Evening star., 1934-04-15
RURAL EDUCATION
COST IS REDUCED
|NNEbRASKAP[AN
Mail Order Instruction Over.
comes Problems of
Small Schools.

LINCOLN, Nebr., April IA (P.-A
cheaper way for rural school children
to get "city education" is being de-
veloped by University of Nebraska
Extension experts.
Mail order instruction is their
answer to the problems Of limited
teaching stats, reduced budgets and
inadequate facilities at high schools
in small communities.
Similar methods have been tried
elsewhere, but the Nebraska program,
started five years ago, is described by
the United States Department of In
terror as perhaps the most compre-
hensive plan thus far evolved for the
enrichment and vitalization of sec
ondary education"
$50 Trained This Year.
Under this plan. the university has
prepared wide range Of high school
courses, worded so preparatory stu
dents may understand them and de-
signed to hold their interest. In CO.
operating schools, students register for
these courses as for any other and
study under supervision of a teacher
who needs no special knowledge Of
the subjects. Thus the gaps Of q
limited curricula are filled in, the
needs of advanced and irregular stu
dents are met, and expenses are cut
by elimination of small classes and
excess courses.
As a result, about $50 students in
more than 100 Nebraska, South Da-
kota and Kansas schools received
training this year in such specialized
subjects as advanced art, Latin and
science-courses which might have
been presented inadequately or not at
all.
DR.. A. A. Reed, director here Of the
extension service, which obtained a
$4,000 Carnegie fund grant for the
experiment, noted the economies for
hard pressed school districts as well
as the cultural advantages for stu
dents
Costly Equipment Not Needed.
"Some high schools might have
closed during the depression if it had
| not been for savings through these
correspondence courses" he said.
Prof. Knute o. Broadly Of the uni
versity commented:
'Is is becoming evident that by
making careful use of trained teachers
! and using their time wisely, even the
little high school can offer excellent
| courses in music, art, science, home
| making, shop work and health and
physical education and still live with
in its budget. Expensive equipment
and elaborate buildings are not pre-
requisites to teaching these subjects"
A feature of the correspondence
courses it the small amount Of actual
correspondence involved.
Too much reading and writing Is
the cause of many "incompletes," the
extension workers believe, and is par
ticularly deadening for high school
students.
Written Tests Mailed.
Under the Nebraska system, the
lessons are arranged for the students
to check their own progress. Ques-
tions for checking along with the
answers are sent the supervisors who
at the same time may be assisting
students in such varied studies as
journalism, shorthand and physics.
Written tests are mailed for correc-
ton and grading to readers at the
university only when necessary. This
saves time and expense at both ends
SIT is encouraging" said Depart
ment of the Interior bulletin, that
such scientific attacks are being made
on the problem of absent teaching"
Charges, said DR.. Reed, are 81 reg
istration fee plus Sc a course and
additional costs for books, etc. This
covers the running expenses Of the
courses. The cost of setting them up
is taken from the Carnegie fund.