WASTE IN EDUCATION 45 



is seven ; for women, it is four. These figures represent the total years of 

 teaching and take no account of the number of positions occupied by 

 each teacher. Tenure of position in city schools is much longer than in 

 the country. Of 1,248 teachers in city schools, Dr. Coffman finds that 

 the median city school man has taught twelve years in the city; the 

 median city school woman has taught seven years in the city. Commis- 

 sioner Harris in his report for 1904 published the results of reports from 

 a much larger number of teachers from 398 cities of 8,000 inhabitants 

 and over, including twenty-nine cities of over 100,000 inhabitants. He 

 found that, in cities of 8,000 inhabitants and over, the median man had 

 taught eleven years and the median woman nine years, and that both the 

 median man and the median woman had taught seven years in their 

 present positions. In cities of 100,000 inhabitants and over, the median 

 teacher had taught ten years and had occupied the same positions eight 

 years. It is obvious that even under the most favorable conditions the 

 average tenure of position is short. Dr. Coffman also has statistics bear- 

 ing on the youthfulness of teachers, showing that 52.9 per cent, of men 

 teachers and 73.8 per cent, of women teachers are under thirty years of 

 age. Sex has a potent bearing upon the question of tenure in position. 

 German secondary teachers are all men, while in this country a very 

 large majority are women. No exact material is available to show the 

 effect of this constant changing of teachers. It is apparent that it 

 greatly lowers the efficiency of our schools. The short tenure of superin- 

 tendents and high-school principals hardly allows them to become 

 adjusted to the new conditions in each position filled, not to speak of the 

 possibility of working out any constructive educational policy, which 

 must require years to be of real value. 



Having discussed the causes of waste, there remains for us to con- 

 sider the means by which it may be eliminated. I shall consider such 

 remedies as are involved (1) in a readjustment of our school organiza- 

 tion, (2) in a change in the methods and (3) in a reorganization of the 

 materials of instruction. 



Many experiments have been tried in the reorganization of the ele- 

 mentary and high schools and are in more or less successful operation in 

 various parts of the country. These involve such combinations as a 

 six-year elementary school followed by a six-year high school; a seven- 

 year elementary and a five-year high school; and a six- or seven-year 

 elementary school, a junior high school of one to three years, and a 

 senior high school. All of these combinations, however, still include a 

 total of twelve years in the period of elementary and high-school train- 

 ing and are based upon the assumption that these new types of organ- 

 ization are better adapted to the physical and psychological development 

 of the child. Whatever benefits are claimed as a result have not been in 

 the saving of time in elementary and secondary education. 



As of practical bearing upon the solution of this important problem, 



