of the merits of the man or woman of superior native ability and culture who does not have the more technical requirements.) Third: To make that standard possible, there must be built up in every state, or at least in every compact group of states, strong institutions devoted to the professional training of superintendents and high school teachers. The present type of normal school will not do; nor will the ordinary "course in education." There must be developed a distinct and superior type of professional training for college graduates. For the support of these institutions the states must make liberal appropriations. They must be made to realize that "Ignorance is a greater burden upon the state than taxation," and that the most expensive ignorance is lack of culture, personality, life experience, and professional skill on the part of its superintendents and teachers. The cities too must do their part by opening the doors of their schools for the observation and practice of prospective teachers and superintendents under the skilled direction of those in charge of this professional preparation. Fourth-And then comes the most important work of all for those charged with the administration of school systems-the appointment, retention, promotion, and regulation of salaries, in such a manner as to furnish a constant stimulus for continued study and growth after the actual teaching has begun—a growth that shall continue with the years of service, and after that, retirement with adequate pay. Let me indicate the essentials of such a plan: The teaching force should consist of two groups, the temporary, or probationary, and the permanent group. The initial appointment should be for one year with reappointments during the probationary period which should be sufficiently long to fully demonstrate the teacher's power and desirability as a candidate for appointment to the permanent group. The annual salary-for both the temporary and permanent groupshould increase automatically until a certain maximum has been reached. There should, however, be a liberal, extra maximum to be paid for superior service in individual cases. I wish to submit a tentative salary schedule-simply to form the basis for a discussion of the details of its administration. The amount of the salary schedule is important, but its admin istration in such a manner as to afford a stimulus for the best service, and a recognition of efficiency, is of even more importance. Suppose we were to adopt some such division as the following: Temporary Group Extra Maximum .$ 800-$1200 1300 1800 1900— 2500.... salary and advanced A teacher appointed at the minimum regularly at the rate of $100 a year, would reach the maximum of $1800 at the end of ten years. There should, however, be opportunity for more rapid advance in both the temporary and permanent groups whereby the period of temporary service should be shortened, and the maximum salary obtained in a less time by teachers of superior merit. The "extra maximum" salary should be used as an added incentive and reward for continued growth and increasing usefulness by teachers who have reached the regular maximum. By these two means, length of service and superior efficiency in service would both be recognized and rewarded. There should also be opportunity for leave of absence without loss of pay-for purposes of study and travel-to be granted in such a manner that it may encourage teachers to give their best possible service while teaching, and that they may bring back to their schools the results of this added culture from study and "contact with people." Finally, there should be full provision for retirement at the end of efficient service, upon a salary sufficient to meet the needs of an honorable old age of leisure and contentment. To do all this will require large expenditures. But this is "What the Schools Need"-expenditures large enough and so administered as to secure the highest degree of service from the most cultured men and women. Anything less than this is poor economy because it fails to secure an adequate return for the amount which is expended, while an expenditure, though large, which will obtain the highest degree of efficiency, is a profitable investment, yielding large dividends in terms of a more efficient citizenship. Is the plan which I have outlined impossible of realization? It is not. It is bound to come. For whatever the schools need, they shall receive; and here and now is our opportunity to help meet these needs. "Tis weary watching, wave by wave The Certification of High School Teachers. I DAVID SNEDDEN, COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION, MASSACHUSETTS. .....................÷N Massachusetts as in most other states of the Union, there is no organized and effective system of developing standards for high school teachers. The large cities have evolved machinery by which they are able, not only to impose satisfactory standards on those admitted to the service, but also to react more or less on the institutions which undertake to fit teachers for secondary school work. The small high schools of Massachusetts, however, have no satisfactory means of either selecting teachers or aiding in the development of standards. Under the law, the school committee must certificate teachers, but this certification has mainly reference to establishing the legal fact of their employment and has little bearing on the matter of qualifications. A considerable number of small high schools in Massachusetts are now in receipt of state aid. It is in these schools particularly that we find teachers of least training and most disposed toward frequent migration. The consequence is, that these schools are not able to develop settled policies and they become largely institutions in which young college graduates serve an apprenticeship in teaching with more or less injury to the pupils concerned. The time has undoubtedly arrived when some other agency than the local school committee should impose standards for teachers in the state-aided high schools. At present it would appear that some form of state certification is necessary. Of course, at the outset it should be noted that the imposing of new requirements should not work to the injury of teachers who have already begun their service on the basis of the old standards. But with reference to all new-comers, in the profession, in these schools, the state should have the right and it should be under obligation to set up a program of preparation and to insist on adherance to this. The need of some such means as suggested, not only for raising the qualifications of teachers, but ultimately for raising the compensation as well, is apparent to every student of the subject. Naturally, the State Board of Education would appear to be the agency best situated to exercise the function of certificating high school teachers, and it should be protected in the exercise of this function by the requirement that no teacher could teach in state-aided high schools unless certified by this Board. It would seem that the time is ripe to ask for legislation to this end. Before taking up the matter of legislation, however, the State Board itself should have evolved an administrative policy adequate to the situation with which it expects to deal. In the first place, it is obvious that teachers already in the service should receive certificates of a general nature, based largely on evidence of successful experience in the field of high school teaching. In the second place, it should be evident that no program of certification should proceed without reference to the existing or potential agencies for the training of high school teachers. In fact, it is much to be desired that an intimate co-operation shall develop between these agencies on the one hand and the State Board in the exercise of its certificating prerogative on the other. Teachers now undertaking high school work are with few exceptions, college graduates. Some of them, in the course of the necessary work for the bachelor's degree have given some special attention to the organization of a group of subjects for the purposes of teaching and to the study of pedagogy and especially of that related to the high school. For the present it must be assumed that the amount of education requisite for the bachelor's degree is all that can be expected by the small high schools in their teachers. What they have a right to demand in addition is that during the preparation for the degree, the candidate shall have given some conscious attention to preparation for teaching and shall come equipped not only with some pedagogical knowledge but also where practicable with some experience in teaching, obtained under supervision. In the course of time it may be hoped that additional preparation can be called for on the part of those who intend to make of high school teaching a profession. At the outset of a system of state certification it would be necessary to impose certain requirements that might be called professional an dto use such influence as possible to procure to an increasing extent compliance with these conditions. The state of Massachusetts finds three possible courses open to it in procuring |