The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1915-07-29
CRITICIzEs EASTERN PAPERS
L. P. Benezet Declares That Fair Treat
ment Was Accorded to Wisconsin Ed
ucational institutions When Examina-
ton Was Made by Experts.

The New York Evening Post ana
The Nation, published by the Post,
printed number of attack on the Uni
versity of Wisconsin Survey. These
articles sought to give the impression
that the Survey had been an attack
upon the University and had been
made by people incompetent to
judge of university teaching One of
these surveyors was Superintendent L.
| P Benezet of the La Crosse public
schools who wrote the following letter
taken from the New York Evening
Post of June 26, 1915.
To the Editor of the Evening Post:
Sir: My attention has recently been
called to an article which was pub
lished some two months ago in your
paper attacking the survey of the Uni
versity of Wisconsin, report of which
recently has been published. As a
member of the staff of investigators
who worked on the survey, / am inter
ested in trying to correct some untrue
| impressions of the work which some
how have been conveyed to you.
Let me say that the men and women
who were associated with me in this
work were amply qualified to conduct
such an investigation, each in his own
line. For instance, took part in the
investigation of the course for the
training of teachers and of the Wiscon-
sin High School. [ am a graduate of
Dartmouth College, and earned my
master IS degree; had year post
graduate work in pedagogy under Her
man Harell Horne, and took the course
for the training of teachers under D. c.
Adams, director of the Graduate school
of Dartmouth. 1t has been my bust
ness for the past eight years to super
wise the work of teachers, and have
kept closely in touch with the Univer-
.sity of Wisconsin, both through send
ing students there to enroll and
through receiving its graduates back
as teachers.
I may say that practically all of us
were unknown to DR.. Allen at the be-
ginning of the investigation, that we
went down to Madison strongly preiu-
diced III favor of the university, that
we were amazed and shocked at the
poor teaching and lack of supervision
which we saw, especially in the depart
ment for the training of teachers,
which, In my humble opinion, should be
the one where there should be the
strongest instructors and the closest su-
pervision. I may say, also, that no at
tempt was made to influence us to re-
port anything but what we ourselves
saw or to twist the facts to fit any pre-
conceived theory. I have talked with
many of my co-workers in the investi-
cation and have found them unanimous
in their astonishment at the lax meth
DDS and general ineficiency which they
encountered
A similar survey was recently made
of the Wisconsin normal schools It's
findings were even more scathing in
their criticism of what is going on in
these institutions. The normal school
authorities, however, have welcomed
THESE CRITICISMS ana are dong their
best to remedy the evils which have
been pointed out. For some reason
which I cannot explain, the university
authorities have not been willing to do
the same with their survey, bat instead
seem to be conducting an organized
campaign of utilization and abuse, all
aimed at DIR. Allen Just what is the
animus behind this attack, I cannot
state, but many school men of the state
who like myself, have hitherto been
staunch friends of the university, are
Disguised at the petty and almost dis
honest spirit that has pervaded the at
tempt to refute the findings of the sur
vey.
Signed, L. P. Benezet,
superintendent of Schools.