Evening star., 1921-12-08
URGES ESbETTERPLAN
TO 0EDUCA7E ALIENS
Commissioner Tigert Would
Have Central Federal
Americanization Agency.

Creation of q central agency by the
federal government for supervising
Americanization work in the educa-
tional institutions Of the United
States is suggested in the first report
to Secretary Of the Interior Fall of
John ]. Tigert, commissioner of edu-
cation. which was given out today
for publication.
I'VE were all startled by the reve-
to which the safety and solidarity of
our nation are threatened by the in
ability Of large numbers of our peo-
pie to understand the English Ian
guage and by the prevailing igno-
rance of the fundamental principles
upon which our form Of government
is based and of the ideals toward
which we are striving" said the re-
port.
States Studying Problems.
THE several states are studying
these problems, but there is urgent
need of central agency which can
make Immediately available to all the
results of an experiment which proves
successful, and which can supply the
constant stipulus to better things
which can come only from effective
leadership. This is obviously func-
tion Of the federal government.
THE drift Of population to cities
and towns continues. In all the CEN
ters of population a very large pro-
portion Of the children in the schools
are children of foreign-born parents.
This adds greatly to the complexity
and difficulty of the problems of city
school administration"
Need Of Health Rules.
Establishment Of health and correct
health habits and the best types of
physical education must be consid-
cred most important and vital fac
tors in any education that is to fit for
life,' Commissioner Tigert empha-
sized. 1T would be tremendously
wasteful for every large city or for
all the states to conduct indepen-
IDENTIFY the research necessary to es-
late the constructive program de-
manded by public policy in these
matters"
Commissioner Tigert's report not
only sets forth in striking terms the
means by which the bureau in his
charge may become still greater
factor in American education, but it
describes the valuable work which it
already has accomplished. One Of it's
functions is. to make Surveys" of
state, county and city school systems
and of individual schools or groups
of schools, and to report to the proper
local authorities the results Of its In
vestigations. together with construc-
tive recommendations. Many impor-
tsnt pedagogical problems. have been
analyzed and brought nearer to solu-
tion through the instrumentality of
these surveys. Eleven of them were
conducted during the year covered by
this report.
Cites Another Feature.
Another feature of the bureaus
work which has developed in the past
few years is in holding national or
regional conferences" on educa-
tional subjects or for educational pur-
poses. In many Of them citizens in
all walks of life were invited to par
ticipate freely; others were for the
consideration of special topics, like
rural education, highway engineering.
industrial education,
commercial education, negro educa-
ton, etc. and they brought together
persons whose especial interest is in
the subjects discussed in the confer
ence. Thirty conferences, including
both types, were held during the year
1920-1921.