A survey of certain aspects of the Negro high schools in Leon County, Texas

A SURVEY OF CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE NEGRO HIGH SCHOOLS IN
LEON COUNTY, TEXAS
A Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the School of Education
University of Southern California
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Science in Education
by
Alberta C. Roberson
lune 1941
UMI Number: EP54292
All rights reserved
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789 East Eisenhower Parkway
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Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346
cy
T h is thesis, w r it t e n u n d e r the d ir e c t io n o f the
C h a ir m a n o f the cand ida te’ s G u id a n c e C o m m itte e
a n d a p p r o v e d by a l l m em bers o f the C o m m itte e ,
has been presented to a n d accep ted by the F a c u lt y
o f the S c h o o l o f E d u c a t io n in p a r t i a l f u l f i l l m e n t
o f the re q u ire m e n ts f o r the degree o f M a s t e r o f
Science in E d u c a tio n .
Da^.AT^st..78..1941
Guidance Committee
S’. J. Weersing
Chairman
0. E. Hull
Irving E. Melbo
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I.
PAGE
THE PR OBLEM............................ .
Educational implications of the problem . .
1
Review of related literature
............
3
..................
3
The Caliver s u r v e y ....................
4
The Lane survey........................
6
Summary of related literature ..........
7
Procedure and organization of this report .
8
The Galveston survey
II.
1
GENERAL ADMINISTRATION AND BACKGROUND OFTHE
NEGRO HIGH SCHOOLS OF LEON COUNTY, TEXAS
.
10
Organization of administration.........
10
The County B o a r d .....................
13
County Superintendent ..................
14
City Superintendent....................
15
Board of Trustees.....................
15
Independent District Board of School
T r u s t e e s ...........................
Election of trustees
Background of schools
. .
16
............
17
...................
18
N u m b e r ...................
21
S i z e .................................
21
L o c a t i o n ...............
21
Summary
.......................
22
• •
•
111
CHAPTER
III.
PAGE
CURRICULUM AND SCHEDULE OF NEGRO HIGH SCHOOLS
IN LEON COUNTY, TEXAS
IY.
Y.
................
£3
Curriculum of s t u d y .............
23
A standard academic c u r r i c u l u m ........
23
Units of work required for graduation • .
24
Curriculum revision.........
33
Reorganization.......................
35
School schedule.............
39
Chapter summary.......................
40
HOUSING AND EQUIPMENT FOR NEGRO HIGH SCHOOLS
IN LEON COUNTY, T E X A S ..................
41
H o u s i n g ...............................
41
C o n d i t i o n s ...........................
43
Distribution
.........................
46
Consolidation .........................
47
Equipment.............................
49
S u mm a r y ...............................
52
TEACHING PERSONNEL OF THE NEGRO HIGH SCHOOLS
OF LEON COUNTY, T E X A S ..................
53
Teaching personnel
53
....................
T r a i n i n g .............................
54
E x p e r i e n c e ...........................
57
T e n u r e ...............................
57
Teacher loads .........................
59
iv
CHAPTER '
PAGE
Salaries.........
61
S u m m a r y .............................
61
VI. 'FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . . . .
64
Findings.............................
64
Recommendations......................
66
S u m m a r y ...........................
BIBLIOGRAPHY
...............................
APPENDIX...........
68
69
74
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE
PAGE
I. Housing of High Schools, 1940-41 ........
II.
Equipment and Facilities of the High
Schools, 1940-41 ............
III.
.....
Y.
51
Professional Training of Teacher Personnel,
1940-41
IY.
42
Experience
56
of Teacher Personnel, 1940-41 .
58
Tenure, Average Load and Average Annual
Salaries
of Teacher Personnel, 1940-41 .
60
LIST OP MAPS
MAP
PAGE
I.-
School District Map of Leon County . . . . .
37
II.
Proposed Reorganization Map of Leon County .
38
CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM
The purpose of this study was to discover the status
of Negro high schools in Leon County, Texas and to offer
suggestions and recommendations that may help in the pro­
posed plan of reorganization.
For such an evaluation
information was secured from the Texas State Department
of Education, city and county superintendents of Leon
County, classroom teachers, and other widely recognized
sources.
The study aimed to present data relevant to such
phases of the problem as will help strengthen the convic­
tion that the poorly trained teaching personnel is largely
responsible for the inefficient small school, and will
also furnish evidence of other factors contributing to the
inefficiency of the Leon County system.
The first chapter
presents (a) some educational implications of the problem,
(d ) a review of the related investigations and literature,
and (c) a section setting forth the procedure and organi­
zation of the study, including the organization of the
remaining chapters.
A.
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE PROBLEM
The problems of Negro education in Texas are prob­
lems of great importance.
Not only are the problems
prominent in the minds of the Negro people, but the white
people also have considered them of importance.
One of
the problems confronting the educators is the lack of
achievement of the small high school situated both in the
rural and urban districts, where unfavorable social,
economic, and political factors are involved.
Leon County, one of the largest and most densely
populated counties in east Texas, has as its major in­
dustries agriculture and lubering.
These enterprises are
greatly responsible for the organization and maintenance
of thirty-three elementary and twelve high schools for
Negroes in the county.
These schools met the needs of the people years
ago, but as a result of not keeping up with recent changes
in educational practices, which allow for the consolida­
tion of schools and transportation of pupils, the present
system of Negro schools in the county is inadequate.
The
facts that few schools have been consolidated and few
pupils are transported are the factors from which the
present problem springs.
Other factors contributing to the inefficiency of
the present system are the short schedule, the crowded
teaching load, as well as the no?/ prevalent practice of
one teacher’s attempting to present all of the courses
offered in the high school curriculum.
3
This study of the Negro high schools of Leon
County has attempted to determine the extent to which
the teacher is responsible for the ineffectiveness of the
small high schools and at the same time reveal political,
social, and economic causes for this ineffectiveness.
B.
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
The status of education in the South has recently
attracted the interest of many progressive educators in
this section of the United States; therefore, a variety
of surveys relative to the educational opportunities for
the white and Negro population have been made and results
published within the past few years.
Some of these sur­
veys are pertinent to this study since they present the
status of Negro education in Texas.
The Galveston survey. A detailed survey of the
entire school system of Galveston was made by the Univer­
sity of Texas in 1926.^
The report of this research gives
a picture of the educational opportunities offered to
Negroes in that city.
Central High School plant has an old division that
has been renovated and somewhat modernized, and a new fire­
proof division.
The new building is first-class in every
University of Texas Bulletin. Austin: University
of Texas, August 8, 1926.
respect, with, gymnasium, auditorium, clinic room, shower
rooms, modern heating system, modern toilet facilities,
principal and teachers1 rooms, and modern library*
Laboratories for physics and chemistry are first-'
class,-with respect both to equipment and laboratory
apparatus.
Home economics and industrial training
laboratories are serviceable and commendable.
Lunchroom
service is inadequate for the number of pupils enrolled.
The library, a branch of the Rosenbery Public
Library, is arranged so as to be used by the adults of the
community as well as by the pupils.
It is well equipped,
and has many thousands of volumes of general reading
matter and reference boohs.
According to the courses of study, the curriculum
has far too many required subjects.
there are too few electives.
At the same time
However, the Negroes
on
the whole seem to enjoy the opportunities accorded by
this curriculum.
The Caliver survey. A comprehensive survey was
made of fifteen Southern states by Ambrose Caliver in
1932.
2
The findings of this survey revealed that a total
of 618 four-year high schools reported.
Hive hundred and
2
Ambrose Caliver, "Secondary Education for Negroes,
National Survey of Secondary Education Bulletin, 1952.
No. 17, Monograph No. 7. Washington, D. C.: United States
Printing Office, 1932.
six of these were public and 112 were private schools*
Six hundred and forty-four other schools offered varying
amounts of secondary work.
Four hundred and forty-three
of these were rural and 201 were urban schools.
It was
of significance that although 67.4 per cent of the Negro
population of these states were rural, onl37- 39 per cent
of the four-year public high schools were available to
them.
Another important feature was the number of schools
reported to be accredited.
Of the 101,998 Negro boys and
girls attending public high schools in states included,
only a small percentage had access to an approved second­
ary school.
Only 244 of the public four-year schools were
reported as accredited by the State Department of Educa­
tion.
The implications of this fact are highly important
and far reaching.
Nearly 84 per cent of the 112 private
high schools listed were accredited.
There were 195 counties in these states with no
four-year high school facilities, representing a Negro
population of 1,671,501 and 197,242 persons of high-school
age.
This number was 20.5 per cent of the total Negro
population of high-school age in the fifteen states
studied.
In the fifteen states comprising this investigation,
230 counties were without high-school facilities for
colored people, 158,939 of whom were 15 to 19 years of
age.
These young people represent 16.5 per cent of all
Negroes between the ages of 15 and 19 in the Southern
states' represented.
The Negro population of the states under considera­
tion was 9,420,747, or 23.1 per cent of the total popula­
tion.
Sixty-seven and four-tenths per cent of this number
resided in rural sections and 15.1 per cent above 10 years
of age were illiterate, as compared with 2.6 per cent of
the white population in the same states.
Approximately
a tenth, or 1,067,921 of these colored persons, were of
high-school age, but only 9.5 per cent of these pupils were
in public high schools.
Five hundred and six public four-year high schools
were provided for these 1,000,000 Negroes.
The enrolment
in these schools at the time of the study was 101,998.
The number of persons of high-school age per highschool teacher ranged from 49 to 465 for Negroes, and from
38 to 117 for whites, the extent of the range for Negroes
being 426 per cent greater than.for whites.
Marked differ­
ences between the two races were also found in the expendi­
tures for teachers’ salaries.
The Lane survey. A survey of the various educational
5
Texas.
H. B. Lane, Status of Secondary Education in
1932. 97 pp.
institutions of secondary grade for Negroes in Texas was
made by H. B. Lane,
His study revealed how the educa­
tion of the Negro throughout the South has always followed
the same general trend as that of the whites but on a lower
plane.
Although Texas has given much attention to the
secondary education for Negro children in the cities, the
rural districts are pitifully neglected.
The term of the
school is short and the per capita outlay for Negro pupils
is low.
While the buildings and equipment in the cities
are modern in structure and thoroughly equipped, the
buildings in the rural sections are for the most part in­
adequate and unsanitary.
Summary of related literature.
The investigations
reviewed here have indicated the vast difference between
the rural high school and the city high schools for
4
Negroes,
The findings of the Galveston survey
indicated
that its high school plant was modern, well equipped, and
provided efficient educational advantages for Negro youth,
5
Caliver
in his findings pointed out that few rural high
schools were accredited in the fifteen Southern states
covered in his study and in some of the counties no high
3
H. B. Lane, Status of Secondary Education in
1932. 97 pp.
Texas.
4
5
University of Texas Bulletin, loc. cit.
Caliver, loc. cit.
schools were provided for Negroes.
Lane 6 made the state­
ment that every educational advantage had been provided
for the city schools but the rural schools were neglected.
These studies were made by the questionnaire* and investi­
gation methods eight or ten years ago, and significant
changes may have been made since that time.
C.
PROCEDURE AND ORGANIZATION OF THIS REPORT
The present study was an attempt to present the
status of Negro high schools in Leon County, Texas.
It
was a part of this study not only to present the efficiency
of the high schools but also to reveal the political,
social, and economic factors that contribute to their lack
of efficiency.
Data for this investigation were secured
from bulletins, records, the Texas State Department of
Education, city and county superintendents of Leon County,
and classroom teachers.
Both the questionnaire and library
investigation methods were used.
A discussion of the general
administration and background of the Negro high schools in
Leon County, Texas, is organized in Chapter Two.
Chapter
Three reveals briefly the curriculum and schedules of the
schools.
The housing condition including the size and
equipment of the various schools is presented in Chapter
Four.
In order to understand better the status of the
Lane, loc. cit.
Negro high schools in Leon County, a report of the training,
experience, salaries, and teacher load of the teaching
personnel has been presented in Chapter Five.
A summary
of the study, the significant findings, and suggested
recommendations for further improvement of Negro high
schools in Leon County, Texas, is given in the final
Chapter.
CHAPTER II
GENERAL ADMINISTRATION AND BACKGROUND OF THE NEGRO
HIGH SCHOOLS OF LEON COUNTY, TEXAS
In order to understand thoroughly the status of
Negro high schools of Leon County, Texas, it will be
necessary to discuss the general administration and bachground of these schools.
These phases of the problem are
presented in this chapter.
ORGANIZATION OF ADMINISTRATION
Probably the most important legislation relative
to Negro education was the act passed in May, 1895, and
amended in March, 1895, which stated that the House of
Texas provided that white and colored children shall not
be taught in the same schools, but impartial provision
shall be made for both races.
Three white trustees shall
in all cases be elected for the control and management of
the v\rhite schools of the district and three colored trus­
tees shall be elected for the control and management of the
schools for colored children.
The election for white and
colored trustees shall be held at the same time and place.
The apportionment of the white and colored schools of each
district shall be made by the county superintendent upon
receipt of the certificate issued by the Board of Educa­
tion for the State fund belonging to his county.
Within
11
thirty days after the apportionment was made by the County
Superintendent of Education the white and colored trustees
would, if possible, agree upon the division of the funds
of the district between the white and colored schools and
fix the terms for which the schools of the district shall
be maintained for the year.
Should the Board of Trustees
fail to agree upon a division of the funds of the district
or upon the length of term for which the schools of the
district should be maintained, they shall at once certify
their disagreement to the County Superintendent who shall
proceed to fix the school term of such district and shall
declare the division of the school funds of the district
between the white and colored schools therein, endeavoring,
as far as possible, to provide for the schools to have terms
of the same length.
But the law placing the management of
white schools in the hands of a white board and the manage­
ment of colored schools in the hands of a colored board
did not last long.
The Twenty-sixth Legislature amended
this law by an act approved March 15, 1899, and provided
for only three trustees to be elected in each district
which resulted in a board of white trustees for both white
and Negro schools.'*'
A legislation was enacted broadening the state’s
William Riley Davis, The Development and Present
Status of Negro Education in East Texas, Teachers’ College,
Columbia University, New York, 1934, p. 19.
12
responsibilities with reference to the diffusion of edu­
cation and enlightenment among the people of the state.
An act passed by the Twenty-ninth Legislature, April 15,
1905, that every child in the state of scholastic age
would be permitted to attend the free public schools and
all children, without regard to color, would be entitled
2
to the benefit of the public school fund.
Various laws were enacted.
The law of 1905 gave
any city or town, as an independent district, the ex­
clusive control over the schools within its limits and
extended local control.
In 1907 an advantage was extended
impowering trustees of any district to establish and
maintain free kindergartens.
The advantages of high
school education to rural children were provided by the
establishment, organization and control of public high
schools in common districts of Texas.
In 1913 the legis­
lature extended the scholastic age to include children
from seven to twenty-one years of age.
The Forty-first
Legislature has recently extended to include children
six years old.
And in 1915 a law was passed compelling
attendance of public school by children between the ages
of eight and fourteen.
2 Ibid., p. 20
Laws have been passed during this
13
time providing financial aid.
3
Another means of extending the advantages of the
public schools during this period was the legislation
with reference to consolidation, county unit and rural
school supervision.
The Thirty-sixth Legislature passed
an act July 19, 1919, providing for consolidation of one
common district with another or of common districts with
4
independent districts.
The County Board.
The County Board is obligated
to provide adequate and equal educational opportunities
for the scholastic population of the entire county.
County Boards generally consist of five members with the
authority to classify the schools of the county as ele­
mentary schools and of establishing and promoting high
schools at convenient and suitable places.
This Board
also has the authority to divide the county into school
districts, to locate high school districts when advisable
and to consider other problems relating to the conduct,
maintenance, and discipline of schools and their lengths
of term.^
^ Itid.» P • 21.
4 Xbid.. p. 22.
5
iL Report of the Adequacy of Texas Schools, Austin,
Texas, 1938, p. 3.
14
County Superintendent.
The Commissioners’ Court
of every county having a scholastic population of three
thousand or more shall at each general election provide
for the election of a county superintendent to serve for
a term of two years.
He is required by law to be a per­
son of educational attainments, good moral character, and
executive ability, and shall be the holder of a teacher’s
first-grade certificate, shall be an elective officer,
and shall receive a salary in proportion to the number
of scholastics in both the common and independent school
districts of the county.
This official acts as secretary
to the County Board and executes its policies.
His
duties are numerous and may be listed in part as follows:
the maintenance of financial and scholastic records of
the common school districts, approval of teachers’ con­
tracts, distribution of school blanks and textbooks to
the proper officials and teachers’ approval of trans­
fers of students from one school district to another,
and the preparation of such reports as are required of
him by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction,
This officer visits and supervises the schools under the
jurisdiction of the County Board,
In a number of the
counties of the state, special county supervisors are
employed to increase the efficiency of the rural schools.
The County Superintendent assists the school boards and
15
administrative officials of the districts under his su­
pervision in the preparation of budgets and frequently
r*
advises with regard to school policies.
City Superintendent.
Independent school districts
having a scholastic population of more than 500 are not
under the jurisdiction of the County Board.
Such districts
employ a superintendent to assist in the administration
of school affairs.
This Superintendent is responsible
to the Board for reports regarding the conditions of the
schools within the district and to the State Superintendent
of Public Instruction for such reports as may be required
by that officer.
Board of Trustees.
Each county usually contains
a number of common school districts under the supervi­
sion of the County Board of Trustees.
The‘number of such
districts varies from one to more than one hundred in
different counties.
In addition, each of these common
school districts has its own separate board of school
trustees consisting of three members in most cases; how­
ever, when a rural high school or a consolidated school
district has been established, the Board for such a dis­
trict is frequently composed of seven members.
6
Ibid., p . 4.
Such a
16
board has the power to manage and control the public
schools and school grounds, to determine the number of
schools and their locations in the district, to deter­
mine when the schools shall open and close, to employ
and dismiss teachers, and to supervise the schools in
the district. 7
Independent District Board of School Trustees.
Another administrative agency found in most counties is
the Independent District Board of School Trustees.
These
trustees are "vested with all the rights, powers, privi­
leges and duties conferred and imposed upon the trustees
and boards of trustees of independent school districts,
by the general laws of the State."
The Board may also
levy taxes and issue bonds if a majority of the quali­
fied voters give their consent.
It has the sole author­
ity to engage the teaching and administrative personnel
for the public schools within the district.
By a major­
ity vote any city may assume control of the public free
schools within its limits; however, the responsibility
of administration of such a district is vested in a board
of trustees with duties corresponding to duties of boards
in any other independent districts.
7
Ibid., p . 3.
17
Eleotion of Trustees. On the first Saturday in
April of each year, the qualified voters of each common
school district at a school district meeting for that
purpose shall elect three trustees for said district,
while-the qualified voters of the independent school
districts at a school district meeting for that purpose
shall elect seven trustees for said districts.
These
trustees shall enter upon the discharge of their duties
on the first of May next following.
No person, shall be a
trustee who cannot read and write the English language
intelligibly and read, comprehend and interpret the school
laws of Texas and who has not been a resident of that dis­
trict for six months prior to his election.
They shall
immediately organize by electing one of their number
president and one secretary.
Section 63, page 26, of the Public School Laws of
the State of Texas, 1935, contains a clause which grants
to the County Boards of Education the authority to con­
sider such problems as relate to the conduct, mainten­
ance, and discipline of schools, their lengths of term,
et cetera.
Other laws provide that independent and common
school district Boards of Trustees have like powers
delegated to them.
This dual delegation of authority
has apparently resulted in decentralization of power in
the public schools and has contributed to a lack of uni-
formity in administration of schools within counties.
o
Therefore, it is seen that the schools of this county
are under the joint jurisdiction of the County Board
of Education and the Boards of Education in the school
districts.
Such administrative programs as exist in
Leon County at present are not conducive to the most
efficient public school system for Negroes.
There is
little uniformity among the different boards, and prac­
tically no coordination of efforts which would provide
for the greatest amount of educational opportunities
for Negro children with the money available for the sup­
port of the schools.
BACKGROUND OF SCHOOLS
Equality of educational opportunity is a much
repeated phrase.
There is a possibility of this being
linked up with rfall men are created equal,” an expres­
sion that is hopeful and inspiring in meaning but is
regarded lightly.
We acknowledge that all men are not
created equal, mentally, or physically.
Environments
which encompass them cannot bring about an equality of
moral development.
before the law.
8
We insist that all men are equal
We insist, too, that all men have a
Ibid., p. 4.
19
right to life, to liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
We accept the philosophy that education is the great
leveler of mankind, and the indispensable handmaiden
of democracy.
Furthermore we cling to the ideal that
every boy and girl should be given the opportunity to
acquire as much educational training as he or she de­
sires; that such training should be along the line most
likely to make it possible for the one pursuing such
learning to find security and contentment among his fel­
lows .
Under this democratic way of life which the Ameri­
cans have chosen for themselves, and under the ideals
and promises of the democratic epic- and its prevailing
social philosophy, the schools attempt to find a v/ay
to make Leon County a better and happier society in which
for
the Negroes to live and make a living.
Leon County is located in
the eastern
part of Texas.
The county is bounded on the north by Limestone and Free­
stone Counties, on the east by Houston and Anderson
Counties, on the west by Robertson County, and on the
south by Madison County.
The east line follows the
meanderings of the Trinity River and the west line fol­
lows the meanderings of the Narasota River.
Leon County, with an area
is located in the timber regions
of 1,101 squaremiles,
and has for
itschief
industries agriculture, lumbering, cattle-raising, and
light production of oil and gas.
The climate ranges
from extremely cold winters to very dry, hot summers,
and an abundance of rain in spring, fall, and winter.
The general topography of the country including streams
and other natural barriers and soil conditions tend to
make transportation very difficult, if possible at all,
during the rainy seasons.
However, there are two paved
highways in the county.
There are sixteen small towns in the county but
the majority of the people seem to be in the rural dis­
tricts.
The entire population is 22,100, of which 10,890
are native whites, 31 foreign born whites, 8,362 Negroes,
and 615 Mexicans.
There are 16,817 on farms and 4,081
are non-farm rural population. Of the 4,786 families,
9
1,940 are home owners.
Although the depression had a
tendency to cause some of the people to seek employment
in the larger cities, the scholastic population of the
independent and common school districts taken as a whole
has been relatively stable.
There has been no radical
increase or decrease at any interval.
9
Texas Almanac, E. J. Storm Printing Co., Dallas,
Texas, p. 101.
ai
Number.
The rural industries stimulated the es­
tablishment of thirty-nine elementary schools for Negroes.
During the past twenty years high, school departments have
been added gradually to the elementary schools to the ex­
tent that there are twelve schools classed as high schools
in the county.
There are eight two-year high schools,
two three-year high schools, and two four-year high schools.
There are five schools that offer one year of high school
work, but these are one-teacher schools and such schools
are classed as elementary schools.
Size.
The size of the school is determined by the
number of teachers and pupils in them.
There are seven
two-teacher schools, two three-teacher schools, one fourteacher school, one six-teacher school, and one nine-teacher
school.
The number of pupils enrolled ranges from 66 to
526.
Location.
The locality has lots to do with the
progress of schools.
Five of the high schools are located
in independent districts, generally in urban areas.
Three
of these high schools have developed., since the introduction
of paved highways near which they are situated.
Seven of
these high schools are located in common school districts
in urban areas.
These schools, which include the largest
high school in the county, are situated where roads become
22
impossible during rainy weather and the majority of these
schools are not very progressive.
However, they are located
in thickly settled communities and seem necessary.
SUMMARY
The legal basis upon which the schools of a city are
operated is often one of the most important explorations of
their successes or failures.
Who holds the authority, and
who bears the responsibility, are important questions.
This
aspect of the problem was presented by answering definite
questions as: Where does authority for schools originate?
To whom, to how large a group, and for how long is this
authority delegated?
How do those to whom authority is
delegated obtain office?
these persons?
What specific powers are granted
Under what specific limitations must they
organize and operate schools?
What authority in turn do they
delegate to others?
This densely populated agricultural county has twelve
high schools operating in the buildings with the elementary
departments.
The majority of these schools are two-year
high schools located in the common school districts of rural
areas.
CHAPTER III
CURRICULUM AND SCHEDULE OE NEGRO HIGH SCHOOLS IN
LEON COUNTY, TEXAS '
The criteria for judging a school system may be
indicated by the curriculum offered to its pupils.
There­
fore, this chapter makes a report on the curriculum and
schedule of Negro high schools in Leon County, Texas.
The
data were taken from classroom teachers, city and county
superintendents of Leon County, Texas, the State Depart­
ment of Education, Austin, and other recognized authori­
ties.
Curriculum of study.
The curriculum of the Negro
high schools of Leon County, Texas, has broadened greatly
since 1930.
It offers generally- a standardized plan of
study prescribed by the state of Texas.
English, algebra,
history, literature, general science, geometry, biology,
and general agriculture are the principal subjects.
Courses in manual training, home economics, public school
music, and art, or other vocational courses are not pro­
vided. . Home economics and vocational agriculture are
offered in only one high school in the county.
A standard academic curriculum.^
^ Texas Public Schools, Standards and Activities of
the Division of Supervision, Vol. XIV, No. 6 (Austin: State
Department, 1937-38), p . 42.
9th
English
8 th
English
Ancient History
General Science
Mathematics
Algebra I
Modern History
Biology
Algebra II
11th
10th
English
American History
*Spanish I
Plane Geometry
English
Civics (-J-)
Economics (-§■)
*Spanish II
Solid Geometry (i|)
Advanced Arithmetic (-J-)
Spanish is not offered in the Negro high schools in
Leon County; agriculture or some other academic course is
offered.
Vocational courses are offered in accredited
schools but there is only one accredited high school for
Negroes in the county.
The non-accredited high schools
offer natural science instead of home making, and vocational
subjects offered in the accredited schools.
Until the
teaching force in a high school numbers five or more it is
not possible to offer many electives.
In the meantime
minimum.class enrolment in elective courses is ten.
For such
reasons no electives are offered in the Negro high schools
of Leon County.
Units of work required for graduation.
Four-year
accredited high schools require not more than sixteen
academic units for graduation, and two-year high schools
25
not less than eight nor more than ten*
A unit of work re­
presents a subject pursued for a period of not fewer than
thirty-six weeks, five recitations per week*
Four-year
high schools having less than $1 ,000,000 taxable valuation
and fewer than 100 pupils, are restricted to a maximum
of eighteen credits the following of which are required:
English . . . .
American History
A l g e b r a ........
Plane Geometry
*4
1
1
.1
Natural Science or
Homemaking or another
vocational subject . . 1 2
C i v i c s ............. ^
Authorities have generally agreed that the improve­
ment of the curriculum is the most urgent and important
problem that confronts the secondary school.
Although the
results may not seem to have worked very revolutionary
changes in the program of secondary schools, generally
there has been during the past few years a vast amount of
labor expended in the development and application of tech­
niques for the development of curricula.
The new curriculum has been introduced into very
few of these schools because the teachers need help in
interpreting it and in putting it into effect.
The time
has passed when education is to be handed dovm by pages
from books or by word of mouth.
If pupils are to be taught
how to live and ho?/ to make a living, they must have leader
ship which knows life, and reveals it to them.
It is not
26
enough for teachers to master the technique of teaching.
They must know what to teach and how to establish the
proper contact between the learner and the thing to be
learned.
The Committee of Ten, under the leadership of Presi­
dent Eliot, prepared a far reaching reorganization of the
high school program of studies many years ago.
The ear­
lier projects were for the most part carried on by recog­
nized authorities in the conventional fields of academic
instruction or training, depending, chiefly upon their own
subjective judgment.
The more recent work has been largely
done by persons not so much specialists in academic sub­
ject matter as specialists in techniques of curriculum
construction as such, and by school teachers who have
tried as best they could to make some use of the tech­
niques recommended by the technical specialists and of the
findings which the latter have produced
The secondary school urgently needs to develop cur­
ricula so organized as to' represent with breadth and bal­
ance the cultural areas with which the citizen must have
intelligent concern, and be administered as to make these '
H. G-. Espy, The Public Secondary School (New York:
Houghton Mifflin Co., 1939], PP. 448-9.
27
areas of insight the fruitful and satisfying possession of
all youth.
The school needs not only to establish curricu­
la in which are reflected the vital concerns of the world
today, but also to introduce the varied means, the instruc­
tional materials, facilities, and practices, whereby all
young people may find these curricula meaningful and inter­
esting.
There is need for the development of pupilsT
aptitude for technical skill and proficiency of various
sorts.2
Social and economic forces outside the schools have
radically altered and are continuing to alter the world
for which the Negroes are being educated.
School programs
Ysrhich "worked” a few years ago in the sense that boys and
girls who had been exposed to these programs adjusted
themselves fairly readily to out-of-school conditions, no
longer work in anything like the same degree.
If present-
day secondary schools are to make a substantial contribution
to the welfare of the young people whom they serve, they
cannot be content either with grudging concessions to
external forces, or with being lured this way and that or
with employing a blind trial-and-error basis for every
2
Ibid., p. 477.
28
attractive proposal for change. 3
It is a fact that because of distance and also for
other reasons many young people of Leon County have little
or no chance to attend high school.
Our next big problem
in high school administration is to so adjust subject matter
as to modify methods of teaching and to organize schools so
that every boy and girl can have instruction suited to his
capacities, interests, and probable future vocational desti­
nation.
The curriculum for Negroes in Leon County, Texas, is
traditional and academic.
All of the courses offered in the
schools for whites are not offered in the schools for Negroes.
The boohs are usually used before being placed in the schools
for Negroes.
However, the success of a dynamic curriculum
depends upon the guidance of a dynamic teacher.
The domi­
nant place which the teacher occupies in the classroom
learning situation makes it essential that a program for
curriculum revision concern itself with the training and
selection of teachers.
The standards of today demand that courses of study
be derived from objectives which include both ideals and
activities, that usefulness should be frankly accepted as
3 Ibid.» P. 478
29
the aim rather than comprehensive knowledge, and that no
fictitious emphasis should he placed upon the value of for­
mal discipline.^
All values are in the last analysis deter­
mined by the effect they have upon desires and needs.
The
idea that education must modify conduct has enlarged the
range of the material of the curriculum.
The school has
been chiefly concerned with a statement of methods and only
incidentally with putting methods together.
5
Education is primarily for adult life, not for child
life.
Its fundamental responsibility is to prepare for the
fifty years of adulthood rather than the fifteen years of
childhood and youth.
The first task is to discover the
activities which ought to make up the lives of men and
women, and with these the abilities and personal qualities
necessary for proper performance.^
With an individual, education is good when it helps
him to gain a mastery of his powers and to develop them.
The development of a child’s powers takes place best when
4 W. W. Charters, Curriculum Construction (Dallas,
/
Texas: The Macmillan Company, 1923), p. 4.
5
ft
. PP. 76-77.
Franklin Bobbitt, How to Make <a Curriculum (Cam­
bridge: The Riverside Press, 1924), p. 8 .
30
the school program is designed with reference to his in­
terests and capacities.
With society education is good when it helps solve
society’s problems.
Its problems are physical, social,
political, and economical, each in a wide sense.
Communi­
ties need leaders to point the way, for communities get out
of date quickly when they guess wrong as to what is going
on in the world.
Thus, the schools are concerned with pub­
lic affairs with the building of the future, and this
relationship of education to life must be reflected in the
school’s program.
Education is bad when it ignores these concepts.
Lessons, courses of study, and school programs can get out
of date because they operate in terms of outworn psychology
and sociology of learning and because they ignore the fact of
change in the nature of the problem of present-day society
and its development.
The educational program must provide for all who are
eligible to receive it.
the community.
It must be fitted to the needs of
A concern of education in our country is to
see to it that these needs of the individual and of society
are harmonized by a process of adjustment not by crushing
one or the other.
This leads to the proposition that the
31
program should look to the task of stabilizing society.
The curriculum must reflect definitely the needs
and possibilities of its social environment.
a dynamic assimilative process.
Learning is
The curriculum must be
geared up to the need, the interests, and the purposeful
activities of the learner.
The curriculum must be linked
more closely with needs and problems found in the learner’s
immediate physical and social environment.
The teaching of
subjects embalmed in tradition must yield to the teaching
of children in a living atmosphere.
There is a need for curriculum revision in Leon
County.
The first need for curriculum revision is due to
the fact that modern social life has been changing much more
rapidly than the curriculum, theoretically at least, attempts
to reflect social changes.
The second need for curriculum
revision is due to the change in the character of the pupils
now going to school.
The third need for curriculum revision
is due to the fact that the curriculum has not kept pace with
practices which scientific experimentations have shovm to be
most fruitful in bringing about desired outcomes.
The curriculum should provide education experiences
adopted to the fundamental needs of each child of whatever
race, type, or mental aptitude.
Education should attempt to
develop the potentialities of each individual in harmony with
32
his own "best interests.
This does not mean that what is best
for all will be subordinated for the benefit of one.
With
due regard to individual differences in native capacity,
previous experience and social outlook, the curriculum must
provide the fullest measure that proves best for every'
child.
The program for curriculum making begins with a sur­
vey of educational needs.
The survey leads by way of
observation, analysis, and interpretation of life to the
discovery of educational values.
When these values are
integrated with subject matter and pupil activities, they
form the basis for educational objectives.
Changes in the
curriculum must be tempered to the communities in which
they are offered.
A pupil’s failure to learn says Davis may be attri­
buted to the apparent unimportance of the matter to be
learned, the lack of motivation may be the lack of directed
study and the lack of persistence in the face of difficulty.
He states further that pupils need training for individual
and social life during and after, school days.
To meet
educational objectives this training must comprise these
major types of activities: language, health, citizenship,
general social spare time, mental religious, parental, nonvoeational, practical, and vocational.
There are attempts
33
in certain schools to correlate the work of different de­
partments and to make special provisions for individual
differences among pupils.
Curriculum revision. For the' past few 'years, cer­
tain countries have been definitely training boys and
girls for citizenship under the direct and absolute rule
of dictators.
If countries organized on a democratic
basis are to survive in competition with the totalitarian
states, they must of necessity develop dynamic, welleducated citizens of a democracy.
It is an axiom that
a democratic country is no stronger than the average level
of ability of its citizens.
It becomes necessary, there­
fore, for extreme efforts to be made to place the citizen­
ship of this country on as high a plane as possible.
Until recently, no agency had taken upon itself
the task of formulating a program of education which would
meet the needs of the youth of Texas.
Teachers were gen­
erally teaching textbooks in various "subjects” and testing
the children to see whether or not they had memorized the
contents of the books.
According to such a plan even a
partial realization of the democratic ideal would be more
or less accidental if accomplished at all.
It was not,
therefore, a great deal surprising to find the lack of in-
34
terest in affairs vital to the interest of the various com­
munities of the State.
Such general social apathy could
not be allowed to continue.
People everywhere were be­
ginning to realize the inadequacy of such a public school
program.
At a meeting of the Texas State Teachers Associa­
tion, November, 1932, a resolution was passed calling upon
the State Board of Education and the State Superintendent
of Public Instruction to sponsor a movement for the im­
provement of the public school program and for the coordi7
nation of all educational agencies.
Not only has the curriculum revision movement pro­
duced one of the most practical and instructional programs
so far known, but it has been largely responsible for the
improvement of instruction in other ways.
The attendance
of Negro teachers in summer schools has been greatly in­
creased; standards for entrance into the teaching pro­
fession have been raised; colleges and universities have
revised their program for teacher training; school
libraries have been greatly improved and enlarged; and the
general public has been awakened to the accomplishments and
needs of the public schools as never before.
Fifth Biennial Report of the State Board of Education
1936-1938, Austin, Texas, December 30, 1938, pp. 46-47.
35
Reorganization* During the past biennium the State
Board of Education of Texas has interested itself in the
printing of a statewide school survey financed by the
Works Progress Administration.
The work was begun in July,
1936, and the printed report came from the Press in De­
cember, 1938.
Although the report which contains pertinent
data concerning every school district in the state is made
on the basis of information secured for the school yea.rs
1934-35 and 1935-36, the suggestions for reorganization
of administration units, except in a few instances, will
probably hold at the present date.
The Board agrees in
principle with the standards included in the report and
desires county boards of education and other officials to
study conditions of the schools as presented with a view to
the betterment of the educational system.
8
In accordance with the changing conception of edu­
cation and in conformity with the general movement, a
reorganization of the Negro high schools in Leon County was
9
set forth in the Report of the 'Adequacy of Texas Schools.
This reorganization is to bring about a consolidation of
8
Ibid., p. 21.
g
A Report of the Adequacy of Texas Schools, Austin,
Texas, 1934.
36
the Negro high schools and elementary schools as indicated
on Map I, page 37, into eight accredited high schools as
indicated on Map II, page 38.
The secondary education of the child attending the
rural high school is in most circumstances circumscribed
by an untrained and over burdened teaching staff; it is
limited to a narrow and maladjusted program of educational
activities; and it is handicapped by the meagerness or the
entire absence of educational equipment.
Although high
school training is recognized every where as highly
desirable for effective citizenship and successful living,
thousands of rural children have ina.dequate secondary
schools or none at all.
This condition is an educational
problem of the greatest importance.
Small schools must necessarily limit their curriculum
offerings because the three '‘R ’s” and other content sub­
jects require all the teaching time.
This no doubt helps
to account for the criticism often made that the small
school is still highly traditional, too formal, and un­
related to the life of the child.
If this criticism should
E. N. Farris, "The Curriculum of the Rural Four Year
High Schools," National Society for the Study of Education,
Thirteenth Yearbook, [Bloomington, Illinois: Public School
Publishing Company, 1931), p. 141.
37
SC H O O L. D IS T R IC T M A P O F L E O N C O U N T Y
EJ
tCOAf COUNTY
By-
~
—
SYMBOLS
P a v e d or Ad W e a th e r
AH O t h e r
C o u n ty
U o uds
R oads
B o u n d a ry
3 tC fte B o u n d a r y
Railroads
Lndcpcnde n t
School P /s t r ic t
Common School D/s t n e t
C o u n ty l in e
School P /s t r /c t
A
B u tId m g s
c a r r y in g
Only
e le m e n t a r y
□
B u ild in g s
e a rry tn y
o n ly
h ig h
l^M
Q u /ld /n g s
F ig u r e
F ig u r e
V
MAP I
insic/c
c a r r y in g *
sch o o l
g ra d e s
g ra d e s
a // g ra d e s
of s y m b o l in d ic a te s n u m b e r
’t e a c h e r s
i m m e d ia t e l y b e lo w sym bol in dicate s g r a d e s
im m e d ia te ly
to r i g h t
of s y m b o l i n d i c a t e s
n e g ro
ta u g h t.
school
38
P R O P O S E D R E O R G A N IZ A T IO N M A P O F L E O N C O U N T Y
MAP o r
iro n counrr
S y m b o l s
~
P aved or A ll W e a t h e r
A ll
O th e r
A
Roads
.I
C o u n ty
S ta te
B u ild in g s
c a rry m y
o n ly e /e m e n ta ry
g ra d es .
1B u ild in g s
c a r r y in g
o n ly h ig h s c h o o l
g ra d e s
3 u i/d m g s
c <? rry m j
a // g r a d e s .
R oads
B o u n d ry
B o u n d ry
R a ilr o a d s
P ro p o s e d
A tte n d a n c e
A re a
P ro p o s e d
A d m in is t r a t iv e
t/m t
f/g u r e
/s is /d e o f s y m b o ! m d / c a t e s
f/g u r e
i m m e d ia t e ly b e J o w
ft
MAP II
im n je d ia t e /y to r i g h t
num ber
s y m b o l in d ic a t e s
te a c h e rs
g ra d e s
o f s y m b o l in d ic a t e s
ta u g h t
n e g ro
s c h o o f.
39
be found applicable in some degree to all schools, and
not to small rural schools only, it is evident that these
conditions can more readily be overcome in the'larger
i
11
schools.
School schedule.
The school schedules in the small
high schools for Negroes do little more than meet the
legal requirements as to length.
Only one high school in
the county has a term of nine months in length; while five
have eight months; one, seven and a half months; and five,
seven months.
Schedules are often cut a month shorter
than agreed upon prior to the beginning of the term which
is attributed to the exhaustion of funds.
The notices
are served one or two weeks before the time specified for
closing and sometimes without any preliminary notice at
all.
The better prepared teachers refuse to work in such
systems, for that reason many inferior types of teachers
are employed.
The high school teachers in an attempt to
teach all of the courses offered in the high school depart­
ment and often some of the elementary courses, have an.
average of twenty minutes for class periods.
This is one
^ Report of the Adequacy of Texas Schools, op. cit,,
p. 92.
40
of the chief causes for a lack of achievement in the small
high school.
Chapter summary.
The curriculum of the Negro high
schools is limited in variety of courses.
courses are offered.
Straight academic
While they are basic for college
entrance, one could hardly say such a curriculum is ad­
visable in Leon County as most of the scholastics are in
the rural districts and very few go away to college.
The
curriculum has broadened greatly, however, since 1930, but
there is still a lack of vocational courses.
The school schedule, varying from six to nine months,
is a great handicap to the pupils as well as to the
teachers, and may be considered one of the chief causes for
inefficiency and lack of accomplishment in the small high
schools.
CHAPTER IY
HOUSING AND EQUIPMENT FOR NEGRO HIGH SCHOOLS IN
LEON COUNTY, TEXAS
A report of the Housing and equipment for Negro
high schools in Leon County, Texas, and how they are
fitted to the character of the instruction of the staff
will be made in this chapter.
Data y/ere secured by
interviews and visits.
Housing.
School buildings have forced educational
programs into channels not always to the liking of the
principals and teachers.
expansion.
Plans should alloy/ for future
Usually the school is built by builders rather
than educators, people who know hoy/ to plan and not how
to teach.
The educational service in school is needed
instead of just architectural service.
The school buildings for Negroes in Leon County,
Texas, are simple and unpretentious, as compiled in Table
I on the next page.
They lack adornment not because of
plans for future expansion, however, but for economic,
social, and political reasons.
In the high schools were
found only classrooms, no auditoriums, cloakrooms, science
rooms, home economic rooms, or libraries.
It is not only
TABLE I
HOUSING OF HIGH SCHOOLS 1940-1941
INDEPENDENT AND COMMON SCHOOL DISTRICTS
Housing
Built
Condition
according
of
Building
to
Need
re­
State Other
pair Good plans plans
Building
Combi­
to be
Outside
nation abandoned
doors
Elem.and For con- Open Opei
in­
Sr.high solida- outside
Frame school
tion
v/ard
Material
used
Brick
Ind. District
3
3
6
6
6
Common District
3
1
4
4
4
Total
6
4
10
10
10
1
6
4
1
10
co
43
impossible but unjustifiable to provide in smaller high
schools all the variety of accommodations of space and
equipment that are found in the larger institutions, but
the school buildings in Leon County are usually too small
and overcrowded.
Means for proper ventilation are not
provided, although air passages that were intended as such
are available.
With these existing conditions it can
readily be seen that the schools have no prerequisite
rooms for health education, to say nothing of a specially ■
arranged health education program.
Most of the Negro high
schools make no provisions whatever for health and health
education, although health and physical education are
recognized parts of the curriculum offerings approved by
the state of Texas.
Conditions. School buildings represent large
capital expenditures and many school systems have high
schools that cost many thousand dollars to construct.
In
these buildings every conceivable comfort and mechanical
device known that will contribute to the educational wel­
fare of the young people are introduced.
In some schools
the laboratories, the auditorium, the gymnasium, and the
swimming pools are as beautifully appointed and equipped
as any one may find in colleges, universities, or other
44
private or public institutions.
Unfortunately, the Negro
school buildings in Leon County are cheaply constructed,
poorly equipped, and serve as handicaps to the teachers
working in them, inasmuch as building facilities often
hinder or assist in the organization of the teacher’s
work.
When well constructed the school-house has an aver­
age of approximately seventy-five years in which it may
serve the community.
This is a very long time when one
considers the changes in school organization that may be
desired but cannot be made because the school house is
such a static thing.
It is for this reason that the pattern
of school organization in the states is so varied.
The
school buildings, their equipment, and their general
appearance as well as their entire interior decoration
should personify the goals set for secondary education.
Some dilapidated halls are used for school purposes,
while many of the school buildings proper need repair and
remodeling.
The lighting system is poor.
Windows are not
confined to the left side, and no artificial light is
provided for cases of emergency.
One school is of slightly
modern structure, having a gymnasium-auditorium, home
economic department, a library, and a building for agricul­
ture.
The most modern building to be constructed for
45
Negroes is now under way.
It is to have six classrooms,
principal’s office, gymnasium with sewage connection,
running water, electric lights, and provision for gas heat.
While about forty per cent of the buildings are well con­
structed, they are not modern.
It is reasonable to assume that school buildings be
planned and constructed to prevent fire hazards, as they
should be built to safeguard the lives and health of
children.
Buildings should be conveniently located and
built to meet the requirements of modern educational needs.
The independent school districts, in general, have been
more successful at securing adequate school buildings than
have the common school districts.
School buildings have a profound effect upon the
success of an educational program and upon equalizing
educational opportunities.
An attractive and well-equipped
building lends inspiration to teachers and pupils and pro­
vides environment for children to grow not only mentally
and physically but also socially and spiritually.
needs to become more school conscious.
Texas
Texas school
buildings should be attractive structures and thereby become
A Report of the Adequacy of Texas Schools. Austin,
Texas, 1938, p. 76.
46
real community assets.
Texas schools in general do not
afford suitable housing for real living for children while
the educative processes are being advanced. 2
The median age of school buildings for colored
scholastics was 13.6 years.
It may be inferred that the
school buildings in Texas are fairly recent in years and
there appears to be a growing movement for structures more
3
adequate in meeting present needs.
Most of the Negro
high schools are inadequately provided with equipment and
facilities to maintain and promote health.
As a rule the
Negro high school is greatly inferior with respect to housing
and equipment to the white high school in the same com­
munity.
Distribution.
The Negro high schools are distri­
buted over the country according to the size and organiza­
tion of the communities, hence seven of them are in the
densely settled rural areas that are difficult to reach
in bad weather.
There are five located in the urban dis­
tricts easily reached by being near paved highways.
A
great source of wealth and power is going to waste in the
rbld., p. 77.
Ibid., p. 78.
47
thousands of Negro youth of high school age who are not in
school because of the absence of facilities and inadequate
4
educational advantages.
Consolidation.
The constitution of Texas stipu­
lates that there be "support and maintenance of an effi­
cient system of public free schools.”
The educational
objective in mind was a school to meet the immediate educa­
tional needs, and the district school within walking dis­
tance became the unit of school administration and support.
Thus, Texas developed a multiplicity of small school dis­
tricts and with it many small elementary school buildings.
However, rapid increase in wealth and growth in urban
centers have developed a well-defined school system with
three types of schools: namely, the rural school, the
smaller urban school, and the larger city school.
Lack of
wealth limited many rural communities to an elementary
school and these communities have subsequently sought the
services of other districts for high school purposes.
This
inadequate educational advantage has been duly recognized
by the Texas Legislature as is manifested through laws
providing for consolidation of school districts, granting of
transportation aid and high school tuition, and giving of
4
Ambrose Caliver, "Secondary Education for Negroes,"
National Survey of Secondary Education Bulletin, 1952.
No. 17, Monograph No. 7. Washington, D. C.: United States
Printing Office, 1952, pp. 111-21.
48
rural and equalization aid.
The one-room, one-teacher
schools have been outgrown as educational institutions,
and many are operated at economic and social loss.
Texas
can advance a recreational, educational, and cultural pro'gram for the children of the state through more extensive
consolidation of school districts, on the building of
larger administrative units.
A modern school program must provide school build­
ings for the elementary schools, as well as for the high
schools, with auditoriums, libraries, gymnasiums or play
rooms, and special rooms needed for curriculum expansion.
It is certainly true that without adequate special rooms
for curriculum expansion, without these and with only a
makeshift excuse for an art room, a library, or a music room,
it becomes impossible to offer children the best educational
opportunities.
There are for Negroes in Leon County, twelve small
high schools and forty elementary schools which means that
a consolidation in most of the districts would be to a
great advantage.
The largest schools among the small high
schools for Negroes in the County are consolidations of
two or more smaller district schools.
There are four such
5
^ ftQPQP'fc of the Adequacy of Texas Schools, Austin,
Texas, 1938, p. 74.
schools. A consolidation of the small high schools would
fill up the classes.
There would be access to a much
richer curriculum, more competent teachers, better equip­
ment, and greater provision for broader education.
As one
goes from the large to the small secondary schools,
specialization becomes less and less possible.
Practices
found very effective in the large schools may not be applied
satisfactorily in smaller institutions.
This is an age of
specialization and should be exemplified in the Negro class­
rooms in Leon County and could be made possible by con­
solidation.
However, the idea of consolidation has been
advocated, but in some districts the Negro citizens do not
clearly understand the merits involved and contend for the
small neighborhood school.
Equipment. Although it has been asserted that a
log with a famous teacher on one end and an apt pupil on
the other constitutes an excellent institution of learning,
the present-day pupils of school are convinced that even a
Mark Hopkins could produce better results in a well equipped
modern building than in the average nineteenth-century
school house.
It will be noted that the school buildings in Leon
County are predominantly frame structure consisting of
50
two to seven rooms.
Ninety-two per cent of the Negro high
school buildings lack library and laboratory equipment or
physical education programs, as shown in Table II, page
51.
If the school building is to be occupied by a
miniature society, the building itself must contribute to
the organic relation which exists between departments.
Certain subjects such as science, household arts, indus­
trial and mechanical arts, fine arts, commercial subjects,
music, and health are recognized as requiring specialized
classrooms to be effective.
To offer science without a
laboratory shows willingness to waste the communityTs re­
sources.
For that reason courses are not taught efficiently
and wholesome information that should be offered the pupils
is denied them.
No teacher can do justice to courses without
the necessary equipment.
However, the Negro schools
frequently use discarded materials and equipment from the
white schools.
Even with this procedure, the best results
are not obtained.
Long benches were commonly used; in a few instances
double desks were found.
used single desks.
Eight per cent of the schools
Sixty-three per cent of the schools
had teachersT desks and chairs, the others had improvised
makeshifts for this equipment.
The heaters in the rooms
were too small to heat the room adequately, and only two
high schools used.the large jacketed heaters.
TABLE II
EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES OF THE HIGH SCHOOLS 1940-41
INDEPENDENT AND COMMON DISTRICTS
Buildings
Seats
Non­
adjustLaboratory
able
equipArm
Library
ment
chairs desks
1
Ind. Districts
Common Districts
1
Total
1
1
Heating
Facilities
Water
Supply
Stove
Jack­
eted
stoves
Mains
Wells
5
5
1
1
5
3
3
1
8
8
2
4
1
9
01
H
52
Summary.
This chapter reveals that the housing
and equipment of the Negro high schools in Leon County
are far helow the housing and equipment for white high
schools in the same communities.
The buildings are frame
structure and are too small to carry forward a constructive
program.
The twelve small high schools for Negroes that are
distributed over Leon County give evidence of a need for
consolidating many of the schools.
Although four of the
high schools are consolidated units, those are not
enough*
There should be more taking advantage of the pro­
vision made by the Texas State Department of Education to
improve educational advantages.
In connection with con­
solidated districts, special rooms could be added to help
facilitate the courses offered.
As a matter of fact,
other courses should be offered as well as the necessary
equipment.
CHAPTER V
TEACHING- PERSONNEL OF THE NEGRO HIGH SCHOOLS
OF LEON COUNTY, TEXAS
To Help ascertain to what extent the educational
system for Negroes in Leon County, Texas, is actually
meeting the present social, moral, economic, and political
crisis, the teaching personnel of the County is revealed
in this chapter.
Data for such sources of information were
taken from questionnaires, a copy of vfhich will he found
in the Appendix at the end of this study.
Teaching personnel. An important index to the effi­
ciency of a school system is the teacher personnel.
There
is no more important problem in the administration of a
school system than that of developing and maintaining a
good staff.
To do this requires continuous study of staff
policies, of the administration of these policies, of
conditions under which teachers work and of the results of
instruction.
A good staff is not merely a collection of
well trained and high purposed individuals; it requires
also a careful organization of the workers.
Rural schools
in Leon County have been taught in the past very largely
by persons unable or unwilling to secure training
sufficient to meet the requirements of towns and cities
54
and by the left-overs from teacher training institutions
that were unable to secure the more attractive positions.
Training. Professional training is brought about
primarily by the fact that the great majority of beginning
teachers are inadequately trained for the positions which’
they occupy.
Unfortunately the great mass of teachers
have had no more than a minimum of professional training,
while even in the best of teacher training institutions
very few prospective teachers know in advance and are
able to prepare for the specific positions they eventually
come to occupy.
Teacher training during service is still
a necessity owing to constant modifications of the cur­
riculum, new discoveries in methodology, and changes in
the student body which occur with the passing years.
Thus the majority of teachers need constant professional
training.
By considering the state as a whole, the median
professional training of the colored teachers for the
common school districts was at the two-year college level,
and for the independent school districts at the three-year
level.
The professional training of the colored teachers
in the independent school districts was generally superior
to that of the teachers in the common school districts.
It is probable that such factors as longer school terms,
more adequate school facilities, and better remuneration
55
for teachers account for the better trained teacher per­
sonnel in the independent districts.
The Negro teachers in Leon County have improved
greatly within the past five years, largely as a result
of the demand of the County Superintendent that all
teachers without the Bachelor’s degree attend summer
school.
This and other demands were instigated by the
Texas State Department of Education.
As a result 28.5 per
cent of the high school teachers are doing graduate work
in mixed schools, 78.5 per cent have Bachelor’s degrees,
21.4 per cent have done three years of college work, and
9 per cent have done one year of college work.
A com­
pilation of teacher training is presented in Table III
page 56.
Legislative attempts at certification reformed
during this period indicate the interest manifested in
securing a more proficient type of instruction in the
schools of the state.
In 1933 all third grade County cer­
tificates were discontinued.
In 1921 a certificate law
provided that in order to secure a permanent certificate
of any sort, or special certificates, or to teach in any
Report of the Adequacy of Texas Schools, Austin,
Texas, 1938, p. 33.
TABLE III
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF TEACHER PERSONNEL, 1940-1941
INDEPENDENT AND COMMON DISTRICTS
Graduate
work
Teachers
Bachelor
3
Years
Independent Districts
2
4
2
Common Districts
2
7
1
Total
4
11
3
College credit
2
Years
1
Year
;\
Ol
a
57
second or first class high school, a person must have
attended college or normal school a period varying from
one year for elementary certificates and two years for
special and high school certificates.
Experience. A prerequisite to teacher certification
is experience.
This is gained by actual teaching done
usually in the rural or small village or by practice teach­
ing in a teacher training school under the direction and
supervision of supervisors in large school systems.
Approximately 14.2 per cent of the colored teachers of
Leon County were reported as serving the third year; 14.2
per cent, the fourth year; 35.7 per cent the fourth year;
none were in the interval 6-10 years; and 35.7 per cent in
the interval 11-20 years.
In Table IV page 58 is found the
distribution of teachers according to their experience.
Tenure.
Tenure depends upon several factors; namely,
conditions in the community, status of the school system,
and corresponding chances for professional advancement,
and salary scale.
The annual turnover as a rule is much
higher in the common than in the independent school dis­
tricts.
Seven per cent of the Negro teachers of Leon County
V
as a whole were reported as serving the first year; 14 per
cent were serving the second year; 7 per cent were serving
TABLE IV
EXPERIENCE OF TEACHER'PERSONNEL, 1940-1941
INDEPENDENT AND COMMON SCHOOL DISTRICTS
Teachers
1
Year
Experience (Including Present Year)
2
3
4
5
6-10
Years
Years
Years
Years
Years
Independent District
1
Common District
1
Total
2
3
2
2
11-20
Years
5
2
5
5
Cl
00
59
the third year which was also true of the fourth year;
while 28*5 per cent were serving in the interval 6-10
years; and 35.7 per cent vsrere serving in the interval
11-20 years.
Table V page 60 shows data on tenure, teacher
load and average salaries.
Teacher loads. A factor contributing to a lack of
achievement in the small high school is the heavy teacher
load.
Some of the factors making for a heavy load are
the following: a number of variables may be set up as
hypothetical factors among them not only the number of
class periods and the number of pupils in each class but
also the mode of presentation and the number of years of
experience of the teacher either in the high school
teaching or in the specific subject or subject group
represented.
The problem of a wide spread of instructional
responsibilities over a variety of subjects is also a common
one*
It has been seen to exist even in the high schools
with large staffs.
The typical Negro high school teacher in Leon
County gives instruction in several subject fields.
The
teachers have an average of 26 pupils and instruct an
average of 13.8 classes per day at the average rate of 27
minutes per class period.
TABLE Y
TENURE, AVERAGE LOAD AND ATERAGE ANNUAL SALARIES OE TEACHER PERSONNEL, 1940-1941
INDEPENDENT AND COMMON SCHOOL DISTRICTS
Teachers
Ind. District
Tenure (Including Present Year
1
2
3
4
5
6-10 11-20
Year Years Years Years Years Years Years
1
Common District
TOTAL
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
3
2
Average
Teaching
Load
Pupil
Avg.Annual
Grades Salaries
3
26
13.8
$602
3
1
23
10
$731
3
4
24.5
11.9
$666.5
o>
o
61
Salaries.
The salaries of the Negro high school
teachers, which may well he expected in Leon County in
line with all other counties of Texas, fall far below
that apportioned for the whites.
The common school dis­
tricts’ colored teachers in high school had an average
salary of $650 to $691 for 1934-35 and 1935-36; the in­
dependent school districts’ colored teachers in the high
school had an average of $795 and $806, respectively.
The
State of Texas reports that the independent school district
pay better salaries than the common school districts as a
whole but the salary of the common school districts’ colored
teachers in Leon County reported an average of $731 for
1940-41, the independent school districts’ colored teachers
in the high school reported an average of $602.50.
Summary.
The teacher personnel is an important
index to the efficiency of a school system.
It is necessary
to develop and maintain a good staff, well organized.
Rural schools in Leon County have been taught generally by
incompetent teachers.
While in the best of teacher train­
ing institutions very few prospective teachers know in
advance and are able to prepare themselves for the specific
positions they eventually come to occupy.
Thus the majority
of teachers need constant professional training.
By con­
sidering the state as a whole the professional training of
62
the colored teachers in the independent school districts
was generally superior to that of the teachers in the com­
mon school district*
This may be due to such factors as
longer school terms, more adequate facilities and better
remuneration.
This is not exactly true of Leon County.
The Negro teachers in Leon County have improved
greatly within the past five years.
In a few instances
the demands of the County Superintendent in connection
with other demands instigated by the Texas State Department
of Education are responsible.
As a result 78.5 per cent
of the high school teachers have Bachelor’s degrees, 36.6
per cent of which are doing graduate work at universities.
Twenty-one and four-tenths per cent were reported in the
three-year level.
Legislative attempts at certification
indicate the interest manifested in securing a more pro­
ficient type of instruction in the schools of the state.
Tenure depends upon several factors; however, the
annual turnover as a rule is much higher in the common
than in the independent districts.
A factor
contributing to a lack of achievement in
the small high school is the heavy teacher load.
The
problem of a wide spread of instructional responsibilities
over a variety of subjects is also common.
The typical
Negro teacher in Leon County gives instruction in several
63
subject fields.
The salaries of the Negro high schools, which may
well be expected in Leon County in line with all other
counties of Texas, fall far below that apportioned for
the whites.
The State of Texas reported that the in­
dependent school districts pay better salaries than the
common school districts as a whole but the common school
districts pay more on the average.
CHAPTER VI
FINDINGS AND RE COMMENDATIONS
The purpose of this chapter was to summarize the
findings of this study and to suggest recommendations that
it is hoped will improve the educational status in Negro
secondary schools of Leon County, Texas.
I.
1.
FINDINGS
Authority for school management and mainten­
ance in Leon County, Texas, is vested in the dual juris­
diction of the County Board of Education and various dis­
trict hoards of education.
This harmful practice of
dividing the power and responsibility within the county
educational system is common throughout Texas, and is
mainly responsible for conditions that manifest inade­
quacy and inequality throughout the territory studied,
£.
The majority of the high schools in Leon
County are two-year schools and are located in the common
school districts of rural areas.
The buildings are small
and inadequate, housing both the elementary and secondary
schools.
The equipment provided is altogether too meager
to permit the development of a constructive and practical
program.
3,
The curriculum is exceedingly limited.
While
the county is agricultural, the few courses offered are
purely academic, and are designed to meet requirements
for college entrance.
4.
The school year varies from six to nine months
and is one of the chief causes for inefficiency and lack
of accomplishment in the small high schools.
Schools are
sometimes prior to the regular schedule, sometimes within
a few weeks notice, and sometimes without notice.
5.
The twelve small high schools within Leon
County give evidence of a need for consolidation.
The
State Department of Education provides for consolidation
of these schools.
While four have taken advantage of
this provision, more should do so.
Even in the consolidated
districts, the buildings and facilities are inadequate;
and the courses, too, are not of sufficient variety.
6.
The teaching staff in small high schools and
rural schools of Leon County is incompetent, although
much improvement has been made in recent years.
At the
present time 72 per cent of the teachers have Bachelorfs
degrees, and approximately half of this number are doing
graduate work in mixed schools outside the State of Texas.
The typical teacher of the Negro school in Leon County is
overburdened with classroom activities, and meagerly and
inadequately paid.
66
II.
RECOMMENDATIONS
In order that the standards of Negro high schools
in Leon County, Texas, may he raised, the following
recommendations are suggested.
1.
The short terms of the Negro schools in the
common and small independent districts with the low per
capita outlay for Negro pupils shows the need of adequate
funds for Negro schools, and these funds should he pro­
vided.
2.
The poorly planned and unattractive buildings
in the rural and common school districts should he dis­
placed and better planned attractive sanitary and more
modern buildings should he erected.
3.
It is recommended that as rapidly as possible,
school authorities establish larger high schools for
Negroes by the consolidation of small schools and the
merging of school districts, and that transportation
facilities be provided in order to make such consolidated
schools accessible to the greatest number of children.
Under such a consolidated plan more teachers, better equip­
ment, variety in courses of study, and longer school terms
should be provided.
4.
Since most of the Negro population is agri­
cultural, vocational training or agricultural and home
67
making courses should he offered more liberally in the
high school.
5.
Improved teaching is recommended through super­
vision of teachers and by induction of more and better
teachers into the system.
Principals and teachers of.
Negro high schools should exhibit greater interest in
cooperating in national studies and other movements de­
signed to improve educational conditions among Negroes.
6. Health education should be stressed by teach­
ers, health supervisors, school nurses, and occasional
and regular visits by doctors.
Nurses and doctors should
check on the children’s health condition and habits so as
to prevent
7.
and control diseases that occur among children.
Many cases have been lost because of lack of
knowledge on the part of parents, inconveniences, bad
roads, and distances from the city doctors.
Therefore, it
is necessary to teach first aid and care.
8 . Vocational guidance should be provided in
order
that youth be prepared to live competent lives.
9.
The Negro teachers should receive salaries
commensurate with the quality of their work.
10.
Finally, it is recommended that the support
of secondary education be increased and that equitably
distributed funds be apportioned so that standards can
be raised to approximate as nearly as possible an equal
educational opportunity for all youth regardless of con­
dition and race.
The Texas State Department of Education
should cooperate with the local school authorities to
determine feasible and desirable school consolidations
in Leon County.
Summary.
To Leon County the above general recom­
mendations are important and should receive careful con­
sideration by all school authorities interested in the
education of Negroes in the County.
It is hoped that
this study will stimulate action towards some definite
improvement in Leon County Negro schools.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A.
BOOKS
Bobbitt, Franklin, How to Make a Curriculum, ■ Cambridge:
The Riverside Press, 1924.
A very useful book for inexperienced teachers.
Briggs, Thomas H . , Secondary Education. New York: The
Macmillan Company, 1933.
A book containing worth-while suggestions.
Charters, W. W . , Curriculum Construction.
The Macmillan Company, 1923.
Dallas, Texas:
This book is invaluable for its aids in curriculum
building.
Cubberly, 1. P . , Public Education in the United States.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
A book that points out the educational opportunities
for all people.
Douglas, Aubrey, Secondary Education.
Mifflin Company, 1927.
New York: Houghton
A resourceful book dealing with youth problems.
Douglas, H. A . , Modern Secondary Educational Principles and
Practices. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1938.
A book that gives modern procedures in secondary edu­
cation.
Eby, Frederick, The Development of Education in Texas.
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1925.
This book gives the background of education in Texas.
Englehardt, Fred, and A. V. Owen, Secondary Educational
Principles and Practices. New York: D. Appleton-Century
Company, Inc., 1939.
A valuable contribution to secondary education.
71
Espy, Herbert G., The Public Secondary School. New York:
Houghton Mi ffl in Comp any, 1939.
Contains effective details concerning the constructive
planning of the secondary school program.
Graves, Frank P . , A Student *s History of Education. New
York: The Macmillan Company, 1937.
An excellent book on the modern development of educa­
tion.
Hoban, Charles Francis, Visualizing the Curriculum. New
York: The Cordon Company, 19377
Contains some fine material on visual aids.
Kandel, I. L., Comparative Education.
Mifflin Company, 1933.
San Francisco: Houghton
This book compares the various systems and the revision
underlying them.
Koos, L. V., The American School. New York: Ginn and Com­
pany, 1927.
A fine discussion of the development of the secondary
schools in Europe and America.
Langfitt, R. E., and Frank W. Cyr, and N. W. Newsom, The
Small High School. San Francisco: American Book
Company, 1936.
A book with detailed accounts of problems of the small
high school.
Paterson, Schneider, and Williamson, Student Guidance
Techniques. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1938.
A hand book for counselors in high schools and colleges.
Umstattd, J*. G. , Secondary School Teaching.
and Company, 1937.
Boston: Ginn
A book that discusses fully classroom management.
72
B.
PERIODICALS
Beale, Howard K., "The Needs of Negro Education in the
United States," Journal of Negro Education, 3:3-19,
January, 1934.
Caliver, Ambrose, "Some Problems in the Education and Place
ment of Negro Teachers,” Journal of Negro Education,
4:99-112, January, 1935.
Embree, Edwin R., "Education for Negroes— Divided We Fall,”
American Scholar, 4:312-22, Summer, 1936.
Taylor, D. B., "A Quarterly Review of Problems Incident to
the Education of Negroes,” The Journal of Negro Educa­
tion-, 2:117, 1933.
C.
REPORTS AND STUDIES
Report of the Adequacy of Texas Schools. Austin, Texas:
State Board of Education, 1938.
Bailey, E. L., "Negro Schools of Brozos County," unpublished
Master’s thesis, Texas Agricultural and Mechanical
College, College Station, Texas.,
Beason, Mace Virgil, A Survey of the Scott Community High
School. 1939. 194 pp.
Davis, William Riley, The Development and Present Status of
Negro Education in East Texas. New York: Teachers
College, Columbia University, 1934.
Farris, E. N., "The Curriculum of the Rural Four Year High
Schools," National Society for the Study of Education,
Thirteenth Yearbook. Bloomington, Illinois: Public
School Publishing Company, 1931.
Lane, Harry B., The Present Status of Secondary Education
for Negroes in Texas. AustinT Department of Education,
1932.
Reilly, William Henry, A Survey of Mendocino County Elemen­
tary Schools with a View to Reorganization.
73
Smith, L. B., Survey of Negro Schools of Wood County, Texas*
1937. H E pp.
Texas Public Schools, Standards and Activities of the
Division of Supervision. Yol. XIV, No. 6. Austin,
Texas: State Department of Education, 1938.
Watkins, Pauline M . , An Investigation of Negro Elementary
Schools in the State of Texas, 1939. 132 pp.
D.
BULLETINS
Caliver, Ambrose, "Fundamentals in the Education of Negroes."
Bulletin, 1935, No. 6. Washington, D. C.: United States
Office of Education, Government Printing Office, 1935.
90 pp.
_______, "Secondary Education for Negroes." National
Survey of Secondary Education, Bulletin No. 17,
Monograph No. 7, 1932. Washington, D. C.: United States
Government Printing Office, 1932.
Fifth Biennial Keport of the State Board of Education, 19361938. Austin, Texas: Department of Education, December
30, 1938.
Negro Education in Texas, No. 343, 1935, Yol. XI.
Texas: Department of Education.
Texas Almanac.
1939.
Austin,
Dallas, Texas: E. J. Storm Printing Co.,
The University of Texas Bulletin. Austin, Texas: The
University of Texas, August 8, 1926.
APPENDIX
75
QUESTIONNAIRE
Buffalo, Texas
Dear Principal:.
I am making a survey of Leon County colored High Schools and
would appreciate your cooperation by supplying the infor­
mation as indicated on the blank below. Please return as
soon as possible.
Sincerely yours,
Principal
Buffalo Colored Schools
1.
Name of school_____________________ _____________ ______
2.
Is your school located in independent district or common
school district?____________________ _________ _______
3.
Classification: 1 yr.
, 2 yr.
, 3 yr.
, 4 yr._
(check one)
4.
Length of term
m onths.
5.
Is your district a consolidated district?___ Date
of
consolidation_______.
6.
How many trustees do you have?___________________ ______
7.
Number of high school pupils: 1st yr.
, 2nd yr._,
3rd yr._,. 4th yr.___
8 . Distance of miles traveled by most remote pupil_________
Number transported______
9.
Number of high school teachers_______ Salary____________
76
1 0 . Degree held by teachers:
College Credit:
,
3 yrs
Principal: Master__ , Bachelor
2 yrs.__ , 1 yr.
‘
Teacher:
Master__ , Bachelor
,, 3 yrs
'
2 yrs.__ , 1 yr.
Date received____________ __
11
.
,
Experience:
Principal:
1 yr.
2 yr.
3 yr.
4 yr,
_____
_____
_____
____
Teacher:
5 yr.
6-10 yrs.
11-20 yrs.
Principal:
Teacher:
1 2 . Tenure (include present year)
1 yr.
2 yr.
3 yrs•
4 yrs.
—
Principal:
Teacher:
5 yrs.
6-10 yrs.
11-20 yrs.
Principal:
Teacher:13.
Years taught in Leon County:
1 yr.
2 yrs.
3 yrs.
4 yrs.
Principal:
Teacher:
5 yrs.
Principal:
Teacher:
6 -1 0
yrs.
1 1 -2 0
yrs.
77
14.
Teacher loads:
Average number of pupils per teacher____________
Number of classes taught per day by each teacher
Average length of class period________
'
Do teachers teach in major field only
________
• Number of unrelated courses taught
_____
15.
-What vocational courses are offered? (list)_________
16.
What extra curricular activities are offered?_______
17.
What improvements have been made during the past five
years such as: teachers added, salaries increased, terms
lengthened, equipment added, new courses introduced
(list)