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STATE OF UTAH
REPORT
of the
State High School Inspector
for the School year 192%-23
State Department of Public Instruction
C. N. JENSEN, Superintendent
LIBRARY
Brigham Young University
AMERICANA
BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY
3 1197 23421 4788
STATE OF UTAH
Report of the State
High School
Inspector
for the year
/92%- /f%Q
STATE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
C. N. JENSEN, Superintendent
wn
FOREWORD The growth of high schools throughout the country during recent
years has been one of the most interesting phases of our educational
development. In our own state during the last decade the number of
young people attending high schools has increased four fold.
It is becoming an increasingly complex and urgent problem to
discover ways and means by which these schools may function most
effectively. This report of the high school inspector records the re¬
sults of investigations made to ascertain the performances and re-
quirements-of students, the teaching load of instructors, their salaries,
the distribution of time and efforts of the principals, and the equip¬
ment for carrying on the work. The great emphasis given to the
ascertaining of facts rather than to the proposing of plans for im¬
provement is due nearly altogether to the fact that for a number of
years our high schools were deprived of the services of a high school
supervisor and, therefore, the actual standing of these schools could
not be satifactorily known. Now with the necessary facts secured, a
rational basis is found upon which to build for the future. The re¬
port of the inspector lays out very clearly before us the actual con¬
ditions obtaining and thereby it at least indicates wherein efforts
must be placed to make these educational agencies fulfill the hopes
and desires of the progressive citizenry of the state.
C. N. JENSEN,
State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
August 7, 1923.
Dr. C. N. Jensen,
State Superintendent of Public Instruction,
Capitol Building,
City.
My dear Dr. Jensen:
I take pleasure herewith in submitting to you a report of my
labors as State High School Inspector, covering the period January 1
to June 30, 1923.
I want to express to you at this time my appreciation of your con¬
fidence in me, and interest in my work during the time that I was
associated with you in this capacity. I enjoyed my work very much
and I only hope that my labors will prove as beneficial to the Scate
and to the High School cause as my experiences were helpful to me
personally.
Grateful acknowledgement is made of the valuable assistance of
a number of my graduate students in the University of Utah who did
the major portion of the tabulation and who constructed many of the
tables and graphs.
Yours sincerely,
LE ROY E. COWLES.
3
Report of the High School
Inspector June 30, 1923
Introductory Statement: When I was appointed State High
School Inspector to act for a limited time, I felt that my first duty
would be to learn as far as possible what the actual conditions were in
the High Schools of Utah. My mode of securing information con¬
cerning the schools was, first, to make personal visits to just as many
schools as possible, second, to secure information in written form from
every school on blanks especially prepared for the purpose and, third,
to use some standardized scales to measure the performance of stu¬
dents in all High Schools in some of the school subjects.
In conformity with this plan, I arranged a-schedule by which I
visited all of the four year high schools in the State with the excep¬
tion of those in Salt Lake City,, Duchesne, Garfield, Grand, South
Summit, Kane, Rich and San Juan.
As a rule I stayed one day at each school; in some cases only
half a day and in a few cases less than one-half day. At every visit
I aimed, first, to get a general impression of the entire physical
plant, second, to get a general impression of the “atmosphere” of the
school. These impressions I secured by talking with teachers, ob¬
serving the attitude of students and taking note of the spirit of
assemblies, etc. Third, I observed as much of the actual class work
as was possible. I designed a form for tabulating information which
I carried with me into every class room. The use of this form aided
me in estimating the quality of work being done. I aimed to stay
the entire period in all classes visited. Sometimes, however, this
was impractical and I remained only half fhe period; in a few in¬
stances only a few minutes.
I realize that it is dangerous to make generalizations as to the
quality of a teacher’s work by such a superficial examination, but on
the other hand, I believe that a brief visit enables a person to form
a general picture as to what the situation really is, provided the
situation is about normal as it may be expected to be in most cases.
Under the second head, information secured through question¬
naires, I made five different forms of questionnaires and borrowed
two from the Committee of Fifteen who were surveying the High
Schools of California. The character of the data secured on these
questionnaires is shown in the body of this report.
Due to lack of funds and lack of time I attempted to give only
two tests to the schools: one in reading and one in physics. I gave
the reading test to half the freshmen and all the seniors in twenty-
four schools and I gave the physics test to the schools that reported
physics in their curricula for the year 1922-23. A detailed account
of the reading tests follows in this report. The results of the physics
test are not included.
4
General Impressions: Before submitting the detailed tabulations
from my questionnaires, I think it advisable to make some observa¬
tions concerning my general impressions of the high school condi¬
tions in the State.
I found the superintendents, principals, and teachers ready and
anxious to receive any suggestions and to do anything they could to
facilitate my work and to improve their own schools. The teachers
always showed keen interest in whatever was beneficial to them. My
experience showed me that our teaching body in general is made up
of willing, energetic, intelligent and conscientious men and women. In
fact I think it would be very difficult to find a higher type of man¬
hood and womanhood than is represented in our High School facul¬
ties.
This favorable condition does not mean, however, that there is
no need for great improvement in our teaching force. In fact, I be¬
lieve that the weakest place in our whole high school organization is
the class room procedure. Many of our high school teachers do not
know how to teach. They waste many hours of valuable time in
unnecessary activities or in matters that to say the least are not
important.
Many of our college graduates teaching in high schools know too
little of the application of the principles of psychology to class room
procedure. Some of them seem to be imbued with the idea that all
that is necessary is to have a thorough knowledge of the subject mat¬
ter. Of course this is necessary. But a good teacher must also have
a knowledge of the nature of those whom he is teaching and also
of the demands of society as to what portions of the subject matter
have a functioning value and should be stressed. Much poor teaching
in Utah schools is due to a lack of aim or purpose, both in the
entire course itself and in each daily recitation.
I noted, too, that in many classes the teachers permitted the use
of very poor English and in some cases they set the undesirable
example themselves.
Another cause of weakness in the teaching process is a lack of
real scholarship on the part of some teachers. I listened to recita¬
tions that were halting and inaccurate because of the teacher’s lack
of knowledge of the subject matter. Sometimes this is due to thl
fact that the instructor is overloaded or is given subjects to teach
for' which he has had no preparation. In many cases, as you will note
in my report later on, teachers are not teaching the subjects in which
they majored in college. In other words, they are trying to teach
what they do not know.
SUBJECTS OFFERED IN UTAH HIGH SCHOOLS
The purpose of question sheet No. 1, of the Study of High Schools,
was to ascertain just what the subjects are that are actually being
given in the Utah high schools, how many students are pursuing the
subjects, the time devoted to each subject and the amount of credit
given.
5
Forty-one schools responded to the inquiry. The following table
(Table I) shows the subjects in the order of the number of students
enrolled in each. The number of schools offering each subject is also
indicated.
Each year of the subject is called a different subject. For ex¬
ample, ninth grade English is one subject, and tenth grade English
another subject. There was a great deal of confusion due to lack of
uniformity of nomenclature. For example, we find art b, industrial
art, commercial art, and drawing. There is nothing to indicate
whether or not these are similar courses. Commercial arithmetic,
advanced arithmetic, and high school arithmetic are reported. Are
these the same courses under different names? Manual training, shop
1 and 2, farm mechanics, auto mechanics 1 and 2 are also reported.
Similarly in home economics, commerce, music and physical educa¬
tion the nomenclature is very confusing because of lack of uniformity.
TABLE I. SUBJECTS OFFERED IN FORTY-ONE HIGH SCHOOLS
IN THE ORDER OF THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS ENROLLED
X3 73 p 'o C/D
* *
.M G
2 bo o
“ £ Subject
Ti 'c3
£ o G £
« z, o C/D W
1 40 English 1 3482
2 41 English 2 3029
3 38 Algebra (a) 2900
4 34 Chorus 2839
5 24 Phys. Ed. 1 2472
6 38 English 3 2367
7 38 Biology 2352
8 25 Citizenship 1936
9 32 Physiology 1779
10 35 History (U. S.) 1707
11 21 Physical Ed. 2 1552
12 26 Com. Arith. 1559
13 30 Typewriting 1 1513
14 32 Com. Art. 1 1503
15 29 Hist. (Mod.) 1478
16 35 Geom. (Plane) 1047
17 34 English 4 1046
18 32 Dom. Art 2 1025
19 31 Sociology 968
20 27 Chemistry 931
21 10 Hist. (Med.) 930
22 17 Hist. (Anc.) 927
23 33 Dom. Sci. 1 896
24 30 Bookkeeping 1 859
25 27 Animal Hus. 759
26 11 Arit. (Adv. Or
H. S.) 722
JO 7) G
O -C c
7) -a c
M G 03 o Subject
CD ~ v, £ 3 G
az zo c/D W
27 24 Agronomy 658
28 29 Dom. Sc. 2 641
29 26 Economics 627
30 8 Gen. Science 611
31 19 Mach. Arts 1 563
32 12 Glee Club 554
33 16 Typewriting 2 529
34 17 Manual Tr. 1 523
35 13 Farm Mech. 513
36 26 Physics 483
37 24 Orchestra 472
38 20 Band 456
39 ir Home Manage. 447
40 16 Art (Draw.) 443
41 10 Phys. Ed. 3 442
42 6 Hyg. & San. 419
43 17 Stenography 401
44 10 Man. Tr. 2 333
45 17 Oral Exp. 2 320
46 12 Shop 1 304
47 13 Dom. Art 3 288
48 10 Pub. Spkg. 1 265
49 4 Bus. Eng. 240
50 9 Botany 230
51 6 Spanish 1 212
6
o to •C G o •—
C/3 73
G "
o to x: g o •r*
C/3 73
G^
M G cs
^ 5
d Subject
CD ~ 73 g
2 G
M C cS d
Subject CD G
1 G
OZ zo co w ZO GO W
52 6 Com. Law 200 78 5 Debating 67
53 6 Auto Mech. 192 79 3 Typewriting 4 65
54 6 Physiography 186 80 2 Geology 65
55 10 Mech. Arts 2 174 81 4 Oral Ex. 3 55
56 11 Algrebra (b) 164 82 3 Latin 1 52
57 8 Shop 2 152 83 3 Millinery 47
58 7 Dramatics 156 84 4 Dramatics 2 44
59 5 Penmanship 151 85 2 Review of Common
60 7 Home Nurs. 150 Branches 43
61 5 French 133 86 4 Dom. Art 4 36
62 25 Oral Exp. 1 135 87 1 Psychology 29
63 5 Dom. Sc. 3 130 88 1 Poultry 29
64 4 Farm Mange. 125 89 1 Com. Art 2 28
65 8 Typewriting 3 124 90 4 Bookkeeping 3 27
66 1 Vocations 1 120 91 1 Hist, of Music 27
67 4 Aesthetic Dance. 109 92 2 Solid Geom. 24
68 2 Reading 108 93 1 Agric. Engineering 24
69 4 Ethics 108 94 1 Pari. Law 18
70 1 Grammar 97 95 1 Industries 15
71 7 Bookkeeping 2 89 96 1 Bus. Efficiency 15
72 5 Art Needle Wrk 82 97 1 Western Hist. 2 13
73 1 Vocations 2 82 98 1 Indus. Art 12
74 3 Zoology 81 99 1 Art B. 11
75 4 Pub. Spkg. 2 75 100 1 Latin 2 8
76 2 Western Hist. 1 71 101 1 Adv. Agronomy 7
77 4 Horticulture 70 102 1 Engl. Hist. 7
After making some allowances for this lack of uniformity in
naming courses, there seem to be 102 different subjects offered.
Two subjects, English 1 and 2, have each more than three thous¬
and students. This investigation includes only high schools offering
a full high school course. Some of these senior high schools do not
offer ninth grade subjects. This accounts for the fact that only
forty schools report English 1 and forty-one schools report English
2. Five subjects each had an enrollment of between 2000 to 3000
students. Eleven subjects each had an enrollment of between 1000
and 2000 students. Seventeen subjects had each an enrollment of
500 to 1000. Thirteen subjects had an enrollment between 250 and
500 each. Twenty-one subjects had an enrollment between 100 and
250 each. Thirteen subjects had between 40 and 100, and twenty
subjects fewer than 50 ecah.
English 2 seems to be the only subject taught in all the schools
reporting.
Algebra a, chorus, English 3, English 4, biology, physiology, U. S.
7
history, typewriting 1, domestic art 1 and 2, plane geometry, sociology,
domestic science 1 and bookkeeping 1 are offered in three-fourths of
the schools.
Twenty-eight subjects were reported from more than one-fourth
but fewer than three-fourths of the schools. Fifty-eight subjects
were reported from fewer than one-fourth of the schools. Sixteen
different subjects were reported from but one school each.
Credit
In general the amount of work required for a unit of credit
seems to be nearly uniform. There are some exceptions: algebra b,
ordinarily reported as a one-half unit subject, is given one unit of
credit by three schools.
Agronomy, ordinarily a one unit subject with five recitations per
week, is given a unit for three recitations a week in one school, and
four recitations a week in another. Bookkeeping varies in credit
from one-half unit to 1 unit for one hour a week. Botany, biology,
and commercial arithmetic vary in credit from one half to 1 unit
each. Domestic art and domestic science also vary from one-half
unit to 1 unit in credit.
There is also quite a range of variability in the amount of labora¬
tory work required for a unit credit in the various science courses.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. The reasons for the distribution of subjects as indicated by the
reports are not obvious. For example, why should thirty of our rural
high schools be offering typewriting, >and only three offering millinery?
Why should only five schools offer opportunity to study French, and
six schools opportunities to study Spanish, while seventeen offer steno¬
graphy, thirty-five offer plane geometry? Why should three schools
give four years of typewriting and only two schools offer geology and
only one elementary psychology, and one poultry raising? It is re¬
commended that a careful study be made of the factors that determine
what courses are offered in the rural high scools. How far do the
“objectives of secondary education” play a part? How much influ¬
ence have college entrance requirements? How much do local needs
influence the situation? How far is the curriculum dependent upon
the whim of the principal?
2. It was pointed out above that there is no uniformity of nomen¬
clature. It is recommended that a uniform system of naming and
defining courses be'suggested; that the general content of the course
be stated, the year named in which it should be given, and the nor¬
mal amount of credit that it should carry.
It is further recommended that new and unusual courses or
courses not provided for in the state course 'of study should receive
the approval of the state department, before they are included in the
curriculum.
HOUSING CONDITIONS
An attempt was made to supplement the personal observations
,8
of the High School Inspector as to housing conditions and equip¬
ment by a questionnaire to the principals. Thirty-eight schools re¬
sponded. The answers as tabulated may be summarized as follows:
The following needs were reported:
Twelve need larger sites.
Six need new sites.
Five need new high school plant.
Twelve need an auditorium.
Fifteen need a gymnasium.
Twenity-one need shops.
Twenty-one need science laboratories.
Thirteen need class rooms.
Twenty-seven need other facilities not mentioned above.
The estimated costs of improvements range from $500 to $100,000.
The total estimated cost is $1,267,950.
Only nine schools were housing pupils beyond the esfimated
capacity limit.
This report would seem to indicate that, in general, buildings,
such as they are, are not overcrowded. The acute need is for par¬
ticularized kinds of accommodation.
There is a great variation in the size of the school site. Gar¬
field High School at Panquitch reports twenty-five acres, Bingham
reports no site at all, and Grand one-half acre. Nineteen schools
have sites of five acres or below; twelve schools of from five to ten
acres, three from ten to fifteen acres and three with more than
fifteen acres. According to the report of the Commission on Re¬
organization of Secondary Education (U. S. Bulletin, 1922, No. 23,
Page 9) “No high school site should be less than 3 acres for the most
modest building.” Eleven of the rural high schools of Utah, re¬
porting, would not qualify under this standard, and three more have
just the three acres.
LABORATORY EQUIPMENT
The replies from thirty-eight schools show that thirty different
courses requiring laboratory work were offered. These were:
Domestic Arts in 16 schools.
Mechanic Arts in 5 schools.
Agriculture in 24 schools.
Animal Husbandry in 1 school.
Agronomy in 3 schools.
Bookkeeping in 1 school.
Biology in 25 schools.
Botany in 5 schools.
Chemistry in 33 schools.
Carpentry in 1 school.
Cooking in 22 schools.
Mechanical Drawing in 2 schools.
Foods in 1 school.
Geology in 2 schools.
Horticulture in 1 school.
9
/
Home Economics in 3 schools.
Iron work in 1 school.
Mental Clinic & Free Dental work in 2 schools.
Auto Mechanics in 3 schools.
Farm Mechanics- in 5 schools.
Manual Training in 12 schools.
Physics in 31 schools.
Physiology in 13 schools.
Physiography in 1 school.
Domestic Science in 2 schools.
Zoology in 8 schools.
Sewing in 3 schools.
Typewriting in 4 schools.
The range is from one school each reporting, animal husbandry,
foods, or Bookkeeping, as laboratory courses, to thirty-one schools
reporting chemistry.
The number of laboratory courses per school range from two
in Moroni to fourteen in Boxelder. (These figures are probably not
very reliable because of lack of harmony in nomenclature and de¬
finition of “Laboratory Course”).
Twenty-eight schools report that their equipment is inadequate
for the laboratory work they are attempting to do. Nine report
that the equipment is adequate and one did not report the item.
LIBRARY EQUIPMENT
Of thirty-eight schools reporting five reported a full time libra¬
rian, sixteen a part time librarian, and seventeen no librarian at all.
Twenty-eight schools reported that their school libraries were ac-
cessable to students, nine that their students had access to the public
or town library. One reported no library at all. Twenty-two re¬
ported a range of from three hundred two books to three thousand
four hundred forty. Only five had more than two thousand. Six
had from one thousand to two thousand, and the remainder were
below one thousand. Six schools reported “reference books” only,
and these ranged in number as low as twenty-five.
Periodical Reading.
A total of one hundred forty different periodicals and papers
were listed as coming to the high schools. This is an average of less
than four per school. One school (South San Pete) reported twenty-
eight periodicals, two schools none at all.
The Literary Digest is most popular. It is reported from thirty
schools. American Magazine is reported from eighteen schools,
Utah Farmer from sixteen, Deseret News from fourteen, Popular
Science from fourteen and the Independent from twelve. Sixty
different periodicals were reported from but one school each. In
many cases one school reported two or more periodicals not reported
by any other school.
10
FAILURES” IN UTAH RURAL HIGH SCHOOLS
An effort was made by means of a questionnaire to learn the
prevalence of failure and in what subjects the failures occurred.
For this study a distinction was made between “failures” and
“withdrawals”. If a student withdrew in good standing he was
not considered a failure. If he continued till the end of the course
arid did not receive credit, or if he was dropped for poor work, or
withdrew because he could not carry the work, he was reported as
a failure. The report covers the records for the school year 1921-22,
the data being collected in March, 1923. Reports were received and
tabulated from 35 schools.
The accompanying table shows the percentage of failures in
various subjects and groups of subjects listed in the descending
order of percentage of failure in each.
The investigation of subject failures was begun in the hope of
finding answers to the following questions:
1. What subjects are responsible for the greatest percentage of
failures in the Utah High Schools?
2. In 'which school year do the most of the failures occur?
3. Does a larger percentage of boys fail than of girls?
The table shows that the greatest percentage of failure was in the commercial subjects, with commercial arithmetic, algebra, plane
and solid geometry, agriculture, English, and biological sciences re¬
spectively following. The smallest percentage of failure seems to be
in art, with but 0.3%, domestic art is next lowest with 2%, followed
by domestic science, manual training and physical education with 3%
each.
The second question cannot be answered from the data secured.
In many schools the freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors were
so mixed up together in classes that it was impossible to tell, for ex¬
ample, whether the 9th grade had a larger percentage of failures than
the 10th, 11th or 12th.
The third question, do more boys fail than girls, may be answered
in the affirmative. The percentage of boys and of girls failing is the
same for commercial subjects, commercial arithmetic and algebra.
A larger percentage of boys fail in plane and solid geometry, English,
biological science, physiology and hygiene, social science subjects,
oral expression, correlated mathematics, history and physical educa¬
tion. A larger percentage of girls fail in physical sciences only and
that excess is but 1%.
Of a total subject-enrollment of 21,906 boys there were 1576
failures, or 7.2%. Of a total subject enrollment of 25,672 girls there
were 1102 failures or 4.3%. Of a grand total of 47,578 subject-
enrollments, boys and girls together, there were 2,678 failures or
5.6%.
11
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12
SCHOLASTIC TRAINING, EXPERIENCE, SALARIES, TEACHING
LOAD AND COST PER UNIT OF INSTRUCTION IN THE
PUBLIC RURAL HIGH SCHOOLS OF UTAH,
1922-23.
The purpose of this section of the report is to attempt to pre¬
sent in terse, understandable formi some facts pertaining to the train¬
ing, experience, salaries, teaching load, and cost per student hour
of the teachers in the Utah rural high schools.
Questionnaries were sent to all the teachers in the rural public
high schools of Utah. Thirty-eight of the schools responded; in many
of the schools 100% of the teachers responded, while in others the
response was not complete.
Following is a list of the schools of the state that responded to
the questionnaire. The high schools of Salt Lake City and Ogden,
and the parochial and other private schools are not included in this
study.
List of High Schools of Utah that Responded to the Questionnaire
on Teachers
DISTRICT LOCATION OF SCHOOL
Alpine American Fork 55 Lehi 55 Pleasant Grove 55 Lincoln
Beaver Beaver
Box Elder Brigham 55 Garland
Cache Hyrum 55 Richmond
Carbon Price
Davis Kaysville
Emery Huntington
Garfield Panguitch
Grand Moab
Granite Granite
Iron Parowan'
Jordan Sandy 55 Bingham
Juab Nephi
Kane Kanab
Morgan Morgan
Nebo Spanish Fork 55 Payson
N. Sanpete Mt. Pleasant 55 Moroni
N. Summit Coalville
Park City Park City
San Juan Blanding
Sevier Richfield
13
Salina (N. Sevier;
Monroe (S. Sevier)
So. Sanpete
So. Summit
Manti
Kamas
Tooele
Eureka
Tooele
Tintic
Wasatch
Wayne
Logan
Bicknell
Logan
Heber City
The questionnaire asked for the following information:
Name of School.
Date of answering questionnaire.
Name of teacher and sex of teacher.
Number of years teaching experience, including 1922-23.
In grade schools (with dates).
Present annual salary. (1922-23).
Date of graduation from high school.
Name of high school.
Date of graduation from college.
Name of institution.
Degree received (with date).
Major subject in college.
Periods of Graduate Study.
In high schools (with dates).
Certificates and diplomas received (with dates).
Major field of graduate study.
Institutions; degrees received; dates.
Subjects taught at present.
Grade of the classes being taught (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th).
Number of students in each class.
Length, in minutes, of class period.
Number of times the class met each week.
This information was carefully tabulated, requiring thirty-five
pages; obviously too long in include in this report, but is on file at
the State office. From it the record of any teacher may readily be
learned. Each teacher is known by number, and a key is included
which identifies by number the name of the teacher.
After- eliminating the principals, the teachers who were teaching
more than half the time in Junior High Schools, and those whose
questionnaires were incomplete, there remained 419 reports complete
enough to be included in this study. Even some of these omit some
of the data called for, but where such is the case that part of their
record is necessarily left blank.
The way in which, the questionnaires were filled in furnishes an
interesting study in itself. While some reports were the personifica¬
tion of neatness, others were the exact opposite. Some teachers felt
that they could not be explicit enough without filling in all the blanks,
and then putting the rest on the back of the sheet. In answer to the
14
question: “Man or woman” several answered “Yes”. It was evident
also that some did not know what was meant by “graduate study”.
On the whole, however, the information asked for was given neatly,
fully, and probably with a high degree of accuracy.
SALARIES
Median $1472 So
Figure 1 shows the salary distribution of 407 rural high school
teachers. This does not include principals. These figures are based
upon the reports of the teachers themselves. Where a teacher reported
part time in the high school the salary was weighted accordingly.
The range is from $400 to $2400. The median is $1,472.50, and the
middle fifty per cent of the teachers came between $1,289.06 and
$1,644.80.
It is interesting to note that the median for 15,526 academic high
school teachers in the North Central Association in 1921-22 was
$1,762.61.* This is nearly $300 higher than the Utah median and more
than $100.00 higher than the upper limit of the middle fifty percent in Utah.
Figue 2-B, suggests the effect upon salary of possessing a master’s
degree. While the median for all teachers is $1,472.50 the median for
the holders of the master’s degrees is $1,800.00.
*Proceedings of Twenty-Seventh Annual Meeting North Central Association, Page 50.
.15
TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE
Of 419 high school tachers replying to the questionaire, 26, or 6.2%
stated that they had never complpted a high school course. Some of
these had had more or less college training as unma'triculated students.
All were teaching “srecial” subjects. Of the 419 teachers reporting
24.4% had not been graduated from any college. Some of these held
state board life diplomas. Just about two thirds of the total number
reporting, 66.4%, held bachelor’s degrees and 2.9% held master’s
degrees. These facts are shown graphically in Figure 2-A. Of the
teachers holding bachelor’s degrees, 38% were graduates of the Utah
Agricultural College; 36.4% were graduates of the University of Utah;
14.8% were from the Brigham Young University; and 10.8% were from
institutions outside the State of Utah. Figure 2-D, shows these facts
graphically.
SCHOLASTIC TRAINING OF RURAL HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS.
0 62% Hod nof completed High School. (2)24.4%Hod nctcompleted College
66.4% Hod Bachelors De9rv.cs. 2.9% Had Masters Degree*.
I.
EFFECT OF MASTERS DEGREES
ON MEDIAN SALARY
BACHELORS-DEGREED TEACHERS.
MASTERS-DEGREED TEACHERS.
Conp*Rt3QN of College
M/uor-5 object *nd Subjects
Tfluam. ^ BACHELORS DEGREES - WHERE AWARDED
Fig. a
Figure 3 shows the years of experience in the grades and in high
school respectively. Of 415 teachers reporting, 190 had taught in the
giades (lst-8th) previous to teaching in high school. The longest
term of service in the grades was 34 years, and the next longest 22
years. The median length of grade experience was 3.5 years.
16
It would seem that it is not unusual for grade school teachers
to become high school teachers. Is it because they can do better
work in high school or is it wolly a matter of salary? This point would
bear investigation. Salary should depend upon training and efficient
service and not upon the grade taught. A first class primary grade
teacher with her college degree should not become a third class high
school teacher in order to increase her salary.
YEARS EXPERIENCE TEACHING IN
GRADES lto fiincl. 4l5T«ach«ra Reported 190 had bad Grade. Experience
Median Grade Experience235'Hears.
Median 3.5 tears.
Median 4.43 Trs.
i Z 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 W II )Z 13 K 15 16 17 18 19 202)IZ iaor* Experience-"
■BIIbIhi-i zz
Pi 0.3
TEARS EXPERIENCE TEACHING IN w
HIGH SCHOOLS. 415 Teachers Reported 225 Had had High S. Exp. Only
Median High Sch. Exp.-4.43 tears?1*
__ I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 H tt 13 W 15 H>' 17 18 19 2o Z\
As is indicated in Figure 3, of the 415 teachers reporting, 225 had
had no grade school experience. The greatest frequency in years of
service in high schools is in the first year, and as the year 1922-23 was
included in the report, this would indicate that a very large percentage
of the teachers were teaching for their first year. The frequency drops
off rapidly to the 9th year, and then more slowly to the 14th. Only one
teacher had been in the service for 20 years and one for 19 years.
The median length of service is 4.43 years.
It would seenr that in the main, the teachers leave the profession,
or at least cease teaching in Utah just about the time that they should
be rendering maximum service. It would be interesting to know how
many of these Utah trained teachers enter the profession in other states where salaries are higher.
17
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TABLE III: SALARY DISTRIBUTION BY DISTRICTS
(Arranged in intervals of $50.00)
Limits Including Middle 50
District Total — Range Median Per Cent
Lowest Highest
Alpine Men $1200 $2000 $1662 $1512 - $1812
Women 900 1700 1312 1221 - 1479
Beaver Men 1050 1550 1200 1100- 1425
Women 1100 1250 1225 1138- 1262
Boxelder Men 850 1800 1442 1368- 1631
Women 800 1550 1367 1175- 1433
Carbon Men 1400 2100 1575 1519- 1812
Women 1400 1750 1525 1462- 1588
Cache Men 1100 1900 1617 1500 - 1717
Women 1050 1500 1312 1256- 1369
Davis Men 1400 2250 1525 1431 - 2238
Women 600 1300 1050 725- 1300
Emery Men 1100 1500 1225 1138 - 1425
Women 850 1500 1200 875- 1525
Garfield Men 1100 2300 1475 1138- 2312
Women 1350 1375 1362 - 1388
Grand Men 1600 1650 1650 1625 - 1675
Women 1300 1500 1375 1350- 1450
Granite Men 1300 1850 1638 1569 - 1762
Women 900 1650 1325 1138- 1612
Iron Men 1200 1600 1425 1221 - 1625
Women 1000 1500 1275 1025- 1525
Jordan Men 1600 2400 1817 1725- 1912
Women 1100 1800 1575 1338 - 1628
Juab Men 1200 1650 1275 1238- 1375
Women 950 1250 1175 975- 1275
Kane Men 900 1100 1025 975- 1075
Women 1200 1225 1212- 1238
Millard Men 1500 1700 1542 1521 - 1638
Women 900 1350 1362 938- 1381
Morgan Men 1550 1750 1675 1588- 1762
Women 1600 1625 1612- 1638
Nebo Men 1200 1900 1662 1431 - 1769
Women 1250 1650 1608 1438 - 1638
N. Sanpete Men 1050 1450 1244 1209- 1412
Women 950 1350 1225 1075 - 1269
N Summit Men 1300 1800 1475 1412- 1812
Women 1250 1750 1438 1412- 1525
Provo Men 1300 2000 1542 1381 - 1744
Women 1000 1350 1300 1225 - 1333
San Juan Men Women 900 950 950 925 - 975
Sevier Men 1300 1700 1500 1433- 1575
Women 1050 1550 1333 1244- 1521
19
District Total — Lowest
Rang? Highest
Median
Limits Including Middle 50 Per Cent
S. Sanpete Men 1500 1550 1562 1538 - 1581 Women 1100 1125 1112- 1138
S. Summit Men 1300 1400 1375 1325- 1425 Women 1250 1300 1300 1275- 1325
Tooele Men 1050 1900 1712 1506- 1829 Women 1300 1550 1381 1353- 1438
Tintic Men 1800 2050 1888 1856- 1938
Women 1750 1950 1825 1775- 1925
Wasatch Men 1350 1700 1625 1500- 1675
Women 1100 1600 1238 1206- 1438
Logan Men 1500 2000 1662 1544- 1712
Women 900 1650 1388 1378- 1538
Murray Men 1500 1850 1675 1531 - 1738
Women 1000 1800 1333 1225- 1425
Table III gives a summary of the salary distribution in districts
in Utah (in some districts there are two or more schools). It will
be seen that in general men receive higher salaries than women.
Tintic district has the highest median for both men and women, while
Kane reports the lowest for men, San Juan lowest for women. Figure
4 shows the median salaries for men and women respectively in the
various districts.
An attempt was made to compare salaries in Utah with similar
schools in California. The only data for California availble at the
time of the compiling of this report, consisted of a preliminary report
of the Committee of Fifteen covering the medium sized schools (those
with 12 to 49 teachers) in sixteen districts. There were 79 men
and 147 women in the schools of these districts. On the basis of this
sampling from California, Figure 5 gives a comparison of salaries
in Utah with those of California. There is certainly a striking dif¬
ference in favor of the latter.
UT/IH WOMEN $ 1350
CALIF.
TIEN $ 1577
✓WOMEN $2038
SMEN $2346
COMPARISON or MEDIAN SALARIES.
Fig. 5
MEN AND WOMEN TEACHERS
Men are holding their own in Utah rural high schools so far as
numbers are concerned. Figure 6 shows the percentage of men and of
20
women in Utah, as compared with California. The California percent¬ ages are taken from the reports from schools of medium size and from
only sixteen districts.* Among the Utah rural high school principals, there was just one
woman, and there was not one woman superintendent in the state.
TEACHING LOAD
As a unit for comparing teaching load and cost of instruction among districts the “student hour” was used, and also the total number of class periods per week disregarding the size of classes. Figure 7 shows graphically the teaching periods per week of 45 minutes each car¬ ried by the teachers. In the main, class periods are distributed by 5’s. Of tht 378 teachers reporting the total range was from 5 to 50. The mid¬ dle 50% came between 19.8 and 25.5 with a median of 23.4. This would seem to indicate that, in general, the teachers are carrying only a reasonable load. The standards of the North Central As¬ sociation require that a teacher shall not exceed six such periods a day of actual instruction. As is shown on the graph, some Utah schools exceed this maximum and are certainly over loading their teachers, but the great majority are safely and sanely below the limit. See Figs. 7 and 8, Page 22.
Figure 8 shows the distribution of the teaching load in “student hours” per week.
*The final report of the California survey shows that of all the teachers reporting 1688 were women and 874 were men. The report states, "Responses were numerous enough to justify the belief that the facts shown are typical as they relate to California high schools.” The maximum salary paid to women teachers in California high schools is $8,600.00. The minimum is $1,500, with a median of $2,204.00. The maximum for men is $3,600.00, the minimum $1,800.00, with a median of $2,308.00. See, Graves, J. W.—Distribution of the Time of High School Teachers in California —American School Board Journal, Vol. XLVII. No. 5, Page 48-49.
21
Pig. 7
22
A teacher meeting a class of 25 students for a 45 minute period
one day a week is carrying 25 student hours. If she meets the class
five times a week she is carrying 125 student hours, and if she has
five such classes daily she is carrying 625 student hours. The number
of student hours, then, is the sum of the number of students in each
class respectively multiplied by the number of times the class meets
each week. Where the length of the class period was longer or shorter
than 45 minutes the load was weighted accordingly. The 45 minute
class period was similarly used as a basis of comparison in a report of
the North Central Association.*
The North Central Association recommends a maximum of twenty
pupils per teacher, per class, based on average daily attendance, and
recommends further that no teacher of academic subjects be assigned
more than 150 student recitations per day or 750 per week. Figure 8
shows that the median for Utah teachers is 672 “student hours”
or student recitations per week, based on enrollment. This would be
somewhat reduced if based on average daily attendance. The middle
50% ranges from 506 to 868, the latter figure being considerably
above the recommended maximum, and probably above the level at
which the best work can be done. As indicated by the graph some
teachers are carrying an unreasonably heavy load.
In connection with the study of the teaching load, there was an
attempt to determine what proportion of the teachers were teaching
what they had presumably prepared temselves to teach. As shown in
Figure 2-C, 28% were teaching their college major, and that only.
Forty-nine per cent were teaching subjects in which the major was
included, and 23% were not teaching their major at all. In this last
23%, and sometimes in the 49% group, there were all kinds of queer
combinations. One teacher reported English, botany, typewriting,
and physical education. Another reported bookkeeping, domestic science,
orai expression and algebra. It almost looked as though some princi¬
pals had just gathered up a miscellaneous lot of left overs, and bunched
them together for some teacher whose program happened not to be
full. Here is a place for improvement.
The student hour was used as a unit for comparing cost of instruc¬
tion given by one teacher with that given by another. The total annual
salary was divided by the student-hour load that the teacher was
carrying. For example, if teacher A is teaching two daily classes with
20 students in each, and three classes with 30 in each, he would be
carrying 650 student hours. If he received a salary of $1300.00 a year,
the student hour cost of the instruction that he provides would be $2.00.
{t is assumed that the student hours will be approximately the same
throughout the year as it was when the report was made.
^Proceedings of 27th Annual Meeting, 1922, Page 22.
23
It is obvious that on this basis some teachers cost very much
more than others. As shown in Figure 9 the total range was from $.40
to $8.40. The median was $2.21 and the middle 50% came between
$1.73 and $2.21.
The work of those teachers whose student-hour cost is excessively
high (above the 75 percentile) should be examined to determine whether
the high cost is justifiable.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE TEACHERS’ TIME
By means of the same questionnaire used by the Committee of
Fifteen in a study of the California high schools, an attempt was made
to learn how much time on the average is devoted to various kinds
of activities by the Utah high school teachers. The questionnaire
asked that every teacher record carefully just how she spent her time
for one week of seven days. The time was to be recorded in minutes,
not hours, under the following general headings:
1. Assigned duties
A. With classes.
B. Other assigned duties pertaining directly to school work.
24
2. Voluntary School duties.
A. Connected with the subject taught.
B. Extra-Curricular.
3. Professional Activities.
A. On account of the school.
B. For self improvement.
4. Social activities; any civic, religious or community partici¬
pation.
5. Leisure activities, recreation.
Each of these headings was carefully defined so that there was
no misunderstanding as to what was wanted. Reports were received
from 425 rural high school teachers. While some of the reports showed
evidence of haste and guessing, the majority seemed to be carefully
and conscientiously done.
The enctire tabulation of the distribution of the teachers’ time
is too long to include in this brief report. A summary by districts
is given in Table IV. The sum of all the time devoted to activities per¬
taining immediately to school work was computed for every teacher
The median was then computed for the men and the women respectively
in every district reporting. Similarly the median time was com¬
puted for social, civic and religious activities, and for leisure time
activities. The medians in Table IV were based upon the reports
from 235 men and 190 women.
TABLE IV: DISTRIBUTION OF TEACHERS’ TIME
DISTRICT Median No.
Min. per week in School Act.
Median No. Min. per week in Social, Civic and Religious
Activities
Median No. Min. per week
in Leisure Time Activ.
Alpine Men 2900 350 550
Women 2850 217 550
Beaver Men 2100 550 700
Women 2950 625 315
Boxelder Men 2525 350 400
Women 2725 375 625
Cache Men 2700 300 400
Women 2925 358 525
Carbon Men 2850 175 575
Women 2750 175 450
Davis Men 2450 750 725
Women 2525 250 650
25
Emery Men 2100 267 250
Women 2950 700 650
Garfield Men 1875 50 50
Women 2850 50 1050
Grand Men 2650 350 350
Women 2100 350 500
Granite Men 3250 300 650
Women 2275 271 425
Iron Men 2600 350 650
Women 2300 250 750
Jordan Men 2750 171 400
Women 2750 88 517
Juab Men 2300 600 500
Women 3000 300 550
Kane Men 2650 450 250
Women 2950 450 550
Logan Men 2825 517 625
Women 2750 225 825
Millard Men 2750 425 450
Women 2850 275 850
Morgan Men 2750 325 750
Women 3950 50 450
Murray Men 2100 250 650
Women 2350 80 750
Nebo Men 2475 388 650
Women 3050 175 475
N. Sanpete Men 2667 500 500
Women 2800 400 467
N. Summit Men 3075 283 450
Women 2700 267 517
Provo Men 2238 342 525
Women 2050 200 550
San Juan Men
Women 2600 850 300
Sevier Men 3050 275 467
Women 2575 275 850
S. Sanpete Men 2800 500 1400
Women 2459 1025 600
S. Summit Men 2850 400 700
Women 2300 450 200
Tintic Men 2075 375 475
Women 2075 83 550 Tooele Men 2850 250 400
Women 2250 275 650 Wasatch Men 3600 600 500
Women 3250 350 675
26
A mere glance at Table IV indicates that there is a very wide
range in the amount of time devoted to school work. The median for
men in the Garfield High School was reported as low as 1875 minutes
per week, or a little over 5 hours per day, counting 6 days to the week.
The women of the Morgan County High School report a median of 3950
minutes per week, or nearly 11 hours per day, six days a week. The
median for all the men taken together was 2653 minutes, and for the
women 2642 minutes or about 7 hours and 20 minutes per day, six days
per week, or an 8-hour day with a half holiday on Saturday.
An examination of column four of Table IV shows that in some
of the districts the teachers spend but little time in social and religious
work. In other districts, however, a relatively large proportion of their
time goes to those functions. The women of South Sanpete report a
median of 1025 minutes or more than 17 hours a week in these acti¬
vities. In Davis, Emery, Juab, San Juan, and Wasatch, the figures
are also high.
Every high school teacher should, like all other good citizens,
take part in community activities. But he should remember that he is
employed by the school board and should not permit outside duties to
consume an undue amount of his time and energy.
Column five of Table IV seems to indicate that the teachers are
in the habit of devoting a little time each week to leisure time activities.
In some cases this time is reported as pitifully small; and in no case
could it be called excessive.
HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPALS
Experience
The high school principals in Utah have all had experience as
teachers before they became principals. This experience varied in
length from one year by the principal in Kanab, in Grand, and in
Tintic, to 24 years in Lincoln, and sixteen years in Jordan. The years
of experience as principal varied from one year in Beaver, Davis, Mil¬
ford and Moroni to 5 years in Jordan and 15 years in Morgan and in
Payson. Fourteen of the 36 reporting had not been to summer school
during the past three years. 4
Salaries of Principals.
The salaries of rural high school principals varied from $1400.00
in San Juan to $3000 in Tintic and Jordan, with a median salary of
$2267.00. Figure 10 shows graphically the salary distribution for 34
high school principals.
Distribution of Principal’s Time
An attempt was made to learn just how the principals of the
Utah rural high schools spend their time. The same questionnaire
used by the Committee of Fifteen in a survey of California high
schools was used in this investigation. The questionnaire asked that
every principal record carefully just how many minutes each day for
seven days were spent in a number of different activities. The activ¬
ities were classified as: 1. Instructional load, 2. Administrative
27
O 300 600 900 1200 1500 leoo two 2400 2700 Jooo .Salary
Tinfic, Jordon.| 3000 Bingham.2 860 Provo.2700 Wasatch.2600 Box Elder.2 580 Park City,Tooele, Logon ... 2 500 N.Cocha^S.Cochaflbyjon^Surn.. 2400 Grontavill* . ..2 350 Morgan . .. 2300 Dovis..2275 Labi Fork, P|. Grova . . 2250 Lincoln...— 2200 Spanish Pork.2 125 Grand, Richfield.2/00 So. Sexier, Millard I 900 Worth Sanpata.. — I 877 Bear Rlvar.I 800 Neph i. .I 760 Milford. ...1720 Beavar. Moroni. Kdoab... 1600 Huntington ...1420 San Joan ./400
Salaries of Principals ir? 34 High Schools.
Fig. 10
duties, 3. Supervision, 4. Clerical duties, 5. Professional duties, 6. Ad¬
ditional income activities, 7. Community activities, 8, Rrecreational ac¬
tivities, 9. Home duties, 10. Miscellaneous. Each of these general
divisions was sub-divided so as to take account of practically every
kind of activity.
TABLE V: HIGH SCHOOLS GROUPED ACCORDING TO
ENROLLMENT
School Enrollment
Group 1. (0-200)
Central (Castle Dale). 102
Grand . 92 \
Huntington . 187
Kanab . 131
Milford . 106
North Sanpete . 198
San Juan . 82
South Sevier _ 199
Group 2. (200-300)
Bingham . 225
Beaver . 242
Lincoln . 214
Millard _ 205
Morgan .203
Moroni . 286
Nephi . 265
North Sevier .-.. 245
North Summit . 267
Pleasant Grove . 255
School Enrollment
Park City . 283
Tintic . 247
Group 3. (300-500)
American Fork . 354
Bear River . 449
Carbon . 377
Davis . 395
Lehi . 318
Murray . 424.
North Cache . 422
Payson . 386
Richfield . 414
Spanish Fork . 411
Tooele . 402
Wasatch . 310
Group 4. (500-1200)
Box Elder . 1049
Jordan . 645
Logan . 1063
Frovo . 1165
28
Replies were received from the principals of thirty-six schools.
For purpose of comparison the principals were classified in four
groups, on the basis of the number of students enrolled in their
schools respectively.
Table V shows in detail the grouping.
Table VI shows the average time per week devoted to each of
the major activities for each of the four groups given in Table V.
It should be read as follows: In those schools having fewer than
200 students, the principals spent, on the average, 34.4 hours per
week in work that had to do directly with class teaching; 5.66 hours
per week in administrative work; 4.05 hours in supervision and so
on. The other three groups should be read similarly.
The first five items in table VI have to do entirely 'with the
principals’ school work. They represent the kinds of work for which
he is paid by the board of education. The remaining five items are
more or less personal and are outside of what the principal is hired
to do. By adding the hours in the first five items an approximation
of the amount of time spent in active school duties by the principals
in each group respectively may be learned. Such a computation shows
that the principals in Group 1. spent in school work on the average 55.96
hours per week or an average of about 9 hours and 20 minutes per
day for the six working days of the week. The average for group 2.
is 67.48 hours per week, or about 11 hours per day. Group 3. spends
on an average 61.72 hours per week or a little over 10 per day,
and group 4. gives an average of 56.96 hours to school duties, or
about 9^4 hours per day. It must be remembered that these figures
do not include church and community activities, nor any other ac¬
tivities not required directly in doing his work as principal.
These questionnaires were pretty carefully filled, and the week
for which the record was kept was probably a typical week. The
indications seem to be that the principals in the Utah rural high
schools do not obey the 8 hour law.
TABLE VI. DISTRIBUTION OF PRINCIPAL’S TIME
Group 1. Group 2. Group3 Group 4
Hrs. Hrs. Hrs. Hrs.
Instruction . . 34.4 28.75 21.6 0.0
Administration . . 5.66 10.03 10.38 15.66
Supervision . . 4.05 10.8 10.08 22.5
Clerical . . 5.05 8.0 7.66 5.5
Professional . . 6.8 9.9 11.0 13.3
Additional Income ... . 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0*
Community . . 11.1 8.75 7.25 8.75
Recreation . . 4.45 7.25 8.0 6.25
Home . . 7.05 6.41 9.61 7.41
Miscellaneous . . 80.1 72.08 76.13 78.00
*So few were engaged in work for additional revenue that it does not show in th« medians.
29
Only one of the Principals in Group 4 engaged in instructional
work, teaching six hours per week.
The apportionment of the principal’s time among the five major
activities is shown graphically in Figure 11. There is a steady de¬
crease in the amount of instruction as the size of the school increases,
and a consequent increase in the time devoted to administration,
supervision, and professional work. There is no increased attention
paid to clerical activities in the last two groups as the principals of
these groups are practically all assisted by clerks, to some extent,
varying in amount in the different schools. Practically no clerical
assistance is received by those in groups 1 and 2.
Charles H. Johnston, a recognized authority on educational mat¬
ters, says, “In theory the all important work (of the principal) is
supervising and directing the educating of the pupil. He should be
freed from numerous and exacting clerical and administrative duties
whenever possible”.
If we accept this principle as sound, it will be seen that in the
first three groups too little time is being given to the work of super¬
vision, and too much to clerical and administrative duties. In these
same groups it also appears that the principals are carrying too heavy
an instructional load for real efficiency in their duties as supervisors.
It is advisable wherever possible to limit the principals’ actual teach¬
ing to only a few classes.
APPORTIONMENT OF PRINCIPALS’ TIME.
GROUP 1 Enrollment 0-200
v. A Insfrucfion 62.
B Professional 12.
C Clerical 3.
D Supervision 7.
E Administration 0.
GROUP 3 Enrollment 300-500
o/o
Instruction J5.
Professional I 8.
C Clerical 13.
D Supervision 16.5 E fldminisMion I 7.5
GROUP 2 EnroHrwenf 200390
*/o
A Instruction 43.
B IVofessional 12.
C Clerical 15. D Supervision I 5.
E Administration 15.
GROUP 4 nmllment 500-1200
Instruction 00.
fhofcssioool 23.
C Clerical 10. D Supervision AO.
E Administration 2 7.
Fig. II
Every principal is paid for doing the kinds of work indicated in
Figure 11. Then the percentage of his time given to each respective activity represents the percentage of his salary that is chargeable to that
30
activity. By taking the average salary of each group and apportioning
it according to the average percentage of time given to each major
activity, the average cost in dollars for each kind of work may be
found for each group respectively. Table 7 shows such a cost distri¬
bution.
TABLE VII: AVERAGE AMOUNTS PAID TO PRINCIPALS FOR
EACH KIND OF WORK
Instruction
Group 1
$1,066.40
Group 2
$ 967.50
Group 3
$ 796.25
Group 4
Administration 172.00 337.50 398.15 712.80
Supervision 120.40 337.50 375.35 1,056.00
Clerical 154.80 337.50 295.75 264.00
Professional 206.40 270.00 409.50 607.20
TOTAL $1,720.00 $2,250.00 $2,275.00 $2,640.00
It is apparent that in the first two groups too much time is spent
in clerical work. For instance, skilled clerical assistance could be
procured for 7 hours per week if the rate of pay were $.60 per hour,
or for 8 and two-thirds hours) per week if the rate were $.50 per hour,
for the same salary for which the principals in group 1 devote 5.05 hours
of their time per week. Clearly more work could be done for the
same outlay, or the same work at a saving in cost. This is even more
apparent in group 2. The amount of $337.50 would employ an assistant
for from 15*4 to a little less than 19 hours each week, as the wage
paid ranged from $.50 to $.60 per hour as against the 8 hours of the
principal’s time.
However, the fact that principals of the larger schools even with
clerical assistance spend almost as much of their time on this work
as those of the smaller schools who have no such help seems to
indicate that there is still much of the correspondence, record, and
report work that must receive the' personal attention of the principal.
But even here, with proper organization, these amounts could doubt¬
less be materially reduced.
SUMMARY OF SILENT-READING SURVEY
OF
RURAL HIGH SCHOOLS OF UTAH
MAY 1923
PROBLEM.
The problem may be stated in the form of three questions:
1. What is the relation between the Utah rural high school
standards (as determined by this survey) and the general standards
(as given by the authors of the standardized tests used for this sur¬
vey) in each of the following four factors?
31
a. Pupils’ Scores (T-scores). c. Chronological Ages (CA).
b. Reading Ages (RA). d. Reading Quotients (RQ).
2. What is the relative standing of each school tested with re¬
spect to (1) the Utah standards, and (2) the general standards in
each of the above four factors?
3. How do the boys compare with the girls in each of the above
four factors?
MATERIAL.
1. Tests. The Thorndike-McCall Reading Scale, Form 1, *was
used because it is generally recognized as one of the best of the many
standardized silent reading tests. The test booklet consists of 11
paragraphs arranged in order of increasing difficulty. Each’ para¬
graph is followed by several questions designed to measure the
ability to understand the printed paragraph (sentences). There are
35 questions in all.
2. Grades and Schools. Twenty-four rural high schools repre¬
senting 14 school districts (10 counties) were chosen for this survey,
the idea being to select schools so distributed as to obtain a fair
sampling of the rural high schools of the state as a whole. Table
VIII shows the schools with the number of pupils tested in each.
Where possible all 9th and 12th grade pupils in these schools were
tested. Table IX shows the average score, reading age, chronological
age and reading quotient for the boys and the girls in each of the 24
schools respectively. See Table 9, Page 34.
PROCEDURE.
The tests were given in May 1923. Some of them were given
personally by the High School Inspector, and the remainder under his
supervision by the district superintendent. The number of pupils tested
was as follows:
Boys Girls Total
9th Grade 489 589 1078
12th Grade 252 357 609
Total 741 946 1687
The routine procedure of sorting, scoring, tabulating, computing,
etc., will not be discussed in this report. However, it should be
noted that all test papers were scored or re-scored by two judges,
thus practically eliminating the personal element.
DEFINITIONS:
For the benefit of those who may noit be acquainted with all the
terms used in this paper the following definitions are given:
Chronological Age (CA) is “how long the pupil has lived.” It
is given for May, 1923, when the tests were given, and is expressed in
months.
32
TA
BL
E V
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9th Gmde Sunn/imr Zrble.
No. No mo. of «Sch. .
fbpar^ Rac'd 8v* r-ic orao T-5con zs Reading Chrono Ago. R<za< d ing Q<Jot.
t>OCfS (tir /j Total Ckxj j Girls Total Q. M«d Qs Q. Mad Q3 Q. Mad <?., Q. Mad Qj
/ Fm er For*A >7 /V- 37 SS.o 49.7 32.4 49-3 S¥7 sr.o /*f /4b 3 /72 7 7S /S3 /*2 T9 S3 94'
2 B*ry^Hc7rvj .r 3- /o 16.Z 6SZ 63.7 60 O 6S.0 7S.o *7/ m 120 7 7f /yo /y2 9b /oy "72 2
J Bor Elder SI so /o/ 60.2 37./ 39.0 JVo 39 7 633 /6/ /77 793 7/7 7/7 794 S3 93 70 2 4 Graryr J r / //t /s <? z<* 12. ¥ 39l i/.o SI. 0 6/ 0 7o.3 *69 /// 207 7/7 796 Zo/ S3 93 /o7
5 Ganntyon . 3 76 79 is. 3 37/ 6/6 SV7 60.0 1*0 /6J *7/ i/9 '79 7/9 792 9o 96 /OZ 6 Sor'd O rj VS J-b /0/ sy.i 37.9 31.Z sS3 39-7 7o.o 763 /7 7 206 7/7 7/7 794 SS 94 /0.3
7 La-Ft 3 /o Hi 34 sis 37 r 3/2 33.3 jy.o 6*0 /39 /7S 7/9 77/ 7/S 797 f 7 94 /oy
ft L in coin 2S 24 4? -St 4 ~S7.2 393 J* 0 36. 7 63.7 7b/ '74 7/S 7/2 79/ 20/ S3 S? 96
■ 9 rfant-7 12 36 se 63.9 392 bib S7-0 6/3 67.0 761 7/2 79/ 7/2 790 •799 S6 97 /os
/o Hi Hard // Z7 32, (oo 60S 60.4 34 0 60.0 67.0 7b! 77/ 7?e 77/ 7/3 7?Y sy 93 /OS
// 71 >7lord. W 7 30 27 373 S67 37.1 syj 39 7 63? /3b /77 7// 776 79/ 7<?6 7? f? ?9 !Z AJO./OH1 28 2*7 41 399 6o.9 6o.4 SSo 6/ J 6/.0 /64 */2 20/ 7/3 7/S S' SS /J Hoc/ son 27 3S bx S7.7 6/4 39-6 S7.o i/.3 67.7 76? 7/2 20 0 7/7 7/7 794 S7 93 7o 7
74- Pf a. as art t Or 7b 33 S/6 SS.g 33.7 So 0 33.0 sy.o /So 764 373 7/7 ZS? 7 93 So SS 93 /J- 7d<-f> 7d 42. 37 43 Sx.6 S7.y 347 33.3 37.0 ‘63.0 739 761 7/6 /b0 7/6 794 77 92 9? 76 vSV v 7 Q. r* /Zo. /O 9 '1 34/ 37.9 SSf 47.7 36.0 69.3 74J 767 204 7/7 7/S 2o3 61 77 707
77 Se.v8Q.r~ ^0 79 7S 2? 374 of. 4 39.4 39. 7 7/3 /39 7 77 x/o 7 71 7 ?t 7fS S3 92 /06
/Q S/a on fbr-H m 4/ 77 S/.6 37.9 393 S3 0 3/3 66 3 /St 773 79b 737 7/3 794 S3 92! /OS 19 ■S/or v* //«. JS 2Z 37 (be 6ijz 64/ 37 7 by. 3 7S.o 77/ 7?o 22o /// 7/S 793 /T 9/ 7/2.
2o T'in Fie. // 71. 22 S/6 39.3 39.0 S7S 39 7 6/7 /7C 777 7/3 77/ 7/S 791 SS 93 /OJ2.
2! 7ooq /e *7 29 S6 S/o 37.7 37 6 S3. 7 37.0 U.o 76o Z72. 7/7 77? 7/3 793 Sz 92 IS
7Z Scjrnrryit A'o. 72 7/ So S6.7 S~f 0 37 6 34 7 39.7 63.3 763 777 793 7/9 797 loo S3 14 /Of
23 Surryrrn t 'So. 78 8 36 SSJ> 60.0 37 f 3f7 3b 3 4,3.3 763 76/ '?A 77? 79o -700 S3 /? 9? WaeatcA 38 t(f 83 37.4 39^ 3/4 33,7 Si. 7 67.0 /it '7Y 7If 7/3 7ff So 9o /Oo
Fora! 9/1 s/9 *076 sa.f) 38 6 38 7 34J 393 is 7 /bx '7i /?4 7/0 <n '16 14 ft 703 343 393 ii.o /it- 7?b 793 /// 7/9 799 S3 92 703
G..W,i SVo 393 633 Zb! 776 7/3 /77 7/6 794 fs 2LL
I2thGr/%pe Sunn/wr T/tBLE
No Norm of Soh. fhptrs Rac’d fivt. T-5cortS T- £, c-oro-s. Reading Agt CArono Aga Rtachnq Quot.
boys &,rls Total Boys 6.>l,a Total Q, Mad as Q, dad Os Q, Mtd Qj 0. |«od Q3
/ Forh f 73 23 64/ 63 a 63.3 39.7 66.3 72.3 '74 796 213 2/6 22 2 23/ 74 84 93
2 2>/n oharr> 6 76 63 7 if. 8 663 37.0 63 0 61o 792 So 3 s.'2 S3? 233 76 83 f<3
3 BoZE tde.r n 96 73 67.0 63.8 66 4 boo 61 0 7 4 3 •'72 XOt sil 222 22 8 236 7b l£A. 94
4- Grants yi//«. 7 9 7b 671 667 673 6/.0 Ho 77 0 797 103 116 ' i/v 2 If 22V S3 9s 703
5 Gunn '7.0/0 z S’ 7 7/<? 642 67 6 Si.7 67o 78J 768 /if 23o 12v 233 238 7/ sb 96
6 Jondam s* 37 69 66x 643 63.9 6*7 6 77 76 0 '/I .Zoo f23 S'l 22 6 233 7? Js 94
7 L*.m 9/VO/
ft L/r7 c07r-> j 9 72 62 S 60.1 61 Z 38 0 U.o 6S0 '72 1/1 H2 2/7 231 22S 74 78 83
9 /-Ian 7/ /z 16 26 7o.s 677 69/ 63 7 7/3 76 7 'SS 2/3 11 s 2/S 2/3 13* /o n /Oo
to T-fi/lar-d ? 7 76 663 69 9 6/7 3S.o 690 7/3 '7/ 103 2/3 237 23S 2* J 73 93. 93
// 7-7/ Hard. 47 2 7 1 79.0 72.7 796 7lo 7/7 7/0 Z'Z 111 22 9 2*6 22 7 2 ¥2 93 97 /0/
12 Naph/ f // Zo 69.4 63.o 66.7 6/0 610 7 To 7/7 2 03 216 2/9 23o 236 7b 83 /oo
K3 Potj&on /o // 2 / 63./ 663 6Sf 60.0 67. 7 73. 7 7 72 loo S'/ S/6 22/ 228 7? 86 88
14- Plaasant Or 72 72 24 39. 7 672 63 3 38 0 63 J 74 0 77Z IS 7 S'f SJ3 22/ 233 7S 87 96
■ 7S S/c/f fit. Id 76 Jo 46 621 (2.1 61.3 Jf.o 60. 7 70.7 /7JZ 7/o So/ 222 230 2 3/ 73 77 81
lb Sbvitr /Vo- S / 76 66-3 69.1 67 2 37o 663 770 ns /fi 2 26 223 230 2¥2
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77 So.yf<.r do. Y 2o 24 398 6/ / 60.0 33.7 60 0 673 766 77/ 'll 23* 6 7 7* So_ /OO 78 Span ForH 77 '9 13 63.3 686 67 0 62-7 7o.o 73 7 7Ss Job Six s76 2// ny £2| 9o
19 Sprmg villt- 77 23 3a 64.9 7o.o 67.3 6<to 69.3 76.3 'SI loV 12* 2/4 2/7 23S 7/ 81 d?
20 Tinr/c f // 79 68.? 642 661 bO-7 70 0 76 0 7/0 106 2 23 2/¥ 222 13/ 76 J3L 702
z/ 7ooc/« 3 20 23 6l.O 63.7 b/6 60.7 69.7 7o-7 /So /?/ 20/ 2/J- 220 216 Z£. S3 94
22 Summit /Vo // • 8 71 6¥¥ 69 ¥ 661 63 J 67o 77.0 // 7 Iff Jl/l 232 239 IS/ 7/ 77 84
23 Samnoit So 6 3 9 3?4 36 3 38 1 33. ? 6a.7 64 7 76o /So 111 J3JL 244 2*6 64 77 "74
24 wasotch 77 23 42 63.3 6f.9 bj.x 6/7 7o. 7 77 7 783 ?o8 fSf 219 21 7 23/ —23— -££- /OO foFo/ 3/2 sil 601 63.4 63. 7 63.6 60 a 473 7*3 7 7 -f 711 J'l- 22 0 u? 2 36 76 /s 93-
Boy* 31.7 67.3 743 /7 7 719 2'9 2/2 23/ 2*0 7j- 84 9u
. Car's hop 67 3 7*3 '72 111 2/9 2'/ 22S ^232 77 96 | ?6
Table IX
The T-score is the real score of the pupil. It is determined by
means of a table furnished with the tests, and it varies with the num¬
ber of test questions answered correctly. The number of questions
answered correctly is not a satisfactory unit for measuring reading
ability because the difference in difficulty between the 33rd and 34th
questions, for instance, may be greater or less than the difficulty
between the 13th and 14th questions. The T-scores, however, have
been weighted so that the difficulty between 33T and 34T always
equals the difference between 13T and 14T, or any other single step.
Table X shows the T-score and reading age equivalents for any number
Df questions answered correctly.
34
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The Reading Age (RA) represents the chronological age that the
pupil would have if he read as well as the average pupil of that chrono¬
logical age. For example, if he has a reading age of 162 months it
mens that the reads as well as the average pupil of 162 months
chronological age. It is found from the table above.
The Reading Quotient (RQ) is obtained by dividing the reading
age of a, pupil by his chronological age. It is the ratio between how
well he actually reads (reading age) and how well he should read
(chronological age). If he reads as well as he should his chronolo¬
gical and reading 'ages should be equal and the ratio would be 1.00.
However, all reading quotients are multiplied by 100 to eliminate the
decimal points, therefore, a reading quotient of 100 is normal; below
100 is inferior and above 100 is superior; the degree of inferiority or
superiority being proportionate to the variation from 100.
A Frequency Table or frequency distribution is a table in which
the scores are arranged according to size in descending or ascending
order. The frequency or number of cases receiving each score is
shown opposite the respective score.
The Median is that point in a frequency table above which and
below which are one-half the cases. The median divides the number
of cases equally, half of the cases having higher scores and half hav¬
ing lower. It shows the “central tendency” of the group.
The 25 percentile is that point on the frequency table above which
are 75% of the cases, and below which are 25% of the cases.
The 75 percentile is that point on the frequency table above which
are 25% of the cases, and below which are 75% of the cases.
The Middle-50-percent is the group lying between the 25 per¬
centile and the 75 percentile. It includes one-half the cases, and it
is used as a good, simple measure of ‘spread’ because it is not in¬
fluenced by the extreme cases. The smaller the spread of the middle
50 percent, the better the group is said to be classified because the
pupils more closely approximate equal ability.
CRONOLOGICAL AGES
Comparison of grades, and also boys and girls.
Figure 12 shows that although the 9th and 12th grades are separ¬
ated by 3 school years there is considerable overlapping of the chron¬
ological ages of the two grades.
In the 9th grade alone the extreme age range was from 13 yrs-2
mo to 21 yrs-1 mo, or 7 yrs-11 mo.
In the 12th grade the extreme age range was from 15 yrs-9 mo
to 23 yrs-9 mo or 8 yrs.
The boys’ median age (15 yrs-9 mo.) is 3 months older than the
girls in the 9th grade (15 yrs-6 mo.); and 6 months older in the 12th
grade, the boys’ median age being 19 yrs-3 mo., and the girls’ 18
yrs-9 mo.
36
The difference between the 9th (15 yrs. 7 mo.) and the 12th
(19 yrs. 0 mo.) grade age-medians is 3 yrs.-5 mo.; the actual school
time being 3 years.
CHRONOLOGICAL AGES
Comparison of schools
As is shown in Figure 13 the individual schools vary greatly in
their relation to the Utah median chronological age. There is evi¬
dently no substantial correlation between the ages of the two grades
in the same school. For instance, the school having the oldest 9th
grade has the youngest 12th grade, and practically all schools make
large changes in relative rank of the 9th and 12th grades. Note the
correlation section of the graph.
The 9th grade medians covered a range of 16 months; the 12th
grade 25 months; 2 yr-1 mo.
The greatest spread of the middle 50-percent in a single school
was 1 yr.-lO mo. in the 9th grade, and 2yr-2 mo. in the 12th grade.
The smallest spread in a single school was 4 months in the 9th
grade, and 8 months in the 12th.
In the 9th grade the oldest median age for any school was 196
months (16 yr-4 mo); the youngest was 180 months (15 years). In
the 12th grade the oldest median age was 245 months (20 yr-5 mo);
the youngest was 219 months (18 yr-3 mo), or just 1 year 11 months
from the lowest 9th grade median.
37
T-SCORES AND READING AGES
Comparison of grades, and also boys and girls.
Figure 14 shows graphically the T-score distribution, and grade
norms. The interlacing of the lines representing the boys and the
girls around the “total” line indicates that the boys and the girls
were of practically equal reading ability when all grades are con¬
sidered as a unit. This was true in both the 9th and 12th grades
but the 9th grade boys and girls are not shown on the graph
because it would likely make the graph confusing.
38
The 9th grade range in reading ability extended from below the
lowest point in the 12th grade to the highest point reached by the
12th grade. The 9th grade reading ability ranged from below the
general standard for the 3rd grade to above the general standard for
superior adults; the 12th ranged from below the 5th grade standard
to above the superior group standard. The actual range of the 9th
was from 80 mo. (reading age) to 246 mo., or 13 years 10 months.
The actual range of the 12th was from 130 to 246 months, or 9 years
8 months.
The 9th grade standard for Utah (58.7) was only slightly above
the general standard (58.3) for the 7th grade. The 9th grade was,
therefore, approximately 2 years retarded in reading ability.
The 12th grade Utah standard (65.6) was slightly above the
general standard for the 11th grade (65.4), which indicates a general
retardation of approximately one year.
T-SCORES AND READING AGES
Comparison of schools.
Figure 15 gives graphically the comparison among schools. The
T-scores and the reading ages of the various schools are both rep¬
resented by the one graph because a T-score always represents a
certain reading age, and vice versa. See Table 8, Page 33.
T-Scores COMPARISON OP SCHOOLS
12 th Grade
Hob..
■School
9™ Grade
Uchooi Norm
fig. 15
The 9th grade average T-score of the different schools varied
from 52 to 66. This variation is equivalent to a range in average
reading age from 155 mo. to 195 mo., or 3 years 4 months.
The 12th grade averages ranged from 58-T to 75-T; represent¬
ing a reading-age variation from 172 mo. to 220 mo., or 4 years.
Only two 9th grades and two 12th grades exceeded the general
standard for their grade.
40
The extreme reading-age range in the 9th was from 80 mo. to
246 mo., or 13 years 10 months. A single school showed a range
of 12 years 6 months.
The 12th grade extreme range was from 130 mo. to 246 mo., or
9 years 8 months. This wide range was to be found in a single
school. The widest spread of the middle-50-percent of any 9th grade was
5 years 2 months. In the 12th it was also 5 years 2 months.
The smallest spread of any 9th grade was 1 year 1 month. In
the 12th it was 1 year 11 months.
READING QUOTIENTS
Comparison of grades, and also boys and girls
The reading quotients for both 9th and 12th grades are shown in
Figure 16. The median reading quotient of the 12th grade is con¬
siderably below that of the 9th grade, which means that the 12th
grade does not read so well for its age as does the 9th grade.
Since 100 is the normal RQ it is seen that both the 9th (RQ
93) and the 12th (RQ 85) are distinctly below the normal.
The interlacing of the lines representing the boys and the girls
of the 9th grade indicates that the RQ of the boys and the girls is
practically the same. This is also true of the 12th grade boys and
girls. In both cases the RQ of the girls is slightly larger, indicat-
UPB 41
ing that they read a little better for their age than do the boys; the
difference being so small, however, as to be of no great significance.
The 9th grade has an RQ of 93, indicating that they read ap¬
proximately 93% as well as they should; or 93% as well as an
average pupil of the same age.
The 12th grade has a median RQ of 85 which means that they
are only 85% normal in reading ability.
READING QUOTIENT
Comparison of Schools
Figure 17 shows how well each school tested reads as compared
with how well it should read, since the reading ages have been divided
by the chronological ages.
No 12th grade median exceeds or even equals the general
standard (100).
Only one 9th grade median equals the general standard.
One 12th grade median equals, and only one exceeds the 9th
grade Utah norm (93).
All but one 9th grade median exceeds the 12th grade Utah norm
(85).
In the 9th grade the smallest spread of the middle-50-percent was
12 points; in the 12th it was 8 points.
The largest spread in the 9th was 40 points; in the 12th 26 points.
The extreme range of RQ’s in the 9th grade was from 50 to 147;
corresponding to a range from a reading-moron to a reading-genius.
The extreme range in the 12th grade was from 55 RQ to 122 RQ.
CONCLUSIONS
The fact that the Utah standards fall below the general standards
given by the authors of the test may be explained by the fact that
the Utah schools tested were rural schools whose school year is from
one to three months shorter than the school year of the city schools
which established the standards furnished with the tests.
The fact that the 9th grade is nearly two years below the stan¬
dard while the 12th grade is only one year below may be accounted
for in two ways:
1. In the high school great dependence is placed upon the abil¬
ity to understand the printed page. Before the 12th grade is reached
the poor reader has either had to improve in reading or he has been
eliminated through failure in his studies. Usually many other fac¬
tors aid in the “natural elimination” of this poor student.
2. The 9th grade contains many pupils of low reading ability
who are forced into school by the compulsory attendance law. Be¬
fore reaching the 12th grade they have reached an age which per¬
mits their leaving school.
Considered as a single group, the boys and the girls read nearly
equally well as indicated by their average T-scores. However, the
girls are a little younger than the boys and hence really read better
42
4^
Fig
. IT
than the boys for their age. The fact that boys often have to work
outside of school, have more outside activity, may explain this to
some extent although it is generally believed that the girls are better
readers than the boys.
This survey indicates that more emphasis should be placed upon
effective silent reading, chiefly for two reasons:
1. To raise the Utah standard nearer the general standard.
2. To improve the general academic standard of the pupils by
increasing their ability to understand their texts; the correlation be¬
tween ability to read and their scholastic standing likely being rather
great.
