Introduction IN ANY PROGRAM of professional education for school administrators, or for teachers, no sharp line of distinction can be drawn for long between two aspects of, or emphases within, the total process, which have been conveniently referred to in this report, and generally, as pre-service education and in-service education. The in-service or through-service aspect receives attention fairly early in the process when the student is called upon to function as a teacher under guidance in a working situation. The induction of the student into practice or apprentice teaching marks the real beginning of in-service education and from that point on the distinction so frequently made cannot be drawn in fact. Every stage of the total process must be realistically related to the demands of the task to be accomplished. The best that the school can do at every level is to so orient, equip, and guide the student that he may be increasingly sensitive and effective in his response to the stimulus and challenge of the job itself. As the job and its demands upon the individual change, all that went before becomes pre-service education and so the process goes on until death or retirement closes the chapter. It should be understood, therefore, that in referring to this part of the inquiry as directed toward practices and thinking related to the in-service improvement of administrative personnel the term is used for convenience to designate activities and opportunities for professional growth carried on and provided under a professional leadership and direction which does not stem from schools and colleges of education but from the profession itself in action. In other words, interest is centered here in that phase or stage of the total process of lifelong professional education where responsibility for carrying on rests primarily with the practitioner rather than with the professional school. At this stage the role of the State administrator becomes one of great strategic importance. As pointed out by the Committee on Certification of Superintendents of the American Association of School administrators in their discussion of the State superintendency, "the role of passive inspection was to be replaced by active professional leadership when problems of finance, supervision, administration and instruction called for solution on a State-wide basis." The Eleventh 1 Standards for superintendents of schools. A preliminary report of the Committee on certification of superintendents of schools. American association of school administrators. The National education association. Washington, D. C., The Association, 1940. 63 p. p. 6. Yearbook of the Department of Superintendence may be quoted at this point: The demand now is for leadership. Local school systems need guidance in overcoming their many difficulties. Problems of finance and inequality of school support need to be investigated and solved on a State-wide basis. Refinements in supervision, administration, methods, and research which have advanced rapidly in urban areas need to be made available to rural schools. Teachers and principals should be recruited from among the most capable persons, trained for the demand, placed so as to call forth and retain their best energies. These and hundreds of other items call for improvement under the leadership of state officers of public education.❜ The clear implication of all this is that much leadership on the part of State officers of education should be directed toward the improvement of administrative and teaching personnel in the schools of the State. It was with respect to this phase of in-service education under State department leadership and stimulation that this inquiry was undertaken to determine the extent to which efforts are being directed to these ends and to identify and to make available descriptions of these efforts. Following conversations with a number of representative State administrators and members of their staffs a schedule of information was prepared, pointing up issues and problems which by agreement have a bearing upon the task of improving administrative personnel. Special interest was expressed in accounts of activities carried on in the States in each of the four general areas of inquiry. This schedule of information and the covering letter are reproduced in appendix B. In the analysis of returns and throughout this report no attempt is made to evaluate practice as reported. Consistent with the announced purpose of the inquiry the material is assembled and presented to provide documentation with respect to current practice and thinking which may be useful to State school officers as they attempt to discharge and implement the important responsibility which is theirs. Educational leadership, progress and possibilities. Department of superintendence. Eleventh Yearbook, 1933. p. 265. Chapter 1 Standards and Qualifications for School Administration BECAUSE THE PRESENT situation with respect to legal qualifications and certification requirements for various types of school administrators has been so thoroughly analyzed and recently reported upon by the Committee of the American Association of School Administrators and others, no attempt was made in this inquiry to bring this information together. Attention was directed, rather, to questions of how existing standards and qualifications have been determined, the nature and scope of these efforts and the extent to which the establishment of standards and qualifications has affected practice in the employment of administrative personnel. As background, however, for the discussion of responses to the questions raised in this inquiry a brief review of the general situation with respect to requirements and trends is in order. The Committee of Standards of the American Association of School Administrators provides the following summary of legal eligibility requirements for superintendents: In July 1938, the minimum qualifications for city superintendents, or other local superintendents, over urban school areas, as prescribed by constitutional or statutory law in 45 States, the District of Columbia and Alaska, stood as follows: 1. Requiring no legal qualifications (5 States). 2. Requiring professional qualifications specified as: (a) Teaching certificate only (10 States). (b) Certificate in administration or supervision only (16 States and (c) Administrator's credential and teacher's credential only (1 State). (e) Teaching certificate or college graduation only (2 States). (g) Certificate in administration or supervision with less than 4 years' (h) Certificate in administration or supervision with college graduation only (1 State). (i) Certificate in administration or supervision with defined experience only (1 State). Certificate in administration or supervision with 4 years' college training and defined experience only (2 States). (k) Certificate in administration or supervision, college graduation, graduate work, and defined experience only (3 States). (1) Certificate in administration or supervision, college graduation, and graduate work only (1 State). (m) College graduation, a master's degree, and defined experience (1 State).1 A review of the literature bearing on standards and qualifications makes it abundantly clear that fairly rapid progress has been made. in developing standards and qualifications for superintendents, principals, and supervisors. As recalled by Reller: ... in 1906 in presenting a paper on The Certification of Teachers for the consideration of the National Society for the Scientific Study of Education, Dr. Cubberly pointed out the desirability of establishing distinctly higher educational and professional standards for administrators and supervisors. At that time, Wisconsin stood alone in this respect, issuing a county superintendent's certificate upon the passing of an examination given by the State board of examiners. This examination included all the subjects for the first-grade teacher's certificate, and, in addition, "school law and the organization, management, and supervision of district schools. To be eligible for the examination, the applicant for the certificate must have had at least 8 months' teaching experience in the public schools." In 1938 Goodykoontz and Lane reported "noteworthy indications of progress" with respect to provisions included in regulations governing the issuance of elementary-school principals certificates as follows: (1) A constantly increasing number of States which require certificates specialized for elementary-school principals; (2) the requirement that all principals in service meet the qualifications required for the certificate within a reasonable length of time after the State has established an elementaryschool principal's certificate; (3) the tendency on the part of States to prescribe the essential professional training and experience in exact terms and without relying to any considerable degree on teaching certificates as a prerequisite for certification; (4) action on the part of States to discontinue the issuance of unconditional permanent certificates and grant renewals upon evidence of continuous cultural development and professional growth in addition to evidence of successful experience; (5) the requirement by States of successively higher minimum levels of scholarship as prerequisites for the principal's certificate.3 The recency of the development of standards and qualifications for all administrative positions as reflected in certification requirements is strikingly emphasized in the following paragraph from the AASA committee report: It has been only within the past 4 years, however, that specialized certificates with distinct professional administrative requirements have been widely adopted. Twenty-five States have placed their present requirements for administrative certificates in force since July 1, 1934; 15 of these States 1 Standards for superintendents of schools. A preliminary report of the Committee on certification of superintendents of schools. American association of school administrators. The National education association. Washington, D. C., The Association, 1939. p. 22. Reller, Theodore L. State certification for administrative positions. of Pennsylvania, 1933. 32 p. (Division of educational administration. 3 U. S. Office of Education. A. Lane. Philadelphia, Pa., University School of education.) The elementary school principalship. By Bess Goodykoontz and Jessie (Bulletin 1938, no. 8). Washington, U. S. Government Printing Office, 1938. 43 p. have issued certificates now required of superintendents since January 1, 1937. Present requirements of local superintendents in Delaware, Georgia, Nebraska, New Mexico and New York have been effective since September 1, 1938. So much for background with respect to the situation as it now stands in the matter of State requirements for certification. As previously stated, this inquiry is concerned with questions of how the standards reflected in these requirements were determined, the nature of the cooperations involved, if any, and the extent to which these activities and enactments have actually affected practice on the part of employing officials. The specific questions raised in this area and analysis of returns follow: 1. Has your department made any conscious efforts toward the cooperative development of a philosophy of school administration as a guide to practice on the part of administrative personnel in the schools of the State? a. If the answer to number 1 above is "Yes," has this develop- Graduate student groups Classroom teachers Local school administrators State administrators Representative laymen b. Describe briefly the nature and results of these efforts. To the main question 29 of the 36 respondents gave an affirmative answer. One State reported that "the question has been considered from time to time in a general way but no written specific statements have been made in regard thereto. Administrative functions under the same personnel have for many years become pretty well established." The descriptive accounts of these efforts indicate that there is general awareness of the fact that through the development of educational practices and policies, a philosophy of administration inevitably takes shape and tends to condition future policy and practice. Researches and cooperations involving the groups indicated were reported and distributed as follows: Local school administrators, 26; Teacher education faculty groups, 24; State administrators, 21; Classroom teachers, 13; Representative laymen, 12; Graduate student |