SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT. This is the seventy-third annual report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and is a record of the work of public education in Michigan for the year ending June 30, 1910. The statistical tables herein given cover the school year, 1908-1909. It is with pleasure that I report on all phases of educational work in the State. From the rural school system, through the graded schools and special institutions, to the University, the work is of a high grade, the tendency toward a higher standard of excellence. During the year, either personally or by committees appointed, the following institutions have been visited: the seven denominational colleges at Adrian, Albion, Alma, Hillsdale, Hope, Educational Kalamazoo, Olivet; the four State Normals; the forty-two Institutions. county normals; the Michigan Agricultural College; the special institutions at Adrian, Coldwater, Flint, Lansing, Lapeer; the State University. I am pleased to report the excellent conditions found. The visiting committees report having found the courses in these institutions thorough and complete, the equipment and working facilities as generally ample and complete, the faculties able and efficient, a noticeable effort to give to the students equanimity of physical, moral, and intellectual development, and evidence of earnestness and sincerity displayed by students in their work. The work in the special institutions in the State for the less fortunate children is commendable.. In no case is there greater need for a combined education of both head and hand than in the case of children who are deprived of one of the senses. Classes. The forty-two county normals are doing a great work for the rural schools of the State. Probably no other factor has been able to do so much to better the conditions found in these schools, during the seven years that county normal training classes have been in opera- County tion. We believe that the tendency toward a closer ad- Normal herence to admission requirements, the demand that students Teaching give evidence of teaching ability as well as good scholarship, and the gradual adoption of the two-teacher plan, are indicative of the future work of these classes in the solution of the rural school problem. The total amount paid for instruction in these training classes during the past year is $57,890, of which the State has paid $42,000, the remainder being paid by the county and city in which the class is located. This means a cost per capita for instruction of less than $95. A very encouraging feature showing the educational progress in the State, is the growing interest in industrial and agricultural education in connection with public school work, and the Industrial tendency to connect the school with the home and the activi- Education. ties of life. The experiments already made show that this can be done without detriment to the academic side of the work. A training that inspires in young people an ambition and pride in the work which they are to pursue, that tends toward respect for manual labor, must be worth consideration and support. Education. The work in agricultural training as presented at the Michigan Agricultural College, the county school of agriculture at MenomiAgricultural nee, and the six high schools that have instituted agricultural courses, is eminently successful, and Michigan is to be congratulated on the progress made along this line and the present attitude toward this line of work. As a result of the instruction given at the Agricultural College, as well as the attention to agricultural subjects in each of the State Normals and in county normal classes, the pupils in a great number of rural schools are today receiving some instruction in the elements of this subject which is more closely and vitally connected with more lives than any other one industry in Michigan. Teachers' The plan of teachers' institutes as carried out during the year is not an entirely new one. The tendency has been to do away almost entirely with the long-term summer institutes in the counties, thirty-four of the counties holding their institutes in connection with the summer sessions of the State Normal Schools. The plan has been productive of excellent results. The additional advantages furnished by the State Normals over what could possibly be given in independent county institutes, the library privileges, the faculty, the lectures and entertainments, the laboratories, the opportunities for observation in the training schools, all these tend to make the plan one of greatest benefit. The attendance at the summer sessions of 1909 of the four State Normals was 3,300. Two State institutes have been held, one in connection with the Upper Peninsula Educational Association at Ishpeming, and one in connection with the Michigan State Teachers' Association at Saginaw. The total enrollment at these two meetings was nearly 5,000. During the calendar year 1909, 73 counties held 143 institutes with a total attendance of 11,543, or 72 per cent of the qualified teachers in the State. The total cost, exclusive of the two State meetings, was $11,451.24. The terms of these institutes have varied from forty one-day meetings to three institutes of ten days duration. Thirteen counties have held traveling institutes. Township A subject that should be of interest to all who are interested in the education and welfare of the boys and girls of rural communities is that of the establishment of the township as the unit of school administration. Throughout the state and nation, the subject of the improvement of conditions in rural communities is one which is receiving earnest consideration. We believe that this is to be accomplished mainly through the betterment of rural schools, and that one of the most effective means toward this end is the establishment of the township unit system. A change from the present district system to the plan suggested would lead to an equalization of the distribution of the primary money, a decreased cost per capita, and at the same time, better school conditions, a one unit taxation, a one unit supervision, a one unit primary fund, a single board of education, and a uniformity of efficiency for a township. |