estab- lishment of secondary school there is a notable tendency in our educational prog rcss toward standardization. l do not re- gard this centraliZation as making for imperialism against democracy"
 Superintendent F. E. Perham of the Berkeley public schools spoke on De partment Work in the Grades Below
 Tn many cases the attempt to intro duce the department system into the grammar grades has proved a failure. In this State the system is carried on in only one grammar school in San Diego, but it has not proved satisfactory. The system has been experimented on to some extent in San Francisco, and also in
 Superintendent Perham gave at length the history of the various attempts that have been made to supplant grade work in the grammar schools with department work. '"rhe experiment has been tried he said, under disadvantageous circum- stances. The greatest difficulty has been caused by giving too many pupils to one teacher. In one case a teacher had to deai with 400 pupils. Under such circum-, stances it is impossible to obtain good results. Teachers should not have more than l75 pupils to teach, or 200 at the very outside.
 Tt is objected that the system causes loss of discipline and a Joss of time. To prevent the former it is necessary to establish close relation between teacher and pupil, an. this Is not easily attained. By proper arrangement of the claSSrooms the loss of time can be avoided.
 "In Marysv4ue, however, the experiment Is reported to be a success. The great advantage is that opportunity is offered for continuous work by the same teacher with the same pupils for several years. With the increase in the number of uni versity graduates who are teaching gram mar grades there seems to be a tendency toward the department system and to- ward specialization"