EDUCATIONAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 August 1916, Page 6

EDUCATIONAL.

'• PEACIIERS' GRADING SCHEMA

iFroin Our Own Correspondent)

Wellington, August 17. report of the Assistant Director of JCilni'stion (Mr. J. Canghley) upon Uk; Dominion grading scheme for teacher.'- is in the iiancU of i'ic printer, and is likely to -be available for publication within the ne:;t fortnight. The document is accompanied by tables and graphs which throw a groat deal of very interesting light upon the classification of the te.'.chors. Ineidentally, these tables go far towards proving the soundness of the grading scheme. which appears to have worked smoothly and regularly. It will lie found that the figures reflect di-U-iet conditions with quite astonishing accuracy.

A suggestion for the amendment of the grading scheme has reaehev the Minister for Kducation (Hon. J. A. Italian) from the executive of the Xew Zealand Educational Institute, which asl;.i the Minister to the advisability of reducing the number of mark- allotl;'d for academic attainments." Tlie scheme provides for the allocation of marks by the inspectors according to the following scale, the number representing the maximum in each case:—Skill ill teaching 40; personality and discipline, 13; organisation and management, 13; environment, o; academic attainments, 13; :ervice, 10; total. K!0. The suggestion of the Institute means that in the opinion of some of the foremost teachers 111 the Dominion the proportion of juar::s allowed lor mere book learning, :ia represented by cervicites, and degrees, is too large.

The Minister told year correspondent, in mentioning this 'nutter, that the 13 marks allowed for academic attainments under the grading scheme not he regarded as 13 per cent, of the unssible total. That assumption disregarded the quotas, which were 1 verj important feat/ire uf the scheme. The teachers were classified into six groups, A, J). 0, D, E and F, and the quotas were allotted according to the grouping, starting with ten marks for the lowest group and rising by tens to (JO marks for the highest. These marks, which represented ability as much as the others, were added to the marks allotted under the ligures quoted, so that the maximum marks for a teacher of 1' group would he 100, out of which 13 marks, or abcut, 0 per cent., would be the maximum obtainable for academic attainments. The Minister added that as the lowest marks granted under this heading for a certificate were 0, the range for certificated teachers was from li to 13, dill erenca oi 110 more than !) marks.