The evening times., 1900-04-14
LOCAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Mr.. Stewart Submits 70 the Senate
a Report on the Subject.
The System of Teaching Now in
Vogue said to He Totally made
quate 10 Meet the Demands-But
Few Scholars Would he Able TO
Pass the Civil Service Examination

| ate a report addressed TO him by Charles
| Moore, Clerk OF the Senate Committee on
the District Of Columbia. setting forth the
] results Of examinations OF the pupils OF
| the public schools Of the District which
\ were held by that committee in connection
with its school investigation. The report
in part. follows:
Under instructions from the sub-com-
mlttee Of the Committee On the District OF
/ Columbia, and as supplementary to their
investigation Of the public schools Of the
| District, a series Of examinations Of pu-
pills was held
IT had been claimed at the hearings
that the system Of teaching now in use
in the publ schools was the one best
adapted TO train the minds Of children aud
youth. 10 teach them 10 think and 10 ex-
| press themselves clearly. II was held by
The members Of the Board Of School Trus-
tees, and by those who defended the
schools. that spelling was best learned in
| cidentaIIy. and not by the use Of the spell
ing book; that arithmetic was &c be ac-
quired best by a method that eliminates
| the drudgery. and that the oral teaching
I Of grammar Is superior to the use Of the
Z text book.
"On the other hand. complaint was made
/ by many parents and employers that.
I however excellent the ab0ve-meDtfopeJ
! theories may be. the result is that The
/ children and youth in The Washington
l Pubic Schools are not able 90 use cor
/ rectly the English language and are una
Z Die 70 do simple examples in arithmetic
: in short. they are NOT fitted 10 become Of
| fee boys. clerks. etc Il was 10 make q
practical test OF both theory and results
that the examinations were held
'Inssmuch as il was desirable 10 test
( the work done in the first eight grades
that is. The work leading 10 the High
. School-arrangemeu-s were made TO eK-
anime the pupils IN the first year Of the
High school Such an examination should
show the lower schools az their best since.
DO is 20 be supposed that as d rule the
better scholars keep on with their work
peycnd me eighth grade. Moreover. Ger
tain studies have been completed before
pupils enter the High school and the
foundations or knowledge OF English.
American history. spelling. and ari;hre-
tic should have been IsIt.
study OF History
In The Washington schools history is
begun in the third grade with The study OF
the lives OF Washington aud Capt John
Smith; in the fourth and Gfth grades it IS.
continued. and in the sixth grade when
the chLd Is twelve years oldl the hardest
work is done. no fewer than four text
books being used. The Trustees Report for
1899 says that the child was here given
;he narrative from the beginning 10 the
end. so thai he possessed q clear. connect
Cd, seQuenual view OF the whole subject.
IN the seventh grade the history or the
United states from the Revolution Was
studied, and in the eighth English history
is in the course
The same report states thaJ in arith-
meyie the pupils Of the ff,h grade begin
20 study percentage and that emphasis is
laid upon powers and roots square meas
ure. cubic measure. cube root The eighth
grade work included a review Of ari-hms-
ric and algebra. ar far as fractions.
In English pupils OF the fifth. sixth. and
seventh grades studied the sentence in its
entirety The work OF The fourth grade,
OF finding The base CT the sentence was
continued. more and more dificuIt sen
fences being mastered. the idea asserted
was differentiated a. 10 identity. condition
place. time. size. etc--ald action. and
finally The idea was aualyZgd FOR It's eIe-
meuts. Here the child began the study OF
the parts Of speech In addition 90 being re-
quired 20 know the seuteuce-Ss q whole,
its parts bases. mOdifers. asseTters-
. ]
and what is asserted. The study Of the
parts Of speech was continued. As as aid
20 correct speech and writing the analy-
/ sis OF the sentence was continued iu this
and the seventh and eighth grades until be
| fore going TO the High school the child was
/ able TO dispose correctly or almost any
English sentence
Civil government is taken up in the
l very first grade. when the child b. six
/ years old. in ,he third grade Inc children
I visit the Capitol. iu order that they may
/ see the Senate. tie House of Representa- .
tiyes. and the Supreme Court i'm session.
/ At the age Of eleven the child learns Of
/ the government OF the SsNou=. Normsns,
Britons. and American Indians their
manners habits. p9sJimos. and OcoUps-
rions. az twelve be studies the discovery
/ and colonization OF America- 10 thirteen
4 he studies the Government of tine United
! States under the various Presidential Ad-
/ ministrdUons. and sr fourteen. Iu me
! eighth grade. TO quote tEr language o. The
/ report.
| ' The Government of ,he nation was the
centre from which emansted The study oE
! the lesser units the state. the county the
/ town. the city. and finally the District ot
/ Columbia which was studied with refer
/ ence 10 the various departments and their
! practical workings as seen on numerous
/ field trips.
Examinations Prepared.
! Two examination papers were prepared
! under the direction Of the Chief Examiner
| OF the Civil Service Commission. who was
! instructed to make the papers simple,
( easy 70 understand. and OF so wide q range
| that the pupils should have no difficulty.
| in answering them In order that thera
| might BE- no question as 10 the fairness OF
/ the questions. the papers we're submitted
| TO the superintendent OF IL 81 schools. wEu
| suggested simply some minor changes in
| the history paper. These changes we're
| made.
/ BLANK books uniform IN size were pre-
| pared and numbered cousecutivelv. These
| books were distributed TO the high schools.
/ and on the following morning the eNamina-
/ tiOn papers were delivered 10 the princi-
| pals OF the following schools. Central High
] school, 552 pupils. Eastern High school
/ IA pupils; Western High School I0a pu-
/ pills. High School Of The Ninth. Tenth and
4 Eleventh divisions. 225 pupils. Business,
] High School. 329 pupils and Business High
1 School Of the Ninth Tenth. and Eleventh
| divisions I27 pupils
| ~ personal inspection developed he
| fact that the principals Of the schools wera.
| cooperating with ihe Commi zee 10 secure
| fair examinations. The pupils devoted he
! morning 20 the history paper. and Jhe aft
! erDoon to The arithmetic paper, abCui twO
/ hours and a half being allotted 90 each
! subject. The same afternoon the oxamiua-