Evolution of the Demand for Supervision
In the days when the school system was simple in its equipment and in its course of study no distinction was drawn between the problems of teaching and the problems of organizing the school. The teacher did everything that was done in the school. The teacher made the program, promoted the pupils, consulted with the town officials and parents, conducted the classes, and in not a few cases swept the floor and built the fire. There was, to use a phrase of the business world, no overhead management.
The course of study has grown complex. The work of the classroom is absorbing, and yet its success depends on equipment and organization that need to be studied and intelligently arranged. The work of one school must be correlated with the work of the schools in neighboring communities. The public must have authoritative information about the fiscal needs of the school and about the outcome of the public investments in education. The demand has arisen for a new type of school officer—the supervisor. This officer is not a teacher but a manager. His duty is one of organization and central adjustment.