The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-06-22
16 INSTRUCTORS TO GET DEGREES
 FOR EXTENSION
Much Interest Shown By Birmingham Teachers
 In New Work

A total of 16 Birmingham school teachers are this summer receiving de- grees from Birmingham-Southern and Howard colleges and from the Univer- sity of Alabama as a result of wide spread participation during the past year in the teachers extension course.
 This course, originally introduced in Birmingham in the school year 1915-16, has had a rapid growth, and the splen- did results obtained have convinced school board officials that its worth easily justifies continuation during the coming year.
 Besides the receiving of degrees by the teachers, there are numerous othr benefits derived from the extension work. board of education officials believe. Chief among these are the extension of state teachers certificates, the bringing to Birmingham of an unusually able corps of teachers who were influenced to come to this city by the extension course, and a general increase in the scholarship standards of the teaching staffs in Birmingham.
 This extension work was started in 1915," a report of the past years work reads, "when Peabody college at Nash vile sent an instructor to Birmingham on alternate Saturdays. On the weeks between the classes would meet with one of their own number as instructor The University of Alabama consented to conduct the work during the year 1916-17 and since that time has offered one or more extension courses each year.
 Uncrease Showu
 ;"Some of these classes have been con- ducted by members of GAr own corps and others by instructors Who come here from Tuscaloosa once each week. Re gently the two local colleges-Howard and Birmingham-Souther an expansion movement and invited local instructors to attend regular or special classes with them. All of this resulted in decided increase in the number of teachers to take such courses. When state department of education started the policy of extending teachers cer- s tificate on the basis of such work, these courses became even more popular"
 At the present time, 47.3 per cent of the total number of teachers in Bir- mingham are taking these courses, the report shows. The number during the year 1922-23 was higher than this 56.4 per cent, to be exact-but the drop is due rather to the opening of another field of education than to lack of in- terest, it is stated.
 Explaining the drop in percentage, the report says: "There is a very in teresting reason for the decrease in the number of teachers in tn extension course in 1923-24 from that of 1922-23. Many teachers use these courses to ex- tend their state certificates. They may also extend their certificates by attend ing standard summer school, or by taking a summer trip of three weeks duration over a route of 1000 miles. On this trip they must visit 10 places of'interest, approved by the state depart ment, and must submit a satisfactory thesis on the trip.
 Special Party
 ''In the spring of 1923 the Birming- ham Teachers association decided to have a special party for the National Educational association, which met in San Francisco and Oakland, Gal. There were B teachers who took this trip, and all but one of them attended sum mer school in California or elsewhere. During the present summer the associa- tion will meet in Washington, D. C., and about 125 of our teachers are planning to attend. Practically all of these will either enroll in a summer school near Washington or New York, or take one of the historical trips out of Washington, and submit thesis for the extension of certificates The de- crease during the past year, then, seems to be due to the fact that so many teachers are doing more professional work during the summer"
 During the season 1923-24, a total of 274 white teachers were enrolled in extension courses. By colleges they were divided as follows: Birmingham Southern, AS, with 13 classes Howard, 20, with IA classes; University of Ala bama, 1855, with five classes, and q students from these three schools com bined ill a special combination class.
 Among the subjects that predomi- mated the courses were: Spanish, French, English, journalism, chemistry, biology, sociology, religious education, business administration, art, history, psychology of the common branches, so- cial psychology, commercial advertising, commercial art, drama and Shakespeare.
 Concerning the main benefits accru- ing from these courses the report says: 'The extension courses, besides offer ing an excellent opportunity to those in the teaching corps who desire to con- tinue their studies in an organized way and to get their college degrees, also have given a stimulus to the work of the schools. The teachers have kept in touch with the new progressive ideas in education and they have put into use in their classrooms the facts and prin- ciples learned in the college courses" rnnK HWY UEHmFNkn