Curriculum Revision in the New York State Normal Schools

Abstract

New York has two state teachers' colleges and nine state normal schools. One teachers' college and all nine normal schools have for their primary purpose the preparation of elementary-school teachers. These ten institutions offer three-year curriculums-kindergartenprimary, intermediate, and upper grade-leading to permanent state certificates for teaching in the public elementary schools of the state. One of the ten-the teachers' college-offers four-year curriculums of the type just mentioned in addition to the three-year curriculums. All but two of the eleven state institutions offer special curriculums, which prepare for the teaching of music, att, physical education, industrial arts, home economics, and several other subjects. To date, however, the curriculum-revision work has been confined to the three-year curriculums for the preparation of elementary-school teachers. Curriculum revision which is something more than a fashionable gesture is accomplished in two ways: by the committee method and by the scientific method. The former makes use of the experience, analytical abilities, and organizing powers of the members of a committee. Competent thinkers, serious students of education, and people of valuable practical experience can in a comparatively short time produce an organized course of study of merit. The scientific method calls for the selection of materials in terms of stated educational values, their organization and placement, their application to individual cases, the establishment of valid measurement, the study of teaching difficulties, and the ultimate test of usefulness of both materials and methods. These requirements and others indicate the variety and complexity of problems in the scientific method. This