The bureau maintains addressograph lists for circulars and correspondence, duplicates resting with the Superintendent of Documents for the sending of printed matter. These lists include: State, city, and county superintendents of schools; universities and colleges; heads of departments of education in universities and colleges; normal schools; public and private secondary schools; secretaries of city boards of education; elementary schools in cities; educational periodicals; newspapers; individuals requesting copies of duplicated material in particular fields; parent-teacher associations; teachers of home economics in higher schools; directors of summer schools; and other groups. Publications. The most important phase of the work of distribution is in the publication field. Reports, pamphlets, and printed and mimeographed circulars constitute what might be called the main product of the bureau; certainly a concrete result of its work. These publications cover a wide range of subjects and are of various types; this in the face of the fact that the establishing act made mention of but one publication: The annual report. For many years, as has been mentioned, this report constituted the principal means by which the bureau communicated with the educational world. Growing bulk of this volume, and the widening field of new interests, however, compelled the introduction of varied types of publication. The publications at the present time fall into the following general classes: 1. Regular reports. 2. Bulletins. 3. Circulars and leaflets. 4. Periodicals. 5. Miscellaneous. Reports. The annual report of the Commissioner of Education now consists of a pamphlet of but thirty-two pages,' and is wholly 9 "For additional discussion, see Appendix 3. In March, 1920, the Secretary of the Interior approved an order that all minor publications of the department and its bureaus be issued without covers in order to save paper. In June a drastic order came from the same source by which it was directed that the amount of printing be at once reduced to a minimum, in order to avoid the suspension of all publication. It was required thereafter that every requisition for printing should a recital of the activities of the bureau and the year's progress therein. The report covers the period of the fiscal year and is supplemented in even years by the biennial survey (later discussed), which summarizes and discusses the progress of the more important phases of education in the United States. The data just mentioned (in the form, however, of brief summaries), until the present year, formed Part I of the annual report. Hence in its present form the report is wholly an administrative document," and for the purpose of disseminating educational information is no longer of value. The table of contents for the 1921 report is here produced as a clear exposition of the types of material reported upon and the space devoted to each: I. General activities of the bureau.. Present personnel of the bureau. Continuing or stated activities Educational research and promotion. Activities discontinued Statistics Correspondence Library Editorial division PAGE 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 7 8 8 ΙΟ 14 15 16 17 19 20 21 22 24 25 26 be accompanied by a statement showing clearly the necessity for issuing the publication promptly, and pointing out specifically how the public interests would suffer if the printing of the publication were postponed.Annual Report of the Commission of Education, 1921, p. 10. 10 The distinction between the annual statement and the annual report, formerly existing, seems to have been eliminated. II. Educational surveys, conferences, and campaigns. Educational surveys Educational conferences Educational campaigns III. Appropriations IV. Recommendations The biennial survey contains the data (minus administrative matter) which were formerly issued in the annual report. The survey is published in two volumes, one containing an interpretative review of the progress of education in the United States and the other containing statistics of education in the United States. These volumes form the permanent record of educational progress and of pertinent statistical data. The chapters cover the various fields of educational interest and are separately bound and distributed to those working in the lines involved. A few issues of the complete volumes will later be bound largely for libraries. The above publications, though now separate and distinct, have a common origin in the annual report, and so may be said to be based on the requirement of the law. Bulletins. The bulletins are also specifically authorized by law, but their origin is comparatively recent (1906)." They are not restricted to the dissemination of current facts regarding education, but include historical matter, discussions of methods and experiments, interpretation of movements, critical material, and administrative reports. The bulletin service is, in fact, the source for "miscellaneous" material distribution in printed form, and includes all matters worthy of presentation in permanent form which are not, broadly speaking, covered by annual report and biennial survey." 12 Nor are the bulletins wholly sporadic in their nature. That is, there are several which appear regularly, such as the Monthly Record of Current Publications, the Educational Directory (annual), and the Work of the Bureau of Education for the Natives of Alaska (annual). For an idea of the variety of subjects included in and the type of these publications, see Appendix 3. "They were authorized in 1896 (29 Stat. L., 140, 171), but advantage of the act was not taken until ten years later. 12 Exceptions must be noted here. Bulletins on specific lines of interest may subsequently be reproduced, in sense of content, if not verbatim, in the biennial survey, or vice versa. Distribution of bulletins is very largely through the Superintendent of Documents at prices covering the cost of printing. Circulars and Leaflets. The circulars and leaflets as such have no specific sanction in the law other than the general instruction to the Commissioner to “disseminate information." Restrictions are wholly financial. These circulars and leaflets follow no set rules as to size, type, method of distribution, or content. They may be either printed or duplicated (mimeographed). They are not restricted wholly to matters of information, but, like the bulletins, include interpretive and critical matter and suggestions. Generally speaking, however, they constitue the method by which the bureau communicates most frequently with the educational public. These publications are brief, usually addressed to a special class of readers, and deal with matters of recent development. Information which it is desirable to disseminate at once is frequently sent out by mimeographed letters or circulars without waiting for the slower process of printing. This is most frequently done when the information at hand is not complete but sufficiently so to be of value. Such material is usually issued later, in substance at least, in printed form as a circular, leaflet, or bulletin. A list of circulars and leaflets issued during 1920-21 and expository of subjects and types is included in Appendix 3. Periodicals. The issuance of periodicals by the bureau was a late development intended to afford a means of furnishing educational information regularly and with reasonable frequency. Two publications of this class are now issued. The first of these," School Life," is a monthly magazine devoted to current items of interest in the field of education and to discussions of educational problems both in the United States and abroad. It is issued but ten months in the year. It has a circulation of over 40,000 copies, almost wholly among members of boards of education, superintendents, principals, and teachers, and originally was published by the Committee on Public Information to give teachers and pupils information as to the progress of the war and the more important activities of the government. It was taken over by the Bureau of Education in December, 1918. 13 Publication was discontinued as of December 1, 1921 because of the failure of Congress to extend further the time limit on permission for publication of such periodicals. It was revived in 1922. The other periodical is the "Record of Current Educational Publications," issued at irregular intervals. Miscellaneous Publications. The miscellaneous publications include lists, discussions, administrative documents, broadsidesin brief, as the name indicates, those issues which cannot be, or are not, otherwise classified. They form a small group in the publication field. Summary. The collection and dissemination of information applies equally to all phases of educational work and is carried on in connection with the various fields of activity of the bureau. The information gathered and distributed under these various fields of interest cannot be described in detail because of the wide variations, the same type of thing (excepting always the statistical) not being covered from year to year or month to month. Attention is given to those things which are new, of marked excellence, or extraordinary development. Obviously, such matters may not be regulated and range widely. For example, the outstanding feature under foreign educational systems one year may concern rural education in Wales. The next year this may have shown no progress and be replaced in interest by facts on classes for subnormal children in Switzerland. Provision of a Clearing House for Opinion. The collection and dissemination of expert opinion on education comprises the second of the main activities of the bureau. The aim is "to serve as a clearing house for the best opinions on school organization and administration, courses of study, methods of teaching, and many other matters connected with popular education. 99 14 In theory, at least, this activity differs in no essential way from that of the collection and dissemination of educational information, and in the strictest sense should, with the latter, form a coördi 14 Annual Report, 1920, p. 99. The full text reads: "to serve as a clearing house for the best opinions on school organization and administration, courses of study, methods of teaching, and many other matters connected with popular education. For each of these subjects there are a few men and women in the United States and elsewhere whose opinions, because of their greater knowledge of the subject, are most valuable. This bureau tries to find for each subject who these persons are and to make lists of expert advisers whom it may consult and to whom it may refer others. It also undertakes, after correspondence and personal conference with these experts, to formulate the consensus of expert opinion. In carrying on this part of its work the bureau's experts attend and participate in congresses and conferences of educators." |