Marlborough reports a school superintendent appointed during the year 1884-'85, who devoted his entire time to the work of supervision, but no radical changes were made in the management of the schools. They are said to have given, in the main, sound instruction in the common branches and in high school studies, to have been generally well disciplined, and to have had a good influence on the manners and morals of pupils; still, the superintendent sees need for reform and improvement. School-houses were generally in a satisfactory condition, although too little attention has been paid to ventilation and to other matters having reference to the health of pupils.

New Bedford reports an increased attendance in the public schools, which is attributed in part to the release of parents from the expense of text books. Music and drawing were successfully taught under the charge of special teachers. The evening drawing school has prepared hundreds of people in the city to gain a livelihood. In the three elementary evening schools taught there was an improvement in regularity of attendance, with corresponding attention to study and improvement therein. The schools for factory children have been of great value, not only to the pupils who attend them, but also to the graded schools, which, in default of their aid, would be disturbed by continually receiving an element that could not be properly graded. These mill schools enroll during the year between 300 and 400 children of 12 to 14 years of age, their entire personnel being changed nearly four times a year. In the truant school, industrial training was, to some extent, added to the other studies, a mechanic having been engaged to give the boys instruction on Saturdays in the use of tools. Sewing is taught the girls in all the day schools, one hour each week being devoted to it.

Newton reports school work retarded by excessive heat at the opening of the term and the prevalence of sickness during the winter, yet substantial progress was made, through the earnest efforts of teachers and pupils and the co-operation of parents. Some improvement was made in the methods of instruction, especially in reading and arithmetic. The topical method was pursued more largely than before, and special attention given to training pupils to think. The free text-book law is expected to prove beneficial, tending to increase the average attendance, to lengthen the average term of years spent in the schools by pupils, and to exert a healthful influence on their character from the care they are required to take of the books; it also effects a saving of time and of expense. The evening school work done was successful and useful, as also was the special instruction given the girls in the day schools, amounting to one hour a week in each.

North Adams reports its schools working harmoniously and the methods of study remaining about the same as the previous year. Language study, both oral and written, is made prominent in all grades; much attention is given to the building of sentences and great gain has been made in this branch. The free text-book plan has worked well. Books have been better cared for than when owned by pupils, and the cost of them to the city probably only about a third what it used to be when bought by parents. Evening schools were taught for the first time and were fairly successful. About 137 pupils were in average attendance, a large proportion of them being mill operatives, many of whom could not read or write.

Peabody reports an increased attendance, additions and repairs made during the year in school buildings, free text books supplied according to law, and the books well taken care of. To the faithfulness of the truant officer is ascribed, in part, the increase in the number of pupils in the schools. Of 129 cases of truancy reported only 23 cases were habitual, and it is thought that with a place of commitment for the worst of these cases, the evil would almost disappear.

Pittsfield, notwithstanding overcrowding, reports good work done in the public schools and improvement made in its quality. Constantly increasing excellence is found among the primary teachers, probably owing to the fact that those who have shown aptness in this work have been continued in it and have been rewarded by increase of pay rather than by change of grade and position, since no good reason is seen here for giving teachers of intermediate and grammar grades preference over those of primaries, which require in their management an equal amount of ability, tact, and teaching power.

Salem notes in its report for 1884 an increase of truancy, also too many cases of corporal punishment in the public schools. These consist of primary, grammar, high, and evening schools, also an ungraded school for French Canadian children connected with the Naumkeag factory, and who speak no English. In the ungraded school, especially, the new free text-book plan has been a great assistance.

Springfield, whose latest report received is also for 1884, has during this year introduced sewing in the grammar schools and the Indian Orchard (or mill) school, the girls receiving instruction in this branch for one hour a week. The plan has been in every sense attended with satisfactory results. The free text-book law has resulted in an increase of attendance. Improvement was secured in evening school attendance by requiring an excuse for absence, and better work was accomplished also

through a more systematic classification under suitable teachers. It is found that the very best teaching talent is required for evening schools; and to an absence of experience on the part of teachers is attributed the lack of success often obtained in the schools.

Taunton public schools, comprising primary, grammar, high, evening, and evening drawing schools, show a fair record in respect to attendance, considering the fact that there was an almost unprecedented prevalence of contagious diseases. Thus while only about 72 per cent. of the whole number enrolled were in average daily attendance, 97 per cent. of the average membership were in constant attendance.

The most notable occurrence in connection with the school system during the year was the completion of a new and commodious high school building, about 170 by 88 feet in extent and 3 stories high, including a basement, and capable of accommodating 250 to 300 pupils. The building is heated by steam, the most approved methods of lighting and ventilation have been used, and care taken that the rooms for the daily work of the school be mainly on one level, and on the floor next above the basement, thus avoiding the necessity of much going up and down stairs.

Westfield reports 2 new school-houses erected, and repairs and improvements made in nearly every school-house in the town; also punctuality and diligence on the part of pupils and good attendance, notwithstanding a prevalence of scarlet fever. A year's experience has confirmed the belief of the committee in the advantages of the free text-book law. The committee urge the appointment of a city school superintendent and the introduction in the schools of industrial education.

Woburn.-The superintendent thinks some of the schools have been wasting a certain amount of energy from the lack of a definite course of study; that the line pursued in some studies-notably language, is vague and indefinite; that better results in arithmetic would follow from a more rational course, and that the time devoted to geography is out of proportion to the amount of benefit derived, that in the last, the motto "From the known to the unknown" has not been sufficiently observed. The school buildings were in excellent condition, with the exception of a faulty arrangement for the admission of light in many of the rooms. In the evening schools irregularity of attendance was a great drawback, although their benefits were unquestioned. A requirement of a deposit of tuition fees, to be forfeited in case of truancy, is suggested as likely to induce more regular attendance.

Worcester, including in its public school system primary, grammar, high, evening, and evening drawing schools, reports an increase in the number of children of school age and in that of those under instruction, the day schools showing a larger increase in the average number belonging and in average attendance than in the number enrolled. This increase of attendance, as compared with registration, shows, as the superintendent points out, the faithfulness with which the law for school attendance is executed, while the daily attendance indicates the interest pupils take in their schools. That over 90 per cent. of the number belonging were held in average attendance is thought very satisfactory, especially considering the severity of the climate, the laborious habits of the population, and the fact that no attempt is permitted to "fix up" the records or to insist on the attendance of children regardless of the necessities of health and of other reasonable causes for absence. The enrollment in day schools was nearly equal to the school census of 1885 (13,269), or about onesixth of the population. Including 465 pupils in evening schools and drawing classes, it was almost one-fifth; and, counting the estimated 1,500 in private schools, the proportion would be still greater.

Evening schools were, as usual, carried on successfully. The plan of requiring a deposit of one dollar for admission as a guarantee of constant attendance and attention to duty vindicates itself anew with each succeeding year. There is no more question about the orderly and studious behavior of pupils in evening schools than in any others. The "deposit" plan has proved so useful in these schools that it has been adopted in the free evening drawing schools, where its effects have been equally good.

Music has been tanght in the schools by a special teacher for more than 20 years. Aside from the benefits thus conferred upon the community in supplying an important source of pleasure and refinement, this study has been found to exert a strong influence for good in the schools, in relieving the attention from other studies, in giving variety to the exercises, in expanding the lungs, and in softening the asperities of school discipline. A large part of the steady decrease of the disagreeable, which has steadily been going on in school discipline during the last two decades, is ascribed to the influence of this study; and in this respect alone it has been worth three times as much as it cost.

KINDERGARTEN TRAINING.

It is the opinion of the secretary of the State board that children are by a course of kindergarten instruction prepared to enter with facility on the primary school studies, and that the experiences they acquire by actually handling the objects of

their study give both the strength and the love for investigation. He thinks it would be well if the kindergarten could be made a universal institution, and its spirit introduced into all primary education. How it may be included in a system of public schools does not clearly appear, but this it is thought can be partly accomplished by allowing the primary schools to pursue kindergarten methods for some time before entering upon what is now considered to be elementary training. Another way suggested is to combine kindergarten instruction with regular primary school work. In the latter case, children would enter school at an earlier age than at present.

PREPARATION AND QUALIFICATIONS OF TEACHERS.

STATE REQUIREMENTS.

Teachers of town or district schools must obtain from the school committee a certificate in duplicate of their qualification to teach, a copy to be filed with the selectmen before pay for services can be obtained.

STATE NORMAL TRAINING.

Six normal schools, including a normal art school, located respectively at Bridgewater, Framingham, Salem, Westfield, Worcester, and Boston, are provided_by_the State for the training of persons intending to teach in the public schools. In them all, tuition is free to those intending to teach; and for the further assistance of those who find even the remaining expenses burdensome, the State makes an annual appropriation of $4,000. To supplement this aid, the school at Salem has the income from a fund of $5,000 given by Nathaniel I. Bowditch, of Brookline. The design of these schools is strictly professional, and the plan of instruction one which will, it is believed, prepare in the best manner possible for the work of organizing, governing, and teaching the public schools, this being understood to include a thorough knowledge of the branches to be taught, of the best methods of teaching them, and of right mental training. The full course of study, extending over 4 years, prepares for the highest positions in the public school system. In all but the normal art school a shorter, or elementary course, is provided, which fits for primary and grammar school grades, and requires 2 years for completion, except in the Worcester school, where another half year is added, the fourth half year being spent in apprentice teaching in the city schools. There has also grown up at this school a practice of granting to undergraduates who desire it temporary leave of absence to engage in actual teaching for longer or shorter periods. Of the last graduating class fully one-half had taught schools of their own before receiving their diplomas. The Visitors report a remarkable absence of dull routine in this school. While the regular work goes forward steadily, fresh interest and animation are given by experiments in new directions. During 1884-'85, for example, there has been an effort to enlarge the study of psychology by making the systematic objective study of children a prominent part of the work of the more advanced classes. Independent personal observations are made of children, their nature and instincts, plays, games, ideas, and modes of thought and feeling; their habits, aptitudes, acquirements, etc., and the results are recorded upon blanks prepared for the purpose. Several hundred such records have been made. The experiment gathers interest and precision day by day, and has already attracted the attention and received the approval of several prominent educators.

The school at Bridgewater, one of the first three established on this continent, having received its first classes in 1840, has since that time given instruction to over 3,000 students, nearly 90 per cent, of whom have taught and 60 per cent. have been graduated, 70 of these from the 4-years course. An advance is reported in this school in the teaching and study of the natural sciences during the year. More comprehensive analyses of the subject were made, sets of working specimens provided for each member of the class, as well as more extended means for microscopic study and illustration. Special attention, too, is called to a steady increase in the number of those who give more than two years to normal training, showing that the demand for thoroughly trained teachers grows with the growth in importance and dignity of the teaching profession, also that the colleges do not supply the demand for teachers in the higher grades. In fact, graduates of this and other schools from either course are in demand to fill good positions in the public schools, but particularly those from the longer course and those who have taught, and the demand is rapidly increasing and is already greater than the supply.

Framingham, noting the increasing demand for graduates, reports a steady growth in the number attending, the last class being the largest admitted for 30 years, and an equal improvement in the character and fitness of the pupils.

The Massachusetts Normal Art School, Boston, first opened in 1873, was rendered necessary by the law of 1870 requiring drawing to be taught in the public schools and industrial drawing to all youth over 15 in cities and towns of more than 10,000

inhabitants. Its chief work is the preparation of teachers of industrial art, and especially of industrial drawing for the public schools. It also aims to provide for high skill in technical drawing. Applicants for admission must be over 16, of good character, and able to pass an examination in the common English branches and in freehand drawing of ornament from copy. The school is meeting a pressing public necessity, and more and more year by year is justifying the wisdom of its establishment. Such has been the growing appreciation of its work that there is now no longer any question of its continuance, and the legislature at its last session made an appropriation of $85,000 for the erection of a suitable building for it.

The five normal schools enrolled during the year over a thousand pupils, 139 of them belonging to the normal art school.

OTHER NORMAL TRAINING.

The Boston Normal School, a part of the city system, gives professional instruction in a course of one year to young women who intend to teach in the Boston public schools. A training school with primary and grammar grades, connected with the normal, affords opportunity for practice. City normals or normal departments also form a part of the public school system in Fall River, Lawrence, Haverhill, and Cambridge.

Opportunities for obtaining preparation to teach outside of the public school system are offered in departments of Wellesley College, Wellesley, and Cushing Academy, Ashburton; while for kindergarten work there was at last accounts a training school in Boston.

TEACHERS' INSTITUTES.

Two kinds of institutes were held during the year,-one, as in other years, for the benefit of the teachers of a group of adjoining towns, the other for the teachers of single towns. Of the former, 6 were held, 516 teachers attending. Besides the regular exercises of the day session, an evening lecture was given in connection with each institute, the speakers being the secretary of the board, on "The school system of Massachusetts"; Mr. Geo. H. Martin, agent, on "A practical education;" and Rev. A. D. Mayo, on "Country schools."

More time, however, was given to the class of institutes for single towns. They were held under the supervision of the agents of the board, who, after visiting towns and inspecting schools, met the teachers and committees and spent a day, or a part of one, in conference concerning the needs of the schools. At these meetings criticisms were made on existing defects in buildings and on equipment and methods of work; plans were proposed for remedying the evils and illustrative exercises were given upon methods of teaching. In most of the towns the people were addressed in the evening by the secretary or agents, or both. This form of institutes has given general satisfaction, and the committees and teachers everywhere speak of them as stimulating and helpful.

EDUCATIONAL JOURNALS.

The Journal of Education, Boston, a weekly, in its twentieth volume, is devoted to the publication of educational ideas, methods, and news, giving information from all parts of the Union and numbering among its contributors some of the best known writers and thinkers on educational topics. The same office issues a bi-monthly journal entitled Education, for the discussion of the science, art, and literature of education. The American Teacher, a monthly, published at Boston and devoted chiefly to kindergarten interests, entered on the ninth volume of the old series September, 1885.

SECONDARY INSTRUCTION.

PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS.

There were 224 public high schools taught during the year by 644 instructors and attended by 20,489 pupils, an increase for the year of 477 pupils. According to law any town may establish a school for instruction in the higher English branches; towns with 500 families must have such schools taught 10 months of the year and include ordinary high school studies; and towns of 4,000 inhabitants must add instruction in Greek, French, astronomy, geology, rhetoric, logic, intellectual and moral science, and political economy. Recent legislation has made physiology and hygiene compulsory, particularly in their relation to stimulants and narcotics.

OTHER SECONDARY SCHOOLS.

For statistics of business colleges, private academic schools, and preparatory departments of colleges, see Tables IV, VI, VII, and IX of the Appendix, and for summaries see corresponding tables in the report of the Commissioner preceding.

SUPERIOR INSTRUCTION.

COLLEGES FOR YOUNG MEN OR FOR BOTH SEXES.

Harvard University, Cambridge, comprehends the following departments: Harvard College; schools of divinity, law, medicine, and dentistry; the Lawrence Scientific School; the graduate department; the museum of comparative zoology; the Bussey Institution; the college library; the astronomical observatory; the botanic garden and herbarium; and the Peabody Museum of American Archæology and Ethnology. The degrees given in course are bachelor of arts, of science, of divinity, and of laws; doctor of medicine and of dentistry; civil and mining engineer; master of arts; doctor of philosophy; and doctor of science. There are four grades in the degree of A. B., according to the measure of distinction earned in the final examinations. This degree, owing to the elective system of the college, does not mean that all holding it have passed through the same course of study, nor even since 1884 (in which year three-fifths of the work of the freshman year was made elective) does it mean that all bachelors of the same year have necessarily studied together, while in college, any subject except rhetoric, English composition, and the barest clements of chemistry and physics. It means, however, that all who have received it have spent from 7 to 10 years in liberal studies; that they have learned at school the elements of Greek, Latin, mathematics, physics, ancient history, English literature, and French or German, passing somewhat beyond the elements in at least two of the first four named topics; that at college they have added the elements of a fourth language-German or French-to the three studied at school, besides pursuing the few prescribed studies above mentioned; and that they have also spent three years and a half on a prescribed quantity of liberal studies selected by themselves; all studies being accounted liberal which are pursued in the scientific spirit for truth's sake.

The influence which this large liberty in selection has had on the college is discussed by the president in his report for 1884-'85 in the light of facts. In reply to the question whether the freedom to concentrate study on special branches has been carried too far, it is shown that in the case of 92 per cent. of 350 selections of courses during the last two years, and tabulated in the report, the freedom to specialize had not been used to any degree which could seem inexpedient even to persons who doubt the wisdom of specialization; and that this liberty, far from being abused, had been as yet scarcely used. An inspection of this table of 350 choices shows, moreover, that there has been a fair degree of harmony in the courses selected, that incoherent choices have been very few, and that a comparatively small number of students have taken the less difficult studies from motives of indolence.

There were enrolled in this department of the university during 1884-85 936 students candidates for the degree of A. B., and 70 special students. The graduate department enrolled 76 students, of whom 56 were candidates for the degree of A. M., Ph. D., or Sci. D.; 13, including 4 candidates for degrees, were holders of fellowships; and 11 were neither holders of fellowships nor candidates for degrees. Other departments will be noticed under "Scientific and professional instruction."

Boston University, Boston, comprising a college of liberal arts, 3 professional schools, viz, of theology, law, and medicine, a school of all sciences, and a college of music, is open on equal terins to both sexes. The school of agriculture of the university is supplied by the Massachusetts Agricultural College, students matriculating in both institutions, and enjoying the facilities for instruction afforded by the university, and on graduation receiving from it the degree of bachelor of science. In the College of Liberal Arts the regular course of study leads to the degree of bachelor of arts, though a limited number of persons who desire to prepare for the professional schools of the university, but are unable to spend so much time, may take a three-years elective course for the degree of bachelor of philosophy. A recent arrangement permits students of the regular course to take their studies in any order they please, when their object is to secure greater thoroughness or more leisure for reading or laboratory work. The School of All Sciences, intended for graduates of this and other colleges, and of professional schools, aims to provide thorough instruction in all cultivated languages and their literatures, in all natural and mathematical sciences, all theological and medical studies, all fine arts, properly so called, and all branches of special historical study. The College of Music is designed for graduates of the best American conservatories. Students in this are admitted to the classes of the College of Liberal Arts without extra charge. Of the 620 students in all departments of the university during 1884-85, 164 were young women.

Amherst College, Amherst, as formerly, reports a course of study leading to the degree of bachelor of arts, embracing philosophy, history, art, ancient and modern languages, literature, and science. Arrangements are made for graduate study, and also for special students not candidates for a degree. One of the admirable provisions here is that of a department of hygiene and physical education. This is under the charge of two physicians, whose duty it is to keep themselves informed in regard to