AMERICAN HOME ECONOMICS ASSOCIATION.

At the meeting of the Lake Placid conference on home economics, held at Chautauqua, N. Y., in 1908, a committee on organization was appointed to draw up a constitution and working plans for the American Home Economics Association. The committee submitted its report at the meeting of the teachers' section of the Lake Placid conference at Washington, D. C., December 31, 1908, when the American Home Economics Association was organized.

The object of the association, as stated in its constitution, shall be "to improve the conditions of living in the home, the institutional household, and the community." It shall aim to advance its pur

pose

by the study of problems connected with the household; by securing recognition of subjects related to the home in the curricula of existing schools and colleges; by securing the establishment and standardization of professional courses and schools for the training of teachers, and of home, institutional, social and municipal workers; by encouraging and aiding investigations and research in universities and by the state and federal governments; by publications, professional and popular; and by meetings, local and national, that knowledge may be increased, and especially that public opinion may be informed and advancement made secure by legislative enactment.

All who are interested in home problems are eligible to membership in the association. The association meets annually. It publishes The Journal of Home Economics, which is issued bimonthly. The principal officers for 1909 are Mrs. Ellen H. Richards, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass., president; Mr. Benjamin R. Andrews, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City, secretary-treasurer.

XIV. COEDUCATION OF THE SEXES.

Coeducation, or the instruction of both sexes in the same schools and classes, which is always a subject of more or less discussion in this country, has recently occupied unusual attention in States in which the policy seemed to be most firmly established. This discussion pertains entirely to the sphere of secondary and collegiate education. The elementary public schools throughout the country are, as a rule, coeducational. The few exceptions are found in cities on the Atlantic seaboard, in which free public schools were first established for boys only, and the subsequent demand for similar provision for girls was necessarily met by new buildings and accommodations. This arrangement affects but a small proportion-not above 4 per cent of the pupils enrolled in elementary schools.

SEGREGATION AT THE ENGLEWOOD HIGH SCHOOL.

Separate high schools have long been maintained in Boston (the old city), New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston, and New Orleans. In the West the high schools have universally followed the course of the elementary schools in this respect, and hence the experiment of segregation undertaken in the high school of Englewood (Chicago) some four years ago excited unusual attention. The following account of the experiment referred to has been furnished to the office by Principal Armstrong:

The experiment in instructing boys and girls in segregated classes was begun in the Englewood High School, Chicago, in February, 1906. The entering class at that time consisted of about 150 pupils. Their programmes were so arranged that while they met in the same division rooms and studied in the same study hall, they recited all lessons in segregated classes. Classes were so distributed that every teacher who had a boys' class had also a girls' class. This was not only to give teachers a chance to see the contrasts, but to prevent the criticism that one sex was to be given the advantage of the better teachers.

At the end of the first half year a referendum of the parents was taken on the two following questions:

1. Do you feel that your child was benefited by being in a segregated class? Yes or no.

2. Would you advise that the plan be extended to the next incoming class? Ninety per cent answered both questions in the affirmative. The September class, consisting of about 500 pupils, was segregated in the same way, and after a year's trial a second referendum was taken on the same questions, except that the ballots were accompanied by a stamped envelope addressed to the superintendent instead of being returned by the pupil to the school. The result of this larger referendum was that 85 per cent answered yes to both questions. The work was then extended to the second-year class, and now about 1,000 pupils are being taught in segregated classes in their first and second years. The immediate result has been to increase the relative number of boys in the second and third years of school, and to materially improve their scholarship. Heretofore the scholarship of boys was far inferior to that of the girls. Now, with the adaptations of the work which we have been able to make, the boy comes to the upper classes better equipped than ever before. The former plan of giving both a boys' class and a girls' class to the same teacher has not been kept up, for the reason that it was found that not all teachers are equally well adapted to teaching both sexes. Nor does it follow that all men are better adapted to teaching boys than women are. As a general rule, however, boys do better under men teachers during these beginning years of adolescence.

The most obvious facts beside those stated above are that pupils and parents like the plan. Pupils say that they get closer together, understand each other better, and are not so afraid of being criticised. The leading traits of the sexes are more marked and so the teacher can see better how to adapt the work to the needs of the class. The classification of pupils makes grading more perfect, and hence less friction. The teacher can develop her subject more logically. There is a little more reserve noticed between the sexes, and the opportunities for the smart boy to show off are considerably less. Boys will not tolerate conduct in the segregated class that all wink at if there are girls present to laugh. The discipline in the boys' classes can be made more stern without making it unnecessarily severe on the girls. In some studies, such as physi

ology, the work is made more personal, and in written work the boys' habit of postponing the disagreeable task is prevented by supplying the needed will power for immediate action. In history the boy is interested in a different line of events than the girl and so makes greater progress alone, while in all studies that require observation and logical reasoning and experiment he excels. The girl excels in all languages, literature, and art. In mixed classes neither one helps the other, as each is impatient to go on in his or her own course.

As principal of the school I am highly gratified with the work, and believe we are doing far more for both sexes than ever before. I wish to deny the implication that boys are superior to girls because they finally become, or may become, intellectual leaders, or that girls are superior to boys as shown by the scholarship records of every secondary school. This experiment has shown me that each is superior to the other sex in the traits of character and the kind of intellect nature requires of each. We, the educators, have been at fault in not recognizing that man and woman live and move in parallel courses, and that at the beginning of that period when nature is trying to differentiate the sexes we have been working against her by providing identical instruction, as if the life work of each was to be the same.

My conviction is that we should keep the boy and the girl in the same high school so as to preserve the same social environment, but teach them in different classes so as to adapt the work to the highest needs of each.

SYSTEM PURSUED AT THE CLEVELAND TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL.

The Cleveland Technical High School is organized on a plan somewhat different from that which prevails in other schools of its class in this country.

As stated by Mr. Elson, superintendent of schools:

The boys and girls are in separate classes, with separate study halls. This arrangement exists, not for reasons of sex, but because of the widely different kind of work. The academic work in this school is related very closely to the technical or shop work, so that the chemistry which the girls have, being chiefly applied chemistry, is different from that taken by the boys. The same is true of physics, English, mathematics, etc.

Practically, it will be seen that a school for boys and a school for girls are conducted in the same building under one direction. The prospectus issued by the institution states:

The department for girls will have domestic science and domestic and industrial art for its basis, and around these studies the rest of their work will be grouped. Home-making courses are of greatest value to girls, and to train in this direction will be the aim of these departments. Cooking will be very practical and comprehensive, covering preparation and analysis of foods, the study of food values, and the preparation and serving of complete meals. This will be supplemented by courses in home planning and house decoration, taking up the study and arrangement of rooms, wall and floor coverings, study of furniture and pictures, draperies, etc. This will be organized with particular reference to economy and good taste. Segregated classes for the study of physiology and personal hygiene will give students an opportunity to acquire a knowledge of those things which are so essential to their future health and happiness.

This instruction will be supplemented by a complete course in home nursing, including first aid to the injured, the care of invalids and particularly of children. Instruction in our high schools has never been specific enough along these lines, but has been of a purely general nature. These courses are to be very practical and to the point, to the end that when a girl has forced upon her the care of the home and the family she will be thoroughly prepared for functions of this sort. Keeping of household accounts, economic home management, marketing, etc., will receive due consideration.

Similar opportunities for specialization during the last two years of the course will be offered girls as are provided for boys. In most classes the nature of the studies and method of teaching demand a separation of boys from girls. The school has been in operation over a year, and is conducted on the basis of four twelve-week terms with a week of vacation following each term. The experiment of a summer quarter has been tried the present year, and a large enrollment is reported. The superintendent expresses the opinion that this is the first instance in this country of the maintenance of a public high school all the year around.

ADMISSION OF WOMEN DISCONTINUED AT WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY.

The year has been marked by a few events that have excited renewed discussion of coeducation as related to universities.

The admission of women students to Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., is discontinued by a vote of the trustees at a special meeting held in New York in March last, 30 out of the 50 members of the board being present.

The text of the resolution is as follows:

Resolved, That no woman be admitted to Wesleyan University in any class later than that entering in the year 1909; but nothing in this action shall be construed as in any way conflicting with the rights and privileges of any woman who may be or become a member of that class or of any previous class.

Wesleyan University is a Methodist institution founded in 1831. Women were admitted in 1872, but they have never formed a large proportion of the students, and the present year numbered only 30 as against 292 men. The alumni and undergraduate male students have manifested decided opposition to the women students, and it is understood that a number of the trustees who voted for the above resolution are not opposed to the idea of coeducation, but were satisfied that women students would not be accorded proper recognition under the existing circumstances.

It is understood that the proposition to establish a coordinate college for women is favorably viewed by the trustees, but this would be impossible unless new endowments are forthcoming. A committee has been appointed to secure the needed funds, and if this is accomplished a college will be established for women holding relations to Wesleyan University similar to those existing between Harvard and Radcliffe, Columbia and Barnard, and Brown and Pembroke.

COEDUCATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN- -ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT VAN HISE.

An arrangement in the University of Wisconsin for the separation of students by sex in certain classes, intended primarily for the advantage of the women students, excited apprehensions in some minds that that university might adopt measures discriminating against women. The fear of such action is dissipated by the following resolution passed by the board of regents, June, 1908:

Men and women shall be equally entitled to membership in all classes of the university, and there shall be no discrimination on account of sex in granting scholarships and fellowships in any of the colleges or departments of the university.

It is not out of place to recall here an important contribution to the discussion of coeducation made by President Van Hise, of the University of Wisconsin, in his address before the Association of Collegiate Alumnæ at the quarter-centennial meeting in Boston, November 6, 1907, which has been the theme of much subsequent controversy.

Among special aspects of the subject unfolded in that address is that of a social problem arising from "the increase in numbers of men and women in coeducational institutions with no very serious purpose." As a consequence of this increase, President Van Hise says:

There is undoubtedly a tendency among the women to regard as successful the one who is attractive to the young men-in other words, social availability rather than intellectual leadership is regarded by at least a considerable number of the young women as the basis of a successful college career. While this view may seem absurd, a little reflection will convince one that the tendency is perfectly natural—indeed, is as deep seated as many of the most-firmly established traditions in reference to the relations between the sexes. So far as I can see, this obstacle will always be a real one in coeducational institutions. A satisfactory solution of the problem of social affairs will only be accomplished by a recognition of its existence, by the development among the young women of their own ideals through insistence that they shall set their own standards in coeducational as in the women's college-that they shall not accept the standard of the least earnest fraction of the young men-that of social availability.

A second consideration arises from a tendency toward "segregation by subjects and courses." On this point Dr. Van Hise says:

When, as a matter of fact, in a given course women, for one reason or another, become predominant; this acts as a deterrent to the free election of the course by considerable numbers of young men, and vice versa.

To this natural segregation is added, he notes, "segregation on a large scale by the establishment of courses and colleges which are practically for the one sex or the other." Instances of this latter condition are the colleges of engineering, law, commerce, agriculture,