Table 3 shows, by States (those from which data were available), the numbers of pupils transported during the years 1919-20, 1921-22, 1923-24, 1925-26, and 1927-28, and the expenditures for this purpose. in 1917-18, 1919-20, 1921-22, 1923-24, 1925-26, and 1927-28, in so far as these data are available. With a very few exceptions, there has been a constant increase in the number of pupils transported at public expense in the several States reporting on this item during the decade. The result is a very large increase in the total number. It is obvious that the expenditure for transporting pupils has increased with the increasing numbers of pupils transported, and it seems quite probable that the per cent of increase in the one case does not differ greatly from that in the other. In some States the per cent of increase in expenditure is greater than the per cent of increase in number of pupils transported; in others the opposite is true. Since complete data are not available from all States, comparisons for all can not be made. The number of pupils transported in the 15 States for which comparable data are available increased 191 per cent from 1920 to 1928, while the expenditure for pupil transportation increased 138 per cent during the same period. The totals shown in the table, based on incomplete data, indicate a greater relative increase in expenditure for pupil transportation than there was in the number of pupils transported. The 10-Year Review A review of the consolidation movement over a period of 10 years shows that considerable progress has been made in certain phases of the movement. The number of large centralized rural schools has increased greatly and they are now recognized as an important means of providing modern educational facilities to youth in rural areas throughout the country. Official encouragement to the consolidation movement is quite general. All States permit the expenditure of public funds for pupil transportation and this service reaches a constantly increasing number of communities in rural territory. The foregoing presentation shows, by tables and description, some of the chief developments which have taken place in the consolidation movement during the past 10 years. The following pages set forth certain characteristics of the consolidated school of the latter part of the decade. II.-Detailed Information from 105 Consolidated Schools During the school year 1926-27 a questionnaire asking for data relative to consolidated schools and a request for a list of such schools sufficient to make a total number of 1,000 was sent to each State department of education. The number of schools requested from any one State bears the same relation to the number of consolidated schools reported from that State to the United States Bureau of Education in 1924 that 1,000 bears to the total number of consolidated schools reported in that year, except that no State was asked for fewer than five schools. The following directions accompanied the request: "Such schools should be the large, open-country or village schools or districts which serve a population that is chiefly rural. Pupil transportation should be furnished and at least three elementary teachers employed in each school. They may or may not include any or all secondary grades." The information received from the several State departments of education on the questionnaire is contained in Table 1 and on the pages following. Late in the same school year a questionnaire asking for data, some of which are embodied in Tables 4 to 12, was sent to four different schools in each State, selected at random from the lists submitted by the State department of education. Early in the school year 1927-28 the questionnaire was sent to additional schools equal in number to those not replying to the first request. In all replies were received from 105 consolidated schools in 36 States. The Consolidated School of 1927 The following description characterizes a typical consolidated school in 1927, based on medians obtained from data supplied by 105 representative consolidated schools throughout the country. Since the characteristics are medians, they show fairly well what the schools of the middle 50 per cent are like. The extent of variation from this type can be seen from the extremes shown in Table 12. The typical consolidation in 1922 is similarly described in United States Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1924, No. 32. Measurements presented below indicate that consolidated schools in 1927 are stronger in several important features such as taxable wealth, valuation of school property, income, and enrollment than they were five years earlier. The characteristics.-This typical consolidated school was established in a village in 1918 as the result of uniting five small districts and abandoning four schoolhouses. It serves 200 families distributed over an area of 36 square miles. One-half of the 200 families live on farms, and in addition to these 100 occupied farm homes there are eight vacant farmhouses in the district. The assessed valuation of the taxable property within the area served by the school is considerably more than $1,500,000, or approximately $4,300 per pupil enrolled. The district has a bonded debt of $25,000, or less than 2 per cent of the assessed valuation. The school property is valued at $75,000, which amounts to 4.8 per cent of the assessed valuation, or $300 for each pupil enrolled. The income of $25,000, or $100 per pupil enrolled, was derived chiefly from a local school tax levy of 14.5 mills on the dollar. It is used approximately as follows: 60 per cent for teachers' salaries, including a superintendent at $2,400, elementary teachers at $990 each, junior high school teachers (representing only one-fifth of the schools) at $1,288 each, and senior high school teachers at $1,350 each; 14 per cent, $3,500 for the transportation of pupils; and 26 per cent for other current expenses and the retirement of indebtedness. There is an enrollment of 250 pupils in the 12 grades. Fifty per cent of the pupils are transported to school at public expense. The average distance one way is 5.5 miles and the cost per pupil for each mile he rides is 1.4 cents in district-owned vehicles and 2.2 cents in privately owned vehicles. The school employs a superintendent, five teachers in the elementary grades and four in the secondary grades. Of the elementary teachers, all but one have had at least two years of training beyond graduation from a 4-year high-school course. A large percentage of the highschool teachers and the superintendent have had at least four years of college training. One-half of the members of the teaching staff have had two or more years of teaching experience. The superintendent, or supervising principal, who is employed for nine months, has had training in supervision and administration. Fifty per cent of his time is spent in teaching, 25 per cent in supervision of instruction, and the remainder in office routine. He is carrying on at least one research project concerning the welfare of the school, such as "Transportation costs" and "Mental and educational testing of children." The school maintains 12 grades and is organized on the 8-4 plan.10 It may or may not have the classes divided into sections according to ability of pupils, for one-half of those answering this question do and one-half do not. It employs the annual promotion plan and uses standardized tests in the placement of pupils. There is an "enriched" curriculum and a modern schedule of time allotment for subjects. (See U. S. Office of Education Rural School Leaflet No. 46, Time Allotment in 80 Consolidated Schools.) Twenty-one and threetenths per cent of the elementary grade pupils are under age, 63.5 per cent are normal age, and 15.2 per cent are over age.1 Twenty per cent of the high-school graduates for the past three years have entered the occupation of farming. 11 The school building is equipped for specialized instruction in music, physical training, general science, home economics, and agri 10 20 per cent of the schools conforming closely to the type described are organized on the 6-2-4 or the 6-3-3 plan. 11 See U. S. Office of Education Pamphlet No. 8, An Age-Grade Study of 7,632 Pupils in 45 Consolidated Schools. 116386-30-3 culture. It has a gymnasium and a library. Classrooms are unilaterally lighted and heated with a central heating plant. The grounds are 5 acres in extent and are landscaped and arranged for physical training and gardening. The school is the center for such community interests as school fairs, parent-teacher meetings, debating contests, and boy-scout activities. The typical consolidation in comparison with other school organizations. The area (36 square miles) served by the median consolidated school of the group is more than three times the average area (approximately 11 square miles) for all schools in the United States. In six States the minimum area which may constitute a consolidated school district is fixed by law; in five of these States the limits are lower than those being attained by consolidated schools as shown by this study; in the sixth State the minimum area is 40 square miles, but this is for high-school districts. Data are available for the years indicated showing area served by all consolidations in each of seven States; the medians in square miles were: Florida (1924), 36; Illinois (1927), 13; Iowa (1926), 25.6; Kansas (1925), 26; Minnesota (1926), 24; Missouri (1928), 25; and Oklahoma (1926), 33. There is an average of 1 schoolhouse for every 95 families in the United States. The typical consolidated school is serving more than twice this number, while the number of farm homes served by this school is greater than the total number of families served by the average school in the United States. In this connection it is interesting to note that 75 per cent of the farm families served by the middle school of the consolidated group are home owners, whereas only 61 per cent of the operators of all farms in the United States in 1920 were in this class. The valuation of the taxable property within the consolidated district is 24 per cent greater than that for the median of 260 consolidated schools in 1922. This fact and reports recently coming to this office seem to indicate that efforts to make consolidated schools financially stronger are being realized. The bonded indebtedness, equal to 2 per cent of the valuation, is well below the legal amount permitted in most States. Evidently the consolidated school corporation to-day is following the policy, "pay as you go." The school's enrollment of 250 pupils permits of a much better organization than does the average rural school throughout the country. The 1-room schools especially are generally believed to be operating with low attendance in many cases. A recent study 12 of rural schools in Illinois reveals the fact that 2,000 1-teacher schools in that State had an average daily attendance of fewer than 10 pupils. 12 Grimm, L. R. Factors and Problems in the Centralization of Elementary Schools in Illinois. Illinois State Teachers' Association, Springfield, Ill. 1927. |