The Continuation Schoolin the United States," by Mr.Arthur D

BULLETIN NO1. 1907 WHOLENUMBER 367 DEPARTMENTOF THE INTERIOR : BUREAU OFFI)UCATION THECONTINUATIONSCHOOL INTHE UNITEDSTATES . BYARTHUR J.JONES Fellow in Education. Feachrrs(colleg. ColumbiaUniversity ad, ./f I a WASHINGTON GOVERNMENTPRINTINGOFFICE 1907 L. 't4933: JAN 1 1(.111 CONTENTS. -7 \ - Letter of transmittal Part 5 I.I ntroducti. 7 11. Statistical exhibit of. scho. 1 attendance andwithdrawal 9 A. 'Withdrawal from the public schools 9 B. Attendance at schools other than supplementary 10 1.Public day schools 12 2. Private schools 17 C. Supplementary agencies 21 1. Public evening schools 21 2. Young Men's Christian Association classes 25 3. Correspondence schools 27 D. Normal schools, univervilies and colleges, andprofeesionsl schools 28 E. It...stunn ! of school attendance 29 . F. Occupations of young people not in sehool 30 III. Agencies for supplementary education inother countries 33 A. GermanyFort hildungsscholen 33 EnglandEvening continuation schools 62 C. Statistical yomparison with conditions inthe United Stites 77 ' IC, Different types of continuation school 82 A. Eoming schools 1. Private evening schools 84 2. Free evening schools foupded by benevolent societies 85 3. Free public evening schools 89 4. Evening high schools 92 5. Trade and technical instruction in eveningschools 94 Conditions prejudicial to the effectiveness of eveningschools 97 7., Classes of pupils 98 S. Prt,spective development 100 B. Young Men's and Young Women's ChristianAssociation classes.. 101 / C. Correspondence schools 107 Univrsity of Chicago 108 2. International Correspondence Schtsds. Scranton,Pa 110 I). Special schools 112 1. Cooper Union 113 2. Mechanics' Institute, of New York City 118 3. Pratt Institute 120 K. Schools for apprentices and employees 123 !. Chicago School for Apprentices 124 2. Cooperative Engineering Coursesof thyl'niversityof Cincinnati 125 3. SchooLof the General Electric Company, Lynn, Mass 4. Hoe 127 Co.'s school 128 b. Rchoolo for clerks 130 V. Kind and amount of instruction given in continuationschools...,t..... 132 VI. The place and purpose of the continuation setn+ol VII. Bibliography 138 I .3 1 ILLUSTRATIONS. rage. Diagram 1. Enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools expressed in percentage of number of children 14 years old 18 2. Enrollment in private and parochial schools, elementary and secondary 21 3. Enrollment in public evening schools 25 4. PeZble maximum enrollment in different types of school at each age from 14 to 20 years 29 5. Enrollment in Prussian schools between the ageS of 13 and 20 61 .6. Total attendance in the evening schools of England and Wales for each year from 1890 to 1904 69 7. Enrollment in schools of differ4nt kinds in England, and Wales 73 8. Age distribution of pupils in English evening schools 74 9-11. Percentage of pupils of various ages in different classes of schools in England, Prussia, and Wurttet,pberg 77 12-13. Percentage of pupils of various ages in different classes of schools in cities of the United States 78 14-15. Percentage of pupils of various ages indifferent classes of schools in Manchester, England, and Berlin, kirmany 79 4 ti ` - LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. DEPARTMENT 0! THE INTER;, 'BUREAU OF EDUCATION, Wa. /lington, May 25,1!O7. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a-monographentitled The Continuation Schoolin the United States," by Mr.Arthur d. Jones, and to recommend that itbe published asan issue of the Bulle- tin of the Bureau oflineation.This study, as originally prepared, was accepted in pallid satisfaction of therequirements for the degrr of doctor of philosophyat Columbia University. The which it treats is subject of one of wide educational interest, and itpresents a dgreater body of well-organized and recent information touchingthis subject than is accessible elsewhere. I have previously expressed the conviction that the Republicneeds a body of citizens no one of whom shallhave been wholly lacking in systematic and fairly continuouseducational training up to theage of the first.exercise of the electoral franchise. 1 t is, in order that the members of our democracymay fitly disc arge the of citi- zenship, in our rapidly.changingsociety, no year of lifeup to the age of 21 can safely be left. blue ofany provision for schooling.For those who can continue to devote the later years of this peiiodchiefly to education, such provision is foundin high schools, technical and professional schools, and colleges.But what provision shall be made for, those who, must devotethese years of their lives chieflyto the earning of/Wirtelihood, and fithat large number of boys andgirls who leave school, for whateverreason, even before the completion of the elementary course of stmly? This monograph shows wi,thsome fullness what has already been done for the schooling of suchyouth. It gives some itidicatiori of what may be done-in this' direction.But it shows, too, how inadequate is the pioneer piovisidne whichhas hitherto been made in this field. Very respectfully, ELMER ELLSWORTH BROWN, Comminiono(- The SECRE4IFARY OF THE INTERIOR. THE CONTINUATION SCHOOL IN THE UNITED STATES. By ARTHUR J. JONRS. I. INTRODUCTION. The ;ern' " continuation school," while commonly used in E9gland for some time, has not been generally employed in thiscountry and may need some further explanation.As use4in this bulletin, it (-refers to any type of school which offers to people whilethey are at work opportunity for further education and training.It thus pre- supposes educational training of some kind, ind continues but does not necessarily repeat the work of the regular school.Itl is supplementary to the work of he regular school in the sense that it is additional to it, and is supplementary to the training which the indi- vidual is receiving in his occupation, in thesense that it aims to give him that which he can not receive in his daily work:The term " supplementary school " is, however, used in sucha vague was at present that the term " continuation school " seems preferable. This work was undertaken at the suggestion of ,Dean James E. Russell, of Teachers College, Columbia University, aftera preliminary study of the.German Fortbildungs.schulen had been made. So little systematic work 41 a s been done irctjtis direction in the United States that it seemed 'well worth while to makea study of the situation as it is here, and a comparison of the Means employed in Ger- many, England, and the United States. k At,the very outset the author was greatly handicapped by lack of data, nor was it possible to secure entirely adequate statistics.It is difficult to obtain definite information concerning the ordinary day schools even after years of effort.In the 'case of the various types of continuation school, this difficulty is greitly increased.Even the meager data given in school reports for day schools are, in the ma- jority of cases, not given fbr evening schools.This is due, in large measure, to the fact that the-educational authorities conduct evening schools as a side issye,,and not as a part of their regular edu'cational system. The need for such work and its great importanceare only beginning to be felt. 7 7 8 CONTINUATION SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES. One thing is brought put clearlythe great need of carefulstudy of the conditions in each community with the object. of findingout- -..N4to what extent educational agencies reach theyoung people; hoiv g they remain in school, and, if possible, why they leave; (2) in what kinds of work those who have droppedout of school are en- gaged, what the actual conditions are under which theyare working, and how much ueful training they are receiving in their occupations. So far the only important attempt to make sucha study is that of the Massachusetts Commission on Industrial and Technical.Educa- tion.This reportis admirable, but can not take the place ofa definite study ,of local conditions even in Massachusetts, and much less in other places.The local conditions in every conununity should be studied in. order to determine themeans to be employed in remedy- ing them when necessary.Such a study wiH reveal many things un- suspected before, and give one the only means toan adequate under- standing.of the situation.The kind of school suited to one'city will not be the kind needed in another, for the conditions vary 'with each locality.Supelintendents and boards of educationcan weir afferi1 .to spend the time and money necessary to obtain possession of all the facts in the case." / In the following study an attempt has been made: 1. To show the deed of continuation schools.This has been done (a) by. showing the extent to which boys and girls drop out of school at different ages and grades, and the comparative number in public and private schools after the thirteenthyear; (b) by showing g the extent to which the existing supplementaryagencies reach those out of .ichooland (c) by indicating soniething of the.conditions of these young people in their occupations. 2. To describe the agencies employed in Germany and England to meet tti similar situation. 8. To describe representative types of continuation school ithe United States, and to show what education young people areWtti- ally receiving in these schools, how it compares with that received in the. day schools in amount, and in the extent to which it meets their needs. 4. To ;how the place-of the continuation school in our educational' system and the general purpose of such a school in a democracy. This is to be regarded as only a Preliminary report on the subject, a o/earing of the ground, so to speak, and an attempt to indi- cate the general direction 'which such an inquir3i, must take.It is hoped. that the study. will throw some light on existing contli- it ons, and at least call attention to the need of more.

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