Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1917-10-20
READING CRCLEB0OKS
FOR STATE TEACHERS
State Superintendent Churchill
Makes Announcement In
This Connection

/ Superintendent of Public Instruction,
J. A. Churchill, has announced a new
list of reading circle books FOR the
teachers of the state. In explaining
the purpose of this work. Mr.. Churchill
said:
"It is necessary, in order to secure
the very highest quality of service, for
/ teachers to grow professionally from
year to year. One of the ways of max
/ ing this improvement is through the
state reading circle work. Every
teacher is required to read annually
one book on education selected from a
list properad by the superintendent of
public instruction. In order to en-
force this law, it becomes the duty or
the county superintendent to satisfy
himself that his teachers have done the
reading circle work, before he may
register their certificates and thereby
make them valid for teaching in his
county. AS the law does not specify
how the county superintendent shall
determine whether the professional
reading has been properly done, there
was, until two years ago no uniform
method for determining this. One
county superintendent might require
his teachers to pass written examina'
tions upon the books read; another
might give oral examinations; some
would merely require a written state
ment from their teachers that the, read
ing circle work had been done, while
others would be satisfied if the teachers
would say that they had read certain
works on the list, without making any
inquiry as to the care and thoroughnes'
with which the reading had been done
tsThe various methods pursued anC
lack of uniformity were unsatisfactory
both to the teachers and the super
! intendents, and at their annual confer
i enee held in my office in July, 1915
the county superintendents entered in
} to an agreement whereby they woult
3 accept the assistance, which had beel
} offered, of the University of Oregon
and the Oregon Agricultural College
and would take as evidence of tn
careful reading of the books, certifi
Gates issued by these schools. Thes
institutions, through their correspond
: ence departments, now prepare outline
. on each of the reading circle books
They not only send out helps an
=, supervise the reading, but they prepar
: written tests and examine the mant
: scripts which the teachers submit t
. them, without any charge whateve
They also award certificates to tn
teachers who have done the readin
4 properly and have passed the write
tests, and these certificates of reat
ing are now accepted by all of th
+ county superintendents as proof ths
4 the reading circle work has been pro-
& erly done. This plan of doing the rea'
4 ing under the supervision of the colleg
X and university has proved very populf
X with the teachers and hundreds {
them have, during the past two year
d read two, three and more books eaC
year, instead of one"
s Mr.. Churchill states that the Or
If gon State Library has limited nur
n Der of copies of each book, which wi
be loaned to teachers, or they may
Is purchased through The J. X. Gill Con
pany, of Portland, the local distribute
= for Oregon, at the prices indicate
> The University of Oregon will supe
- wise the reading of the books number'
q 1 to IA, inclusive, and the reading