_The Bureau of Education_ was originally established as an independent Department by act of Congress, approved by the President March 2, 1867. By an act of Congress which took effect July 1, 1869, this Department was changed to an Office or Bureau in the Interior Department. The duties of this Bureau are to collect and diffuse information regarding schools, methods of instruction and school discipline, etc., and otherwise to promote the cause of education. The results of the investigations here carried on, though with a small clerical force, are of the utmost value to all educators, and such is the extent to which the merit of the work and publications of this office are recognized by the leading educators of the country, that, in their opinion, the Bureau should be re-established as a department, and its chief be made a member of the President's cabinet. The publications of the Bureau consist of (1) _Annual Reports_, which set forth statistics and general information concerning the educational systems of the States, Territories, larger cities, universities, and colleges; professional, special, and scientific schools, academies, preparatory schools and kindergartens, with a summary of the progress of education in foreign countries; (2) _Special Reports_, on subjects pertinent to the times; (3) _Occasional Bulletins_, on matters of current educational interest; (4) _Circulars of Information_, on important questions of educational work or history, which are issued in yearly series. Under this last title there is now in course of publication a very valuable series of monographs upon the History of Higher Education in the various States. These monographs are being prepared by competent scholars under the editorial supervision of Dr. H.B. Adams of the Johns Hopkins University. Numerous Annual Reports have been issued, and one is now in press, for the year 1889-90. The working force of the Bureau is divided into three divisions: (1) Records; (2) Statistics; (3) Library and Museum. The library of this Office contains one of the most valuable pedagogical collections in the country.