is thereby guilty of the same act as the dry goods merchant who shortens his yard-stick; as the grocer who shrinks his measures; as the coal dealer who lighters his ton. By all means let us have competition between the colleges. Let us have competition in athletics; competition in equipment; competition in courses offered; competition in economy; competition in character of students;; competition in the standing and record of graduates; but let us remember that cutting down educational standards is not competing; it is cheating cheating the student, cheating the schools, cheating the public, cheating the State."

This is putting it rather more strongly than a high school man would care to put it, but coming, as it does, from a college president, it makes a good quotation. Grant's sale of the horse aptly illustrates the case.

Coming back now to the question of quantity, to do all that the colleges require as well as the best high school teachers wish it done would require nothing short of five years; and this means that quality in high school work is sacrificed to quantity, and this because of the demands of the colleges. Education, at its best, is a question of spirit, but the attitude of the colleges seems to put the emphasis upon the letter. One boy with one oration of Cicero may be better able to do the college work than another with six, and no one knows this better than the teacher, but the blanks on the certificates must be properly filled out, or the boy is promptly consigned to outer darkness in spite of his teacher's appeal.

Quantity can be measured in terms of percents, books, chapters, pages; quality can not be thus measured, and, in our educational processes, we still cling to the notion that everything is measurable. A college diploma and a teacher's certificate are still considered

incontrovertible proofs that the holder of these can teach school in spite of examples to the contrary. Assuredly, we must have the quantity but we have traveled far enough between these fencerows of quantity and ought to break through these now and revel in the green fields of beauty on either side. Some one has said that "education is an organic development rightly measurable only in terms of power, expansion, purpose." A college diploma is no evidence that the possesor can work out to the limits of this definition in his teaching. Nor, again, will the mere process of preparing for college meet the requirements of this definition. The college graduate may prepare the boy for college in áll the English literary studies and still never have touched the boy's inner self with the live coal from off the altar of literature. It is just possible for the boy to consider all these as mere pawns on the chess-hoard in the game of preparing for college, whereas he should be made to feel that they are the food and drink that nourish him into a broader, deeper, saner, better life. Instead of thinking that he is getting ready to do things he should be made to feel (not think) that he is doing things right now and that the doing now is preparing him for what the future holds in store, whether college work or something else. Instead of detaching a part of his real self for the work of preparing for college the whole boy ought to be focused upon the work in hand, so that he may feel that each day's work is an achievement that is worth while in and of itself. This, in large measure, depends upon the quality of the teacher and the quality of the teacher determines the quality of the teaching, and neither a college diploma nor a teacher's certificate can discover or show this quality in the teacher. Given two teachers with diplomas and certificates of equal grade,

The

one may have this quality and the other lack it. Turning pages is not teaching, never has been, and never will be. process is far more vital than that. The two boys who, the other day, exhibited as their commencement exercise a complete and effective wireless telegraphic mechanism, illustrate the sort of teaching that touches life in relation to "expansion, power, purpose." These two boys wound by hand what was equivalent to forty-five miles of wire, winding fifteen miles of wire the third time, working on the machine hours every day for three months. Their college preparatory work was well done, but during those three months it was altogether minor. Their power, expansion, purpose can not be incorporated in their grade in physics. The teacher or the pupil whose spirit and work do not extend beyond the limits of his task is missing somewhat of the joy of living. The teacher who can stimulate boys to this sort of work is a real teacherone who recognizes the necessity for this preparatory work but uses this as a means to a noble end, the work of producing efficient and effective men and

women.

So long as we emphasize quantity rather than quality so long will there be a demand for "ponies," "keys," books of questions and answers-all that long train of pitiable unpedagogical calamities and cupidity will supply the demand. Our present quantitative process permits the teaching of subjects by people who are not even students of those subjects. In United States history we continue to ask ten little questions about the X. Y. Z. papers, Mason and Slidell, and the like, and the applicant who answers six or seven of these questions is certified to teach the subject though he may never have read a book of real history. Thus this teacher is encour aged to perpetuate the traditional regime. A young man wrote forty-five

minutes upon the subject "The Result of Alexander's Conquest on the Civilization of Asia" and was admitted to college so far as history was concerned. Some day we shall be wise enough to give some such test as that to applicants for teachers' certificates. If you will stimulate my child to read Motley's "The Rise of the Dutch Republic" and Irving's "The Life of Washington" I'll freely forgive you the best half dozen histories you may name. If the boy reads these two great works I shall know that, in due time, he will read Green, Mommsen, Bancroft, Rhodes and the others and that because he has caught the spirit of history. With a taste for quality the quantity will readily care for itself.

A recent book uses the expression "wise and stupid" and I, for one, would be quite willing to reduce the quanti y of the wisdom if by that means we might be rid of the stupidity, by which is meant that the high schools ought "to seek inner activity rather than formal objective completeness" The best teachers are doing this although it was not so "nominated in the bond" when they graduated from college, or took their examination. They have risen superior to the system. They have gone from the low grounds of quantity up to the heights of quality and have led their pupils with them, and the glorious view that stretches out from this vantage place brings joy to teacher and pupil alike. On the sunlit summit the pupil bids the teacher a grateful and affectionate farewell that he may hasten on to possess the goodly heritage that irvites him; and the teacher is thankful that he has been able to do that for this pupil that can be measured only in terms of power, expansion, purpose. That he has awakened this boy, the whole boy, and sees him now in his yearning for the good things that lie beyond. The teacher in his joy for

gets about per cents and college certificates, and revels in the belief that this boy, his boy, is safe. Truly, the letter, quantity, killeth, but the spirit, quality, maketh alive.

DISCUSSION.

SUPT. F. W. WARNER.

When the committee wrote me about this paper and who was to write it I readily consented because I knew it would contain both the quantity and the quality. I can only emphasize a few of the facts which you already know. I well remember some of the subjects I did not like. I remember algebra and I remember my teacher in the high school. I said to her I like to have facts, there is nothing in a supposition. I remember her saying to me you are too much matter of fact. I remember also how I did hate grammer. We had to get so many pages. It was quantity and not quality. Then a time came when I began to understand these things and to get the real quality of the thing. Then you remember how you enjoyed these things when they became clear to you. I thought yesterday as I stood in Tiffin and saw them building the monument to Gen. Gibson of how he read certain books over and over again. I remember how he could quote from the Bible. He seemed to know it by heart. I thought as I stood there this man knew his books well and it is a good example for us. He knew these books perfectly and would say he had a better education than if he had gone into a library and got a smattering of many books. I think there is danger of reading too much. My boys get too many books. I would rather have them read a few books and read them well. I sometimes think our high schools make a mistake by reading too many books and doing too many things. We are after quantity rather than quality. I

say to my teachers, do half of the scheduled work and do it right. I believe if the boy does his work thoroughly though less of it he will be a better man and better prepared to enter college than if he skims over a great quantity of work. I remember once in Seneca county of an applicant for a teachers' certificate who did not answer any of the questions on the paper but answered ten other questions that he said he considered just as important. I often thought about this case and I do not know but what he should have been granted a certificate. This examination is a good deal of a lottery anyhow. Out of a possible thousand questions a man might be ignorant of 990 and yet know the ten questions that you would ask and thereby receive a 100 per cent in history. I remember when I went into the high school I was the only boy in the class and I said I will not struggle for any of the class honors but will try to get all the good out of the course that I can. I think I got twice as much out of that course as any girl in the class. I was in the class for the work and I got the results. I sometimes said I did not know when I did know because I wanted to be gallant. I put a large emphasis on doing a little and doing it well. It is better to get 3 problems right and know all about them than to work out twice as many and not thoroughly understand them.

I think we should put greater emphasis on the quality of the work rather than the quantity of it. I think the boy who works out 5 problems carefully is better equipped than the boy who skims over 10 problems in order to get the per cent. I hope the day is coming when we can reduce the quantity and raise the quality of our work. I would rather have my boys do a few things well than to do many things poorly. I was thinking of the illustration of the

I

boys in the paper who devised the wireless telegraphy. They may not have had a high per cent but they knew how to do things and to accomplish things. think the quality depends largely on the teacher. If the teacher will he can make the work thorough. My students used to call me Mr. Why because I was constantly aksing them that question. I did not care how well they could recite the printed matter. I wanted to know the reason for it. I always gave my pupils to understand that they must get the quality in their work if they did not get the quantity. In conclusion I want to emphasize this fact that the quantity will take care of itself if the quality of the work is right.

F. B. DYER.

There is a matter I would like to present to this association. We have in

this association an old committee known as the committee on education. Some years ago this committee made a report along these various lines and I think the committee should be revived again. I think it is about time that we have a report on the condition of education in Ohio. This report should take up every phase of the matter. In many respects our schools are 20 years behind the times. This committee should be required to report one month in advance so that we may be ready to discuss its features. I move that the committee on education be revived and asked to report one month in advance of the next annual meeting. Seconded.

SUPT. MORRIS.

I move this motion be referred to the executive committee to be reported back tomorrow. Carried.

FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

A balance of $1286.81 remained from 1904-'05; paid by publishers for advertising, $203.00; belated fees $36.21, and membership fees for the year 1905-06, $1822.06, - aggregate $3348.08; outlay for 1905-'06, $1698.65; balance, May 12, 1906, $1649.43.

Outlay from May 12 to June 26, including salaries of Secretary and his assistant $944.83; balance, June 26, $704.60.

At this point I may read a list of the enrollment by counties, to show where the O. T. R. C. has been in the last year and where it can prove an alibi: