The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-03-01
A PLAN FOR STATE
 IDENTIFICATION OF
 ALL SCHOOL TEACHERS
(COnn. Branch of Asso. of Collegiate
 Alumnae.l


 Alumnae)
 Nearly every state in our Union re- quires that teachers in the public schools shall hold some form of cer- tfficate. or license to teach. The most obvious aim of such provision ir to exclude from the responsible work of teaching all who are clearly unfit to undertake it. further and equally necessary aim is to se- cure a gradual Improvement of the teaching force.
 The experience of several states has proved that it is possible to frame graded system Of certification which will operate almost automatically to secure better and better teachers. By the simple device of establishing such grading of certificates that the lower grades while easier to obtain are less desirable to keep, and by making the ! step, from @ lower to the next higher grade not too difficult, teachers are induced to make the effort necessary for improvement and to move up through the grades as the years go by. In every case 8 higher grade certffi- cate should mean more knowledge and more skill. Some states have made the mistake of letting it mean when the condition for passing to a higher grade of certificate is simply the possession of more academic Knowledge. On the other hand. some StdtGS LldF0 lSSuGQ Cle HE u0T STaQ6S of certificates merely on the basis Of longer experience in teaching, ignor- ing the fact that the lapse of time does not always insure improvement. In really good system every ele- ment of teachers success should en- ter into the conditions for winning higher ertif1cates-knowledge of his subjects knowledge of wise methods of teaching, actual success in teach ing and managing children, and what
 is called professional spirit" l. C.,
 the ambition and effort to grow as a teacher.
 Tn Connecticut we have so far been rontent to leave the matter of certi-
 ication in @ somewhat confused cofI-
 1ition, with divided responsibility. The
 State board of education has been empowered to issue several kinds of certificates which must be accepted by the towns in lieu of local examin- atioTi. On the other hand, the towns
 have been accustomed to give exam- nations and grant local certificates to teachers who do not present the rate certificates. Even the names of some certificates have been confus- ing if not nnis leading, since the "ele- mentary'' is. higher than the "statu-
 tory" a fact which the terms quite fail to indicate.
 Latterly the towns, in increasing number, have seemed inclined to turn over their right of examination to the state. Often the local examiner, who may be a man of marked ability in his own line, finds himself not easily able to frame a comprehensive and we'll balanced set of questions to de- termine the academic fitness of a teacher. The examiner may be a specialist in theology or medicine or business If so, he realizes all the more that he is not a specialist in education, and that the necessity for acting in field not his own consumes disproportionate amount of his time, while it does not yield results with which he is wholly satisfied. The ex- ar1iners, therefore, are glad to be I e. Heved and the towns are coming to see that the local control 90 highly valued is sufficiently safe-guarded if they still retain their undisputed right te judge of the personal qualifica tions of the teacher and to employ or reject as they see fit. The state examinations practically furnish an eligible list from which the towns may make their selections. Already about One-half of Connecticuts five thous- and teachers are on that list, with the proportion increasing every year. The teachers themselves are finding the advantage of an impersonal examind- ton which set5 uniform instead of an unknown standard. and which gives them a certificate good in any town to which they may wish to go.
 It would seem that the time is ripe for the general adoption of state cer- tif1cation.
 A grave objection to our present double-headed plan of certification js that it does not encourage or even permit any system in the matter. What we need is a we'll considered system, carefully graded, with the grades so clearly defined and appro- priately named that any town off, cial may know exactly what are the claims of the teacher whom he thinks of employing.
 Let us try to outline such a system, based on principles derived from the actual experience of other states and framed with reference to securing a progressive improvement in the teach ing force along those lines which seem most essential Present con ditions must of course be recognized
 The lowest grade of certificate may very properly correspond to the low est requirements now made by the | Connecticut laws, and the highest should eventually measure up to the l maximum of professional ability and skill now engaged in the work of teaching or likely to be engaged in | future. Tn our opinion the high | schools and the teachers in special | lines should in time have certificates made for the. proper recognition of l educational leadership by the issu- ance of not less than two grades of certificates for supervisors. Sever l al of these points have already been | covered in the practice of the Stale board of education.
 The plan then, would ultimately | stand somewhat as follows:
 Three grades of certificates for ele- mentary schools, the lowest to be dis continued whenever the supply If | better qualified teachers shall war rant it, and the highest to be made life certificate. after professional | ability and skill have been fully dem onstrated.
 Two grades of certificate for teach CTS in high schools.
 Two grades for supervisors or su- perintendents.
 Special certificates for teachers of l special subjects, as music or draw ing and special for teachers in kim dergarten.
 The lower grades of certificates would have shorter period of valid l ity than the higher, with the expecta- | tion that the teacher being fully fore warned, would be prepared upon the | expiration of his low-grade certifi- | cate to earn the hext higher, espec- ially as the steps between the grades | are intended to be cay and the re- l quirements quite possible of attain ment. In the ideal plan, each grade | will demand a little more academic | knowledge, professional knowledge | and actual success in the school-room | than the last, thus emphasizing inn | provement in each of the requisites for a good teacher.