pecially upon the minds of parents and guardians, on whose coöperation, in the last resort, the success or failure of the whole institution depends? How can the committees, for the current year, better perform their high and responsible duties than by spreading light and wisdom in the paths of their constituents? How, more successfully, can they render all their other labors, at once so little burdensome and so vigorously effective ?

An examination of the present reports and aggregates will show that a grand advance was made, during the last, over the preceding year, in regard to all the principal elements which make up the prosperity of the schools, especially in the important item of attendance. It remains to be seen whether, during the current year, our course shall be onward or retrograde.

Boston, Sept. 1, 1841.

HORACE MANN,

Secretary of the Board of Education.

NOTE. As a specimen of the minuteness and detail with which some of the reports were prepared, I subjoin one of them at length, omitting all such names and references as would indicate its origin. The impartial and dispassionate spirit in which the circumstances of an unfortunate difficulty are related and explained at the close, can only be sufficiently commended by being universally imitated.

and Miss

"DISTRICT NO. 1. First Department,—Summer Term. Miss Teachers. Length of school, 10 weeks. Whole number of scholars, 36; average attendance, 26; loss, 10-36,—more than 1. Wages of teachers, $6 00 per month, and board, $600. 33 scholars studied orthography and reading; 21, writing; 8, English grammar, and 33, geography and arithmetic. Order and system were observed,-instruction in the several branches judiciously imparted, and an improvement, creditable to teacher and scholars, was made. Some of the parents visited the school at its close, but not so many as were desired or expected.

Teacher. Length of

"Second Department,-Summer and Winter Terms. Miss school, summer term, 11 weeks. Whole number of scholars, 34; average attendance, 31; loss, 3-34. Teacher's wages, $7 00 per month. Length of school, winter term, 103 weeks. Whole number of scholars, 47; average attendance, 44; loss, 3-47 only. Teacher's board was $600 per month. During the summer term, 32 studied orthography and reading; 16, geography and arithmetic. The winter term, 47 studied orthography and reading; 6, writing, and 40, geography and arithmetic. This school was very thoroughly instructed in the above branches and in defining words; and, although more liberty was allowed to some of the larger boys than was thought beneficial to them, yet the order, at the closing examination, was very good and the improvement highly commendable. In defining, the several classes excelled.

"Third Department,-Summer and Winter Terms. Miss

Teacher. Length of

these schools, 11 weeks each. Wages of teacher, per month, summer term, $4 00; board, $600. Winter term, wages, $5 00, and board, $6 00. Summer term, whole number of scholars, 34; average attendance, 26; loss, 8-34. Winter term, whole number of scholars,

33; average attendance, 27; loss, 6-33. All the scholars studied orthography and reading, and they made good progress. These schools are taught systematically in these branches, and the little scholars' behavior and manners were especially attended to. The teacher evinced a peculiar tact in her government and discipline, which, in the opinion of the member of the committee who had the charge of the school, will, one day, raise her to eminence as a teacher of youth.

"First Department,- Winter Term. Teacher. Length of school, 11 weeks. Whole number of scholars, 59; average attendance, 48 nearly. Wages of teacher, $20 00 per month. Board, $10 00 per month. Number of scholars at first examination, 56; at the closing examination, 32. 57 scholars studied orthography and reading; 29, writing; 15, geography; 42, English grammar; 50, arithmetic ; &, algebra; 23, philosophy. Part of the scholars in this school made good improvement in their studies, and the teacher gave good evidence of tact and ability in teaching, especially the higher branches; while in orthography and defining, the exactness and thoroughness were hardly satisfactory. Insubordination to reasonable requirements, in some of the larger scholars, was highly disreputable to them, painful to the teacher and committee, and detrimental to the whole school. The seats in the school room have suffered severely by the unwise application of knives, during this and the previous terms,—which practice imperiously demands reform. The floor, windows and benches gave evidence, at the examination, of industrious neatness, not to be passed over in silence.

"DISTRICT No. 4. Summer Term. Miss Teacher. Length of school, 12 weeks. Whole number of scholars, 48; average attendance, 33 5-9. Wages of teacher per month, $6 00; board, $500. Loss in the school a little more than 14-48ths. 37 studied orthography and reading; 13, writing; 19, geography; 1, English grammar, and 22, arithmetic. The teacher was wholly devoted to her work, and, although the attendance of her scholars was not so constant as she most heartily desired, still she was very successful in advancing them in their several studies, and in maintaining good order. She is worthy of her hire.

"DISTRICT No. 5. Winter Term. Mr. Teacher. Length of this school, 11 weeks. Whole number of scholars, 61; average attendance on the school, 53; loss only 7-61. Wages of teacher per month, $20 00; board, $8 00. 50 scholars studied orthography and reading; 32, writing; 25, geography; 9, English grammar; 26, arithmetic ; 7, History of the U. S., and 5, Philosophy. This school was taught with exactness and thoroughly, so far as the scholars advanced in the several studies, with good illustrations on the black-board and otherwise; and the teacher gave full evidence that he had been instructed in the Common Schools of Massachusetts. The order was excellent at every visitation of the committee. Particular attention was bestowed upon reading and defining. A large number of the parents and others attended the last examination, which animated and cheered the teacher and scholars, as well as the committee. Their example is worthy of imitation.

"Summer Term. Teacher, Miss

The school was under the superintendence of Rev. Mr. but he has furnished no account of it. It was visited once or twice by other members of the committee, and their impressions of the order, discipline and advancement of the school are favorable. The closing examination was very satisfactory. "DISTRICT No. 2. Summer Term. Under the tuition of Miss This school made good and uniform progress in all branches. The order was pretty good, and the final examination satisfactory to the committee. Number of scholars, 32; average attendance, 28. Length of school, 10 weeks.

"Winter Term. Mr.. Teacher. Number of scholars, 55; average attendance, 44; loss by absence, 1-5. Under the care of Mr. -, very excellent improvement was made in all branches except defining. This, by mistake on the part of —, had been neglected by all except in the first class. The order and discipline during the term had been strict and exact; but, at the closing examination, for some reason unknown to the

committee, the scholars were a little noisy. In every other respect, the school met the entire approbation of your committee. The proficiency made by the scholars in their studies, and the method of teaching and managing the school, are worthy of high approbation both for scholars and teacher. The committee were particularly pleased with the discipline of the school, the method of teaching grammar, the improvement in writing, and the readiness with which sums in arithmetic and algebra were solved and explained on the blackboard.

"DISTRICT NO. 3. Summer Term. Length of school, 12 weeks. Number of scholars, 28; average attendance, 22; loss by absence, nearly. This school was under the care of Miss The order maintained during the term, and the improvement manifested at the closing examination, showed Miss to be a good and efficient teacher. She took great pains in teaching reading, spelling and defining, and arithmetic was taught with accuracy. In geography the classes attempted to go over too much ground to be very thorough. On the whole, the success of the teacher's efforts and the final examination were highly commendable.

"Winter Term. During the winter the school was taught by -. Whole number of scholars, 38; average attendance, 32. Length of school, 11 weeks,-2 weeks' private school, at the beginning of the term, and 9 weeks public. The order and discipline during the term were good, but not strict. Reading, spelling and defining were taught with care and good success. The improvement in these branches was satisfactory. In geography, the classes recited with the ordinary degree of accuracy and promptness. The same may be said of the classes in grammar. It is worthy of remark that too few scholars, considering their ages, attend to this branch of learning. A much greater number might study grammar with advantage. At the examination, scholars were called upon to solve sums and explain the principles in the fundamental rules, fractions, interest, square and cube root, and most of them did this with the ordinary degree of accuracy and clearness. In Colburn's Arithmetic, the first class, fifteen in number, exhibited an intimate knowledge of the principles of the book, but it should be remarked that the whole class had studied the book thoroughly before. The second and third classes in Colburn, by their manner of reciting, showed that they had not been taught with exactness. In performing sums, the scholars passed over important steps in the process, and failed in explaining the principles on which the process is founded. In writing, Mr. gave extra lessons in the evening,

and many of the writers made good proficiency in the art. It should be borne in mind that this has been one of the most forward schools in town; but, though it is still a good and forward school, it has not this winter, in the opinion of your committee, maintained its former high standard. One instance of insubordination was noticed at the examination, which was alike unpleasant to the spectators and committee, painful to the teacher, and disgraceful to the scholar. Such a case of obstinacy should meet the frown of every friend of good order, and calls loudly for correction. Such an example of defiance to reasonable requirements is highly pernicious to the school, and should not be passed over in silence by the committee, or without action by the district.

"VILLAGE SCHOOL.

superintendence of Mr.

Teacher. During the summer, this school was under the who is now out of town, and therefore a full report of it cannot be given. At the final examination, it was visited by one of the committee, and, in his opinion, the school appeared to have done well. Whole number of scholars, 47; average attendance, 34. Length of school, 13 weeks. During the winter term, the school was larger, on an average, than it has been heretofore. Whole number of scholars, 47; average attendance, 40. The length of the school, 8 weeks. Miss -'s success, this term,

In

was not equal to that which has usually attended her efforts at teaching. The improvement was good, but not so great as heretofore, probably owing to the shortness of the term reading, spelling and defining, the scholars appeared well at the examination. In arithmetic, geography and history, they were not so thorough and accurate as they would have

B

been, could they have had time to review their studies. The order of the school was not very good, though not particularly censurable.

"DISTRICT No. 4.

Winter Term.

Teacher. Length of school, 12 weeks.

Whole number of scholars, 68; average attendance, 56; loss by absence, nearly 1-6. Credit should be awarded to Mr. for honest and persevering efforts to aid the schol

ars in attaining knowledge. But his efforts signally failed of success. He failed in maintaining good order; failed in capacity for communicating knowledge. He was too young, too diffident, too inexperienced, and apparently too little acquainted with the Common Schools in this State to be able to manage and instruct so large a school with success. "DISTRICT No. 6. Summer Term. Taught by Miss Whole number of scholars who attended the school, 60; average attendance, 47. A large proportion of the scholars were young, though only four were under four years of age. The teacher manifested greater skill in instructing than in governing her scholars. In order, there was some deficiency; but the progress of the scholars, in the several branches which they pursued, was quite satisfactory. The teacher, as it appeared to the committee, had uncommon skill in imparting instruction with simplicity, clearness and accuracy; and her mild and interesting deportment secured the affection of her pupils.

"Winter Term-Senior Department. Taught by

Whole number of scholars,

38; average attendance, 35. The average attendance is unusually good, it falling but three below the whole number that attended during the term,—a fact that shows that the scholars were interested in the school. The discipline and management of the school were of a high order; the mode of imparting knowledge was simple and attractive, and the improvement of the scholars very satisfactory. Twelve of the older scholars attended to Natural Philosophy; and, at the examination, they appeared to understand perfectly such parts of the science as they were questioned upon. The writing-books evinced uncommon neatness and good proficiency.

2

"Junior Department. Whole number of scholars, 29; average attendance, 26. Commenced and taught successfully, the first four or five weeks, by Miss when her health failed, and Miss was engaged to take charge of the school. The improvement under each teacher was observable and satisfactory to the committee. Greater firmness in governing the school would have been desirable.

"DISTRICT No. 7. Summer Term. Taught by Miss

Whole number of schol

ars, 24 average attendance, 18; one fourth less than the whole number. The teacher appeared to have force and energy of character, and a talent for training her pupils to habits of study and despatch in business; and the committee are satisfied with the improvement which the scholars made.

"Winter Term. Taught by

Whole number of scholars, 27; average attendance, 22. Some of the scholars made improvement in reading and in most of the branches pursued; but, as a whole, your committee could see but very little improvement indeed. "DISTRICT No. 8. Summer Term. Teacher, Miss Whole number of scholars, 47; average attendance, 37. This school was under the care of the Rev. Mr. who has since left town and has furnished no report of it. It was visited during the term by another member of the committee, and his impressions are, that, on the whole, the school was under pretty good management, and the improvement respectable.

"Winter Term. Under the care of Whole number of scholars, 60; average attendance, 51. It is worthy of remark that nineteen scholars were not tardy during the winter, and eleven were tardy only once or twice. If the example of these scholars was imitated by all our schools, the effect would be good. The discipline of this school was firm and good, and the improvement reputable to teacher and scholars, and satisfactory to the committee. What was taught was taught thoroughly. The regulations of the committee in respect to defining words, expressing the sentiment of what they read in their

own language, and the use of the black-board in teaching geography and arithmetic, were almost literally regarded,— -more so than we find in most of our schools.

"DISTRICT No. 9. Taught by MissWhole number of scholars, 14; average attendance, 12. The school was skilfully and successfully taught; the order was good and the improvement satisfactory to the committee, and, it is presumed, to the parents, all of whom, except one, were present at the final examination, to witness the attainments which their children had made. The writing-books were neat, and evinced care and proficiency.

"GENERAL REPORT. As erroneous reports of the doings of the committee, in relation to the commencement of the winter school in District No., have gone abroad, we consider it our duty to allude to the subject at this time. The circumstances were as follows. Saturday after Thanksgiving, appeared before the committee as the person engaged to teach the school. Being an entire stranger to us all, and as his personal appearance was rather prepossessing than otherwise, the committee could not have been prejudiced against him. The examination commenced as usual with reading, spelling, defining, and English grammar. He sustained himself well in these branches; but when we came to Colburn's Arithmetic, (First Lessons,) there was an entire failure,—greater than we had ever before witnessed. The committee were now satisfied that they could not give him a certificate, however well he might appear in other branches; and, as they were fatigued, it being ten o'clock in the evening, and they had been in session since one o'clock, without adjourning for tea, they did not examine him in the remaining branches, but told him they would do it as soon as he could sustain himself in Colburn's Arithmetic. Tuesday following, Mr. commenced his school with the advice of the district, or of certain individuals in the district, and the committee were invited to visit it. It was urged as a reason why they should do so, that the effect on the scholars would be good, and they would not know but the teacher had been regularly approved. But the committee thought it decidedly improper to visit the school in such circumstances, and accordingly they did not.

"At the end of nearly two weeks, Mr. came before the committee the second time for examination, and sustained himself pretty well, except in geography. In this branch there was a very great failure,-not a failure in answering minute questions, for such questions were not put to him, but in answering the most general questions; such as the boundaries of an adjoining State, the location of our largest cities, the name and direction of our largest rivers and mountains,—whether China was in the eastern or western part of Asia, &c. &c. Such ignorance of geography perfectly astonished us, when we considered that he was a member of a reputable College in our own State, and a candidate for teaching a district school.

be approved? We all

"The question now came before the committee, shall Mr. felt that he was not qualified to teach geography successfully, and if we had decided according to the merits of his examination, as the law made it our duty to do, and as the committee would do in another similar case, he would have been unanimously rejected. But the subject presented itself in another light. Mr. had been in his school two weeks.

We had reason to believe that he had gained the affections of a portion of the scholars and parents. If he was rejected, then it might cause unpleasant feelings, great excitement, and, perhaps, destroy the school for the winter. In these circumstances the committee decided to give him a certificate, on condition that he should study the lessons in geography before he heard the classes recite them.

"But it has been reported in town that the committee injured Mr. -'s moral character, by saying that he 'imposed upon them,' 'intended to deceive them,' &c. &c. As a committee, we utterly deny having said any such thing. As individuals, two of us, at least, can affirm that we have said nothing on which such a construction can be fairly put. And whatever the third one has said was predicated on the belief that a correct list of the books, in which he would be examined, had been transmitted to him, and on what Mr.

.him