SEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING 41 



faction with the conventional courses. This is particularly- 

 true of the teachers in the lower years of the high school, for 

 it is they who see the enormous loss in attendance and in 

 interest in school work. In 1892 a committee of the National 

 Educational Association recommended the elaboration or in- 

 tensification of the first year science, geography. Gradually this 

 became too intensive and too collegiate. In 1909, seventeen 

 years later and five years ago, geographers inaugurated a 

 movement among themselves to react against the inattention 

 to human response and environment, the fitting of pupils for 

 college rather than for life, and the suppression of interest in 

 economic or industrial facts and factors. 



Apparently thus far science teachers generally have been 

 quite willing for the first year teachers to wrestle alone with the 

 task of revision and adaptation. In fact the others have been 

 eager to prune back geography to almost nothing and to graft 

 on scions of almost everything else. But they insist that their 

 own courses, as biology, chemistry, or what not, be left in- 

 violate and intact. 



At the present time, however, a very widespread movement 

 is at work toward the revision of the entire high school course, 

 science included. This work is partly under the direction of the 

 National Educational Association and its committee on the re- 

 organization of high school education. Its purpose and plans 

 are given in Bulletin No. 41, 1913, of the United States Bu- 

 reau of Education. This general committee presides over ten 

 subcommittees or the high school departments : the subcom- 

 mittee on natural science is divided into five others for (1) 

 First Year Science; (2) Physics; (3) Chemistry; (4) Geog- 

 raphy, and (5) Biology. The special committee on biology 

 immediately upon its appointment broke up into many minor 

 groups in order that all sections of the United States might he 

 represented and at work. The special committee centering in 

 Chicago, of which the speaker has the honor to be a member, 

 includes representation from Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana 

 and Illinois. 



It is the plan to continue this work for a period of years 

 but to change the membership several times in order that the 

 final report may be the work of many men and that it may 

 be carefully formulated and revised; its first report may be 

 collated in 1915. The general revisory committee hopes that 

 it will: 



"(a) Formulate statements of the valid aims, efficient 

 methods and kinds of material whereby each subject may best 

 serve the needs of high-school pupils. 



