New-York tribune., 1907-09-07

tcIectual and moral requirements made o;
teachers the provisions for student health ana
countless other things The briefest survey oi
the more important of these factors VIII suffice
to demonstrate the immense strides OF the last
quarter century
COMPULSORY EDUCATION LAWS.
In comparison with countries like France and
Germany. our own land still makes a poor show
ing with its percentage of school attendance.
While Germany has only a negligible number OF
children within school age who not attending
school regularly. and France would now have
almost as few it not for the lamentable
confusion in her school system lately caused by
radical anti-clerical legislation and the conse-
uuent closing of hundreds of schools. the United
States has only 40 per cent of its children Of
school age even in irregular attendance. only
10 per cent OF all young Americans attend school
regularly throughout the entire school year,
which is not a flattering fact. particularly in
view Of the extreme shortness Of III" average
school year-1JO days. Nevertheless. measured
by the conditions Of twcnty-n years ago. there
has been notable progress. In 1920 only % per
cent Of our children ever say tn" inside of the
schoolhouses and barely - per cent were in
regular attendance. Considering. moreover the
sparsely settled regions and tn" immense dis
tances many country children have To go daily
for their A C's our statistical inferiority 10
the settled lands Of Europe is by no means de
rogatory Compulsory education laws have been
adopted by thirty-six states. and in all but
four Of these child labor laws are in force. sup
pementing the former statutes Working tow
ard the same end is the ever growing body ot
truant officers, truant schools and-last and best
the series of childTeu'S courts. Massachusetts
and Oregon proba blv take the lead in legislation.
widening and improving the principle OF COM
pulsory schooling: the Eastern state last year
enacted a law compelling every child under SIX
teen who cannot read and write fluently English
of the fourth grade standard 10 attend school;
the Western state compels all children under
fourteen and over eight to attend school, ana
requires the same OF those between fourteen
and sixteen not engaged IL some lawiui work
In almost the same class comes Vermont. with
her statute passed three years ago, providing
that towns shall provide clothing for destitute
children Of school age in order that they may
attend school, and her rigid child labor laws.
RISING STANDARD OF SCHOLARSHIP.
Here and there a complaint has arisen that
primary school teachers are mot what they
used to be" But. if education tolls at all, this
complaint must be iii founded. for a quarter
century ago there was scarcely a public school
teacher who had received normal Sch0"l
training. whereas to-day probably 20 per cent
have done so In some favored states the per
centaee rises much higher than this, and every
where il is tending upward, as might be IL
ferred from the mere fact that in some thirty
wears the number Of normal schools has grown
from ten to more than one hundred and thirty.
Supplementing this higher training are the teach
ers' meetings, conventions and periodicals. whose
character and value have been steadily improV-
ing from year to year. It is among teachers IN
secondary schools and colleges though, that the
rising standard of scholarship is most plainly
visible What "gToWn-up" cannot recall at least
one academic instructor Of his earlier years
whose training had never carried him beyond
the high school? To-day it would be hard to
find more than Il handful of such self-made pro-
fessors outside of remote and small institutions
ASSUMING THE LEADERSHIP.
In the handling Of students and the work
given them however find the fairest war
rant for the boast that America is rapidly as
suning leadership in matters educatlonal. as She
has already done in the industrial, financial
and might one add?-the political worlds. Two
tendencies stand out with startling clearness-
the effort to develop individuality and to equip
the student for practical life. The greatest pos
sible nexibiiity Of grading and instruction IS
raDidIv being introduced into even the primary
schools and many educators are fighting Tor the
universal adoption of the college system OF pro-
motion bv points and courses. At the same time,
more attention is being given by teachers 10
snecial ATTITUDES of children and the growing
ccr,sc iousness of the value of such personal SUI
peryision is having two important effects: 1t is
increasing the number of teachers and reducing
the size of classes and it is stimulating private
education AS there is very definite limit to
the number of teachers communities can employ
Darents who appreciate the advantages of in