worker contribute some specific service, and that such a working plan is devised that the effort of each individual and each group shall be a cumulative effort centering on the product of the schools.

Every county superintendent has at hand a group of workers varying markedly in training and ability. It is poor economy to have those who have the ability to organize material for the teaching of agriculture limit their activities to one school. If a teacher develops a good study and teaching outline covering some farm enterprise, it should be made available for all schools in the county. If a teacher works out and uses a good method in presenting agricultural subject matter, that, too, should become the common property of the county. A plan of organization that will bring about a division of labor, correlation of effort, distribution of well-worked out teaching aids, and wider use of exceptional training and ability, is therefore worth while.

In organizing the county the county superintendent should call about him those workers who have superior training and ability in teaching agriculture, and using them as a cabinet attack the problem in a systematic way. The avilable workers for this cabinet are Smith-Hughes teachers of vocational agriculture, county and home demonstration agents, extension teachers from the State normal schools or the State agricultural college, and teachers in the county schools who have had training superior to that of many of the county teachers and who, because of sympathy with rural life problems, enthusiasm, and qualities of leadership can stimulate other workers to greater effort, or contribute something definite in the way of method and organization of subject matter.

The county superintendent should select from this group one or more individuals whose duties shall be the supervision of the untrained teachers in the county. Let this supervision proceed through

(a) Visitation in the school room by the supervisor, who will give demonstration lessons in the teaching of agriculture.

(b) Calling the teachers together in groups for purposes of definite instruction in agricultural subject matter and methods of teaching. (c) An arrangement by which untrained teachers may visit in groups a school where good methods of teaching are being used for purposes of observation.

It is not contemplated that those undertaking supervision shall be designated as official supervisors giving their whole time to the work, but that this work shall be carried out by several of the better trained workers as an extra activity for which extra remuneration may or may not be allowed.

The county superintendent should convince the county demonstration agent, in case there is one, that his work will be benefited if he will establish a closer working relationship with the schools. Usually

the county demonstration agent is more willing to cooperate with the schools than are the teachers in the schools to cooperate with him. Teachers should understand that they are expected to cooperate along the lines suggested by the county superintendent.

If in his club work the county agent would prepare study outlines covering the projects of his club members and furnish these to the teachers with lists of sources of illustrative and reference material, they could very well base a substantial part of the instruction in agriculture on these project outlines. Let the teacher supervise the project study, and the county agent supervise the home practice and to some extent the teacher. By such a cooperative scheme teaching of agriculture in the schools will be materially strengthened, and the county agent will be enabled to reach a greater number of children. in club work and to establish contact with a greater number of adult farmers through the school children.

The home demonstration agent can cooperate similarly with the teachers in the schools. Many of the problems of elementary school agriculture should be home problems. Home beautification, home sanitation and hygiene, utilization of farm products in the home, farm poultrying, farm dairying, home care of milk, and the farm home garden are types of problems which might be worked out cooperatively by the teachers and the home demonstration agent.

The Smith-Hughes teachers of vocational agriculture should certainly cooperate in working out a plan for instruction in the elementary schools. One serious factor limiting the effectiveness of the work of the Smith-Hughes teacher is the fact that in many cases. students, before they reach the high school, have through familiarity with agricultural practice under bad conditions and through a leaden, textbook method of teaching agriculture in the elementary schools become contemptuous of agricultural instruction and look upon farm life as necessarily a matter of uninspiring drudgery.

If the Smith-Hughes teacher can help the elementary schools to give a vision of the possibilities of country life, and develop respect for agriculture as a subject for study, he will have done much to provide a proper setting for his own work. Many Smith-Hughes teachers realize this and are glad to cooperate through working out problem-project outlines, through giving occasional demonstration lessons before rural teachers, and through furnishing lists of illustrative and reference material to teachers. Since in many communities a substantial percentage of the boys in the elementary rural schools are over 14 years of age, the Smith-Hughes teacher might organize a class of boys in the elementary schools and give them definite vocational instruction.

In case the State normal school is offering extension courses to rural teachers, insistence by the county superintendent that teachers

take these extension courses and that these extension teachers contribute something definite in the way of organization of agricultural subject matter for teaching purposes will do much to improve the situation. Extension teachers from the State agricultural college may be used similarly.

The county superintendent should be certain that these supervisory workers effect a proper division of labor among themselves. There should be selected from among them individuals who have direct responsibility for the following tasks:

1. Supervision of teaching in the county schools.

2. Preparation of problem-project outlines for the use of teachers and students covering the essential farm enterprises of the county. These outlines should provide:

(a) Correlation with other school subjects.

(b) A basis for the development of worthy ideals of country life, of the sense of the possibilities of country life at its best.

(c) A basis for an understanding of the vital relationships between the farmer and the other vocational and social groups. It should be definitely kept in mind that it is the business of the elementary rural school to educate the rural children through the use of agricultural subject matter as a point of departure and that the turning out of skilled vocational workers is not to be sought.

3. Organizing individual problem-project outlines into a complete course of study in elementary school agriculture adapted to the county.

4. Working out plans whereby agricultural organizations at work in the county may be interested in and assigned a proper share in the educational development of the county.

5. Organization of a publicity scheme whereby through the proper use of the local press or by other methods the public may be kept informed as to what is being done in the schools in an agricultural

way.

6. Preparation of study outlines to guide teachers in service in the study of agricultural problems.

7. The collection of illustrative and reference material for the teaching and study of agriculture and a plan for making this material available over the entire county.

It is not contemplated that the county superintendents will call into being any new officers to be carried on the county pay roll. Of course, if funds are available the selection of specially trained supervisors of agricultural teaching is desirable, but if through some such plan as is suggested in this circular the forces already at work in the county are properly organized, a satisfactory progress in solving the problem should be assured. In this work the county superintendent should be a committee of one on correlation of effort on the

part of every agency and individual at work in the county. The essentials are to assign specific tasks to individuals, prevent overlapping, and see that the superior training of certain workers in certain lines is made available to all.

An exceedingly satisfactory and successful organization for purposes of teaching agriculture has been perfected in Pennsylvania. Similar organization is being worked out in South Carolina and a few other States. The Pennsylvania plan is quoted in detail as a concrete instance of the type of organization which promises most in the way of effectiveness.

THE PENNSYLVANIA PLAN.

THE COUNTY SUPERVISOR OF VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE.

The newest development in vocational agricultural instruction in this State is the work of the county supervisors of vocational agriculture. These supervisors, or agricultural instructors, are county representatives of the State department of public instruction. Each is attached to the staff of a county superintendent of schools of the county in which he is permanently located. Their salaries are paid in part from Federal and in part from State funds, and the necessary traveling expenses from State funds.

QUALIFICATIONS.

The county supervisors of vocational agriculture possess qualifications which are in many respects similar to those of other teachers of vocational agriculture. They must be graduates of a four-year college course in agriculture, have had practical farm experience, and preferably be farm reared; be possessed of a marked ability to work with children, youths, and adults; be experienced teachers of vocational agriculture, well informed in theory and practice of vocational education; able to supervise the work of others and possess a high degree of administrative ability, initiative, and energy. The county supervisor should be able to instruct, supervise, and lead.

WORK OF THE COUNTY SUPERVISOR OF VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE.

The three most prominent phases of the work of the county vocational supervisor of agriculture are:

1. Itinerant teaching in certain selected rural secondary school centers of the county, as well as in other centers where vocational groups may be organized. There are generally four or more such centers in a county, where a 90-minute period is spent with the class once each week during the school term. Each student must carry on an approved agricultural home project.

2. Supervision and direction of all the systematic agricultural instruction in the county, such as that given in established vocational schools, elementary schools, and rural high schools. Such work includes both junior and senior project work, as well as farmers' short courses and night schools. In this, as in the other phases of the work, there exists a very close and profitable spirit of cooperation between the county agent and the county supervisors.

3. Promotion of vocational education. In this phase of the work the county supervisor meets with school boards and attends public meetings and explains the advantages of vocational education and the method of obtaining a vocational school or department. He also arranges exhibits, contests, and round-ups to further demonstrate the successful operation of vocational work.

CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS.

Suggested for use in Local, District, or County Units.

Each group of junior project workers should have its own constitution and by-laws. In cases where the number of junior project workers in a local unit is too small (six members or less) to perfect a local organization, district organizations may be substituted for such local organizations. The constitution and by-laws herewith submitted are suggestive only, and are not intended to be followed religiously. However, they may be used as a form or guide to the local teacher or the teachers of vocational agriculture in drawing up such constitutions and by-laws for local, district, or county organizations. Such constitutions and by-laws may read somewhat as follows:

The members of this organization shall be all interested boys and girls who are not regularly enrolled in a vocational agricultural school or department.

ARTICLE III.-Purpose.

The purpose of this organization shall be to follow a definite line of study as outlined by the State department of education, to make practical application of such study through junior project work, to keep notes and records on all junior project work as directed by the teacher to the end that we may improve our knowledge of agriculture and do our share in helping to make the country a better place in which to live.

ARTICLE IV.-Officers.

The officers of this organization shall be a president, vice president, and a secretarytreasurer. They shall hold office for one year. The annual election shall be held in January of each year at the first meeting of the organization.

ARTICLE V.-Ex officio members.

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The local teacher and the vocational agricultural instructor of the community shal beex officio members of the organization, and the vocational agricultural teacher shall act as supervisor of projects and as general adviser of the members.

BY-LAWS.

1. The president shall preside at all meetings and have charge of all executive work of the organization under the general direction of the teacher.

2. The vice president shall perform the duties of the president in the latter's absence. 3. The secretary-treasurer shall keep the minutes of the organization, conduct all correspondence, keep its books, and have charge of all the monies belonging to it. 4. It shall be the duty of members to attend all meetings and to take part in the same. Each one must be ready to report on what he or she has accomplished in junior project work since the last meeting.

5. In connection with monthly meetings the organization shall arrange for special talks, lectures, or demonstrations along the line of work being followed.

6. All eligible persons wishing to enroll must read and sign this constitution and fill out an enrollment card furnished by the State department of education.

WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1922