Evening star., 1935-07-02
CHARACTER WORK
SHIFT ADVANTAGES
SEEN BY OFFICIALS
Benefits Gained at New
School Expected to Com.
penSate for Losses.
HIGH SCHOOLS DECLARED
UNSUITED FOR PROGRAM
Years Work With More Than
1000 Children Lost Through
Change in Plans.

Transfer OF the character education
experiment among high school stu
dents from Mckinley to the new
Woodrow Wilson, ordered yesterday,
means the cumulative effect Of a
years work with more than q thou
sand children will be lost, so far as
the pupils themselves are concerned.
DR.. Frank w. Ballou repeatedly told
the Board of Education that results
from work so far completed are so
fragmentary as to fail to indicate
whether satisfactory results are being
accomplished.
May Have Made Mistake.
School officials readily admitted to-
day the loss of time and effort. while
emphasizing the gain in greater eff
cheney through reduction in the num-
Der Of pupils which will accompany
the transfer.
I'VE probably made a mistake in
selecting so large school as McKinley
in the first place." said DR.. Stephen
E. Kramer, first assistant superintenG-
ent of schools.
Many factors make it more diff
cult to carry on the character educa-
tion program in high schools than in
the lower grades. The students them
selves are more static In their reac-
tions than younger children, and we
have departmental system of in
struction which adds to the difficulties
of administering the character work"
DR.. Kramer said original plans for
the character education work called
for applying it to last years tenth
grade pupils during their entire prog
ress through high school. From this
comprehensive treatment definite find
ings as to the value of the work and
the best methods of developing the in
dividual child were expected to &C
crue.
Observation Must Cease.
The transfer of the character edu-
cation program from Mckinley to the
Woodrow Wilson High School, forced
by the poor health of the Mckinley
principal, Frank C. Daniel, means that
the character education administrators
will be unable to observe the cumula-
tive effect of three years under the
program in the 1885 Mckinley stu
dents with whom they started last
September.
There are important benefits TO be
gained, however. by the transfer, DR..
Kramer asserted.
UyiIeo,, y~
and the entire atmosphere will be
new and receptive to the advanced
ideas Of the character education
work." he said. In addition the en-
tire school will have an enrollmeut of
only about 900 students, which is
about the same size as the tenth grade
at Mckinley, which came under the
character education program"
He stressed the point that the value
OF the experiment lies in the expert
ence and knowledge gained by the in
structors as well as the benefits to
the children.
Norman j. Nelson, recently named
as principal of the new high school,
which will open for the first time in
September is a capable man, we'll
fitted to take over the work, which
had proved too great a burden on
the health Of Mr.. Daniel, DR.. Kramer
said.
Ballou Urged Transfer.
Indication that school officials may
consider carrying on of the character
education work in any high school
too great a burden was implied by
Supt. Of Schools Ballou in his re-
port to the Board Of Education yes
terday recommending the transfer to
the Woodrow Wilson School.
Since the carrying on of this ex-
pertinent not only involves individual
work with pupils, but likewise much
individual work with teachers, 1t is
the consensus of those in charge of
the character education experiment
that the number of pupils and the
number of teachers included in the
experiment in the senior high schools
is too large TO make satisfactory
progress with the project"
On DR.. Ballou's recommendation
the board yesterday also ordered dis
continuance Of the character educa-
ton work in the night high schools,
beginning with the term of Septem-
Der. 1886. The board agreed also to
a slackening of the work during the
coming school year. This action was
taken after DR.. Ballou stated it was
necessary to free teachers from the
burden Of the program for their
duties as instructors and that the
purpose of the experiment in the night
schools would have been accomplished
substantially by 1887. This, he said.
was study of the interests, capacities
and attitudes of the night school
students rather than actual character
education.