The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1924-10-09
ONE ROOM RURAL SCHOOLS
ARE BEING IMPROVED
Education Department Plans To
Consolidate Small COun-
try Units
Baltimore Sun, Oct. 2.)

OHe-room rural SCHOOLS are being
improved as much as possible in order
that they may serve until supplanted
by large consolidated country schools,
according to a statement yesterday
from the State Department of Edu-
cation.
There are now 1903 one-teacher
schools in the State, attended by ap-
proximately one-fourth of the ele-
mentary pupils of the countless" the
statement says. eve know the oppor-
tunity for education offered to chill
dren in these schools are inferior to
those offered city children.
Statewide tests in reading and
arithmetic show invariably that the
consolidated schools attain the best
results, the two-teacher schools the
next best and one-teacher schools the
poorest. Moreover, the latter type
schools is very expensive, not only in
failing in the main to do its work we'll
but in actual amount of money spent
for each pupil.
"Since, however, consolidation must
await the authorization and issue of
bonds for new buildings, the State
Department of Education and the
county school officials have been con-
cerned actively in improving the con-
ditions of these schools. These i'm
provements are summarized as fol-
| lows:
more normal school graduates are
! being secured for the rural schools
through offering these graduates
bonus Of 500 for beginning their
work in the small schools. More than
so per cent of the recent June grad
yates took positions in these schools.
To stimulate further teaching in the
rural schools, special department
of rural education was established
last year at Towson Normal School,
giving students specific training for
meeting the problem of country teach
ing. But notwithstanding this favor
able tendency right now in the rural
school only one teacher in four has
the equivalent of a normal school
training.
During the last two years, for the
first time in the history of the State,
the advantages of Institutional su-
pervision have been extended to every
rural school. This type of supervis-
ion is particularly necessary in the
one-room country school because of
the lack of academic and professional
training of teachers, the frequent
changes in the teaching personnel,
the immature teachers who serve
their apprenticeship in these schools,
the lack Of material equipment, the
difficulty of handling children Of all
grades and ages and the professional
isolation.
'By means of a carefully worked
out daily schedule for the one-teacher
school the teaching and managing of
the pupils are much better organized
than in 1920. Instead of handling
seven separate grades, the teacher
handles her pupils in four groups,
which permits of fewer recitations
every day, longer teacheing periods
and more careful planning of the
work.
FINALLY, patrons, teachers and pu-
pills in community are encouraged
to Standardized their rural schools
according to the 81 requirements,
being indicated on a chart furnish.
ed by this department. Montgomery
county is the banner county in the
State in the number of standard ru-
raj schools; in that county 80 of the
SO rural schools have been standard
| lied.
"In spite of these efforts, which
have improved tremendously rural
school conditions in Maryland, the
one-teacher school is admitted to be
a less effective and more expensive
instrument of education than the con-
solidated school. Its inherent weak
nesses are in the difficulty of the
proper grading, the limited time that
can be given to each class, the lin
tied social experience and the lack OF
incentive in small groups"