Research

Scope and Content Note

These registers record the attendance of students in teacher training classes and at teacher training schools.

Training clases were one year programs in union free schools, academies, and state agricultural schools, primarily intended to supply rural school districts with elementary school teachers having a small amount of professional training. Entrance into a training class required graduation from an elementary school and some high school education.

The training class registers provide the following information: name and location of school; dates of session; number of men and women enrolled; schedule of daily activities for first and second sessions; list of students and record of their attendance in each subject taught; and name of teacher of each subject.

An annual report of the training class, appended to the register, provides the following: student name, age, date entered class, name of high school and date graduated, and special conditions on which admitted to class; amount of time class spent in observation and practice teaching; whether class attended a teachers conference; how many times class was visited by an Education Department official or the district superintendent of schools; whether physiology and hygiene were taught as required by law; and suggestions by training class instructors.

Teacher training schools were two year institutions located in cities and intended to supply the local city school system with elementary school teachers. High school graduation was required for admission to a teacher training school. The training school registers provide the following information: name and location of training school; dates of session; number of men and women enrolled; and students' name, age, dates of attendance, aggregate attendance, entrance date in training school, name of high school, and number of terms and weeks in training school.