XIII. THE MUTUAL RELATIONS OF THE COLLEGES AND ACADEMIES. By Prof. W. T. HEWITT, Cornell University. New York possesses in the University of the State an organized institution which by skillful administration may exert an effective influence on all secondary schools; by it they may be brought into such relations to higher learning as will give vigor, directness and unity to all subordinate instruction. The public schools and the colleges should not be parts of independent and divergent systems. The higher should condition the lower; influence from above should work downward through all the schools of the State, and advanced education should not be held in trammels by ineffective methods of teaching or organization in the subordinate schools. The Board of Regents constitutes a central authority by which the public schools are brought under direct supervision, such as does not exist in any other State. Different methods shape instruction in New England and the west, the character of which we shall discuss later. We assume that the aim of any educational system should reveal unity of purpose extending to all schools; the demands of the higher institutions should find their supplement in the lower, and the lower should afford the basis of all that is later developed in advanced instruction. The regents' examinations exert an influence extending to all our high schools and academies, an influence prevailingly beneficial to elevate and shape the character of the instruction in those schools. It remains to inquire whether everything is attained that is possible, and whether equal results are not achieved in other States without this system; whether there are not modifications and enlargements which may perfect a system already meritorious, but capable of higher results. This official supervision proceeding from a central bureau is exerted mainly by examinations. Papers equal in character are sent to the principals of the high schools and academies, and the division of a certain fund is based upon the number of scholars who pass successfully a set examination. The efforts of teachers are largely directed to prepare the greatest number of pupils for this examination. An element of possible danger has already been recognized in this theory; unless the papers issued by the secretary of the Board of Regents are scientific in their character, covering broadly the subject which is taught, teachers will fall into formalism and literalness in instruction, aiming not so much to impart a mastery of a given subject, as a technical training based upon questions which are expected, and which the experience of years may enable them to anticipate. This will be the case unless there is great freshness and originality in the papers which should embody the views of the most skillful educators, and develop every subject from the standpoint of the most scientific instruction. The central defect of this system is its lack of personality; formal papers, however excellent, based upon no distinctive text book and possibly apart from the general instruction, can give but an unsatisfying result; much and possibly essential features of the year's instruction will not be included; and pupils will strive with anxiety and uncertainty toward an indefinite goal. Only the utmost skill and wisdom can prevent these results in a large number of cases. My observation and my inquiries confirm this impression, and I think the above statement not unfairly characterizes the attitude of pupils who approach these examinations. The German government requires the course in prima, the last two years of the gymnasium to be taken entire by all students, "that the instruction in this highest class may not degenerate into a preparation for the examination, that the pupil may have the requisite time to come steadily and without overhurrying to the fullness of the measure of his powers and character, that he may be securely and thoroughly formed, instead of being bewildered and oppressed by a mass of information hastily heaped together." The great Wolf was accustomed to say, perverse studet qui examinibus studet, "He applies himself wrongly who applies himself for the sake of examinations." An official inspection of the instruction and work of every teacher and school by a competent educator would exert an additional impulse and guide which the mere formal character of the examination papers cannot effect. With this method I would compare the system which has sprung up througout the high schools of Michigan. The University of Michigan forms the crown of the public school system of the State. It is supported by a State tax and governed by regents elected by popular vote. Tuition is free to all students in the State; it is practically what the German universities are sometimes called, and the name that the Dutch universities still bear, the "high school", of the State. Instead of retaining the exclusive right to test the scholarship of candidates for admission as formerly, candidates are admitted without examination from schools whose curriculum of study has been approved by a committee of the faculty of the university. This committee, or some members of it, visits any high school or academy whose governing board or principal requests it. If the committee after inspecting the methods and character of the instruction and the results of the examinations is satisfied with the work, graduates are admitted to the university without examination, upon presenting the diploma of the school. If, by experience, it should be found that the diploma is issued to unworthy students, the university withdraws from that school the right of the tree admission of its graduates. In some cases high schools in large cities have been debarred from this honor for years, until their instruction has been improved. The result has been that high schools covet this privilege, and vie with each other in the thoroughness with which their students are fitted for the university, and a uniform, high standard of scholarship in the elementary schools is maintained I ascribe this result to the unifying of the requirements throughout the secondary schools, and to personal inspection by competent scholars of the work which is done in every school. President Angell in successive reports has stated that the university has suffered no loss from allowing the power of examination to pass to the high schools, but that the verdict of experience has shown that graduates admitted by diploma from approved schools have maintained a standing which justifies a continuation of the system. Cornell University has a similar standing committee which examines the courses of study in the high schools and academies which apply for the free admission of their pupils. Those who are familiar with the final examinations in the gymnasia of Germany will recognize that there is an approach here to conceding to our high schools the rights and privileges of the graduates of the gymnasia. The Abiturientenprüfungen admit to the university without further examination. The state regulation of instruction in the subordinate schools prescribing the number of hours which shall be devoted to the Latin, Greek, mathematics, history, the modern languages and religious instruction, makes a compact system possible, which cannot be applied in this country in the same way, according to the present law. The exertion of the influence of a central authority must be indirect, still permitting a large liberty to the school boards. To one who is familiar with the high standing of certain schools in New England, such as the Phillips Academies in Exeter, N. H., and Andover, Mass., the Boston Latin School and others, it is a matter of surprise that there are not more schools in New York, with its great population, of equal reputation. Harvard University has affected the character of the instruction in all the secondary schools of New England. President Eliot testifies that every advance in the requirements for admission to Harvard, has been met by a corresponding advance in the instruction in the secondary schools. Harvard by its reputation and character, has thus accomplished indirectly what the University of Michigan has accomplished by direct effort. There is a portion of President Eliot's last report, which may have a profound signification if the future shall confirm what seems to be a present tendency. Within the last twenty years there has been a gradual decline in the number of students admitted to Harvard University from the public schools, and an increasing percentage of students who come from endowed or private schools. In 1866, the number who entered Harvard from the public schools was thirty-one per cent. of the entire number; ten years later, in 1876, it had fallen to twenty-two and six-tenths per cent.; in 1885 it had increased to twenty-eight per cent. If we divide the period from 1866 to 1885 into five parts, as President Eliot has done in his report, the proportion is as follows: From 1866-69 the number was thirty per cent. From 1870-73 the number was thirty-three per cent. There is, however, a possible explanation of this phenomenon in the fact that a far larger number of the students of Harvard was drawn, twenty years ago, from established schools of the State of Massachusetts, while of recent years the number of admissions from other States has greatly increased. In 1865 the number of students from Massachusetts was seventy-one per cent, while in 1880 it was sixty-one and five tenths per cent; in 1865 the proportion of students from New England was eighty-one per cent, while now it is only sixtynine and five one hundredths per cent. If it should be shown that our public schools are becoming divorced from their normal position as seminaries for our colleges, it would indicate a divergence from their proper mission or an incapacity to keep pace with the demands of higher learning. An encouraging fact, however, which re-establishes our confidence in the scope of high school instruction, is shown by the statement that there is an increas ing number of high schools that prepare students for our best colleges. In the period from 1867-74, fifty-two public schools prepared students for Harvard College; from 1871-80 the number had risen to seventy-eight, and from 1876-85 the number had reached eighty-one, or an increase of fifty-six per cent. in about twenty years. If we test the results of the instruction in our high schools and academies by the evidence revealed in the examinations for admission to our various colleges, we shall find that there is much to be desired in the arrangement of studies and the quality of the instruction. I quote from the report of President Eliot of Harvard, where the facts regarding the attainments of students upon admission have been investigated with an accuracy and value surpassing any others with which I am acquainted. In prescribed subjects in 1885, six per cent. failed in Cæsar and Virgil; eight per cent. in Latin composition; six per cent. in Xenophon or the Greek reader; eleven per cent. in Greek sentences and nine per cent. in ancient history and geography; while twenty-seven per cent. failed in algebra; six per cent. in arithmetic; twenty-three per cent. in plane geometry; twenty-one per cent. in physics; fourteen per cent. in French or German, and fifteen per cent. in English composition. In elective subjects: Twenty-seven per cent. failed in trigonometry; twenty-two per cent. in solid geometry; fifty per cent. in physics and thirteen per cent. in chemistry or botany. These failures were in English examinations. The average percentage of failures in required studies from 1879 to 1884 was as follows: In Cæsar and Virgil, nine per cent.; in Latin, at sight and composition, six and six-tenths per cent.; in Xenophon or the Greek reader, twelve; in Greek sentences, sixteen; in ancient history and geography, thirteen; in arithmetic, twelve; in algebra, twenty-seven; in plane geometry, twenty-five and five tenths; in physics, fourteen; in English composition, sixteen; in French or German, seventeen and three tenths. These figures are significant; they indicate that a larger number failed in algebra and plane geometry than in the required Latin and Greek. If we turn to the more advanced elective studies offered for admission, we find some striking statistics. The average number of failures from 1879-84 was, in Cicero, Virgil and Ovid, about thirteen; in Latin, at sight and composition, twenty-two; in Herodotus, thirteen; Greek composition, twenty-three; Iliad, ten and five tenths; in trigonometry, thirty-six; in solid geometry, thirty-five; in physics, twenty-nine and five tenths; in chemistry or botany, sixteen and five-tenths per cent. If we compare the initial with the final year of this series, 1879 with 1884, we find a manifest advance, which indicates the gradual improvement of the preparatory schools in their preparation for college. These numbers may be taken as fairly representing the character of the preparation of students in one of our leading colleges. The records of the mathematical faculty of Cornell University establish the same general fact, and a careful study of the statistics of other institutions would undoubtedly confirm this result. They show that the increased demands which were made upon the preparatory schools have been met, and how successful a systematic effort to elevate the examinations and the standard of instruction in the public schools of New England has proved. They show further that the defects in preparation are greater in English studies and in mathematics than in Latin and Greek. A large part of these studies are pursued previous to the study of the classics, and hence the deficiencies in preparation are directly due to our public schools. These subjects are few in number, but they are the essential subjects, whether required as preliminary to a classical or a scientific course in college. If these leading English studies are not taught successfully in our public schools, it becomes a grave question how the time of the pupil has been occupied. In place of disciplinary studies a variety of light and disconnected branches pur |