Vermont: Page. Legislation.. Qualifications and duties of teacher of agriculture. Curriculum including agricultural course.. Orleans high school..... tion.... Annual Vermont State boys' and girls' agricultural and industrial exposi- Supervision. Equipment... Some features of agricultural instruction in high schools.. LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BUREAU OF EDUCATION, Washington, January 16, 1918. SIR: Believing that at its present stage of development, instruction in agriculture in schools of secondary grade might be improved and the general cause of agricultural education promoted by the publication of a clear and comprehensive statement of the character of instruction and the method of administering agricultural courses in some of these schools, I requested the director of the States Relations Service of the Department of Agriculture to detail its chief specialist in agricultural education, Mr. C. H. Lane, to visit and study certain high schools in six eastern States and prepare such a statement for this bureau. This was done on the basis of an agreement, in existence for several years, for the cooperation of this bureau and the Department of Agriculture whenever it may seem desirable. I am transmitting for publication as a bulletin of the Bureau of Education the result of Mr. Lane's work. Respectfully submitted. The SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. P. P. CLAXTON, Commissioner. 5 AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION IN THE HIGH SCHOOLS OF SIX EASTERN STATES. This report is a result of a cooperative agreement between the Bureau of Education of the Department of the Interior and the States Relations Service of the Department of Agriculture. The study included in this report was undertaken with a view to determining the character of instruction in agriculture in certain high schools in eastern States and the methods of administration. General returns are given for the classroom, the laboratory, and in the adoption of home and school projects. The returns are based upon information obtained from teachers of agriculture in the States visited, supplemented by reports from students, by questionnaire, and by personal visit. In all the States visited and reported upon there is an official in the State department of education who is responsible for the administration and supervision of agriculture in the high schools. These State officials were of great assistance to the investigator in getting at the real situation so far as methods of instruction and supervision were concerned. METHOD OF CLASSROOM. The use of textbooks was regular in some, usually in all, of the agricultural subjects. Ten high schools did not use regular texts, but made assignment of topic references in books or bulletins the basis of recitation. Such assignments were made to the class as a whole for recitation, and individually to members of the class for special report. The class recitation as heard did not seem to differ in plan from that of regular text classes, but individual reports appeared to call forth a rather more full and critical discussion by students than in the usual case. Pupils who would not think of disputing the findings of a book did not hesitate to differ with conclusions stated by a fellow student. Even when the regular text was the basis of classroom work it was supplemented in 23 of the high schools by topic assignments, commonly in connection with projects, which is the usual method of applying classroom instruction to practical farming in the high schools visited. Under the influence of the project method of agricultural instruction, the tendency to break away from the textbook 38220°-18-2 7 |