FOREWORD The manuscript for this bulletin on "Agricultural Part-Time Schools" was prepared under the direction of Dr. C. H. Lane, chief of the agricultural education service, by J. A. Linke, agent for agricultural education in the North Central Region. The recommendations are based on a study of work now under way in several of the States and on conferences with State supervisors and teacher trainers and members of the staff of the agricultural education service of the Federal Board for Vocational Education. In the preparation of the material on methods and supervised practice, particular assistance was given by A. P. Williams and R. D. Maltby, agents for agricultural education in the North Atlantic and Southern Regions, respectively. This bulletin is specifically directed to vocational teachers of agriculture, to agricultural teacher trainers, and to State supervisors of agricultural education for the purpose of promoting the establishment and development of agricultural instruction in parttime schools. J. C. WRIGHT, Director. VII AGRICULTURAL PART-TIME SCHOOLS Methods of Organizing and Conducting Part-Time THE NEED FOR PART-TIME INSTRUCTION THE GROUP SERVICE IDEA The idea of placing persons in groups for the purpose of instructing them is not new. In fact, public education has practically always been conducted with groups. The basis of grouping, however, has varied greatly. For instance, in the elementary school usually all children between certain ages, as 6 to 14, are required to attend school for the purpose of securing instruction at least in the arts of reading, writing, and arithmetic commonly needed by all persons. In the upper grades of the elementary school or particularly in the junior high school pupils may be grouped on the basis of certain developing interests or objectives so far as these objectives can be recognized at this period of their schooling, as, for instance, preparation for college, manual training, selecting a trade, or agricultural pursuits. In the high-school pupils are grouped on the basis of objectives ranging from securing a so-called cultural education and preparing to meet specific college entrance requirements to training for a particular trade or occupation. That there is great need for a further extension of the special group service idea in the general public-school organization is now generally recognized, but the conception that an equal need exists in the field of vocational education in agriculture is just beginning to receive consideration. These special groups may be found not only among those regularly enrolled in high school but also among those who have left school to engage in farming. Many of the latter group have entered upon their life work without any specific preparation and frequently with only meager training in the common elementary branches of instruction. School boards should recognize their responsibility in extending service to these out-of-school groups. GROUPS ALREADY BEING REACHED BY VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IN AGRICULTURE When the national vocational education act was passed in 1917, the few States which were providing vocational education in agriculture 100736-262 1 were confining their efforts largely to the departmental and special types of agricultural schools. It was only natural, therefore, that agricultural education under the act should have been directed first toward reaching boys already enrolled in these schools, and that this group should have continued to receive special attention during the succeeding eight years, with the result that in each of the States the high-school department type of school represents, at the present time, the major part of the vocational program in agricultural education. The total enrollment in all-day departments and special schools of agriculture in 1925 was 65,945. The so-called all-day school group is also being reached by a modification of the high-school department plan in which a teacher of agriculture divides his time among two or more schools. Such an organization is known as the day-unit-course school. In 1925, 13 of the States reported enrollments in day-unit-course schools to the number of 3,868. The total number of persons belonging to the all-day school group and reached by the different types of day schools in 1925 was thus 69,813. The evening-school program for adult operating farmers is also fairly well under way as indicated by the fact that in 1925, 26 of the States reported a total of 14,417 adult farmers enrolled in such schools. If we regard the vocational-education program as beginning with minors in the regular public school and as including service to employed adults, we see that at one end of the system definite attention is being given to the group attending regular day schools and at the other end some attention is given to meeting the needs of the adult group. These minors may be properly designated as a distinctive group from the administrative standpoint because of the following conditions: (1) Enrollment is practically limited to those pupils who have come up through an orderly progression in the school system, and (2) these pupils are giving practically their whole working time to regular attendance at school. The program of the regular day school was built up on the theory that the largest social returns from vocational education could be secured through the education of youth. However, the national vocational education act definitely recognizes the value of work with employed adult workers in agriculture by the provision that vocational education in agriculture shall be designed for those "who have entered upon or who are preparing to enter upon the work of the farm." Those in charge of the promotion of vocational education in agriculture made early efforts to extend such instruction to those "who have entered upon the work of the farm." It should be noted, however, that the development of work with the out-of-school employed agricultural group has been largely at the other extreme of the system—that is, with adult farmers as contrasted with youth. From an administrative standpoint, the following considerations relative to evening classes for farmers are important and help to differentiate this group from other groups: 1. Other agencies, such as college extension workers, are performing certain educational services for this group. Hence, in many cases work may be on a cooperative basis between persons employed under the provisions of the national vocational education act and these other agencies. 2. The educational needs of adult farmers are usually more immediate, specific, and consciously recognized than is the case with other persons preparing to farm. Hence, the organization of the educational work is comparatively simple. Lying between the all-day school group and the adult-farmer group there is known to exist a large group of out-of-school farm boys estimated at over 1,200,000 in number as compared with less than 1,000,000 farm boys regularly attending school. This group is designated as the part-time school group because it is for the most part composed of boys employed on farms who can attend school for only a part of their time and usually as a part of their regular working time, although this may occur during periods when farm work is not pressing. The term "part-time" is not used in reference to the adult-farmer group because they can meet, as a rule, only during leisure time, which is commonly in the evening and at intervals rather than in periods of consecutive days and weeks as would usually be advisable and feasible for the part-time pupil. That the part-time group has been largely neglected for one reason or another is evidenced by the fact that in 1925 only 10 States reported part-time agricultural schools with a total enrollment of 2,127. This condition is shown by the comparisons in the following tabular summary: Comparison of enrollments from the different vocational groups in federally Administratively, the out-of-school farm boy group demands specific attention because of the following conditions. The part-time group is composed of youth who 1. Have quit the regular day school. 2. Are on farms or preparing to work there. |