Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-02-12
SUPERVISION.

Percent under normal ..... .72
SUPERVISION.
The county superintendent of schools
has many duties in addition to the super
vision OF teachers Therefore, New Castle
county has two rural school supervisors
90 assist in this work. As one hundred and
forty-siX teachers are employed IN the
county, the need OF supervisors IS evident.
The salaries of these workers are paid al
most wholly by the State, which appro-
priates 81 800 year toward the salary
of each supervisor Thus supervision, IN
cludiIg tho travelling expenses of the
Supervisors, has cost the taxpayers IF
New Castle county less than twenty cents
year for each school child Due to the
fact that supervision IS new TO the people
OF New Castle county. the county Board
Of Education feels that the tax payers
should know moro OF the work OF super
visors In looking over their reports,
one can see that they may well be called
helping teachers Let us follow q sill
pervisor through typical days work,
which usually Includes visits TO three or
four teachers. At the first school, the
supervisor, arriving at Q \ m found the
room IN ordec and made attractive as
possible by displays Of the pupils work
The teacher was a ple4sant woman Of ma
ture years capable and experienced. At
the recess period this teacher said. Il am
so glad YOU came L We been wanting
advice You noticed the little boy in the
second grad q who read 80 poorly He has
Just moved here. and needs 70 be broken
Of so many bad habits IN reading Wha
would you suggest Tho supervisor gave
her an easy but attractive story book for
the pupil TO read st his seat. and suggested
that a special kind of sentence builder be
prepared TO teach him n group his words
in phrases Then the teacher asked for
new primers for her first grade, and re
turned the supplementary books just
completed by grades i've and SIX. These
were taken by the supervisor 70 anosher
school
The supervisor hurried on 10 the next
! school, two room school The upper
| grade teacher taught we'll q geography
lesson, but she. seemed worried At noon
she poured her troubles into the super
visors ears. On account az q misunder-
standing the two teachers were out Of
/ step" The supervisor called the other
/ teacher in, and SIS they ate their lunch
I together. all disagreement vanished, mat
I ters were cleared UP, and cooperation
I ruled again. Thus two competent teachers
were persuaded 70 finish the year After
4 lunch the esupervisorwentw with theteachers
/ To the playground, and taught the chill
dren new game. Before the bell rang
/ the supervisor went into the primary room.
/ 1t was not well heated. and the radiators
! were cold When the heat was turned on,
! however, the noise Of escaping steam inter
| fe-ed with school work. The supervisor
/ discovered that the radiators needed caps
I over the outlets This wss noted, and
Z = - ~, -
/ remedied, The teacher was capable.
I but reported that the pupils were not
/ doing good work N penmanship. The
supervisor therefore, taught the class IN
! writing.
I The fourth school WIS reached ss the
I last recess. The teacher here WIS mex
/ perienced, and had many problems 20
! solve. After observing several classes,
I the supervisor taught a class, at the
/ teachers request After school, she gave
+ the teacher some seat work for the pm
mary grades, and showed her how 20 make
/ other kinds Then she went over the pro
/ gram with the teacher, and helped 20 re-
/ arrange the time for some of her classes
| She also answered some questions con
| cerning records and reports, and helped
! the teacher 20 make some lesson plans IN
/ the subjects which were giving her the
/ most trouble.
Upon this typical day, the supervisor
returning TO the Office at 3 p 10. found
| four letters from teachers awaiting her
/ attention. One needed the Seat Work
/ Bulletin, and some suggestions for an
I entertainment; another asked advice
about dealing with refractory pupil,
the third asked for more report cards and
/ books for some new pupils; while the
| fourth invited the supervisor 20 speak
at her community meeting the following
week As these letters needed immediate
answers, the days work ended at late
hour. In addition to this regular duty Of
visiting schools and helping Individual
teachers, the supervisors help in planning
and conducting county teachers con
ierences, and In selecting text books and
supplementary material, and assist ID
unifying the educational work Of the
county. They also meet with the County
Board Of Education, when invited to do
so, and report the needs Of the schools
under their supervision. Some of thf
most pressing needs follow:
While our county has many good
teachers, some are still teaching upOnproyi
sional certificates New Castle county need;
more adequately prepared teachers; teach
SIc WHO nave H<su cAi AEtAob tWb gGdAS ~
normal school training, in addition to
four years of high school. Good schoo
buildings and equipment are essentia
to educational progress. The best teach
ers often refuse to work in unsanitarl
buildings The efficiency Of good teacher
is narred by overcrowding, poor lighting
inadequate heating, and lack of propcl
ventilation. Modern equipment is neces
sary in order to secure the best results
Local school communities should be arous
ed to the need for better schools, 50 tina
the people will be willing to work, ant
sacrifice, if need be, for the attainment Q
better educational opportunities for tn
children of New Castle county.
Some of the aims, now beginning to b
realized by the supervisors, are:
]. The wider use Of standard tests an,
measurements for the purpose Of com
pairing one school with another within
our own system, and also comparing tn
work of our own county with that c
neighboring counties OF other cducations
units.
2. A more extensive use Of modern