Produced by Tom Roch, Marcia Brooks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images produced by Core Historical Literature in Agriculture (CHLA), Cornell University) Riverside Educational Monographs EDITED BY HENRY SUZZALLO PROFESSOR OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY NEW IDEALS IN RURAL SCHOOLS BY GEORGE HERBERT BETTS, PH. D. PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY CORNELL COLLEGE, IOWA [Illustration] HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY BOSTON, NEW YORK AND CHICAGO The Riverside Press Cambridge COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY GEORGE HERBERT BETTS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CONTENTS EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION v PREFACE ix I. THE RURAL SCHOOL AND ITS PROBLEM 1 II. THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE RURAL SCHOOL 25 III. THE CURRICULUM OF THE RURAL SCHOOL 57 IV. THE TEACHING OF THE RURAL SCHOOL 92 OUTLINE 121 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION In presenting a second monograph on the rural school problem in this series we register our sense of the importance of rural education. Too long have the rural schools suffered from neglect. Both the local communities and the State have overlooked the needs of the rural school system. At the present hour there is an earnest awakening of interest in rural life and its institutions. Already there is a small but certain movement of people toward the country and the vocation of agriculture. A period of agricultural prosperity, the reaction of men and women against the artificialities of city life, the development of farming through the application of science, and numerous other factors have made country life more congenial and have focused attention upon its further needs. It is natural, therefore, that the rural school should receive an increased share of attention. Educational administrators, legislators, and publicists have become aware of their responsibility to provide the financial support and the efficient organization that is needed to develop country schools. The more progressive of them are striving earnestly to provide laws that will aid rather than hamper the rural school system. In his monograph on _The Improvement of the Rural School_, Professor Cubberley has done much to interpret current efforts of this type. From the standpoint of state administration he has contributed much definite information and constructive suggestion as to how the State shall respond to the fundamental need for (1) more money, (2) better organization, and (3) real supervision for rural schools.