throughout the State is only 60 nights per year. The rule of the Rochester Board of Education is typical:

The fall term of the evening schools shall begin on the second Monday of October, and continue until the Christmas recess. The winter term shall begin on the first Monday of the new year, and continue according to attendance.

In New York City the evening-school season is divided into two terms. The first, for elementary schools, usually begins in October and ends about the middle of December; the second term begins early in January and continues until the total number of sessions equals 90. The Massachusetts immigration commission reports that of 63 cities and towns conducting evening schools during the school year of 1912-13, classes are held less than 50 evenings in 28 cities, less than 60 evenings in 15, and 60 evenings or more in 20 cities or towns. The term begins in October and ends in March. The law of Connecticut fixes the period at 75 evenings. In Pennsylvania the school law provides that if an evening school is established it must be kept open for a term of not less than 4 months in each year, each of said months to consist of 20 days. The last term of night classes in Scranton, Pa., commenced October 6, 1913, and closed March 12, 1914-5 months in all. The average length of term in New Jersey is 16 weeks. The term in St. Louis is 75 nights. California appears to have the longest night-school term. The State law requires evening schools to continue throughout the day-school term. This amounts to practically 9 months of instruction.

There is similar diversity in the number of evenings per week. The standard is 3 evenings per week, although in certain States and cities instruction is given on 5 nights. For example, in New York it is customary to give instruction 3 evenings to classes of foreign-speaking people. Classes are held on alternate evenings. The usual combination is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, although in some localities sessions are held on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights. This is the practice in Rochester and Buffalo, N. Y. New York City has 4 meetings a week for most evening classes, but also has a number of twice-a-week groups.

In California the law allows instruction to be given on 5 nights, i. e., on each evening following a day session, but San Francisco, owing to a curtailment in expenditures on account of the earthquake of 1906, has been able to maintain classes only 3 nights per week. In New Jersey the practice is to hold classes on 4 evenings per week. The Pennsylvania law requires, in effect, that sessions shall be held 5 nights per week, although the exact provision is "each of said months to consist of 20 days." Philadelphia has 4 sessions for trade schools and 3 for elementary and high schools. Scranton conducts classes Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings. Providence, R. I., has 4 evenings per week for high and technical schools, and 5

evenings for elementary and domestic science schools. St. Louis conducts classes 3 times a week. Denver has a unique arrangement, some groups coming 5 times a week, some 3, and some 2.

Ordinarily 2 hours per evening are spent in instruction. The session usually extends from 7 to 9 p. m. or from 7.30 to 9.30. Some teachers make a practice of holding a session of about an hour and three-quarters and then having a half hour informal discussion, or a short period for answering questions. The matter of hours per evening usually depends upon the particular locality, the trades engaged in by students, the time at which they are able to finish their evening meals and report for study, and upon the distance from the school building. It has been found by experience that a session of 1 to 2 hours is plenty long enough for foreign-speaking students, inasmuch as most of them are employed during the day. The length of session and the time of meeting must be adapted to the needs of foreign students, as may be seen from the following extract from the fourteenth annual report of the New York City superintendent of schools for 1911-12: "In all evening schools the session lasts 2 hours, the hours for beginning varying from 7.15 to 7.45 p. m., according to the sex of students and the local demands." Chicago makes the hours of instruction per evening optional with the principal, although in most States the matter of determining the number of hours is generally left by law to the discretion of the local board of education. The Rochester board fixes the hour of beginning at 7.30 p. m. and of closing at 9.15. Scranton at 7.30 and 9.30 p. m., dividing the session in two periods of 1 hour each. The school law of Pennsylvania requires a session to be at least 2 hours in length.

IMPORTANCE OF SUMMER SESSIONS.

There has been considerable criticism of the length of the eveningschool term. Extending ordinarily from October until March, it does not reach as large a number of foreigners as could be reached by postponing the closing date or maintaining a summer term. Unfortunately, evening classes for adult foreigners stop at about the time the period of greatest immigration sets in. The months of March, April, and May are usually those in which the greatest number of foreigners come to our shores. This increased volume of immigration continues throughout the summer until as late as September. Furthermore, evening schools are conducted through the period of greatest industrial activity, and consequently many pupils are unable to attend who at other times would be in a position to do so. In 1910 the education authorities for New York City, appreciating the importance of summer evening school instruction in English for foreigners, opened one in Manhattan. In 1911 two such schools

were maintained, and in 1912 four schools were opened, two of which were in Manhattan and two in Brooklyn. The innovation was appreciated, for the total registration rose from 2,302 the first year to 3,933 in 1912. Philadelphia has no summer term, notwithstanding that it has a large immigrant population. In 1909 a joint committee of the civic club of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia research and protective association commented on this fact in the synopsis of its report on the educational opportunities of foreigners immigrating to Philadelphia in the following language:

This committee desires to draw attention to the exceeding short term of the night school. It extends only from October to March, and there is no summer term, at which time the largest number of immigrants is arriving.

INADEQUACY IN NUMBER OF SCHOOLS AND CLASSES.

The number of classes provided by different cities is far from adequate. The importance of the education and assimilation of foreigners is seldom appreciated, and appropriations are insufficient to provide the requisite teaching force. In Seattle, Wash., there were 20 classes for adult immigrant instruction. In San Francisco in December, 1913, there were 24 classes in 8 different schools, but in June, 1914, the number of classes had diminished to 12 in 7 different schools. The 1913 report of the St. Louis superintendent of schools shows that 25 classes were maintained during the year. The recent report of the New Jersey immigration commission shows that only 20 cities in the State conducted one or more evening classes for foreigners, the the total number of classes in 1911-12 amounting to 190. Newark had 70 classes; Elizabeth, 15; and Jersey City, 14. The fifty-fifth annual report of the board of education for Rochester, N. Y., shows that only 7 classes were maintained. Failure to appreciate the need of increase in accommodations is shown by the fact that 19 cities in the State of New York, with a population of 10,000 to 30,000, the foreign-born population varying from 1,000 to 7,000, have no public night classes where immigrants could learn the English language. Only 31 cities in the State report that they maintain evening schools for foreigners. In Massachusetts 67 cities and towns conducted such classes in 1912-13; and in California 4 cities. In Oregon, only 1 city, Portland, has night schools for foreigners.

TEACHERS OF FOREIGNERS.

The qualification of teachers of adult foreigners has been the subject of considerable dispute chiefly because of the difference of opinion that exists with regard to the use of English or the foreign language in instruction. It is claimed, on the one hand, that a teacher who uses the English language only will naturally compel the student to 73226°- -ED 1914-VOL 1-28

use that language, while the teacher who speaks the foreign languago will be apt to use it too frequently in making explanations, and consequently pupils will fail to acquire the habit of "thinking" in the English language. On the other hand, there are those who contend that the native language must be used in the first instance as a medium for bringing out the idea; that a teacher who is able to use the foreigner's native tongue will be more sympathetically inclined toward him and will have a better understanding of his language difficulties, his national characteristics, customs, and experiences.

It should be noted that few cities have ever consistently experimented with the second method, because of the difficulty of securing teachers who have specialized in such languages as Italian, Hungarian, and Polish. Thus, the San Francisco school officials make an effort. to get teachers for the foreign classes who speak at least two languages, but find that it is exceedingly difficult to get such teachers with sufficient training in teaching methods. Teachers speaking languages other than German, French, and Italian, have proved particularly difficult to secure. In Seattle no effort is made to employ foreignspeaking teachers. In New York City the policy of employing foreign-born teachers has been abandoned, the school authorities having come to the conclusion that such teachers are not a success. The Massachusetts commission of immigration comments upon this subject as follows:

Certainly, if teachers speaking the foreign languages are not employed, interpreters are needed to meet and enroll those pupils who are unable to speak any English and to help the regular teachers in the first few lessons.

In Buffalo, N. Y., an advanced stand has been taken upon this question. The superintendent's annual report for the year 1911 makes the following statement:

To bring a better and more adult class of teachers to the difficult work of teaching the foreigner in the evening schools, the board, in the new syllabus, has deemed it advisable to raise the requirements for entrance to the examinations in this grade. The minimum age limit has been fixed at 25 years, and "the candidate, besides passing written examinations in grammar, rhetoric, spelling, and composition, must also show to the satisfaction of the examiners ability to converse intelligently and fluently in some foreign language." These requirements are expected to improve the standard of teachers taking up this difficult line of work and should result in more competent instruction.

One other fact is particularly noticeable with reference to the selection of teachers. Some school authorities apparently consider it important to take only day-school teachers for evening class work, on the ground that others would not have the necessary experience. in the science and art of pedagogy. The essential difference between the methods necessary to instruction in the night school and those in the day school is not recognized. The Massachusetts immigration

commission reports that 62 out of 67 cities in the State conducting night schools in 1912-13 employed practically all of their night-school teachers from the day-school staff. The commission regards this as a serious handicap, commenting upon it as follows:

In the cities and towns where classes meet four nights weekly-in one case five nights-it is obvious that the day-school teacher can not furnish the necessary vigor, enthusiasm, and special preparation; while, on the other hand, the demand that the evening school makes on her strength leaves her unable to do the best teaching of which she is capable the next day. So it is a costly system from both standpoints.

SPECIAL CERTIFICATES.

Some cities and States have recognized the value of granting special certificates to teachers who desire to teach foreigners. Buffalo, N. Y., requires a special examination and gives a special certificate. In California the State law requires that French, German, Italian, and Spanish must be taught in at least one school in every city of the first class, and students graduating from these classes are allowed a special certificate to teach languages in the evening schools. In New Jersey the law establishing evening schools for foreign adults requires that every teacher employed in such a school shall hold a special certificate. This provision has been interpreted to mean, under the ruling of the State board of education, that, in order to obtain such a certificate, a teacher must take an examination in the language of the pupils to be taught. However, as the ruling worked hardship on many communities unable to procure teachers so qualified, a new ruling was made that after July, 1913, any regular teacher's certificate would permit the holder to instruct foreigners in evening schools, and a limited special certificate might be granted to any person not less than 18 years of age who could successfully pass an examination in English and elementary civics, relating particularly to common, municipal, and State regulations as to franchise, police, etc. This certificate was to be good for three years, at the end of which time it might be made permanent upon the holder passing a successful examination in the history of the United States. This ruling has considerably facilitated the employment of suitable teachers for foreign students.

COMPENSATION TO TEACHERS OF FOREIGN CLASSES.

The salary of evening-school teachers throughout the country is generally computed on the basis of a stipulated amount per evening of instruction. The amount paid varies according to the size of the city and the difficulty in teaching, and ranges from 75 cents to $3 per evening. The law of Maryland, in providing for evening schools in Baltimore County, stipulated that the minimum salary should be $2.50 per evening. In Massachusetts the immigration commission