V04. 5, NO. 10
W m SURVEY?
1279
WHY SURVEY? WALDO W. SPEAR,BERNARDS HIOHSCHOOL. BBRNARDSVILLB,N. J.
Educational surveys are not uncommon today. Why do school boards spend large sums of money for a survey of school systems? We who are in the business of education know that in the interests of economy and efficiency in the administration of the school plant the survey offers the same basis for intelligent procedure that it provides in any public or private enterprise, because when the facts that exist are discovered future ways and means can be sensibly and acutely established, recommended, and activated. From this condition it follows that a wide and honest survey of any department of instruction in a given school building would set forth a host of facts relative to the work and management of said department of in-. struction which would be worth more than the effort exerted. The survey ought to contain three major items: (a)the exposition of conditions as existing; (b) comparisons of individual facts with authoritative standards and with related conditions in similar schools; (6) a resum&., '-' of facts designed for use in aiding in the study of detailed problems. The author is prompted to write on this phase of teacher's work because he has . recently completed a fairly intensive survey of his department in the new Bernards High School. The immediate results have been a distinct source . of aid, especially in the requisition of new equipment, apparatus, and supplies. We have already bggun work on a few detailed factors of instruction which, we are sure, would not have presented themselves without the searching implements of the survey. As an illustration of a few typical problems which are important in a township high-school science department such as ours, we might give the following: (a)What constitutes a good science library in a modern rural high school? (b) How much science ought to be required of pupils in a rural secondary school? (6) How may the physics course be amplified to meet more fully the interests of girls? (d) What are the criteria for evaluating the aims to be established in the laboratory from the college preparatory to the practical arts curricula? The department survey should cover a period of several years. Within reasonable limits the accnracy obtained varies directly with the period of time under observation. At any event the survey should include a span of at least four years, so that one class can be viewed during its entire highschool existence. The study of our local investigation covered a period of seven years. The data compiled should be reflected as far as possible from the group findings down to the individual pupil's measurements. In the first place, the survey ought to contain facts and comparisons relative to the general specifications of the science rooms. Even though you do not care to know '
what percentage of the total floor area is given over to science instruction, you ought surely'to have an inkling a t least of what area, expressed preferably in per cent, constitutes a fair allotment of room desirable for the science activity; what studies, if any, have been made thereon which are analogous to the local situation. What specific ideas along this line would you recommend to your inquiring superintendent, who is contemplating a building program, when he interviews you relative to certain specifications for the new chemistry laboratory? Would you, for example, be able to inform him as to the number of fume hoods required? Or, if not possessed of the particular information requested, where could you find it? I t may be that you keep a well-organized infallible card index. However, if you have conducted a survey, you will doubtless know what constitutes the optimum area per pupil in both lecture room and laborat&. Secondly, are you in some degree conversant with the subject of ventilation and recommended proved systems? The point is this: by knowing how near to the recommended standards of floor area per pupil, of cubic feet of air space desirable per pupil, and of glass area ratio to floor area in both lecture room and laboratory your department provides, .yofi will be more valuable in a building program situation and none the less important in other contingencies devolving upon the business of a science teacher. Reference 1 in the bibliography at the conclusion of this article is a recognized and established authority on high-school building standards. Again, when a teacher knows the median number of library books'in 1000 high schools $or the science subjects taught, and also the number recommended by the N. E. A. Committee, he has a valuable guide to aid in filing his requisition for new books. Reference 2 in the bibliography at the end of this article provides very adequate information concerning library book selection for high schools of various enrolments. The cost of equipment and furnishings for the science department is another factor that a survey should include. Such items as laboratory tables, chairs, fume hoods, filing cabinets, projection apparatus, etc.. figured in terms of cost per pupil space, are necessary especially in matters previous to a new building feature. The amounts recommended for cbemistry, physics, biology, and general science apparatus and materials together with statements of additional allowances for replacements, have been established. Reference 3 in the bibliography is an objective study of this feature. A statement of the science curriculum and sequence, with a study embodying the extent to which it is recognized by the pupils, is very interesting and productive to the teaching staff involved. Equally illuminating is the gathering of figures to show the distributionof the science enrolment by grades and sex. Does your enrolment compare favorably with the fact that science subjects in 1922 registered 53 per cent of the students in all
VOL. 5, NO. 10
WHYSURVEY?
1281
high-school subjects? Or, again, what is the science enrolment compared to that of mathematics, foreign languages, and history, locally? Has the science enrolment increased proportionately with that of the entire school? Again, what is the achievement of your department relative to standards based on teacher's marks as well as standardized tests? Is the accomplishment of boys greater than that of girls? What is the percentage of failures over a period of years? What is the holding power of the science courses? Why do pupils drop a subject? What is the teaching load and how does it compare with that in 136 city high schools whose average science teaching load is 568 pupil-hours per week? These questions and others of like import can only be satisfactorily answered by a fairly detailed and accurate survey. After your particular local information has been gained, you are then equipped for the pnrpose of making comparisons with other localities with certainty. The" whys" and "hows" of many teaching problems can be more accurately established, remedial methods can be devised and executed more appropriately, preventive means can be instituted more confidently and expertly, new teachers coming into the department with some or no experience will become adapted more effectively both for themselves and for the department, and, summarily, teachers will be rendered more valuable to their immediate vocation because they will know a little more of the situation whereof they are a part. References which proved very helpful in our survey work follow: 1. Strayer and Engelhardt, "Standards for High-School Buildings,'' Teachers College Publication, 1924. 2. Glenn, "Past and Present Practices in High-School Library Book Selection from the Viewpoint of the Science Teacher," School Science & Mathematics 21, 217-37 (1921). 3. Monahan, "Laboratory Layouts for the High-School Sciences," Bureau of Education, Bull. No. 22, 1927. 4. N. E. A. Dept. of Superintendence, "School Buildings," Exhibits of 1922 and 1923. 5. "Some Data Relatina.to Chemical Education in the United States." THIS JOURNAL, 4, 911-3 (July, 1927). 6. Ayers, "School Buildings and Equipment," Cleveland Educational Survey Report, 1916. 7. Donovan and Others, "School Architecture." Chap. 18. 8. N. E. A,, "Report of Committees on High-School Libraries," 1918. 9. Bureau of Education Bull. No. 20, 1920, "Reorganization of Science in Secondary Schools." 10. Bureau of Education, Cily School Leaflet No. 9, June, 1923, "Teaching Load in 136 b t y High Schodls:" ' 11. Strayer and Engeihdtdt,"S~hoolBuilding Problems," Teachers College Puh,, lication Bureau. 12. Engineering Dept. of National Lamp Works, Nela Park, Cleveland, Ohio.
.
.
