County Superintendent's Report

To the Son. Daniel B. Bripgs, Superintendent of Public Initrvclhu : SlK - I havo the honor herewith to submit my annual report, as County Superintendent of Schools for Wnshteuaw County. The general progress of tho schools in the county duriugr the year has been encouraging', and, as a class, our schools are in a prosperous condition. More liberal and enlightenod views upon the subject of popular education have been duveloped ; better Byatems of culturo have been put into practical operation, which hava more fully met and supplied the increasing wants of a higher civilizatiun. The most encouraging feature, perhaps, in our progress may be seen in the elevated character, and incroasing numDer of live, energetic, industrious aud practical teachers. As a cluss, our teachers have made commendable improvements in general culture and technical scholarship. Sotue of them have reached a high point of excellence in discipline and methods of teaching ; in the ability of securing a regular and punotnal attendance oí' their pupils : and reflect honor upon the profession in their intellectual and moral attaimnents. They are at every instituto, early and lato. Thoir spare time is oocupied in self-improvement ; their spare chjinge used to pur chaso educational journals, and otho works that are sure to aid thetn in thei vocation. Improvements c&n be seen not ouly in the proficiency of teacheis and thei nanagerneraent of schools, but also ir the interest and co-operation of schoo oflicers and parents in securing well qualified teachers, and in the intelligent apreciation with wliich thorough iustrucion is regarded School directors are raaking progress in the knowlodge of, nd geneial attention to, their dutk-fi. There have beeu less ignorant blunders nd violations of the law than heretoore. Thoy are, as a class, efficiënt, selfacrificing mtn, and deserve commondaïon fof the faithful discharge of their uties, save that of visiting their schools. It is gratifying to know that in a few nstances they have shown sufficient firmness to discharge teachers who are not doing reasonably good work. Teachers should understand that, after emrjloyinent, their retention, for even a single week, depends upon their skiil and success in the school-room ; and the sooner this becomes really the case, and is universally known and feit ainong the teachers, the greater will be the success in our schools. It is to be regretted, however, that in a few instances directors have been elected from the faot that they were known to be opuosed to progresa and the County Superintendency, and in favor of low taxes and low wages for teachers, and the people who have elected thera have been the losers in having poor schools1 which is generally the result of a narrow policy. The future welfare of our schools detnands that none but liberal minded men - men of of progressive spirit who know the value of an education, and who Feel an interest in tbe cause of coinmon schools, should be elected to fill so important an office. EXAJIINATIONS. During tbe past year I have examiued and granted certifioates to 339 teachors, graded as follows : First grade, 11 ; second grade, 108 ; third grade 220 An increasing and iucessant effort has been made to ad vanee the standard of scholarship among tli3 teachers. To accomplish this, my exarainations have been as thor" ough as the circumsf.ances would permit, the marking of oertiücates, rigid and discriminating, and, as fur as the uuuiber of applicants would allow, the incompetent have been dropped. In my examinations I have kept in view the fact that schools are established for the instruction of children, not for theoinployment and support of teachers ; and, as it is manifestly the duty of directors to einploy the best teachers they can obtain, so it is equally tho duty of Superintendents to ftssist them by thorough examinations and irapartial rejection of the incompetent. THE THREE-TERM SYSTEM for district schools, which has so many desirable advantages over the old system that carnes the snmnier term through the inonths of July and August, is steadily growing into public favor, though more slowly than I could desire. About onethird of the districts have thus far adopted this system. If our school ofBcers would visit their schools during the warm summer months, and witnesa the nonattendanoe of its pupils, the listlessnes, indifference and want of interest in both scholars and teacher, I believe they would unanimously resolve to adopt the three-term system. SCHOOL-HOUSES. Wholenumber in the county, 174; construoted as follows : Of stone, 9 ; of briok, 32; frame, 110; of logs, 3. Estimated valuation OÍ ïchool-houses and grounds, $398,720; estiwiated vuluation of uuion and ward school buildings, $286,500 ; of school-houses in rural districts, $112,220 an increased valuation over last roport of $9,130; average valuation of eacu house and grounds in the rural districts, $785. Three new school-houses, one of brick -ind two of wood, have beon built during the yenr, besides quite a nuniber that have been thoroughly repaired. The school-houses la the county, as a class, iu convenienco of arrangement and ivrchitectural beauty, are au ornament to district?, and a truo index of the intelligenca and refiuement of the people. It must be obvious to the most ordinary apprehension that the school-house is in some degree an educator. AU sensible objects produce au impression on the mind. and when made on the minds of youth are lasting. Images that have proportion, fitness and beauty, become a standard of taste, and in subsequent life are recallcl and imitated. If the schoolroom is carelessly construoted, dirty and neglected, if it is in a dilapidated condition, and bas an air of repulsiveness. tuis inevitably becu:uus a standard, and lu-lps to créate i íuha and iiiiperfoct taste whicb afïects the oharaoter in after life. SCHOOL APPARATUS. üf this there is b great deficiency. Sinoe in a former report I treatcd at length upon this subject, the follovving ia submitted as an inventory of the apparatus and appurtenances of the school-houses of the rural districts. Thirty of the 160 school rooms are supplied with a set of outline uiaps ; 00 with adicticnary; 14 with a globe ; 68 with a table bell ; 12 with a numeriual frame ; 125 with a blaokboard in condition for use : 120 with a tsaoher's register; 147 with a teacher's chair; 30 with blinda, shutters or curtaius ; 35 with u large bell set in a cupolt. Fifty-three of the districts have their school grounds enclosed ; 25 have thoiu net with1 shado trees; 25 ars supplieil with a well and pump. TKXT-B00K8. Frorn present indicatious this cltiss of books will soou be as numerous as the frogs of Egypt, and quite as aunoying. Holomon must have iooked forward to our day when he said : "Of inaking books there is no end." While the nuraberof text-booka p-escribed to be used in our schools is still enormous, I am able to report progresa. Eighty districts, or al)out fifty per cent. of the whole, hnve secured a uriii'ormity. TUE FREQUENT CHANOE OF TEACAERS is dtímonstrated by a comparison of schools, and by experience, to be unwiss; and iujurioua. While thisfact isso manifest, it ia to be regarded that niany distriets still persist in changing thoir teachers about evpry three or six months at most. Whether tht teacher possessess goed or indifferent qualities, the result is the game. Hia proficieticy and skill re powerless to administer an antidote to an evil ao ehronio and deeply rooted in the habits of the people. The following figures will give some idea of the frequency of the change in this country in the rural district. Sixty eight teachers or 44 per cent. ot all who taught the winter term had never taught but once in a place. The average experience of teachers who taught in the wintor, was 'wo and a-half years; foiirteen of whom taught their first term. Sixty-six teachers, 45 per cent. of those who taught the sumtuer term, have aever taught more than once in a place. Twenty seven teachers, or 18 per cent. of all who taught in the spring and sumoier, taught their first term. " BOARDIN0 AROUND." This time-honored custoni still prevails in many of the rural districts. Eightytwo or 53 per cent. of all who taught in the winter, and 114, or 79 per cent, of all who taught iu the spring and sutnmer, boarded around. Ancient and honorable as the cuatom is, its effects upon teacher and school are genprally precious. May it surely and speedily pass into deserved disuse. CORPOHAL PUNISHMENT prevails in the oounty, but not to a great extent, only fifty-eight teachers, or 35 por cent. of those who taught the winter term, and fifty-six teachers, or 48 per cent. of those who taught in summer, resorted to its use,- onehundred and sixtyeight cases in winter and one hundred and fifty-seven in summer, ocuurring. STATISTICAL. 1 he whole number of children in the county het ween the age of five and twenty years. is 12,891. Of this nuinber, ),951, or 77 percent, of the whole numJer, attended the public schools some portion of the year. When the schools ire all iu session, 239 teachers cotnprise the educational force, 184 of whotn come under the jurisdiction of the County Su lerintendent. The whole unmber of eachers at the present time holding first grade certificates, is 17 ; nuinber holding econd grade 96 ; number holding third grade, 127; total of all grades, 240; of whom 66 are males and 174 are fewales. 'he winter term of schools in the rural districts was taught by 74 males and 83 témales, ne summer terra was taught by 5 males and 147 females. Four districts in the winter and 11 in the summer had no schools. The educational torce of the union and graded schools coniprises 78 teachers, - 15 male and 63 females. TIME TAUOIIT. The total nuruber of months taught in the county during the year was 1,917; taufrht by males, 446 1-2 ; by females 1,470 1-2. Nurober of months taught in rural districts by males, 321 1-2 ; by females, 851 1-2. Whole numberof'njonths taught in unión and graded schools by males, 125; by females, 619. Average nuinber of months taught in the rural districts during' the year. 7.18; in the union schools, 10. WAGES PAID. The total amount of wages paid teachers in the county during the year, $65,620; amount paid male teachers, $24,988; paid female teachers, $40,620. Total paid males in the rural districts, $12,354 ; paid females. $17,640. Total paid males in union schools, $12,644 ; paid females, $22,982. Average wages por month of male teachers in the rural districts, for the winter term, $37.13, and board; paid females, $21.21, and board. Average weekly wages paid females for nummer term, excluding board, $3.60. Average wages per month paid males in union schools, including board, $101.15 1-2 ■ paid feoiales, $37.13. MISCELLANEOUS. During the summer term, in the rural districts, 68 teachers, or 46 per cent. of the whole nutnber, used singing in the opening exercises ; eighty-four, or 57 per cent. of the whole read the Bible ; thirtythree, or 22 per ceut, of the whole number, opened schoool with prayer. During the winter term, 49 practiced singing ; 72 react the Bible ; and 35 opened school with prayer. Whole nuuiber of visits made by School Directora dnring the year, 337 ; nuraber of schools visited, 118; whole number not visited by Directora during the year, 52' Twenty pupila were expelled ia tha ru ral distnct8 during the winter term. Eighty district8, or oue-half of the whol( number in the county pay Direotors fo) their services. Only six schools in the rural districtf have a prescribed cour6e of study. Who have usually tauyhl the better schools, male or female teachers ? In presenting this question to the several School Boards of the county, ninety-eight reported in favor of feniale8, eighty eight in favor of males. Male teachers must look well to their laurels, STATE NOKMAL SCHOOL. Since there has been a manifests diaposition on the part of the enemies oí our Normal School to créate erroueous inipressions in relation to its efficiency and usefulness, I can not, in justice to the cause of educatiou, do less than submit the following statement, predicated upon a caref ui and special investigaron of its influence as witnessed in the schools of - - - - - . - - - - i ■ ih - - - w - - - - ■ o -- -m h h s ■ fj ■ V A U J Xt the county the last four years. Porty-six teachers, or 30 per cent of the whole nuiubnr who taught the wiuter term, and forty-one teachers, or twenty-eight per cent or' the whole number who taught the summer terra in the rural districts, have been students of the Normal School for an average time of one and oue-fourth years. I believe as a class these teachers have been more accurate and thorough in the practical branches called upon to teach ; they have more exhalted conceptiona of the nature and dignity of their calling ; higher view of its importance and necessities, and consequently, they are more I devoted and labor with ereater noss and zeal. and are more systeuiatic in their uianner of teaching and general management than do other teachers. In general, they are more completely masters of their professions; are less dependent upon text books and lest. bound down to a stiff and dull routine. While I have known somo who have graduated at the Normal School to fail iu becoming successful teachers, the fault, however, seems not to have been somuch in the I struotion received as in the want of those natural qualifications that are so essential to a teacher's sucuess. I aay to all who purpose to continue in the business oí leacrung, aireña a jn orinal Kcnool. It more than paya the cost. Nothing save the endowuient of special genius can take the place oí it. The Normal School ainis to do away with empiricism by a thorough professional training. It seeks to train the intellect, the heart, the mannere, and to draw out the tact, the genius and energies that make a psrson "apt to teaoh." Nothing in my opinión would be more conducive to the best educational interesta of the State than a well sustained Normal School in eaoh Congressional district. KDUCATJONAL JOTJRÜÍALS. I consider thern of great usefulness and valué, as a means of promoting the cause ofeducation, in diswminating the most approved ideas and methods of teaching in pr..parinK teachers for the difficilt, and' practica] duties of thn sohool-room. 1 deemthemofso mnoh rorth, tlmt evidence of candidatt haviug ruad a school journal tbr at. I8t one year, i oungidered equivalent to an average (Undiug of ton pur ct.-nt ia their examinations. I linoerely trust that the teachers of this county will not impose upou me the humiliatiug task of reporting (ag I am cou1pelled to ihis yea.) that only forty-oue teachers who tanght the winter term, and thirty-seven teachers who taught the summer term in the rurul disfncts, ubsoribed for and read an educationa] iournul nal fioTTXTY SÜPKRtNTENDENCY. It has beoome a reoognized tact, that in all departments of lite, whereany respon sibility is involved, or any labor to beperformed, supervisión is most always indis pensablu. It is eneutial on the mu, in the manufactory, and i all depurtinenta ol governruent, whether ávil or military. All classes of peoj.Ie, in all oonditions of hfe, neod some controlling iniluenoo to guide them. ïo suppuse that a public interest of such vast importance ih tiiat. of the comnion schoolH of a county, wliose expenditures for school purposes alone amounted to $lü(i,768.(i6 during the lust school year, having such a vnriety of rteiailw in volved in its adniinistriitiniis, and ut tliu game time only to be made efliuiunt by unity ot' operation, and perfeot method and s;igaciou8 diligence of oversigbt, should be capable of being as well cared for by imposing the duties on a number of pers(,ii8 having other and pressing occuputions, and seldom with the proper kind of training for the performance of those dutie, as they can be by one oompetent executivo ofiBcer, who will give his whole thought and time to the vvork: is to set at naught all the lessons of expcrienoe and course of action that is conaidered indispensable in connection with all othor albura. The pupil must bu under the supervision of a teacher to keep him in the line of duty. And, to make sure that the teacher is doing his work faithfully, he.in turn must be uuder the supervisión of others ; who, agaiu, are under the eye of the public which has giveu thein their position. Every oue needa a controlliiig principie. With gome it is innate, -they are bom with the power of selt-coutrol ; with others the guiding element must be trom a sourco outside of their owfi ncliuation. If a teacher has self-coutrol, he very likely can control others ; and work out his problem of success; but if he has not, he will need to be under the guiding hand of others to make his requirements p'roductive of good ; if he i.s' waveriug betweeu hopo and foar- not knowmg whether ho is accomplishing the expeoted amouut of work or not, ho naods u hint from a supervising authority to iive him a knowledge of his true position. If the teacher is successful, he shonld be commended, that hf may work out greater success. If he is inefficiënt, he must be spurred on to duty, or dismissed. While the prima authority for this Dower (lihiimsí from the peoplo ; it is indispensable that thero be some intermedíate power to temper it to the peculiar nucessitius of the schools. This supervisión is as important as any other link in the ohain, - where a wpukness in one part endaugers tha whole. In advancing these as somo of the arguraent8 in favor of a coumfcy supervisión, I do not forget that the system has prevailed in the State for the last se ven years, and as adrninisterud, that it has come far short of eradicating all the evüs connnected with our public schools; that it has nol met the expectationa of its most zealous supporters ; and that many true friends of education look upon thu system unfavorably. I cannot but feel that while I have, with a few exceptions, received the hearty co-operation of both School Bords and Teachers, tha! in my labors I have but too poorly answered the requirements and demaiids wade at uy hands. I believe it pracfically and physioally impossible for any person alone, to promptly and efficiently meet the complex and multiftirious duties imposed in tbe supervisión of a district, numbering, as in this countv, 12. 891 children of school age, taught by a corps of 239 teachers, the school -rooms of whioh being senttered over an aiea of 720 square inüus. A superficial observer caniiot fail to see that to visit these schools but ouce in a year ; to careí'ully examine the teachers that are required to teach thein ; to provide for Teachers' Institutes and associ ations; to keep up the correspondeuce demanded by School Boards and teachers, with the making and correcting official reports, - would require at least all the available time of the year. How poor must that supervisión be wherethe schools are visited but once each year, whun each school ought to be visited not less than twice each term. In addressing a circular to the several School Boards of the Cnunty asking the question : " What is the public sentiment in your school district concerning the county superinturnienoy system, favorable or unfavorable 't" I must confess under the circuuistances iu which the law has been administered, that I was surprised that the system was so favorably received, only 17 out of the löö districts reported unfavorably. The fault is not in the system but in I the imperfections of the law creaüng it. Amend the law, by giving tha Superintendent oua or moro assistants, that he tnay be able toperform the labor imposed n pon him, and the law ia my opinión would be acceptable to the people. SALARY. The Board of Supervisors have generously allowud me three hundred days tor I my labor with &per diem of $4.50. While some of them have been prejudiced against the oounty superintendeucy 6ystein, in their magnanimity they havearisen above their prejudices, and have siiid : ' that whilo the system existed, no act of theirs' should iuipair iis usefulness by dealing with a ptnuriout hand to the Couuty Superintendent." THE COMPULSOHY SCHOOL LAW which has been in foree tor nearly three years, has evidently not met the sanguine expectations of its triends. Only 14 of the 156 School Boards in the County, report any increaso in the attendanco of their schools through its inüuence. No prosecutions, touiy knowledgc, have taken place under the law in the county, and yet the chief and effectual obsfacle to the success of our schools is almenteemn and truancy. No liberality on the part of the parents ; no excellency or zeal on the part ot teaoners couuterbalance these evils. They are incalculable, and whilc the cause exista they will be most suroly and pemiciouslyexeinplified. Tue whole school is maiined and crippled. Like the loss of a limb to the body so is tho absence of scholars to the schools. Tho I teacher is disheartened and depressed ; the scholars are interrüpted and retardad ; the course of study is brokeo np and destroyed, while to the traant scholar there comes a sure, aggravated and remediless punishment. He throwsavvay with wanton hand the brief, golden opportunitios of youth, thereby loading hiniself with the heavy burden of a lif-long regret. The extraordinary prevalence of this evil cannot be deuied. Nor can it be too much deplored. The fact that only i 957 children or seventy-seyen per cent. of the nuraber of school age have attended sonool any portion ot the ycar, and thut only sixty-eight per cent. of the numbor enrolled, or fifty-four per cent. of tho whole number in the couuty, madean average attendance of four months in the winter term, and only sixty-five per cent. of tho whole number for tho summer term, made an average attendance of three and a half months, calis for an mmediate and effectual reinedy with an uigency that must nut be disiuissed. It is a iad fact that the average attendance in the county has been less by one-third than it ought to have been. By what arithnietic eau we calcúlate the good robbed fVoru the future by this needless and culpable neglect V The spring of hfe wastes, its suiumer is without flowerg, and its autu.nn will be vaoant oí fruiu." For the time and money, talent and opport.mity, thus lavishd and wasted. we are all ot us reauonsible - ut how ghall t bis great ovil b remediod ? lliisxs a qaestion not eagily answered Maka tbe school room in 11 itsappointment, in all its studies una wodew of in itruoting in all the reltion ot teacher and pupila, so interesting. so p!eautand attraotive, that it aolonger repeUthe pupil but draws liim with a sweet, puvveiful oonstraint. Let the paternal authority be invoked, and fhe rtolve be made t,H executed by eaob parent, that nis child shall not be perwitted to throw away the orowniug privilege ot.his yoiith. If these tui, , I would suggest the following rnethod tor the considerador! of teiichers, as one woll oaloulated to bring both pannta and teuohers to their unaei apon this snbjeot. Put these who are habitually absent and tardy, all u.to one ola., regardleM of their grade, scholarship or size It they uso tt half dozen different book. just M well, cali it, ,f you please, the Juni ble Clase," and let it be underitood thvt uil irregulat soholnra are to go mto it On all occasions when uompany v.sit the school, letitbe announced as "the Juwble Class" Certainly parents who thus wrong their ohildren in detaiuïng theni from school, ought not to oouiplam oí such au arrangement. I would awo reitérate a snggestiun made in a former report : Tbat the interest on the priuiary school fund shall be annually apportioned among the several connties of tne State, t.hence apportioued to the several townships, not to the number of persons between tho age of fivo and twenty years, bnt to tho average number of pupiU in actual attendanee in the district school. Tí the apportioument were made on the average attendanee, would it not teach the people that it coste somethine m money to keop their children out of sohoo , and that every day they were in sonool they were earning nioney for the tax-payerv It would teaoh them too, that while the State had made ampie provisión for all, those only who appiwiated ïts nou endowment could beeotue its rei.ipicnta. TEACHERS' INSTITÜTES. Two institutes have been held in the oounty during the year, „ne at Ypsilanti the other at Chelsea, the first undcr the auspioes of the State, conducted by Hon. O. Hostord, the second under the County loachera Association, condnuted by its President, Prof. J. Eatabrook. A great degree of interest is feit by the teachers ot tho county in these meetings. The meeting at Chelsea, attended by 150 teachers reflected great credit upon its f resident, It was one of the most interastiiig and profitable of the kind ever iK-ld in the county; an inoreasing interest and cnthusiasm was maintained until lts close I consider theso meetings of great usefulness, and worth more, for the tune and inoney expended, than all other uieans ot instiuction within tlie reach of the majority ot' our teachers. In conclusión, I may add that, though soinetirnes discouragud for the wint of interest on the part of those for whom we ire laboring, I feel and know that the work of the past yvar has not heeu in vain ; that good has been accomplished ; that tho friends of eduoation in this county may press on, encouraged Dy the good results brought about in the past and the brightening prospecta spread out betore tliem in the future. We have no causo to become faint-hearted. May we labor on ; eupplying the youug with the best possible means of acquiring knowledge ; teaching them that an enlightened mind is the glory of tbeir nature the fountain af virtue ; the seat of domestic social, and benevolent affectiou ; the source of true happiness in the world, and the gcrm of immortality. Tü tllfi llllinnrnMQ fVSana ïn -.11 _ _ p " " .vd i Ltl Lienta UI the couuty, wbose abundant hospitality I have so often enjoyed ; to the school directora who have so frequontly honored me by thmr oonfldence ; to teachers from whoui I have received so many appropriute and timely tokens of regard, I offer my fervent gratitude, and hall evercherïsh vvith the fondest pleasure, the memory Of your devotiou, enthusiasru, and kindness. Topareuts, citizen, to all, I would say in the language of him we so greatly dehght to reverenc and honor : " As you pnze your own happiness, and the happiness of your chüdren ; as you love your country and your inheritance; the institutions transmitid from your fathers, aud would have them perpetuated to your children, cherish oarefully our systeui of public schools, to which we are more indebted than anything else, except its fostsr mother, the Gospel. It is the seeretof our general intel]irence and nminOn. the glory of our country ; the bulwark of our liberties, and the guarantee of our iuture prosperity. We can not valué it too highly, we cannot sustain it too faithfully." GEO. S. WHEELEE, County Superintendent of Schools.