UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII Perhaps the final oral examination is a unique aspect of the set-up in Hawaii. This examination is held once a year during the Christmas holidays. Eligible candidates are notified in the fall of the year. A bibliography of suitable reading material is provided. The examination itself is conducted by a committee of five-the Deputy Superintendent, a supervising principal, a secondary school principal, and elementary school principal, the Dean of Teachers College. Each of the above is allowed from 15 to 20 minutes; each examines the candidate in one of the assigned areas. (See I-4.) In addition to an examination of factual information and general professional understanding an additional opportunity is afforded for "sizing up" the prospective principal in terms of personal traits and characteristics. Ordinarily a half or more of those examined are approved. The approved list is referred to the Board of Education as First, Second, or Third choice candidates for administrative appointment. KANSAS STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE Each student is given an objective professional test on entrance to the graduate department with a view to discovering weaknesses in his undergraduate program and to furnishing data for guidance in planning his program. A conference is held with each student for the purpose of helping him work out a well-integrated program adapted to his individual needs, interests, and objectives. Students not interested particularly in research are permitted to graduate under Option II which provides for the substitution of a (2 hours credit) paper on a practical professional subject for the (4 hours credit) thesis required under Option I. Thirty-two hours are required under Option II. UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA One of the activities of the University of Minnesota which represents a valuable contribution in the field of education for school administrators is the annual Schoolmen's Week . . . bringing to the University each year at least two outstanding men in the field of school administration who can present both the practical and research points of view. This has been a very valuable contribution to the continued training of men in the field. It has kept the men very much alive to current problems in school administration and has served also to keep them in touch with the studies going on at the University of Minnesota. Another activity which proved valuable to the University of Minnesota was to work out the requirements for a superintendent's certificate in cooperation with the Minnesota State Department of Education and the superintendents of schools of this state. After 1944 a Master's degree or its equivalent will be required for the certification of every administrator in the State of Minnesota who has under his supervision 10 or more teachers. Further conferences and studies are under way which will lead to a development of a set of standards for the training of high-school principals. Some work is being done on the training of elementary-school principals. The University of Minnesota also maintains a curriculum laboratory which has provided an excellent means of training administrators in the whole field of curriculum construction. UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA A brief description of a Nebraska in-service education center: Origin of In-Service Education Centers.-Three local professional groups have sponsored in-service education centers in Nebraska. These groups are: Otoe County School Men's Association, Lancaster County School Men's Association, and North Platte Valley School Administrators. It is significant that such professional groups have become interested in in-service education of teachers, and have been willing to sponsor an in-service education center. The responsibility for the success of the project rests quite largely on the sponsoring group. If the in-service education program is successful the local group receives the credit. Moreover, the local organization has a great deal to do with the general planning of the center. It is natural for individuals to want to achieve the goals which they have helped establish. The University's Relation to the In-Service Education Center.-In the case of the three in-service education centers mentioned above, the Teachers College, University of Nebraska, was asked to help plan their local programs. An arrangement was made with the university so that an instructor could coordinate the facilities of the Teachers College with those of the local schools. Certain university requirements had to be met in order that college credit could be granted to those participating. Each School Studies Its Own Program.—The program of the in-service education center was so planned that each school could study its own problems. This study was in the form of self-evaluation and stimulation. The regular period when representatives from the participating schools were brought together was given over to sharing conclusions and experiences. Each school had an opportunity to have charge of at least one meeting. In this way a part of its program could be evaluated by the larger group. The In-Service Education Center Utilizes the Cooperative Study of Secondary School Standards.-The criteria which have been developed by the Cooperative Study of Secondary School Standards lent themselves admirably to in-service education. Following the organization of the Cooperative Study it is possible for each school participating in the in-service education center to study the same phase of its educational program. For example, during the first week each school may study the section on philosophy and purposes of the secondary school. The second week will be given over to a study of pupil analysis and community survey. Following this procedure it is possible to give general direction to the group program and at the same time have each faculty studying its own strong points and weaknesses. UNIVERSITY OF OREGON Contributions. I am not at all sure that we would have any right to list the items noted here as "contributions." Our "basic cycle" is made, as nearly as we can, a "laboratory" course. The later specialized courses in school buildings and school finance are definitely "laboratory" courses. We have an excellent clinical school for nonreading children. School boards from cities as distant as Oklahoma City, Tulsa, El Paso, Salt Lake City, Missoula, Kansas City, send teachers to it for study. Our curriculum offerings start with a course in the philosophy (foundations) of the curriculum. In the curriculum laboratory detailed attention is paid to such matters as grade placement of the respective materials dealt with. There are towns and small cities which have sent to us at one time (in this or that summer school) a large share of their teaching staffs, elementary and secondary, so that the respective school staffs may work out together a course of study, but based on the particular philosophy of education accepted by the community. UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH We endeavor to have each student plan a program to a specific end. This may be a certificate, the doctorate, or just for additional preparation. We do not insist that this training represent administration only; but we include courses in curriculum, supervision, measurements, psychology, and other subjects. We offer several clinics, conferences and practicums. Just now we have under consideration a revision of our offerings in these areas. Since nearly all of our students are part-time, that is, in positions, our course is very practical and we make every effort to keep it so. SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY I enclose with these materials a description of the workshop which we have conducted for 2 years under the sponsorship of the Progressive Education Association. In 1941 in the summer session, we plan to have a special group of school administrators. Last year we had a number organized as a special group in the workshop. We feel that the workshop technique is a very promising one, not only for teachers but for school administrators. I send you some excerpts from the summer session catalog which will indicate the type of special conference we conducted last summer for school administrators. Each summer we stress some seminar or conference, devoting it entirely to one or more major problems of school administrators. Dr.... in the field of secondary school administration, has organized some 15 or 20 of the leading principals in up-State New York. It is a visiting group. They spend from 1 to 3 days in a community and often in one particular high school which is administered by one of the group. WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY The two outstanding provisions of our three administrative sequences are: (a) We have made a detailed analysis of the problems of the administrative positions in cooperation with the practicing school men. We have selected the best references in theory which touch these problems. We have made our administration courses almost entirely cooperative enterprises, in which the pupils take turns in presenting to the group their reports, orally and in mimeographed form. (b) We have encouraged and allowed our students to use their own schools as the basis for much of the program. The analysis of the live problem by the practicing administrator has much more meaning than any theoretical study long before the time the problem confronts the student. Our class meetings are informal, our students are not attempting to hide their difficulties and problems, and we feel that our students realize that our interest in them is personal as well as academic. YALE UNIVERSITY ... The distinctive features of the work in Education are as follows: 1. The assignment to a carefully selected group of graduate students of most of the time of eight members of the Department of Education, together with such service of other faculty members as may be required in connection with students' work in special fields. 2. Freedom from conventional courses and course requirements. 3. The conduct of work through general, special, and thesis seminars, supplemented by individual conferences between students and faculty members. 4. Flexibility of program and such adjustment of conditions of work as will assure to each student the maximum of opportunity and the minimum of routine requirements. 11. What would you characterize as the most neglected area or areas in programs for the education of school administrators? While this question was phrased so that respondents might generalize in expressing opinions with respect to neglected areas, a number of the statements submitted contained frank admissions of neglected areas in the programs of the institutions represented. Altogether the statements filed revealed a rather general and healthy sense of inadequacy of purpose, plan, and implementation at many points. Thirty-eight institutions submitted opinions characterizing neglected areas and made reference to some 68 designated area items. The following tabulation reveals the general distribution of these references in terms of the major divisions and questions raised in this inquiry. Problem areas referred to I. DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF PHILOSOPHY. III. SELECTION AND GUIDANCE OF STUDENTS IV. DEMONSTRATION, OBSERVATION, AND PRACTICE 2. Internships, practice under guidance.... 3. Group participations for techniques.. 4. Relationships with community agencies.. V. CONTENT AND ORGANIZATION OF PROGRAM. 2. Materials contributary to total knowledge of individuals. 5. Socio-economic, political background___ Relationship between school administration and public ad- Too much stress on mechanics and techniques_ Too early specialization. Too many specialized courses. Ideals and qualities of professional character- Chapter 6 Conclusions and Suggestions In analyzing returns in this inquiry the general plan has been to select and present materials through which the cooperating institutions tell their own story with respect to current practice and opinion in response to the specific questions raised in each of five major problem areas. Certain implications growing out of these responses have been discussed for the purpose of high-spotting trends, to facilitate the identification of problems, or for general clarification of some of the issues. Some conclusions have been suggested, or conclusions which have been reached by other students of these problems have been verified. These threads will now be drawn together to provide a background for suggestions of some possible next steps in the development of programs for the education of school administrators. For convenience and clarity this presentation will take the form of summary statements presented under each major heading. These will include, first, a statement of certain general conclusions which would probably be accepted by a majority of the respondents on the basis of answers given and explanatory and descriptive statements submitted; second, a brief summary of the present situation with respect to practice as far as the returns provide the picture; and third, some suggestions concerning possible and desirable next steps and their implications. I. The Development and Implementation of a Philosophy of School Administration Conclusions.-Programs of education for school administration will improve and grow in effectiveness as basic agreements are reached as to what constitutes the most desirable program for such education. A continuing study of the place, function, and essential character of administration in the educational scheme should be carried on in order to develop a philosophy to which the developing program can be kept constantly aligned. These efforts should be systematic, continuous, and cooperative. The present situation. More than 60 percent of the 62 institutions represented indicate that systematic efforts have been made toward the cooperative development and faculty acceptance of a philosophy of school administration and also that these efforts have resulted in basic agreements which offer a framework of objectives for the development of their programs. In reporting on the groups which have been actively engaged in |