ÌÇÐĶ¯Âþvlog

Reform Issues, 1912

The following questions were suggested by the National Congress of Mothers in 1912 as part of a guide to leading local parent-teacher circle meetings. The group, today called the National PTA, suggested beginning with hourlong sessions on Friday afternoons and easing into weighty issues.

The guide suggested that the first meeting be devoted to discussing child nutrition. The second meeting would touch on home conditions, and the third meeting would examine the duty of parents in relation to schools. By the fourth meeting, the group would be prepared to discuss broader issues.

Below is an outline of issues that could be covered at such a parent-teacher circle meeting on school results.

Results

1. (a) What results are parents and the public justified in expecting from the schools? (b) What adequate provisions have they made for providing these results?
2. What relation have the teachers to the production of these results?
3. What duties have parents in aiding to produce these results?
4. What public duties have pupils in aiding these results?
5. (a) How does the general public aid and hinder the progress of the pupils? (b) What city regulations, rewards, punishments aid or hinder the progress of the schools?
6. What can parents and teachers do to foster such civic pride in pupils as will lead to better results?
7. What sort of oversight should parents give to children’s home study?
8. What sort of oversight should the public give to the school conditions under which pupils study?

Source: Report of the U.S. Commissioner of Education, 1912.