The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1927-11-17
Better Work on Part of Teach.
ers and Students Expected
rs Result Of New Curriculum
Being Worked Out by De-
partment of Public Instruc.
fiOn


the part of students should result
from the revision of the course Of
study for North Dakota schools now
being worked out by committees
appointed by the state department of
public instruction, Superintendent
Bertha Palmer said here today.
Need for a new curriculum exists,
Miss Palmer said, because the course
Of study now being taught does not
consider North Dakota conditions. A
good part Of the present curriculum,
she said, was taken from that pre-
scribed for the schools of Baltimore,
Maryland, and the remainder repre-
sents an accumulation of ideas which
have been introduced from time to
time.
Most Of the ideas which have been
incorporated in the curriculum are
intended for use in schools with a
full school term of nine months, she
said, whereas many North Dakota
schools have shorter terms.
The new course will not apply to
many schools in the state, Miss
Palmer said, because the state de-
partment Of public instruction has
nothing to do with the curriculum in
cities having classified high schools.
In such places, she said, the grade
schools are considered part of the
classified high school system and
local education officials prescribe
their own courses of study.
Will Help Rural School
OF the 5000 teachers in the state,
however, 5000 teach in rural schools
and to these the new course should
come as big help, she said. 1t will
be designed particularly to meet
their needs and should permit them
to achieve greater results with no
additional effort. In order to make
sure that the new course will be
adapted for use in the rural and con-
solidated schools. Miss Palmer has
appointed practicing teachers on
each committee. A county super
intendent of schools also has been
named on each committee engaged
in revising the course of study for
each subject.
Another feature Of the new course,
Miss Palmer said, is that it will set
standard by which teachers can
gauge the progress of their pupils.
This will be done by listing the min
imum knowledge which pupil
should have at any time in his
school career. In English, for in
stance, each. pupil should know at
the end Of the first year that each
sentence begins with a capital letter
and ends with a period, she said.
What else he should know will be
prescribed by the committee, she
said.
Will Aid Teachers
Another feature of the proposed
new curriculum is that it will aid
teachers who are required to handle
a large number of classes. The
average rural teacher is required to
teach all subjects in the curriculum
70 the pupils of six grades, she said.
In many cases one teacher is re-
quired to teach all subjects to eight
grades. The latest and most SEN
sible thought in education seems to
do away with closely drawn lines
between grades, Miss Palmer said.
and the new curriculum will be de-
signed to permit teachers to handle
classes in groups wherever possible.
Revision of the curriculum with re-
gard to each study is in the hands
OF q special committee which will
report to general committee. The
general committe will then pass on
the ideas presented to it. The gen.
eral committee will consist of the
chairman of each special committee
and five men named by Miss Palmer.
+. w. Hicks of Minot and A. c. Berg
Of Mayville are joint chairmen.
Other special members of the gen.
eral committee are w. f. Parsons,
deputy superintendent of public in
struction and J. A. Page, high school
inspector, Bismarck, and II. X. Jen-
sem Mandan, superintendent of Nor
ton county schools.
Committee Members
Members of the various special
committees are: History and Civics:
Elmer Ellis, Mayville. chairman;
S. J. A. Boyd. Langdon; Walter
Loomer, Beach; Ellie Freeman, LIS
bon; Elsie J. Cook, Minot, and Kath-
ryn Waldron, Minot. Geography:
Elsie J. Cook, Minot, chairman; A.
M. Waller, Minot, Elmer Ellis, May
vile, M. Helen Davies, Grand Forks.
Arithmetic: C. E. Scott, Minot,
chairman; E. w. Eckert, Glendale,
Mrs. Nellie J. Hyde, Williston,
Stella Severinson, Williston, Elsie
A. Burr, Devils Lake. Music: Fam
ny c. Amidon, Valley City, chairman;
J. G. Gould, Mandan, Caroline j.
Evingson, Fargo, Mrs. II. S. Fuller,
Dickinson, Mrs. Belle Porter Barton,
Grand Forks. Agriculture and Ma