University High School - U Highlights Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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Ifol. XI. F A C U L T Y IQI4 ibulitp nf the School From the point of view of the University of Chicago, the University I-ligh School is a laboratory for the scientific study of secondary education. The patrons of the school, of course, are primarily interested in its elhciency as a teaching and train- ing organization for its own pupils. That the demands of the University and of the patrons of the school are coneordant may be shown' by a brief statement of some of the most important features of the work of the school. The school has undertaken the reorganization of much of the material used in instruction, notably in mathematics, Latin, and science. Carefully considered experiments have been made in methods of instruction, particularly as regards the training in methods and habits of study, the results of which are apparent in the improved quality of the pupils, work. For several years the school has tested itself by administrative studies of the work of its pupils while in school and of its graduates who have entered higher institutions. There has been found a constant lowering of the percentage of fail- ures within the school itself and a corresponding improvement of the work of its graduates in other institutions. ln the year IQO8-Q the students who entered the University of Chicago from the University High School took a rank which was distinctly lower on the average than the rank which was taken by students from three of the leading public high schools of the city of Chicago. Since that year the record has improved each year untilit has become better than that of any other of the four schools. Vlifhile the school by no means aims merely to prepare students for college, the fact that 80 per cent of its graduates enter colleges or technical schools gives an unusual opportunity to test the efficiency of its work as judged by the standard of college requirements. The higher institutions to which graduates of the school have gone have never been limited to those of the Middle lVest. Within the last two or three years, however, they have entered eastern institutions in large numbers, particularly those colleges in which entrance examinations are required. Their success in meeting the demands both for admission and of the work of these insti- tutions has shown a very notable gain. While it is not possible to make a similar objective study of the effectiveness of the training of those pupils who do not enter college, it may fairly be assumed that the same conditions hold. An important consideration from the standpoint of the University is the oppor- tunity which the school provides to students of education for observation, study, and practice. The school has always served this purpose in some degree and this phase of its activity is capable of considerable extension without detriment to its efflciency. On the contrary, the presence of mature students of education, most of whom have had experience as teachers, with the assistance which they can render, together with the resulting increase in the professional attitude of the regular teach- ers, is likely greatly to increase the efhciency of the school's work. Moreover, the large number of teachers who visit the school from widely distant parts of the coun- try indicates also a valuable contribution which the school makes to secondary education in general. The school has been characterized from its inception by the attention which it has given to the management of social organization. Through the wise and sub- stantial co-operation of the patrons of the school, the social activities of the pupils have been developed and controlled in an unusual way and have 7'-3