St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1919-07-26
SCHOOL BOARD.
Continued from las: week.

year as they feel that would be<one
step in the direction of having The
Vaudeville Junior High School qua1ir
fly as a Senior High School. l can
appreciate fully the wishes Of these
people in this matter, but before any
action is taken we should come to a
thorough understanding as to the
steps that will be necessary. In the
requirements for State approval of
| junior high schools, Rule No. 1 reads
as follows:
The ninth grade shall be the
highest grade taught in such school
with not fewer than twenty-five
children above the sixth grade"
From Rule No. %, taken from the
| requirements for State approval OF
Louisiana high schools, l quote the
following:
Sin order for a school to become
recognized, therefore, it is necessary
that it be properly taught several
sessions in advance of its approval
and that it be equipped with such
science apparatus and such labora-
| tory equipment as will enable the
students to do properly all work re-
CURED"
This means that just as soon as
we permit the tenth grade to be
taught in the Vaudeville school that
| that school will be taken from the
approved list TO Junior High Schools
and will not be an approved high
school until three years after the
entire eleven grades have been
taught
Rule No. II states that no school
shall be approved until it has been
inspected and has served one year as
a provisional high school. You will
please understand that | would be
as anxious as any one to have the
Vaudeville school qualify as a senior
high school if l thought it could full
fill the requirements, but under the
present conditions it would appear
that we would be depriving the
pupils of that school of the right of
a diploma from even junior high
school for the next three or four
years at least, and l doubt if the
Vaudeville people would agree to
that.
Time after time during the past
three years your board has passed
resolutions asking that the COM
pulsory school attendance law be en-
forced, and l have reported to you
many times that this law was not
schools had been closed, teachers
discharged and transfers had ceased
to operate You will, therefore, in
view of these facts, be pleased to
learn that the District Attorney has
come to our aid and taken this mat
ter up in very emphatic manner.
Something like sixty or seventy bills
Of information have been filed, and
many of these cases will be tried be-
fore the District Court next week.
feel that your Board should pass
another resolution endorsing this
support that the District Attorney
has given to the enforcement of this
law and extending our appreciation
for his assistance in bringing the
school children into the class room.
| had the pleasure of spending last
week at the State Normal School at
Natchitoches, where l attended the
lectures and class room exercises
given by that institution for the
benefit of the Parish Supervisors OF
Elementary Schools. | am frank to
state that l believe it was the most
profitable and practicable week tant
| have ever spent in any similar way
It was my good fortune while there
to attend from one to three lectures
each day given by DR.. Chas. McMur-
ray, of the Peabody Normal School,
and a man who ranks among the
first and foremost educators OF this
country. The schoolmen who were
in attendance there were agreed that
DR.. McMurray presented an idea or
practical instruction in the calss
room that is almost sure to rev.
olutionize present methods of IN
struction in all schools, and l believe
will eventually cause our state course
of study as well as our modern text
books to be rewritten.
Another matter that is receiving a
great deal of attention at this course
is the subject of educational tests
and measurements. We are aware
of the fact that it has been the COM
mon practice to treat children alike
in each class, irrespective OF their
individual abilities. In fact, we
have given them a patent medicine
that will cure all Things. 1t Is now
within the realm Of possibility to
give a backward child test to as
certain whether he is behind in his
work because of his inability to I'M
derstand what he reads and to as
certain if this comes from failure
to comprehend silent or oral reading.
Tests have been given in the pubic
schools of this state during the past
year which shows the absolute IN
Justice of rating children by per-
cents, and then comparing percents
earned by a child in one class with
that earned by the same child under
teacher. A case has been
found where teachers examined the
same paper and while some teachers
gave as high as ninety and ninety
five, another teacher gave, on the
same paper, as low as twenty-five.
We can readily ask if it is just for
or valedictorles to De
awarded under that standard OF
grading. | give you this as one IL
Iustration of the way that our Ele-
mentary Supervisor will spend part
of her time in attempting to diagnose
the school conditions next year and
then try to improve the class room
methods.