Studies of the Community
First, there must be a study of the community. To some extent the individual teacher must take a share in this study. The character of each pupil and the facts about his home surroundings are important to the teacher in carrying on class work. But there must be some agency which can devote time and attention to a systematic collection of facts. The teacher has a right to expect that the school system as a system will make information readily available which it would be difficult for an individual to collect. The central officers should make such a study.
The making of a school census is a duty of the central officers who have in hand the enforcement of the compulsory-attendance laws. When these officers recognize their task as a large educational task, they will make the census not merely a formal basis for compelling attendance but a means of collecting a body of facts on which educational adaptations can be based.
It has been pointed out in earlier chapters that the community should be studied with a view to discovering the needs of pupils. Up to this time such studies have been made as special undertakings in a few isolated communities. For example, the industries of Richmond, Virginia, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and of the state of Indiana have been studied by special commissions and reported at three annual meetings of the National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education. What is needed is a constant study of these problems in every community. Again, teachers cannot meet the demand. This problem is a central problem, and the central management must be equipped to get information which the teachers need but cannot collect.