The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1915-09-17
entertaining Courses.
(Randolph Herald and News.

(Randolph Herald and News.1
| There are at present 81 teacher
training courses in high schools and
academies of Vermont, a considerable
number having been established this
year, in response to requests from in
situations that appeared worthy. Prac
| tlcally all thhe larger towns of the
state are now provided. Even some
| of the relatively small localities have
what appear to be promising classes.
| These teacher-training courses were
first authorized in this state by the
| legislature of 1912. The idea was moi
wholly new, such courses having been
in operation in few other states, but
it was an innovation in Vermont. The
plan was and is to prepare young ladies
for rural school teaching by giving
them special training during their
senior year III high school, or during
the same period if they are graduates
This training consists of theory and
practice under direction of skilled
instructor in teaching. The students
not only receive instruction but 90 in
to the primary and intermediate grades
for actual work in teaching and dis
eipline, under the eye and guidance of
the expert. The state has been for
tunate in securing almost without ex-
ceptlon very high quality of teacher
training instructors.
From beginning of about ten or a
dozen courses the system has grown I'M
til now the state is we'll covered with
them. That they are doing excellent
work, is the very general opinion, That
| their graduates are going out into the
rural schools where teachers of quality
and training are sorely needed, the fig
ures abundantly show 1t is, of course,
rather early to pass Judgment on the
merits of the system as a whole, which
should be based on the finished product
the rural teachers prepared-as time
and experience put them to the test,
but up to now there is much encourage
ment. Almost without exception the
graduates of these courses are taking
up the work expected of them-doing
that for which the state has given them
practically a free training, since it
the rural schools directly from high
schools and the latter charge no tui-
ton. Certainly these young ladies
are better prepared for teaching than
were the many who formerly went into
the rural schools directly frof high
school academical courses, without any
pedagogical training whatever.
There will be turned out of the 81
CuuIStS at the emu O1
the present year fully 800 teachers. If
the normal schools give 100, Vermont
will have about 400 candidates to draw
upon for its rural and grade work.
This number is amply sufficient, in the
ordinary course, to fill all vacancies by
retirements. 1t appears likely, there
fore, that very soon Vermont will be
liable to supply her elementary schools
with trained teachers of her own,
specially prepared for the kind of
work in which they are to engage, and
that it will not be necessary to hazard
the experiment of trying out the ordi-
nary high school graduates who have
been able to pass the teachers exam
nations. Indeed, the latter may be en-
tirely eliminated, putting Vermont in
the enviable position of being the only
New England state with enough trained
teachers to draw upon, so that examina-
lions of candidates are unnecessary.
OF course this condition will not be
attained until there is surplus of
teaching material, so that a certain
Fper cent, who are unlikely to qualify
under test, can be dispensed with by
the weeding-out process that takes place
in every line of work When this time
comes, it may be thought desirable to
enlarge and strengthen there teacher
training courses somewhat, either by
making them entirely postgraduate;
or by adding year of post graduate
work, with part of a year of prepare
ton during the senior PERIOD or by
partial fitting during the Junior year
Vermont has been complimented re-
Gently by a high official of the United
States department of education on
making the most notable progress of