THE IMPROVEMENT OF RURAL SCHOOLS BY STANDARDIZATION I. INTRODUCTION In recent years many efforts have been made to improve conditions. in rural schools especially those of the one-teacher type. Standardization is a term applied to one of these efforts. At present 34 State superintendents of public instruction report standardization as one of the ways by which they are attempting to better the rural PUPILS, TEACHER, AND EQUIPMENT, HAWTHORNE FARM SUPERIOR SCHOOL, LAKE COUNTY, ILL. schools. The State superintendents of Arkansas and California, though not promoting standardization of rural schools as a state-wide policy, encourage county superintendents to establish a list of standards by which they may measure their schools. The State department of Arkansas issues a score card for the use of its county superintendents. Definition of standardization.-The following definition is arrived at from a study of the plans of standardization submitted by the 34 States included within this study: Standardization is the establishment of a definite level of school attainment through the adoption of certain minimum requirements 1 authorized either by law or by the chief school administrative head of the State; these requirements relate either to the physical plant or to the management of the school, or to both. Schools that meet the requirements are usually rewarded in one or more of the following ways: By honorary mention in reports issued by the State departments of education, or by receiving tablets, certificates, or money appropriations from the State. Sources of information.-The data in this leaflet were obtained in five ways: (a) By a study of the school laws of the various States, (b) by a study of reports and bulletins issued by State departments of education, (c) by a study of tabulated replies to questionnaires received from State superintendents, (d) by correspondence with One of the best standardized schools in Colorado; located in a suburban community near Colorado Springs; Contains a four-year high school State superintendents and rural-school inspectors, and (e) by personal visits to a few standard schools in Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Publications on standardization issued by State departments of education. Most of the 34 States attempting to improve rural schools by means of standardization have published leaflets or pamphlets which give the legal provisions for standardization, rules and regulations adopted by the chief school heads of the States, and score cards. Some of these publications contain valuable discussions concerning the proper standards for buildings, equipment, and sanitation. State departments of education in the following States have issued pamphlets or circulars that are particularly helpful for school officials who wish to improve the condition of their schools by standardization: Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, New Jersey, South Dakota, West Virginia, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. II. ESSENTIAL DETAILS OF STANDARDIZATION IN THIRTY-FOUR STATES The 34 States that are standardizing rural schools are listed in Table 1. The essential details of standardization, as outlined in Table 1, include the authority under which schools are standardized, the year that standardization was adopted in each State, the classes of standard schools, the number of schools standardized in each State, the persons who score the schools, and the rewards for standardization. FIRST-CLASS RURAL SCHOOL, MILWAUKEE COUNTY, WIS. Authority under which schools are standardized.-In 14 States standardization is authorized by the statutes; in 19, by rule or regulation of either the State board of education or the chief State school officer; and in one other State-Pennsylvania-the standardization of consolidated schools is authorized by the statutes, and that of one-teacher schools by a regulation of the State board of education. The statutory provisions are concerned chiefly with the designation of the board or officer who is authorized to prescribe rules and regulations for standardizing certain classes of schools, naming the list of items (such as buildings and equipment) upon which regulations are to be prescribed, the standards themselves (that is, the minimum requirements that schools must meet in order to qualify as standard schools), State aid, and other marks of recognition for schools meeting the requirements. The board or officer whose duty it is to prescribe all or part of the rules and regulations for standardizing certain classes of schools is designated by statute in 11 States-Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Pennsylvania (consolidated schools), South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wisconsin (rural schools). The State board of education is designated in Delaware, Kansas, Minnesota, Pennsylvania (consolidated schools), and West Virginia; the chief State school officer in Indiana, Iowa, Maine, South Dakota, and Wisconsin (rural schools); and the State board of education and the board of regents of the university, in cooperation with the department of public welfare, in Idaho. The laws of all of the 11 States mentioned in the preceding paragraph, except those for Indiana and Minnesota, list certain items Interior of first-class rural school, Milwaukee County, Wis. such as buildings, equipment, and teachers concerning which the chief State school board or officer is to prescribe standards. The statutes of Minnesota specifically state that teachers' salaries shall not be one of the requirements for receiving and sharing in State aid. The laws of five States-North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin (State graded schools)-specify all or most of the minimum requirements that schools of certain classes must meet in order to qualify as schools of a certain grade or for State aid. The statutes of North Dakota provide that additional requirements may be established by the State board of education, and those of South Carolina that minimum standards for equipment shall be prescribed by the State board of education. In two other StatesIowa and South Dakota-and in Wisconsin (for rural schools) |