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Description and Holding Information
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Board of Education. Annual report, 1st (1838)-
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**Senate No. 26 The First annual report of the Board of Education, together with the First annual report of the Secretary of the Board. Boston :
Dutton & Wentworth, 1838. The board held its first meeting on June 29, 1837. Horace Mann was elected Secretary at a salary of $1,000/year as a full
time job. An abstract of the first set of school returns had been completed and submitted to the Legislature by Mann. The Board asked for the power to
improve the data form and the school register. The Board convened a convention in each county, sending out talking points ahead of time. The
Secretary attended each convention and Board members attended as many as possible. The Secretary tried, in each meeting, to awaken enthusiasm for public
education. Based on their state wide experience, the Board offered some observations. Most school houses needed repairs and improvement; the Secretary
was preparing a comprehensive report on this. It would likely be helpful to pay local school committee members a small stipend for all the work they
do. Normal schools and school libraries were critical to any effort to improve the schools. It might be good to consider some state wide
standardized textbooks. A journal for teachers would be a wonderful idea. The Board asked the Legislature to raise the salary of the Secretary, since it was a
full time job. The members thanked all the people who came to the county conventions. On January 1, 1838, the Secretary wrote his annual report.
He started work in August, 1837 and attended all but the Suffolk County education conventions. Schooling should give a child a straight path to
knowledge of the primary duties of man.
Why do some children falter and what can be done about it?
Massachusetts had a good system, but it could be a
great system. School buildings should be in good repair, with enough room for all the pupils. The school committee must care about the education of
local children--in fact, the entire community should care about children. Teachers should be competent and certified; teaching being one of the most
difficult arts. Mann expanded on all those points. He emphasized providing a living wage for teachers--the average statewide pay for male teachers
was $15.44/month and for women, $5.38/month. Very, very few schools had any teaching equipment. He ran through the public versus private school
argument. The introductory letter of the Board was included as well as the circular sent by the Secretary to the county conventions with eleven questions
for consideration.
**Senate No.13 Second annual report of the Board of Education together with the second annual report of the Secretary of the
Board of Education. Boston : Dutton & Wentworth, 1839. The Board was pleased to have the Legislature require the Secretary and other members of the
Board to visit each county once per year. The Legislature received a matching grant to open a normal school and the Board decided to try to have four
schools scattered around the state. Several towns came forward with buildings and even money to have the schools in their town, so the first school was
set up in Lexington. There was a three year and a one year certificate program. The date for the statistical report from the districts was changed
to November and the distribution of the school fund was in January. A publisher was working with the Board to create a package of library books. On
December 26, 1838, the Secretary completed his report for the year. He visited all fourteen counties. Nantucket had made big improvements to its
school system. Boston had a model school and a lecture series for teachers. During the year, twenty-nine towns failed to keep school for the required
time. The new register of attendance was in use and was helpful to the county committees. Mann then launched into a thirty-nine page polemic about
spelling, reading, language, and understanding.
**House No. 21 Third annual report of the Board of Education, together with the third annual report
of the Secretary of the Board of Education. Boston : Dutton & Wentworth, 1840. In the county conventions, there were discussions about educating
children in factories, books for adults and children, and an increased understanding of the necessity of an education. The Normal School at Lexington had
21 pupils and the one at Barre had 39. Efforts were underway to have a school at Plymouth. The Board had made available a package of books called
the School Library. The Abstract of School Returns was done by the Secretary in conjunction with the Secretary of State. There was now the Common
School Journal. The Board was pleased there was so much interest in the schools. Pp. 24-32 was an advertisement for the School Library, listing all the
books. Third annual report of the Secretary of the Board of Education. He had visited all the counties and had spent a lot of time on the Abstract
of School Returns. The Board could set up an excellent system, but local people had to implement it and that was sometimes frustrating. He talked
about terrible school houses, but also listed several local success stories. There were some factories where child labor laws were ignored. There was
more discussion about reading, but more from the point of view of books to read. He sent out a questionnaire about libraires and book collections
that included Harvard and other universities and then did charts by county. He considered the content and value of books for many pages. He sent out
another query about literary and scientific lecture series and did more charts. The final page was financial data for the Board's operations.
(Digitized from a microfilm copy of title originally held by the Massachusetts State Library).
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**Senate No. 11 Fourth
annual report of the Board of Education together with the fourth annual report of the Secretary of the Board. Boston : Dutton & Wentworth, 1841. There
were three normal schools up and running with varying lengths of instruction. There was a matching grant program to get library packages into the
schools. Fourth annual report of the Secretary of the Board of Education. Secretary Mann said not as many people came to the county conventions during
the year. The average school was open seven months and ten days. The average salary for male teachers was $33.08/month and for females $12.75/month.
More school committees have actually visited the schools. The Annual Abstract of School Returns was quite large and was sent to each school district so
people could compare schools. The Secretary had a lot to say about several topics: the size and changes in school districts, Union schools, why
recess was necessary, school house design, the waste of money when children didn't come to school, public versus private schools, qualities for a
teacher, methods of teaching, discipline in the classroom, and older students. There was a table of the number of children in schools, and statistical data
about truancy.
P. 98 showed the financials for the Secretary and p. 100-108 were letters from physicians about very young children in school.
**Senate No. 4 Fifth annual report of the Board of Education together with the fifth annual report of the Secretary of the Board. Boston : Dutton &
Wentworth, 1842. Each Normal School had a Visitors' Committee; their reports were included. The Board would like to see the Normal Schools continued
beyond the three year trial. On p. 18 were the Board's financials. Fifth annual report of the Secretary of the Board of Education. There were more
schools in session, the sessions were longer, and the appropriations were higher. There were 121 more male teachers and 521 more female teachers.
Instead of annual county conventions, it would help to go to smaller towns and have smaller meetings. More people seem to understand about school districts
and the importance of good buildings. Mann provided some attendance figures. School registers were valued; some districts required the register to
be handed in for the teacher to be paid. He talked a lot about how school committees could interview candidates. He did not like corporal punishment
and thought teachers should have an understanding of children in general. There was a long discussion about politics and religion in schools. There
were glaring inequalities between school districts throughout the state. Mann sent a letter to several heads of industry asking if they had noticed
the effects of an unequal education; he shared four letters of response. There was a long essay on what unequal education meant to Worldly Fortune,
Health and Long Life, Manners and Taste, and Intellectual and Moral Character. He had a lot to say about the many inventions that came from New
England. The appendices showed the plans for several new schools in the state. (Digitized from a microfilm copy of title originally held by the Library of
Congress).
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Title:
Annual report of the Board of Education together with the ... Annual report of the Secretary of the Board.
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OCLC Number:
1040057584
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Available Volumes
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