The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1920-05-24
lNEW ENGLAND STATES
ARE LOSING GROUND
In Efficiency of Their Public School
Systems, Montana Is Reported to
Have the Best All-R0und
System-Vermont
Stands SD.

Stands SD.
New York, May 23The state of
Montana has the best all-round public
school system in the United States, ac-
coring to the results Of comparative
study of state school systems made
public to-day by the Russell Sage foun.
dation. The report assigns second
place to the schools OF California. third
place to those Of Arizona, fourth to
New Jersey, and fifth to the state of
Washington.
These findings are contained in re-
port by the department of education OF
the foundation. The volume is enti-
tied "An Index Number for State
School Systems" and the author is DR.
Leonard p. Ayres, director Of the foun-
dation's department of education.
Other findings of the report are that
the school system of the United States
as whole has doubled in efficiency
during the last so years, having an in
dex number or rating of &c in 1870 and
one of SO at the present time Since
these index numbers are figured on the
basis of 100, the school system of the
country has now an effectiveness or
efficiency of only 80 per cent, accord
ing to the report.
The figures for the individual states
as given by the foundation show that
during the past 30 years the West has
been coming up educationally while the
East has been going down. During this
time the greatest Increase among all
the states has been made by Utah
while the state to which is attributed
the greatest falling off in relative
standing is Maryland. In the East
the only state that has gained instead
of losing is New Jersey. In the West
the state that has the best and most
consistently high record is California.
Among the interesting results OF the
study is the conclusion that the school
systems of the United States terrific.
rial possessions, such as Hawaii, the
canaLzone, and Porto Rico, have higher
ratings than those of many OF the Al
states. That of Hawaii is reported bet
ter than those of the majority of the
American states. Ten southern states
have records poorer than that OF Por
to Rico.
The foundations educational meas
urement is worked out by taking the
official data showing the number Of
children attending school, the amount
of training they secure, the progress
they make, the amounts expended fol
buildings and supplies, the salaries paid
their teachers, and other similar items
and combining these factors into sin
gle index number which shows the gen
eral standing or efficiency of the schoo
system. This method resembles thai
used by the federal government IN IN
dexing the cost of living and prices FOL
commodities.
The foundation states that all the
results are computed from data fur
nished by the states themselves To tht
federal government and that the rec
ords have been compiled and combined
bv exactly the same methods Tor al
the different states and without adj
hitting into the results any elements
of personal Judgment. The author OF
the report served during the war a;
chief statistical officer OF the army.
The standing of the as states. this
District OF Columbia, and the three
territorial possessions is shown in the
following table: