Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1901-12-26
The IOWA TEACHERS
First Session Of the Thirty-sev.
enth Annual Meeting at Des
Moines Today.
Educational Council to Take Up
Two Important Topics for
Discussion.
q C.,:
Sequence of Studies and Exami.
nations...O Outline OF the Con.
vention's Work.
,ecial to Times-Republican.

vention's Work.
Special to Times-Republican.
Des Moines, Dec. 26.-The Iowa
Teachers association is holding it's
37th annual meeting in Des Moines, the
first meeting of which Is a business
session of the educational council to-
day, to be followed by the meeting of
the educational council tomorrow and
in the few days following half dozen
sessions of the association proper and
meetings in almost endless number of
the round tables and the sections"
on special educational topics. These
sub associations include special meet
tings for kindergarten study, child
study music, colleges, secondary
schools, county superintendent. etc.
The week will be well taken up with it's
more than two hundred numbers on
the various big and little programs, the
lectures and addresses, the demonstra-
lions, the numerous reports and rec
concentrations and the innumerable eff
forts that will be made to have the
association father this or that special
interest or bill for legislation. Usually
there are about q thousand persons
who attend these state meetings Of
teachers. They represent all educa-
tional interests. Necessarily their
views conflict at many points, and it is
with some difficulty that they are able
to harmonic all factions and preserve
a composed front for the public. One
way in which the association has long
sought to weed out everything that
comes before the teachers is by and
thru the educational council. This
body is elected from the various Sec
lions each year and members hold for
several years. All ex-state superin-
|tendents and all persons who have COM
pleted twenty years of active member
ship in the state association are honor
airy members. The educational council
must consider topic assigned to 1t by
the association for two consecutive
years before finally passing on 1t and
they consider it longer. In short, the
council is kind Of higher court or
senate for the general association to
SLIT the chaff out of all that is done by
the association.
Two topics will come before the edu-
cational council this year, and both
were before the council last year, so
that something of the nature of the
the members Of the council is already
II ", xl,.,
council this year will be on the topic:
Examinations; School. College, En-
trance and Teachers" The chairman
of the committee is o. n. Marsh, county
superintendent of Mills county. Last
year the chairman was II. H. Freer of
Cornell college. Others OF the leading
educators of the state on this commit
tee are ]. p. Nugget, Coe college;
Supt. A. NJ. Dornan, Osceola; Supt. H.
p. Deater, Page county; Prof. M. F.
Arey, Iowa State Normal school; Supt,
S. III. Sheakley, Des Moines; Supt. A.
v. Storm. Storm Lake; Supt. j. j.
Mcconnell. Cedar Rapids; Harlan Up
degraff, Columbia University New
York city; Prof. jeanette Carpenter,
Iowa State Normal school; Supt. w. N.
Clifford, Council Bluffs. These are rep
resentative able men among Iowa edu-
Gators. The discussion this year must
be confined to teachers examinations.
The other parts of the topic were dis
posed Of last year. In general the re-
port Of the committee made last year.
and this report will be REPEATED with
some slight changes this year, was to
the effect that examinations must not
he considered the only test Of profic-
iency, that they are valuable or harm
full according to the spirit, intelligence
and skill which directs them, and it was
further declared they are not too fire.
Quent nor unreasonable In character.
The committee had originally inserted a
clause to the effect that failures In ex-
animation are as much reflection on
the teacher as on the pupil. This was
stricken out after a spirited discus
sion, the council reaching the conclus-
ion 1T would be misunderstood. In re-
gard to school examinations the coun-
Gil adopted that part OF the report
which declared that they should not be
made the sole basis for promotions.
$50
1t was in regard to teachers exam
nations that the council last year
squarely divided. The report of the
committee declared that teachers ex-
aminations should be conducted by a
county board Of three members, of
which the county superintendent should
be the chairman and the other two
should be appointed by the state super
intendent. Examinations should be held
every three months by this board. The
report originally read that the board of
three should be appointed by the county
superintendent. This was changed be-
fore 1t reached the council The purpose
OF the clause was to commit the state
teachers association and thru 1t the ed
ucational influences of Iowa to radical
change in the method Of conducting
teachers examinations. The discussion
of this subject in the council, and in one
form or another in the association, was
almost sensational in nature. Opposi-
ton to the innovation was led by Super
intendent Deator of Page county. who
spoke for the county superintendent
and defended them. The change was
urged with view to centralizing power
In the state superintendent and to re-
move the matter of teachers examina-
tions from petty local politics. The adj
vocates Of the present method insisted
that the change would be ruinous and
,,,n,,1d not oocnpnrIich o,1, ;,,,,c