194 



MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 256 



Extensive school construction for the state as a whole began in 1922 and 1923 

 and has been increasing each year. 



The small increase in value of school property in the rural towns is ac- 

 counted for partly by the closing of small schools and partly by the shifting of 

 five towns to Group 3 through the construction of new high schools. 



One-Room Schools 



There were 657 one-room school buildings in use in 1925, or 130 less than 

 in 1920. Nearly three-fourths of these were in towns of less than 5,000 popula- 

 tion, but the number in use in this group has decreased 19 per cent since 1920. 

 The consolidation of schools has in many cases reduced the number of teachers, 

 with a consequent lower cost per pupil. 



Table 26. — Training of Teachers in Public Elementary Schools, 

 1922 and 1924 



Group 



Cities 



Towns over 5,000 with high 



schools 



Towns under 5,000 with high 



schools 



Towns under 5,000 without 



high schools 



College or 



Normal School 



Graduates 



Per cent 



1922 

 S8.5 



80.4 



67.8 



49.6 



1921, 

 89.0 



81.2 



66.7 



58.1 



Secondary 



School with one 



or more years' 



experience 



Per cent 



1922 192!, 

 6.3 6.6 



10.3 

 12.1 

 14.2 



10.2 

 15.2 

 14.5 



Secondary 

 School only 



Per cent 



1922 192i 

 4.6 3.9 



8.7 

 1S.9 

 32.4 



7.8 

 17.1 

 25.4 



Not a Graduate 

 of a Secondary 

 School 

 Per cent 



1923 192 If 

 .6 .5 



1.2 

 3.8 



1.0 

 2.0 



Training of Teachers 



Small towns of necessity employ many teachers with inadequate training. 

 (Table 26). In 1924 only 58 per cent of the teachers in the small towns were 

 graduates of normal schools or colleges, while one-fourth had no training above 

 the high school and no teaching experience. In towns of less than 1,000 popula- 

 tion, of which there were 70" reporting, 32.5 per cent of the teachers were grad- 

 uates of normal schools and colleges, while 47.5 per cent had no training or ex- 

 perience beyond the high school. 



Table 27. — Number of Pupils per Full-time Teacher, 1925. 



EJementarij High 



Group Schools Schools Average 



Cities 30.5 24.5 29.2 



Towns over 5,000 



with high schools 30.3 21.8 28.2 



Towns under 5,000 



with high schools 30.2 17.1 26.5 



Towns under 5,000 



without high schools 26.3 26.3 



Towns under 1,000 



without high schools 19.7 19.7 



State average 30.3 23.1 28.7 



