CLARA H. SMITH and LA RAE OLVEY, Rural School Supervisors, State Teachers College, San Jose, Calif.

CONTENTS.-General conditions-Reorganization-Features of instruction-School

spirit-Community undertakings-Summary

GENERAL CONDITIONS

Milpitas district lies along the foothills of the Santa Clara Valley, the schoolhouse being 7 miles from San Jose. It is a rural community with a population of 486 and an electorate of 200. The village of Milpitas is unincorporated. It contains a bank, four merchandise stores, two garages, a lumberyard, a large pea factory, a restaurant, a butcher shop, a church, a pool hall, a hotel, a milk depot, and about 36 residence buildings. Two railroads, the Southern Pacific and the Western Pacific, pass through the town. A transportation company carries garden truck from Milpitas to Hayward.

The social and fraternal organizations consist of three Portuguese societies, an improvement club, and a Woodmen's Lodge. The community pays for the services and equipment of a night watchman. The occupation of the community is agriculture. The ranchers grow garden truck, large acreages of peas, and some fruit. There are four dairies in the district. The assessed valuation of the district is $1,035,000.

The people, for the most part, are Portuguese from the Azore Islands. Of these, there are 43 families. Other nationalities are: One family of Spanish, one Canadian, four Japanese, one French, one Italian, one Mexican, and eight families of Americans. Thirtyfive families own their homes. Though close to San Jose, the community isolates itself. Few of the parents of the children have social interests outside of the district.

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The schoolhouse is in the village of Milpitas, near the State Highway. The mission type building contains five classrooms, an assembly hall, a library, and an office. The rooms are wired and supplied with electricity. Wood and coal stoves furnish the heat. The school has its own pumping plant. There are 12 acres in the school grounds, on which are located the schoolhouse, the pumping plant, a stable, and a woodhouse. It is apparent that the playground space is inadequate.

REORGANIZATION OF THE MILPITAS SCHOOL

In June, 1921, the San Jose State Teachers College entered into a contract with the Milpitas trustees to assume the management of the Milpitas school for the year beginning July 1, 1921. The contract provided that the trustees retain teachers who cared to remain, and that the teachers college approve the selection of new teachers. The college agreed to pay a small part of the salary of the principal, who thus became an assistant supervisor. The college also agreed to supervise the work of the school. The trustees in, turn permitted the college to place as many students for practice teaching in the school as could be accommodated. It developed that four students were placed in the school for a period of six weeks' teaching. Similar groups succeeded each other throughout the school year. The second year the same system was followed, groups of six students being placed for a period of 12 weeks. During the two years 35 college students received training in rural-school teaching.

School enrollment.-The school enrollment for 1921-22 was 123, with an average daily attendance of 115. For 1922-23 the enroll

ment was 133, with an average daily attendance of 123. Three regular teachers were employed. One of these, the principal, was selected by the San Jose State Teachers College. There were 84 Portuguese children in the school, 2 Italian, 12 Japanese, 3 Porto Rican, 2 Canadian, 3 French, 3 Spanish, 2 Mexican, and 12 of American parentage. The personnel of the school changed very little during the two years.

Training school objectives.—In using Milpitas as a rural training school, a threefold purpose was kept in mind: First, to give prospective teachers an opportunity to get experience in practice teaching in a rural school and to become acquainted with rural life; second, to give them an opportunity to teach rural children of foreign parentage; third, to demonstrate what could be done in a rural school by utilizing existing agencies for the making of better citizens.

Regrading of pupils.-No students were placed in the school for practice teaching until the middle of the second month. Meanwhile the pupils were classified according to the judgment of the supervisors. In making this classification the mental age, the educational achievement, and the physical development of each child were taken into consideration. Regrading resulted in promotion of 19 children and demotion of 4 others. One child was transferred from the third to the sixth grade. She led her class. Another was transferred from the second to the fourth grade. All of the children did satisfactory work in the grades to which they were promoted, and some led their classes.

Cadet-teaching schedule. The grouping for teaching was as fol

lows:

Student A:

First, second, and third grade; fourth grade geography.

Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade sewing-50 pupils.

Student B:

First, third, and fifth grade; physical education and drawing-57 pupils. Student C:

First, sixth, and seventh grade; music-88 pupils. Student D:

Fifth, sixth, and eighth grade; physical education and music-47 pupils. This schedule was made to meet the needs of students who had taught at least once in the training school. When the number of cadets was increased, one student had charge of an ungraded room. Changes in the schedule were made when the children could be benefited thereby, or when the cadet teaching could be made more effective. It will be noted that each student, with one exception, was given opportunity to teach first-grade reading. Each student had opportunity to teach in intermediate and in upper-grade classes. Each student was permitted to teach that subject which she regarded

as her specialty. Each student teacher had a classroom of at least three grades, two of which were kept occupied while instruction was given to the third. While the situation was not as complex as exists in many rural schools, the young teacher's executive ability was put to the test. Each student teacher had from 14 to 22 pupils in her regular classroom. During certain periods of the day she directed larger groups for one or more subjects.

The grouping of the children of a grade in smaller units made it possible to put children who were able to make about the same rate of progress together. This prevented much retardation.

FEATURES OF INSTRUCTION

The following conditions, which had to be met by a definite plan of instruction, existed:

1. The school was part of the county-school system. This meant a prescribed course of study. In order to graduate from the eighth grade, pupils were required to pass county examinations.

2. Formal instruction had prevailed. The children were accustomed to much memorizing, without thinking "how and why.”

3. Many of the textbooks were too difficult for the pupils to comprehend.

4. Little or no attention had been given to such subjects as music, drawing, industrial arts, and home economics.

5. Many of the children had little interest in their school work. Older ones were looking forward to the day when the compulsory education law would not apply to them.

Motivation of school work.-The immediate objectives set by the supervisors were to arouse a pride of achievement for the school and to train prospective teachers to become factors in stimulating and directing the children to be successful in their undertakings. A study was made of the children's interests, and these interests were utilized in making subjects of the curriculum meaningful. It was found the children liked to use tools. They were clever at handwork. They appreciated music and drawing. They found pleasure in dramatics. Because given an opportunity to participate in activities which they enjoyed, the children acquired a better attitude toward subjects that had previously been distasteful to them.

In arithmetic, spelling, and writing an effort was made to have the children acquire proficiency in the minimum essentials. The progress they made from time to time was ascertained by means of educational measurements.

In content courses, such as geography, history, and literature, the courses were planned so that the children would have motive for and opportunity in self-expression. Thus part of the instruction

in sixth-grade language took the form of a school paper issued quarterly. The election of a staff and the collection of news had social value. The writing of short articles gave training in written expression. The paper was generously patronized by the grocers, the garages, the ice-cream parlors, the bank, and the blacksmith shop. That the editorial staff had developed some business sense was evidenced by the slogan, "Patronize your own advertisers."

The fourth-grade history class made bricks of adobe and straw, with which they constructed a mission complete, even unto bell and window sill. Through this work and through reading, some idea of what the mission meant to California was gained. Opportunity was afforded for oral and written expression. Training in indus

trial art was effected. The finished product became the joy of every boy in the class.

History proved a bugbear to a class. It was suggested that the pupils write a play and present it in assembly. The dramatization of the story of Columbus, which was carried over into other history lessons, helped the children to interpret later lessons. Training in reading, composition, and history, and a pleasant assembly period were results of the undertaking.

The State board of education requested the schools to commemorate the life and deeds of General Grant. The eighth-grade history class decided to dramatize scenes from the Civil War and include therein the surrender of General Lee to General Grant, and thus show General Grant's courtesy and consideration on this occasion. The scenes they chose for dramatization were: A southern plantation, the Emancipation Proclamation, a battle field, the Gettysburg