The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1921-01-27
rt.E wEEkLY rlMGsaEcoRn Valley CITY. NORTH DAkoTAa

and, in some normals, even the reten.
ton Of some Of the so-called high
| school work. {.
A Word From Michigan
Very excellent arguments for the
teachers college are given in recent
letter from President Charles Nc.
Kenny, Of the Michigan State Normal
College, Ypsilanti, Michigan. He
writes:
II believe the normal schools should
just as rapidly as possible extend their
! courses to four years and grant de.
/ grees. Some of my arguments are the
following:
! IL. To get better type of faculty
/ members. The upper grades of col.
lege work stimulate teachers and re-
lieve them Of the monotony Of elemen.
tary teaching. @.s
"2. It keeps on the campus mature
students who help leaven the student
| body. They are a stabilizing and
stimulating element in college life.
%. Future superintendent need to
live in the atmosphere Of elementary
education. This the normal school fur
nishes.
"a. A very large number of stu
dents who want to do hfgh school work
are unable to pay for university edu-
cation. Then normal schools offer
college training at minimum expense.
49,, It is not a good thing for the
universities to have the full sweep of
college education. They should not
train all of our high school teachers.
Competition is the life of business,
Any institution which has the mo-
nopoly of any particular field of work
grows heavy. The university is no ex-
ception. 49,. -.
"While of course the great bulk of
our work is, confined to the freshman
and sophomore years, it does us good
to have fifty to one hundred advanced
students The time is coming when
we will graduate fifty to one hundred
with the bachelors degree. 1t is worth
working for" a5
Data From Other States
The normal school people Of Mime
sofa wishing to follow Michigan en-
deavored some years ago to get au-
thority from the legislature to grant
college degree. But they were UNI
successful, more or less because of the
oppositionaof the state university and
the denominational colleges Of the
state. They are repeating the en-
deaYor this year and will probably
be successful.
Kansas has excellent normal schools.
They have large attendance, give
the degree, and demonstrate how nee
essary the four course is. Letters
from Presidents Butcher and Bran
denburg testify to this. -
Missouri has converted all of it's
normal schools into teachers college.
Pennsylvania expects to have the
four year course in its normal schools
as soon as the legislature permits this
step. The heads of the normal schools
in this state seem to be of one accord
in favoring the four year course. But.
Pennsylvania, like Massachusetts hav-5
ing many colleges, may make the
Change gradual, adding third year
before the full four year course is in-
augurated. This does not mean, how
ever, that the two year course will be
dropped. The new superintendent of
public instruction and the Governor
are strongly in favor Of this new for
ward movement
The Wisconsin normal schools, less
the children of tradition than those
in the East, are making. through their
presidents, strong effort to secure
four year courses and the granting Of
degree, at an early date.
The state of New York is follow.
ing the plan of Massachusetts.
ITO be continued)
*Note-Since the recent meeting of
the N. D. E. A. at Grand Forks an edi-
torial has appeared in the journal of
Education" entitled "Brave Little
Rhody." 1t congratulates the state
normal school of Rhode Island on hav-
ing the courage to expand to col
lege of education and give the degree
of Bachelor. of Education. 1t says
"This is the most heroic act we have
ever known educationally. It would
signify nothing in the West, but in
New England it is nothing short of
revolutionary. There are twenty
Ave other State Normal Schools in
New England that are wondering,
more or less timidly, whether the
strangle hold will be loosened in their
case. Be that as it may Rhode Island
has done as heroic an act as we have
known in these six states. and for this
she deserves medal of high honor.
The Journal explains: 'The gradu-
ates of the College Of Education re-
ceive the degree of Bachelor of Educa-
ton. Those who . stay in the
College Of Education but two
years receive a certificate
. which is equivalent to the diploma of
the past and they can return and COM
plete the other two years and receive
their degree by taking extension
courses which are numerous and val
liable for teachers in service. On
Tuesday and Thursday from 4:3O p. m.
onward and on Saturday all the fore
noon are various courses all Of which
will count on certificate or on the de-
gree of Bachelor of Education"
Our state normal schools should:
course, or even with high school work
order to take up some studies at the
normal school, unless the remoteness
of the nearest high school or some un-
desirable condition in the home school
justifes such a change.
Normal. Schools Should Become Teach
ers Colleges
A perusal of the catalogues OF our
moro than LOG state normal schools