under (a) to (e) below. Special inquiry is made about those children that have inherited or have developed weaknesses in the points enumerated. (a) Does or does not the no-recess plan affect the duties and privileges of pupils in such a way as to develop or aggravate in any of them nervous irritation-revealed by a tendency to or an absence from cerebral pains, inability to think or to act or to remember, weariness, coldness of extremities, want of blood in the brain, irritation of the sympathetic system of nerves-owing to continuous sedentary confinement in the schoolroom with its heated and perhaps vitiated air? (b) Does or does not the no-recess plan affect the pelvic organs-revealed by a tendency to develop or aggravate irritation and disease of the kidneys, bladder, rectum, or by blood-poisoning from retention of urine-owing to the failure of pupils to comply regularly with the physical necessities under which they rest, to a lack of those physical exercises which tend to keep in a healthy condition the organs enumerated, and to the continuous confinement upon the seats in the school-room? (e) Does or does not the no-recess plan affect the eye-sight-revealed by developing or aggravating enfeebled powers of those organs, owing to deficiency of outdoor exposure? (d) Does or does not the no-recess plan affect the nasal passages and lungs-revealed by developing or aggravating catarrh or irritation of the lungs, owing to too continuous exposure to the dust, heat, and air of the school-room? (e) How do the physical exercises substituted by the no-recess plan for those of the recess affect, relatively, the rapidity of the pulse of pupils when it is compared to the rapidity developed in the exercises of the outdoor recess? Very respectfully submitted, STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, Cortland, N. Y., January 7, 1885. J. H. HOOSE, In response to these questions the committee received thirty-two communications that discuss the no-recess plan. These communications represent eleven States; they represent, also, public schools and educators that may be called fairly representative of those in the United States. Of these thirty-two communications 56 per cent. favor the no-recess plan, and 44 per cent. favor the recess. Only 10 or 12 per cent. report that the no-recess plan is extending, so far as the writers knew. The no-recess plan has been in operation fourteen years in one place, but in the others it has been on trial less than two years on an average. Two communications report a trial of the no-recess plan and a subsequent abandonment of it or steps to that effect. The no-recess plan was advocated originally by the superintendent, aided by the teachers, in most of the places where it has been introduced; in one or two instances by a member of the board of education; in one case against the opinion of the superintendent, who favored it, however, after a trial of two years. The further analysis of the answers brought the committee to the conclusion that the no-recess plan is closely connected with a diminution of school hours that is gradually taking place. In illustration of the tendency they present the hours of school session in nine cities in which the no-recess plan is on trial. From these figures it appears that The average school-day of the no-recess plan begins at 9 a. m., and closes at 3.30 p.m.; it is 62 hours long over all; 2 hours and 10 to 20 minutes of this time are recess; i. e., just of the average school-day, from the time it begins until it closes, is given up to rest and recreation. The extreme of this no-recess school-day is reached in a period of 3 hours actually spent in school; yet 5 or 10 minutes of this time are devoted to rest from study; in this case, of the 6 hours of the entire day, only 3 of itless than are spent in school. In the presence of these facts, where over half the school-day is spent in recesses, how are we gravitating in school affairs? The old-style school began at 9 a. m., closed at 12 m.; began again at 1 p. m., and closed at 4 p. m.; 14 hours of these 7 hours were devoted to rest, the other 5 hours were devoted daily to actual work; i. e., only of the entire school-day were given up to rest and recreation, as against 33 of it in the extreme case under the modern norecess plan, where the plan has been established for fourteen years. Return to still earlier customs, those which held school 7 hours per day, and 6 days in the week; here were 33 hours per week of actual work in school, against 15 hours under the last mentioned school organized under the no-recess plan. These facts reveal the actual problem that is involved in this investigation. It is not the question of recess or no recess in schools, a hygienic question; but is a very dif ferent hygienic problem, that of the maximum time that should constitute a schoolday of actual work; or, put in another form: What is the maximum time per week that should be spent in actual work in public schools by pupils in order that they may be most benefited by the schools? The question could be stated in another form: What is the maximum number of hours per week for which schools should be maintained by public taxation? In thus bringing clearly into view the problem that has developed from the no-recess plan, the committee have rendered an important service to the public. Many reasons, however, still remain for keeping before the attention of teachers and school officers the injurious effects of prolonged sessions of study and recitation without due intervals for recreation and refreshment. This matter has not been overlooked by Dr. Hertel in his discussion of "Overpressure in the high schools of Denmark." "We must not," he says, "lose sight of the fact that one long spell of work is far more exhausting to the child than the same number of hours would be if divided by a considerable interval." In this connection Dr. Hertel gives the following report of a discussion of the distribution of school hours before the Swedish Medical Society, Stockholm: By the Education Act of 1878 it is enacted that in the five youngest classes in all the Swedish high schools the pupils must not be worked for more than two hours at a time, after which an interval of two hours is enjoined, though half an hour of this may be devoted to singing or gymnastics. This arrangement was introduced because Swedish pedagogues thought that longer spells of work must fatigue the children. The result of this was that on some days the school hours were divided into three sections, e. g., in summer, from seven to nine, from eleven to one, and from three to four. In many places this splitting up of the time proved rather a disadvantage, particularly if any of the pupils lived far from school, because the home work was interrupted thereby. Several schools, therefore, applied for permission to extend the limit to three hours at a time, with an interval of two hours, confining the work, however, as much as possible to the early part of the day. Before granting this request the Government demanded the opinion of the Medical Society, of which the following is a résumé: Three hours' consecutive work is permissible if an interval of ten minutes be allowed for every hour, and one hour of the three set apart for easy work, such as singing, writing, or the like. After that there must be two hours' complete rest, not mere nominal rest-devoted to singing or gymnastics, partly to allow the children plenty of time for lunch and recreation, partly to admit of the class-rooms being properly ventilated. After these two hours the work should be recommenced, so that it may be over before the dinner-hour, leaving the afternoon for preparation. Dr. Hertel's comment on this opinion deserves our attention. "Such an arrangement," he says, "appears to entirely correspond with pedagogic and hygienic demands for a proper distribution of work hours, and its main features may well be taken by us as a model. The extreme care with which all such questions are treated in Sweden, and the fact that no change is ever made without the opinion of medical men being taken as to its probable influence on the health of the children, contrast strongly with our educational legislation and regulations, which are committed entirely to the hands of pedagogues, without any such provision on behalf of the children's health as consultation with medical men would insure. The result is that hygienic considerations are with us completely overlooked." SCHOOL LEGISLATION. During the year the legislatures of the several States have given a fair degree of attention to school interests. The following particulars of legislation in New York are from a full and interesting statement, for which the Office is indebted to Mr. F. G. Mather. Every year the judicial powers of the department of public instruction become more and more evident. According to a recent decision these powers extend to the control of the tax-lists. The most important enactment of the New York legislature of 1885 relative to educational matters was the amendment to the general school law of 1864, which, after deducting certain amounts, divides the remainder of the State school money into two equal parts; one-half of such remainder is divided equally between the school districts and cities (instead of one-third to the districts and two-thirds to the cities, as formerly) from which reports have been received in accordance with law. The rural districts thus receive one-sixth more than before, and that one-sixth is taken from the city districts. The Act is of the greatest consequence to the smaller and poorer school districts of the State, for it strengthens the 9,000 weak rural districts at the expense of the urban districts; this benefit to the rural districts is brought about with a smaller tax levy than that of 1884; in that year the $3,018,000 for the free-school fund included the usual appropriation of $2,750,000, $18,000 for the normal schools, and appropriations for teachers' institutes and for the salaries of school commissioners. The rate of the tax levy was 1.055 mills. In 1885, on an equalized assessment, $3,000,000 will be raised at the less rate of 1 mill. Another very important amendment to the general school law of 1884 provides that (instead of a salary of $500 to be paid out of the United States deposit fund) after October 1, 1885, every school commissioner shall receive an annual salary of $1,000, payable quarterly out of the free-school fund appropriated to this purpose or to the support of common schools, and that whenever a majority of the supervisors from all the towns composing the school commissioner district shall adopt a resolution to increase the salary of their school commissioner beyond the $1,000 payable to him from the free-school fund, it shall be the duty of the board of supervisors of the county to give effect to such resolution, and they shall assess the increase stated therein upon the towns composing such commissioner district ratably according to the corrected valuations of the real and personal estate of such towns. There were also amendments relative to teachers' institutes, of which the following are of most general interest: An amendment directing the trustees of every school district to give the teacher or teachers employed by them the whole of the time spent by such teacher or teachers in attending any regular session or sessions of an institute in a county embracing the school district or a part thereof, without deducting anything from his or their wages for the time so spent. The law formerly authorized the trustees in their discretion to give the whole or any part of the time spent, etc. An amendment providing, in addition, in order to secure to teachers the full exercise of this privilege, that after August 20, 1885, all schools in school districts and parts of school districts not included within the boundaries of an incorporated city shall be closed during the time a teachers' institute shall be in session in the county in which such schools are situated; that in the apportionment of public school money the schools thus closing in any school term shall be allowed the same average pupil attendance during such time as was the average during that part of the term when the school was not thus closed; that any school continuing its sessions in violation of the above provision shall not be allowed any public money based upon average pupil attendance during the days the school was thus kept in session; and that trustees and boards of education in such school districts and parts of school districts shall report in their annual reports to the school commissioners the number of days and the dates thereof on which teachers' institutes were held in their counties during the school year, and whether the schools under their charge were or were not closed during such days. According to a recent decision of the department of instruction the particular cause of the absence of a pupil cannot be demanded of a parent. It virtually declares that the teacher can only find out whether or no the absence was with the consent of the parent. If it had such consent that is the end of the matter. The powers of State boards of education, or of the chief executive officer of the department, have been extended in several States. In North Carolina, by an enactment of 1885, county boards of education are directed to obey the instruction of the State superintendent and to accept his construction of the school law. The school law of Nevada, as amended in the same year, increases the power of the State board of education in respect to the examination of teachers and to the granting and revoking of certificates, and gives to the State board appellate jurisdiction over all questions relating to schools and referred to the county superintendents. The school law of Wisconsin requires that every school district shall vote a tax sufficient to sustain a school for six months each year, instead of five months, as heretofore. THE NEW ORLEANS EXPOSITION. The stimulating influence of the educational exhibits and conferences that formed a feature of the New Orleans Exposition is manifest in almost every department of education. As this Office has in preparation a special circular of information respecting the Exposition, no further reference will be made to it in this Report. The circular will include the paper on the subject of school hygiene referred to in my last Report. INSTRUCTION IN PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE. As a result of the efforts made in respect to instruction in physiology and hygiene with special reference to the effects of stimulants and narcotics upon the human system, the subjects have been added to the list of required studies in 18 States and 1 Territory.1 AMERICAN OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENTS OF THE OFFICE WHO FURNISH STATISTICS. The following summary gives the number of correspondents of the Office at the head of systems and institutions of education in our country who furnish the official information contained in these reports. Statement of educational systems and institutions in correspondence with the Bureau of Educa tion in the years named. 1 The following is the list of States, with the year in which the action was taken : Vermont, Michigan, New Hampshire, 1882; New York, Rhode Island, 1883; Alabama, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, Wisconsin, Maine, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, 1881; Iowa, Connecticut, Maryland, Oregon, Texas, and District of Columbia, 1833. [By an Act of Congress approved May 29, 1886, instruction in the subjects referred to is now required to be given in the public schools of the Territories and of the District of Columbia, the Military and Naval Academies, and Indian and colored schools in the Territories.] GROWTH OF EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. Statistical summary of institutions, instructors, and students, as collected by the United States Bureau of Education, from 1875 to 1885 (1883 omitted). a 177 cities, each containing 7,500 inhabitants or more, reported in 1875; their aggregate population was 8,804,C54. 6192 cities, of 7,500 inhabitants or more, reported in 1876; their aggregate population was 9,128,955. e195 cities, of 7,500 inhabitants or more, reported in 1877; their aggregate population was 9,099,025. d 218 cities, of 7,500 inhabitants or more, reported in 1878; their aggregate population was 10,224,270. Pupils. Schools. Teachers. Pupils. Pupils. Schools. Teachers. Pupils. |
