XXXIII. Table of Towns where Institutes, etc.

695 institutes, from 1846 to 1899 inclusive.

When organized.

THE NORMAL SCHOOLS.

The following list gives all the normal

schools of the State in the order of their opening:

Development of the Normal Schools. It was at the June and September examinations in 1896 that candidates for admission to the State normal schools were required, for the first time, to be graduates of high schools, or to have received an equivalent training, and to pass an examination in high school subjects. For the last ten years of the old policy the average number of admissions to all classes, entering and higher, excluding those to the Normal Art School, was 420; for the four years of the new policy, 615,- a gain of 46 per cent. a gain of 46 per cent. But this statement does not bring out the full measure of the gain, since the first year of the new policy showed a loss of 31 in the number of admissions, as compared with the average for the preceding ten years, a loss that was the natural and not unexpected result of so marked a raising of the admission standard. It was not until the second year that the tide turned. The average number of admissions for the second and subsequent years, the Normal Art School still excluded, was 690,- a gain of 64 per cent.

over the last ten years of the old policy and of 79 per cent. over the first year of the new. The following statement shows the

data on which the percentages are based :

* Whole number of different pupils during the year 1896-97.

If increase in numbers can be trusted as an indication of the hold of the normal schools upon the respect and confidence of the public, there can be no question about the increasing strength of that hold.

Comments on Table XXXIV. — The table gives admission, attendance and other facts relating to the several normal schools. It shows that there are 110 teachers in the normal schools and 85 in the model and practice schools connected with them, making a total of 195. Most of the teachers in the model and practice schools are paid regular salaries by the towns and cities whose schools are used for normal school purposes, and an additional sum each by the State. The object, of course, is to command as competent a class of teachers as possible. The number of graduates was 517, the largest in the history of the schools; the next largest number was 341, in 1898; the next, 334, in 1897; and the next, 307, in 1896. The membership Dec. 1, 1899, was 1,624,- also the largest in the history of the schools.

Examinations for Admission to the Normal Schools. — The questions used at the June and September examinations for admission to the normal schools are printed in the Appendix. The aim of the examination is to get some trustworthy indication of the candidate's full power and promise. It is not, therefore, his ability to attain a certain percentage of correct answers in response to set questions that determines fully his fitness. There is his personality to be thought of as well, and the record he has made for himself in the lower schools, and such evidence of prowess as he can furnish outside of the studies. on which he is tested in writing. The examination, therefore, considers the candidate from the following points of view :

1. From that of his scholarly power and attainments, so far as they can be judged by a written test.

2. From that of his personality, so far as that can be judged in a personal interview.

3. From that of his previous school record, so far as that may be brought out by the testimony of his teachers.

To

Scholarly Power and Attainments of the Candidate. get some idea of the candidate's power and attainments he is asked to write answers to a few questions in branches of study definitely specified. There is no attempt under any subject to make the question cover much of its territory. The point is not to convict the candidate of ignorance, but to favor him in exploiting his intelligence. Why should he not have as fair a chance as the writer or speaker who deals with what he knows? As a matter of fact, however, he cannot have so fair a chance as either of these, for he must respect certain time limits during his examination; he cannot consult books of reference; he cannot personally confer with authorities on points of difficulty; he cannot put his work aside for recuperation, and return to it the next day or the next week with new light and enthusiasm. He should at least have the advantage of a familiar subject, for it is then, and then only, that he is free to show his power in the ordering and arranging of matter and his skill in expressing it acceptably. In each study, therefore, the candidate is offered a choice of several topics or questions. Whatever the topic chosen, it usually lends itself to the exhibition of sustained power.

What are the candidate's resources under the topic?