see the day when every organization like this will recognize it as a large part of its duty to try to bring home its conclusions to the intelligence and consciences of the people, to "popularize" its ideas, and to enter "practical politics." I have never been able to understand why men of intelligence, experts in other things than those which we call "business," unlike those who are expert in matters of business, are so ready to leave the legislation they desire to the mercies of legislators who are of necessity uninstructed and inexpert.

I hope some time to solve the question whether the deficiency is in their intelligence, their wills, or their conception of good citizenship, or perhaps in all three. But of one thing I am sure, we can never have satisfactory educational legislation in Massachusetts, on this matters or on others, till the educationists, all together, really want what they think they want, make up their minds to pay the price in time and effort and courage, and go out and get it.

Guidance

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE, TO THE NATIONAL VOCATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES.*

MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE:

Josiah Bradley Buell, Chairman. Division of Industrial Studies, Russell Sage Foundation, New York.

Anna B. Pratt, White-Williams Foundation, Philadelphia, Pa. George Chatfield, Bureau of Attendance, New York.

Beatrice Doerschuk, Bureau of Vocational Information, New York.

Edward Rynearson, Director of Vocational Guidance, Pittsburgh, Pa.

E. W. Weaver, Teachers' College, New York.

Florence R. Jones, Director, Vocational Guidance Bureau, New York.

W. Carson Ryan, Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C.
Margaret Brown, Vocational Scholarship Committee, New York.
Mrs. Alice K. Pollitzer, Director, Junior Employment Service,
New York.

Merle Higley, Interchurch World Movement, New York.
Emily A. Howd, Assistant Principal, P. S. 89, Brooklyn.
Mrs. Virginia Ake Drew, Commercial Department, Washington
Irving High School, New York.

M. Gertrude Godfrey, Department of Vocational Guidance, Philadelphia, Pa.

Ruth L. Clark, Ph. D., Psychologist, Vocational Guidance Bureau, New York.

As a result of its consideration of practical procedure in organizing a community for vocational guidance, your Committee desires to report on the following points:

This Report is not a part of the proceedings of the N. E. Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. It is submitted to our readers by request of the Chairman of the Committee on Vocational Guidance, and with the feeling on our part that it presents a subject of great interest and one that is quite in harmony with the discussions which make up most of the body of this number of Education.- The Editor.

I. We are impressed with the necessity for having an ideal towards which to work, as well as a program for practical accomplishment. At a given time and place the exigencies of a local situation will and should determine immediate methods and policies, but without a clear conception of the objective desired, practicality must defeat its own ends. In its broadest aspect all juvenile guidance and employment work should aim to render to the child the greatest possible degree of assistance, not only in his educational choice, but in his efforts to secure real and practical opportunities in the industrial world. Its purpose should be to make education more truly effective by bringing the child, both during his school career and the early years of his working experience, in contact with the widest opportunities for choice and development. This is essentially an educational ideal, and it follows that the broader the experience of those giving actual instruction, the more intimate their contact with industrial conditions on the one hand, and their familiarity with the child and educational facilities on the other, the less will be the need for specialized machinery to accomplish this purpose. Towards such an end your committee believes every community should work-to bring together its industries and its educational system, so as to make available to each individual child the maximum of opportunity, both in the school and in his later life.

II. It has seemed obvious that certain functions, often, it is true, inadequately performed, but nevertheless with which we have already had considerable experience, form a basis for the practical achievement of this purpose:

1. School census attendance records furnish scientific information, not only about individual children, but supply the basic statistics on which the school organizations rests; 2. Psychological tests likewise aid, not in determining the abilities of the individual child, but in pointing out the educational needs of specific groups;

3. School scholarships enable children who would otherwise be deprived of such opportunities, to continue their education and growth;

4. School social case work aids those whose homes entail an environmental handicap;

5. The importance of regular physical examination and medical care is everywhere recognized;

6. The administration of child labor laws and compulsory continuation school laws provide safeguards for the transition period between school and industry;

7. Industrial surveys provide adequate information concerning occupational needs and opportunities for the child himself as well as for those who are working with him; 8. Educational and vocational guidance, on the one hand, assist the child approaching the age at which school attendance is no longer compulsory;

9. Placement, i. e., practical assistance in securing a position, on the other, assists the child who must or should leave school;

10. Finally, follow-up guidance and replacement continue the work for the first few years of the child's industrial life. These are the basic activities through which vocational guidance must be developed.

III. It has seemed further evident that in any city the following must all be carefully considered before the details of an immediate progress are determined upon. They could not, however, materially affect the main outline and purpose of that program. 1. The size of the city.

2. The number of school children.

3. The organization of the school system (elementary, vocational, continuation, junior high schools, high schools). 4. The local educational and child labor laws.

5. The character of the local industries.

6. Existing social and public agencies concerned with child welfare.

IV. The first step, therefore, for a community desiring to organize its juvenile guidance and employment work should be a survey sufficiently adequate to bring out the essential characteristics of its industries and its educational facilities and to evalu

ate all the work being done in the fields indicated in Paragraph II, by either public or private agencies.

V. The second step should be the co-ordination of such work. Your committee believes that if a community went no further than to organize a central committee on which could be represented all public and private agencies doing family case work, attendance work, issuing employment certificates, placing juveniles, giving vocational guidance, psychological tests, and the like, an important initial step would have been taken.

VI. While, in most communities, public health authorities do give medical care, the school administration does look after truant cases and keep school records, and either the educational authorities or private agencies attempt to meet the need for vocational guidance, placement or school case work, and in a few instances an all-round program has been projected, we know of no community where it has been adequately developed. As a basis for effective growth, therefore, we recommend the organization of a central Vocational Guidance and Employment Department under the Board of Education. At the head of this Department should be a Director responsible to the Superintendent of Schools. His first task should be the correlation of the attendance, census and other school work with that of outside agencies, and a means for this accomplishment might well be a central Advisory Committee, on which would be represented social and health agencies, employers' associations, labor organizations, parents' associations, or any other bodies directly concerned with the welfare of the child. VII. Within the Department there should be the following divisions:

1. Permanent census and attendance.

2. Educational scholarships.

3. Psychological service.

4. Information, research and training.

5. Guidance, placement and employment certification. VIII. The staff required for each division and the method of administration are problems for local determination. By the nature of the case it would seem as if the work of the Division