The Penn's Grove record., 1912-02-09
State Commissioner of Education
Recommends Training of Instructors


Recommends Training of Instructors
Declaring that a great educational
waste is going Oh in the schools OF New
Jersey because of the large number of I'M
trained teachers employed and because of
the lack of constructive supervision, Or.
Calvin N. Kendall, State Commissioner
of Education, submitted a report to the
State Coard of Education last Saturday.
DIR. Kendall says that the education
laws are not properly enforced in many
communities in the state. He showed
that n county superintendent reports
that one-fifth of the school children are
not in school one-half of the time. In
one ~populous county in the northern part
of the State only twenty of the sixty-four
districts employ attendance officers.
The report holds that it is the duty of
the State to provide a thorough and eff
cent system of education" not for some
of the children, but for all OF them. The
work of the teachers, it says, is greatly
hampered by poor attendance, and the
children who are in the school regularly
suffer by the absence of other children, to
whom the teacher must devote an extra
amount of energy and time in order that
they may overtake.their classmates. DIR.
Kendall insists that there should be more
vigorous enforcement of the compulsory
education laws and favors the bill now
before the Legislature, which makes the
appointment Of truancy officers compul-
sorry.
Another..need emphasized is a larger
number of trained teachers. DR.. Kendall
reports 40. per cent OF the teachers are un-
trained, and says the State should pro.
vide additional facilities for training
teachers. Continuing his report, DR.
Kendall says
"It is my belief that in in this question
of the training of teachers the rural
school must hot he overlooked, and that
facilities should be provided for training
teachers for the one-room schools, of
which there are at present more than
eight hundred in the State.
"It is useless, however, to expect train
ed or skillful teachers to remain in such
schools, unless salaries in some of them
are better than at present. l ask that
the board give it's earnest consideration
to the question of the training OF teachers
to the end that in the near future plans
may be devised which will be acceptable
to the people OF the State for increasing
the facilities for training teachers"
commissioner Kendall also emphasiz-
ed the need of a better observance of
medical in the State.
s"There is need OF additional supervis-
ion of teaching in some sections of the
State,'' continued DR.. Randall. MANY
teachers, and wholly unframed teachers
at that, under present condition receive.
or can receive, not more than two visits a
year from the county superintendent.
This is as much time as this officer can
devote to this purpose. In view of the
large number OF unframed teachers in
III GnlS ICtdbc, q Ritdb cuuCdblOIdi WHSLE
is going on because OF the lack of con-
structive, helpful, inspiring supervision
The difference in the efficiency Of schools
in the State is very great, owing to the
lack OF adequate supervision.
Commissioner Kendall declared that
the bill in the Legislature increasing the
salaries of county superintendednts from
{, 200 a year to So, 1000 should be a law.
He urged that there be additional consol-
idation of rural schools, and recommend
cd that the present law be amended so
that districts, may be allowed money for
the transportation of children within the
district, as they are 0 allowed for
transporting children from one district to
another.
The industrial education needs encour-
agement both in the cities and in the
country was another statement made by
Commissioner Kendall.