VIRGINIA Language Arts in Grades One Through Twelve. A Tentative Guide to Curriculum Development. State Board of Education, Richmond 16. 1952. $1. (Supply limited.) Includes suggestions for language arts program based on interests, needs, and characteristics of pupils. Suggests unit topics at various grade levels with pupil activities, outcomes, and materials. Topics include: We Look at Ourselves, We Look at Our School, We Look at Our Community, Adventure, The World of Science, Getting Along with Others, Leisure Time Activities--Radio and Television, Planning for the Future, and others. Also includes helpful descriptions of classroom lessons on various topics. WASHINGTON Seattle Teaching the Language Arts in the Secondary Schools. Highline Covers grades 7-12. For each area (speaking, listening, reading, and Unit Plans for the Language Arts. A Planned Sequence From Grades Begins with excellent statement of philosophy for teaching English and a rationale for using the unit plan. Suggests several units for each grade, including: Orientation; Membership in Family, School and Community (7); The Individual and His Home; Growth of American Progress (8); Teen-Age Problems; The Spirit of Other Peoples (9); Other Lands and Peoples; People and Careers (10); The American Community (11); Learning to Think Straight; Looking Toward the Future (12). Outlines are also given for semester courses in Journalism I and Writing Laboratory I. NOTE: Secondary-school teachers of English may obtain, free upon request, copies of the Office of Education Resources for Teaching English series listed below. Requests should be addressed to Publications-Inquiry Unit, Office of Education, Department of H.E.W., Washington 25, D. C. "Research Concerning Reading Interests of Secondary-School Pupils," Circular No. 386, Rev. August 1957. 7 p. "Practices to Consider for Improvement of Language Arts Program," Circular No. 405, December 1953. 6 p. "Language Arts in the Junior High School," Circular No. 429, Rev. March 1958. 14p. HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE 413 Office of Education Washington 25, D. C. November 1954 RATIO OF MEN TO WOMEN TEACHERS IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS by Ellsworth Tompkins Specialist for Large High Schools Introduction Are more men teachers now needed in the high schools? Should there be an approximately equal distribution between men and women teachers in high schools? Would such a balance tend to improve the teaching of secondary-school youth? These are questions on which people in and out of education may have definite and perhaps differing opinions. Until basic information on the proportion of men to women teachers is available, discussion of these and similar questions is likely to generate more heat than light. What is the current ratio of men to women teachers in public high schools? What has the ratio between the sexes been since 1890? The purpose of this circular is to answer the two preceding questions by providing information and trends regarding the sex of high-school teachers on a State-by-State basis. The statistics below were derived from data in the Biennial Surveys of Education in the United States, published at regular or frequent intervals since 1890 by the Office of Education. The term, secondary schools, includes all public junior, junior-senior, senior, and regular high schools, except as otherwise indicated. The data furnish the percentage of men teachers in public high schools: to find the percentage of women teachers, subtract the percentage of men teachers from 100.0%. For. example, a State having 34.3 percent of men teachers in 1951-52 would have 65.7 percent of women teachers. Overview Because of the rapid expansion since 1890 of the number of high schools, size of enrollments, and number of teachers, it seems desirable to indicate the percentage ratios of men to women teachers rather than total numbers; percentage ratios make ready comparison possible. Table I is an overview-table indicating the uneven trends in sex distribution of high-school teachers 1890-1952. The highest percentage of men teachers (49.9 percent) was reported in 1900, and the lowest percentage UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN (34.9 percent) in 1930. Although this circular does not attempt to find out why the percentage of men to women teachers has varied so greatly, a connection between wartimes and a low percentage of men high-school teachers is apparent. Notice that 1920 shows a decrease in men teachers of 10.1 percentage points over 1910, and that 1946 indicates a decrease of 4.7 percentage points over 1938. Both 1920 and 1946 reflect wartime conditions. The pattem of fluctuation from 1890 to 1952 is revealed more sharply in Figure 1: the nearer the lines to each other, the higher the percentage of men teachers; the farther they are apart, the lower the percentage. TABLE I NUMBER OF PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS BY SEX, 1890-1952 1/ Includes those not reported by sex. 2/ Excludes teachers in ungraded schools; this accounts for the slight discrepancy in the total. SOURCE: Biennial Surveys of Education, Office of Education, 1926-28, 1932-34, 1936-38; Statistics of Public High Schools, 1945-46; Statistics FIGURE 1 PERCENT OF PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS BY SEX, 1890 UNITED STATES OF AMERIKA 1900 1910 1920 1930 YEARS 1952 Until a more comprehensive study is made, one can only surmise the reasons for the fluctuating pattern in the percentage of men teachers. Probably several factors are responsible for attracting more or fewer men to high-school teaching-wartime, periods of economic prosperity, teachers' salaries, etc. Regardless of speculation, however, there is today a national trend toward a greater percentage of men teachers than at any time since 1900. State-by-State Data Statewide data on the percentage of men to women high-school teachers are more revealing than nationwide data, because of the great variation in statistics at the State level. Basic, comprehensive information on the percentage ratios of men to women teachers by State is shown in Table II for the school years 1937-38, 1945-46, and 1951-52. These dates were selected because the statistics were gathered then. Detailed State-by-State data for earlier years were not derived and computed because the intervals selected supply the pattern of more recent trends. Anyone interested in ascertaining statistics for earlier years may consult the various Biennial Surveys of Education in the United States to make the necessary computations. Only one Even a casual inspection of the data in Table II reveals the wide variation in current and recent status within the several States. State (Louisiana) shows no significant change from 1937-38 to 1951-52 in the percentage of men to women high-school teachers. The year 1945-46 is an abnormal year because of war-end conditions; practically all States show a decrease in the percentage of men teachers. For that reason, comparison between 1957-58 and 1951-52 provides a more effective measure. the succeeding tables, therefore, omit the year 1945-46. Two of Information given in Table II makes it possible for an interested person to detect trends in percentage of men to women teachers between the States and within each State. Furthermore, one can compare State data with the nationwide average. For the 17 southern States in which schools are segregated by race, it is possible to find out data and trends for Negro and white schools. For example, the Negro schools in Missouri have maintained a consistently higher average percentage of men teachers than the white schools. National averages for Negro and white schools indicate a greater percentage of men teachers in Negro schools for 1956-37 and 1945-46 |