14. (a) Does a special teacher of music give all the lessons? No. Or (b) do the grade teachers give all of the lessons, without special departmental supervision? Or (c) do the grade teachers carry on the work under the direction of a supervisor of music? Yes. 15. How often does the supervisor visit each room? Twice a month. 16. Are prospective grade teachers required to pass an examination in music? Yes. If so, who prepares the questions? The State. 17. In what branches is the special teacher or supervisor of music required to pass an examination? In addition to music we expect music teacher to have all the qualifications of grade teachers. We have always had teachers with such qualifications. Several factors that would tend toward securing results of great excellence are to be noted in this report. The amount of time given per week is quite exceptional, as reference to Table 2 will show. Voice production is wisely guarded at all times when the voice is used, though special vocal drill is also given. The careful organization of work, as reported under "Features of practice," is also commendable. Somewhat more unusual, however, is the unqualified affirmative used in answering question 7. It leaves little doubt that music in Dunmore is rated as a "regular" and not a "special" subject and is given the sensible sort of treatment that such classification always brings to a subject. In conjunction with the amount of time accorded, this gives a strong plan of organization. The answers to questions 8, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17 are also commended to the attention of the reader. MUSIC IN HIGH SCHOOLS AND IN RELATION TO THE COMMUNITY. The following questionnaire was used as the basis of this investigation of music in high schools: QUESTIONNAIRE HIGH SCHOOLS. 18. What is the total number of pupils in the high school or schools? 21. How often is there assembly singing in your high school? 22. Is applied music under outside teachers, as piano, voice, violin, etc., credited as 23. Are such private teachers required to meet standards set by the high-school principal? ...... 24. How many mixed-voice choral organizations are there in the community? 25. Is any one of these choruses conducted by the local supervisor or special teacher of music? .... 26. Is the high-school chorus largely influential in providing recruits for these choruses? 27. Is the high-school chorus largely influential in providing recruits for the chorus choirs of the community? 28. How many amateur orchestras or instrumental combinations are there in the community? 29. Is any one of these organizations conducted by the supervisor or special teacher of music? 30. Is the high-school orchestra a factor in the maintenance of these organizations?.... 31. Does the school own orchestral instruments that are available for students who wish to learn? ... 32. How many and what instruments are so owned? 33. If there is a people's chorus, or a people's orchestra, does it meet in a school building or receive any support from the school system?..... 34. In general, is the musical interest, knowledge, and activity of the adults of the community largely influenced by the music in the public schools? - not, why not?.... If The total number of school systems included in the tables following is 631. Of the 631 schools, 189, or practically 30 per cent, have no music except assembly singing; the other 442, or practically 70 per cent, have some music other than assembly singing. The distinction between chorus practice and assembly singing could not always be drawn. Incidental evidence in the papers tends to prove that often the assembly singing is of the nature of a chorus. rehearsal; that is, the voices are classified as to parts, good and pretentious choruses are studied, and half an hour or more several times a week is devoted to such practice. On the other hand, many who reported chorus singing, as required, evidently had in mind nothing more than assembly singing, even when this involved but the singing of hymns or patriotic songs as incidental to a chapel service, and, it is safe to assume, without classification of the students as to the parts sung. The distinction between these two modes of activity turns the scale more often than any other factor in determining whether to reckon a high school as having any instruction whatever in music or not. The most careful study was therefore given the reports, and the figures presented above may be regarded as reliable. They mean that 30 per cent of the high schools reporting do nothing to advance music beyond the stage it has reached in the eighth grade; and this percentage may be taken as representative. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. Questions 18 and 19 are incidental to calculations made later, and are, therefore, not reported upon separately. (20) Systematic courses offered in musical study or practice. In the tables following, a classification of schools with regard to the number of students enrolled was adopted. The object of this classification was to ascertain whether the size of the school bore any fixed relation to the nature of the musical practice. The enrollment given, however, is for an entire school system, and in the larger cities is, therefore, distributed among a number of high schools. The percentages are relative to the 408 schools reporting chorus. It is to be remembered that the remainder of 631 high schools have no music or only assembly singing. "Optional and required" is equivalent to a limited requirement; for instance, for one year or two years, or required of senior class, but optional beyond the fulfilling of these requirements. The expectation was that the optional plan would be favored in the larger city systems, but the figures do not bear this out. The optional plan seems rather to be favored in town and city systems, where the separate high schools are likely to be fewer and of large enrollment: to wit, 250 to 500, 500 to 750, 750 to 1,000, 1,000 to 2,500. It may be that the requirement in the largest cities is for the sake of that social solidarity so likely to be absent in our cosmopolitan centers; for this is not only highly desirable in school life, but on the school rests largely the responsibility of contributing it to the Nation. Music is not the least agency in this endeavor. TABLE 13.-Chorus practice-Percentage of students taking. It will be noted that the total enrollment of any group of schools as given in this table (and computed by adding the numbers for that group in the three enrollment columns) is less than the total enrollment given for the same group in the preceding table. This is due to the fact that a number of schools which reported their enrollment and plan for chorus work did not report the number of students entering chorus. In reckoning the percentage of students taking chorus, these schools were necessarily eliminated. There were 57 such, 35 having chorus optional, with a total general enrollment of 71,701; 21 having chorus required, with a general enrollment of 11,867; 1 having chorus optional and required, with an enrollment of 550. These numbers added to the totals of the 3 enrollment columns of the table will give the total 306,449 of the preceding table. If chorus practice is made optional, it is chosen by the students of smaller systems, it would seem, more generally than by those of larger systems. The fairly regular decrease in percentage here is quite striking. Of the 222,331 students in high schools which offer chorus practice under one plan or another and report the number of students entering, 121,651, or 54.7 per cent, are so entered. The greatest percentages are found in the first two groups (the smaller schools), being here, respectively, 71.3 per cent and 72.6 per cent. The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth groups vary from 39.5 per cent (fourth group) to 54.2 per cent (fifth group). The last group, of largest city systems, shows a sudden increase to 64.7 per cent. All but eight of the high schools reporting chorus practice reported as to the credit given it, with the result shown in the next table. |