INCE the beginning of the World War there has been a great awakening of interest in commercial education. This has been especially evident in the secondary schools, where more drastic changes have been made in the last seven years in courses of study than in all the preceding years of its history. Before this time, commercial education was really an experiment, regarded by many as an academic preparation instead of an active equipment for entrance into business life. So great has been the progress in broadening the courses of study to fit the needs of increasing numbers of boys and girls, that today we may look forward with great confidence to a field of usefulness almost undreamed of at the beginning

of the war.

The United States is at the present time an industrial and commercial nation engaging on a large scale in foreign commerce. The boys and girls of today will be the men and women of tomorrow, who will carry on this world trade, and develop and rebuild those countries whose industrial progress will date from the re-establishment of peace. Careful training is without question necessary if these young people are to be prepared to take up this great task.

According to a report of the Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education, appointed by the National Education Association, there were in 1919, half a million young people pursuing secondary commercial studies in the United States; and more than one-fourth of all the pupils attending secondary schools are taking commercial studies. The number of pupils taking commercial education courses has grown out of all proportion to the increase in population or the total increase in attendance on secondary schools.

It was not until about 1880 that the public high schools offered courses in commercial education. Up to this time private schools, conducted mainly for profit, and with but limited scope for instruction, afforded the only means of a commercial education. These private schools grew out of schools of penmanship, followed by bookkeeping, commercial arithmetic, spelling, letter-writing, and business English. Then came the improvement of the typewriter, and typewriting and stenography were added to the branches of commercial education. These two branches have perhaps received undue emphasis because of the material results from which the young student could profit.

At first the tendency of the high schools was to duplicate the instruction of the private schools; but as the colleges and universities gradually established commercial schools, and the European countries exerted an influence more liberal and scholastic, the secondary school curricula were reorganized to fit the needs of the young man entering business life.

Up to the present time commercial education has met the business needs chiefly by training stenographers and bookkeepers. This was regarded for a long time as its full obligation. Now, however, the opportunity for a broader education is demanded by business; and stenography, typewriting, and bookkeeping are but elements in commercial training. To these are added other professional studies such as salesmanship, business law, business customs, economics, commercial geography, accountancy, commercial correspondence, and business organization.

The aim of secondary commercial educa

tion today is to equip young people to meet successfully the demands of business and to fit them for useful citizenship. These young people entering business life are entitled to an education which will give them a liberal breadth of view, an ability to adapt themselves to business life, and at the same time prepare them for some definite line of business.

More than this, there should be furnished a background for an appreciation of the finer things of life through the study of music, art, and literature. There must be a special training for business, but the commercial curriculum should be broad enough to prepare students for living the larger life of culture and service in addition to giving them the capacity to earn a livelihood by doing at least one kind of work well. A combination of liberal and practical elements is possible by including in secondary commercial education many academic subjects; and much of the work in English, history, science, and mathematics may have a commercial interpretation and application.

The demand for the single type of workerstenographer-typist-is so great that the secondary schools would be kept busy preparing pupils to do this work. But the varying needs of industry justify a larger program, which will train young men and women to do the specific things that will further commercial transactions of all kinds. In the meantime each pupil should be given as broad a training as possible for citizenship, health, and recreation.

4. Evening schools for workers beyond the day-school age, the aim of which is to improve the condition of their present employment and fit them for promotion.

A high school of commerce such as the Wilkins High School of Commerce in Detroit, offers a four-years' course as a preparation for business. A general high-school education is combined with a training in purely commercial subjects, beginning in the first year with special attention to business English, penmanship, and elementary bookkeeping.

Four years are necessary to complete the course, but pupils unable to continue in school are given as much practical training as their ages will permit up to the time they leave. At the same time the work is so planned that each term adds valuable knowledge and training.

The object of this school is to give intensive and individual training in commercial subjects, under conditions as similar as possible to those in business offices. To accomplish this, modern office machines, such as the mimeograph, adding and bookkeeping machine, billing and calculating machine, dictaphone or ediphone, and other labor saving devices are used, thus enabling a pupil to enter an office with the confidence that he will be able to do the work assigned.

1. The specialized high school of commerce, organized specifically for training young people for business pursuits.

2. Curricula for commercial training in academic high schools where pupils may elect under the direction of school authorities, certain commercial studies.

3. Continuation classes for those who discontinue regular school attendance before completing the high-school course.

In a purely commercial high school there. is an opportunity for more elasticity in the arrangement of the student's course of study. This tends to bring about a high degree of perfection. There is an absence of emphasis placed upon the study of languages, science, and advanced mathematics, which add a doubtful material value to the young pupil as he enters business.

Eighty per cent of our young people who go into business are employed in houses demanding training that is to be found chiefly in a commercial school. There seems good reason for the existence of commercial high schools when these 80% may secure this training in their high-school courses rather than at private expense. If it is justifiable to maintain classical high schools for the instruction of the small percentage who go to college, or the technical high schools for those who go into industry, it is much more justifiable to provide for the larger numbers who need commercial training. We do not question the reason for separate schools of theology, medicine, law, dentistry, and business administration in connection with our universities. No one would think it possible to combine these separate schools under one faculty. On the contrary, he would say that one should have a faculty selected for the particular purpose of that school, and that each school should have an atmosphere peculiarly its own.

The commercial high school aims to furnish a good cultural education equivalent to that offered by an English high school. It should meet the needs of the community for young men and women trained along commercial lines, i. e., it should furnish competent stenographers, bookkeepers, and general office workers for the business houses of the city. It should so plan its work that pupils who wish to go further and become expert accountants, for example, should find that the work of the school is adequate as a foundation. This includes admittance to higher institutions such as colleges, classes of business administration, and our state universities.

It should make its work so broad and thorough that its graduates will not be confined to bookkeeping and stenographic work alone, but will be able to build business success along commercial lines upon work done in school. For example, they should be found in the ranks of bankers, brokers, merchants, and business executives throughout the land.

As a large proportion of boys and girls do not remain in school to complete a fouryear commercial course, there has grown up a demand in the secondary schools for courses shorter than the four-year course. All pupils are encouraged to complete the longer courses, but because of reasons, good or bad, often economic conditions in the home, they drop out at the end of the first, second, or third years.

Each year's course aims to suit the age of the pupil, to fit him for some definite work, and to lay a foundation for more advanced training in continuation or evening schools. At the end of two or three years the pupil is given a certificate covering the work he has done. He is entitled, even with this limited training, to the best possible preparation for employment and general education.

The year's work also aims to have a definite relationship to something which is to follow. At the end of the ninth year the pupil has had subjects that will train him for the best service if he must leave at the end of this year; at the end of the tenth year his training has been extended to a point where he is better prepared for a clerical position. After the eleventh and twelfth years he is fitted for the best position for which a highschool education can equip him. In this way provision is. made for the needs of all classes of students, including those. who are able to remain the full four years, and those who can remain in school only one, two, or three years. At the same time those students who enter. 'same time those pupils who enter school' with the expectation of remaining only one or two years may, if conditions permit, continue until the end of the course.

At the Wilkins High School of Commerce a large percentage of pupils are doing part-time work in the stores and business houses. There are many merchants in need of additional help on Saturdays, during the Christmas and Easter holidays, and hours after school.

This practice is encouraged by the school for several reasons:

First, it holds in school for a longer period, boys and girls who will profit by the longer course.

Second, better financial employment is secured upon the completion of a full course than when the entire time was devoted to school work.

Third, these pupils are more studious and thorough in their work, as they feel their responsibility both to their employer and their teachers.

In order to carry on successfully a parttime work program there must be a close co-operation between the employer and the school. Follow-up work, with a personal interest in the student both on the part of the employer and the head of the school is highly beneficial. In many cases the students, after graduation, can count on being taken as permanent employees, and can then advance more rapidly because of a greater appreciation of the relation between the business and their training.

Some business experience that helps a pupil upon graduation to secure a satisfactory position is often afforded by the school itself through the clerical work of the principal's office and the heads of departments. This is not of equal value to the business office, but it forms a worthy substitute for part-time work.

As early as possible in a commercial course the boy or girl should be helped to decide upon the definite line of work he is to pursue. The teacher has an opportunity here to be of valuable service. Experience teaches that there is far more danger in failing to choose a vocation early than there is upon making a wrong choice. If a young pupil will seriously choose a vocation and make a thorough preparation for it, it is reasonable to expect that under favorable conditions he may be sure of success.

the ages of thirteen and eighteen who drop out of school with the most elementary education, the continuation and evening schools are open for instruction in commercial education. Care is taken. that these pupils choose courses where their educational background will justify success. They are advised to concentrate their efforts only upon one or two subjects. Courses in an industrial center like Detroit are offered in practically every line for which there is a demand.

Business educators the country over are beginning to demand a standardization that will place commercial education in secondary schools upon a sound and permanent basis. Commercial teachers who in the past have been drawn largely from the private schools, and have often been lacking in pedagogical and educational training now have the same requirements placed upon them as other teachers. Specialized courses have been established in the universities and colleges for the training of commercial teachers and provision is being made for the supervision of teachers and teachertraining facilities.

Co-operation of state and nation, together with local forces, will help in bringing about uniform standards. Means will thus be contributed to defray the expense of the same kind of supervision that exists in the other departments.

A closer co-operation between business men and commercial educators will be a positive factor in unifying commercial courses.

The Wilkins High School of Commerce is working to this end, learning first the local needs of the men employing commercial graduates and then providing training to meet those needs. To fit the young man or young woman into the kind of position for which he is best suited and then not to lose sight of that pupil until his success is assured, is one of the most important phases in the commercial training of our

PROFESSIONAL READING FOR DETROIT

TEACHERS.

The Board of Education Library at 1354 Broadway contains a valuable collection of books, monographs, and journals for the use of the teachers in the Detroit public schools. The Board of Education, in establishing this library, had in mind the exacting nature of the duties required of teachers, and the demands made upon them for authentic information related to their professional in

terests.

It was thought best to develop the library gradually along lines suggested by the teachers in order that it might meet first of all the immediate needs of classroom and administrative work. Practically every organization, however, of any consequence in the country, of interest to teachers, is now sending its documents and reports to the library. The collection contains much important material ranging from the most scientific treatise to professional articles written in popular style. The teacher who spends even a few minutes in the library during the month, reading judiciously even in the most casual way, may become acquainted with what is going on in the educational world. Furthermore, a teacher working intensively on school problems may ferret out in the library the precise help required in the solution of difficulties. To this teacher, the findings of others who have labored over the same or similar problems are accessible. All teachers may come into the library in the expectation of finding what they need in the way of books and documents or of having them supplied in due time.

Perhaps this editorial will serve as a cue to teachers who have not already visited the library at 1354 Broadway.

C. C. C.

AN EDITORIAL FROM THE DETROIT NEWS.

The following editorial from the Detroit News will be read with gratification by all

Detroit teachers. In the first place, this editorial is only one of many of the kind, that have appeared recently in Detroit papers. One does not have to seek far for the benefits that will result from such a constructive attitude on the part of the press. Furthermore, it is gratifying to know that progress is being made by the schools in vitalizing the courses of study. There could be no stronger evidence of the fact that the interest and activities of school life are becoming more and more adapted to the interests and activities of the community, making in consequence a much easier transition for the young people going from the schools into industrial, commercial, or domestic life.

CITIZENS IN THE MAKING

It is not difficult for those who are familiar with biographies of great men to recall the names of some who late in life gave themselves over to intellectual pursuits. There is a story of how one man at the age of sixty years took up the study of Greek; and of how another began the study of biology only after he had passed the half-century mark in life. We have been told of men who became famous in the world of letters, although some of them had not written a line until they were well along in middle life; and of one it is even said that he did not write for publication until he was sixty years old.

But these cases are sufficiently rare to convince most of us that if we are going to learn anything it is better to begin when we are young. What the individual has learned by the time he is twenty is altogether likely to be the deciding factor in what he is to know after he is twenty; it will be not all he will know, but it will color his views and give him definite opinions on which to build.

For this reason it is gratifying to see and hear what anyone might have seen and heard yesterday morning at several of the city's high schools-a debate on a question the importance of which none can deny. Admittedly it is essential that the voters of this country should interest themselves in questions touching the solution of our capital-labor problem. If the frequency with which this question comes to the front is any indication of importance, we may well hold that there are few problems that touch us all more intimately. But when in a debate on the question as to whether the adjustment of disputes between employers and employes should be made a part of the administration of justice, five boys and one girl can be sufficiently sincere and interesting to hold several hundred of thei classmates in close attention, it must be admitted that we have brought something vital into the school. If it were merely the added ability in speaking acquired by these young people, the gain would be enough. But in addition there are brought to the attention of hundreds of the high-school students some of the fundamental facts and principles involved in the discussion of the greatest of our social problems. This is significant. It opens avenues for thought; it lays the foundation for an active interest in public affairs at just the time when such foundation is best laid.

The boy and girl who at the high-school age have become familiar with what is involved in such problems, who can talk about them as readily as these debaters did, and who can listen as attentively as this audience did, are to be congratulated. These young men and women will not be lacking in citizenship when their time

comes.