(a) It is planned to lend itself to future additions. (b) The glass area is increased. (c) Lighting is always unilateral through banked windows. (d) Number and type of special rooms are increased. (e) Toilets are located inside building. (f) Basement story is increased in height, better planned and used. (g) Flat roof used. (h) Modern heating and ventilating and mechanical service systems installed. (i) Constructed in larger units. Assignment 1. What changes in the educational program have caused these changes in school building plans? 2. What are the outstanding weaknesses of each plan? 3. Is there any outstanding merit in any of the plans? 4. Compare the evolution of buildings in this problem with the outline presented in "School Buildings and Grounds" of the Cleveland Survey. 5. What changes would you make in the plans of Group V? 6. What changes in community attitudes have influenced the evolution of the school building? BIBLIOGRAPHY AYRES, L. P. AND AYRES, M. School Buildings and Equipment. Survey Committee of the Cleveland Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio, 1916. BRUCE, W. C. Grade School Buildings. Bruce Publishing Co., Milwaukee, 1914. CLAY, F. Modern School Buildings, Elementary and Secondary: A Treatise on the Planning, Arrangement and Fitting of Day and Boarding Schools. Batsford, London, 1906. (2nd edition) DRESSLAR, F. B. American School Houses. U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin, 1910, No. 5, Washington, D. C. DUTTON, S. T. AND SNEDDEN, D. The School House: Its Construction and Adaptation, pp. 172-207. Macmillan, 1908. HOLLISTER, H. A. Public School Buildings and Their Equipment, with Special Reference to High Schools. University of Illinois, 1909. NEALE, M. G. A School Building Program for Joplin, Mo. University of Missouri, Bulletin, Vol. 26, No. 23, August 10, 1925. PATTON, N. S. Present Day Tendencies of School Architecture. Proceedings of the National Education Association, 1911, pp. 1009–14. National Education Association, Washington, D. C. School Buildings and Grounds. The University of the State of New York, Albany, Vol. 3, 1915. PROBLEM 48 CURRENT TENDENCIES IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION Problem: The Board of Education of Elkton, N. K., is anxious to maintain its school system at a high professional level. During the year 1926, the planning and erection of new elementary schools have become necessary. Superintendent Cliveden has been requested to make an extensive tour to discover new tendencies and trends in elementary education which may have a bearing on new construction. The report of his trip has been presented at a board meeting for discussion. Superintendent Cliveden reported the following tendencies as having, in his opinion, the most significant bearing upon elementary school work: (a) The schools are growing larger. The desirable minimum enrollments are placed at from 900 to 1,500. (b) There is a tendency for each school to house a complete unit in itself, with office and clerical help, rooms and equipment for a varied program, capable teachers in all lines of work, a psychologist, a counselor, a nurse, and a dietitian. (c) The so-called platoon type of program is being tried out in more communities, but its program varies widely in different centers. (d) The general practitioner in a standard classroom with no special equipment administering a uniform course of study is giving place to varying degrees of specialization in equipment, course, and teaching. (e) Classification according to ability and attainment, including segregation, is common in large cities, but rapid promotion is comparatively rare. (f) More participation by pupils in every phase of the life of the school is provided for now than formerly. (g) Sporadic testing with commercial tests is being replaced with an ordered, systematic procedure. Some cities require permission from the central office and a license or special certificate for testing. (h) Individual systems of instruction are at present confined to a very few schools. The superintendent then proceeded to discuss with the Board the significance of these tendencies and their bearing upon the local building program. Assignment 1. What evidence exists concerning the optimum size of the elementary school building? 2. What percentage of the floor area space or cubature of a 1,000-pupil elementary building can be devoted justifiably to the administrative needs? Roughly sketch the administrative suite for this type of building. 3. Indicate the advantages which you would present to this Board as accruing under a platoon plan. The disadvantages. 4. What are the variations which are to be found in platoon programs? Indicate how they may affect the building plan. 5. Indicate the specialization which you have discovered to be taking place in the equipment of a first-grade room; a fifth-grade room. 6. How does a higher degree of pupil classification affect building planning? Of pupil segregation? 7. What significance has the wider participation of pupils in school life upon the planning of the building? 8. What building changes may be necessitated by the testing program? By individual instruction systems? BIBLIOGRAPHY ALMACK, J. C. The Efficiency of the Platoon School. American School Board Journal 68:43-44, 132, February, 1924. BARROWS, A. First National Conference on the Work-Study-Play or Platoon Plan. U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin, 1922, No. 35. Washington, D. C. DEFFENBAUGH, W. S. Significant Movements in City School Systems. U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin, 1923, No. 8, pp. 17-24. DEWEY, E. The Dalton Laboratory Plan. Dutton, 1922. DICKSON, V. E. Mental Tests and the Classroom Teacher. World Book Co., 1924. District of Columbia. Report of the Board of Education to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, 1918-19. Board of Education, Washington, D. C., 1919. Expert Schoolhouse Planning. American School Board Journal, 67:116, September, 1923. GARRISON, C. G. Permanent Play Materials for Young Children. Scribner's, 1926. Koos, L. V. Space Provisions in the Floor Plans of Modern Elementary School Buildings. Elementary School Journal 20:12-25, September, 1919. MCCORNACK, W. R. Economy in Schoolhouse Planning and Construction. Proceedings of the National Education Association, pp. 333-35. National Education Association, Washington, D. C., 1920. NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION. Report of Committee on School House Planning. National Education Association, Washington, D. C., 1925. NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION. Yearbooks of the Department of Elementary School Principles. National Education Association, Washington, D. C. San Francisco, Calif. Report of the Reviewing Committee on the Reorganization and Housing Program of the San Francisco Schools. Board of Education, San Francisco, Calif., 1924. School Building Programs. Elementary School Journal, 23:483-85, March, 1923. SPAIN, C. L. The Platoon School: A Study of the Adaptation of the Elementary School Organization to the Curriculum. Macmillan, 1924. STRAYER, G. D., ENGELHARDT, N. L. ET AL. Report of the Survey of the School System of Port Arthur, Texas. Division of Field Studies, Institute of Educational Research, Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1926. STRAYER, G. D., ENGELHARDT, N. L. ET AL. Report of the Survey of Certain Aspects of the Public School System of Providence, R. I., 1923-24. Division of Field Studies, Institute of Educational Research. Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1924. Report of the Survey of the Public School System of Springfield, Mass., 1923-24. Division of Field Studies, Institute of Educational Research, Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1924. Report of the Survey of the Schools of Tampa, Fla. Division of Field Studies, Institute of Educational Research, Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1926. STRAYER, G. D. ENGELHARDT, N. L., MCGAUGHY, J. R., MORT, P. R. AND |