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U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
JAMES J. DAVIS. Surdary
C H I L D R E N 'S B U R E A U
GRACE ABBOTT. Chief
U . S. E M P L O Y M E N T S E R V IC E
FRANCIS I. JONES. Director General
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE
AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
Twelve Cities in the United States
Prepared by
The Industrial Division of
TH E CH ILDREN'S B U R E A U
and
The Junior Division of
T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S E M PLO Y M EN T SERVICE
Children’s Bureau Publication No. 149
Employment Service Publication A
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1925
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
SIN G LE C O PIES
OF T H IS PU BLIC A TIO N MAY BE OBTAINED
F R E E UPON A PPLIC A T IO N TO T H E
c h il d r e n ' s b u r e a u
ADDITIONAL COPIES
MAY BE PROCURED FROM T H E
SU P E R IN T E N D E N T OF DO CU M ENTS
GOVERNM ENT P R IN T IN G O F FIC E
W A SH IN G T O N , D. C.
AT
65 CENTS P E R COPY
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# I4^
CONTENTS
Page
IX
Foreword___________________
PART I
S chool Organization and C urricula in
G u id an ce ___________ __________________
R elation
to
V ocational
Try-out ,or exploratory courses_______________ ____ I I I I
The junior high school______________ I__ ______ “ ““ ~_H_I
Prevocational courses for retarded pupils__ I____ '
Opportunity for specialization___________________
The continuation school as à vocational guidance agency___ . _
Classification on the basis of capacity_______________
Vocational-information courses________
Mental Measurements a s an A id in Guidance and P lacem ent _H ~ ~I
Kinds of tests employed_______________________
The technique of testing_______________ _____ "II__
Organization of psychological bureaus______ I I ” I__I_I_ II
The administration and scoring of tests___________I____
Checking the accuracy of tests_______________
Supplementary data _________________ " __ I__I____~ I
~
Classes of children tested_____________________ ____ __ ““
0f7
The use of tests in educational guidance I_III I_I_ I{;I - 1”~I ~ The use of tests in the selection of vocational training—
The use of tests in placement_________ __
Conclusion_____ £___________________ “__ ~ _
~
ftS chool C ounseling in R elation to V ocational GurolIIciIir.II.iri~I
The scope of school counseling_______________
Sources and administration of counseling a e t i v i t i e s - I - I ' I I I I I
Preparation of counselors_________________
Duties of counselors__________
Methods of procedure_________________ I_I I I
General tendencies__________________
C hild -L abor L aw s and T heir E nforcement in R elation- to V ocation at
Guidance ____________________________________ ______
Legal standards___________________ ~___ ~TT
"
~
Standards for entrance to full-time employment-IIIIIIIIIIIIH
Provision for vacation and part-time employment______ ____ _
Special protection for minors above school-leavins as-p
The employment certificate_____________ __ __ ______
Administration of child-labor laws in relation to the vocationalguidance program_______ ___ ___ _____J_________
Coordination between the employment certificate issuing- aarenev
and the vocational-guidance agency_______________
_ _
The procedure of employment-certificate issuance__I_I_III_
The contribution of the factory-inspection department to the
vocational-guidance program.______
P lacem ent ___________________________ _________~~
~
", "g
—
Organization of junior placement officesIII.III IIIII I
The field of junior placement______ ___ I _ I I _ __ I_
The task of the placement office_______ I_I____ I__I_ _ II
Relationships maintained by offices_____ __ I
Information available to the offices__ I__I__________ IIIIIII
Procedure in junior placement___________-IE|I_I__ ^__I ___I
Use of blanks, forms, and records___
Special problems_________________________________ "
Aims and tendencies__________________
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
1
2
2
CONTENTS
IT
Page
S tudies op Occupations and I ndustries foe U se in V ocational Guid-
.
A N C E --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
General occupational information----------------------------------------------Special studies of occupations--------------------------------------------- -----Adapting studies to local use— .— ----- -------- -----------------------The choice of occupations for local study----------------------------Essential points in the study of an occupation------ :------ --------Who shall make the occupational survey------------------------- «----Method of study---------------------------------------------------- -—-------Form of report--------------------------------------------f r - i r - —:’--;----- Use of studies of occupations-------------------------- ---------------- —
L*
ft
¿3
y_
"t
PART II
„B oston ______________________________________________________
83
History of the vocational-guidance m ovem ent----------¡------ - - ----- The Vocation Bureau of Boston--------- r ^ - r - ----- bt*:sr Sd-----Development of the vocational-guidance program in the public
^
schools—------------------- ------------------------*»r— ---- —T--•
°
The Boston Placement Bureau— —
———— —— - ------— - - °»
Organization and activities of the vocational-guidance department— , 90
Organization------------------------------------- -------------------------------Schoolcounseling-------------------------------------^
Placement----------------------------------- ---------- m----- — jrr
The use of mental tests as a factor in gui dance—- —
i ou
Employment-certificate issuance in relation to vocational guidance— 101
The school organization and curriculum in relation to guidance—
102
Day schools.;—;_—————------- -,---------------------- — --------:
Summary-------------------- ---------- --------------- ¡ r —:— —
N ew Y o r k — ---------------------------------- ——
---------- :
--------
History of the vocational-guidance movement—T—-— - —
-----Vocational,guidance by high-schbol teachers—-— -— - 7- - ---- %Th 6 N6W York Board of Education and vocational guidanco in
the public schools—, ------ ?—— .---- ---------- - - - - - - - - 7,------- 1
Vocational-guidance activities of the Henry Street Settlement—
Development of private employment agencies for juniors— —
The Vocational Service for Juniors—---------------------- ----- -----Junior placement under the New York State Department of
Labor—1— ------ "--------- ------ - - - - - - - - - —
----------- 7.----- J
Organization and present status of vocational-guidance activités—
Organization—- — ------------------ — ----------- ------------ -r i\ ----- r \
School counseling------- --------- ----------—----------------------p ----The industrial-information service— —— -------------------i------Vocational-information classes—---------- — ;-------- -------1------- - Scholarships_____ __ ____----------- -- -- -------- —
——----- —----- —
The use of mental tests as a factor in guidance--------- —
Employment-certificate issuance in relation to vocational guidance—
The school organization and curriculum in relation to guidance— —
Day schools------- —-------- -— —- —
--------- — ----- — ------Continuation schools--------- —---------- ,—m--------------- ----- ——----Summary----------------------- *------------- -----------------------------------— —
^
•*■-*••*
^
114
115
116
Sï
116
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V *'
x^x
142
144
146
rïx
io
C hicago------------- ------------------------------------------- i-fe-f---------—-r 1----------------
History of the vocational-guidance movement— —------ —— —
Organization and activities of the vocational-guidance bureau-—
Organization---------------------- ------------- --------—- — — p —
Employment-certificate issuance in relation to vocational guid
ance --------------------------------------------- -— ----------------- ------- —-
Counseling in the schools---------- --------------------- ---------- -—f*i
The work of the placement division-----——
— -Investigation of industries and occupations———
Publicity-------------------- —— „----- -------------------- -------------- --
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gig
iYr
lob
172
1 '
CONTENTS
V
Chicago—Continued.
' Page
Scholarships-—_______ ___ ^ _____ .___________ .________ ____ ___ 176
Other vocational-guidance activities in the schools..________ — _
179
School counseling and placement__ _____ ._____ __ ________
179
Lectures and courses giving vocational information
. __
183
The use of mental tests as a factor in guidance_____ ___ ____ 145___ 184
The school organization and curriculum in relation to guidance___
185
Day schools—_-d * ---- ______ s____________ ___ __________ ^_ 185
Continuation schools__________ .__ ___ ____ ______ (__________
187
188
Summary— --------- 14- — ___________t____ - __________ >__ ________
CINCINNATI—__________—____ •__ ___ __ I__________________________
History of the vocational-guidance movement___________________
19 1
The development of the vocation bureau______ ¿t__________,___
19 1
192
Other vocational-guidance activities in the public schools—.____
Organization and activities of the vocation bureau________ ______
195
Organization__________________________ _____ 1 _____ |______ _ 195
The employment-certificate and placement depart ment —
197
The psychological laboratory__ _______
208
Scholarships___________________________
211
Vocational information__________
212
Special research__ —_____ *_____.__ ____ ______ ______ Z ____
213
Supervision of the feeble-minded in industry—ii._4.________ZZZZ. 213
The school organization and curriculum in relation to guidance —_ 214
Prevocational train in g ______________________~__________ __
214
Vocational courses_______________________ _________ ____ _____ 217
Special classes_______________ ______________________ ___ " 219
Sum m ary__________________ ________*,______________________ 220
P hiladelphia 1__ _— _______ _________ ____ __________ ~_Z_7___ 223
History of the vocational-guidance movement____ 4_____________
223
Organization and present status of vocational-guidance activities— 227
Organization_________.______________ ______________w__ ___ __ 227
School Counseling.—________ ____________ __________ _______ 228
The junior employment service.^____________ __________ ____
236
Investigation of local industries and occupations________ ___ 247
__ > .«■,v .__ ____ -T______________
249
Scholarships__ „4—
The school organization and curriculum in relation to guidance../_ 252
Elementary schools_____ ___ :_4_____ ____ _____________ _
252
Junior high schools______ ________________ ___ __ Z.__,1^—1_ 256
Senior high schools________ _________ .____________ ____ ____
258
Special classes__ ________ _]____________ ________ _________
261
Continuation schools___ —4__ ____ —________ _____ 1 __ 261
The use of mental tests as a factor in guidance_________________• 262
. Summary____________ ____ __ ____ glF,____ ________________7 .
264
P ittsburgh __1.____ „__ ________________"j________ ______ ___ ______ J
267
History of the vocational-guidance movement___ ,_____.__ ____ ___ 267
Organization and activities of the department of vocational guid
ance— —— ,---------------- --- ----- ;________ —__ ___ __________ _
268
Organization________________ .________________ __ _________
268
School counseling— ______—______________ __ ____________Z_ 2^1
Research
„ __ ______ ________________________ ___ Z__ ___ 277
Placement— ____ _____ __ ___ ____ _______ _________ _Z__ ZZZ 279
Other vocational-guidance activities in the schools______ u__—u-—: 285
Lectures and courses giving vocational information__ ________ 285
The use of mental and other tests as a factor in guidance..___ 288
Publicity________ ____________________ _____ —__3L..___ _ 289
The school organization and curriculum in relation to guidance'___ 290
Day schools—_—__ $2________________________________ ___
290
Continuation schools________ ______ _____,____________ _____
291
Employment-certificate issuance in relation to vocational guidance— 292
Summary.____ ____________________________________________ __
293
Minneapolis _—__ ________________
_.— —Z.Z.ZZ_____________Z_ 295
History of, the vocational-guidance movement..____ ._______ ______ 295
Organization and activities of the department of attendance and
research.:____?_________ *_______* le__._________________ _____
297
Organization________________ __ ____ — _____ _ _ ZuZl__ Z
297
The work of the visiting-teacher division____ _______ f___—_
300
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Vî
Minneapolis —Continued.
CONTENTS
.
.
Page
Organization and activities of the department, etc. Continued.
Employment-certificate issuance in relation to vocational guid
ance ---------------- ------------------------------------------—---------------- 300
The work of the guidance and placement division--------- ---------- 302
309
The mental-testing program— ---------- — ---------------------------Other vocational-guidance‘activities in the schools------------------------ 310
School counseling----- --------------- ----------------------------------------- 310
311
Courses in vocational information— ----- — ----------------------The school organization and curriculum in relation to guidance----- 312
Junior high schools--------------------------------------------- -------------- 312
Vocational courses--------------------------------------------------------- -— 312
313
Special classes-------------------------------------------------------- -------Summary------------------------------------------ ------- --------— ----------------- 313
315
S eattle ------------------.--------- i-------------- 7- r - ------------------ 1----- =----- ---------History of vocational-guidance activities ——^
------ -------------- 315
317
Organization and activities of the vocational department------------Organization _---------------— ------------ -— — —--------- -------- 317
319
The vocational-guidance program---------------------------------------School counseling-------------------s-------- ----------- 7-------------------- 319
Lectures and courses giving vocational information— ----------— 321
Employment-certificate issuance in relation to vocational guid
322:
ance— 1 --------- ------------- ----------------------------------------------Placement'---------------------- ----------------— -— ------ —7- —---------- 323
The school organization and curriculum in relation to guidance----- 326
326
Day schools— — -------------------- —--------- ------- — -------------Continuation school--------- - —i —
--------------- - ------------ — 328
The use of mental tests as a factor in guidance------ ----- -r-------------- 329
Summary------------------------------------------------ -------------- ---------------- 331
333
R ochester ___________________ _________________ ___________ —7-."---------- I
Organization of vocational-guidance activities---------------------------- 333
333:
The vocational-guidance program in the public-school system--------Vocational guidance in the elementary schools——.------- ---------- 334
335
The junior high school as a vocational-guidance agency----- ----Vocational guidance in the senior high schools— — —----------- 349
Vocational-guidance activities of the continuation school--------- 350
The use of mental tests as a factor in guidance---------------------- 352
Provision for the education of the handicapped----------------—- — 353
Scholarships------ ^ --------------------------¿v— 1----- --- — ——7- ----------- 354
Employment-certificate issuance in relation to vocational guidance— 356
The juvenile-placement bureau of the State public employment office- 357
360
investigation of industries and occupations------------ 2---------------- ■
.
Sum m ary----------------------------------------------------------------- .— -4----- 361
A t l a n t a ----- 1-------- ------------ ----------=-------------- -— - - - — ¡7-7-7------ ¿r--------\ 365
History and organization of vocational-guidance activities™— *----- 365
367
The vocational-guidance program in the public schools---------------The use of mental and other tests as a factor in guidance----- — 367
School counseling------------ ------------------------—- —- — ----------- 368
Vocational information through classroom instruction.------------- 375
Research------ ----------------------------------------- ------- ------------------ 379
380
Publicity------------------------- ---------------------—----- — ------- —-School resources and school attendance in relation to guidance------ 381
381
Reorganization on the 6-3-3 plan--------- i ----------------------------382
Vocational courses in the senior high schools------------- =:---------Part-time classes-------------------------------------- —--------------------- 383
Special classes:----------------------------- ----------- ----- -— —----------- 383
School attendance and employment-certificate issuance------------ 384
The school employment service------------------------------------------------- 385
Summary—----- ■£--------------- ------------------------------------------------------ 389
391
P rovidence ------— ---------- ------------------------------------------- ¡£7-7---------------History and organization of vocational-guidance activities------------ 391
392
The vocational-guidance program in the public schools----- _•---------The use of mental and other tests as a factor in guidance— . 392
396
Courses in occupations--------------------- -— ------------ ------------399
School counseling and placement--------------- --------------- --------402
Publicity---------------------- ---------------------------- ------- 1—:--------a
Scholarships------------------------------------------------------- —----- --------- 408
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CONTENTS
P rovidence—Continued.
The school organization and curriculum in relation to guidance____
Vocational courses________________ ____ _________ u ________
Special classes -a._______ ___ _____ ._______.___________410
Employment-certificate issuance in relation to vocational guidance
Summary___________________________________ •_________
Oakland _____________ _______ _____ ________ ______ ___ __
History of the vocational-guidance movement-_______ ______ ,_____
The vocational-guidance and attendance bureau, 1917-19____ 414
The bureau of research, 1917-19 _________________________
Organization and activities of the bureau of research and guidance—
Organization__ ___ __________ ____________ ____________
The mental-testing program—________________ J _____ ___ ___
Research____________________________________ ___~___ 424
School counseling___ ____ _____ ___________ \________’__~__ I
Vocational information through classroom instruction____ _____
Placem ent____________ ___ ,._____________ ______ ________
The school organization and curriculum in relation to guidance___
Day schools____________________________________ __ ___•
Continuation schools_____ s___ __ __:____________ „ $ 1 ___ ____
Employment-certificate issuance in relation to vocational guidance—
Sum m ary_______________________ ______________________ ___
VII
Page
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493
410
444
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421
426
428
429
429
439
431
432
APPENDIX
T he J unior Division, U. S. E mployment Service, Department of L abor.
435
FORMS AND CHARTS
B oston :
Form used by the vocational-guidance department in the investiga
tion of establishments employing juniors__ ,________j_;_____ ^ _
9g
Face of registration card used by the vocational-guidance depart
ment ________ li_________ _____ ’__ ________,_________ _______ 97
Reverse of registration card used by the vocational-guidance depart
ment _________________ j— ___ _..______________
qo
New York :
:
< :
Form used by Manhattan Trade School for Girls in- the investigation
of establishments employing juniors— .__:________jj______ j___
427
District employment office daily report blank___________ ____ _
429
Face of registration card, Vocational Service for Juniors—._______ _ 130
Reverse of registration card, Vocational Service for Juniors______
131
Face of registration card, juvenile placement bureau, New York
State Department of Labor______ ______ __________________ __ 435
Reverse of registration card, juvenile placement bureau, New York
State Department of Labor
___ ____ _______ _______ 1_____
433
Form used by juvenile placement bureau, New York State Depart
ment of Labor, in the investigation of establishments employing
138
ju n io rs------------------------------------- j p l -------------------- -----------Chicago :
Plan of organization, vocational-guidance bureau, board of education.
Chicago, 111 ., 1923-24—________ 1 ________ :_____!______ _______ « 453
Vocational-guidance bureau, second floor (floor plan)—_____ ____
460
Vocational-guidance bureau, third floor (floor plan)_____ __l_I
161
Face of registration card for boys, furnished high schools by the
vocational-guidance bureau________________ ._____ ____ ________ 459
Reverse of registration card for boys, furnished high schools by the
vocational-guidance bureau________________________ .___ j ____
479
Placement “ follow-up ” report, vocational-guidance bureau________
472
Cincinnati :
Face of cumulative school record card filed in the employment-cer
tificate and placement department of the vocation bureau, Cin
cinnati public schools_______ ___________ _________________ __
205
Reverse of cumulative school record filed in the employment-cer
tificate and placement department of the vocation bureau, Cincin
nati public schools—___________ 4_____________ __________ ____
206
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ym
CONTENTS
P hiladelphia :
Counselor’s record card, White-Williams Foundation——------------ i
Face of registration card, junior employment serv ices----------—
Reverse of registration card, junior employment serviced-------- — —
Form used by the junior ¡employment service in the investigation of
establishments employing juniors---------------—----- «---------- : 250
Pa^e
235
243
244
P ittsburgh : _
Plan of organization, department of vocational guidance, public
££—
schools, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1923-24——
-u,----.J*—
Face of cumulative record card used by counselors, Pittsburgh public
schools ii________—___ :____ _—i------ -------- ;—;-----------------------—
Reverse of cumulative record card used by counselors, Pittsburgh
public schools___________________ _—
— jjSLS—
Face of registration card, junior employment office of the depart
ment of vocational guidance, Pittsburgh public schools——
—
Reverse of registration card, junior employment office of the depart
ment of vocational guidance, Pittsburgh public schools----- i_ -------
269
275
276
283
284
Minneapolis :
Plan of organization, department of attendance and research, public
schools, Minneapolis, Minn., 1923-24— - — -•——
—
Face of registration card, guidance and placement division, depart
ment of attendance and research------------ -- ------------ 1------305
Reverse of registration card, guidance and placement division,
department of attendance and research------------- --------- ----- -—_
Face of combination of firm investigation and employer’s “ order ”
card, guidance and placement division, department of attendance
and research ___---------------------- ------ -------------------------- fj.— ----Reverse of combination of firm investigation and employer’s “ order ”
card, guidance and placement division, department of attendance
and research — i----- -ut— m-'ì---------------- ------------ -— f4——------------
R ochester :
299
306
307
308
Individual information blank, junior high school, Rochester, N. Y.—
Pupil’s record________________ 1-----------------------------— ——.—
Individual information blank, junior high school, Rochester, N. Y.—
Parent’s record______________________________ ———:—-¿-4— Individual information blank, junior high school, Rochester, N. Y.—
Home-room teacher’s record__ - ______ ___ ____—_— — ----Individual information blank, junior high school, Rochester, N. Y.—
Hand-work record------------ -------- ---------------------- — l--------—___
340
Face of cumulative record card, Atlanta public schools_..a______ _
Reverse of cumulative record card, Atlanta public schools___ _____
371
372
A tlanta :
P rovidence :
“ Personnel c h a rt” used by teachers, Providence public schools—- _
Registration card, vocational-guidance department—___u ¿ i . ——-
338
340
341
393
401
Oakland :
Plan of organization, bureau of research and guidance, public
schools, Oakland, Calif., 1923-24-----------.--------,*________ ______ :
Face of cumulative record card, Oakland public schools__________
Reverse of cumulative record card, Oakland public schools___ ._s__
416
419
420
T h e J unior D ivision , U. S. E mployment S ervice :
Weekly report of activities_________________________ ____ —_____
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
438
FOREWORD
ooM ectaf i l r aZ h?Te,
' raP l f y Srpmng interest in problems
This t o t l f •
. tr“
n of the child from school to work
his interest is not confined to a consideration of conditions surtermd‘‘child1
fbo?” 4 Int°rk’
°r Wbfthe
t ' Sentire relation
understood
by the
term
ciiiid labor.
concerns
of the child
to
his preparation for occupational life, his entrance into industry and
his adjustment to the conditions he finds there, and it has found
expression in the development both of vocational tra in in g a n d of
part-time or continuation training in the public schools and of vari
ous activities within and outside the public schools that are commoniy grouped together under the name of vocational guidance 1
Vocational guidance in its pioneer stage, like many nther social
and educational movements, was largely the result of private philancooX
atlonwwith
[thetb
^
^ and
^ more
iimingand
[t was
in close
cooperation
theUtschools,
morecarned
it has on
tended
to
become a regular part of the public-school program. This has come
about not only from the fact that vocational guidance to be effective
must begin many years before an individual is ready to go to work
rresponsibility
e l i l T ?for
o r Tcertain
tnati0nguidance activities
fa?tors thsquarely
at ^ p unon
l » Sthe
schools, such as the raising of the compulsory school attendance age
making more necessary than before a careful adjustment of the
S
& S M ofSopportunities
ind Vid"al t forId;specialized
th<5«reat training afforded
tie exten?
andI diversity
bv
npe/ ? b l,c, schools, necessitating a choice of school course; and the
need, by those who have been trained in the schools, of assistance in
finding suitable openings in the world of busings an T S d u stry
t T °f
guidance for children and young persons of school age that has reached any considerable development
outside of the public schools or of private agencies working in co
operation with the public schools is the placement work conducted
by the Federal Employment Service in cooperation with public
schools or other local agencies and that conducted by the juvenile
offlees m“
ed fn a
citi-
opment where it would be valuable to take stock of what had been
accomplished, to ascertain along what lines it was tending to de“ the ^ v in g ^ f
Association as
preparing for it, entering it, andprogressine
» of * rSJL°
a° occupation,
Guidance as formulated and adopted i ^ l l ^ h v the No tbfn
, VocationaJ
nation (The Bureau of Vocational
Natl0“^ Vocational Guidance AssoUniyersity, Cambridge MaSS [ T c ^ t S “ o tt^ id ] )
ate Scl1001 °f Educatio11- Harljfrd
IX
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
VOCATION AL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
velop and to present the facts for the benefit of students of problems
relating to child labor and education, of workers actively engaged m
vocational guidance, and of those contemplatmg the initiation of
vocational-guidance programs.
. .
.,
Although a somewhat extensive literature on vocational guidance
has developed, including accounts of organization and methods of
work in various places,2 as well as discussions of the theoretical
aspects of the subject, reports of vocational-guidance activities in
different cities have usually been prepared by persons directly en
gaged in the work, and therefore naturally tend to emphasize aspects
of the program which have been most developed in the respective
cities, or in which the writers are most interested, or which they
regard as their best achievement, and to treat less fully or ignore
other aspects of the work.
.' . .
..
The object of the present survey was to furnish information
regarding the development, organization, and present status of
vocational guidance in certain cities of the United States, •which
would give more nearly uniform and comparable pictures of the
work in selected places than do the reports by vocational-guidance
workers themselves.
, . .
.
,
. ,
, \
The Children’s Bureau from its beginning has been interested
in the question of the transition of the child from economic^depend
ence to economic independence as one of the problems ot child life,
and particularly of child life in relation to employment, concerning
which it was directed in its organic act to investigate and report.
Before undertaking the proposed survey, however, the bureau in
vited the cooperation of other Federal agencies whose fields of
interest are related to the subject of vocational guidance and
placement—the junior division of the United States Employment
Service of the Department of Labor, the United States B ureauot
Education, and the Federal Board for Vocational Education, ih e
two last-named agencies were not in a position to participate in the
study. The junior division of the United States Employment Serv
ice accepted the invitation of the bureau to take an active part in
the survey, contributing a field investigator and undertaking the
study of two phases of the vocational-guidance program-vocational
counseling and placement—and sharing the cost of printing the
16 The plans for the study were discussed with a considerable num
ber of educators and others experienced in the vocational-guidance
field, including the members of the board of trustees of the hi ational
8 See especially papers presented a t national conferences on vocational guidance, published6in t L S .B u r e a u o f Education Bulletin, 1914 No. .14 (Washington, 1914), and in
Proceedings of tlie National Vocational Guidance Association, Fourth National Conf
S c e ^ n Vocational Guidance, Richmond, Va published by the
ill so the Twen tv-third Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of ^dncatio ,
P art II Vocational Guidance and Vocational Education for the Industries (Public Sc o
Publishing CmBloomington, 111., 1924), for reports of vocational-gmdance work m 6
tional ^ - « o - ^ G u i d a n c e
^ a n r t t ? ZVocitio1na1l3’Guid°anceSMagazine, which it
S t ? a t d S u e d f o r ° { h e ^ s s S t i o T X h i times a year by the bureau of vocational
f ^ c f t i f n amost
^ i ^closely concerned with their development or administration.
1924). No. 8 (May, 1924) ; Vol. Ill, No. 1 (October, 1924).
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
See
FOREWOBD
XI
Vocational Guidance Association for the year 1921-22. The board,
which served as an informal advisory committee representing varied’
points of view in formulating the outline for study, consisted of
the following: John M. Brewer, director bureau of vocational
guidance, graduate school of education, Harvard University; Mar
garet Brown, of the Vocational Guidance and Employment Service
for Juniors, New York City; J, B. Buell, of the American Associa
tion of Social Workers; Anne S. Davis, director vocational-guidance
department, Chicago public schools; Dorothea De Schweinitz, of
the Junior Employment Service of Philadelphia; Beatrice Doerschuk, of the Bureau of Vocational Information, New York City;
Owen D. Evans, assistant director vocational education, Pennsyl
vania State Department of Public Instruction; Arthur F. Payne,
of the department of industrial education of the University of Min
neapolis; William M. Proctor, of Stanford University; Helen T.
Woolley, formerly director vocation bureau, Cincinnati public
schools.
A questionnaire was first sent out to all cities with a population
of 10,000 or over, primarily in order to locate cities in which dif
ferent kinds of vocational-guidance programs had been developed;
258 cities, or 42 per cent of those replying, reported that some phase
of a vocational-guidance program had been developed in the publicschool system or in connection with it.
On the basis of the information received through the questionnaire
and of suggestions given by the advisory committee mentioned pre
viously and others, more than 20 cities in which vocational-guidance
work was under way were selected for study. During the winter
and spring of 1922 these cities were visited by one or more of the
three investigators who made the field survey. Information on the
vocational-guidance work in operation was obtained for each of the
20 cities. In only 12, however, was the work sufficiently well
rounded or distinctive or long continued to make a detailed report
worth while.
The entire field staff visited all except one of the 12 cities. The
time spent in each city averaged about one week but varied for in
dividual cities from one day to approximately three weeks in the
case of cities having the largest population or the most elaborate
programs, or both. I t was not possible, therefore, to attempt to
evaluate the success of the various methods of work found in oper
ation. All that was attempted was to study the program of work
and methods as thoroughly as possible on the basis of information
obtained from the persons responsible for different phases of the
work in each city and of such observation as time permitted. A con
siderable amount of supplementary information was obtained from
published and unpublished reports and through correspondence car
ried on after the information collected in the field had been brought
together and analyzed. In the case of a few cities where there had
been a considerable development or change in any phase of the
work during the year following the field survey, return visits were
made to observe the reorganized work.
The survey was planned and carried out under the general super
vision of Ellen Nathalie Matthews, director of the industrial division
of the Children’s Bureau, and Mary Stewart, director of the junior
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
division of the Employment Service. The field worl^ was Conducted
by Miss Matthews, with the assistance of Mary Holmes Stevens
Hayes, Ph. D., who was engaged by the Children’s Bureau to study
the use of psychological and other standard tests in their relation to
vocational-guidance programs, and of Jeannette Eaton, representing
the junior division of the Employment Service, who made the study
of vocational counseling and placement. Each of the field investiga
tors wrote the first draft of the sections of the reports on the work in
the different cities for- the study of which she was especially respon
sible, and wrote or assembled the material for the introductory sec
tions relating to her subjects* The reports on the work of the 12
cities (except the sections on placement work in Atlanta, Cincinnati,
and Philadelphia, which were' prepared by Virginia C. Bacon, at
that time assistant director of the junior division of the Employment
Service) were written or brought into final shape by Miss Matthews
and Nettie P. McGill, associate director of thé industrial division of
the Children’s Bureau. Of the introductory sections two were con
tributed by the Employment Service. The section on “ Placement ”
was written by Miss Stewart, and that on “ School counseling in re
lation to vocational guidance ” was written by Mrs. Bacon. Doctor
Hayes wrote “ Mental measurements as an aid in guidance and place
ment.” Of the other sections Contributed by the Children’s Bureau
Miss McGill wrote “ School organization and curricula in relation
to vocational guidance,” and Miss Matthews wrote “ Studies of occu
pations and industries for use in vocational guidance ” and “ Child
labor laws and their enforcement in relation to vocational guidance.”
Acknowledgment is due the persons in charge of the vocationalguidance programs in the cities included in the study, who not only
made the survey possible by giving generously of their time and
knowledge when the information was being collected but who also
read the sections relating to the work in their cities and supplied
such additional material as was necessary to bring the information
up to date and to insure as far as possible its completeness and
accuracy.
The report attempts to set forth in comparable form an outline
of the development and present organization of the vocational-guidance program in each of the 12 selected cities and a description of
the most important activities developed in connection with it. In
order to enable the reader to understand the significance of the vari
ous aspects of the work, introductory sections are presented in which
selected activities and their importance in the vocational-guidance
program have been discussed. These sections are intended as sug
gestive rather than exhaustive discussions. They attempt only to
indicate what are the generally accepted practices in phases of the
work in regard to which a definite body of opinion has developed.
No attempt has been made to outline the history of the vocationalguidance movement in the country as.a whole, to discuss in detail
theoretical aspects of the numerous problems involved, or to formu
late standards.
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR
PLACEMENT
PART I
SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND CURRICULA IN
RELATION TO VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE “
The success of a vocational-guidance program in assisting boys
and girls to make a wise choice of educational and occupational
opportunities is conditioned by the type of school organization and
the flexibility of the school curriculum. Its effectiveness in any par
ticular school system depends to a large extent upon the opportuni
ties that the schools offer a pupil to try himself out in different
activities and to train for various lines of work. The wealth and
variety of individual or personal adjustments that can be made in
the schools also contribute to the success of the vocational-guidance
program by tending to keep children in school until they are sufficiently m ature to choose r vocation Rnd until they Iirvg tbcgívgcI rs
much training for their chosen occupation as the schools can give •
and the extension of the school organization and curriculum to reach
boys and girls during their early years of working life, as in the
continuation school, is fundamentally a vocational-guidance agency.
In considering the task that vocational guidance imposes upon the
school it is necessary, therefore, to consider the extent to which the
junior high school or other types of school offering prevocational or
try-out opportunities have been developed, whether or not vocational
courses and trade schools are available, whether or not continuation
schools have been established, what modifications and adaptations of
the curriculum have been made to suit variations in tastes and ability,
and what has been done for the handicapped through “ adjustment ”
or “ opportunity ” or other special kinds of classes. The aims and
methods of vocational guidance have also introduced new material
m the content of school courses through the study of occupations
and of other subjects closely related to vocational life.
. Although the cities included in this survey present wide differences
m the degree to which the organization and curricula of the public
schools promote or handicap^ formal guidance activities, it is prob
ably safe to assume that cities with organized vocational-guidance
programs have in other respects made provision for the welfare of
school children that are somewhat superior to the average.
° This section was prepared by the U. S. Children’s Bureau.
1
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2
VOCATIONAL, GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
TRY-OUT OR EXPLORATORY COURSES
T H E J U N IO R H IG H S C H O O L
The most widespread provision for the try-out or exploratory
experiences that are essential to guidance is found probably in the
junior high school.1 Under the traditional 8-4 plan of school organi
zation (eight years of elementary school and four years of high
school), the last two years of the elementary-school course have been
dedicated mainly to a review of the “ fundamentals ” acquired in the
first six years of school life. The junior high school plan, or, as it
is often called, the 6-3-3 plan,2 whereby six years are spent in the
elementary grades, three in the junior high school, and three in the
senior high school, aims to salvage the three years following the sixth
school year and turn them to account as a try-out period in which
the pupil is permitted a variety of courses with which to experiment
until he finds himself.
Whether a particular junior high school actually accomplishes
this ideal depends, among other things, on the reasons for its estab
lishment ; many cities have organized junior high schools primarily
for administrative reasons and have made little attempt to effect a
better adaptation of the curriculum to the pupil than the older
organization provided. But at its best the junior high school may
be regarded as one of the most important agencies of vocational
guidance. The curriculum itself is a means of discovering to the
pupil his particular interests and capacities and of providing the
basis for educational and vocational guidance and training. In
addition, the success of the junior high school in retaining children
in school through its appeal to varied interests and its special adapta
tion to adolescent needs (see pp. 102, 148, 350), its special need for
counseling (see p. 33), owing to the varied curriculum that it offers
and the system of departmentalization under which it usually oper
ates, and the comparative ease with which it lends itself to the classi
fication of pupils on the basis of ability (see pp. 12, 25), all contribute
largely to its importance as an agency of vocational, or, more exactly,
educational guidance.
The junior high-school idea is often said to have “ swept the
country.” The “ active development of the junior high-school move
ment ” began with the reorganization of the public schools of
Berkeley, Calif., in 1909.3 In 1922, according to the United States
Bureau of Education, of 1,500 cities with a population of 2,500 or
more which answered a questionnaire on the subject 456 had one or
more junior high schools.4 Some cities are completely committed
to organization on the junior high-school plan. Others have pre
ferred to experiment, and in these cities reorganization has been
tentative and the establishment of junior high schools has been
gradual. Where this has been the case, junior high schools have
usually been opened in sections of the city or in school districts
1 For a discussion of the junior high, school organization see The Junior High School,
by T. H. Briggs. (Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1920.)
2 Although the junior high school organization varies in different places, the most
common form includes the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades.
* Briggs, T. H .: The Junior High School, p. 32.
_ _
* Junior High Schools in Cities Having a Population of 2,500 and Over. U. S. Bureau
of Education, City School Leaflet No. 12. Washington, 1923.
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SCHOOL ORGANIZATION" AND CURRICULA
3
where need for a modification ©f the traditional curriculum seemed
most urgent—for instance, where children were leaving school for
work as soon as the law permitted. Although the ideal junior high
school is a separate unit, housed in its own building, which has been
planned especially for junior high-school pupils, building programs
have lagged behind reorganization, and junior high schools are
sometimes housed with elementary schools, so that not only is the
psychological effect of new surroundings upon the entering pupil lost
but shop and other equipment also is unsuitable or inadequate for
junior high-school purposes. Where reorganization is only partial
certain typical features of the junior high school plan, such as re
placing the one-teacher regime by departmentalization of the curric
ulum, have been introduced in the seventh and eighth grades of
some 8-4 plan schools.
Of the 12 cities included in the survey all except 3 had junior high
schools. Reorganization on the 6-3-3 plan ranged, however, from
junior high schools for all pupils, as in Atlanta, to one junior high
school, as m Cincinnati. Several of the cities studied had junior
high schools for approximately one-fourth of the school population;
011aS ’ tw°! P.lanPed to complete reorganization within a few years
Although junior high schools differ in the extent to which they
provide exploration of the pupil’s interests and aptitudes through
try-out courses, most of them aim to provide exploratory opportunities m at least one or two fields. The academic studies offer a fairly
satisfactory tryout as regard a pupil’s fitness for academic and pro
fessional training. In order to reach the large number who are
likely to be most mterested in manual pursuits most junior high
schools offer also one or more typical industrial activities for try
out purposes. In many of the better organized junior high schools
provision is made for wood and metal working, electrical work and
printing, and sometimes for machine-shop practice, automobile rePairil\^’ and garage work. Tryouts in the commercial field are also
offered, usually business practice” (the keeping of simple records,
use of business forms, filing, use of the telephone, the telegraph, tta
post office, and transportation service, and simple projects in mes
senger work and office practice) and typewriting. Arrangements
for tryout or rotation differ with the school and the system. In
Atlanta, Boston, and Minneapolis, for example, each pupil spent a
specified number of weeks in each shop during the first year or two
wrifiY ™
3uni°r hiSh SGho°l In Philadelphia the second
half of the eighth grade was a try-out period, during which each
pupil spent several hours a week in each of the various shops. In
Rochester seventh-grade boys spent one semester in a “ generalutility shop and one in an elementary machine shop in order to
try out their aptitudes for industrial work.
Following the try-out period the well-organized junior high
school offers a choice of course (academic, commercial, or indus
trial) or an opportunity for elective work in language or in com
mercial or industrial subjects. Although the choice between the
course and the elective work permits a certain amount of specializa
tion in the chosen field, the object even in the ninth grade of the
ganize1 oja'the SjuniorWhigh°™
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°£ theae ^
Cities* CMca^0>
begun to reor-
4
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
junior high school is still primarily to give the pupil an oppor
tunity to try himself out in a set of vocational activities that have
appealed to him; and though these activities prepare for the various
types of specialized high schools or aim to give prevocational train
ing leading to apprenticeship in the skilled trades or to simple office
work (in case the pupil must leave school at the end of thejuntpr
high school) in the best-organized schools care is taken that the
child’s decision at the end of the seventh or the eighth grade is
not irrevocable and does not cut him off from training along en
tirely different lines if a change seems desirable. Ease in shifting
from one type of course to another with little or no loss of time is
considered an essential in the success of the junior high school sys
tem as a means of vocational guidance.
P R E V O C A T IO N A L C O U R S E S F O R R E T A R D E D P U P IL S
The junior high school recognizes the needs of backward or over
age pupils and some junior high schools admit retarded children
before they have completed the sixth grade in order that they may
have the stimulus of a new kind of school, especially adapted to
adolescent requirements, and have companions of their own age, as
well as the benefit of the try-out courses and prevocational training.
Such provision is, however, usually only incidental to the main ob
jectives of the junior high school. Another provision for try-out
experience for children who mentally or for some other reason do
not fit into the regular school organization is made through the in
stitution of the “ prevocational ” or “ opportunity ” class or center,
usually in a limited number of schools. Among cities included in
the study such classes were found where there were also junior high
schools, as in New York, Boston, Pittsburgh, and Rochester, as well
as in those cities, like Chicago and Seattle, where junior high schools
had not been established. Sometimes these classes are operated m
connection with the high schools, as in Chicago, sometimesin connec
tion with elementary schools, as in New York, Boston, Cincinnati,
Providence, and Pittsburgh, and sometimes as separate centers or
schools as in Rochester and Seattle. The personnel of such classes
includes primarily educational misfits—children-who are not inter
ested in academic work and do not expect to go to high school, some
disciplinary or behavior “ problems,” and children who are mentally
unable to progress further in the regular school program. In some
places children are not admitted until they have reached at least
the sixth grade, as in Boston and Chicago, but in others the grade
completed may be as low as the fourth. Emphasis is usually placed
on shopwork, and special attempts are made to correlate the acadernic
teaching with the work of the shops. The prevocational school m
Rochester, where many of the pupils were recruited from the upper
levels of the special rooms for mental defectives, aimed to tram
directly for employment. The prevocational class usually aims only
to afford an opportunity for trying out aptitudes along various in
dustrial lines or to enable boys and girls to u take hold m some sort
of industrial or simple office work when they leave school at an early
age or to encourage and prepare pupils to enter trade schools or
technical or industrial courses in the senior high schools.
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SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND CURRICULA
5
OPPORTUNITY FOR SPECIALIZATION
The opportunity for specialization that a school system provides
is obviously not so much a means of guidance as a culmination of
it. A satisfactory guidance program presupposes that a pupil has
selected his specialized course in accordance with his capacities and
preferences after try-.out courses during the intermediate years and
a careful study of vocations.' (See pp. 12-16.) A guidance program,
however, can be expected to reach its greatest usefulness only where
local schools offer ample opportunity not only to prepare for col
lege and other higher institutions of learning but also to train di
rectly for profitable employment.
The passage of the Federal vocational education law or SmithHughes Act in 1917 6 has resulted in a great extension of facilities
for vocational education, under the supervision of the public schools,
in industry, agriculture, and home economics. For a course to be
eligible for aid under the Smith-Hughes Act instruction must be of
less than college grade and must prepare for employment. The
courses are open to any person 14 years of age or over. They may
be given in all-day schools, where 15 clock hours a week must be
devoted to practical work in the vocational subject, or in part-time
schools or classes, under which are included general continuation
schools offering courses designed to increase “ the civic or vocational
intelligence ” of young workers. “ Smith-Hughes courses ” are,
therefore, found in senior and junior high schools as well as in vo
cational schools. On the other hand, many public-school systems
offer courses aiming to prepare directly for employment that are not
eligible for aid under the Smith-Hughes Act. Chief among these
are commercial courses.
The most common vocational courses offered in the regular day
schools in the cities studied were commercial courses, which were
found in every school system included in this survey. In many
places commercial courses have been broadened to include a wide
variety of commercial employments, from simple clerical work to
salesmanship, advertising, and banking. Vocational courses, other
than commercial, open to girls are usually restricted to homemaking
subjects, though in a few places, usually in trade schools, other voca
tional courses, such as trade dressmaking, trade millinery, costume
designing, novelty work, power-machine operating, catering, and
commercial art, are offered, and printing courses also are sometimes
opened to girls. Boys, on the other hand, usually have a wide choice
of trade training.
In a few places vocational courses, as distinguished from indus
trial courses of a prevocational character, are given in one or more
of the junior high schools—these courses were of the Smith-Hughes
type in Atlanta (for colored pupils), Oakland, Pittsburgh, and
Rochester—to meet the needs of pupils with mechanical ability who
are believed more likely to profit by an industrial course than by
the regular school program and to assist those who for various rea
sons must leave school early to obtain short intensive courses of
»39 Stat. 929.
18835°—25---- 2
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6
VOCATION-AX# GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
training. The junior high school pupil is usually considered too
immature and inexperienced, however, to profit by trade training.
In most senior high schools, on the other hand, pupils expecting
to go to work at the end of their high-school course may receive
training for gainful employment, if it is only a course in typewrit
ing and stenography. Many city high schools give two and four
year courses with a vocational aim in a variety, of subjects, of which
some are eligible for aid under the Smith-Hughes Act, others are
not. Most of the cities surveyed offered vocational training in
high school, not only in commercial work but in other lines as well.
Training in skilled trades was the most common, but among other
types of courses offered were: A four-year agricultural course, in
several cities; vocational music, in three or four; and a course of
training for “ managerial positions in industry,” in several Minne
apolis high schools. Some of the larger cities also have commercial
high schools which train only for commercial positions or serve as
preparatory courses for colleges of commerce and finance. New
York City has a textile high school, offering training for man
agerial positions in the various lines of the textile industry.
Where trade schools have been established they are usually open
to any boy or girl 14 years of age or older regardless of the
grade completed, at least nominally, though in practice they are
sometimes restricted to elementary-school graduates because they
can not accommodate all who apply. Seven of the twelve cities
included in the study had trade schools for boys or admitted boys
to the trade schools for girls, and six had one for girls or admitted
girls to its trade school. The all-day trade school gives courses
varying with the trade studied from a few weeks to several years.
In some places—6 of the 12 cities included in the study—either
trade schools or high schools or both offer cooperative courses; that
is, courses in which half time is spent in school, half time at work.
Cooperation is arranged for in several ways: Sometimes half a day
is spent in actual employment and half a day in school; sometimes
the pupil works and attends school alternate weeks, two boys or two
girls holding the same position and working alternately; occasionally
work is found that ¿requires only part time. New York has a co
operative high school, in which all courses are conducted on a
cooperative basis. Commercial courses are popular for cooperative
purposes, probably because commercial work lends itself to parttime employment better than most other types of work, and retail
selling is reported as especially successful. Such courses may have
distinct advantages. Under actual working conditions the pupil
may receive a more realistic trade training than can usually be given
in the classroom. He may be inducted into his working life by
gradual stages, under supervision. His academic or school work, if
closely correlated with his job, takes on new meaning and fresh
interest. A pupil who would otherwise be financially unable to
remain in school may earn at least part of his expenses while ob
taining his training, and his work in the cooperative course may so
recommend him to his employer that the latter may offer him a
position immediately on the completion of his course. From the
point of view of the school the cooperative course strengthens the
affiliations of the school with employers, which all too often are
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SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND CURRICULA
7
reported as restricted to periods when employers face a labor
shortage.
However, practical obstacles in the way of successful cooperative
training are many. Boys who make good may be tempted by the
offer of full-time employment and wages to leave school altogether.
The occupations and jobs that can accommodate workers on a parttime basis are comparatively few in number and restricted in scope.
Industry also is not organized in such a way that it can always
furnish an educational type of work for the young worker, and
too often the cooperative job has no educational content but is
rather a means of keeping a child in school by enabling him to
earn. A sufficient number of coordinators to visit the places of em
ployment, supervise pupils on their jobs, act in a counseling
capacity, and correlate the school work and the occupation are
necessary if much of the value of the cooperative course is to be
preserved; and effective coordination is expensive. A piece of
work in one of the Philadelphia high schools suggests interesting
possibilities in coordinating: A trained employment worker on the
staff of the central school employment office acted as coordinator
and on the completion of the course placed in positions the pupils
who had received their practical training under his supervision.
A somewhat different type of training u on the job ” is offered by
apprenticeship courses such as those conducted in Chicago and
Boston. In Chicago the schools have entered into agreements with
several trade-unions whereby apprentices work in the trade part
of the year and attend school part of the year, the school work
being related to the trade training. One of the Boston schools
gives two years of apprenticeship training in selected trades in the
school, but withholds a diploma until after the apprenticeship has
been completed in the trade.
Occasionally special provision is made for the vocational train
ing of the mentally or physically handicapped child. Most of the
training provided for such children is prevocational in character
(see p. 4), but the Rochester prevocational school aims to give actual
vocational training of the “ one-operation ” type to boys of lim
ited mentality and places them in the trades for which they have
received training, and the Manhattan Trade School for Girls in New
York City maintains “ trade extension” classes for girls who are
mentally incapable of learning a skilled trade, #but who may be
trained to become helpers or assistants. Such provisions as these
are a recognition that vocational courses should not be made the
“ dumping ground for failures ” that they have sometimes been,
and that the vocational school should not be expected to make
skilled mechanics of mental defectives, though these can and should
be given industrial training commensurate with their ability. In
New York City the vocational schools for both boys and girls have
so-called cardiac classes, in which is given instruction in trades suit
able to persons handicapped by heart disease.
Guidance may be supposed to be an accomplished fact by the time
a pupil enrolls in a course definitely preparing for a vocation; hence
the only phase of a guidance program Usually found in a vocational
school or in effect for pupils taking vocational courses, except as the
coordinator in cooperative courses gives guidance is some form of
placement. Placement is often considered vital to the success of a
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8
VOCATIONAL, GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
vocational course. Even where centralized placement bureaus have
been organized in the public-school system or in cooperation with the
schools it is found in almost every instance that commercial and
technical high schools and trade and vocational schools have their
own placement organizations and attempt to place their own pupils.
Placement by the school is supposed to give prestige to the school
and to keep it sensitive to the demands of the employing market and
aware of the success or lack of success of its curriculum and methods.
Usually where there is a central placement agency the attempt is
made to coordinate the placement work of the various vocational
schools as far as possible with that of the central agency in order
to avoid the disadvantages of decentralized junior placement work.
THE CONTINUATION SCHOOL AS A VOCATIONALGUIDANCE AGENCY
One of the main purposes of the continuation school7 is the adjust
ment and supervision of young workers; in other words, vocational
guidance. Although a guidance program that is postponed until the
continuation school is reached is not to be recommended the imme
diacy of the problem is an advantage. The boys and girls have all
had some contact with the working world and have reached an age
when any vocational knowledge or advice can be turned to immediate
account.
Although the aim of the continuation school is not primarily voca
tional training the Federal vocational-education law includes con
tinuation schools under its benefits and has been influential in in
creasing the number of continuation schools. Prior to the passage
of the act only 3 States had legislation establishing continuation
schools, but in 1924, 26 had public continuation school laws contain
ing compulsory provisions. In some places, as in Atlanta and Cin-'
cinnati, voluntary part-time schools have been established.
All except two of the cities included in this study had established
continuation schools. The required age for attendance is usually up
to 16, but some State laws require the attendance of working minors
up to the age of 18. The maximum amount of attendance required
in the cities surveyed was eight hours per week and the most common
was four. In most places about half the required attendance period
was devoted general education and half to practical work, though
in some continuation schools young workers who wish to devote full
time to academic work are permitted to do so. The time is very
short to accomplish the aims of the continuation school. Boys and
girls taking trade cotirses on the cooperative plan spend half time in
school, and it has been advocated that half-time continuation schools
also be provided in which the young worker in an unskilled employ
ment may have an equal chance with the one who is learning a trade
to continue his education.8 The possibilities of such a continuation
school have been demonstrated in the half-time classes for telegraph
7 For a discussion of the history, function, and organization of the continuation school
see Day Schools for Young Workers, by Franklin J. Keller (The Century Co., New York,
1924).
8 For a discussion of the content of “ vocational education ” for unskilled young
workers see “ The routine job and the routine child,” by Helen Thompson Woolley, in
The National Vocational Guidance Bulletin (now The Vocational Guidance Magazine),
Vol. I, No. 10 (May, 1923), pp. 167-171.
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SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND CURRICULA
9
messengers established some years ago in Cincinnati.9 Classes ar6
sometimes held in factories or in stores that have a sufficient number
of workers of continuation-school age to form classes of their own,
and in this way the advantages of time saving and of special equip
ment and material may be had, but although these classes are taught
by public-school teachers and are tinder the supervision of school au
thorities there is always a possibility in such an arrangement that
the general purposes or the continuation school will be subordinated
to the convenience or profit of the store or the factory.
The effectiveness of the continuation school as a guidance agency
depends upon discriminating classification of pupils and the develop
ment of coordination between school and work. Continuation-school
children are an even less homogeneous group than are those in the
full-time schools; they differ widely in age, physical and mental
development, and previous education, in the kind of work in which
they are engaged, and in their interests and aptitudes. They enter
the continuation school at different times, attend for varying pe
riods, and leave whenever they reach the legal age for discharge.
Classification must, therefore, be based on a study of the individual.
Some continuation schools have an “ entry” or “ reservoir” or “ pre
paratory ” class for entering pupils, in which each pupil is studied
and given an opportunity for a few days or weeks to try himself
out in the courses given in the school until he can decide what is
the most desirable work for him to take. This plan has excellent
possibilities, if the study of the pupil’s interests and abilities is not
merely perfunctory and if the information that is imparted regard
ing school courses and occupational possibilities is not too super
ficial. The results of mental measurements and knowledge of the
child’s occupation, as well as of his grade attainment and of his
previous school record are invaluable aids to proper classification.
I t is not safe to use the last grade attended as the sole basis for
classification in the continuation school, where individual differences
must receive more consideration than is usually accorded them in
the regular day-school organization.
Coordinating what the young worker does in school with his work
ing life and following him up in his employment are considered
integral parts of the continuation-school program. Some schools
have instituted a series of “ lessons in vocational guidance ” in which
information on occupations is systematically given, as well as in
formation on local working conditions, elementary ethics and econo
mics in relation to daily work, information on laws affecting the
employment of minors, etc. Almost all continuation schools aim to
give the presentation of the academic subjects a vocational slant,
relating them closely to the young wage earner’s employment and
immediate environment. In some continuation schools the worker
is required to study as far as possible vocational subjects related to
his occupation; in others he is encouraged to do so only if the occu
pation has possibilities for training or promotion.
All too often, of course, the juvenile worker is engaged in a routine
job that defies correlation with any kind of vocational training.
9
See The Issuing of Working Permits and Its Bearing on Other School Problems, by
Helen Thompson 'Woolley (reprint from School and Society, Vol. I, No. 21, pp. 726-733,
[May 22, 19151).
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VOCATION”AX» GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
In such cases the continuation school has the responsibility of ad
vising the young worker in regard to occupations for which he may
train* giving him the necessary training, and placing him in the
occupation when he is fitted for it.
Probably the greatest single factor in coordination is the appoint
ment in some schools—in 7 of the 10 cities studied which had con
tinuation or part-time schools—of coordinators to visit the places
of employment of the pupils and, more rarely, the homes, and to
correlate the school work with the pupils’ daily employment and en
vironment. In some cities where there are no specially appointed
coordinators for continuation schools, the teachers, either a selected
number or the entire staff, act as coordinators. The coordinator must
perforce be in close touch with placement problems; and he either
carries on placement himself, or cooperates with a central junior
employment agency.
A number of State continuation-school laws either specifically or
by implication require temporarily unemployed children to attend
regular day school, but the requirement involves so many adminis
trative problems which have not yet been successfully solved that it
has not been generally enforced. In an attempt to supervise more
effectively the temporarily unemployed young worker a few States
(Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York) require
unemployed boys and girls of continuation-school age to attend
continuation school several hours a day.9a Although it is sometimes
difficult to provide worth-while instruction for these unemployed
children, whose attendance is of necessity sporadic and irregular,
such a provision has the merit of keeping adolescent children out
of the streets for part of the time during their usually frequent
periods of unemployment, of reducing the time spent in looking
for a job, and of having children immediately available for place
ment when new positions are open.
CLASSIFICATION ON THE BASIS OF CAPACITY
Success in guidance is predicated on a study of the individual and
a careful adjustment of the school to the widely varying capacities
of its pupils.
Probably the earliest attempt to provide for individual differences
among pupils was the creation of special rooms for the physically
(or mentally handicapped. The first class for mentally defective
children in the United States was organized in Providence in 1896,10
and the number has rapidly increased so that now almost every city
which takes any cognizance of variations in ability among school
children provides at least for the most defective, though it i.s
generally agreed that the provision is almost everywhere inadequate
for the need. Instruction in “ ungraded” classes, as they are fre
quently called, is largely individual and includes a considerable
.amount of handwork, most of which ha.s a cultural rather than
a vocational objective. In some cities children of somewhat higher
mentality, though decidedly below average, are taught in separate
•classes, sometimes designated “ borderline-classes.”
9a In Wisconsin both employed and unemployed children under 16 subject to the con
tinuation-school law must attend half of each school day.
10 Holmes, William H .: School Organization and the Individual Child, P art Two, p. 67.
;The Davis Press, Worcester, Mass., 1912.
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Provision is made also in some school systems for children who
are over age but whose retardation is not sufficient to cause them to
be assigned to special rooms—the group generally classed as “ dull
normal ”—and for other backward children who, while giving every
indication of average and sometimes higher than average mentality,
are unable to attain the grade that is normal for their age, perhaps
because of language difficulty, illness, physical defect, poor home
conditions, employment outside of school hours, or school maladjust
ments of one sort or another. These classes bear various names.
For example, the “ opportunity” or “ adjustment” classes of Chi
cago, New York, Atlanta, and Oakland were known as “ observa
tion ” classes in Cincinnati, “ orthogenic-backward ” classes in Phila
delphia, and “ restoration” classes in Seattle. Their purpose is to
bring children up to their normal grade by individual coaching, by
giving specific attention to special-subject failures, by ameliorating
outside factors, or by correcting physical defects. Classes are small,
and the length of time a pupil remains in the class varies with the
amount of retardation to be overcome and his rate of progress. The
curriculum is confined to the regular school program. Generally an
effort is made to reach these children as young as possible, though
in Minneapolis there was an adjustment class for junior high-school
pupils.
The type of provision for physically handicapped children varies
with the city. Some of the largest cities included in the study made
provision for children with almost every kind of physical defect—
the tuberculous, the blind and those with defective vision, the deaf,
the hard of hearing, the dumb, the crippled, thé malnourished, etc —
and a few employed teachers for children in hospitals. In classes
for the physically handicapped the method of instruction and the
curriculum are adapted to the specific disability, and where condi
tions are remediable therapeutic measures and treatments are often
made a part of the routine of the classroom.
The schools have been slower to provide for individual differences
and to adapt the curriculum to the pupil’s capacity where the in
ability to follow the ordinary school curriculum has been less obvious
than in the cases described above. Occasional attempts were made
as far back as the nineties, and in at least one or two experiments
even earlier, to break the “ lock step ” of the schools.11 Since the
widespread use of intelligence tests (see pp. 23-26) has demonstrated
how widely varying among the pupils in any ordinary teaching unit
is the ability to learn, most progressive school systems have shown
a tendency to classify pupils in such a way as to make each group
more homogeneous. Such classification enables each pupil to ad
vance as fast as his ability permits, or, through modification of the
content of the curriculum in accordance with the powers of the
pupils in each group, allows all to advance in accordance with their
chronological age but gives the brighter pupils a more varied and
interesting curriculum and exacts of the slower pupils only the
“ minimum essentials ” of the regular school course. Classes under
the first plan, which enables the brighter pupils to save time, are
known as “ accelerated” classes. The brighter pupils under the
xl.For a brief review of the “ Cambridge plan ” and others, see The Twenty-third
Year Book of the National Society for the Study of Education, P art I, The Education
of Gifted Children, pp. 8-20 (Bloomington, 111., 1924).
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
second plan are said to receive an “ enriched” course. Such classi
fications may be based on the results of mental tests, on achievement
tests or standard educational tests, on teachers’ estimates of ability,
on school records, or on a combination of any of these criteria.
Some schools still depend on unstandardized criteria in classifying,
but scientific methods for measuring individual differences are re
ceiving increasing recognition.
Classification on the basis of mental ability is top often deferred
until the junior high school is reached. The junior high school has
been the first point of attack, chiefly because the number of pupils per
class is usually large, so that each class can easily be divided into a
number of groups. Many junior high schools are organized into
three groups—known as slow-progress, normal-progress, and rapidprogress classes, or by similar designations—and some, as in Atlanta,
for example, are even more minutely graded. As has been noted (see
p. 4), some junior high schools in addition to these groups have an
f X ” class, to which are assigned children who are really incapable
of doing regular junior high school work but who are admitted in
order to have the benefit of some of the shop training and the junior
high school social activities. I t is recognized, however, that classifi
cation should begin much earlier in the school life of the child in
order that the slow and the average pupil may not become discour
aged in trying to keep up the pace set by pupils of more than average
ability, and that the latter may not learn habits of idleness because
their school work is too easy for them; and an increasing number of
schools are giving mental tests to school entrants and are classifying
children in the primary grades.
In some of the cities included in the study classification on the
basis of mental ability was attempted in the senior high school,
usually only of first-year high-school pupils. But the fact that
classes are small and high schools overcrowded often makes it im
practicable. Where the senior high school and the vocational schools
provide varied curricula to suit different aptitudes and capacities
there is a certain amount of what may be termed automatic classifica
tion, so that classification based on mental differences as revealed by
tests may be less necessary.
Probably less has been done for very superior or “ gifted ” children
than for any other group in the public schools, but the work of
Terman and others has been influential in making some of the
schools conscious, at least, that they have an obligation to provide
special educational facilities for gifted children, and interesting
experimental work has been done in their behalf. In this connection
may be noted the special college-preparatory high schools in Boston
and Cincinnati, open only to intellectually superior pupils.
VOCATIONAL-INFORMATION COURSES
The National Vocational Guidance Association in its Principles of
Vocational Guidance12 has the following to say in regard to giving
school children a general background of vocational information:
12The Principles of Vocational Guidance as formulated and adopted in 1924 by the
National Vocational Guidance Association. The Bureau of Vocational Guidance, Gradu
ate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
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SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND CURRICULA
13
The study of the common and local .occupations, vocational opportunities, and
the problems of the occupational world should be carried on before the end of
the compulsory school age. Such study should be provided in organized classes
for all students in junior high and high schools. I t should give the pupil an
acquaintance with the entire field of occupations and a method of studying
occupations wherewith he can meet future vocational problems. In addition,
the study of occupations should be offered in continuation schools, evening,
school for adults, and colleges.
Teachers of classes in occupations, counselors, or investigators should be
given time to study occupational needs and opportunities.
Even where there is no central vocational-guidance agency to foster
and supervise the giving of such information in the schools many
school officials have become conscious of the danger and wastefulness
of the “ trial and error ” method by which the young worker com
monly comes by all the knowledge that he may ever possess of occu
pations, conditions of work, and the organization of business and
industry, and they are making an attempt to give school children
an idea of the “ world of work ” that awaits them and the importance
of adequate preparation for it.13
The provisions made for carrying out this aim vary from the
custom of having an occasional speaker address the school assembly
on vocational subjects to the carefully planned course of study cover
ing several school grades. In Seattle at the time of this study the
assembly-speaker plan had been considerably developed and con
sisted of a series or course of lectures on vocational opportunities
for which the speakers were carefully selected, made thoroughly ac
quainted with the objectives of the course, and provided with an out
line. Even there, however, the plan was designed only as a make
shift until a satisfactory course in vocational information could be
adopted (see p. 322), and though at its best the address from the out
side speaker, like all first-hand material, has the merit of freshness
and vitality it is in general regarded rather as a means of supple
menting the vocational-information course than as a substitute for it.
Some schools, especially where the curriculum is felt to be over
crowded, seek to discharge their responsibility by giving vocational
information in connection with one or more of the traditional school
subjects. The Grand Rapids system of vocational guidance through
English composition is one of the most carefully organized and best
known of these plans.
It is essentially a common-sense attempt to introduce as content material a
mine of information that is important wherever introduced. It is recogni
tion of the fact th at English composition, like certain other school subjects,
is a tool, subject, and th at children may as well sharpen their tools on useful
things as on things th at are of no use. * * * The value of such method
of teaching vocational guidance will depend almost entirely upon how much the
teacher knows of the world of occupations. The success or failure of such a
course hinges on the teacher’s knowledge of occupational material .14
18 The following summary of the replies received in answer to a questionnaire sent out
by the Children’s Bureau in Uie fall of 1922 (see p. xi) to all cities with a population of
10,000 or more gives some indication of the extent to which the importance of giving
vocational information to school children has been recognized : Of 617 cities replying to
questions on the giving of vocational information 311 did not give vocational informa
tion in the classroom, and 110 gave such information only in connection with other
school subjects. Of 196 giving regular courses in vocational information, 54 gave a
course in grades below the ninth (33 of which gave it also in the ninth or a higher
grade), 73 gave one only in the ninth or a higher grade (13 of which gave it only in
continuation, part-time, or vocational school).
u Vocational Guidance and the Public Schools, by W. Garson Ryan, jr., p. 79. U. S.
Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1918, No. 24. Washington, 1919,
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VOCATIONAL, GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
History, geography, manual training, and other school subjects
also are utilized in this way. In some places the vocational-guidance
departments collaborate with the supervisors of various subjects and
grades in working out satisfactory methods for utilizing the regular
school work as a vehicle for such information. Although this kind
of instruction is extremely valuable as supplementary work, the in
troduction of vocational information into regular school subjects,
however well planned, can not take the place of a definite course of
study of occupations.
Where vocational-guidance activities have been developed to a con
siderable extent, as in the cities included in the study, a special course
in vocational information is usually either introduced into the curric
ulum or given as part of a closely related course, such as civics or
elementary economics. In all except one or two of the cities studied
some or all schools gave such a course. The aim is to reach children
before they begin to leave school in large numbers. Hence, the course
is given as early as the sixth grade in some places, as in the Atlanta
schools, but in many places it is postponed until the ninth grade (see
footnote 13, p. 13). The latter grade appears to be somewhat late if
the course is to accomplish its purpose of emphasizing the importance
of staying in school and the vocational value of an education. In
Rochester a course planned to meet the special needs of each grade is
given throughout the junior high school. When a vocational-infor
mation course is offered in the senior high school it is usually as an
elective, though in some schools, as in the Julia Richman High
School in New York, it is required for special groups of phpils—for
example, those below average mentality or those who expect to leave
school early.
Differences between the courses in emphasis, method, and content
are striking. The courses are known by a variety of names. There
are “ guidance ” courses in Philadelphia and in Rochester, a course
in “ community-life problems” in Minneapolis, courses in “ occupa
tions” in Providence and in Oakland, and courses in “ social eco
nomics ” in Pittsburgh. The Atlanta schools give courses in “ voca
tional civics,” a New York trade school requires a course in “ trade
ethics,” and some of the New York continuation schools have “ voca
tional-guidance lessons.” Many commercial high schools offer a
course in “ local industries,” a blend of industrial and commercial
geography, elementary economics, and vocational information. To
some extent .the names indicate the aim and method of treatment.
But though in detail no two courses are alike all of them may be
roughly classified under two types: (1) Those in which the nucleus
is a detailed study of selected occupations—the duties, remuneration,
and opportunities, and the training required in eaclq chiefly from the
point of view of the worker; and (2) those in which the principal
emphasis is placed on the social and economic structure of society,
and vocations are studied chiefly in their social and economic sig
nificance, from the angle of their importance in local, national, or
world industry. For the younger groups of pupils such material
must be simple presented, especially if the objective is not primarily
culture, but is the acquisition of vocational information. Certainly
the direct, personal approach makes a special appeal to younger
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children. Either type of course may include information on the legal
regulation of the work of minors, on workmen’s compensation laws,
minimum wage laws, and hour laws, on trade-unions, etc. Or it
may touch upon a wide variety of personal factors involved in voca
tional success, such as the proper manner of applying for a position,
and suitable business dress. I t may attempt to show the value of
education in general and with reference to selected vocations and the
importance of making a choice of work and of beginning preparation
for it early. It may include explanations and discussions of the
courses or elective subjects offered in the next higher school grade or
in the local high schools or specialized schools. Probably the most
satisfactory courses include all these features with the emphasis
placed in accordance with the age and immediate needs of the pupils,
like the three-year “ guidance ” course in the junior high schools of
Kochester (see pp. 343-348), which is the result of a number of years
of experimentation in the giving of vocational information.
In some places the department of vocational guidance or some
other central agency plans and directs the course. In others the
teacher is expected to provide her own outline. In some the course
consists of hardly more than assignments of lessons to be learned
by rote from an out-of-date textbook. In others a great variety
of supplementary material is drawn upon—outside reading over a
wide range, pictures, posters, moving pictures, outside speakers, in
terviews with persons engaged in specific occupations or industries.
Almost all courses in vocational information include trips to local
industrial and business establishments, but the value of such trips
varies widely, depending upon the care with which they are planned
and with which the pupils have been taught what to observe.
Teachers, in departmentalized schools usually the social-science
teachers, give most of the courses, though in some cities—New York,
Boston, Philadelphia, and Oakland among those studied—usually
where a central vocational-guidance department supervises the work
of school counselors, the vocational-information course .is one of
the counselor’s duties. In Providence, where special emphasis is
given this phase of vocational guidance, the grade-school teachers
who were giving the course in occupations had been specially trained
for it through a course given by the Harvard Bureau of Vocational
Guidance. But many teachers have little knowledge either of the
subject or of the technique of presenting it. Few know anything of
business or industry at first hand, and many are not acquainted
with the results of the research studies in this field. (See p. 74.)
Where there is a vocational-guidance department efforts are made
to put teachers of vocational-information courses in touch with
suitable material and even to supply them with such material. The
vocational-guidance agencies in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Cincin
nati make studies of occupations and industries of local importance,
and the vocational-guidance departments of Minneapolis, Atlanta*
and Providence provide teachers with a variety of leaflets and
articles for use in the vocational-information classes. Some of the
vocational-guidance departments hold regular conferences with
teachers of these classes or conduct vocational trips for teachers.
In Cincinnati a member of the staff of the vocational-guidance
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEMENT
department gives a course in vocational civics for normal-school
st u.d.6nts•
In the national field mention should be made of the contribution
of the Harvard Bureau of Vocational Guidance in the preparation
of outlines and material for use in vocational-information courses
and in training teachers to give such courses.15 (See p. 84.)
lBFor outlines for the study of an occupation, prepared by John M. Brewer, director
of the Harvard Bureau of Vocational Guidance, see Occupations, by Enoch Burton Gowm
and William Alonzo Wheatley, revised by John M. Brewer, pp. 17, 98-100 (Gmn & Co.,
Boston, 1923).
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MENTAL MEASUREMENTS AS AN AID IN GUID
ANCE AND PLACEMENTa
KINDS OF TESTS EMPLOYED
In the history of mental testing school children have played one
of the principal roles, if not the leading one. The reliability of a
test of any sort depends upon the establishment of norms or stand
ards, for which uniform groups sufficiently large to represent a fair
sample are necessary. The arrangement of public-school children
by grades, where the numbers are large and the ages center closely
around a common mode, lends itself admirably to such sampling,
and psychological tests, similar as they are to the regular school
room procedure, can be applied to such a group so readily that it
is easy to see why school children have served as subjects for much
of the early work. This early work was, however, frankly experinaental, its purpose being to establish standards on which to base a
judgment of an individual’s intelligence or achievement. Moreover,
most of this work was conducted by agencies outside the publicschool systems, chiefly by members of the psychological departments
of neighboring universities and their students. The giving of
psychological tests to public-school children has passed the experi
mental stage, however, and there are now on the market several
dozen standardized series of intelligence tests. Where the value of
such work is recognized the giving of tests has passed out of the
hands of independent investigators and has become a regular part
of the school system. In all the cities included in the survey psycho
logical testing was carried on by individuals or bureaus appointed
by the boards of education for the purpose, and they were responsible
to the superintendent of schools.
Tests of general intelligence are the ones in common use. Such
tests propose to measure an individual’s general native capacity to
learn or to profit by experience. They do not claim to indicate
special abilities or disabilities or particular fitness for one line of
work or study as opposed to another. They offer, therefore, no
basis for strict vocational guidance other than to say, “ This child
stands high among his mates in the ability he shows to profit by the
experiences and interests which he has encountered to date.” From
any information derived from this test record one has no basis for
assuming that a child would make a better lawyer' than a doctor
^ better carpenter than a plumber, but one may feel reasonably
safe m recommending that his mental capacity warrants, for ex
ample, an opportunity for professional training or a position de
manding a high degree of mental ability.
. The most important distinction between the general intelligence tests is between those given individually and those given to groups. In
the former the examiner questions, instructs, and times each indi° This section was prepared by the U. S. Children’s Bureau.
17
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
vidual child and scores his success or failure on each performance.
In the latter the time limits are fixed, all the responses are made
by writing or making check marks on test blanks, and the scoring
is done after the examination is completed.
The mental test used in giving individual examinations is usually
some form of the Binet-Simon scale, supplemented, where it seems
advisable, by a selection from a number of other tests. Performance
or nonlinguistic tests of the form-board type are also widely used
in individual testing. Group tests received their impetus from the
mental examinations given to the National Army in 1917-18, and
those that have been developed since then are of the same general type
as the Army tests. Of the standardized group tests now in print
four seem to be almost equally popular. These are the National,
Haggerty, Otis, and Terman. Limits of space prevent further dis
cussion of these tests, but summarized descriptions of them can be
found in Pintner’s “ Intelligence Testing.” 1
Various other types of tests, which would be valuable to the voca
tional-guidance bureau or the placement office, are for one or an
other reason used little, if at all. One of these, which might be
called a differential diagnostic test for occupations, would be help
ful to vocational-guidance workers, but because it is very difficult
to work out it has been but little used and was not reported by any
of the cities included in the present study. It depends primarily
on a job analysis of the work in question—whether it be driving a
street car or assembling a special type of carburetor. A test is de
vised in which the actual job is simulated, or analyzed to discover
its essential factors and the qualities required for success in doing
it, such as keenness of perception, rapidity of eye movement, quick
reaction time, and ability to estimate distance, and the individual is
tested for those qualities. It is the kind of test that can better be
devised and used in an industrial concern than in a central laboratory
because of the great variation in jobs among different concerns as
well as the constant improving of all industrial processes, which re
quires constant revision of the test. On the basis of such a test it is
possible to discover individuals who would stand a poor chance of
succeeding on a particular job and others for whom one would feel
reasonably sure in predicting success.
Another type of test valuable to the vocational counselor is a test
of special aptitudes. Unfortunately psychology has very little to
offer along this line. In the first place considerable doubt still exists
as to just what constitutes an aptitude. There is clearly such a thing
as an aptitude for music and an aptitude for artistic creation. Me
chanical ability has been considered an aptitude by some; literary
ability is sometimes regarded as a native capacity which manifests
itself independent of training; and there are those who would like
to speak of an aptitude for arithmetic, for spelling, for science, etc.,
so that the term becomes too loose for further service. It is perhaps
for this reason that psychologists have been slow in bringing out
tests of this sort, but whatever the reason, the Seashore tests of musical
ability are the only ones in general use for diagnostic and guidance
purposes. Mention should be made of the Stenquist tests of mechani1Pintner, Rudolf: Intelligence Testing, Methods, and Results, pp. 146-166.
Holt & Co., New York, 1923.
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cal ability, even though it is still questionable whether mechanical
ability results irom an inborn native capacity or is the result of
special opportunities and interests.
Tests of manual dexterity, such as tests of motor coordination
steadiness, and precision, were developed to a considerable extent
some years ago. During the last decade, however, they have steadily
declined m favor and now are rarely used in practical examining.
1 his decline is due in part, doubtless, to the time and trouble it takes
to administer them, and in part it is the result of the great wave of
interest m general intelligence tests which has tended to overshadow
interest m special factors. If the movement toward vocational
guidance continues for another decade with the same velocity that it
now possesses it is not improbable that such tests will return to
tavor as means of measuring manual requirements for occupations
fecales tor rating personality, characteristics, and range of inter
ests are a form of mental measurement undoubtedly of value, but
they are difficult to devise in suitable form; and though scales for
ratmg men on personality characteristics have been constructed and
used both m the Army and in industry, reliable objective tests of
character qualities are few and rather vague.2
Two other groups of tests, differing fundamentally from intelli
gence tests ^ that they tell only what progress an individual has
made up to the moment and do not suggest how much further he
can progress or how likely he is to succeed in a new subject or a
m<7- work, are educational-achievement tests and trade tests.
i5i iUC^ tl0nial"aC iievement .tests are widely used, but the extent to
haI e been aPPlied and the importance and significance
attached to them vary greatly. Educational-achievement tests
given m connection with tests of mental capacity furnish an accom
plishment quotient which gives a measure of the amount the child
has accomplished m proportion to his mental capacity for such ac
complishment. Such a measure provides a basis for educational
guidance in that by modifying a child’s school program in accord
ance with his mental ability his accomplishment quotient can be
hept up to 1, or m other words, he can be required to work to his
lull capacity.
Trade tests, like educational-achievement tests, are merely a meas
ure of the amount of knowledge or skill that the individual pos
sesses at the time of examination. They indicate that a man is now
a journeyman plumber, for example, but they do not take into ac
count whether he has reached that grade after an apprenticeship of
4 years or 40, and they give no hint as to whether he will be able
to increase his skill and rise to the grade of expert or whether he
has already reached his limit of advancement. They determine
merely his present proficiency in his trade. Although trade tests
have been in use m industry for some time and during the World
War were developed on a large scale, their use in the placement office
o± a public-school system is necessarily limited because the great
majority of junior workers go into unskilled jobs. In the com
mercial courses of the high schools, however, children are being
cS , Chicago. 1924)!ra0nnel Management> b* W- D- Sc° tt and R. C. Cloihier (a! W Shíw
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
graduated fully trained to take clerical positions, and in the indus
trial courses of some high schools: a certain amount of apprenticeship
training is given in the shops. I t would seem, therefore, that when
an effort is being made to place such children trade ^tests _might
profitably be used, as an objective measure to assist m finding a
position suited to the applicant’s trade proficiency. They would
thus serve as a very real aid in vocational guidance.
THE TECHNIQUE OF TESTING
O R G A N IZ A T IO N O F P S Y C H O L O G IC A L B U R E A U S
The reliability of a standardized test as an aid in guidance and
placement depends on the care and thoroughness with which the test
is administered, the accuracy with which it is scored, and the insight
and experience which are brought to bear in interpreting the (results,
The character of the personnel of the psychological bureau, the
training of persons entrusted with the giving of tests, and the method
and technique of testing are, therefore, of fundamental importance.
In a few cities included in the study—Boston, New York, Pitts
burg, and Providence—the school system contained two bureaus^ giv
ing mental tests ; and in New York an affiliated bureau, in addition,
administered group intelligence tests. In cities where there are two
bureaus giving mental tests one is usually concerned, almost exclusively with examining individuals rather than groups. In Chicago,
Philadelphia, and Seattle, also, the attention of the psychological
bureau was mainly concentrated on individual examining; although
the psychological bureaus of these cities took some part in the work
of group testing, the administration of this phase of the program
was not in their province. In Cincinnati, Oakland, and Rochester,
on the other hand, the bureau that gave individual examinations was
also responsible for the administration of group tests, and the same
examiners handled both phases of the work. In some places a cer
tain number of 11problem cases ” are still referred to outside agencies
by teachers and principals or by vocational-guidance and placement
bureaus, such, for example, as the psychological clinics of the Univer
sity of Pennsylvania and the University of Minnesota and the Insti
tute.for Juvenile Research in Chicago.
.
Considerable variation exists in the size of the psychological
bureaus as well as in the time devoted by them to the work of testing.
In several of the cities studied the individual responsible for the
mental-testing pTogram was also responsible for the administration
of the special-rooms department; in several the department respon
sible for the administration of testing had also the duty of compiling
certain school statistics. In about half the bureaus studied only one
person was appointed especially for the work of testing. In the
remainder the size of the staff varied from 2 to 11.
A staff of trained examiners adequate to handle the testing re
quired of them was found in only about half the cities. In the
remainder it would seem that either a considerable numbei of chil
dren who might benefit by the use of mental-test results were neg
lected, of that mental tests were conducted by persons of relatively
inadequate training and experience.
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mental measurements
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The importance o f the staff personnel, especially o f the director
hphn™ w -POntS15 6 T ? r- thif policy and conduct Of tie work, can not
be overestimated. It is, however, difficult to evaluate in view of the
^ n g emphasis .that is laid on different aspects of the work
m e n the interest is primarily limited to the detection of subnormal
lldren and their segregation in special rooms an extensive practical
SUCh
may conceivably
take
the
place of the thorough training
andJ?hildren
the scientific
point of view
essen
tial for a director who seeks to map out a program of which the
proper placement of each child in the school system is the goal In
every city studied the number of special rooms was reported as
f * lenf to care for the children who could profitably be placed
there and it is quite natural to assume that selection will bePmade
• T w lowest types first and that the entire group will probably
include few cases of a doubtful nature. A certain lack of accuraev
therefore, m the testing procedure would not result in serious inf0r 6Ven th0Ugt1 fome cblldren m ight be ranked higher or
more ?areful examination it is fairly safe to assume
that all the space m the special rooms is filled by children whÎse
W p C\
Z V Clt? m ervS Î ¥ r bein^ there* When, however psTchogical testing is applied to an unselected group, and the results of
such testing are used to direct, modify, or alter the nature rate or
amount of educational training that each child is to receivé, the’necessity can not be too strongly emphasized for keeping the direction
V he hand^ °f a P^son whose training, experiencT
and attitude will prevent inexactness in the administration or scorrefults the
and misunderstanding or misinterpreting o f the
THE ADMINISTRATION AND SCORING OF TESTS
With the development of group testing a technique has been
evolved so simple that the actual giving and scoring of tests can he
accomplished by a relatively untrained person, provided that he is
accurate and conscientious and that the work is directed by some one
who " I
? appreciates the danger of inexact procedure by persons
do not entirely comprehend the significance of the7 field of
mental measurement that he will impress upon his subordinates the
l h X-Ct adh/ reT ^ ° ¥
details of a stan ^a^p n T ced u re6
fL f ¥ tecbnifiuf. of individual testing is more complicated than
, aÎ j ¥ r-0U£ Resting, and as greater importance is generally at
tached to individual testing, even more'eareful p r o c é d a is neces
sary for it. The question therefore whether or not the actual ad
ministration of individual examinations should be in the hands of
relatively untrained and inexperienced persons is a serious otio
Some bureaus have attempted to meet objections by permitting thé
examinations to be given by teachers but restricting to the director
m charge of the work the interpretation of results^ the d L ^ o sin of the case, or the recommendations for treatment.
■
In some of the cities included in the survey individual examina
tions were sometimes given by teachers, principals, or vocational
2 Teatlv°IndTw! ^ ammg for the wo.rk Siven these assistants varied
greatly and was m some cases noticeably inadequate. In four or
18835°—25-----3
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
five cities all individual testing was done by the central bureau,
and in two or three others almost all of it. T he actual giving and
scoring o f group tests was done by members o f the bureau stall m
only two or three cities. To increase accuracy, however, the scor
ing of group tests given by teachers, counselors, or others, was
carefully checked by the bureau staff in several cities, and to a. less
extent in a few.
CHECKING THE ACCURACY OF TESTS
A s a means o f correcting mistaken diagnoses or o f measuring the
extent o f development o f a child after specialized treatment some
psychological bureaus provided for reexamination. Four citi.es
among those included in the study did little or no reexamining of
children given individual mental tests; others estimated that they
reexamined from 4 to 88 per cent of them. In Seattle it was the
practice to test all special-room children every year or two w ith the
object o f restoring pupils to the regular grades where possible. In
New York, all special-room pupils were reexamined when they
reached school-leaving age. In six cities some attempt had been
made to place or to follow up special-room children. The extent
and completeness of the work, as w ell as the procedure, varied
w idely in different places.
Am ong the methods o f increasing the accuracy o f group exam in
ations the follow ing may be cited: T esting the same groups with
other tests; giving individual examinations to certain sections ox
the group tested; retesting the same group at later periods; and
g iv in g individual examinations to children whose test records were
markedly inconsistent w ith their previous or subsequent school
records, the teacher’s judgment, etc.
A n additional check-up on the accuracy o f tests was furnished m
some places by obtaining the teacher’s estimate o f a pupil s intelli
gence. In only a small number of cities, however, have these esti
mates been obtained in a systematic fashion by the psychological
bureau and incorporated in the test record.
SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
The importance of obtaining an adequate social history before
making recommendations on the basis o f either individual or group
tests was recognized in several cities. A few psychological bureaus
employed a social worker on the staff. One or two others made an
effort to have parents come w ith the children at the time ofexam m ation and to obtain from them the desired information. Others at
tempted to obtain as much social data as possible through the volun
tary home visits of teachers and through social agencies. A tew
seem to have neglected this phase o f the work entirely.
. ..
A few cities had physicians on the staff of the psychological
bureau, and physical examinations were made when it seemed de
sirable. In another city a part-time physician was in attendance;
and in another, sending children to a clinic in the same building was
an established procedure. In most cities the psychological bureau
was obliged to depend upon outside assistance for obtaining medical
data.
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MENTAL MEASUREMENTS
23
CLASSES OF CHILDREN TESTED
Individual mental tests are usually made at the request of teachers
or others coming in contact with the child through the school, of
social agencies, or, more rarely, of the placement office or the work
permit issuing officer. The children usually referred for examina
tion include suspected defectives, children who are retarded in
school, those with psychopathic tendencies, those who present be
havior problems or are delinquent, and those for whom some form
of special advancement is desired, such as a double promotion, place
ment in an accelerated class (see p. 11) or permission to take extra
school subjects. In addition, in a few of the cities in the study ap
plicants for scholarships were given mental tests, and in a few,
physically handicapped children who were candidates for admission
to classes for the blind, semiblind, deaf, crippled, and speech defec
tive were tested. The difficulty of testing such physically handicapped persons and the lack of adequate provision in many school
systems for training them may account for the failure to recognize
the value of learning something of the mental capacity of a child
already handicapped in his effort to acquire an education.
In only a few places had large groups of children been given indi
vidual examinations. Among these were Minneapolis, where all
kindergarten children were tested prior to their entrance into the
first grade, and Oakland, where all children received an individual
mental test in either the second or the third grade.
Group tests are given usually on the initiative of school authori
ties. The procedure is to examine all children of a given unit_a
particular school or a selected grade in all the schools in the city or
in a certain number of them. In none of the cities studied had all
school children been given psychological tests, but in each of these
cities some group testing had been done. The extent and amount
of this testing varied widely in different cities. The points in the
school course most frequently chosen for examination are the time
of entrance into the junior and into the senior high school. Atlanta
Oakland, Pittsburgh, Rochester, Minneapolis, and Boston had a program for testing sixth-grade pupils who were about to enter junior
high school, and Cincinnati made a practice of testing sixth-tirade
pupils. All senior high school entrants were tested in Atfanta,
Boston, Minneapolis, Oakland, Pittsburgh, and Providence.
In practically every city studied the reports of group tests were
accessible, at least under some conditions, to the vocational counselors
and to placement offices, but in many cities they were seldom used
a fact of importance in considering the significance of mental tests
in vocational guidance.
THE USE OF TESTS IN EDUCATIONAL GUIDANCE
The uses to which the results of mental tests may be put may be
classified under educational guidance, vocational guidance, and
placement.
Segregating the feeble-minded in special rooms for defectives on
the basis of mental tests is the one service in schoolroom adjustment
common to all the cities included in the study. Although in a few
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
of the cities some children are still admitted to the special rooms on
the recommendation of teachers and principals, in almost all a psy
chological examination was required prior to admission. In most
places, also, the results of psychological tests were used as a basis
to determine whether or not a child who appears unable to meet
the intellectual requirements of even the special classes should be
excluded from school. Mental tests have been of real service in
releasing subnormal children from the discouragement of repeated
failure, and, by segregation in special rooms, procuring for them a
type of instruction that is within the range of their mental capacity
and from which they can derive profit. The psychologist, in cooper
ation with the vocational counselor, may well undertake a further
study of the industrial capacities of these children with a view to
modifying the curriculum of the special rooms to ^facilitate the
subsequent adjustment to industrial life. The special school for
subnormal boys in Rochester is an example of what can be done in
a public-school system toward preparing mentally defective children
for industrial life. Follow-up studies of the industrial careers of
special-room graduates should furnish data that will serve as a basis
for vocational guidance in the case of the feeble-minded child.
Another class of children for whom school adjustments are being
made more scientifically than formerly as a result of the ability to
measure intelligence are those generally classed as “ dull normal.”
These are children who are over age for their grade but who are not
sufficiently retarded mentally for a special room. A growing num
ber of school systems are endeavoring to locate these children by
means of psychological examinations and to provide training—gen
erally practical work of some kind—more suited to their needs than
the regular elementary-school curriculum.
Mental tests have proved of use likewise in the case of retarded
children of good ability by proving that their retardation was not
the result of mental defect and by suggesting such means of adjust
ment as the observation or adjustment class, the purpose of which
is to bring children up to their normal grade by individual coaching.
Although in some cities transfers to special schools or classes for
backward children or to observation rooms were made only after a
psychological examination, the selection of the backward but not
feeble-minded child is still often made on the recommendation of a
school principal.
Less has been done for the child that deviates from the normal on
the side of superior intelligence than for the mentally subnormal,
though a few cities are recognizing that the schools have a distinct
responsibility toward the gifted child. In six of the cities studied
and to a smaller extent in three others, mental tests were being used
as a basis for providing special advantages for children of superior
intelligence; consideration was given the mental test in recommend
ing transfer to schools demanding higher requirements than the
average or to accelerated classes, or in permitting double promotions.
For the great majority of school children the main purpose of test
ing has been classification in the regular grades. Intelligence tests
were used extensively as a basis for dividing grades into classroom
sections in six of the cities studied; in four, they were used to a lim
ited extent; and in one, experimental work was being done in several
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mental measurements
25
elementary schools. The only city reporting no work of this sort in
operation had given a large number of tests with this end in view,
but the psychological bureau had not been able to convince the mathe school principals of the advisability of such sectioning.
The plan of dividing grades or classes into sections on the basis of
score or percentile rank in group tests has the combined merits of
increasing ease and efficiency of teaching by giving instructors homo
geneous groups to deal with and of affording individual pupils
opportunity to obtain instruction at a rate and in amounts commen
surate with their mental ability. The junior high school is the place
most frequently chosen for an extensive attempt at classification on
the basis of intelligence tests. This is natural, as the common pro
cedure of having each junior high school “ fed ” by a number of ele
mentary schools, often of very different social and intellectual levels,
furnishes the numbers as well as the divergence of mental ability to
make such classification both possible and desirable. Six cities
among those studied had adopted this procedure witji junior high
school entrants. In a few cities all senior high school entrants were
classified on the basis of mental tests, and in a few others such classi
fication was being carried out in some of the high schools. In some
cities the overcrowded condition of senior high schools, however, had
made it impracticable. At least one city, Oakland, had put the plan
into operation in all the elementary grades of many schools: and in
other cities, among which are Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Providence,
Atlanta, New York, Rochester, and Seattle, one or or more elemen
tary grades or schools had been classified in accordance with mental
ability as ascertained by psychological tests.
psychological examination has been put to various uses in
addition to those that have been described. One of the most general
or these is m connection with the “ behavior problem.” Eleven
cities reported that psychological examinations served as an aid in
solving problems of behavior; that is, school misconduct and truancy, not-serious delinquency. The service rendered in this con
nection by the mental test consists chiefly in discovering cases of
subnormality or intellectual dullness and recommending transfer to
special rooms or schools for backward children. Occasionally, how. e tests show that the trouble results from the fact that the
1S mentally superior to the school work he is doing. Among
other cases of school adjustment based on the mental test are the
following: In some cities, notably in Minneapolis and Pittsburgh,
psychological-test records were used as a check on high-school fail
ures. In Cincinnati psychological examinations were given to chil
dren whose parents desired to enter them in kindergarten before they
reached the prescribed school age, and permission to do so was
granted if the test record showed them to be of superior intelli
gence. In cities where all candidates for scholarships are given
mental tests the test result is employed for guidance purposes, in
asmuch as it is used even more as a basis for deciding the kind of
course that the candidate shall be directed into than as a determining
factor in the granting of scholarship money. A high test record
made by a pupil who has reached, the age when he may obtain a
work permit and has expressed his intention of leaving school is
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
sometimes used as a basis for urging him to remain in school. This
was done most consistently in Cincinnati, probably because of the
well-established operation of the cumulative record card (see p. 205)
and the close relation between the placement bureau and the psycho
logical laboratory.
THE USE OF TESTS IN THE SELECTION OF VOCATIONAL
TRAINING
The use made of mental tests in advising children to enter cer
tain kinds of work or to elect lines of training that will prepare
them for particular types of occupations, such as business instead
of professional work, for example, is more limited than their use
in what has been described as educational guidance. In the use of
tests as an aid to what may be termed more strictly vocational
guidance, recommendations are not usually offered by the examin
ing bureau, bqt by vocational counselors, principals, or teachers who
obtained their information from the written reports of the exam
iners, which are more or less accessible. Whether or not mental-test
records are taken into consideration, therefore, depends upon whether
or not test reports are brought to the attention pf the persons re
sponsible for making up the child’s program, and the degree of
confidence that these persons have in the reliability of test measure
ments, plus the amount of adequate information available as to the
degree of intelligence required for success in each type of course
offered.
The extent to which the test records are used is small. Counselors
or teachers make use of them to some extent in advising children to
take or to avoid certain courses. In one high school in Providence
superior pupils were advised to take the classical course and inferior
pupils the vocational, and all pupils with an intelligence quotient
below 110 were advised by the director of guidance and research not
to take the classical course. In Seattle children with the lower in
telligence quotients (including all those whose intelligence quotient
was below 80) were directed into the industrial courses. Oakland
pupils with intelligence quotients below 91 were rarely advised to
take the academic course. In several cities attempts were being
made to ascertain the minimum intelligence levels necessary for suc
cess in different types of courses—in New York the psychologist of
the Vocational Service for Juniors tested entering and graduating
classes in the various courses with this object in view; in Pittsburgh
some comparisons were made of the percentage of scores above and
below the median in groups of pupils selecting different courses; in
Boston the director of the department of educational investigation
and research collected data on the intelligence quotients of failing
pupils in different types of courses in an effort to obtain information
as a basis for advice on the choice of a school course. In none of
the cities included in the survey were mental tests utilized in advis
ing pupils to choose a specific type of trade training, though many
vocational-school principals and shop teachers appeared to recognize
that the work in certain shops, such as the electrical shop, calls for
considerable mental ability, whereas the work in others, such as
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MENTAL MEASUREMENTS
27
the sheet-metal, forge, and repair shops, can be handled by less
promising pupils. In none of the cities was an effort being made
to help pupils choose training on the basis of special aptitudes or
disabilities as revealed by tests.
THE USE OF TESTS IN PLACEMENT
Psychological examinations are seldom considered in recommend
ing children for positions proportionate to their ability—in other
words, in placement. In three of the cities included in the survey—•
Cincinnati, New York, and Providence—the placement office for
minors maintained a psychological laboratory or had the services
of a psychologist. Mental testing was done also in the Pittsburgh
placement office.
Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Boston, and Seattle children wishing to
work before they had conformed to the age and grade requirements
for work permits might be referred to the psychological bureau for
examination. Such examination and a certification from the psycho
logical examiner were required in several of the cities in the survey.
An intelligence quotient below 70 was the standard most frequently
set for eligibility for a work permit under these conditions.
The placement offices of Cincinnati and Pittsburgh and to some
extent the New York Vocational Service for Juniors were attempting
to utilize the results of psychological testing in placing junior appli
cants for positions, but their efforts were hampered by the limited
range of positions open to young persons and by the fact that very
little is known about the intellectual requirements of the positions
available or even of their developmental possibilities. Adequate
data on the minimum general intelligence levels necessary for suc
cess or prognostic tests of a differential diagnostic type are undoubt
edly difficult to obtain by any sort of central employment bureau,
since the requirements of a job vary considerably in different estab
lishments. Although psychological bureaus and placement offices
in cooperation with such local industries as make a practice of em
ploying minors might undertake the task of obtaining further data
on the mental requirements both of the positions open to minors and
of the line of advancement in these positions in different industrial
organizations, none of the cities included in the study had attempted
to obtain systematic information on the amount of intelligence re
quired for handling different jobs or different types of jobs, either
in terms of minimum test scores or by such rough measure of re
tardation or advancement as the ratio between age and school grade
reached. In no city, likewise, were different kinds of jobs more than
roughly estimated in terms of the amount of schooling required to
handle them successfully.
In view of the fact that the great majority of children applying
for positions at the placement office have not received sufficient indus
trial training to rank them even as trade apprentices, it is not sur
prising to find that the giving of industrial trade tests had not been
considered in any of the placement offices visited. Many children
do, however, come to the placement office seeking clerical positions
of a more or less specialized nature—as stenographers, typists, file
clerks—but little use has been made of standardized tests for clerical
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
work. The Pittsburgh placement office used a trade test for stenogra
phers; and in the Boston placement office a letter w.as dictated to
applicants for stenographic positions, and the results judged em
pirically by one of the office force.
CONCLUSION
As an aid to educational and vocational guidance and placement
psychological tests have been used extensively in guiding a child
through the regular established school program and apparently have
given satisfaction in that they serve to indicate the rate at which he
can best proceed and the amount that he can properly absorb, as well
as to select the group mentally unable to derive benefit from the ordi
nary curriculum. Where, however, the school program diverged
from established lines and the demand arose for some measure which
would assist in determining along which line training should progress,
as well as the further step of selecting the occupation in which an
individual with a particular mental make-up could function to the
best advantage, it was not found that a great deal of practical assist
ance in strictly vocational guidance was being obtained from the
psychological bureaus of the public schools.
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SCHOOL COUNSELING IN RELATION TO VOCA
TIONAL GUIDANCE«
THE SCOPE OF SCHOOL COUNSELING
Counseling as a definite and organized school activity has grown
out of a new social attitude toward both the child and the school.
It is due to recognition of the individuality of the one and of the
obligation resting upon the other to foster and develop that individ
uality for the advantage of the child and of society. Possibly no
better definition of its aim could be found than that of the depart
ment of vocational guidance of the public schools of Providence,
which states the object of its program as “ making the most of each
child during the time he is in^ school and helping him to make the
most of himself after he has left school.” With this aim in view
that informal and personal advice which every good teacher has
always felt the obligation to extend to at least some of the children
under his charge is expanding and growing from an unorganized
and often unscientific content into a carefully planned, organized,
and professional activity directed toward the whole body of pupils
and reinforced by extensive cooperation with other agencies designed
for aiding in human adjustments.
. Counseling is advisory in character, but it must be emphasized that
it is more than the mere giving of advice, however sound. It im
poses upon the counselors the obligation of pointing a practical way
to the course of action they recommend, and to this end they may
have to levy widely upon school resources—clinic, visiting teacher,
scholarship committee, junior employment office, social agencies, and
all available sources of information. Not until they have mapped,
out a plan of action based upon a careful analysis of all the facts
bearing upon the case and have made acceptance of that plan possible
can they be said to have given counsel. Nor is the counseling process
complete until they have tested and proved the wisdom and efficacy
i eir Judgment by a follow-up of the case which shows the nature
of the results.
Counseling presents four general phases: Educational, vocational,
social, and ethical or moral. Educational counseling concerns itself
with the adjustment of the child to curricula, with helping him to
select, or readjust himself in, courses of study, to plan his secondary
extension, collegiate work, and in general to make the most of his
opportunities within the school. It is the most common phase of
school counseling and meets a pressing and immediate demand on
the part of the pupil. Vocational counseling has for its aim the
best ultimate adjustment of the child to the occupational world,
helping him to make the most of himself in that world, both for
himself and for society. Social counseling assists the child to make
adjustments both within and without the school to the world of
° This section was prepared by the U. S. Employment Service.
29
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VOCATIONAL. GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMEN!?
which he is a part. I t often involves adjustment of other members
of his family. It may be as simple as consultation regarding which
high-school club or recreation group he shall join for a social hour,
or it may require the most technical social case work and involve a
practical rehabilitation of the whole family group to which he
belongs. Ethical or moral counseling covers conduct and behavior
problems. The present tendency in ethical counseling is to keep
simple disciplinary cases in the hands of classroom teachers and
administrative officers and to consult the school counselor only in
regard to complicated behavior problems to whose solution the coun
selor’s more specialized knowledge of the child may contribute.
It is evident even from this attempt to confine definition to the
simplest and most obvious phases of counseling that they are by no
means distinct and separable. Coalescence in character is inherent
and inevitable. They differ rather in emphasis than in aims and re
sults. Where this emphasis shall lie is determined primarily by the
special exigencies of the individual case under consideration, but also
by the local origin of the activity, the purpose of the supervising
agency, the type of the school in which it is established, and the prep
aration, experience, and interest of the particular counselor giving
the advice. The counselors of a vocational-guidance department nat
urally emphasize educational and vocational counseling.
.
Practice at the present time indicates that counseling would begin,
by preference, in the elementary or intermediate school. Especially
well organized programs are developing in school systems organized
on the 6-8-3 plan, where the possibilities of differentiation m the
junior high school curriculum call for careful guidance. Counseling
as an activity grows in popularity and field of service by virtue of its
own successes, and whenever established in any part of the school
svstem it has a tendency to reach both down and up into all the
grades The 8-4 schools lack the flexibility possessed by those or
ganized on the 6-3-3 plan, but counseling also has a well-established
hold in the seventh and eighth grades and in four-year high schools.
The part-time and continuation schools constitute a field tor counsel
ing where the exigencies of the situation seem to partake of the nature
of first aid to the child. So urgent is the need of counseling in this
field that in some cities the teachers in the continuation schools act
as counselors not alone by virtue of their good will and desire to be
helpful and of their strategic position in dealing with young work
ers but also by virtue of special counselor training and information
and of a definite counseling and follow-up program and assignment
of time to the task. In addition, both the employment certificate of
fice and the placement office are included in the counseling field. I or
the purposes of this study their work will be considered under tfie
special sections devoted to them (see pp. 49, 64), but their importance
in the counseling field should be emphasized here as elsewhere.
SOURCES AND ADMINISTRATION OF COUNSELING
ACTIVITIES
In the cities studied in this survey there are at present two mam
official sources of counseling activities. One of these is a centralized
department of vocational guidance—bearing that or another name
which may or may not have originated within the educational system,
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sc h o o l , c o u n s e l in g
31
and which may he entirely supported by it or may have partial or
entire financial support from some private organization operating in
more or less complete cooperation with the school system.
The duties undertaken by the staff of such a centralized depart
ment of vocational guidance vary widely. The department may
assign counselors from its staff to particular schools, as do private
foundations in New York and Philadelphia. In general, these
counselors work as members of that school faculty, though they
find both advantages and handicaps in the fact that they are dele
gated by an agency without the school. On the one hand, their
program is more definitely predetermined, with time less liable
to draft for duties outside of counseling, but on the other hand,
more time will probably have to be devoted to securing cooperation
with the teaching staff than would be required of a counselor from
their own number, and such cooperation is essential to success.
In lieu of counselors assigned to particular schools, or in addition
to them, the staff members of a general department of vocational
guidance often conduct general counseling activities, such as giving
group talks and individual interviews to all eighth-grade graduates,
to high-school graduates, to all prospective “ drop outs,” or to special
cases referred to them by teachers.
The second main source of counseling results from an official
counseling program within the separate schools. There it is done by
the principal, or by counselors who are, in all likelihood, teachers,
and who in any case belong officially to the school faculty. These
two sources of counseling, departmental staff and regular school
faculty, may—and do—have parallel existence in the same city.
PREPARATION OF COUNSELORS
The city studies included in this survey reveal differences in the
qualifications required of counselors varying so widely as to indicate
no agreement in the matter. For one thing, adequate budgets for
the whole task of vocational guidance by no means came into ex
istence simultaneously with the conviction that such guidance was
desirable and necessary. Long practice in successfully delegating
to the classroom teachers the new duties taught by new occasions
led the organizers of guidance work to turn again to them. As a
result, the majority of counselors are at the present either volun
teers or conscripts from the teaching ranks.
It has been found desirable, and indeed necessary for adequate
results, to relieve these teachers from at least part of their regular
teaching program in order to give them time to carry on the new
work, but in comparatively few places has this been accomplished
in fact. Moreover, since adequate counseling is a matter demanding
an ever-widening fund of information, much of which lies outside
any of the usual requirements for teaching, additional training for
counselors is now generally recognized as desirable and possibly as
essential. The nature of such counselor training as is now being
given seems to be determined by local emphasis upon one phase or
another of the guidance program. In one city, it is upon intelli
gence testing; in another, upon courses in educational guidance;
in another city, upon occupational knowledge and experience J in
another, upon training in soeiai ease work.
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VOCATION AL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
In the main, the actual training of counselors is being given on or
in connection with the job. School departments of vocational guid
ance in some cities are not only supervising but _training the
counselors. Staff meetings, periodic reports, and the interchange of
ideas between groups of counselors themselves are affording oppor
tunities to develop a broader point of view and to study various
sources of information and methods for increased efficiency. Pos
sibly the most detailed plan for the practical training of counselors
as yet evolved is that operating in Philadelphia, where the WhiteWilliams Foundation is sponsoring a full-time, yearly training pro
gram with part-time practice in school and employment counseling.
Likewise, a more formal academic program for counselor training is
evolving. A number of large universities are making notable con
tributions toward counselor training by offering extension courses
in the aims, history, and problems of vocational guidance to the
teachers of their communities, and by offering also more intensive
«courses in their summer schools and in their regular full year pro
grams.1
.
Though definite standards, both for practical and formal train
ing, are slow in emerging, sincerity, enthusiasm, and intelligence on
the part of the workers in the field are directed to the task. Despite
differences of opinion and variations of practice on the part of ad
ministrators and instructors, the outlook for counselor training is
altogether hopeful.
DUTIES OF COUNSELORS
The range and variety of duties now falling under the head of
•counseling can not fail to impress anyone who surveys the field.
On the one hand, they may merge so closely with the duties of teach
ing as to be only a slight accentuation of the educational advice
which would naturally be expected of the eighth-grade teacher or
the elementary-school principal, with possibly the addition of an
«obligation to post bulletins or disseminate occupational information
sent out by a department of vocational guidance. Again, the duties
<of the school counselor may merge with those of the visiting teacher
In an elaborate system of case work and intricate adjustments of
social problems, or they may involve mental testing and evaluation
of the results of these tests. If one may be permitted to prophesy,
it is not likely that counseling will soon, if ever, assume that close
standardization of duties which attends, for example, upon the
teaching of mathematics. But if we keep the range and variation of
duties in mind and realize how fluid are their boundaries, it is pos
sible to distinguish general tendencies and practices, and in every
instance these are, in part, determined by the field in which the
«counselor operates.
Most of the counseling programs covered in this study show an
•effort to include the elementary schools in whole or in part. In
Philadelphia and New York, for example, elementary-school coun
seling is being conducted in a few schools. f In Boston, Atlanta,
Seattle, and Oakland a teacher in each school is designated as couni See Twenty-third Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education,
P art II, eh. 9, pp. 173-189, fo r. description of training courses a t Harvard, Columbia,
Michigan, and Chicago Universities.
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S c h o o l c ó ím & É L t t f O
33
selor oí vocational-guidance assistant. Staff members of voca
tional-guidance departments in some other cities serve as far as
possible eighth-grade graduates and “ drop outs ” or referred cases.
Again, high-school counselors, as in Pittsburgh, may be made re
sponsible for interviewing graduates from elementary schools in
their district. Elementary-school curricula sometimes include
courses in the study of occupations which help pupils to select try
out courses later in their school life or to choose an occupation if
they quit school.
Most of the cities included in the study aré working toward the
goal of counseling for every individual pupil within their continua
tion, senior, and junior high school groups. Where schools are reor
ganized on the 6-3-3 plan, counseling is more prevalent, has a
broader field in the variety of courses from which choice may be
made, and is more effective in its efforts to retain the school popu
lation.
Personal interviews with a sympathetic and competent counselor
often reveal individual problems and incipient maladjustments
which were unsuspected. The triumph of counseling is not so much
in adjusting difficulties as in foreseeing and preventing them. How
ever keenly school authorities may realize this goal as desirable, it
is as yet largely unattained, and counselors have thus far chiefly
concerned themselves either with general groups or with special cases
fn immediate need of their services. These special cases fall roughly
into four classes: Individuals who are in need of advice in selecting
new courses and those who are failures, misfits, or prospective or
actual “ drop outs.”
With the aid of the teachers and specially designated committees,
assistance is quite generally given in making out curricular pro
grams. Differences in courses and the ends to which they lead are
explained not only to the child but also to the parents. Contact with
the parents may be attained by printed bulletins, by personal letter,
by conference in the school, or eve.n in some cases by a visit to the
home.
Provision is also quite generally made for interview of those who
are failing in their studies. School statistics show that failure is
one of the most certain causes of dropping out, and an analysis of
the reasons for failure and the correction or adjustment of condi
tions, if possible, are the most effective means of retaining children
in school. Adjustment of the problems of those who are failures
and misfits in educational programs may well call into service all of
the knowledge and skill which the counselor possesses. The school
history of the child is taken into account, also his mental and physi
cal abilities, the conditions of his home, and the attitude of his
parents. The difficulty may be found to rest with the child, or with
the school, or with the home, or with all possible combinations of
the three. If educational advice is carefully given, the child is less
likely to attempt courses which are beyond his ability. If he has
attempted them because counsel was lacking or was disregarded, a
change of course is arranged, and the discouragement and stigma
of failure prevented if possible. The various physical defects which
cause failure and lack of home cooperation are also matters of daily
attention from counselors.
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
Misfits among pupils include not only those who are taking work
that is too difficult for them, but those who are uninterested, and
those who, through lack of ambition or information, are failing to
take courses which a high intelligence quotient would seem to indi
cate as advisable. Almost as varied as the number of children are
the combinations of causes determining both of these types ot prob
lems. Adjustment may be as simple as providing eyeglasses, or
changing from one teacher to another. I t may require the services
of psychiatrist, social case worker, school nurse, or police officer.
The majority of “ drop outs” from school appear to be those
children who have reached legal working age and who are seeking
work certificates and an entry into the occupational world. Poverty
may be the determining factor in withdrawal from school, though
in a large number of cases school weariness, or lack in the family
group of an appreciation of the value of an education, or a desire
for independence on the part of the child are strong contributing
motives and are frequently the determining ones. Each of the city
studies made in this survey is a record of attempts to prevent un
trained and immature workers from rushing into industry. An«
extent to which child-labor and compulsory-school laws contribute
to this object varies from one State to another, and when all legal
restrictions have been enforced as rigidly as possible, it still re
mains for the counselor to try to retain in school many who are
legally free to leave. Such retention in school is in some cases the
main, if not the sole, object of a counseling program. To its aid is
brought widespread information regarding the disadvantages and
handicaps which surround untrained and immature workers and
the advantages of adequate preparation for whatever work is to be
undertaken. Counseling of this nature is assisted by classes in occu
pational information, which emphasize the value of the trained
worker by “ Go-to-High-School ” and “ Back-to-School weeks and
drives,’and by reception days and other devices to emphasize the
interest and attractions of high-school and vocational-school lire.
In most communities, effort is made to extend the information to
the parents through parent-teachers’ associations, reception days at
the school, pamphlets and personal letters, the services of the visit
ing teacher, and personal visits from the counselor where the ur
gency of the particular case demands or where the school program
is so arranged as to make home visiting a possibility.
Individual work with the child is quite generally undertaken as
a matter of regular routine when he approaches what are recog
nized as the danger points; that is, graduation from the eighth
grade, reaching the legal working age, passing into the junior high
school, or from the junior to the senior high school, and high-school
graduation.
.
,
.,
Since dropping out is, however, a continuous process, these wide
spread efforts toward retention are not sufficient, and arrangements
must be made for counseling each child who is an applicant for a
work permit. Here, as elsewhere, preventive measures are much
more effective than remedial ones and it is more difficult to return
a child to school who has reached the point of having sought em
ployment than it is to retain the one who is wavering or uncertain.
The case is by no means hopeless, however. Scholarship aid or part
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SCHOOL COUNSELING
35
time employment for the child, a job for some other unemployed
member of the family, or assistance for the family group from some
social agency, are all means which are used effectively to check the
school exodus where poverty is the determinant. It is, in the main
through this effort to retain the child in school that counselors have
been drawn into the placement program, and they more frequently
seek part-time and after-school jobs for their charges than a fulltime entry into employment. If the child can not be returned to
school there still remains for the counselor the duty of explaining
the laws regulating the employment of minors, advising as to educa
tional opportunities for employed juniors, and making some effort
to select the type of employment entered. Where well-established
placement work is conducted such services are usually rendered by
the placement office to which the junior is referred by the coun
selor.
. J
In addition to advice which is specifically directed to the indi
vidual, school counselors are undertaking and promoting various
general programs. Collection and dissemination of vocational in
formation with emphasis upon its value for vocational guidance
acting as a source of communication between school and home, assist
ée0
, 1
forming of curricular plans by interpretation to the
school of the world for which it is preparing the child, cooperation
in general school programs of testing or of cumulative record keepmg, raising of funds for scholarship programs, interpretation of the
school to various industrial and social groups have all made claims
upon their interest and effort.
Upon part-time and continuation school rests the responsibilitv
of guiding and conserving the children who have left the full-time
school system and entered upon employment during the years when
they are subject to the continuation school law. A heavy sense of
responsibility rests upon teachers, coordinators, and counselors alike
m these schools, and the whole school process there may be said to
be counseling and guidance as to pressing educational needs, voca
tional guidance, social, ethical, and physical adjustments. Coordi
nators m part-time schools, supervising the child in school and at
work, emphasize the vocational aspect. They may be the only formal
counselors. The school may have special counselors assigned to it
by vocational-guidance departments, or there may be the .recoenition, as in Boston, that all teachers employed in compulsory con
tinuation schools are to receive training suitable for vocational coun
selors and are to be allowed time on their programs for visiting chil
dren in places of employment, discussing their needs with emplovers
and carrying on other follow-up work.2
METHODS OF PROCEDURE
Group counseling is most nearly akin to the task of teaching and
save m the altered viewpoint, probably does not vary widely from it!
A nice distinction must be drawn between the giving of advice and
saw * 01
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VOCATIONAL, GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
the imposing of authority, but special method or technique which
may be said to be characteristic has not as yet developed.
In dealings with the individual child, however, the procedure,
at least for the initial interview, is fairly well established. The
counselor brings to her aid in solving the problem presented as much
information as is accessible regarding the child. There are five
main sources of this information: The school record; the results of
the psychological examination or intelligence test; the report of the
visiting teacher or some other social agency, or of the counselor
herself, in regard to the family and the home environment; the
results of a questionnaire or self-analysis blank which the child has
filled in; and, most important of all, the careful interview with the
child himself.
School records vary widely in the degree of their availability and
serviceability.' The ideal record card is a cumulative one which
shall follow the child from kindergarten through high school and
which, in addition to class marks, includes records of health, attend
ance, and conduct, and personal estimates of teachers; vocational
plans of the child; results of group or individual psychological
tests;3 and possibly a report on the family. Such a school record
presents to the counselor a fairly accurate picture of the frame
work upon which to build. Where most or all of this information
is lacking, the school counselor must fill in the gaps so far as pos
sible by personal consultation with teachers, school visitors, and
social workers, and by reference of the child to clinics for physical
and psychological examinations if the nature of the case would
seem to indicate the necessity for consultation or reference. The
problem presented will usually determine whether it is important
to interview the child’s parents and whether an interview at the
school can take the place of a visit to the home. Such visits are
only infrequently possible or necessary, though some cases will
always present themselves which can be handled satisfactorily only
after full investigation of the child’s family background and en
vironment.
Most school counselors must content themselves with drawing as
much information as possible from the child himself by means of
the personal question sheet—used in several cities in the seventh and
eighth grades and in the freshman year of high school—and from
the careful personal interview. A sympathetic attempt to get at the
child’s point of view of his own problem and to obtain his full con
fidence regarding all relevant matters is the actuating motive in this
interview. Snap judgments and superficial analysis are out of har
mony with the whole constructive purpose of counseling. With all
available facts in hand, the counselor must have time to see what
adjustments can be made, and so for all but the simplest and most
easily managed cases a second interview and follow up are necessary.
A system of records which makes easily available for future refer
ence the information which the counselor has obtained, together with
the counsel offered or action taken, are necessary for efficiency. Rec
ords so kept should be standardized and capable of interpretation by
any counselor or.teacher who needs access to them.
3 The subject of psychological testing in relation to vocational guidance is considered.
In ^ separate section. See pp. 17—28.
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SCHOOL COÜHSELIHG
37
importance of complete cooperation with the other members
of the faculty with whom the counselor works has been previously
mentioned. If, as is frequently the case, periodic interviews with
all pupils are not attempted and if the counselor sees only those in
dividuals who are especially referred to him, the importance of this
cooperation is increased. Only the fullest knowledge of what is
going on in the school enables the counselor to arrive at a solution
of many problems. I t not infrequently happens that adjustment
* J?y ï a/i °-fma chanSe in the teacher’s attitude as well as in
tnat or the child. To negotiate such a change requires both tact and
nendly relationships. There is evidence of a growing recognition
™PortaP ^ of fully acquainting principals and teachers and
other officers of the school system with what is being undertaken by
the workers in vocational-guidance departments. Counselors meet
with groups of teachers to explain their work. They discuss occu
pational information with teachers and fellow counselors and con
duct visits to places of employment. In Chicago, Seattle, and else
where it has been found advantageous to issue a regular publica
tion which records the activities of the department, exchanges items
or news, indicates lines of reading, and in general promotes a com
munity of interest.
Closely akin to this need for cooperation with, her fellow workers
is the counselor s need for wide information concerning all of the
educational opportunities in her community. I t is obvious that onlv
a close acquaintanceship with the variations in the part-time and
junior high school programs and with the opportunities offered by the
various vocational, technical, and comprehensive high schools will
^
■task of the educational and vocational counselor. In
addition to a knowledge of the opportunities afforded by the publicschool system the counselor also needs definite information regarding
college-entrance requirements, variations of courses offered at dif
ferent colleges and universities, the nature of professional, commer
cial, and industrial schools and their special requirements for en
trance and of the opportunities for specialized training in various
private schools and evening schools of the community. Several
large cities have available digests of this information for the use of
the schools of their own communities.
A knowledge of the various social agencies of the community which
may assist the child is also essential to the counselor’s equipment.
Where the school system does not make provision for clinic and for
psychological tests and for the services of a psychiatrist, cooperating
agencies are frequently ready to proffer their services in cases de
manding them, or they may-supplement the school service in special
cases falling outs^e usual requirements. Scholarship agencies may
or may not be officially linked with the department of v o c a t i S
^ dance’ but cooperation with them is obviously close. From the
child as a center the possibility of cooperation with the various agencircles^ associatlons
tlie community extends in ever-widening
Vocational counseling, and all sound educational counseling as
well, must take cognizance of the occupational world. The necessity
for practical and not merely theoretical knowledge of its demands
18835°—25---- 4
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
and point of view are recognized in counseling programs. Whether
or not time is allotted the counselors to obtain occupational informa
tion at first hand, counselors need that information, and it must be
made available. Placement and follow-up programs necessitate fol
lowing the child into the occupational world, and news of his prog
ress in that world is freighted with significance for the school which
more or less adequately prepared him for it. Studies of occupations,
such as those made in Philadelphia, in Chicago, and in Cincinnati,
are essential tools of counseling. Direct contact with the industrial
and business field greatly increases the counselor’s knowledge and
efficiency and reinforces his position. Where the opportunities for
this contact are limited an interchange of experiences at staff meet
ings with the continuation-school coordinators and the counselors
from the placement office will do much to mitigate the dangers of
too academic or theoretical a point of view.
GENERAL TENDENCIES
Not only is there a wide variation from one city to another in the
duties which fall under the general term of counseling, but even in
the same city and under a centralized system of counseling counselors
are engaged in programs differing surprisingly both in scope and
purpose. Duties vaguely defined are liable to vague performance.
A clear-cut definition of aims and duties, such as has been outlined
in several cities, makes for efficiency. Lack of definition tends to
involve the activity in blame for not accomplishing tasks which
possibly it has never undertaken and should not or could not under
take. Only when each school system clearly defines its aims and
purposes can we begin to weigh results and arrive at common
standards of evaluation.
One of the immediate results of such definition would be the
recognition of a specific kind and of a definite amount of training
as requisites for the counselor. If counseling is to be established as
a professional task proceeding along definite lines toward recognized
ends, special training obviously is necessary. Sound counseling can
only rest upon scientific knowledge. Guesswork, along with phre
nology and so-called character analysis, must be relegated to the
fortune-telling field to which it belongs, and the counselor must
base action upon a knowledge of the individual drawn from prov
able facts about him and his environment, a knowledge of the schools
based upon wide information, and a knowledge of the occupational
world founded upon experience and investigation. Indications are
that the minimum educational equipment for such a counselor will
include a college degree, with emphasis on sociology, economics, and
psychology. Added to that will be experience in teaching or social
work or both, and a very definite and practical acquaintance with
the occupational world. Though this is a broad program, the re
sponsibilities undertaken by those who give advice concerning human
destinies are so grave, and the results of their actions may be so
far-reaching, that it can not well be abridged.
On the other hand, the task of the counselor differs from that of
the specialist in particular arts or sciences. Efficiency in giving and
evaluating psychological tests or in gathering elaborate and detailed
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SCHOOL COUNSELING
39
information concerning the processes of industry or in following the
technique of social case work requires a specialization outside the
range of the counselor’s time and training. In point of fact, the
counselor is a specialist whose business it is to use this information
rather than to compile it. What the counselor must see finally is
not a high or low intelligence quotient, not weak lungs nor an en
larged heart, not a good or bad inheritance or social environment,
but a whole child, compact of all these and many other factors, to
be adjusted in a world whose complexities and limitations and
opportunities he understands.
That such a task can not be a by-product of teaching or discipline
or any other thing whatsoever, but must be an end and aim in itself,
experience seems to prove. Time for counseling is requisite for
success, and only as it is given full recognition on school programs
as a legitimate activity can we expect actual results. How much
teaching may successfully be a part of the task seems to depend
largely on the- type of school. If time permits, probably no one is
so well equipped as the counselor to emphasize in classes in'occupa
tions, vocational civics, and the like the importance of choosing and
preparing for a vocation. In the continuation school the duties of
teaching and of counseling may be only the two faces of .one coin,
but in such schools both should be taken fully into account in making
programs. Certain counselors, urged by their zeal, even with no
time allotted for the task, are accomplishing real things. They,
more than anyone else, urge the necessity of full time for counseling.
The extensive use which the various cities are making of those
sources of information which are available concerning the child
suggests an extension of this information until each counselor has
them all. Impressionistic methods in counseling are to be avoided
altogether. A cumulative school record, results of a mental test,
physical examinations, a visiting teacher’s or social worker’s report,
all furnish scientific data upon which to proceed. At present it
does not seem feasible to depend widely upon aptitude and trade
tests for school counseling. What the future may develop in these
lines remains to be seen. The counselor can not personally gather
all the above information, but it can be made available for his use
by the school. The personal interview reinforced by this array of
facts can take cognizance of personality without departing from
scientific standards.
Educational information seems fairly detailed at the present.
It can be made adequate for vocational guidance only when both
those planning and giving the education and those offering the
guidance have clearly in mind its connection with the occupational
world. That world is itself assuming a new attitude toward educa
tion, and we may look for an increasing analysis of its processes,
with the aim of determining their educational demands. We know
far too little about the requirements, both general and specific, of
definite jobs and about the possible promotional avenues leading
from them, and the kinds of education which they, too, demand.
Especially in schools where the pupils are already, a part of the
working world, it is recognized that counselors must speak the
language of that world and be familiar with its point of view if
they are to gain confidence and respect from their pupils. There
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE ANÍ) JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
has been too much academic distrust of occupations not styled pro
fessional, a distrust best broken down by wide occupational knowl
edge. Not pupils alone, but the world of industry and business as
well, give a new respect and cooperation to the school when school
officers show an intelligent comprehension of their affairs. Part of
this comprehension can be secured academically, but academic infor
mation needs interpretation in the light of experience.
Counseling is a social activity, and can not proceed in solitude.
The counselor measures his possibilities of success by his ability to.
secure the cooperation of the child himself, of his parents, of his
teachers, of the other agencies which aré concerned for his welfare,
and of the occupational world into which he must go. Whatever
forces strengthen this cooperation tend to promote the work. The
methods of making and reinforcing contacts are many. Publicity
plays a considerable part in success. This publicity can be based
most soundly upon actual results.
The records of counselors and placement workers are too often a
graveyard in which lie buried facts of vital importance for whose
resurrection funds and time are lacking.
In addition to the need of systematizing and generalizing this
group information is the further and no less important need of
keeping follow-up records of the individual junior. Where the same
counselor meets a child throughout a school course, such follow-up
has begun. To make it complete, reports for a number of years
after school leaving should be available. Life is the laboratory.in
which counseling theories are tested. When, as is often the case,
these results are recorded in the follow-up records of the place
ment office, their return to the school would be altogether feasible.
The return made by the vocational-guidance department in Boston
(see p. 99), while involving much effort, embraces every pupil and is
proportionately valuable. To define aims, to demand preparation,
to widen information and increase efficiency, and rigorously to test
results, all constitute parts of a program already undertaken and
gaining fresh support from the whole field of school counseling.
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CHILD LABOR LAWS AND THEIR ENFORCEMENT
IN RELATION TO VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE“
LEGAL STANDARDS
. Vocational guidance is a process of informing and advising and
m itself should in no way involve compulsion. Nevertheless the
effectiveness of the process depends to a large extent upon the ex
istence of legal restrictions upon the employment of minors. With
out such restrictions it is impossible under present conditions to keep
a large number of immature boys and girls in school long enough to
get even a common-school education and impossible to keep them out
of unsuitable kinds of work or to maintain any supervision over their
early working years. If the vocational-guidance program is to func
tion at all not only must the school have control of boys and girls
of school age, but the school or some closely allied agency must be
able to supervise also the transition from school to work.
Although most of the vocational-guidance agencies in the cities
included in this study recognized the importance for vocational
guidance of the child labor and school attendance laws, the legisla
tion in effect varied widely in the extent to which it constituted an
adequate basis for the vocational-guidance program. As the laws
are state-wide in application and embody the views of groups repre
senting many interests both within and without any particular com
munity, they do not necessarily reflect the views of the persons re
sponsible for the establishment or administration of the local voca
tional-guidance program. In fact, in many places the views of these
persons in regard to the subject are quite at variance with the legal
provisions under which they are obliged to operate, and in more than
one of the States in which the cities studied are located improve
ments in the child labor or compulsory attendance laws had been
effected in part if not chiefly as a result of the recognition by the
personnel of the vocational-guidance agencies of the way in which
the effectiveness of their programs had been hindered by existing
laws.
Although it is impossible to determine exactly what legal provi
sions would furnish the soundest possible basis for successful voca
tional guidance, the necessity for certain m inim um legal standards
is obvious.
STANDARDS FOR ENTRANCE TO FULL-TIME EMPLOYMENT
Educational Minimum.
For the majority of occupations offering any definite promotional
possibilities a common-school education at least, together with some
technical training, is generally needed. Completion of the eighth
grade is now a prerequisite, for example, for apprenticeship in some
» This section was prepared by the U. S. Children’s Bureau.
41
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEMENT
of the skilled trades, and in commercial work of all except the least
skilled kind an even greater amount of general academic training is
essential. For those boys and girls who go into the semiskilled and
unskilled occupations in which the majority of the workers of to-day
are employed, the need for schooling through at least the first eight
grades is quite as great as for those entering upon vocational train
ing or apprenticeship. I t affords a basis for further education with
a view to a greater economic achievement, and it also gives the
worker the tools whereby he may create interests to occupy his
leisure hours. With the increase in monotonous and uninteresting
kinds of employment under the present organization of industry and
with the shortening of working hours it is in this possibility that the
chief hope of a happy vocational as well as social adjustment of
many thousands of workers lies.
Moreover, if children are not required to remain in school long
enough for try-out experiences, they have less chance than is con
templated in an adequate guidance program to discover whether
there are kinds of work in which they are especially interested or
for which they have special ability. The law, therefore, should
insure for all children a sufficient number of years in school to per
mit them to try out their abilities in different lines of practical
work, so that if their tastes and aptitudes are indicated they can be
given the right kind of subsequent training or directed into the sort
of employment for which practical tests have indicated their fitness.
Opportunities for such try-out experiences are offered by an increas
ing number of intermediate schools or junior high schools, which in
some cities provide also a year or two of prevocational training.
With the tendency toward reorganization of school systems on the
junior high school plan it would seem that the legal period for
school leaving for all children of normal mentality might logically be
extended at least to completion of the ninth grade or graduation from
junior high school. Where junior high schools have been estab
lished the number of pupils voluntarily continuing in school through
the ninth grade has greatly increased (see pp. 102, 148, 348) , but in
order that the vocational-guidance program may be equally effective
for all children of the community the law should offer a check upon
those who still, for one reason or another, feel it desirable or neces
sary to leave school before completing the work of the junior high
school. If children are not obliged to go to work because of pov
erty and are of normal mentality the educational requirement should
be even higher. For a vocational-guidance program to function most
effectively all children under 18 whose families are able to keep
them in school and who are mentally capable of doing the work
should be required to continue in school until they have completed
the senior high school or a trade-school course.
Exemptions to the grade requirement are necessary in the case
of children whose inability to profit by the regular work of the
schools has been proved by means of suitable tests, but exemption
of these children should be rather from the classroom work of the
regular grades than from attendance at school. The provision of
suitable work for older children in this group has many difficulties
and has not been thoroughly worked out or even tried out except in
a few places (see pp. 149, 353, 412), but it is becoming more and more
generally recognized among experts in the education of mental defect
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c h il d labor laws and t h e ir e n f o r c e m e n t
43
tives that instead of permitting them to leave school for work as
soon as they can not keep up with the work of the regular schools,
some sort of supervised training up to at least 16 years of age is
even more necessary than for the normal child. .
Physical Minimum.
Physical fitness for an occupation is basic to all vocational ad
justments. The vocational-guidance program can not be said to
function if children are placed in employment or allowed to enter
an occupation for which they are not physically qualified, or in
any occupation if they are not physically fit to work, or if they
are allowed to remain at work in an occupation that is physi
cally injurious. Unless State laws provide that no children shall
leave school for work except those who meet certain physical stand
ards the vocational counselor and placement worker can not keep
physically defective children out of unsuitable employment—one
of the most obvious functions of guidance-r-except through their
powers of persuasion. The physical standard for employment is
therefore quite as important from the vocational-guidance point of
view as an adequate educational standard.
Among the recommendations of the Children’s Bureau committee
on physical standards for working children, composed of pediatrists
and specialists in industrial hygiene, are several the relation of
which to vocational guidance is close and obvious. These are as
follows:
1. The minimum age for the entrance of children into industry should be
not younger than 16 years. Since it is recognized that the physiological and
psychological readjustments incident to pubescence (which in the vast ma
jority of cases are not completed until the sixteenth year) determine a period
. §eiieral instability which makes great and special demands upon the
vitality of the child, it is of paramount importance that he should be pro
tected during this period from the physical and nervous strain which en
trance into industry inevitably entails.
2. No child between the ages of 16 and 18 should be permitted to go to
work who is not of normal development for his age, of sound health and
physically fit for the work at which he is to be employed.
3. The physical fitness of children entering industry should be determined
by means of a thorough physical examination conducted by a public medical
officer appointed for this purpose.
4. With each change of employer another examination should be made
before the child is again permitted to work, the mode of procedure to be the
same as in the issuance of the original permit.
5. All employed children up to the age of 18 should have at least one
yearly physical examination, to be made by a public medical officer appointed
for this purpose.
The legal requirement that a child be physically fit for the specific
occupation that he undertakes as well as of normal development
and in sound health is likely to result in individual needs bein.0,
taken into consideration more fully than under a law requirin'0,
sound health without reference to the intended occupation,
unless the standard of soundness established by the administrative
authorities is very high.
The child’s reexamination upon change of employer or a periodical
examination is desirable for vocational-guidance purposes, for
through their instrumentality it is possible to keep the individual
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT «
child from physical maladjustment in his work and to determine
to some extent at least the effect of various occupations upon the
health of children and young persons.
Age Minimum.
•
A. minimum age of 3\6 years for entrance to full-time employment
is determined by both physical and educational considerations of
paramount importance in the success of a vocational-guidance pro
gram. In addition to these, there is the consideration that, as investi
gations have proved, children under 16 can seldom get work that
offers opportunities for either advancement or training under exist
ing conditions in business and industry. Most placement workers
report that many employers are reluctant, if not unwilling, to take
on boys and girls under 16 in any except the most unskilled, uneducative type of work, because they do not find the younger children
satisfactory workers and do not want to be bothered with them.
Trade-union regulations establish 16 years as the age of admission
to apprenticeship in many trades, and in some trades an even
higher age minimum is set. I t is a poor law from the point of view
of vocational guidance, if from no other, that permits children to go
to work before there are good openings for them. It means that the
vocational-guidance agency not only can not hope to direct into
promising vocational futures the group of children who go to work
as soon as the law allows, but also that its work for all older youth
of the community is handicapped, for it is often obliged to devote
the greater part of its effort to groups who are too young or too un
trained really to benefit by its activities to the neglect of those who
might reasonably be expected to profit by them. For example, the
junior placement office in communities where the law allows children
of 14 to go to work is likely to be given over largely to placing in un
skilled jobs with no promotional possibilities children who, through
lack of the rudiments of an edueation, are unlikely ever to find their
^ray—barring the exceptional ones who have the energy to eke out
their schooling through evening classes and the like—into more
promising lines of work.
“ Necessity ” or “ Best Interests ” Standard.
From the point of view of the vocational-guidance worker the
child labor law should contain a provision which, even where age,
educational, and physical requirements can be fully met, would
make it possible to prohibit school leaving unless proof can be given
that the child must earn money because of the economic need either of
himself or of his family, or unless this course serves “ the best in
terests ” of the child. Such a provision, which is found in the childlabor laws of a few States, operates to keep in school for further edu
cation and guidance those who would leave because of caprice, dis
satisfaction with school or the teacher, either real or imaginary, or
other causes that could be avoided, and who constitute the great
majority of those who leave school for work. Incidentally, keeping
dissatisfied children in school will hasten the day when the schools
will provide instruction to suit the needs and abilities of all types of
pupils, for it has been the presence of large numbers of children kept
in school only by the compulsory education laws that has been largely
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CHILD LABOE, LAWS AND T H E IR ENFORCEM ENT
45
responsible for such attempts at individual adjustment as have been
made hitherto. -That children of ability, on the other hand, should,
be forced out of school because of poverty is manifestly unfair. A
“ necessity ” clause is a means of discovering such of these children
as would otherwise not reveal their real reason for desiring to leave
school and of providing for them through scholarships, suitable parttime work, or other means. Finally, such a provision insures a cer
tain latitude in the interpretation of the law; it contributes to the
possibility of individual treatment, which is the essence of vocational
guidance.
The supervisor of the Detroit school-attendance department re
ported 2 in 1922 that through a “ constructive interpretation ” of the
“ poverty-exemption clause” only 263 of the city’s 25,000 children
14 and 15 years of age were out of school. This had been accom
plished by means of a careful investigation of all applicants in order
to eliminate those who could not prove need and by obtaining finan
cial aid for as many as possible where the need was real and it was
desirable for the child to remain in school. The economic-necessity
provision of the Michigan child labor law does not apply to chil
dren 16 or over, and in the group of those from 16 to 18 there would
undoubtedly be a larger proportion for whom school leaving would be
less undesirable.
PROVISION FOR VACATION AND PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT
Although a good compulsory education or child labor law should
not permit exemptions for any kind of employment that would inter
fere with school attendance it should not necessarily prohibit work
outside school hours. The vocational-guidance program recognizes
that under proper conditions practical work experience is one of the
most valuable aids to guidance.
Vacation work in occupations legally open to children should be
permitted all who desire it, whatever their education, if they have
reached legal working age and can meet the physical requirements
of the child labor law. Before and after school work may also
be permitted for a few hours a day in suitable occupations, because
though the valfie of this sort of employment in teaching children
the methods and habits of work is not always evident the money
the child earns may be the means of keeping him in school.
Part-time employment' under special arrangements by the school,
so that the time for classes can be adjusted, is more effective than
the usual before and after school employment, in that it gives the
young workers an opportunity to obtain more worth-while work
than can usually' be had during the period before and after regular
school hours. An even more valuable provision from the vocationalguidance point of view but one which depends for its success almost
entirely on the amount and kind of supervision that is given is
the provision for certification for cooperative employment. (See
p. 6.) Correlation between the pupil’s school work and employment
2 Lederle, Arthur P. : “ The relation of certificate issuance to the enforcement of schoolattendance laws.” Standards and Problems Connected with the Issuance of Employment
Certificates, pp. 11-14. U, S. Children’s Bureau Publication No. 116. Washington, 1923.
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VOCATIONAL. GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
must be guaranteed and the employment supervised by the voca
tional-guidance department or some other properly.equipped school
agency. At present most cooperative work in the public schools is
done by children who have passed work-certificate age, but with
the raising of the school-leaving age the question of a special exemp
tion certificate for cooperative work for pupils of work-certificate
age will arise. Such a certificate is given in Ohio, where workpermit age is between 16 and 18, and also in Massachusetts, where
children between 14 and 16 may obtain employment certificates.
SPECIAL PROTECTION FOR MINORS ABOVE SCHOOL-LEAVING
AGE
The child labor law should insure that the young worker is not
subjected to conditions at the outset of his working life that would
obviously prevent a satisfactory vocational adjustment. It should
safeguard, therefore, the youth above the age of leaving school for
work—that is," above 163—prohibiting his employment in occupa
tions that are hazardous or too arduous for his years, should limit
his hours of labor, should prohibit his employment at night, and
should make it necessary through continuation classes for him to
supplement his education during his formative years. Special recog
nition of the unemployed among this group of children is necessary.
Otherwise the periods of unemployment, usually considerable, are
wasted time, and there is danger that the children w ilt be lost track
of and so not kept under supervision. Where continuation schools
are established the requirement of a longer period of continuationschool attendance for unemployed than for employed children, with
provision for the special needs of the unemployed, would probably
best solve the problem, as there are great difficulties in the way of
getting unemployed children back into the regular schools and pro
viding suitable school work for them.
THE EMPLOYMENT CERTIFICATE
One of the most significant aspects for vocational guidance of
adequate child labor laws is that they enable the vocational-guidance
agency, or in the absence of such an agency the employment certifi
cate issuing office, to exercise supervision over the child’s entrance
into employment and the first years of his. working life ; to advise
the child regarding his work, further education, and health ; and to
ascertain the effects of employment upon his health and general wel
fare. The specific means by which this supervision is exercised is
the employment certificate, and the effectiveness of the legal ma
chinery for certificate issuance is of vital concern to vocational
guidance.
Although the effectiveness of employment-certificate issuance de
pends on administrative policy to a greater extent than do the other
provisions of child labor laws, certain legal requirements have been
found essential to the greatest effectiveness both in guarding against
3 For a discussion of the advantages for vocational guidance of extending the employ
ment-certificate age to 21 years see p. 47.
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CHILD LABOil LAWS AND THEIR ENFORCEMENT
47
the illegal employment of children who do not meet the educational,
age, and physical requirements for school leaving and in enforcino1
the regulatory provisions of the child labor law. The law should re^quire that a new certificate be obtained for each change of em
ployer, that the certificate be not issued until the child brings in a
signed statement or u promise of employment55 from his prospective
employer on which the specific work at which he is to be employed is
entered, that the certificate be issued to the employer and not to the
child, and that it be returned to the certificating officer by the em
ployer whenever the child leaves his employer, and that copies of
such a certificate be on file in the employing establishment for each
minor of certificate age employed there.
Other requirements perhaps are less essential in keeping track of
the young worker but are important for purposes of vocational
guidance. Thus the school record, which a child must have in order
to obtain a certificate, should be issued only on the personal appli
cation of the parent to the school principal, so that the principal
may have an opportunity to persuade the parent to keep the child
m school before the child has taken the first step in breaking his
connection with the school. The employment certificate should be
issued only upon presentation of the school record and the recom
mendation of the child’s school principal as to whether the certifi
cate should be granted,f and only upon the application in person of
the parent and the child, so that .the issuing officer may have an
opportunity to interview the parent before the final break with the
school is made.
In Massachusetts certification is required up to the age of 21.
lh e extension of the age of supervision to include all minors has
a number of advantages from the vocational-guidance point of
view, ouch a system not only affords a means of enforcing leo-al
provisions for the protection of this group of young workers but also
makes it possible to interview all minors when they are chano-in«employers and to give them the benefit of vocational advice Im d
placement. I t furnishes a basis for research to ascertain what fur
ther physical and moral safeguards should be given minor workers
to test and evaluate educational and guidance programs for minors
under 18 (for it is only from a follow-up of minors in employment
for a few years at least after they reach 18 that it is possible to
discover to what extent the training given them in vocational and
continuation classes and the guidance provided for them have proved
of value), and to follow up minors who went to work at or near the
minimum age allowed by law, in order to discover the physical effects
of different kinds of work.
All employment certificates, whether for regular, vacation or
part-time work, should be issued by the same agency. Under such
a child labor law as.that of California, where regular certificates
for minors between 14 and 16 years of age are issued by one agency,
those for minors between 16 and 18 by another, and vacation plrmits
by a third (see p. 481), there is greater possibility of violations
and so of less supervision over the employed minor than the stand
ards of the law may provide, and the fact that the records of all
e n S e T e n t6 if ^ e Z o d i l d ^ t h f l S T *
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48
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEMENT
working children are not in one place makes difficult the effective
use for vocational-guidance purposes of the information relating to
the working minor.
. •‘
,
In 36 5 of the 45 States in which employment certificates or work
permits are required the law places the issuance in the hands of the
local school superintendent or some other public-school official.
Whatever agency may be designated by law to issue employment cer
tificates, it is important that the responsibility be given officials who
realize the importance of vocational guidance and will work in such
close cooperation with the department or the persons responsible tor
vocational guidance and placement, where these exist, that appli
cants for work permits will be afforded all possible opportunities to
receive counsel and placement from properly equipped vocationa
advisers. Where a school superintendent has the responsibility tor
issuance he may, as any other official might, delegate the actual
work to a clerk or some other subordinate who has neither the under
standing nor the training to attempt more than to follow the letter
of the law. On the other hand, in places where the public-school
system maintains a vocational-guidance department or a placemen
office the superintendent may, and in many cases does, designate as
issuing officer the person in charge of this work so that close coordi
nation between issuance and the vocational-guidance piogram is
possible. Even when the work is not assigned to persons connected
with a local vocational-guidance, agency or where there is no such
agency many feel that the designation of the superintendent ox
schools as legal issuing officer gives greater assurance that the law
will be enforced by persons with an understanding of the seriousness
of early school leaving and a knowledge of the vocational advantage
of further training of various kinds than if issuance were in the
hands of any other public official or agency.
The cities included in the present study, with, one exception, are in
States where the law designates the local superintendent of schools
or some other school official as certificate-issuing officer. In Seattle
the work was done in the department of the public schools administerino* the vocational-guidance and placement program, as it had
been delegated to this department by the judge of the county superior
court who has been given the responsibility under the law.
Where a State agency which is responsible for the enforcement of
the child labor law is designated by law as the issuing agency, as it is
in seven States, the advantages of uniformity of administration
throughout the State6 might be outweighed as far as vocational
guidance is concerned by a lack of coordination between the issuing
office and the city vocational guidance and. placement agency. In al
except two of the States where issuance is in the hands of a State
department, however, the law permits the State department to
designate as issuing officer in each community*some one outside the
department, itself maintaining supervision over the work of issu
ance and reserving the power to withdraw the designation of local
6 In five of these States some other official also is authorized to issue (m three, judges,
in nnpi a. State official; in one, any parochial-school principal).
6 For discussions relating to the desirability of State_ issuance of employment cwtiflcates or State supervision of their issuance see Administration of Child-LaborLaws .
P art 5 PP 32-44, and The Standards and Problems Connected with the Issuance of
Employment Certificates. U. 8. Children’s Bureau Publications Nos. 333 and 116.
Washington, 1924 and 1923.
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CHILD LABOR LAWS AND T H E IR ENFORCEM ENT
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officers who are not enforcing the law to the satisfaction of the de
partment. In Wisconsin, where the State authorities have control
over certificate issuance, they themselves issue certificates in Mil
waukee and have established a junior employment office there in con
nection with the issuing office. Where this is done the relationship
between issuance and placement work may be developed along much
the same lines as where these functions are handled by one depart
ment under a local board of education, though the point of view of
the department responsible for the state-wide administration of
labor laws, including factory inspection, and for placement of adult
as well as junior workers is substituted for the point of view of the
public school. (See pp. 116, 357.)
The most satisfactory law from the point of view both of law
enforcement and of vocational-guidance program would seem to be
one that provides for State supervision of issuance, including the
power to designate and to remove issuing officers, under which it is
possible to give local school superintendents in cities where a voca
tional-guidance department had been established preference for ap
pointment as local issuing officers.
ADMINISTRATION OF CHILD-LABOR LAWS IN RELATION
TO THE VOCATIONAL-GUIDANCE PROGRAM
COORDINATION BETWEEN THE EMPLOYMENT CERTIFICATE
ISSUING AGENCY AND THE VOCATIONAL-GUIDANCE AGENCY
Facilities for giving vocational information and counsel to school
children are as yet so limited that for large numbers the interview
required by law of applicants for employment certificates affords the
only occasion upon which they may be questioned as to their reasons
for leaving school and urged to continue their education or, if they
must go to work, may be directed to sources of information that will
assist them in finding suitable employment. Even where the schools
provide educational and vocational counseling and a junior place
ment agency exists in the community, some children are likely to
withdraw from school without having had an interview with anyone
qualified as a vocational adviser. Hence an understanding on the
part of the certificate-issuing officer of the desirability of guidance
and cooperation between the employment-certificate office and the
vocational-guidance agency is of great importance.
In 5 cities—Chicago, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Minneapolis,, and
Seattle—of the 11 included in the present survey having central
vocational-guidance agencies the vocational-guidance agency had
been given the responsibility for the issuance of employment cer
tificates and for such supervision of working children as was pro
vided under the employment-certificate provision of the child labor
law. In some places this had been done primarily for convenience
and economy in administration, but in others the union of the two
activities under one department was due to a definite desire to use
the machinery of one to assist in the proper functioning of the other.
For example, the bureau of compulsory education of Philadelphia,
when first entrusted with the issuance of employment certificates
in 1916, undertook the development of a program of vocational guid
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
ance in order to assist in bringing about the proper functioning of
the certificate law. . In Chicago, on the other hand, the responsi
bility for the issuance of employment certificates was transferred
to an already established guidance and placement agency to facilitate
development of the vocational-guidance program. (See pp. 157,223.)
In each of these 5 cities it is the policy of the department to have
every applicant for a certificate, whether or not he has found em
ployment, interviewed by a trained vocational adviser. In some in
stances the person who interviews applicants for certificates serves
also as a placement officer, but in the vocational-guidance department
of some large cities it is sometimes found best for administrative
purposes to divide the work among the staff, so that the persons who
are engaged in certificate issuance have no responsibility for place
ment. Where the interviewer is a properly qualified counselor, how
ever, he knows when children are in special need of advice as to
placement and where to send them to get it, though in places where
the work is divided between two groups it is found that the issuing
officer usually refers for placement only the children who have not
found jobs for themselves—often a very small proportion of the total
number applying for certificates (see pp. 146, 163, 202, 279, 303).
Even where the issuance of employment certificates is not the re
sponsibility of the vocational-guidance department it is quite pos
sible to insure the use of the certification machinery for guidance
purposes through administrative agreement or ruling, especially if
the two functions are the responsibility of the same agency, as, for
example, the public schools. This was done in two of the cities in
cluded in this study—Pittsburgh and Providence. In Pittsburgh,
where certificates were issued by the attendance department of the
public schools, every applicant was required to visit the juvenile
employment office of the vocational-guidance department before he
could be considered for a certificate (see p. 279). In Providence,
where certificates were issued by a clerk under the supervision of
the attendance officer, every applicant was required first to report
for an interview at the office or the vocational-guidance department
(see p. 399). Although no instance of a similar agreement between
vocational-guidance and certificate-issuing agencies not under the
same administration was found in connection with the present study,
such an arrangement could be made and effectively carried out.
What may be regarded as a step in this direction has recently been
taken in New York City, where the State juvenile placement bureau
lias stationed placement workers in one of the employment-certificate
offices conducted under the attendance department of the public
schools to interview children who are in need of placement. (See
p. 145.) A procedure through which children applying for certifi
cates may be assisted by a placement agency whether or not they
have found employment for themselves is carried out by the Voca
tional Service for Juniors in New York City, which at graduation
time, when unusually large numbers of children apply for certifi
cates, stations a counselor in several of the issuing offices to interview
children as they wait in line. (See p. 145.)
One of the greatest difficulties in the way of bringing vocational
information and counsel to children through the machinery of em
ployment-certificate issuance is the concentration of applications at
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51
rush seasons, particularly at the close of school in June, when great
numbers of children are leaving school to enter full-time employ
ment for the first time. At these times interviewers are often too
busy to give more than cursory attention to each applicant, and in
some cities it is found necessary to supplement the regular staff of
interviewers at such seasons by temporary workers who are not
qualified as vocational counselors and who do not have the equip
ment to do moije than see that the letter of the law is fulfilled. In
Chicago and Philadelphia attempts to relieve the congestion at these
times have been made by the establishment of district offices where
qualified vocational advisers interview the applicants. In Phila
delphia district offices carry on the entire procedure of employmentcertificate issuance for children who live in sections of the city in
which district offices have been established.
THE PROCEDURE OF EMPLOYMENT-CERTIFICATE ISSUANCE
The vocational-guidance program would be strengthened if the
law specifically permitted a child to apply for a certificate, have
his evidence of age and his school record passed upon, and have the
procedure of granting the certificate started before he was required
to present a promise of employment. I t is true that many children,
even in schools where there are vocational counselors, do not signify
their intention of leaving school until they have found a job and
are likely to be no longer open to persuasion. But in the case of
those who, without having obtained employment, make up their
minds to leave school, such a procedure would enable the school coun
selor, district adviser, or issuing officer not only to point out to the
child the advantages of staying in school before he had become in
terested in a particular job or had experienced the charms of
freedom through days of wandering the streets while job hunting,
but also would make it possible, before he went out to look for work,
to insure his getting advice from a properly qualified placement
counselor on the kinds of work open to him. Under the laws now
in effect in many States it would be possible for the local certificate
issuing agency to rule that this procedure might be followed, even
though not specifically permitted by law, instead of following the
practice of many offices in refusing to take any steps to ascertain the
child’s eligibility for a permit until he has found work. For its
effective administration, however, this procedure would require prop
erly qualified counselors attached to individual schools, but working
under the direction of the central vocational-guidance office, or in
close'cooperation with it, or some system of district advisers.
In order that the child may lose as little time as possible from
school in his attempt to obtain a permit every effort should be made
to see that he need make but one visit to the certificate-issuing office
before going out to look for employment. It would be helpful if the
school counselor or the local representative of the issuing office who
handles the child’s application for a school-leaving certificate should
be required to make it his responsibility to see that wherever possible
arrangements are made in advance with the issuing office for han
dling the child’s application, so that the interview with the parent
regarding the economic necessity for the child’s work, the interview
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
with the placement officer, and possibly the child’s physical exami
nation may be arranged for the same day.
From the vocational-guidance point of view the best procedure to
be followed for children applying for certificates would seem to be
the following, preferably in connection with an adequate program
of vocational information and counseling within the school:
1. A child who has reached, or is soon to reach, work-permit age
and who desires to leave school for work should while still in school
interview, in the company of one of his parents, the school counselor
or the district adviser of the vocational-guidance department; or
if neither exists, some member of the school staff appointed by the
principal. This school representative should have at hand all avail
able information as to the child’s physical and mental ability and
the record of his school work, both academic and practical (prefer
ably a cumulative record covering the child’s entire school life), and
should be qualified to inform the child and his parent as to the dis
advantages of early school leaving, the limited opportunities for
employment that are open to young workers, and the kinds of train
ing the schools offer. Until this interview has taken place and the
counselor has done all lie can to persuade the child to remain in
school, if this seems best for him, the principal should not issue the
school record.
2. It should be the duty of the counselor to assist the child in
obtaining the proof of age necessary before his application for a
certificate can be considered. Were every child’s birth certificate
required when he first enters school, as it should be, the best type of
documentary evidence of age would ultimately be in the school files
for every child in attendance.
3. When the child has received his school record and has obtained
satisfactory proof of age, these papers should be sent to the issuing
office with the child’s cumulative record and a report containing
the principal’s and the school counselor’s recommendations as to
whether the child should be certified for work and the record of
interview with the child or his parents on the subject of going to
work. If the proof of age and the school record are satisfactory
the issuing officer should arrange for an interview with the child
and his parent regarding the financial necessity of the child’s work,
an interview with the child regarding his vocational interests by a
properly qualified vocational counselor, and a physical examination
of the child by a properly qualified public medical officer.
Where the economic resources of the family, as ascertained in
the interview with the child and parent or through information ob
tained by the visiting teacher or counselor of the school the child
has last attended, do not seem to be adequate to keep the child in
school, a member of the staff of the employment-certificate office
trained in social case work should visit the home to obtain accurate
evidence as to the family income and expenditures upon which to
base a decision as to the child’s eligibility for a certificate. Even if
economic need is proved, an attempt should be made, if it seems
advisable, to keep the child in school through a scholarship grant,
suitable part-time employment, or some other means.
If the child and his parent have already been interviewed by
school counselor and every effort has been made in the school to
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CHILD LABOR LAWS AND THEIR ENFORCEMENT
53
keep him there, the person who interviews the applicant at the
issuing office should preferably be some one who knows about actual
openings for employment in the community. A t any rate, every
applicant for a certificate should be referred to a placement worker
as soon as he has met the legal requirements for a certificate (other
than a promise o f employment) in order that he may at least have
the benefit o f the inform ation and advice available in the placement
office before he goes out to look for work.
If the physical examination is given with reference to fitness for
the occupation in which the child is to engage, it must be postponed
until after the promise of employment is obtained. If it is given
with reference to any legal occupation the physical examination may
be made early in the procedure, but if this is done the examining
physician must be especially alert to discover and report to the
issuing officer what are the types of occupation in which the child
should not engage.
4.
Where family necessity is proved and either the child and his
parent are determined upon the child’s going to work or no scholar
ship or work outside of school hours can be procured to enable the
child to remain in school, then the applicant should be allowed
a reasonable time away from school in which to find work, with such
assistance as the placement office can give him. I t should be made
clear to the child and his parent that he will not be permanently re
leased from school attendance and his name will not be taken off
the rolls of his school until he has actually secured a promise of em
ployment, has obtained his certificate from the issuing officer, and
has been enrolled in continuation school if there is one, and until
his school principal has received word from the issuing office that
he has begun to work (according to the employer’s report sent to
the issuing office).
Children returning to the issuing office for new certificates on
changing employment not only should receive the physical examina
tion required by law but should also be interviewed by a properly
qualified vocational counselor attached to the staff of the vocationalguidance department, the issuing office, or the continuation school.
Special attention should be given on these occasions to advising
young workers as to more suitable or desirable types of work and
assisting them to find such work, if the occupation in which they
have been engaged appears unsuitable for them, and to checking up
on the coordination of their continuation-school training and their
occupational and other needs and aptitudes. The administrative
machinery should be so well organized that children dropping out
of employment are promptly reported and placed in full-time
classes in either the continuation school or regular schools.
THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE FACTORY-INSPECTION DEPART
MENT TO THE VOCATIONAL-GUIDANCE PROGRAM
Although not basic to the success of the vocational-guidance pro
gram in the same way as certificate issuance, the work of the fac
tory-inspection department is of considerable importance to voca
tional guidance. Only through inspection is it possible to ascer18835°—25---- 5
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
tain the hours of work of minors, to check regulations as to hazard
ous trades, and to find under-age children who have slipped through
the net of the truant officer, school census enumerators, or certificate
issuing office for work either during or outside school hours. The
factory inspector performs an important function for vocational
guidance also in inspecting for violation of the law in regard to the
working conditions, safety, and sanitation of the establishments in
which minors are engaged. Current reports of violations of the
child-labor laws should be made to the certificating agency by the in
specting agency, and reports on conditions affecting the welfare of
minors in individual establishments of interest to the placement
office could be made by special arrangement between the two
agencies. The value of the contribution of the factory-inspection
department to the vocational-guidance program depends, of course,
upon the existence of an adequate number of inspectors qualified
through special training to inspect not only for safety and sanita
tion but also for the enforcement of laws relating to the employ
ment of children, which involves somewhat different knowledge
from that usually required of the general factory inspector.7
7 For a full discussion of standards applicable to the administration of employmentcertificate systems see Administration of Child Labor Laws—P art 5, Standards Applicable
to the Administration of Employment-Certificate Systems. Children’s Bureau Publication
No. 133. Washington, 1924.
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ORGANIZATION OF JUNIOR PLACEMENT OFFICES
Both the inception and organization of junior placement offices
throughout the United States have been determined largely by spe
cific local conditions, and the emphasis governing the administra
tion of these offices is still, in many instances, due to the circum
stances which brought them into existence. Private philanthropy
either individual or organized, city school systems, a State depart
ment of labor, and the Federal Government operating through the
junior division of the United States Employment Service are, either
singly or in combination, responsible for the junior placement work
in the 1 2 cities included in this survey.1 Boston, Chicago, and Cin
cinnati have offices originally established by bureaus operating under
private funds and since taken over and administered by the publicschool system, though Cincinnati still receives part support from
private sources. In New York City junior placement is carried on
by a number of agencies. The Vocational Service for Juniors, which
does an extensive work in close cooperation with the public schools
was initiated and is still administered by means of private funds!
The city public-school system is itself responsible for another junior
placement service, and still another is conducted by the New York
Staie5-epartment of Labor- Three offices—those in Seattle, Oakland,
and Minneapolis—were initiated by a vocational-guidance depart
ment of the school system; two of these, the office in Oakland and
that in Minneapolis, are now conducted in cooperation with the
junior division of the United States Employment Service. The
Philadelphia office was initiated by the public schools and the work
was for a time conducted through the cooperation of the board of
public education and the United States Employment Service, but
later a staff of placement counselors was supplied by a philanthropic
agency, which still cooperates with the board of public education
in the support of the office. In Atlanta private philanthropy has
from the beginning shared the support of junior placement with the
junior division of the United States Employment Service, and the
supervision is joint between the school system and the junior divi
sion. The work in Rochester was initiated by the State industrial
commission of the State department of labor, by which it is still
conducted. Pittsburgh carries on junior placement in two offices
the first of which, for children between 14 and 16, was initiated by
a vocational-guidance department of the school system, and the sec« This section was prepared by the U. S. Employment Service.
of still another type of organization, and one worthy of Investigation for the extent of cooperation effected, is the junior office in Jersey City7 (officially
a? d plaJrem$?t ^T 18*011 of the Federal-State-Municipal Employnmnt
winch.operates under the joint supervision and support of the junior division
J^ n^ted States Employment Service, the New Jersey State Department of Labor
the city government, and the city school board. In a number of cities part-time schools
are responsible for the initiation of organized placement.
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ond of which, for young people between 16 and 2 1 , was initiated
by the junior division of the United States Employment Service
in cooperation with the board of public education. Both offices are
now conducted in cooperation with the junior division. Providence
has made no attempt to develop placement as such, though some
placement is necessarily undertaken as a part of its whole vocationalguidance program by the department of vocational guidance, which
cooperates with the junior division of the United States Employment
Service for that purpose.
Certain advantages are inherent in each form of organization
and cooperation. Private funds have frequently initiated and devel
oped fine types of work, which would otherwise have been long de
layed. In Cincinnati, for example, such aid has permitted an em
phasis upon exact and scientific study of the individual child
which would have been difficult, if not at the time impossible, to a
school department undertaking to meet unaided the immediate de
mands or large numbers of juniors seeking placement. Such
private funds, however, are necessarily limited in their scope of
application, and the definite tendency is that work so sponsored
shall finally be taken over, at least in part, by a public agency.
All the offices included in this survey not only recognize the benefit
of the school contact but have some form of definite cooperation
with the schools, official or quasi official. Such cooperation brings
to the placement office not only a labor supply but also a detailed and
scientific knowledge about the child which the school alone is in a
position to obtain, and in addition the confidence in its disinterested
ness which the public generally accords work undertaken by the
public schools.
A placement office sponsored by a State department of labor holds
a place similar to that of the schools in respect to public confidence
in the disinterested and impartial application of its services. I t is
further in a position to obtain, through factory inspectors and other
officials, intimate contact with the industrial field and an authorita
tive knowledge of working conditions surrounding juniors. More
over, through close association with the field of adult employment,
both skilled and unskilled, it gathers more exact and detailed infor
mation with reference to all the jobs of a community and enjoys a
wider contact with employers than could a separate junior office.
It simplifies the placement of older juniors and insures an easy
transfer for the junior to the adult office when he reaches his major
ity. On the other hand, some junior placement workers feel that
when adult and junior work are under a single supervision, espe
cially if the offices aré in the same building, emphasis on service
for adults is likely to be at the expense of juniors in the matter of
job openings.
Cooperation with the junior division of the United States Employ
ment Service has offered, as have private funds, an opportunity to
initiate work where local financial support would have been unavail
able or insufficient, and it has also tended to free the work from
local restrictions or inabilities where these existed and to bring to
local problems the broader view of national experience. Such co
operation also makes for standardization in keeping records. Gov
ernment forms are furnished to all cooperating offices. The use of
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Government frank makes feasible a wide circularization for pub
licity and a general solicitation of orders from employers and
an intensive follow-up of juniors at work. The exchange of pub
licity material among the offices affords timely suggestions of ad
ministration and method. The definite policy of the junior division
to leave to every local office the largest amount of autonomy pos
sible and to require uniformity only in the matter of serving all
juniors who apply and in the matter of submitting certain regular
reports to the Federal office increases the helpfulness of this form of
organization.2 .
Close connection between a junior placement office and the local
officials authorized to issue working papers is obviously desirable, since certification offers a channel already open through
which all these juniors can be reached for counsel, placement, and
employment supervision. In the organization of the offices certifi
cation and placement may be handled in coordinate divisions of the
same bureau at central or district offices, as in Cincinnati and Phila
delphia; or they may operate as separate divisions altogether and be
located m different buildings, as m Boston.
The size of the staff and the training demanded of its members
Tlt>h tpi *iC5Pf ?f the du!;ies undertaken. A department such
as that in Philadelphia may interchange placement secretaries or
counselors between the certification and placement divisions mass
ing its forces where the demand is most urgent. A research secretary working in cooperation with that office organizes and directs
mdustnal studies. In the Vocational Service for Juniors in New
York and the vocation bureau in Cincinnati, for example, a trained
psychologist is a member of the staff. A number of other cities like
wise command the services of specialists. Chicago, Philadelphia
and Boston require special examinations for the members of their
placement staff. In most cities the prerequisite training of the
placement secretaries or counselors is akin to that of the vocational
counselor m the schools, with a special emphasis on personnel experience and industrial knowledge. Given equal training and
ability, there has been, here and there, a feeling that men may be
more successful in the placement of boys, and women in the place
ment of girls. However, in practice this is by no means a constant
principle, for in a number of cities all the placement secretaries or
counselors are women; and m some of them (in Philadelphia for
example), a man may be interviewing girls at the same time that
boys are being interviewed by women.
THE FIELD OF JUNIOR PLACEMENT
The field of junior placement is obviously as wide as that o f the
employed or the employable junior. The junior division o f the
United sta tes Employm ent Service defines its field as including all
ydung persons above the minimum- legal working age and under 21
years o f age. Most school offices are finding it necessary at first to
lim it their service m the main to all juniors under 18, and do not
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
usually accept those over 18 who are not J graduates of the high
schools of that city. While it may be necessary, because of a limited
staff and an inadequate budget, or because the office is still m process
of development, to place the emphasis on service to a restricted
group, as for example, on the group receiving employment certihcates or on those either of limited or of superior mentality, still the
tendency is everywhere to serve as many as possible of the juniors
of the community and not to refuse any case which needs assistance.
Juniors applying at the placement office fall mainly into three
classes: Those, usually 14 to 16 years of age, who under most State
laws are not permitted to leave school for employment unless they
obtain working papers; those, usually 16 to 18 years of age, who are
free to enter full-time employment without working papers, but
who have not yet completed the education offered by the public
schools; and the group, usually 18 to 2 1 years of age, among whom
are the high-school graduates.
.\
. L-L'The problem presented by the individuals of the first group is so
much in the nature of a special case that there is a tendency either
to turn them over to special counselors in the placement office who
deal with them exclusively, as in Chicago, or to provide separate
offices altogether for them, as in the juvenile placement office m
Pittsburgh. These juniors constitute a group for whom what may
be considered successful placement is largely impossible. They are
generally regarded as better off in some kind of training than at
work, and the tendency both in the law and in placement practice is
to keep them in school if possible. In some States the law requires
proof of economic necessity before they can be certificated for emPlNoI1such clear-cut generalization as to character and vocational
counsel is possible in regard to the second group, which constitutes
the mass of most junior placement office work. The problem they
present is in each instance an individual one, and may be met best by
a return to school, by a change of school or course of study, by place
ment in immediate employment, or in training for employment, lo
its solution the placement office must bring the varied types ox in
formation which are its working tools.
Placement of high-school graduates is a seasonal activity loom
ing large in the yearly office schedule, and it is a daily task as well
in recurring individual cases. The task is somewhat lightened at
graduation periods by the fact that many high schools place a pro
portion of their own graduates without reference to the placement
office On the other hand, this is said by the placement secretaries
to result in the difficult cases falling to them when their most de
sirable openings are gone.
THE TASK OF THE PLACEMENT OFFICE
Enough has already been said to indicate that none of these
offices interprets its task as getting a maximum number of people
into jobs, as an employment office for unskilled adults might do.
Such quantitative job finding is altogether distinct from the task
of junior placement, which has for its objective the maximum de
velopment of the individual child along the lines of his occupational
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PLACEMENT
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possibilities into a happy and successful citizen. Much of the serv
ice of a placement office to the child is direct, but it is also prepared
to give an indirect service to the child by means of service to the
schools, the employers, and the community.
RELATIONSHIPS MAINTAINED BY OFFICES
In developing a junior placement program certain relationships
with other social groups are obviously necessary. Some advantages
of cooperation with the public schools have been indicated above.
But even where this official connection with the schools is inherent
in the organization, the placement office must consciously strive for
a very close cooperation with several branches of the school system.
Visits to local schools and classes both for the purpose of giving
and obtaining information are frequently scheduled as activities o f
placement workers. Staff meetings with school or vocational coun
selors and frequent talks at teachers’ meetings are methods of ob
taining this cooperation much used in Pittsburgh and Atlanta.
Placement items appear regularly in the news bulletins issued by
vocational-guidance departments in various cities. These and other
methods, such as circular letters to school principals and bulletins
of instruction to teachers regarding employment opportunities, are
all a part of regular routine in the various cities.
The placement office must possess an intimate knowledge of the
laws which govern school attendance, employment, and working
conditions of juniors. A close cooperation with the branches of
the city and State government charged with administration of com
pulsory education and of labor laws is obviously of advantage to an
office. An office frequently acts as an interpreter of education and
labor laws to the employer of junior labor, and services of this sort
help to extend the clientele of the office.
The methods of making* and establishing relationships with em
ployers are many. Talks at meetings of various industrial and
business organizations have been made by staff members of all óf
the offices. Chambers of commerce, Rotary and Kiwanis clubs
personnel associations, and many other organizations offer a field
for this type of publicity. Personal contact, through actual visit
ing at the place of business and an interview with the employment
manager or, in a smaller establishment, with the proprietor him
self, is frequently productive of immediate results.
Listing of suitable jobs in sufficient numbers to place all juniors
who desire employment may be easy enough in times of labor short
age, but it becomes a difficult problem to place juniors in periods
of industrial depression. All the offices count as one of their most
valuable assets their tested and established soliciting list of em
ployers who not only call upon the office for juniors when a vacancy
occurs, but who may be called upon by the office to make a place
for a particular applicant when no vacancy has been reported. In
cities so large that districting has seemed advisable in the adminis
tration of the work, as in New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago,
district secretaries or counselors are often made responsible for
personal contacts with the firms within their territory. Pittsburgh
has carried out with success ail extensive system of circularization
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
and has issued a regular bulletin to employers of juniors, carrying
information of interest to them regarding applicants and wages.
In Atlanta the superintendent of schools fosters friendly relation
ships by sending a personal letter of thanks to each employer when
an applicant is first accepted from the placement office by him.
Labor and trade organizations may be of vital assistance, espe
cially in the placing of apprentices, and their good will is at all
times a thing which the offices desire and seek. There again, a
frank presentation of the aims and purposes and methods of the
office, both at group meetings and to persons responsible for direction
of such organization, has been found a valuable method of attain
ing and strengthening friendly cooperation^
All the placement offices studied in this survey are in contact
with the various social agencies of the community in which they
operate, and make use of them more or less widely. It is an integral
part of the plan of all-around service to the child that placement
secretaries should understand how such cooperation can be effected
and should be able to command it for the good of applicants. In
Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and elsewhere secretaries are given access
to the confidential exchange of information maintained by the social
agencies, and if the child or any member of his family has come
under the jurisdiction of any of the local social agencies, the full
results of their investigations are at the placement secretary’s com
mand. It often happens that what is needed is neither placement
nor any other direct service for the child, but rehabilitation of one
sort or another for some member of his family. The calls made upon
social agencies by placement workers are many and form a part
of the regular weekly report sent to the.junior division of the
United States Employment Service by its local cooperating offices.
Indeed, placement offices are definitely levying upon the whole
community for the promotion of their work. Advisory committees,
composed of representatives of various interests in the community,
are frequently formed to assist the placement office. A notable ex
ample of such community cooperation is the placement office for
negroes in Atlanta where the interracial committee, the negro news
papers, the Young Men’s Christian Association, and the Young
Women’s Christian Association, and various other associations and
organizations have all been active in the conduct and support of
the work.
INFORMANTION AVAILABLE TO THE OFFICES
All of the offices emphasize the importance of scientific and exact
information as the basis of junior-placement procedure and insist
that only upon such a foundation can sound work be^ based. Infor
mation about the applicant, about the schools, about jobs, and about
the community is the indispensable working equipment of every
office, though its nature and extent may vary and its emphasis may
be differently placed.
Complete information about the applicant would include a cumu
lative school record in courses of study, with supplementary infor
mation, estimates, and comments of teachers and school counselors; a
report upon home history and environment; a history of work ex
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perience; a physical-examination record; and a mental-test rating.
No office studied in this survey has all of this information for every
child, and few, indeed, have all of it for any child. It is upon the
personal interview, elsewhere discussed, that the placement secretary
at present mainly relies for information concerning applicants.
As has been pointed out elsewhere, the most obviously helpful
source of information about the applicant is the school record, yet
such a record by no means comes to all offices as a matter of routine
or even as a matter of request. The Cincinnati office receives a cumu
lative record card for every child who leaves the public schools, and
an effort to approximate such a record is also made by the parochial
schools. Such a record is also available for the Boston office, and At
lanta has recently developed a vocational-guidance card which is
forwarded to the office from the schools with each applicant for
placement. School records are also available on special request in
Pittsburgh, and are regularly sent for all graduates from the gram
mar schools in Minneapolis and for other juniors on request, and are
sometimes available in Chicago. It may be concluded, where an office
reports that such records are available on request only, that they
rarely come to the placement office, because the exigencies of the day;s
work do not ordinarily permit special requests save in problem or
unsually difficult cases.
A mental-test record comes to the office even more infrequently
than the school record, and such a standard as that in Cincinnati,
where the office commands a mental test for each applicant, as well
as a school record, is an outstanding exception.3 Pittsburgh has a
brief test which is regarded as indicative rather than determinative,
and is administered in the junior office to many of the applicants.
While mental-test records are not generally available for all appli
cants, practically every office has some arrangement whereby special
cases can be referred either to a school bureau or to an interested and
cooperating agency for an intelligence test if one seems necessary.
First-hand facts concerning the family of the applicant are not in
hand at many offices, for all applicants. But there is a noteworthy
example in the Philadelphia office, where a provision that all appli
cants for first working papers must be accompanied by a parent and
that parent and child are to be interviewed separately and a record
kept of the information obtained at such interviews approximately
procures this type of information for all of the younger group of
children. While most employment secretaries do not question the
value of a family case study for applicants who present special
problems, yet the present status of placement budgets puts this
method of obtaining information out of the question in many in
stances. A case worker connected either with the placement office or
with some cooperating agency sometimes goes to the homes when the
problem presented is an extremely difficult one, but such special
service is by no means available as frequently as it would be valuable.
Data pertaining to previous work experience. are available for
certificated children as a matter of office record wherever the place
ment office and the certificating office are in position to interchange
such information. In most other cases the information is gathered
* For a full discussion of the present status of mental testing .in relation to the whole
vocational-guidance movement see pp. 17—28.
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from the child only, without consultation with former employers
except where some irregularity seems to suggest such procedure.
Some placement workers hold, indeed, that such reports if unfavor
able should not be recorded at all for junior workers, but that the
child should enter a new job with a fresh start. Placements can be
made, however, by the office with this information m hand without
transmitting it to the new employer unless actual dishonesty seems
to create an ethical demand that he should be warned. References
do not enter largely into the bulk of junior-placement procedure,
though the follow-up records of juniors placed by the office will
ordinarily give a history of their success or failure m positions
secured through the office.
Trade tests, as is indicated in the section on mental measurements
as an aid in guidance and placement, dp not at the present play
any considerable part in junior placement work. In addition to the
fact that the younger junior has ordinarily no trade ability to
measure, it is generally felt that they are not yet sufficiently stand
ardized or developed to offer reliable information for placement
purposes. Almost the only tests of this nature at all used by the
offices are tests for typewriting or other office-clerical positions, and
they are ordinarily given only to applicants whose school record is
questioned or who are not graduates of a commercial high school.
No general practice obtains of procuring a physical-examination
record for all applicants, although such examinations are required
by law for all certificated children in a number of States, and the
results are available to the placement office where certification
records are convenient to inspection. The cumulative school record,
if obtained, may give the results of physical examinations in the
schools, though that work is frequently so perfunctory and incon
clusive as not to possess great value. Applicants who are evidently
m need of clinical aid are frequently directed to such aid through
the placement office, but reliable information concerning the physi
cal condition of uncertificated applicants is not at hand m any
office.
.
•
Information about educational opportunities in the community
is easily obtained through school circulars and bulletins, and posses
sion of it is fairly complete and standardized in all of the placement
offices included in this survey. It is generally difficult to persuade
an applicant to return to the school which he has just left, but it
may be altogether possible to convince him that special training in
some other school or course of study will serve his purpose much
better than immediate entry into employment. .Placement coun
selors make use not only of information regarding the public schools
but of knowledge concerning all the special opportunities tor train
ing which the community affords. They are frequently asked tor
advice concerning night schools, private commercial schools, special
trade courses, cooperative courses, and correspondence courses.
The information about jobs which a placement office needs to
have is of two kinds, specific and general. There must be the knowl
edge that a particular job is open and. that the boy or girl sent there
will be required to do this or that kind of work. Investigation or
such “ orders ” from employers or collection of information regard
ing them from office files constitutes a part of the task of most
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placement workers. A junior is rarely if ever referred to a job
concerning which positive knowledge is not in the possession of the
office. Each new opening in a well-known firm need not be investi
gated, but juniors can not be referred to uninvestigated and un
known employers. Many offices refuse to list jobs in private families,
especially at housework, because investigation there is so difficult.
In addition to this specific information about particular jobs gen
eral surveys are needed of the employment opportunities afforded
by a community as a whole, with special reference to occupations
open to juniors. No placement office has time to gather as much
information of this sort as it needs, and free interchange of material
gathered by secretaries, counselors, employers’ associations, and other
agencies undertaking such work is the rule. The standardized
methods of gathering, compiling, and filing this information are
by no means generally followed. Files of occupational information
and of firm inspections are being continually revised and expanded,
however, and studies or reports, such as those prepared in Phila
delphia, Cincinnati, and Chicago, make the information which has
been obtained more generally available. Placement workers all be
lieve that the direct contact with industry afforded them by visits
to workrooms, by investigation of particular jobs, and by solicitation
for openings is an important part of their work and one which they
can not afford to omit. As noted in the chapter on studies of occu
pations, however, a few of the agencies concerned with vocational
guidance and placement included in this study have one or more
special members of the staff whose duty it is to gather extensive occu
pational information and to make formal studies, such as those
mentioned above, which demand too much time to be undertaken by
anyone who at the same time is conducting placement work. It seems
altogether likely that as placement work develops research secretaries
or counselors will be recognized as necessary members of the staff of
most junior guidance and placement departments.
PROCEDURE IN JUNIOR PLACEMENT
However divergent the organization of the offices, a few methods
of procedure are common to them all. Of these, the most important
is, perhaps, the individual and private interview with each applicant
by a skilled placement counselor. The physical location of offices
and their interior arrangement do not follow a set plan. The main
principles governing the location of offices are that they shall not be
too remote from centers of employment, that they shall be easily ac
cessible to the junior applicant, and when located in a school build
ing they shall, if possible, have an entrance not used by school pupils.
However, local circumstances largely control these matters, and suc
cessful work is done in an office on an upper floor of a down-town
office building, in one which shares its entrance with that of a con
tinuation school, and in others which have been forced to similar
compromises. The interior arrangement of the offices likewise has
been dictated by the space which could be procured, but each of
them makes some arrangement for an approximately private inter
view. The degree of this privacy varies from a glassed-in office just
off a main reception hall, where applicant and placement officer are
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entirely alone, to one where chairs skillfully placed, at the two sides
of a double desk and low-toned questions and answers provide a fair
degree of privacy.
For the interview the placement secretary or counselor gathers
together all the recorded information concerning the applicant
which is available from various sources. Where a placement clerk
receives all juniors and arranges the order of interviews, as in
Philadelphia, this information is collected by her from files and
placed before the counselor. As supplemental to this informa
tion, most offices make use of a personal question sheet, which
gathers from the child definite information about himself, his
family, his past school and work experience, and his vocational
desires. These blanks vary widely in the number and kind of
questions which are asked and show a tendency to increase the
amount of specific information obtained and to eliminate vague ques
tions, once so popular, as to u favorite books,” u favorite pastimes,
and the like, which are apt either to puzzle an applicant or to be
answered insincerely, and which serve only for a general impression
best secured informally during the interview rather than by formal
written questions. In most offices the employment counselor him
self writes in the answers on the blank, using the questions as leads
in the interview and developing informal conversation about them.
However, some offices, such as Atlanta, require that the personal
question sheet be filled in by the junior preliminary to the inter
view, with the idea that the manner of so doijig indicates his clerical
ability, method of thinking, and probable success in certain lines of
employment.
*
‘.
When all formal information has been assembled and cognizance
taken of it the careful and sympathetic interview frequently brings
out much additional and valuable information regarding the child
and his problems. It affords an opportunity, sometimes the last
one, for both educational and vocational guidance and for social
adjustments, and since all junior offices assume to some extent the
obligation of this wider service, the importance of the interview can
not be overemphasized In most offices a running record is kept
of all subsequent interviews, so that at any time the counselor may
have at hand the full history of the contact which the office has had
with the applicant.
\
If the result of the interview is to be a reference of the applicant
to a job, he is given a description of the nature of the job to which
he is being sent, instructions as to how to reach the place, and how
to conduct himself after he gets there. No junior is referred to a
job which he does not care to undertake after a thorough discussion
of it. Some offices, such as Pittsburgh and Minneapolis, have
printed leaflets containing u Do’s and Don’ts for Applicants, which
they give to each junior at the time he is referred to a Job. The
applicant is also given a card which will introduce him to the
employer and which the employer is ordinarily asked to sign and
return to the office if the applicant is employed. If the card doés
not arrive promptly and the junior does not return, most offices check
up the case by telephone within 24 hours and find out whether the
applicant appeared and what was the resultant action. Offices deal
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rather sternly with applicants who are referred and who fail to
aPP]y OI> to make a report. Some offices notify such applicants that
no further attempt will be made to place them for a stated length of
time.
.
I f no opening exists to which an applicant can be referred, most
offices undertake direct solicitation by telephone, call certain firms
which employ juniors in the work for which the applicant is fitted,
and ask if there are any present openings. If an immediate open
ing can not be found, the applicant is either instructed to return to
the office the next day or he is notified that he will be called when
an opening is found. For the children of the continuation-school
age a close cooperation between the employment office and the con
tinuation school is an advantage, as the child can be called from
the classroom only when he is to be referred to a job, and imme
diately returned in case no opening exists. All offices undertake
special solicitation and notification for the particular and difficult
cases, but in most of the offices when the volume of placement work
is large and the opportunities for placement are few, it is necessary
for the children who are above continuation-school age to appear
day after day until placement is effected.
Follow-up is also a fundamental part of procedure in junior
placement work. That without follow-up the placement of juniors
may easily become exploitation is generally admitted. While the
offices are agreed in the principle, their method of applying it in
actual practice is by no means the same. Follow-up of the working
junior may be of two types—that done through his employer and
that done through the junior himself; and while no office uses ex
clusively one. or the other type, yet the major emphasis is in some
places on the one and in some on the other. Follow-up through the
employer is more easily effected,4 but is insufficient in that it does
not give the junior’s point of view. Circular letters and question
naires sent to juniors themselves serve to remind them that the
office is still interested in them, and they usually bring a fair
number of responses.
The evening office hour, which affords an opportunity for employed
juniors to return and talk over their problems) is one of the most
effective means of follow up. Invitations to come in at this time
are sent by many offices to all registrants after a definite period, say,
at the end of three or six months. The primary object of follow-up
is conservation of the individual child, though it also serves as a test
of the success, methods, and aims of placement. Little follow-up
information has as yet been gathered, and this little less used; but
follow-up offers a fertile field for both record and research, and
from the follow-up files of the placement office may well be drawn
important facts for placement secretary, vocational counselor, edu
cator, and employer;
In some placement offices it is thought th at frequent follow-up inquiries are trouble
some to the employer and prejudice him against an office.'' Most offices report, however
that employers cooperate willingly with the agency th at supplies them with good workers
when they understand that follow-up is a necessary part of good placement and when the
work is done with economy of time and effort. Moreover, a growing list of employers
carry on a system of follow-up of employees; within their plants and can readily supply
the needed information.
fnt?
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USE OF BLANKS, FORMS, AND RECORDS
The keeping of records concerning both applicants and employers
is recognized as an important part of all junior placement work.
Every office has developed for itself a system of forms and blanks
covering registration and past history of applicants and action
taken by the office regarding them, jobs registered and_ filled, investi
gations of employment opportunities and working conditions, reports
from cooperating agencies, and the like. The studies of individual
cities in this survey contain some discussion of these records for each
office. The lack of uniformity among the offices either as to method
of keeping reports or as to the facts sought by them is one of the
evidences of the varied and sporadic origin of placement work. In
many instances forms have been adopted, used for a short time, and
then replaced as not being adequate for the purpose, while other
offices are prevented from making like changes, which they know
would be desirable, by the difficulty and expense of a change ofdorms.
So long as records of junior placement are regarded merely as a
means of .getting the work done at that particular local office this
lack of uniformity is probably unavoidable. The advantage of rec
ords sufficiently uniform to make possible comparative statistics for
different cities covering general facts regarding the placement of
juniors is obvious. I t is not possible to measure the work of any
junior office solely by the number of placements made. Other serv
ices are as important, if not more so. Until some common system is
devised of defining and recording these services conclusions from the
general survey of junior placement work must be descriptive rather
than statistical, and any comparisons of attainments or statistical
evaluation of efforts will be impractical. A conference of the work
ers of the various agencies now leading in the field of junior placement on th 6 subject of definitions, blanks, forms, and records would
probably accomplish much toward standardization of reports. Local
conditions will unquestionably dictate variations in forms, and m
the smaller offices limitations of staff will make elaborate record
keeping impossible, yet certain data uniformly kept over a given
period of years undoubtedly would provide laboratory information
valuable enough to warrant its collection.
SPECIAL PROBLEMS
There are certain special problems in the field of junior placement
for which as yet no common solution has been found and concerning
which there is no general agreement. Though compulsory schoolattendance laws are holding a rapidly increasing number of children
of the younger group in full-time or part-time school, large numbers
of junior workers, 16 years and under, are still employed^ and, for,
the most part, in low-grade jobs, largely routine in nature and offer
ing little if any systematic training. Placement workers all recog
nize this sort of placement as a problem, but the attitude of offices
toward listing such jobs differs rather widely. On the one hand,
the opinion is held that they are inevitable' forms of labor and that
they are, after all, the only jobs in which younger and more inex
perienced or less gifted juniors could have an economic value. The
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offices which take this view say that if a child must go to work he
can be placed in a job of this sort and then, by careful follow-up, can
be conserved through advice and encouragement until such a time as
transfer into some other occupational line becomes possible. Con
sequently, these offices do not hesitate to list such jobs, provided the
conditions surrounding them meet reasonable standards for the
health, safety, and welfare of the young workers. And some place
ment secretaries say that it is indeed difficult to determine the full
possibilities of even a routine and unskilled job, provided the child
is carefully followed up in that job and is helped to develop his pos
sibilities for advancement. On the other hand, we find offices taking
the attitude that placement in a job without educational content or
promotional possibility forms no part of an educational process and
has no place in scientific junior placement. Such an office believes
that the child can probably find such low-grade placement for him
self and that it can spend its time to better purpose for him than in
job finding of this sort.
Actual practice in. nearly all offices falls somewhere between the
two opinions. An effort is constantly made to improve the type of
employment listed and to make as few placements as possible under
unfavorable conditions for the child, but when jobs are scarce and
applicants many placements are made wherever immediate need
dictates.
Two types of applicants present special placement problems—
those who belong to races and nationalities against which bars to
employment are frequently raised and those who are handicapped by
mental or physical disabilities. Careful survey of the opportunities
which are open to applicants of these types, careful analysis of the
work in which their disabilities will be least operative, and special
solicitation of openings for them, all form a part of what may be
regarded as specialized placement office procedure. In the case of
the physically and mentally handicapped, research has already
served to indicate industrial possibilities hitherto unsuspected, and a
considerable extension of such research is desirable.
Placement work for juniors becomes difficult in large cities be
cause of the numbers to be handled and the area to be covered. The
problems of branch offices and of a system of clearance of “ orders ”
and of industrial investigations and reference of applicants without
duplication must be solved. The individual city studies indicate the
solution or partial solution of such problems in the various cities
where they present themselves.
Akin to this problem of expansion of service is the question of
centralization of all school placement activities in cities where indi
vidual schools either are conducting or wish to conduct placement
for their students. In no place has it been found advisable to pro
hibit such activity altogether on the part of the individual school,
though cooperation with the placement office is assuredly desirable;
and in a few cities, as in Pittsburgh, schools are required to report to
the central office any placements which they make.
As has been indicated elsewhere, no common agreement has as yet
been reached regarding the place of either intelligence or tradeability testing jn junior placement work. Kesearch along the lines
of the correlation between such tests and occupational success, to
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
gether with further development of intelligence and trade-ability
tests and of job analysis, are all necessary before a standardized pro
cedure in the use of these resources for placement purposes can be
developed.
AIMS AND TENDENCIES
In the larger number of cities covered in this study organized
placement has already become an integral part of the process of
vocational guidance. In the few where placement has not been
formally organized it is still being recognized as a necessary school
function by certain schools, vocational counselors, and teachers
within the system, and is being conducted sporadically. The crosssection study of placement here presented is fairly representative
of organized efforts at junior placement in the country at large.
New placement offices are being organized in many communities
throughout the United States. Part-time and continuation schools
are of necessity initiating and conducting placement work, for which
in some cases subsequent expansion is definitely planned to serve ah
juniors of the community who apply for advice. Whether such
expansion and centralization are part of the original plan or not,
experience has shown that they are a logical and frequent outcome
of any limited placement activity.
Two seemingly divergent factors have combined to produce the
present attitude toward junior placement on the part of the schools.
In the first place, when the school assumes the responsibility of guid
ing the child toward a vocation and preparing him for it, it becomes
difficult to avoid taking the logical third step, that of placing him in
it. The dependence of the junior, the interest of the teacher and
vocational counselor, the pride of the school in its output, all urge
in this direction. Placement of the graduates of vocational schools
and courses grows inevitably out of their nature.
Secondly, we have a new knowledge, daily increasing, about both
the child and his education which is rapidly modifying our point
of view of school aims and functions. Measurements of the capacity
of the child and observations of the results of his education give
us accurate information hitherto unknown. We are discovering that
formal academic education at a point considerably short of highschool graduation may cease to develop and advance a large num
ber of juniors who at the earliest opportunity enter the occupational
world, influenced more often by dissatisfaction with school as they
have found it or by adolescent unrest than by acute pressure of
poverty. Though part-time and continuation schools, trade schools,
and vocational courses may profitably extend the period of school
supervision for many of these boys and girls, there still remain
multitudes of children for whom no suitable school is at present
available, and who might reach useful and happy citizenship as
well through careful placement and follow-up in the occupational
world as by retention in school. Add to these cases the children
for whom poverty dictates the entry into full-time employment be
fore the age of maturity (and will continue to do so until such time
as mothers’ pensions, scholarship aid, or other economic provisions
adequately meet this necessity ) 9 and we have a large body of juniors^
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still in need of school supervision, outside the range of school service
unless^ that service is extended to include placement and follow-up.
So interpreted, placement becomes not an extraschool activity so
much as an integral part of the education process and a task not to
be evaded by any school system which accepts the responsibility of
providing educational opportunities for all minors—a responsibility
which the laws of most States show a growing tendency to increase
by raising the compulsory school age. I t follows, then, that place
ment can not be left to haphazard and unscientific effort, but must
be as well planned, organized, and directed as any other part of
the school program.
Evidence is not at hand that the school is yet availing itself at all
widely of placement and follow-up records as a means of testing both
curriculum and teaching methods. Many educators, however, clearly
see the potential value of such testing. More nearly complete rec
ords, more extensive standardization of placement methods, and
increasing knowledge of occupations will undoubtedly bring to pass
further beneficial modification of the school curriculum. In that
wider and more socialized attitude toward the child and his life
which characterizes the new education, the position of the placement
office is one of rapidly waxing importance.
As shown throughout this study, responsibility for the guidance
and placement of juniors has been shared by agencies other than the
public schoools, and may continue to be so shared for a long time to
come, probably permanently by some of them. Chief among these
agencies is the publicly supported employment service, Federal and
State. The United States Department of Labor and State depart
ments of labor, through their employment services, have initiated and
developed junior placement bureaus, independently and in coopera
tion with other agencies, mainly public-school systems.
Many facts indicate that the work so carried on can be and will
be more widely and intensively developed and more adequately sup
ported. In addition to these public agencies various private philan
thropic agencies have been responsible for a considerable measure
of the work already accomplished in this field and probably will
continue to have a goodly share in the extension of the service and
the development of sound standards and scientific methods, for the
day seems far distant when the fostering aid of such funds can be
dispensed with.
By virtue of his duties, the placement secretary serves as both
counselor and personnel worker. His duties lie in the two widely
dissimilar fields of education and industry. His ability and skill and
training should be commensurate with those of the people with whom
he must deal in both fields. Training programs for employment
secretaries and counselors need not differ widely, perhaps, from
those for school counselors (see p. 38), though they would naturally
put more stress upon occupational contacts and information, mini
mize technical social case work, and emphasize the ability to make
and maintain contacts in the occupational world and to secure public
interest and support and community confidence.
A placement office, so conceived and so staffed, aims at a service
much more adequate and constructive than that of mere job finding.
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In such an office the junior finds a place where both his immediate
need and his future welfare are taken into account ; where he is
respected as a potentially productive member o f society and pro
tected as an immature citizen. Theories of guidance in the plac ment
office are subjected at once to the acid test o f actuality. Sometimes
it is the first place where a I w o u ld ” faces ‘*1 can,” but it is not to
be thought o f for that reason as a place o f disillusionment and dis
appointment. On the contrary, it becomes for the junior a place of
constructive planning and of wise assistance toward self-help, while
it teaches self-reliance and responsibility toward the job and w aids
off the dangers of unreliability and aimlessness and d riftin g; at
the same tim e it equally prevents exploitation and helps toward
promotion into a new job when the opportunities offered by the old
one are exhausted.
A s the skill and ability of the placement worker increase, em
ployers are discovering that such a service to juniors is by no means
incompatible with service to them nor antagonistic to their inter
ests. The junior placement office is actively and constructively con
cerned w ith serving the best interests of both employee and employer,
To the placement office the cooperative employer o f juniors may look
for inform ation concerning laws governing junior labor; for help
in selecting a better type of employ e, more carefully fitted to the
demands o f the job; for economy and elim ination o f waste conse
quent upon too frequent labor turnover; and for cooperation in the
development o f special training and apprenticeship programs.
I t has sometimes seemed difficult for school man and business
man to find a Common meeting ground, though each has much need of
the other. In the placement office they meet upon friendly if not
mutual territory. To the employer, the employment office offers an
interpretation of the school and of the child; to the educator, it
affords a contact with the occupational world and its demands.
The contribution o f the placement office is not alone to the junior,
the employer, and the school, but to the community as a whole. In
the placement office, as well as at the board of health and at the
chamber o f commerce, community builders w ill seek recorded facts
that indicate whether or no that community shall grow and thrive.
And on the harmonious adjustments which the placement office is
able to effect w ill rest in no inconsiderable measure the happiness
and prosperity o f a coming citizenship.
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FOR USE IN VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE 1
If the child in school or seeking employment is to be assisted in
planning for his future occupation or in finding employment, the
counselor, the placement worker, the teacher of the class in vocations,
and to some extent the parents and the child also must have in
formation on a variety of industries and occupations and on local
opportunities for employment and conditions of work. The amount
of detail and the emphasis will differ for the different groups, but
each group must know the facts that are significant for its purposes,
and the information must be concrete and up to date and as nearly
first hand as is practicable. From the earliest definitely organized
attempts at vocational guidance in the United States, beginning with
the work of Prof. Frank Parsons at Civic Service House, in Boston
(see p. 83), the success of the program has been seen to depend upon
the use of such information. We are told that—
One of the things that distinguished Professor Parsons from other types of
advisers on vocations was th at he made use of official statistics regarding
occupations. Previous writers on “ choosing a vocation ” had contented them
selves with glorifying certain selected careers and holding up illustrious ex
amples of successful men and women. Parsons began to analyze the geo
graphical features of industry. He sought to find from the census figures
“ what States, city, or sections of the country employ most workers in a given
industry.” This seems elementary, indeed, * * * but it was a new note
in the study of vocations, and especially a new note in its significance for
vocational guidance in the schools.*
The Boston Vocation Bureau soon after its establishment em
ployed a full-time investigator to study occupations and continued
this work as an important activity both before and after its trans
ference to the school of education of Harvard University. Chicairo’s
bureau of vocational supervision also regarded a comprehensive
first-hand knowledge of the work opportunities open to boys and
girls as fundamental to its program, and the study of vocations was
a feature of the early activities of the various groups which initiated
different phases of the vocational-guidance movement in New York
City. In 1922 the answers to questionnaires sent by the Children’s
Bureau to the school superintendents of all cities with a population
of 10 ,0 0 0 and over showed that about three-fourths of the cities
that reported some phase of a vocational-guidance program (i. e.,
counseling, placement, or vocational-information courses) reported
also that investigations were made of local industries and occupa
tions in order to furnish information for vocational-guidance pur^
poses.
The aim of vocational research, so far as guidance is concerned,
is to obtain information on the vocational opportunities open to
1 This section was prepared by the U. S. Children’s Bureau.
2 Vocational Guidance and the Public Schools, by W. Carson Ryan, jr., p. 59.
Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1918, No. 2 4 . Washington, 1919.
71
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young persons and their requirements and rewards, with special
reference to local conditions, and to make this information available
in the form most suited to the needs of the different groups desmng
to use it. In outline, the needs of all the groups are the same. They
differ mainly in the amount of detail demanded and in the form of
presentation, and to some extent in emphasis. All juniors need first
of all general information on the industrial or economic organiza
tion and on the occupational opportunities of their community, their
section, and the country as a whole, including the relative importance
of the principal industrial and occupational groups both in the com
munity and in the larger geographic units of which it is a part. ^ In
addition to this they need detailed information on the occupations
that are most important to the youth of the community.
GENERAL OCCUPATIONAL INFORMATION
The first step in a program of occupational or vocational research
should be to compile general background information in forms suited
to the requirements of the different interested groups in the commu
nity. This phase of the work has been somewhat neglected. Even m
places where an attempt has been made to collect occupational ma
terial, often little or no thought has been given to the importance of
assembling and disseminating the more general sort of information,
though it is much more readily available and much less expensive to
assemble than information on particular occupations and industries.
Material of this kind is published in the volumes of the United States
Census Bureau and in the reports of Federal and State labor de
partments, of special investigating commissions and of private re
search agencies.3 In some places where vocational-guidance activi
ties have been developed, the preparation of reading lists and the
assembling in school libraries, in vocational-guidance department
headquarters, and in the offices of placement workers and counselors
of literature bearing on vocations and related subjects have done a
good deal to make the existence of the material known to vocationalguidance workers, teachers, and pupils. But although ¿uch efforts
as these assist the well-qualified vocational-guidance worker, trained
in study of this type, the information desired is usually presented m
too great detail or not in suitable form to be generally useful, or it
must be separated from extraneous matter by the reader, who fre
quently has not the time, the interest, nor the required knowledge
to do it. In consequence, mtich of the most essential information re
mains for all practical purposes inaccessible.
,
In a few cities the vocational-guidance agency has attempted to
bring together some of the most important items and to present them
in a form adapted to the needs of teachers and pupils, of part-time
counselors, and of others who do not have the time or the training
to do their own research. In Cincinnati a 23-page pamphlet, pub
lished as a general introduction to a series of vocational pamphlets
issued by the vocation bureau, contains a brief summary of census
statistics of male and female employees in a large number of occu
pations in Cincinnati. The White-Williams Foundation of Phila* See Personnel Research Agencies, by J. David Thompson (U. S. Bureau of Labor Sta
tistics, Bulletin No. 299, Washington, 1921).
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delphia, in cooperation with the public schools, has issued, as one of
a series of occupational monographs, a four-page leaflet containing
statistics of boys and girls employed in various industries in Phila
delphia at the time of the 1920 census. Although these pamphlets
serve a useful purpose in making available in very brief form cer
tain facts from the census volumes, neither contains statistics of
both adult and junior wage earners in the different occupations ;
their scope is limited to the statistics of employment for the particu
lar community ; and no information is presented showing the relative
importance of an industry or an occupational group in the commu
nity compared with other sections of the country or with the country
as a whole. The department of attendance and research of the
Minneapolis public schools has prepared a pamphlet entitled “A
Study in Occupations for Classes in Community Life Problems”
which contains chapters, based on the census figures of 1910 and
1920, on “ the ways in which people earn a living” in the United
States, and on the principal occupations in Minnesota and in
Minneapolis.
Although a detailed analysis of special occupations may of neces
sity be limited chiefly to occupations of local importance (see p. 76),
the more general type of background information should be as far as
possible nation-wide, should include comparative material for the
different sections of the country and for the rural and the urban
community, and should take account of the variation in opportunity
for young persons of both sexes and of different ages. This material
should be presented in such a way as to show clearly its significance
for the group by whom it is to be used.
A second source of information of a general nature, though re
lating only to the local community, exists in the records of the em
ployment certificate issuing office, the continuation school, and the
placement office. These records, even when kept merely for the im
mediate purposes of the respective offices, such as the enforcement
of the child-labor law or the continuation-school law or the admin
istration of a placement program, may afford information on occu
pations and industries entered by young workers, their wages, and
their occupational histories extending over a period of several years.
They may be analyzed further to show the demand year by year for
young workers not only by industries and occupations but also by
individual establishments. Such material has a special value in
that it records current conditions, whereas statistical information
drawn from the census and many other sources is often out of date
before it is available. Records are not always planned, however,
to give the desired information,’or such occupational information as
is obtained is not compiled, or if compiled is not generally made
available for the groups most interested in vocational guidance.
Such material should be at hand for members of the staff of the vo
cational-guidance department (that is, placement workers and
counselors), and the most significant facts could be “ translated ” for
the use of teachers and pupils. As it is, when information on one
of these groups of children is desired, the lack of available record
material or tne fact that record material has never been compiled,
tabulated, and analyzed, usually makes necessary a special study,
as for example the study of the work and working conditions of
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
continuation-school children in Philadelphia (see p. 249) ? the find
ings of which have been prepared in pamphlet form tor the use
of placement workers, counselors, teachers, and others connected
with the vocational-guidance program. Unquestionably much more
use would be made of record material were it not for the expense
involved in compiling the data, coupled with the fact that tunas
for such work are almost everywhere small or nonexistent. How
ever, a number of certificate and placement offices now compile sta
tistics of some sort, and with little or no additional expense they
could assemble current information on the employment of children
and young persons that would be a valuable help to the understand
ing of local occupations and vocational opportunities.
SPECIAL STUDIES OF OCCUPATIONS
ADAPTING STUDIES TO LOCAL USE
Much excellent information on specific occupations and industries,
as well as information of a more general nature, can be obtained
from secondary sources,4 and before a vocational-guidance agency
undertakes the assembling of any new material through first-hand
investigation it should study available publications and wherever
practicable use them or adapt them for local use. Time, effort, and
sometimes money have been wasted in the making of occupational
surveys and the preparation of occupational pamphlets, when similar
studies made in other cities would serve the purpose, at least with
very little adaptation, as well as a new study or even better. I here
are a number of occupations, such as those in the building trades,
and many commercial, professional, and public-service occupations,
in which a considerable number of workers are employed m every
city. In these occupations conditions vary little from city to city,
and information on them, if it is accurate and covers the essential
points, will do quite as well for one city as for another. An analysis
of the work of the trained nurse, for example, except for certain
points of relatively little importance which can be obtained througn
a few hours’ or at most a few days’ effort, applies to New York as
well as to Chicago and to the small town as well as to the large city.
Even in the case of such workers as machinists, automobile ^mechanics, and printers, where there is a greater variety between cities
on such points as the relative importance of the occupation, the con
ditions of work, and the extent to which the trade is unionized,
there is little or no variation from place to place m the essential
processes of the trade, the type of training necessary, and the gen
eral line of promotion in the trade.
Several agencies, both public and private, m addition to local vo
cational-guidance departments, have published facts about specific
occupations which may serve the purposes of vocational guidance m
a particular community as well as a new study or which may be
adapted for local use. A series covering a particularly wide range
of employments is that prepared by the United States Bureau or
Labor Statistics for the United States Employment Service and
“S itio
‘»s?cctpSSst
owaejs a i& a a ? »
n Harvard University Press, Cambridge,
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Mass., 1925).
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STUDIES OP OCCUPATION'S AND INDUSTRIES
75
known as “ Descriptions of Occupations.” These consist of very
brief job descriptions and a list of the requisite qualifications for
each of the occupations in 15 industries. “ Opportunity Mono
graphs,” prepared especially for ex-service men by the Federal
Board for Vocational Education, include studies of professions,
businesses, and skilled occupations, and give some information on
opportunities and remuneration, as well as a brief description of
the work and of the required training. The “ Survey of Junior
Commercial Occupations ” (Bulletin No. 54, Commercial Education
Series, 4) is an example of another type of occupational study pub
lished by the Federal Board for Vocational Education. This, like
a new series by the United States Children’s Bureau on vocational
opportunities for minors,5 deals specificalls, as the name indicates,
with openings for the young worker. A number of other Govern
ment publications, though prepared primarily for purposes other
than guidance and placement, give fairly complete information on
occupational requirements, chiefly in connection with the subject
of teaching the occupation described. Among these are many of the
pamphlets of the Federal Board for Vocational Education, including
a set of bulletins on emergency war training courses for mechanics
and the “ Training Bulletins ” of the Training Service (a war
time division of the United States Department of Labor). Among
the studies of occupations published by other agencies are a series
of studies of junior positions in commercial occupations made by
the research and service center of the division of vocational educa
tion of the University of California and of the California Board of
Education, and reports on vocations for trained women published
by the Bureau of Vocational Information in New York City. Occu
pational studies made in connection with vocational-education sur
veys, such as those made under the auspices of the National Society
for the Promotion of Industrial Education and the Cleveland Foun
dation also cover many of the main points of importance from the
point of view of vocational guidance.6
The recent action of the Cleveland Board of Education in obtain
ing the temporary services of the member of the staff of the vocation
bureau of the Cincinnati public schools who is the author of “ The
Metal Industries ip Cincinnati ” (see p. 212), to prepare a similar re
port for Cleveland suggests one way in which studies prepared with
a special view to conditions in one city may be adapted at slight ex
pense for another. Even where the services of the same person to
study the differences in local conditions can not be procured it would
probably be not a lengthy nor difficult matter for a properly quali
fied member of a local vocational-guidance staff to get the informa
tion needed to adapt such a report to local conditions. As the period
of experimentation in making occupational studies is passed the prac
tice of “ borrowing ” the occupational analysis of one city and adapt
ing it to the uses of another may be expected to grow. Indeed, so
expensive and so difficult is the making of a good occupational sur
vey that as standards improve cooperation among the vocational5 Minors in Automobile and Metal-Manufacturing Industries in Michigan. Publication
No. 12(5. Washington, 1923. 131 pp. Other bulletins in this series are in preparation.
e A brief account of the most important of these surveys with special reference to
their relation to vocational guidance is given in Vocational Guidance and the Public
Schools, by W. Carson Ryan, jr., pp. 70—74 (U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin. 1918,
No. 24. Washington, 1939).
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guidance agencies of different cities will probably become the rule
not only to standardize and correlate the results of studies but also
to get adequate studies made. Possibly a national research agency
contributing a trained staff could assist in coordinating the efforts of
different communities.7
THE CHOICE OF OCCUPATIONS FOR LOCAL STUDY
In the case of occupations of special local importance to young
workers, of which no adequate studies have been made that oan be
adapted to the local situation, it will be necessary for the community
to make its own study. Whether an occupation or industry is ot real
importance for study depends primarily on its numerical importance
in the community as either a child-employing or an adult-employing
occupation, or its special inducements to the boy or girl entering it
with adequate training. Industries in which unusually large num
bers of children of work-certificate age find employment should be
among those first selected for study, if only to prove to the boy or
girl thinking of leaving school to enter them how little opportunity
most of them offer. Industries and occupations leading m adult emplovment, even if they have few openings for children of school age,
should be studied to demonstrate what entrance into such industries
or occupations offers and what qualifications and preparation are
needed to achieve success in them. The skilled trades and business
and professional occupations should be studied to indicate to the boy
or girl who is inclined to drift into work requiring no technical
preparation thé value of adequate vocational training, as well as to
furnish placement workers, counselors, and others giving guidance
with information on the qualifications and training needed tor these
°CNo uniform basis of selection has been followed by vocationalguidance agencies in making occupational studies. Most of the
occupations selected for study in the earlier vocational-education
surveys were skilled trades and commercial occupations, because the
obiect of these studies was primarily to ascertain the community s
needs in vocational education. The occupations studied by voca
tional-guidance departments usually cover a wider range, including,
in addition, both professions and industries whose workers are chiefly
semiskilled or unskilled laborers. The studies of the Boston Vocation
Bureau, made when almost no printed information on occupations
was available, were planned to include ultimately all important oc
cupations-important, that is, from the point of view of adult
employment. The first pamphlets issued by this bureau (see p. 8 d)
included reports on selected professions, skilled trades, business em
ployment, and two industries of local importance. The trade studies
of the vocational-guidance bureau of the Chicago public schools have
thus far (except for a study of the nursing profession) included only
certain skilled trades, though a series of brief leaflets prepared for
students covers a much wider group of occupations, chiefly m the
field of business and the professions. The occupational studies made
¡lyslsgsssssiKB«
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STUDIES OF OCCUPATIONS AND INDUSTRIES
77
in Philadelphia include studies of a number of skilled trades, of one
professional or technical occupation (that of librarian), and of the
paper-box industry.
ESSENTIAL POINTS IN THE STUDY OF AN OCCUPATION
The following points ma^y be considered essential in a study of
occupations or industries for vocational-guidance purposes:
1 . Importance of the occupation (number employed, principal cen
ters, brief history of development and prospects for the future, the
contribution of the occupation to the public welfare, etc.).
2 . Sex, age, race, and nationality of workers.
3. Organization of the industry and description of processes or
operations involved.
4. Economic and working conditions of the occupation:
(1) Kinds and location of shops, working and sanitary condi
tions, health and accident hazards.
(2 ) Rates of pay and earnings.
(3) Seasonal variations.
(4) Demand for wurkers and methods of obtaining them.
(5) Trade and labor organizations.
5. Qualifications and preparation required.
6 . Opportunities to learn the occupation:
( 1 ) Outside the industry.
(2) Through training within the industry.
7* Opportunities for promotion within the occupation.
8 . Advantages and disadvantages of the occupation.
Some information on each of these points has been obtained in
most of the occupational studies that have been made as part of a
vocational-guidance program. The amount of detail and the em
phasis on different points vary considerably.
WHO SHALL MAKE THE OCCUPATIONAL SURVEY?
In spite of a quite general recognition of the value in a vocationalguidance program of making industrial and occupational studies the
occupational survey conducted in connection with vocational-<midance programs unfortunately has often been made under conditions
that rendered the information of little value. Many of these sur
veys have not been conducted or even directed by properly qualified
investigators, the aim is often confused, the scope ill defined, and
the information obtained too fragmentary and superficial for effec
tive use m guidance. In many places, as the replies to the Children’s
Bureau questionnaire showed, the only occupational studies are
those made by teachers or even pupils or other equally untrained
investigators. It is undoubtedly valuable for both teachers and
pupils to have the benefit of some first-hand knowledge of the
industries of the community and of the kinds and conditions of
employment, but such investigations can not provide the sort of
information that is necessary for adequate guidance or placement.
Moreover, m such cities there is seldom any attempt to coordinate
the work of various groups of relatively untrained persons making
occupational studies, and even where there is, the lack of time makes
for humed and ill-considered surveys, and the lack of technical
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VOCATIONAL. GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
knowledge as to both the subject matter and the planning and carryin out of such surveys and often also an incomplete understanding
of what facts the survey should bring out cause the results to be of
little value to others than those who have had the opportunity
to participate in them. Although some teachers of vocationalinformation classes may have the necessary background to make
adequate occupational surveys, most of them are teachers of civics
or history with no special training in the field of occupational re
search and so are no better equipped for the purpose than the
teachers of other regular subjects.
Where a school-counseling or a junior-placement program lias
been established, the machinery exists for assembling more adequate
occupational information. The properly qualified placement^officer
especially, because of his intimate first-hand knowledge of the in
dustries of the community and its young wage earners, is far better
equipped for the study of vocations than is the teacher. All place
ment workers, if their duties are properly fulfilled, must visit places
of employment. Although their principal objects are to obtain in
formation on specific openings for junior workers and on the con
ditions of work in the establishments where the openings exist
and to bring the services of the placement bureau to the attention
of the employer, they can take advantage of the opportunity to
obtain more information, both general and detailed, on the kinds
of occupations 'in the industries visited than would be required for
these purposes alone. It is one of the counselor’s duties, also, to
obtain for use in her own work information on the industries and
occupations of the community by means of visits to places of em
ployment. (See pp. 37-38.)
Although information collected by counselors and placement work
ers is exceedingly valuable, for a number of reasons it is not possible
to depend upon it alone to furnish such detailed information on
the employment opportunities of each industrial or occupational
group in the community as is needed. Placement workers must de
vote the greater part of their time to placement, and such time as
they have for visits to inquirers must depend on the amount that the
more urgent claims of their office duties permit. In the time allowed
for such visits they often can not do more than obtain the information
essential for the purposes of the placement office alone and make the
necessary contacts with the employment manager or other supervis
ing officials. Moreover, the placement officer can rarely manage to
visit within a reasonable time, unless he is given time off from his
placement duties, a large enough number of establishments m any one
industry to obtain material for an analysis of the employment opportunities in that industry as a whole. Nor does every placement officer,
however well fitted for his own line of work, have the preparation
or the personal qualifications for successful research. The ^use ox
counselors in occupational research is subject to the same objections
as apply to placement workers, and to an even greater degree. _ I t is
not necessary for the counselor for the purposes of his own job to
devote as much time to visiting places of employment as it is tor
the placement worker, nor is it in any way as important a part ol
his duties. Moreover, the experience of the counselor is less likely
than that of the placement worker to qualify him for occupational
research ; many counselors are teachers, the majority of whom devote
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STUDIES OF OCCUPATIONS AND INDUSTRIES
79
only a part of their time—in some cases a very small part-—to their
counseling duties. Even in the few places where full-time counsel
ors have been appointed the chief demand upon them in most schools
is tor educational rather than vocational guidance, and quite prop
erly so, and there is, therefore, less occasion for them than for the
placement worker to familiarize themselves with conditions of em
ployment in local businesses and industry.
The most valuable vocational surveys for vocational-guidance pur
poses are those that have been made—or at least planned, supervised
and analyzed—by persons especially trained in research in this field
either by a large staff o f experts employed for a relatively brief
period, as in the vocational-education surveys o f the National Society
tor the Promotion o f Industrial Education and the Cleveland Foun
dation, or by members of the permanent staff of a local vocationalguidance department.
A lthough studies o f the former type have been undertaken pri
m arily to obtain data upon which to base a program of vocational
education, they have been of considerable value to the vocationalguidance movement also, not only in furnishing vocational-guidance
workers with far more reliable, comprehensive, and detailed in
formation on industries and occupations than had previously been
available, .or than could usually be obtained by the lim ited research
facilities o f vocational-guidance agencies, but also in furnishing
models and indicating methods for the study of occupations that
have been influential in determining the scope and raising the stand
ards of succeeding studies and surveys. (See footnote 4, p. 75.)
A permanent staff of one or more persons to hiake studies of
occupations has been a direct result and part of the vocationalguidance program in the few cities in which it has b en attempted
Of the cities included m the present study, four have developed the
study of occupations as part of the vocational-guidance program •
in three Chicago, Cincinnati, and Philadelphia—as an active functmn of the public-school department responsible for vocational,guidance and placement. In Boston, where the making of occupa
tional studies by a local full-time expert was first undertak n (see
pp. 83-84) the work has never been taken over by the vocationalguidance department of the public schools, but, as a part of the
work of the Boston Vocation Bureau, was transferred to the bureau
of vocational guidance of Harvard University. Although this bu
reau does not specialize in the study of local industries and occupa
tions, as did the Boston Vocation Bureau in its early days it has
continued to compile and disseminate material on occupations and
the study of occupations that is used throughout the country In
each of these four cities care has been taken to appoint for the work
persons specially trained in methods of occupational research and
persons whose education and previous experience have given them a
knowledge of industrial organization and a wide acquaintance with
its literature.
METHOD OF STUDY
Interviews with employers and w ith workers, observation o f the
places and conditions of employment and o f processes and operations
and consultation with representatives o f organized trade and em
ploying groups are the generally recognized methods of m aking
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occupational surveys. Where others than trained research workers
have made the studies, the value of the information has frequently
been impaired not only by the lack of background and training in
research which has been noted, but also by lack of a properly
planned outline for the inquiry. Even where a formal outline in
cluding questions on all the most essential points has b en prepared
for the use of investigators, the questions have not always been
phrased in such a way as to bring out the sort of information that is
most pertinent to the purpose of the inquiry. Questions even on
such points as the conditions of work, the wages, and the advantages
and disadvantages of an occupation, if not framed by persons who
are thoroughly informed as to the factors involved and who are
familiar with the technique of research of this type may be entirely
unproductive of the desired results. Data on wage rates tor in
stance are of little importance if annual earnings and seasonal varia
tions in the trade are not ascertained. Information on the advant
ages and disadvantages of a trade amounts to little if facts as to
future as well as present opportunities are not collected, and it cer
tain factors in the organization of the industry or the occupational
group as a whole have been ignored. Where an organized program
of occupational research has been developed, great care has been
given to the framing of the outlines and schedules used in ^collecting
the information and in the revision of the outlines from time to time
on the basis of the results shown by completed studies.
i
In several cities placement workers, counselors, and others in the
vocational-guidance departments who have occasion to visit estab
lishments in connection with their regular duties are required to
obtain on a uniform schedule a certain amount of additional infor
mation on each establishment, for use in connection with occupa
tional studies. Although forms used for this purpose (for samples
see reproductions, pp. 96, 138, 252, 308) can not contain the detail
necessary to a thorough occupational study, they may at least, in
addition to such facts regarding the operations involved in the
occupations open to minors and the qualifications required ox appli-.
cants as are needed for the purposes of the particular worker who
visits the establishment, provide for a few general items on such
matters as the kinds of o'ccupations carried on m the plant; the
number, sex, and approximate age of the workers in each occupation
and the wages paid ; the hours of labor in different occupations ; the
seasonal demands of the establishment; sanitation and safety meas
ures* the method of procuring workers, both inside the plant
through a personnel department or similar provision and outside
through the use of public or private employment agencies ; the
provisions for training workers within the plant and opportunities
for promotion ^ and th.6 attitudo of th.6 managomont toward th.6
employment of juniors.
[9Æ
\
.
Data obtained in connection with certificate issuance and place
ment have been used also to some extent to supplement other in
formation on industries and occupations in cities where attention
has been given the development of occupational studies. IMuch more
use of such material could be made. I t can be analyzed to show, for
example, the occupations open to children of different ages in an
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STUDIES OF OCCUPATION'S AND INDUSTRIES
81
industry, the seasonality or steadiness of the work, the amount of
school training demanded, the range of pay, and possibly the physi
cal effects of the occupation.
FORM OF REPORT
Although the occupational study should be made if possible by
persons experienced in industrial and economic research, presentatv°n u i e .res1ults should not be limited to technical reports, but
should also include a variety of simple and popular forms to meet
the needs of the different groups who are to use the information,
j practice, reports embodying the results of occupational surveys
do differ greatly in form, content, and method of treatment. The
difference in treatment is due partly to the fact that the reports
are intended to reach different audiences and to serve different pur
poses, but some of the variations may be attributed to different con
ceptions of the scope and form of such publications, and to the difterence in training and equipment of the investigator. Some degree
of standardization, at least as to the topics treated in publications
intended for similar audiences, is being achieved in the series of
studies issued by vocational-guidance agencies which have specially
qualified research workers making occupational studies, but in gen
eral it may be said that the occupational report is in the experi
mental stage, and no general agreement as to the best form in which
occupational material should be presented has been reached even
among experts in the field.
The tendency appears to be to develop two types of publications
embodying occupational information—one, leaflets usually of fewer
than 1 0 printed or mimeographed pages for the use primarily of
school children and children applying for work permits or place
ment and their parents; the other, detailed publications, some of
which are elaborately illustrated pamphlets of 1 0 0 or more pages
primarily for placement workers, counselors, and teachers of voca
tional-information courses. Even in this respect, however, there
is no absolute uniformity, for in some places brief pamphlets are
issued tor the use primarily of placement workers and counselors,
a u ^lonto®1’ publications are especially designated as for the use of
school children. If the pamphlet prepared for school children is
to be used m a course m occupations it will necessarily differ from
one that is intended for general distribution among school children
tor although in either case the material should be so simply pre
sented as to be understood readily by children it should be more
detailed when intended for use in a special course, and, like any
textbook, it may contain exercises, outlines, etc., for classroom use
Exam ples of the first type are the “ Start Training Now ” series
o f the Chicago vocational-guidance bureau, a set of 25 four-page
leaflets, and the bulletins called “ Vocations for Rochester B oys and
lv t
^ ^°. ' Pa£es> issued by the Rochester Department of
.Public Instruction. Examples of the second type are the “ bulletin
series of the White-Williams Foundation of Philadelphia the
occupation^ studies ” of the Chicago vocational-guidance bureau,
and the vocational pamphlets ” of the Cincinnati vocation bureau
(See pp. 251, 175, 214.)
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Except the Philadelphia series the more detailed bulletins are
intended also for students, as is indicated in the forewords to the
individual pamphlets. The Chicago vocational pamphlets, for ex
ample, are intended for the use of vocational advisers in the schools,
placement workers, teachers of vocational-information classes, and
students considering entering the field of work to which the pam
phlet relates. The introductory bulletin of the Cincinnati series
says that “ the primary purpose of these pamphlets is to furnish
teachers information and material for their use in discussing with
their classes the different ways in which people earn a living.” Al
though they are the longest and most detailed of all of the bulletins
issued by vocational-guidance agencies they are written in a style
intended to interest young readers so that they may be used in the
classroom. The Philadelphia publications include two series, but
both are planned primarily for the use of vocational counselors and
teachers, and no attempt is made in either to adapt the style to
students. The distinction between these two series is rather that
one, a series of monographs, consists of brief reference leaflets, sum
ming up outstanding facts that the vocational-guidance worker or
teacher should know, and the other, a series of longer bulletins, con
sists of comprehensive and detailed studies containing all the facts
about an occupation that would be significant in a vocational-guid
ance program.
USE OF STUDIES OF OCCUPATIONS
The final test of the value for vocational-guidance purposes of a
study of an occupation or an industry is the extent to which it is
used and the way in which it meets the needs of vocational-guidance
workers. Studies of this kind are so new and their possibilities so
undeveloped that it would be unfair at this time, even if it were
possible, to apply this criterion in judging their worth. But the
importance of checking up from time to time on the use of reports
on occupations and industries should not be lost sight of. Measures
should first be taken to insure as wide distribution of a report as
possible among all the different groups for whom it is intended.
But more than this, both the facts presented and the method of
presentation should be subjected to frequent criticism from many
sources with a view to determining whether or not they fulfill the
requirements of the various groups to be served.
In several places where occupational studies have been made by a
local vocational-guidance agency, periodical meetings called by the
agency, at which occupations and kindred subjects are discussed,
assist in introducing the reports to teachers, counselors, and others
who should be familiar with them, help arouse these different types
of workers to the importance and interest of the study of occupa
tions and provide the occasion for indicating ways in which reports
can be used to advantage with pupils and parents. Such a pro
cedure besides effecting a wider use of the material also has the ad
vantage of giving the agency making the study an idea of the reac
tion of each group to both the material and the form of studies
that are made, and of providing practical criticism and suggestions
on which to base improvements in future studies and reports.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
PART II
BOSTON
HISTORY OF THE VOCATIONAL-GUIDANCE MOVEMENT
THE VOCATION BUREAU OF BOSTON
A movement which was destined to exert considerable influence
f? 1
development of vocational guidance in a number of cities in
• '5AUi d iSi ate? originated in an attempt at Civic Service House,
m the -North End of Boston, to give vocational advice to young men
and women in the neighborhood. The movement was first organized
ay the Vocation Bureau of Boston in March, 1908, under the direc
tion of Prof. Frank Parsons, one of the settlement workers. A year
later, as a direct result of the work at Civic Service House, offices
were opened m the central part of the city. After the death of
Professor Parsons in the latter part of 1908 the bureau was placed
under the direction of Meyer Bloomfield, head worker of Civic
Service House, under whose general supervision the earlier work had
been developed.
The ^chief activity of the bureau during its early years was co
operation with the school officials of Boston in developing a voca
tional-guidance service for public-school pupils. (See p. 85.)
Although its subsequent activities were not so closely related, to the
work of the Boston schools 'as those of its first four years, the prin
cipal work of the bureau for some time consisted of supplying school
systems with the information needed in their vocational-guidance
programs.
Beginning in June, 1910, a full-time investigator was employed
by the bureau to study occupations open to boys and young men.
Three months was the minimum time devoted to the study of any
one occupation, and for some studies 'a much longer period was neces
sary. The bureau consulted from 50 to 1 0 0 persons in regard to each
occupation employers, superintendents, foremen, workers (in their
homes as well as in their places of work), union officials, social
workers,, instructors, and other authorities. It aimed to present
simply and accurately the facts as to professions and trades 5 business,
homemaking, governmental callings; and new vocations for both men
and women. During the first three years in which the vocational
studies were made nine occupations or occupational groups were in
vestigated and the following pamphlets were published : 1 The BakerConfectionery Manufacture; The Architect; The Landscape Archi
tect; The Machinist; The Grocer; The Department Store and Its
« V
a2 °ut,line Of the plan followed in these investigations see Meyer Bloomfield’s
Youth, School, and Vocation,” pp. 40-44, and for selected quotations i l l u s t r a t e the
general method ot treatment, pp. 65-83 (Boston, 1915).
y
8 tne
83
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Opportunities for Boys and Young Men; Banking; The Law as "a
Vocation; The Shoe Industry .2
.
, . . .
L„
Beginning in the summer of 1911 a series of training courses for
vocational counselors and others professionally interested m the
field of vocational guidance were given by the director of the
Vocation Bureau of Boston, first at the Harvard University Summer
School, and later at the University of California, Indiana Uni
versity, the State normal school at Greeley, Colo., and Columbia
University. In the winters of 1912 and of 1913 he gave a course of
afternoon lectures and conferences m Boston, to which school super
intendents of a number of neighboring cities sent selected teachers
from their schools. In 1914 this course was transferred to Boston
^TrTaddrtion to acting in an advisory capacity and as a research
and training agency in connection with the vocational-guidance pro
gram of the Boston public schools, the bureau served also as a clear
ing house for vocational-guidance information and literature, i t
conferred and corresponded with individuals and agencies m various
parts of the United States and foreign countries, including persons
desiring guidance for themselves and those desiring information
and advice on the advisability and means of developing vocationalguidance activities in their communities. It undertook to supply
books, pamphlets, reports, press and magazine clippings, manu
scripts, and other reference material to teachers, parents, investiga
tors, students, and others calling for information, suggestions, and
help. * Personal counseling, one of the principal activities or tne
bureau in its early days, gradually became less important. As a
result of the activities of the bureau the first National VocationalGuidance Conference (the forerunner of the National VocationalGuidance Association) was held in Boston in 1910, under the joint
auspices of the bureau and the Boston Chamber of Commerce.
In the fall of 1917 the bureau was transferred to Harvard University, becoming the bureau of vocational guidance under the divi
sion of education. With the creation of the graduate school of
education at the university in 1920, the bureau of vocational guid-.
ance became a department of this school. At present the activities
of the bureau consist in training vocational counselors, teachers
giving courses in occupations, and others through courses m the
graduate and summer schools; conducting research and preparing
publications on occupations; providing information on vocationalLidance activities in different parts of the country ; assisting school
departments of various cities in establishing vocational-guidance
programs ; and editing and publishing the Vocational-Guidance
Magazine, the organ of the National Vocational-Guidance Asso
ciation.
_____________
Ker„ ^ ^ f h f t nsi1m’uYrtRtu^1esUof^CoccupaUonse
Movement ’’ (New York, 1918), pp. 22 32.
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE VOCATIONAL-GUIDANCE PROGRAM IN
THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
As early as 1909 the annual reports of the superintendents of the
Uoston public schools gave evidence of a growing recognition by
the school system of the need and importance of developing adequate
Vi C-m10Ii ' guidance facilities for school children. In the spring
i -9P
sc^1.00^ committee asked the vocation bureau to submit a
plan lor vocational guidance in the schools. The bureau proposed
and the school committee approved a program of vocational coun
seling to be worked out jointly by the director of the bureau and a
conference of school principals and teachers. The superintendent
of schools appointed a “ committee on vocational direction,” con
sisting of six assistant principals, three of whom became principals
within a year, to work out the program in detail in cooperation with
the bureau. The interest and cooperation of teachers were enlisted
through mass meetings, through conferences with high-school prin
cipals, and through the appointment of school counselors. The
principal of each high school and of each of the elementary schools
except one appointed a vocational counselor or a committee of coun
selors from the teachers—approximately 100 in all. They were
given no extra time nor compensation for their vocational-guidance
work.
During the first year the committee confined its efforts chiefly
to pupils'of the highest elementary grade. The various high schools
were left to work out their own plans, though a counselor was ap
pointed in each of them, and conferences between members of the
committed and high-school principal were held j and the committee
reported that during the year much valuable work had been accom
plished in all the high schools on the initiative of the principals
and teachers.
.
As an aid in developing a program for counseling pupils graduat
ing from the elementary schools the principals of the special high
schools were requested by the committee on vocational direction to
meet the vocational counselors of the city and describe to them in
detail the aims and curricula of these schools. One of the special
services rendered by the elementary-school counselors in this first
year was the selection of pupils best fitted to enter two of the popu
lar specialized high schools, which did not have accommodations
for all who desired to enroll.4
In addition to the appointment of the counselors, vocationalguidance activities carried on in the schools during this year con
sisted in the filling in of “ vocational-record cards ” by pupils in the
eighth grade and the giving of vocational-guidance talks to pupils in
both the, elementary and. high schools. IVIany of these addresses were
made by persons engaged in the business or industry described.
Although the development of a program for the placement of pupils
leaving school and their supervision after placement were regarded
by the committee as forming two of the three principal aims of their
first year’s work, the adequate development of such a program, it was
* Brooks, Stratton D .: “ Vocational Guidance in the Boston Schools an address deliv
ered a t the First National Conference on Vocational Guidance, Boston,’ November 1910 ”
Bloomfield, Meyer: Readings in Vocational Guidance, pp. 87-88. Boston, 1915, ’ 0 r
18835°—25---- 7
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-VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
felt, would not be possible without the establishment of a central
information and follow-up service.
In regard to this service the committee stated at the end of its
first year’s work that “ until some central bureau of information
for pupils regarding trade and mercantile opportunities is estab
lished and some effective system of sympathetically following up
pupils, for a longer or a shorter period after leaving school, is or
ganized in our schools as centers, the effort to advise and direct
merely will largely fail.” 5
Thè recommendations of the committee with respect to the devel
opment of the counseling program stressed in the following words
the need of providing teachers, parents, and pupils with vocational
information and the necessity of training vocational counselors:
P u p ils should h ave d etailed in form ation in th e form o f in ex p en siv e hand
books regarding th e v a rio u s ca llin g s and how to g et in to them , w ages, perm an
en ce o f em ploym ent, chance o f prom otion, etc. T each ers m u st h ave a broader
outlook upon in d u stria l opportu n ities for boys and girls. E ven th ose teach ers
w ho kn ow th eir p u p ils w e ll g en erally h ave little acq u ain tan ce w ith in d u stria l
conditions. T he m a jo rity can a d vise fa ir ly w e ll how to prepare for a p rofes
sion, w h ile fe w can te ll a boy how to get in to a trade, or w h a t th e oppor
tu n itie s th erein are. In th is respect our teach ers w ill need to be m ore broadly
inform ed regard in g social, in d u strial, and econom ic problems.®
In the Girls’ Trade School (see p. 106), a full-time vocational
assistant7 was appointed in 1910, whose duties included investigat
ing conditions in the trades taught by the school in order that
courses might be adapted to the needs of the trades and that accu
rate and up-to-date information on occupations and conditions of
work could be furnished pupils and their parents. The vocational
assistant was also given the responsibility of obtaining positions
for graduates of the school and of keeping in touch with them in
order to encourage and advise them in their work. A vocational
assistant with similar duties was appointed to the High School of
Practical Arts, a technical high school for girls, in March, 1911.
In the High School of Commerce the school committee had appointed
a man in the spring of 1909 to obtain summer employment for
pupils, primarily to give them business experience and an acquaint
ance with actual working conditions.
Because of the large number of specialized secondary schools in the
Boston public-school system (see p. 105), a particular effort was
made from these first years of the interest in a public-school voca
tional-guidance program to explain to pupils graduating from the
elementary schools what the various high schools had to offer. In
1912 the school committee devoted practically its entire annual re
port to an illustrated description of the Boston public schools and
what they offered from the vocational point of view, addressed to
the parents and school children of Boston. I t also published from
time to time brief pamphlets describing the courses given in each
of the high schools of the city.
In 1912 the school committee at the suggestion of the Vocation
Bureau of Boston selected three school counselors to make an in8 Bloomfield, Meyer: “ Youth, School, and Vocation.,” p. 36.
* Accordtog3^) a ruling of the Boston school committee, one vocational assistant was,
and still is, required for every 300 girls in the school.
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87
vestigation of conditions in the schools as a basis for more effective
work in vocational guidance, and as a result of their recommenda
tions early in 1913 it voted to establish a vocational-information
department. The purposes of this department were outlined as
follows:
1. To gather vocational information.
2. To select teachers and others and train them to act as counselors of
pupils, and through them to distribute educational and vocational information
to pupils and parents.
3. To stimulate the home to make a general selection of life work by pupils
of high-school age so that they may enter an appropriate high school.
4. To follow up the student through high school and see that he adjusts him
self, or, if a misfit, readjusts himself in some other course.
5. When the child must go to work to see that he chooses intelligently and
has such assistance as he needs in finding suitable employment.
6. To follow up the child who goes to work and to see that he adjusts him
self, or, ^if a misfit, readjusts himself in some other employment until he gets
started in work for which he is adapted and work which has a future.
7. To study the social and industrial histories of young working children .8
The vocational assistant of one of the technical high schools was
appointed part-time director of the department. The most im
portant work of the new department was the reorganization of the
school counseling program. Up to this time there had been no
systematic basis on which counselors were chosen; individual schools
had few or many, according to the interest in counseling taken by
the principal and the teaching staff. According to the new system,
each school building had two counselors, one for the pupils of the
graduating class, the other for children withdrawing from school.
Although the counselors were given no extra time for the Work,
regular office hours were established during periods when the teach
ers acting as counselors had no regular class. Monthly meetings for
counselors were organized, and suggested programs of work were
provided. The material on occupational and educational opportuni
ties prepared by the Vocation Bureau of Boston, the Girls’ Trade
Education League, the Women’s Municipal League, and other agen
cies, and other literature on vocational-guidance subjects, was placed
at their disposal.
In his report for 1913 the superintendent of schools made the
following suggestions for the “ next steps in vocational counsel” :
1. Employ a director on full time instead of a person on the present parttime arrangement.
2. Employ an assistant to work exclusively in the evening schools.
3. With the help of the counselors, prepare a definite course of study giving
vocational information for the use of the eighth grade.
4. Provide more vocational counselors in all high schools, whose duty shall
be to see th at all students who are poorly adjusted or failing, or who need
advice in any way are properly assisted. Ask each high school to make a
report annually on what it has done in looking after students in this way.
Provide th at all teachers who are employed in the compulsory continua
tion schools receive the training suitable for a vocational counselor and
follow-up worker. These teachers should be allowed time on their program
to visit the children in their places of employment, -to discuss their needs with
their employers, and to do other follow-up work.
bÄ
S
M
Ä
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S c t ° 01 Doc“ m“ * No- I0 - I8 1 3 ’
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
6 Place in the employment-certificate office a person to assign children to
continuation*1schools, ^who shall be subordinate to the director of vocatronal
counsel.1®
.
Enlarging upon the last item listed, the superintendent said:
This person must have information from the home, school, and shop, must
be inclose touch with the school counselors in the elementary and high schools
and must have a better knowledge than any other person of the character of
pnnnselinsr done in the schools. As the children change their places of work
and comeSfor recertification this person will get an insight into the follow-up
WIt* v ^ u ld \p p e a ^ U^erefore,°that^M ^w ould be the pivotal point about which
the vocational counsel and follow-up work would naturally revolve. The per
son in charge should be in the vocational-information department and should
be a thoroughly competent person.“
In the fall of 1913 a full-time director of the department of voca
tional information was appointed.
THE BOSTON PLACEMENT BUREAU
In 1912 the public schools began cooperating with a privately
supported placement bureau which had been established for the
purpose of finding employment for children leaving school This
agency, later known as the Boston Placement Bureau, h a d h ad its
beginning in an experimental placement program m five Roxbury
school districts conducted in the spring of 1912 by the Women s
Municipal League and the Girls’ Trade Education League m co
operation with the Children’s Welfare League of Roxbury.
The Boston school committee furnished the placement office with
the names of all children graduating in June of that year from five
selected grammar schools in Roxbury and gave it office room m one
of these school buildings.
. .
•,,
At the completion of the experiment the Boston school committee
approved the continuation and enlargement of the work of the Boxbury Placement Bureau and gave it the use of a room 1]\th e Rox
bury High School. The Women’s Municipal League and the Girls
Trade Education League agreed to share expenses The latter
also gave the services of its trained investigator to study the oppor
tunities for employment in Roxbury and to visit all employers who „
applied to the bureau for workers, either girls or women, and the
Women’s Municipal League gave some assistance m preliminary in
vestigations of occupations open to boys and girls m various indus
tries and business establishments. (See p. 84.)
9
The report of the first year’s work of the bureau*(May 20, 1912June 30, 1913) contains the following statement of its aims and
methods:
____ ______
- ■• • :
10 Annual Report of the Superintendent, p. 155.
School Document No. 10, 1913, Boston
Public Schools. Boston, 1913.
5“ The >h?Ulren’’
organized
by the Massachusetts
U iim renss Welfare
weiia.re League of Roxbury was
tQ ca
out constructive
measures Sofor
K M S & .V & K
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TOttdto * *
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The first effort of the secretaries has been to avoid placing a t all, endeavor
ing in every instance to urge or help the child back to school, when prac
ticable, by part-time work or by securing scholarships through private agencies.
When placement has been found unavoidable no attempt has been made to
prophesy the exact place of any given child in industry, merely to find for him
that type of work for which he seemed best fitted—for the child of obvious
mechanical bent, some form of constructive w ork; for the clerical type, clerical
employment; for the potential salesman, salesmanship.
The function of the placement bureau is to be sharply distinguished from
that of the employment agency. I t could not fill “ rush orders” either for
employers or employees, since the aim of its secretaries must be to place
permanently and well, so th at it can watch the development of its boys and
girls into contented and efficient working men and women.
But mere placement has not been considered the most important function
of the bureau. The real test of the judgment, discrimination, and insight on
the part of the placement secretaries has been found in the permanency and
mutual satisfaction of the relation between the employer and employee. And
this has been secured only by the most careful and conscientious aftercare.
The follow-up work has been considered as essential a part of the bureau’s
work as that of placement itself. This follow-up work has been conceived
of as being twofold: (1) Keeping track of each child in his work, and (2)
bringing him in touch with educational and recreational centers. * * *
I t has sought to keep alive the old connection between the child and its
school, as well as to make new relations between the child and congenial em
ployment, thus helping to link together in a continuous chain the day, evening
and continuation schools, the evening centers, the public library, and the em
ployer. It has endeavored to become an integral part of the plan being slowly
[evolved] of keeping in touch with, and guiding when necessary, the child
between 14 and 21, in which movement the department of vocational informa
tion, the continuation school, and the evening centers are all joint sharers .13
In May, 1913, the bureau had obtained permission from the
school committee to cooperate with the principals and vocational
counselors of all the schools of Boston; that is, to make its activities
city-wide. Office space was given in one of the buildings occupied
by the administrative departments of the school system. The num
ber of placement secretaries employed was raised from 2, in May,
to 12, in July, 1913. When the compulsory continuation school
was established in September, 1914,14 the staff of the continuation
school undertook follow-up work for employed children, and the num
ber of placement secretaries was reduced to 5—2 for the ele
mentary schools, 2 for the high schools, and 1 whose time was
devoted to making contacts with business houses and investigating
openings for employment.
The relationship between the Boston Placement Bureau and the
schools was strengthened by the appointment, on a part-time basis,
of the director of the bureau, first, in the fall of 1914, as director of
vocational counselors and head of the division of assignment and re
cords of the continuation school, and later, in the spring of 1915,
as acting director, and in 1916 as director, of a newly created de
partment of vocational guidance of the public schools.’ In 1917 the
entire staff and activities of the bureau were taken over by the
school committee, and its history was merged with that of the voca
tional-guidance activities of the Boston public-school system.
.„ I3„Annual Report of the Superintendent, pp. 152, 153, 154.
1913, Boston Public Schools. Boston, 1913.
“ Massachusetts, Acts of 1913, ch. 805.
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School Document No. 10,
90
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
ORGANIZATION AND ACTIVITIES OF THE VOCATIONALGUIDANCE DEPARTMENT “ *
ORGANIZATION
The vocational-guidance department of the Boston public schools
is at present responsible for the following activities :
1. Promoting the school counseling program through—
d. Informational and advisory service to the counselors ap
pointed in each high and elementary school.
b. Counseling by members of the department staff,
o Plac6ïïi6nt.
3 ! Following up and supervising all persons registered with the
department.
.
.
. .
4. Collecting data on industrial and business openings, educational
opportunities, etc., and tabulating the results of follow-up studies.
Issuance of employment certificates, enforcement of the compul
sory school attendance law, and mental measurement of school children, one or more of which activities in many other cities are closely
affiliated with the vocational-guidance program, are in Boston the
responsibility of entirely separate departments. Neither is the de
partment solely responsible for the placement of all public-school
children. Children under 16 years of age who are attending con
tinuation school are usually cared for by a placement office conducted
by the continuation school, though they may be referred to the
vocational-guidance department. Graduates of trade schools and
of some of the special secondary schools also are usually cared for by
their respective schools, which maintain their own placement ma
chinery. However, the fact that the department continues to func
tion during the summer, when schools are closed, puts it in a position
to care, at that time at least, for pupils from all schools.
The office of the department is in the public-school administration
building, in a central business section of the city. Here are all the
administrative offices of the school system except the certificateissuing office5 which is in the boys* continuation school building^
several blocks away.
The staff consists of the director, 10 counselors—3 men known as
vocational instructors and 7 women known as vocational assistants—
and 2 clerks. Of the vocational instructors, one is assigned to highschool graduates ; a second to elementary-school pupils, high-school
“ drop outs,” and pupils seeking after-school, Saturday, and vacation
employment, the object of which is to aid pupils to remain in school;
and the third to pupils of the Boston Trade School and the Mechanic
Arts High School. The seven vocational assistants have the follow
ing assignments, respectively: (1) High-school graduates with work
ing experience; (2) recent high-school graduates; (3) elementaryschool pupils and high-school “ drop outs” ; (4) pupils desiring
after-school, Saturday, and vacation employment; (5) an interme
diate school in a foreign quarter; (6) follow-up work incidental to
the preparation of reports to school principals, and special industrial
problems; and (7) research studies and statistical work. In addi
tion to these special assignments each member of the staff makes
14a tf0r tile school year 1923-24, unless otherwise indicated.
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BOSTON
follow-up visits to homes and industries and assists in industrial
investigations.
A special examination is required for the certificate of vocational
instructor and of vocational assistant, and candidates must be gradu
ates of an approved college or university or of an institution of simi
lar grade, and must have had three years’ experience in teaching;
or they must be graduates of an approved high school and normal
school and have had five years’ teaching experience. In either case
a portion of the teaching experience must have been in a vocational
school or in vocational work.14b
The director and five other members of the staff have had experi
ence as teachers in the Boston schools. The director before her work
as assistant director and later as director of the Boston Placement
Bureau (see p. 89) was assistant principal in one of the Boston ele
mentary schools cooperating with the original placement experiment
in the Roxbury schools (see p. 88). Five members of the present
staff have had experience in business. Five are college graduates
who have had teaching experience and have done special work in
investigation or in psychology. All members of the department
have taken university courses related to guidance and placement.
The expenditures15 of the department for the financial year, Feb
ruary 1, 1922, to January 31, 1923, were as follows:
Salaries--------------- ------------- ---------------------------------- $25,179. 85
176. 61
Office supplies and equipment______________________
Postage— --------------------------------------- -----------------97*00
Telephone_______________________________________
3 1 1 . 74
Printing--------------------------------------------------------------74] 15
M is c e lla n e o u s________________________
Total----------------------------------------------------------
187. 56
26, 026. 91
SCHOOL COUNSELING
The staff of the vocational-guidance department gives educational
and vocational counsel to all members of the graduating classes of
the general high schools, of the Mechanic Arts High School, and of
the Boston Trade School, to all pupils entering the Boston Trade
School, to all seventh, eighth, and ninth grade pupils in one of the
intermediate schools, and to all other elementary and high school
pupils who request advice.
In addition to direct service of this kind, the department has gen-,
eral supervision over counselors in the individual schools, of whom
there is one or more in each school, selected by the principal from the
teaching staff. It calls meetings of school counselors and supplies
them with summaries of child labor and school attendance laws, with
bulletins describing the various high-school courses16, and with other
printed matter prepared in the department. Members of the depart
ment staff hold weekly office hours throughout the school year in
each of the general high schools to interview withdrawing pupils or
ub The Vocational Guidance Magazine, Vol. Ill, No. 1 (Octoer, 1924), p. 14.
“ Annual Report of the Business Agent for the Financial Year February 1, 1922, to '
January 31, 1923, p. 44. School Document No. 1, 1923, School Committee of the City of
Boston. Boston, 1923.
*• A Guide to the Choice of a Secondary School. School Document No. 3, 1924, Boston
Public Schools. The most recent edition (1924) of this bulletin emphasizes the aim of
the various high-school courses and directs the pupil to a consideration of reasons for
selecting a particular course or school,
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VOCATIONAX« GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
those considering withdrawing, to confer with the school counselors
on special cases and problems, to address classes, and to handle other
matters pertaining to vocational guidance.
In the elementary schools the counselor is expected to interview
all pupils leaving school, with the object of dissuading them from
withdrawing, if possible, and all pupils in the sixth or higher grades
who are failing, in order to find the reason and to suggest a remedy.
He explains to them the labor laws in reference to hours of employ
ment, attendance at continuation school, etc., and is held responsible
for filling out the record card (see p. 97) required by the placement
office of the department when pupils wish employment or when the
counselor desires the department to follow up a child. Some schools
automatically send to the department a record for every child leav
ing school. In some schools the counselor, in others the teacher, con
fers with pupils in regard to their choice of high school. The bul
letin, “A Guide to the Choice of a Secondary School,” distributed
to all eighth-grade pupils and taken home for parents to examine,
is used as the basis of a discussion of the various secondary schools.
A letter from the superintendent of schools to the child and his
parents accompanies each bulletin. In addition to individual con
ferences between counselor or teacher and pupils and parents,
parent-teacher meetings are held, and high-school representatives,
the staff of the vocational-guidance department, and others give
addresses on the value of an education and the importance of a care
ful choice of high school.
: .
In an intermediate school attended chiefly by girls from foreignborn families one of the vocational assistants of the vocationalguidance department assigned to the school does intensive counsel
ing. She teaches five classes in occupational information; holds
regular office hours for individual interviews (often as many as 200
a m onth); makes home visits, especially in the case of pupils plan
ning to withdraw from school, and places pupils desiring part-time
employment, children leaving school, and former pupils returning
for assistance in finding work. Every effort is made to keep pupils
in school. The school counselor interviews all pupils planning to
withdraw, whether or not they are under 16 years of age. The
principal requires each pupil to have five cards satisfactorily filled
out before she grants permission to leave—one, signed by the parent,
requesting the girl’s withdrawal; one filled out by the school co’m'selor after an interview with the parent, showing family need for
the girl’s wages; a written promise of employment from the pros
pective employer; the school-record card; and the vocational-in
formation card for the vocational-guidance department. Two weeks
after each placement the school counselor visits the employing firm.
The course in occupations given in the seventh grade in this
school consists of lessons on various kinds of workers with emphasis
on each worker’s contribution to each individual in the social
body. In the eighth and ninth grades, respectively, the course is
outlined as follows :16a
. G rade 8
1. Study of industries of special community in which children live.
2. Study of high-school courses and the occupations to which they lead.
i«a The Vocational Guidance Magazine,'Vol. Ill, No. 1 (October, 1924), p. 19 and p. 21.
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3. S tu d y in d e ta il o f a fe w defin ite occu p ation s w h ich w ill probably be th e
ch oices m ade by th e girls.
4. V isits to and reports upon a fe w ty p ica l fa cto ries. (E m p h a size lim ited
w ork eigh th -grad e g ir ls can do.)
5. D evelop m en t o f p la y s to illu s tr a te good and bad w a y s o f ap p lyin g fo r w ork.
G rade 9
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
H ow an ed u cation h elp s a girl.
R ev iew cou rse o f stu d y offered by th e h igh schools.
W ork ou t p la y s illu s tr a tin g d ifferen t p h ases o f v o c a tio n a l guid an ce.
D efin ite stu d y o f th e m an y occu p ation s b rin gin g ou t w ork a c tu a lly done.
A fe w v is its to ty p ic a l sto res and offices.
H ow to d iscover in te r e sts and a b ilitie s.
H ow to be efficient in a chosen occupation.
The high-school counselors are in constant contact with the staff
of the vocational-guidance department, a contact Avhich is strength
ened by the weekly office hour referred to on p. 91. A special effort
is made by the department to find after-school, Saturday, and vaca
tion employment for high-school boys and girls who would other
wise be obliged to leave school. In some of the secondary schools
counselors are allotted some time from teaching for counseling
duties, the amount of which varies with the school. Those giving
specialized training and sending the largest proportion of their
students directly into wage earning have especially well-developed
counseling systems,
In the Girls’ Trade School the counseling staff consists of a
counselor in charge and three vocational assistants, each responsible
for 100 girls. Each of these counselors teaches only half time. The
counselor in the Boston Trade School is a member of the staff of the
vocational-guidance department. He holds office hours four times a
week, in the course of which he personally interviews each pupil in
regard to his vocational plans, summer employment, etc. He also
teaches classes in vocational civics and has charge of alumni activ
ities. In both these schools the counselors give assistance in choosing
courses, especially to first-year students. They give special attention
to placement, which is considered an obligation of the school. Fol
low-up work and replacement are carefully done. The State requests
and urges both types of work for five years for all pupils in courses
receiving State aid. Part-time work is also found for students.
In commercial high schools little educational guidance is given
except in group meetings, since the courses vary but little; the
counselors in these schools devote most of their time to placing grad
uates, sending follow-up letters to alumni, and visiting employers.
Both commercial and trade schools, though placing many of their
graduates, refer to the placement bureau of the vocational-guidance
department unplaced graduates and most of their pupils withdraw
ing before graduation.
The counselor in the Mechanic Arts High School is allowed no
time from teaching for guidance. The vocational instructor of the
staff of the vocational-guidance department assigned to the Boston
Trade School gives part time to the Mechanic Arts High School,
where he holds regular office hours and personally interviews each
member of the graduating class and other pupils wishing advice.
The counselor in the High School of Practical Arts teaches only
one class a week. The remainder of her time is given to advising
and placing pupils. She interviews every first-year pupil in regard
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
94
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
to choice of course for the next year, when differentiation between
courses is marked, and sends a letter to each girl’s parents describing
the courses offered and urging care in selecting a course. She checks
up each pupil’s choice with her class marks and refers cases in which
the choice seems unwise to the principal, who advises further with
the pupil and her parents. The teachers of trade classes and sales
manship assist the counselor in this school in placing pupils, espe
cially for Christmas and vacation experience.
PLACEMENT
Both the vocational-guidance department and the continuation
school do organized junior placement work. The continuation school
places only its own pupils, who are between the ages of 14 and 16.
The vocational-guidance department assists in fipding employment
for all applicants who have attended Boston public schools (day,
evening, or continuation) or the parochial schools of the city and
have applied for registration within one year of leaving school.
Members of the senior class of all general high schools and of the
Mechanic Arts High School are interviewed by members of the staff
of the vocational-guidance department and are registered before
graduation. Whether they are going to work or are continuing their
studies, their subsequent activities are made the subject of study by
the department. (See p. 97.) Many withdrawals, also, both from
high and from elementary schools, are referred to the department
for placement by counselors, teachers, social workers, and others.
During 1923 the vocational-guidance department made 1,768 place
ments, 460 of which, as the following table shows, were for boys and
1,308 for girls. Eighty-three and five-tenths per cent of the 840
employers’ requests for boys and 93.2 per cent of the 1,766 requests
for girls were for workers over 16 years of age.
R equests from em ployers received by the vocational-guidance departm en t and
placem ents by the departm en t in 1923
Requests from employers
Kinds of employment
Total
Total.........................— Tr—
Manufacturing and mechanical occupa-
Domestic and personal service------------ Clerical occupations,________________
Boys
Placements by the vocationalguidance department
Girls
Total,
Boys
Girls
2,606
840
1,766
1,768
460
1,308
338
7
617
63
no
1,471
173
7
351
44
31
234
165
266
19
79
1,237
219
6
368
43
60
1,072
121
6
185
27
15
106
183
16
45
966
98
The personnel of the placement office has been described on page 90.
Separate waiting rooms are provided for boys and girls. Al
though interviews are held in one large office the desks of the place
ment workers are so arranged that the registrants do not face each
other and are far enough apart so that they can not overhear con
versation carried on at other desks in the room. Arrangements
can be made to handle special cases requiring a private conference
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
BOSTON
95
in private quarters outside the office. Two specially designed tele
phone booths, insuring privacy for telephone conversations, are
in use.
The office is open the year round except on Sundays and legal
holidays. The hours are from 9 a. m. to 5 p. m. daily, except on
Saturdays when they are from 9 a. m. to 1 p. m. (12 o’clock in
July and August). In addition evening office hours are held on the
first Friday of each month from 5 to 8 p. m. for those desiring to
ask advice or to report on their work. Applicants are interviewed
in the forenoon and by appointment at other times; afternoons
are spent in investigations, the solicitation of openings, and fol
low-up work. All employers’ “ orders ” given over the telephone are
received by a clerk, who distributes them among the staff according
to the kind of worker desired. (See p. 90.) Each applicant is re
ferred, also by a clerk, to the placement worker serving his or her
educational group. Each case must receive the approval of the
director before being considered closed.
The school-record card furnished by the department and pre
sented by each applicant from the public schools and by a number
of parochial-school applicants contains class marks, a record of
school attendance and deportment, a description of general char
acteristics, physical and personal, and any comment bn vocational
aptitudes that the teacher or school counselor may note.17 A socalled “ continuation ” card carries a record of each contact of the
department with a registrant and enables any member of the
staff to handle intelligently any case at any time. In special cases
mental-test records are consulted, home visits are made, and social
data from all available sources are collected. A shorthand or a
typewriting or other test is sometimes given.
Local educational opportunities are well known to the staff, and a
file of material on schools, colleges, and other educational institu
tions likely to be of interest to the clientele is kept in the office. With
the opening of schools in September an intensive evening-school
“ drive ” is made to interest young persons at work in opportunities
for advancement through further study. The courses given in the
city are classified by subject; with the names of the schools offer
ing them.
Most of the placement workers have had experience in business
or industry, and the office has the benefit of the numerous studies
which have been made of occupational openings for voung persons
in Boston. Openings are solicited for any group served, by all mem
bers of the staff m the course of their follow-up work. The director
keeps in touch with employers through membership in civic and
social-service organizations and by addresses to groups of employers
on the work of the placement office, which also has an advisory
committee representing business and industry, as well as educa
tional affiliations. All new firms are investigated before placements
are made, except that when the firm is recommended by some one
known to the department the investigation is occasionally post
poned until after the position has been filled. The form used in the
investigation of firms is shown on page 96.
c a r d ? ^ S ^ ^ ^ r o t i a c U o n 6© ^ pi i| 7f)racticaI1y the same as th at entered on the registration
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Form used by th e vocational-guidance departm en t in
ft2 3
F IR M
BOSTON PU BLIC SC H O O LS
CARD
............... .
Age
Clerical
Tel......... .
K inds o f W o r k — F emale
Posture
Wage
Ex.
At.
Classification No.
Business......
Sit
Stand ' Clerical
Age
.Wage
Rate
T .| P.
Ex. 1 Ar. I P.
Industrial
. Ind u strial
Posture.
Sit [ Stand'
'
*
....*******
E m ployees :
.. - —Hours per week—-——
—
Min. Age...... ...... - __-___ Other Qualifications......
Pt.-time....... .......................Physically Handicappedmodern
Type: new
B u ild in g :
artificial
Light: natural
'W orkplace:
good
Vent’n: special
crowded
Space: ampl$
Lunch Room
Dust:
S eason :
.Co- operation :
O ppo r t u n it ie s
O ppo r t u n ities
M a te
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
B u s y ___
active
probable
f o r A dvancem ent : ex.
f o r E x p e r ie n c e :
ex.
dull
1_
Shop: Male..... ......... .................uemaie....................
Training............. -.............. - ....Hours per week.----------- --------Min. Age— ......................... >.....Other Qualifications..... —...........
pt.-time.......„..Immigrants____ Physically Handicapped... old
modern
Type: new
B u il d in g :bad
artificial
Light: natural
W ork pla ce :
bad
good
Vent’n: special
Noise
crowded
Space : ample
Rest Room
Lunch Room
Dust:
E m plo y ees :
Office: Male----—.................„....Female.—.
Training...... ..... .........
1'
old
bad
bad
Noise
Rest Room
_____ .
doubtful
doubtful
doubtful
dull
Busy __________
S ea so n :
C o-o per a tio n : active
probable
O p p o r t u n it ie s fo r Advancem ent : ex.
O ppo r t u n it ie s fo r E x p e r ie n c e :
ex.
R e p o rte d b y — -----
[A ctual size 8 b y 5 inches]
______ ■
doubtful
doubtful
doubtful
VOCATIONAL. G U ID A N C E A N D J U N I O R P L A C E M E N T
.......... „.................[Floor...........
........................ .
I Boom——
Name
.—........................ —
Address---- -------- -.......——....
Employment Manager...............
K in d s o f W o r k — M ale
th e in vestigation of establish m en ts em ploying ju n io rs; B oston
Face of reg istra tio n card used try the vocational-guidance d ep a rtm en t; B oston
2
3
4
5
6
Date.....
8
9
l0
U
a
School..
NAME..
Sex.... ................Color..
7
..Address..
..Floor..
Date of Birth------------.------------------- --------------Birthplace...... ..................................................Ye:
fears in U. S.,
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: Weight........................................ Height........................................ Neatness----------Special physical defects_______ ____ ____ _____________
Remarks.............................
:
i f ithmetic............... English................Geography...............Reading................History................Grammar.......I./I M u s ic f .
S p ig ’
^ Manual training............Sewing........... Cooking............Penmanship............Science............Fhysical training............Physiology
English............... History................Foreign language.....
Special talents..................... ...........................
BO ST O N
SCHOOL RECORD: Date of leaving school........ ...................................Grade on leaving............„..Teacher’s name............. .............................
n u c t . . ......................Attendance.... .......................................—.....Cause of absence....................................... .........Times tardy
.Mathematics------- ---- Science.,..............Clerical Arts............... Domestic Arts..
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS : RelkbOity............ Initmtim...........A°cu,»Cy._____ Cn^,,m tinn
, rr„ ~
Remarks........... ................................
Has pupil indicated any interest which should assist in the selection of an occupation?...
If so, what interest?.^..... .......................................................................... What occupation?....
Do you as i tt
■ Teacher
)
I Vocational Counsellor J think this interest should be encouraged?..
Parents’ preference for child’s work?.
Previous work record.............. ...................
372-A
(2M .-7-24-’19.)
PERSONAL RECORD CARD-DEPARTMENT OF VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE
[Actual size 8 by 5 inches]
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
ÇO
R everse of registration card used by the vocational-guidance d ep a rtm en t; Boston
[The cards for boys and for girls differ only in color.]
co
00
( T h is sid e to b e fitte d o u t b y V o c a tio n a l A s s is ta n t.)
..........................Date of leaving...-.............................
Clubs....................................................... .............. ................ ..... .Recreation............................................... ............. Reading...............................................................
Future plans for (1) School.................................................. ................ (2) Center.............. .................. .
.................. ................Family trades.......... ........................................... diseases.................................
..... Birthplace................................................ ..................Years in U. S............. Present health....... ;
Mother’s name...........................
Occupation................................. ...... Business address...... ........................................Family trades.......
Brothers
Ages
Occupation
Sisters
Ages
Occupation
Remarks
............................................................................... ........... ................. Vocational Assistant.
(AZZ inform ation on this card is to be considered strictly confidential and fo r th e m e o f the Vocational A ssistant only.)
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
[Actual size 8 by 5 inches]
V O C ATIO NAL G U ID A N C E A N D J U N I O R P L A C E M E N T
Reasons for leaving school (1) child’s;..... .......
BOSTON
99
Special features of the placement work of the vocational-enid
folW depaitmeni i°f tt16 Boston Public schools are its system of
d d S « 1 „ t e mg’
of statistical data. In
the
denartmcnt
°f
al
i°
iP
?
Persons
are placedand
by
tne department, which is accomplished by visitswh<
to >employers
through the evening office hour to which registrants are W e d
for interview, special follow-up studies are made. Each year from
get in touch“ »!«!18 “ h61- graduation the department endeavors to
fnV « * ? h -th ?ch graduate registered by sending out letters
Z Z T lT miT;uy telephon.e “ lls’ and
w
* 8S
princfpal^ffi1
v
T
nU
i
ah
i
i
ar|r
fPi!rtu
1
®
?
ade
"
P
and
sent
to
each
sch°o1
p ncipal, gm ng him detailed information on each graduate
in
S the
thSe names
neamesmof°f
“ 1 SCh°o1who
T c°lkge
whiA
p 4 ” the
t attend
of employers
have employed
him,
nature
of the occupations engaged in, and the wages or salaries rereri«f
rf “ a”
hool who6 UP t ° W!,ng alS0„the propOTtion
graduate
the nronortloi »1°
f f t g “ “ d other schools and
etc
w ki takl“g e™>ing-school courses,
• % r } \s oeheved that such information will be of benefit to
indmdual schools m helping them to shape their courses of studv
Among other special studies made are analyses of employers’ calls
showing the demand for different kinds of work;
^udenteSChIndivfd!,7Ilehe 7 UrseS with the vocational ambitions of
sist^them i n ^ M r i n ^ “
^ » ^ ^
ask for data to as,,Re? i ° i registrants are filed alphabetically by the school W
attended and in _the case of high-school students are subdivided by
£raduatlon. or withdrawal. The kind of work desired
is indicated on the registration card by fastening clips to the card
m 1 or more of 10 spaces, the clips being of differenf colons to In
dicate whether the registrant is* at school, is employed desires
ange of work, etc. An alphabetical index of active and closed
2 3 1 » k®Pt showing the date of registration and the school last at
tended. Pertinent information about any individual received in the
course of follow-up work is entered on the personal record card of
the registrant. Cards recording the results of investigation of
employing firms are classified according to the occupational dassl
fication used by the United States Census. Employers’ “ orders ” are
filed alphabetically by months. There is also a file, arranged3lnha!
betically by firms, of “ work records,” which provide for the-n am e of
^ c h young person known to be employed by the firm, whether placement has been made by the vocational-guidance department or bv
some other agency the date of placement, the name of the placin'©agency, the wage, the date of leaving, and remarks. A case isPclosed
only when a young person has been in one position at least two
years, has been graduated from a higher institution or has with
drawn from one, or has reached the age of 21. In January 1924
the department had m its files 12,274 active and 11,198 closed’cases’
Many cases have a follow-up history covering from three to five
years and afford valuable information for study
® h
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
100
VOCATIONAL» GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEMENT
THE USE OF MENTAL TESTS AS A FACTOR IN GUIDANCE
Mental testing in the schools is carried on by the school medical
inspector especially appointed to the department of special schools
and classes and by the department of educational measurement and
research. The medical inspector gives individual psychological
examinations to defectives and to children who show psychopathic
tendencies or otherwise present behavior problems. 1 he chiet
purpose of this testing is to select children for special rooms, though
tests are sometimes given applicants for work permits who are over
14 years of age and are unable to progress in school. Children are
referred for examination by school teachers and occasionally by
school-census or attendance officers. Very few have progressed be
yond the fourth grade in school. The medical inspector is a physi
cian who has been giving part time to this type of work for many
years. He has no assistants. The Stanford-Bmet scale, supple
mented at times by other tests, is used. The brief reports, which are
issued only to the principal of the school from which the child is
referred, do not give the intelligence quotient or the mental age of
the child and contain little more than the statement that the pupil
would be benefited by transfer to a special room. They are regarded
as strictly confidential and are not accessible to social agencies. All
complete reports are kept in the medical inspectors office, lhe
number of examinations averages about 500 a year.
„_ AAA
About 35,000 group intelligence tests18 and approximately 60,000
educational tests were given during the year 1923-24 under the
supervision of the director of the department of educational in
vestigation and research. This department has also given about 500
individual tests in school problem cases. The director has one as
sistant, and these two persons with the help of about 20 kinder
garten teachers give and score both individual and group in
telligence tests. The teachers obtain their training for the work
through a series of about 15 lectures by the director, consisting o
demonstration tests and discussions of the technique of testing, and
practice tests given to elementary-school children by the class. I he
practice testing is done under careful observation, and all tests given
by teachers are checked from time to time in the office of the direc
tor. Educational tests are given by school principals and teachers,
who have also had a year’s training course under the director
Group intelligence tests have been given to all senior high school
entrants and to nearly all junior high school entrants. No effort
has yet been made to make reports complete by testing pupils ™
were absent when their classes were tested or to retest doubtiui
The tests used are the National A and the Terman group test.
The results of the group tests are used for guidance purposes, for
schoolroom classification, and for counseling and placement, at the
discretion of the principal. Use is made of intelligence scores by
school principals in trying to keep mentally superior children in
school, in advising mentally inferior pupils against the selection o±
particular courses, and in permitting children with high intelli
gence scores to skip grades or enter accelerated classes (see p. 10»),
18 T h i s n u m b e r r e p r e s e n t s 2 8 p e r c e n t o f t h e n e t e n r o l l m e n t ( S e p te m b e r 3 0 , 1 9 2 3 ) o f
t h e B o s to n p u b li c s c h o o ls , e x c lu s iv e o f n o r m a l , c o n t i n u a t i o n , a n d n i g h t s c h o o ls .
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
BOSTON
101
but no regular procedure is followed. The intention is to use the
results of the group testing as a basis for classifying pupils into
sections according to their mental ability, but such classification is
not yet in operation. Collection of data on high-school failures with
a view to ascertaining the intelligence levels required for success in
different types of courses is also planned.
EMPLOYMENT-CERTIFICATE ISSUANCE IN RELATION TO
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE
Massachusetts requires the certification of working minors up to
the age of 21 years.19 Not only is a boy or girl between 14 and 16
years of age required to obtain an employment certificate for every
new position, as under the child-labor laws of most progressive States
where children of these ages are permitted to work, but a minor
between the ages of 16 and 21 also must obtain for every new posi
tion a so-called “ educational ” certificate, the requirements for which
are similar to those for the employment certificate except that no
physical examination is necessary and a minor unable to fulfill
the educational requirement (which is the same as for children of
14 and 15—completion of the sixth grade) may receive a certificate
but must attend evening school. Although intended primarily as a
method of enforcing evening-school attendance for illiterate minors,
the educational certificate might provide the basis for an effective
system for following up and supervising the employment of working
minors. However, the machinery for certification has not been
utilized in Boston for this purpose except with reference to minors
under 16, who are kept under the supervision of the schools through
their compulsory attendance at continuation school.
Aside from the fact that it is the general policy of the publicschool system to discourage children, especially those under 16
years of age, from leaving school, the procedure involved in getting
a permit to work is not used as an agency in vocational guidance.
The school record required for an employment certificate must be
signed, however, by the school principal or “ teacher in charge,”
and in many schools every child desiring to leave school for work
must interview the principal before he can obtain his record. At this
time every effort is made to dissuade him from leaving school.
Children applying at the vocational-guidance department for posi
tions are likewise encouraged to remain in school, but children under
16 withdrawing from school are not required to report at the voca
tional-guidance department, as they are in some cities. (See pp. 281,
401.) An applicant at the certificate-issuing office is usually referred
to the vocational-guidance department, however, when he has not
already found a position, for he can not be given a certificate unless
he has a promise of employment.
According to the Massachusetts law every child between 14 and
16 years of age who applies for a certificate must be examined by a
physician and certified to be “ in sufficiently sound health and
physically able to perform the work upon which he is about to enter,”
“ Massachusetts, General Laws, cb. 149, secs. 86-95.
18835°—25----- 8
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
102
VOCATIONAL# GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEMENT
a provision which in itself may determine the nature of the chiles
work Close cooperation between the office of the examining physi
cian and the vocational-guidance department is reported by the
latter.
THE SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND CURRICULUM IN
RELATION TO GUIDANCE
DAY SCHOOLS
Intermediate Schools.
The public schools of Boston are in the process of gradual transi
tion from the 8-4 to the 6-3-3 plan of organization, which is known
locally as the intermediate-school plan. Whether or not a school
will reorganize on the intermediate plan is left to the discretion of the
individual principals of elementary-school districts. In 1923 1924
19 of the 72 school districts of the city had the 3 intermediate
grades—seventh, eighth, and ninth. Thirty other schools had partly
reorganized their seventh and eighth grades according to the inter
mediate plan; that is, they had departmentalized the instruction, or
had adopted the policy of promoting by subject, or had introduced
other features of the intermediate-school organization, but had not
added a ninth grade.
... , , , ,ii
„
According to the most recent statistics published by the Boston
School Committee20 one-fourth of the ninth-grade pupils in the city
are in intermediate schools. Only eight of the intermediate schools
are in buildings which have no lower grades, and only three are m
buildings planned especially for intermediate-school use. All but
three are directed by principals who are also responsible for the
direction of the elementary grades. ^
, ,
Although the intermediate plan has been established completely
in only a small number of school districts, its value as a means of
keeping students in school longer than the 8-4 system keeps them
is already indicated.
While the percentage of graduates of the elementary schools in June, 1920
who are now Attending Boston high schools is 78, the percentage of pupils who
completed the work of the eighth grade in intermediate schools last June and
nre now attending the ninth grade or first-year high is 89.
, _ .
* * * In some instances intermediate schools have been organized m
districts from which a large proportion of pupils naturally would remain m
school On the other hand, certain districts with intermediate schools will
be recognized as those from which a relatively small number of pupils hereto
fore have advanced beyond the eighth gradé.
intermediate school
On the whole, the statistics are very favorable to the intermediate scnoo
as an agency for holding the pupils in school.21
The aim of the intermediate school as an agency for vocational
tryout and guidance is clearly recognized. The courses of study
are so planned that they give the student an opportunity to experi
ment and explore in various fields of work, as well as to obtain
specialized training. The curriculum is only slightly differentiated
in the seventh and eighth grades, and where there is a choice of
and
t y e a r ' S c h ^ l docum ent No.8^ , m s !" B o S o n 1'publ^Schools.1'
t0" ’Report of Survey on Intermediate Schools and Classes, pp. 56-57.
No. 19, 1920, Boston Public Schools. Boston, 1921.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
School Document
BOSTON
103
eourses, transfer from one to another is made easy, so that a pupil
V
a course to which he is unsuited may change to
another without serious disadvantage. Through a system of elec
tives in these grades opportunity for experimentation and tryout is
provided, leading to a choice of the specialized courses in the ninth
grade. The courses offered are as follows :
1. The modern foreign-language course for those intending to go
to high school and possibly college.
2. The clerical-practice course for those intending to attend a com
mercial high school or enter business.
3. The mechanic-arts course for boys and the practical or do
mestic-arts course for girls intending to pursue mechanical, technical,
or practical courses m high schools or in trade schools, or planning
to leave school early to enter the trades or assist in home making.
The work in clerical practice includes practical exercises in busi
ness arithmetic and penmanship, the use of business forms, and, in
the ninth grade, knowledge, of the principles of elementary book
keeping.
The courses in mechanic and domestic arts are described as fol
lows :
The mechanic arts for boys are woodworking, bookbinding, machine-shop
work, printing, electricity, sheet-metal work, painting, and gardening. It is
intended that each boy shall acquaint himself with at least four of these activi
ties during Grades YII and VIII, in order that he may have the fullest possible
opportunity to discover his own particular bent. In Grade IX he has in
tensive work in one line of activity. Upon completion of Grades VII and V III
pupils may be transferred to the Mechanic Arts High School or to a cooperative
course in a general high school, or, if they have reached 14 years of age to the
Boston Trade School. From Grade IX they may enter the tenth year of an
industrial-business course [or industrial cooperative course] in [general] high
schools, or the Boston Trade School; or they may go into industry with ad
vanced standing.
In Grade IX these boys are given a course in “ Industrial Boston and
civics , they have an option of a course either in applied science or in related
mathematics. The time devoted to English is not diminished.
By means of the work in mechanic arts the city recognizes the legitimate
needs of those boys who wish further education along industrial lines or who
have to leave school and enter one of the trades at an early age. It takes
a long step forward in the direction of fitting them for their future work
enabling them to enter it with adequate preliminary training. At the same
time it does not deprive them of the fundamental general academic training
which they in common with all others must have. The transition to a high or
industrial school is facilitated.
. The course in practical arts for girls comprises homemaking, cooking sew
ing, bookbinding, and gardening. * * * In Grade IX each girl elects two
subjects from the following:. Industrial Boston and civicshousehold mathematics; applied science; salesmanship.
At the end of Grade V III these pupils may be transferred to the High School
of Practical Arts or, if they are 14 years old, to the Trade School for Girls
From Grade IX pupils may enter the Trade School for Girls, the second year of
the High School of Practical Arts, or they may go into industry with advanced
standing.
•
'
Prevocational Classes.
Although the Boston public-school system offers no definite trade
training to pupils who have not completed the eighth grade, except
ih th eG irls’ Trade School (see p. 106), it provides industrial courses
affording at least prevocational training in the sixth, seventh, and
22Ibid.,
pp. 2 7 -2 8 .
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
eighth grades, not only in the intermediate schools but also in prévocational classes. In 1923-21 the public schools operated 10 prevocational centers for boys and 3 for girls, with an enrollment of 1,075
pupils.
.^ ,
!
.
The chief purposes of these classes have been summarized as fol
lows:
1. To make education so interesting and worth while that the
pupils will desire to remain in school as long as possible.
2. To enable boys and girls to choose a high-school course more
wisely than they might otherwise be able to do.
3. To help boys and girls decide as intelligently as possible but
only in a general way the type of life work—industrial, business, or
professional—for which they are best fitted.
The prevocational classes of Boston, unlike those of Chicago (see
p. 185), are attached to elementary rather than to high schools. They
are open to all sixth, seventh, and eighth grade pupils 12 years of
age or older, but preference is given to those who have lost interest
in the academic course, those who aré planning to leave school at
the age of 14, and those who are particularly interested in hand
work. As a result, the child who thinks he wishes to follow a par
ticular trade has an opportunity either to demonstrate his fitness for
it or to find that it is not what he wishes to do, so that he is ready to
consider other possibilities. A few pupils of subnormal mentality
find their way into the classes, but the majority are of average men
tality or only a little below the average. Some show themselves of
more than average ability once their interest has been aroused in
the prevocational classes and go on to high school and even to col
lege after their graduation. A careful case study is made of boys and
girls who feel obliged to leave school or who desire to leave. The
usual result is a satisfactory adjustment. I t is stated by school officials
that “ a high percentage of pupils (of the prevocational centers)
persist to graduation, and 50 per cent of the graduates enter second
ary schools.23
Each prevocational class consists of approximately 45 pupils, clas
sified into three divisions, one of which does shopwork, while the
other two are reciting in the academic subjects or studying. The
school day lasts 6 hours, and no home study is required.
Approximately 10 hours a week, or one-third, of the total number
of hours in school, are given to shopwork in the prevocational classes
as compared with iy 2 to 2 a week in the seventh and eighth grades
of the grammar schools not reorganized ©n the intermediate plan,
with 7 to 7 1/2 hours a week in the intermediate schools and with 15
a week in the trade schools. Shopwork for boys consists of wood
work, gardening, house and sign painting, bookbinding, printing,
sheet-metal work, machine-shop practice, and electrical work; and
for girls, printing, dressmaking, millinery, and cooking, including
cafeteria work at one center. Each pupil is required to change his
shop activity each year, so that those who come in the sixth grade
and remain through the eighth have three shop experiences. Devot
ing a year to electricity or millinery, for example, not only gives the
28Annual Report of the Superintendent, p. 60.
Public Schools. Boston, 1922.
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School Document No. 12, 1922, Boston
BOSTON
105
pupil an intelligent idea of the trade but also enables him to under
stand and enjoy his academic studies for that year, which are closely
related wherever possible to the shop activity.
The academic course of study is the same as that given in the ele
mentary grades, except that it is motivated by the work of the
particular shop in which the pupil is working. Academic instruction
is not departmentalized.
The academic teachers are specially trained for work in the prevocational classes. In addition to ¡fulfilling the requirements for
teachers in the regular sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, they must
have had three years’ successful teaching, must take a special'ex
amination, and must hold a special certificate. Thev are reouired
also to take a course in *' motivation of the academic course of
study.” Their maximum salary is higher than that of the regular
teachers of these grades. Shop instructors must have had actual
trade experience in accordance with the State requirements for
instructors in trade schools.
It has recently been recommended by the assistant superintendent
of schools in charge of industrial education24 that the prevocational classes be made a part of the intermediate schools, retaining,
however, their special features—separate instruction, undepart
mentalized academic work “ with closest and most immediate cor
relation ” to shopwork, the six-hour day, no home study, and no
grade requirements. This program would require the extension
of the prevocational course through an additional grade.
Vocational Courses.
The Boston public-school system has an unusually large number
of specialized schools-for secondary training. Of its 15 high schools,
8, located in outlying residential districts, are general and coeduca
tional; 2 in the central part of the city are general but not coeduca
tional; the remaining 5 are specialized schools and draw students
from all sections of the city. Of the high-school population of the
city m the school year 1922-23, 31 per cent (6,968 pupils) attended
the specialized schools.
College-preparatory, general, commercial, and technical courses
are offered in all the general high schools. All the high schools give
credit for outside study in art and music by selected students special
izing in these fields. In four a cooperative trade course is offered,
in automobile work, woodworking, electricity, and machine-shop
work, respectively.
Each of the five specialized high schools provides more intensive
training than the general high schools in one or more fields. Each
of the two Latin schools, one for boys and one for girls, offers a
four-year and a six-year college-preparatory course.25 The High
School of Practical Arts (for girls) offers a regular high-school
academic course^ together with highly specialized vocational train
ing in homemaking, dressmaking, millinery, retail selling, drawing
and design, and commercial work; and the Mechanic Arts High
the Superintendent, pp. 59-60. School Document No. 12, 1922,
Boston Public Schools. Boston, 1922.
’
’
to children who have completed the sixth grade of the elementary schools
f t,
a ,B &.ra<te a**d whose parents or guardians present a written statement of
their intention to give such pupils a college education.
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEMENT
School (for boys) offers two distinct courses, one teaching the proc
esses fundamental to many trades and preparing for advancement
in work requiring mechanical insight and judgment, the other pre
paring boys for higher technical schools. The High School of Com
merce aims to give boys practical training for commercial life.
* * * All instruction in the school [High School of Commerce] is made to
serve the special vocational purpose for which the school exists. This purpose
is further emphasized by centering the general subjects about * * * spe
cific work in commerce. * * * [At the end of the second year a boy
chooses one of the three courses, i. e., secretarial, merchandising, or account
ing.]
In no sense is the High School of Commerce a preparatory school for higher
institutions ; neither is it of the strictly clerical type. It trains boys to become
practical, energetic men of business.28
Series of lectures are given boys in the High School of Commerce
on such subjects as educational resources of the United States, busi
ness organization, salesmanship, advertising, and business survey of
New England. Single lectures by men in various lines of business
are also a feature of the instruction in this school.
In addition to the courses given in the high schools, the public
schools offer vocational training in two trade schools and a clerical
school for girls. The latter offers the following courses : One, open to
pupils with at least two years of high-school work and lasting
approximately one year, gives training for bookkeeping and general
office positions ; a second, open to pupils with at least three years of
high-school work and lasting also about one year, prepares for steno
graphic work and the operation of special office appliances; and two
others, open only to high-school graduates, each lasting about two
years, one of which prepares for secretarial work and the more
responsible office positions and the other for accountants’ positions.2'
The two trade schools—one for boys and one for girls—are organ
ized in accordance with the requirements for State and Federal aided
vocational education and are in consequence open only to children 14
years of age or over. Pupils who have completed the sixth year of
the elementary school are admitted to the Girls’ Trade School,28 but
because of the large number of applicants for admission to the boys’
school the completion of the elementary-school course is now
required.
The Boston Trade School offers courses of two, three, and four
years in automobile mechanics, cabinetmaking, carpentry, electricity,
machine practice, masonry, painting, plumbing, printing! sheet-metal
work, and domestic engineering (i. e., operations involved in the
heating, ventilating, and plumbing of a building). The Girls’ Trade
School offers courses in trade dressmaking, millinery, children’s wear,
the manufacture of cotton and linen wear, machine operating, cater
ing, trade design, and novelties. Pupils in the Girls’ Trade School
who have not completed their elementary-school education are given
an opportunity to do so.
Shop work in the regular high schools of Boston is more truly
vocational than in many city high schools because of the prevalence
26 Course of Study for the High School of Commerce, pp. 5-6. School Document No. 8,
1919, Boston Public Schools. Boston, 1921.
... '-AL
27 Boston Clerical School, A Public Business School for Girls and Young Women. City
of Boston, Printing Department: Boston, 1928.
.
£: . ■
28 Established in 1904 by a private philanthropic agency and taken over by the city as
a State-aided vocational school in 1909.
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of the cooperative plan, whereby students have actual practice in the
industries to which their school work is related. Cooperative
courses, or courses in which some practical experience is required,
have been extensively developed. In the cooperative course in sales
manship given by the High School of Practical Arts girls work and
attend school alternate weeks during their third and fourth years.
In the third and fourth years of the regular salesmanship course
given in nine high schools, girls work on Saturdays throughout the
year and also for one to three weeks before Christmas and during
one week of the Easter vacation. Boys taking courses in wholesale
and retail merchandising, which are offered in four schools, are also
expected to work on Saturdays and during all or part of their
Christmas vacation. Five of the general high schools offer cooper
ative apprenticeship courses in one of the following trades: Auto
mobile mechanics, electrical work, machine-shop work, and wood
working. During their first year pupils take shopwork in the
various branches of the trade and visit local industries. At the end
of the first or second year they are placed in positions in the industry
for which they are preparing. The pupil works in a position
selected and supervised by school officials during part or all of his
vacations and during every other week of the school year through
the second, third, and fourth high-school years. At the end of the
four years in high school he receives an industrial certificate, and
upon the completion of a specified number of apprenticeship hours,
usually about two years after the completion of the school course, a
diploma. In one of the suburban high schools a cooperative course
in agriculture is offered. Pupils spend mornings in the schoolroom
and afternoons at work in greenhouses, on local farms, or in the
city parks, under the direction of experienced employees. The
instruction prepares for practical work or further training in agri
culture, forestry, and animal husbandry.
Special Classes.
Special provision for the education of children of subnormal
mentality has been made in Massachusetts through the passage in
1919 of an act29 requiring the establishment in the public schools of
special classes for all children who are three years or more retarded.
In 1923-24 there were in Boston 93 special classes for the mentally
defective, including 4 centers for older pupils (2 for boys, 1 for
girls, and 1 for both boys and girls). The average membership of
all special rooms is about 1,500, or 1 per cent of the net enrollment in
September, 1923, of the public schools, exclusive of normal and con
tinuation schools. Practical work is given in cobbling, bootblacking,
woodworking, cement work, printing, sewing, and lunch-room and
janitor work for boys; and in embroidery, sewing, cooking, millinery,
beadwork, weaving, and lunch-room work for girls. This work is
not regarded as definitely preparing pupils for industry but is help
ful in placing them in employment when they leave school. A
worker attached to the office of the director of special classes makes
social investigations, handles court cases with reference to children
in the special rooms, and does whatever other social case work is
necessary, and makes placements.
•M assachusetts, Acts of 1919, ch. 277.
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
In 1923-24, in addition to the classes for the mentally defective,
there were 14 speech-improvement and 7 sight-conservation classes,
and a school for the deaf. The school system also furnishes six
teachers for the instruction of children in hospitals.
Many of the school districts have so-called rapid-advancement
classes, and some children are given double promotions during the
school year.
CONTINUATION SCHOOLS
Early in 1910 part-time classes were organized by the Boston
public schools for young persons engaged in the shoe and leather
industry, in department stores, and in the wholesale dry-goods busi
ness. In 1911 Massachusetts passed a law under which the State
was to bear half the cost of the maintenance of voluntary part-time
vocational classes for workers between 14 and 25, and in 1913 passed
a second part-time education law permitting localities establishing
continuation schools to require employed children between 14 and
16 to attend.30 Under the latter act, attendance at continuation
school was made compulsory in Boston in September, 1914, for em
ployed minors between 14 and 16 years of age.
The number of continuation-school pupils averages m normal
times about 7,500 a year. The majority are housed in two main
buildings—one for boys and one for girls—and classes taught by
continuation-school teachers are maintained in a factory which has a
sufficient number of young workers to form a special group. In
addition to the specialized instruction in the factory class the school
provides the following classes:
.
For boys: General classes (entry and ungraded); prevocational
shops and classes (machine, electricity, printing, woodworking, sheetmetal, lettering and sign painting, paper-box making, picture fram
ing, mechanical draw ing); commercial classes (office practice, book
keeping, typewriting, elements of advertising). For girls: General
and commercial classes, the same as for boys; prevocational classes
(dressmaking, millinery, power-machine operation, cooking, sewing,
embroidery, crocheting, beadwork, novelty work, including flower
and lamp-shade making, basketry). The four hours, or 240 minutes,
a week of school work are usually divided as follows: Shop or com
mercial work, 120 minutes; arithmetic and drawing, 40 minutes;
English, 40 minutes; civics, 20 minutes; hygiene, 20 minutes.
The continuation school is conscious of its function as a voca
tional-guidance agency and seeks to fulfill it by giving each pupil
a foundation of experience upon which to base the choice of a
vocation. When pupils first enroll in the continuation school they
are placed in an “ entry” class, where they remain for a period
rarely exceeding three weeks trying out the various courses offered.
They are then transferred to the special course of study which
they have elected. Not only is the pupil allowed an opportunity m
school to determine his aptitude for various kinds of work, but he
30 Massachusetts, Acts of 1911, ch. 471; Acts of 1913, ch. 805. By a later act (Acts
of 1919 ch. 311) continuation-school attendance is made mandatory in all communities
in Massachusetts which employ 200 or more i4 to 16 year old minors, provided that these
communities voted acceptance of the law, as Boston and the majority of cities and towns
of the State did.
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109
is also furnished a background through discussions on commercial
and industrial opportunities in Boston, through addresses by out
side speakers, and through conferences with his teachers after they
have carefully observed his class work and have visited his home
and his employer. Approximately one-third of each academic
teacher’s time is given to visits at pupils’ homes and at their places
of employment, with a view to giving adequate vocational coun
seling in the light of individual aptitudes and needs.
The attempt is made to relate as far as possible academic and
practical work to the improvement of the pupil’s vocational effi
ciency, through giving him either trade extension training (that is,
practical work along the lines of his employment) or prevocational
training to help him to choose a vocation and give him some pre
liminary training for it.
In relating school work to the pupils’ employment, commercial subjects pre
sent few difficulties; store and factory classes work out well. * * * The
number of pupils whose school work ties up fairly closely with employment
i s : In store and factory classes, approximately 100 per cent; in commercial
classes, almost 100 per cen t; in power-machine operation, 50 per cent; in
dressmaking and millinery, less than 5 per cen t; in printing, 50 per cent;
in machine-shop work, 25 to 40 per cent; in woodworking and electricity, less
than 5 per cent.81
All pupils give half time to academic work, and many who have
not completed the elementary grades (about 40 per cent of the con
tinuation-school students) devote their entire time to academic work.
Since 1919 all temporarily unemployed boys and girls of continu
ation-school age are required to attend continuation school 20 hours
a week. The unemployment class is reported to have reduced
drifting and cut down the periods of unemployment, as well as
having increased the hours of instruction and saved young persons
from the dangers of idleness in a large city.
“ Previous to the recognition of this group,” said the director of
the continuation school, “ pupils dropped from the school with the
loss of employment and roamed at large on the plea of looking for
work. Often they spent months without success. Increasing num
bers are now remaining in the school when out of work, and they
succeed in securing employment in days or weeks where formerly
it was months. ” 82
The placement of continuation-school pupils 33 is regarded as a
necessary activity of the school, a service which it considers itself
especially fitted to perform because of its thorough knowledge of the
abilities of the young worker and of the speci'aTneeds of employers.
As has been said, continuation-school teachers are required to visit
both the homes of their pupils and the establishments where the latter
are employed. At the time of these visits the teachers not only
inquire regarding the progress of individual children but also solicit
openings. Employers also apply to the school for workers. An
alphabetical file is kept, showing for each pupil the school record,
notes on the teacher’s home visit, and employers’ comments.
81 Boston Continuation School—Circular of Information and Courses of Study, p. 16.
School Document No. 4, 1919, Boston Public Schools. Boston, 1919.
82 Ibid., p. 22.
38 All children between 14 and 16 years of age working in Boston must attend continua
tion school whether or not they reside in the city.
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
SUMMARY
Although the movement for vocational guidance in Boston origi
nated outside the public schools in private philanthropic enterprise,
the school system almost from the beginning cooperated with voca
tional-guidance and placement agencies which had been developed
through private initiative, and as early as 1913 organized a voca
tional-guidance department. This department is still functioning.
Educational and vocational counsel is given by the staff of the
vocational-guidance department to selected groups of school children,
principally high-school students or graduates, and to all other pupils
requesting advice. In each school, also, one or more counselors work
ing under the general supervision of the department have been ap
pointed by the principal from the teaching staff. The school coun
selors give assistance to pupils in choosing their school courses, in
making vocational plans, and in finding employment.
Organized placement is carried on by the vocational-guidance de
partment for all applicants who have attended the public or parochial
schools of the city and who apply for registration within a year of
leaving school, and by the continuation school for its own pupils.
All persons placed by the department are carefully followed up.
Special fo'llow-up studies of high-school graduates, whether or not
placed by the department, and analyses of data from the files of its
placement service are features of the work of the department.
The school curriculum is especially well adapted to give effective
ness to the guidance program. The junior high school organization
is limited to comparatively few school districts, but exploratory or
try-out courses are provided, not only in the junior high schools, or
intermediate schools as they are known locally, but also in prevocational classes. The latter are open to all sixth, seventh, and eighth
grade pupils who are at least 12 years of age, but preference is given
to those who are planning to leave school early. Training for an
unusually wide variety of vocations is available in specialized high
schools and in trade schools for boys and for girls.
Intelligence tests administered under the direction of a special de
partment of the public schools have been given to more than onefourth of the school population, including all pupils entering senior
high school and nearly all entering junior high school. The results
are used at the discretion of the individual school principals, and no
regular procedure of classification has been established.
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NEW YORK
HISTORY OF THE VOCATIONAL-GUIDANCE MOVEMENT
j . Vocational-guidance activities in New York City have their origins
m many separate and distinct movements, both within and outside
the public-school system. To trace in detail the history of even the
most important of these lies outside the scope of this study, and only
a brief account of the principal sources of the activities that are now
carried on can be attempted.
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE BY HIGH-SCHOOL TEACHERS
As far back as 1908, as a result of pioneer work by a self-appointed
committee m one of the Brooklyn high schools, each of the New
York day and evening high schools had appointed one or more of
its teachers to act as a committee in giving vocational advice and
assistance in finding employment to high-school students.1 These
teachers were volunteer workers and carried on their vocationalguidance activities in addition to their regular school duties. They
conferred with students and their parents on the importance of
choosing a vocation and on the methods of obtaining suitable trainmg tor various kinds of work, visited employers, found part-time
and vacation employment for needy students, and placed in positions
graduates and students leaving school and encouraged them to contnme their academic education and to obtain vocational training.
Representatives of each of the school committees formed a general
known &s the students’ aid committee of the
u oo1 Teachers’ Association of New York City, the purpose
-1C^ was to set standards, outline methods of work, and collect
and disseminate information on employment opportunities. It pub
lished annual reports of its work and a number of pamphlets on
vocations2 and the choice of a career. In 1909 it recommended that
the teachers working in the various schools be allowed some unassigned time for vocational guidance and that a central vocation
bureau be organized m the schools. The latter proposal was regarded
favorably by the superintendent of schools,3 and at his request the
committee outlined in detail what the organization and functions of
such a bureau should be.4 No central bureau was established, how1 “ Report of the work of the Students’ Aid Committee of the High School Teacher«’
Bo* “ s-
iSBfXSSB
t?e Choice °? Employment. The Vocational Adjustment of School ChilOccupations for Women in the Domestic Arts, Summer Employment in the C ountrv
Accountancy and the Business Professions. The Civil Service as a Career
Country,
catioi of the C?tvUof n | w Yoifc for
SuPeri’?tPndent of Schools to the Board of Edu/ s i x 800“- u ,s t
T“ =b™ ' A»0io c T a tei„af
ill
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VOCATIONAli GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
ever. The vocational-guidance activities which had been begun in
the various schools developed or declined in accordance with the in
terest of the individual school principals and teachers, though
sporadic attempts were made to induce the board of education to
recognize and provide for this type of work in the public-school
system.
THE NEW YORK BOARD OF EDUCATION AND VOCATIONAL
1U
GUIDANCE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
In April, 1913, the New York Board of Education empowered its
committee on high schools and training schools to investigate the
subject of vocational guidance in its relation to the public schools of
New York City. About two years prior to this action by the board
of education two private agencies interested in education and social
welfare the Junior League and the Public Education Association,
had organized a “ vocational-guidance survey ” and had made a pre
liminary report to the superintendent of schools containing the fol
lowing conclusions:
A system of vocational guidance which would mean finding jobs for children
under 16 would be not only futile but dangerously near exploitation, however
well meant the intention might be.
„ , . .
!. . , ,
Vocational guidance should mean guidance for training, not guidance tor
jobs. The interests of the public-school children can best be served by the
development of vocational training.
'
.
,
But in order, to decide what types of vocational training are practicable and
desirable for children between 14 and 16, a study of the facts of industry is
absolutely essential.®
A study of this kind “ to discover through a first-hand study of
the actual facts of industry what kinds of vocational training should
be given to children between 14 and 16 who leave school in New York
annually,” 6 had been begun by the Public Education Association and
was in progress7 when the board of education committee was di
rected to make its investigation of vocational guidance. After an
extensive investigation of the subject this committee recommended m
1914 that the board of education make an appropriation to continue a
vocational-education survey along the lines of the survey begun
under the Public Education Association; that the board of education
also request the mayor to appoint a committee of the representatives
of interested agencies to study the problems of juvenile employment
and placement; that no further placement work be organized under
the board of education until a comprehensive study had been made
of the value of the placement carried on in two of the high schools
where it had been specially developed; and that schools having dif
ferentiated courses should be regarded as “ experiment stations for
vocational guidance.”
In 1915 the board of education voted to cooperate with employers
organizations and labor unions in an industrial survey of the city
with a view to improving the curriculum of industrial classes con» “ Vocational guidance.” Board of Education, City of New York., Document No. 4,
1914, p. 53.
i ^ preliminary survey was made of the building and metal industries in New York City,
selected because of the large numbers of workers engaged and because of the educational
content of the various processes in these industries. Funds were never available for the
publication of the report.
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113
ducted by the public schools. Surveys of four groups of occupations
were made and published—The Printing Trade, Inside Electrical
Work, Carpentry and Joinery, and The Machinist’s Trade—and
were followed by a survey of industrial classes in the public schools.
In the winter of 1911—15 a committee was organized, also, to make
an intensive investigation of boys and girls at work. This com
mittee, known as the mayor’s committee on vocational help to minors,
was financed by the Henry Street Settlement of New York City (see
pp. 11A-115), but it received the active cooperation of school authori
ties. Under the direction of Meyer Bloomfield (see p. 83), a study of
the methods and technique of vocational guidance was made, and a plan
was submitted for vocational guidance in elementary schools. This
plan was put into effect in certain schools in Manhattan by the voca
tional-guidance bureau of the Henry Street Settlement (see p. 114).
Another undertaking in which the board of education and a num
ber of private agencies cooperated was initiated in 1916 under the
auspices of a committee known as the vocation committee for the
thirteenth school district.8 The aim of this committee was to conduct
a comprehensive experiment in vocational guidance and placement
within a given area. The assistant director of the bureau of attend
ance of the board of education served as chairman of the committee,
and the board of education contributed to the expense of the under
taking the services of an attendance officer and a clerk assigned from
the bureau of attendance. The financial contribution made by the
other cooperating agencies averaged about $5,500 per annum for the
two years during which the undertaking continued, the staff main
tained by this fund including an executive secretary, two counselors
(a man to work with boys and a woman for the girls), and a field
worker for follow-up work with employers and visits to the chil
dren’s homes. The experiment was discontinued in 1918 because it
was difficult to obtain funds and also because it was believed that
vocational guidance and placement in any section of the city could be
satisfactorily conducted only if the work were carried on under a
city-wide organization.
The establishment of a bureau of vocational guidance in the school
system has been proposed a number of times since 1909 (see p. I ll )
and has received the consideration of the board of education. One
of these proposals, submitted in June, 1924/provides for the ap
pointment of a—
^
director of vocational investigation, guidance, and placement, who shall be
known as the director of placement, subject to the supervision of the associate
superintendent assigned, and in cooperation with the advisory board on in
dustrial education, shall direct and supervise vocational investigation and
guidance and the placement of pupils enrolled in all types of schools and of
former pupils who may apply for placement, and shall supply information
to the schools concerning local industries and commercial enterprises and the
opportunities for employment therein, ,fqr the more effective preparation of
pupils for the various vocations. !
There shall be such investigation and guidance teacher assistants and such
placement assistants assigned to assist, the director as the board of superin
tendents, with the approval of the board of education, shall determine within
the limits of funds apportioned by the board of education.
8 Information regarding this experiment was obtained from an unpublished account
furnished by the assistant director of the bureau of attendance of the New York Citr
Board of Education, who acted as chairman of the committee.
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOK PLACEMENT
No comprehensive program of vocational guidance nor centraliza
tion of vocational-guidance activities has been effected in the New
York public schools, however, up to the present time, although the
public-school system has actively cooperated with other organiza
tions carrying on various phases of vocational guidance for school
children. The board of education has also appointed a “ coordinator
of high-school placement” and a few “ teachers in excess” and
“ investigation and placement assistants55 to act as counselors or
placement workers in individual schools.
VOCATIONAL-GUIDANCE ACTIVITIES OF THE HENRY STREET
SETTLEMENT
The Henry Street Settlement of New York City, whose connection
with the mayor’s committee on vocational help to minors has been
referred to, began its vocational-guidance work in 1908 with a system •
of vocational scholarships. The scholarships were given to enable
children who could not otherwise afford to remain in school to receives
at least two years of vocational training. Careful educational and
vocational guidance based on knowledge of the child’s home environ
ment and circumstances, his personal characteristics and^ ambitions,
and his school progress, and a study of working conditions were
from the beginning important features of the scholarship work. As
a basis for vocational advice to scholarship children, in the summer
of 1909 the committee for vocational scholarships of the settlement
made a study of the school history, social and economic background,
work problems, etc., of 1,000 New York children working on em
ployment certificates, in 1913 issued a directory of the trades and
other occupations taught in the day and evening schools ot (ireater
New York (Opportunities for Vocational Training m New York
City) 9 and in 1915, in cooperation with the Russell Sage Founda
tion, compiled and published a pamphlet entitled “ Investigations of
Industry in New York City, 1905 to 1915.”
*
: .
,
It was owing chiefly to the Henry Street Settlement, as has been
said, that the mayor’s committee on vocational help to minors (see
p. 113) was organized. The settlement bore all the expenses ot the
investigation made by this committee. In March, 1916, as a result
of the investigation it opened a vocational bureau m one ot the public
schools near the settlement house and in September, 1917, started a
second bureau in another public school in the neighborhood, in
1918 and 1919 the work was extended to several other schools m
different sections of Manhattan. The settlement bore all the finan
cial responsibility for these offices, which together were known as the
vocational bureau of the Henry Street Settlement, but the board ot
education cooperated by furnishing office space for them m publicschool buildings.
The objects of the vocational bureaus were to keep children m
school as long as possible; to help them to discover their natural
abilities, to select the trade or profession for which they were fitted,
and to select the type of school that would give the best training tor
the chosen trade or profession; to persuade parents to give their
1924 by the Vocational Service ior Juniors (see p. llo ) .
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children at least trade training; to place children who had to go to
work in touch with responsible employment agencies; to recommend
children for scholarships; and to follow up for one year all children
leaving the elementary school for work and for two years all chil
dren going on to secondary or trade schools. The workers in the
two schools in which the bureaus were established regularly inter
viewed the members of the graduating classes and all other children
whose fourteenth birthday would occur within a year. They con
ferred with parents, teachers, school nurses, physicians, and attend
ance officers, club leaders, and others who could throw light on the
interests, personal characteristics, and abilities of each child. In
formation on educational and vocational opportunities was dissemi
nated, scholarships were granted, and efforts were made to solve
the problem of the maladjusted child. No placement was attempted,
but children in need of employment were referred to juvenile em
ployment agencies in the city.
DEVELOPMENT OF PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES FOR
JUNIORS
Supervised placement for juniors in New York City dates back to
the organization of the Alliance Employment Bureau of the New
York Association of Working Girls’ Clubs in 1890. This bureau was
established to find suitable positions for girls in the trades.
Although it charged a small fee—50 or 75 cents—its work was dis
tinguished by social aims and a sense of responsibility for the wel
fare of the juvenile workers whom it placed. In 1907 the bureau en
larged the scope of its work to include boys and in the same year
established a department of investigation of work opportunities in
New York City.
The unemployment emergency in 1914 was responsible for the initi
ation of junior employment work for girls by another local organiza
tion, the vacation war relief committee of the Vacation Association
of New York City, which, cooperating with the Young Women’s
Hebrew Association, established in January, 1915, the Federated Em
ployment Bureau for Jewish Girls. In October, 1916, this bureau
and the Alliance Employment Bureau were consolidated into the
United Employment Bureau for Women, Girls, and Boys.
In 1916 also was formed the Federation of Noncommercial Em
ployment Agencies of New York City, the object of which was to
unify employment policy and to disseminate information to employ
ment bureaus. This agency, as well as an employment clearing
house which was organized also in 1916 by a committee of women
appointed by the mayor, furthered the work of the junior employ
ment agencies of the city, and the federation in November, 1916,
published in mimeographed form an extensive survey entitled,
“ Organized Noncommercial Employment Work for Juveniles in
New York City.”
In the summer of 1918 the various noncommercial employment
bureaus for juniors in the city were united under the Junior Division
of the United States Employment Service. Within a year (July,
1919) Federal support was withdrawn, but the agencies which had
united under the Federal service continued to cooperate under pri
vate auspices as the Junior Employment Service.
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
THE VOCATIONAL SERVICE FOR JUNIORS
The Junior Employment Service functioned somewhat more than a
year. In October, 1920, it merged with the vocational bureau and
the committee for vocational scholarships of the Henry Street be
tlement to form a single agency, known as the Vocational Service for
Juniors. The Vocational Service for Juniors combined into an or
ganic whole the functions of each of its component agencies; that is,
school counseling, the administration of scholarships, and placemen .
An important activity of this organization has been the revision m
1922 and again in 1924 of the pamphlet “Opportunities tor Voca
tional Training in New York City/’ originally published by the com
mittee for vocational scholarships of the Henry Street Settlement for
the use of schools, social groups, and organizations and the personnel
departments of firms employing juniors.
JUNIOR PLACEMENT UNDER THE NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT
OF LABOR
The public employment bureau of the New York State Depart
ment of Labor, which was created in 1915, did incidental placement
of juniors in both the men’s and the women’s department. The ex
istence of a separate problem in respect to the young worker was
recognized, however, and in 1917 a law 10 was passed providing tor
the organization of juvenile placement bureaus in the State depart
ment of labor, the first legislation of its kind in the United States.
The first office under the new law was opened in Brooklyn in January,
1918. In the summer of 1918 this office, like the other noncommercial
placement offices for juniors in the city, allied itself with the Junior
Division of the United States Employment Service, but when the
Federal office was closed the State bureau continued its work as a
separate organization, establishing offices in Manhattan and the
Bronx. From the beginning the bureau sought close cooperation with
the public schools and in 1920 opened an office in one of the continu
ation schools. Between 1920 and 1924 the State established branch
offices of the juvenile placement bureau in three other continuation
schools and in a certificate-issuing office, the latter for children who
are not required to attend continuation school.
ORGANIZATION AND PRESENT STATUS OF VOCATIONALGUIDANCE ACTIVITIES 11
ORGANIZATION
In the absence of a department of vocational guidance in the
public-school system, the vocational-guidance activities that have
been developed within the schools are scattered and uncoordinated.
In addition to a central high-school placement office, which is ope
rated chiefly for the placement of high-school students m vacation
and after-school positions and which is in charge of a coordinator
of hio-h-school placement,” the board of education supports one
“ teacher in excess ” and 8 “ investigation and placement assistants*
'
iu New York, Consolidated Laws, 1909, vol. 3, ch 31, sec 6<M as added by Laws of
New York, 1914, ch. 181, and amended by Laws of INew York, 1917, eh. 749.
u Kor the school year 1923—24, unless otherwise indicated.
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who act as counselors or as placement workers in three elementary
schools, four high schools, and one continuation school.
Outside the schools a large number of agencies carry on some
phase of vocational guidance, usually only placement and only for
special groups of children. Those organized for the guidance or
placement of all children applying in a given area are the Vocational
Service for Juniors and the juvenile placement bureau of the New
York State Department of Labor.12
The Vocational Service for Juniors is a privately financed organi
zation working in cooperation with the public schools. At the
present time it maintains counselors in charge of a definitely or
ganized counseling program in seven elementary and two junior
high schools in one school district and in one elementary school and
two junior high schools in other districts; administers a scholarship
operates three placement offices, with a central clearance
office. Two of the placement offices are in continuation schools and
one in the bureau of attendance of the public schools. The organi
zation has a staff of 29 persons, including a director, an organization
secretary, a psychologist, an assistant psychologist, 15 counselors
(3 part-time), 4 assistant counselors, and 6 secretaries and clerks.
The director and the psychologist hold the degree of doctor of
jmlosophy; the organization secretary, the assistant psychologist
the office secretary, nine of the counselors, and a publicity clerk are
college graduates. Three other counselors have had college or uni
versity courses. Eight of the counselors had had experience in employment work before joining the staff of the Vocational Service for
Juniors. Counselors5 salaries range from $1,800 to $2,400 a year.
The estimated expenditures of the organization for the year
October 1, 1923, to September 30, 1924, are as follows:
E stim a ted expenditu res,13 Vocational S ervice for Juniors, October 1, 1923—
S eptem ber 30, 1924
G EN ERA L F U N D
Salaries__________ ______________________
Rent_________________________ ________
Telephone_____________________________
Supplies, printing, postage_______________
Publicity_____________________________ _
Publications______c___________________
Traveling_____________ [_________ ___ ___ 7
Miscellaneous_______________________
$45, 568
2 , 000
1,814
2, 080
1, 500
1, 250
233
391
T otal__________________
S C H O L A R S H IP
54, 836
FUND
19 305
2 ’ 760
Payments on health and relief for scholarship cases____IIII__III_I_ 1 ’ 050
Payments on scholarship grants—main fund____________
Payments on scholarship grants—special funds______ ~
__
Total-------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- _ 23,115
m a d e u n d e r t h e d i r e c t i o n o f t h e c o m m it te e o n v o c a t i o n a l g u i d a n c e o f t h e C h i l d r e n ’s W el^
“ P " ‘d l t u r e s * ° M a r 3 1 “ «
18835°— 25------ 9
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« p e n d itu r e , fo r
J u lj,
11$
V o c a t i o n a l G tr iD A itc E Aisrn
ju n io r
placem ent
The State department of labor conducts a juvenile placement
bureau with seven offices, most of which are in public-school build
ings (see p. 133). The personnel, -in addition to the clerical force,
consists of 10 placement workers, who are required to have had ex
perience in employment or educational work and who are civilservice appointees. .Supervising placement workers receive from
$1,700 to $2,000, and assistants from $1,080 to $1,500 a year.
SCHOOL COUNSELING
The Vocational Service for Juniors.
The Vocational Service for Juniors has recently concentrated most
of its counselors in one school district (see p. 117) in an effort to.
demonstrate the cost, the procedure, and the results of a comprehen
sive counseling program in a given area.
The purpose of its counseling is primarily educational. Each
eighth-grade pupil in the elementary schools and each seventh-grade
pupil in the junior high schools is interviewed by the counselor when
it becomes necessary for him to choose between the courses offered
in the senior or the junior high school, as the case may be. Prior to the
interviews the children in these grades are given a group mental test
by the psychologist on the staff of the Vocational Service for Juniors,
and where a child’s school grades indicate or his teacher feels that
he was not properly rated by the group test he receives an individual
psychological test. The child also fills in a questionnaire indicating
his ambitions and interests and giving some information on his social
and economic background. The counselor has not only the child’s
questionnaire but also his health record, his school record in pro
ficiency and conduct both for the current and for preceding years,
and his teachers’ estimate of his ability and personality. This esti
mate is entered on a graphic rating-scale form by means of which it
is possible for the counselor to rate the child on his appearance, abil
ity to learn, initiative, and industry. On the basis of this informa
tion she discusses with each pupil his course of study and his voca
tional ambitions, holding as many conferences with the child as seem
necessary. She arranges meetings of parents in which the principal
or an outside speaker addresses them on vocational subjects and urges
parents to come to her for discussion of their plans for their children.
She also gives a series of weekly classroom talks on various occupa
tions and the training required for them. (See p. 140.) When the
child has decided on a course of study the counselor notes the selec
tion on a slip which parents are requested to sign. If the selection
of a course differs from the plans agreed upon by the child in con
ference with the counselor the latter interviews the child or, if neces
sary, the parent a second time.
Although the counseling is chiefly in regard to the selection of
courses the counselor’s regular procedure also includes interviewing
all applicants for employment certificates, if possible, before their
plans are definitely made. If they can not be persuaded to remain in
school she refers them with their school record and her recommenda
tions to one of the employment bureaus operated by the Vocational
Service for Juniors. She likewise refers children in need of parttime work to one of these bureaus. The counselor does not attempt
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119
• to assist in the solution of social or health problems, but if in the
course of her work she discovers the need of assistance of this kind
she refers the case to the proper social agency or to a visiting teacher
in schools that have the services of visiting teachers. She prepares
a complete report for each child and uses it as a basis for the follow
up of each pupil who is counseled.
The follow-up with the group of former elementary-school pupils
who have left school consists of sending a letter with a return card
to each inquiring about his work, and a second letter proposing a
conference at an evening office hour to those who did not reply to
the first. If a child does not reply to either of the follow-up letters
and does not come to see the counselor the latter visits the child at
his home. For children who have entered junior or senior high
school she obtains the high-school record. The procedure in follow
ing up junior high school pupils who have leit school is the same
as that for elementary-school pupils. For those who remain in
school it consists of recording on the questionnaire sheets the mid
term marks of pupils in the eighth and ninth grades, interviewing
pupils who are failing in their studies, conferring with those who
wish to change their course of study, and interviewing each ninthgrade pupil with reference to his further vocational interests and
his course of study in the senior high school. A record of the re
sults of each step of the follow-up is entered on the child’s question
naire.
Members of School Staffs.
EZcTncTitavy schools.—Outside the schools where the counselors of
the Vocational Service for Juniors are at work counseling is car
ried on in only three of the elementary schools. The counselor in
these schools is a “ teacher in excess” especially assigned by the
board of superintendents to do this work. She had had, before her
appointment, considerable experience in placement work and in
vocational guidance.
Approximately three-fourths of the enrollment in these three
schools is colored. All three have prevocational classes (see p. 148),
so that a choice of courses becomes necessary at the beginning of
the eighth year and an opportunity is offered during the seventh
and eighth grades for a variety of try-out experiences upon which
to base the choice of a high-school course.
A definite counseling procedure has been developed in these three
schools. Early in the school year, after a general talk or series of
talks by the counselor, each child is required to fill out a question
naire, which has been worked out to conform to the particular needs
of the children in these schools and which covers his tastes, aptitudes,
home environment, and vocational choice, and his parents’ wishes in
respect to his future. Each child is also given a mental test by a
psychologist from the department of research and measurements of
the public schools or by psychologists supplied by private agencies.
His school record and intelligence quotient and the comments of his
teachers on his personality and character are added to the question
naire. Owing to the size of the schools it is impossible for the
counselor to interview each child. She therefore selects for in
dividual interview those children whose questionnaires indicate some
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
special problem, such for example as cases where a child’s educa
tion or vocational ambition requires special consideration because
of his family’s circumstances or seems inconsistent with his abilities ,
as indicated by his school record and intelligence quotient, or where
the parent has apparently expressed no opinion m regard to the
child’s future.
‘
...
. t
...
. .
Although the counselor does not have time for home visits, except
in special cases, she endeavors to persuade parents to come to the
school whenever it seems necessary to discuss with her their plans
for the child. She also works in close cooperation with the visiting
teacher assigned to one of the schools, through whom are made any
social adjustments which may be necessary for children who plan to
remain in school. In addition to those children whose question
naires indicate the need of special assistance the counselor interviews
all children who are over age for their grade, those who are dis
charged from school on working papers, and those who are choosing
a high-school course. Although she does some informal placement
herself she usually refers children who are leaving school or who are
obliged to work on part time while attending school to an outside
placement bureau. The need for special attention by some place
ment agency to problems connected with the placement of colored
boys and girls is keenly felt, however.
Once a week during the first 10 weeks of the school term the coun
selor gives a series of talks to eighth-grade classes on occupations.
These are intended to precede the individual interviews with pupils
of this grade. In the first of these talks the pupils are directed to
an examination of their ideas on their future work and their desires
for training bevond the elementary school, an analysis of their apti
tudes as indicated by their school records and their spontaneous
interests, and a consideration of the ability of their respective fami
lies to finance training for various occupations. The careers m
which the individual members of the class are interested are listed m
each case, and the duties, advantages and disadvantages, require
ments, and training are discussed. The occupations in each mam
group—professional, business, trades, and industries are then con
sidered in detail, including the opportunities for service that they
offer. Considerable information on occupations and ^the training
required for various kinds of work is given in the individual inter
views, and children are urged to consult the public library for books
on vocations.
•
, . „
Hiqh schools.—In most of the high schools a “ grade adviser,
selected by the principal from the teaching staff, is appointed to act
in an advisory capacity to the members of each class from entrance
to graduation or withdrawal. If classes are very large two or more
advisers are appointed. These teachers are given little or no time
for the specific purpose of counseling; in one school where the sys
tem has been considerably developed each of the advisers has from
5 to 10 periods a week for interviews. The advisers duties may
include individual interviews with pupils receiving low marks, with
those needing assistance in choosing their courses or m making some
other adjustment to school life, or with those planning to withdraw
from school.
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Two of the general high, schools for girls—the Washington Irving
and the Julia Richman have one or more full-time counselors who
are investigation and placement assistants” especially appointed
for counseling.
The Washington Irving High School has two counselors who have
developed a program intended to reach every girl in school and pro
viding for intensive work with entering and graduating students.
The counselors do not do placement themselves but work in coopera
tion with the placement secretary (see p. 123), whose office is in the
same room. All incoming students are given a group mental test by
a trained psychologist who is supported by private funds and are
classified m accordance with their intelligence quotients. The subject matter of the various courses is enriched for students above
the average in intelligence. Through the medium of a questionnaire
asking how long the student expects to stay in school, what course she
wishes to take, and whether or not the school can give her any as
sistance, the counselor locates the girls who expect to go to work
early, those whose choice of course seems inconsistent with their
plans, and any others presenting special educational, social, or voca
tional problems. The counselor interviews these girls individually
and gives them advice and assistance. Every effort is made to keep
children in school: Parents are interviewed, home conditions are ad
justed through appropriate social agencies, and scholarships are
arranged either thiough a school scholarship fund or through other
agencies in the city giving scholarships (see pp. 141-142). At or be
fore the end of the first term all pupils with intelligence quotients
below 90 are given the Terman individual intelligence test. Their
progress is carefully watched, and they receive special assistance in
the selection of their courses of study and elective subjects. All pu
pils receiving low grades also are interviewed at the end of the first
term in order that readjustments may be made if necessary.
After the first year failing students are referred to members of
the program committee of the school, but any pupil desiring to con
fer with the counselor is invited to do so and all those who have
presented special problems are continued under the counselor’s care.
The counselor follows up all pupils who are working outside of
school hours. She also advises seniors in regard to further training
along special lines. She does not interview withdrawing pupils*
they are required to see the deputy principal of the school and if
under 16 years of age must be accompanied by one of their parents.
Every effort is made to induce girls to remain in school until the
completion of their course, or to go to other schools; and in order
to make it possible for some girls to do so, the counselor seeks
the aid of relief organizations, clinics, scholarship funds, and other
social agencies. A psychiatrist provided through the cooperation of
a private agency gives examinations at the school twice a week and
offers recommendations in the case of emotionally unstable pupils
or those presenting disciplinary or other special problems.
The counselor aims to stimulate consideration of vocations and
the requisite training for various occupations through the medium
of the school paper and outside speakers. If invited to do so she •
also visits eighth-grade groups to explain the high-school courses
and sends circulars for distribution to eighth-grade classes describ
ing the training offered by the school.
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One investigation and placement assistant functions as counselor
in the Julia Richman High School. She does no placement but
works in cooperation with the school placement worker (see p. 124),
whose office she shares. The work thus far has been largely ex
perimental, pending a study of the school’s special problems and
the completion of a building which will house the entire school, now
quartered in a number of widely separated buildings. In the fall
of 1928, 91 entering students were given the Otis group intelligence
tests, by the counselor and some of the teachers, who had had some
instruction in administering tests. Each of these pupils filled m
a questionnaire giving personal information, including the length of
time she expected to remain in school. The counselor after a study
of the questionnaires interviewed each of the students in regard to
her plans and ambitions and gave educational and vocational in
formation and counsel. In February, 1924, two* special classes were
formed for pupils with low intelligence quotients who had failed in
their first term in school and who appeared to have no special *
aptitudes. The counselor has made studies of the distribution of
intelligence quotients of the three recent graduating classes—a total
of 1,050 girls—and of the school careers of 812 pupils who entered
the school in June, 1920.
A new plan for vocational guidance was to be put into effect m the
fall of 1924, when the school was expected to be in its new building.
Its object is to help pupils at the beginning of their high-school
course in order to prevent the heavy school losses which occur as the
result of failures. Entering pupils will be grouped on the basis of
the results of the Otis self-administering test. At the end of a
six-week period, during which all the groups will have been, given
the same ground to cover in the classroom, they will be given an
examination. Those who fail are to be interviewed by the grade
adviser of their class. I f the result of the examination, the in
telligence quotient, and the interview all point to the same con
clusion—that is, that the pupil can not carry the regular course and
complete it within the average time—the girl will be referred to the
counselor. The latter will discuss the situation with the girl and
her parents and will suggest another course, or the dropping of
one subject, so that the extra time can be given the remaining sub
jects, or in some other way will assist in making an adjustment.
Visiting teachers.—The Board of Education of the City of New
York maintains 19 visiting teachers, and in addition 6 employed by
a private organization (the Public Education Association) are as
signed to the public schools. Although their duties are concerned
primarily with questions of social and educational rather than voca
tional adjustment those assigned to schools in which no vocational
counselors are employed give vocational advice when necessary in
connection with their regular case work. Children in need of work
are referred to the proper placement offices.
PLACEMENT
Placement by the Schools.
A central high-school placement office has been established to co
ordinate high-school placement and to do such employment work as
is not covered by the individual schools. Almost all placements
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made by this office are for part-time work. Boys and girls de
siring full-time positions are referred to the New York State Ju
venile Employment Bureau, a branch of which is located in the same
building (see p. 133), though guidance and counsel are sometimes
given persons applying for full-time positions and recommendations
in regard to placement are made to the State bureau in such cases.
Most of the high schools cooperate with the central office for parttime and summer employment, especially in salesmanship courses,
and for “drop outs,” whom the high schools themselves as a rule
do not attempt to place. The central office, which makes a special
point of placing “ drop outs,” by an arrangement with the high
schools receives a filled-in report form in regard to each child with
drawing from school, giving information as to his school attendance,
scholastic record, work history if any, reliability, reason for going
to work, educational and vocational aims, opinions of the discharge
officer in regard to his vocational and other interests and limita
tions, and the name and address of his prospective employer, hours
and pay, if he has already obtained a position. Each of these chil
dren who are not already satisfactorily placed is invited to make
use of the services of the central placement office.
The personnel of the office consists of the director, known as the
coordinator of high-school placement, and one clerk. The clerk
places many registrants, but the director interviews special cases and
gives vocational guidance. Each registrant is required to fill in a
form stating the kind of work he desires, why he desires it, what
special qualifications he has for the position desired, his other voca
tional ambitions, and his personal aptitudes. From 15 to 30 minutes
is given the first interview. An effort is made to persuade children
to return to school or to continue their education and training in
evening or in special schools. Applicants are sent to employers with
a card of introduction and a return card. Employers are asked to
report their action in the case of all applications, giving their reasons
if the applicant has been rejected. A daybook is kept containing
a record of each placement with the name and address of the em
ployer and the kind of work done. The limitations of the staff make
it impossible to do much follow-up work, but the director follows
up pupils placed in summer emplovments who do not return to
school, lists of whom are supplied the central office by the various
high schools. The director reports that approximately 3,000 indi
viduals are placed in part-time positions each year.
About half the high schools (including all commercial high
schools), the Manhattan Trade School for Girls, and one continua
tion school regularly place their own pupils. In most of the high
schools doing organized placement only 45 minutes a day for em
ployment work is allowed the teacher who acts as “ placement sec
retary.” Usually these teachers have not had training or experi
ence in placement work, and the inadequate time allowance makes
visits to employers or to. homes, follow-up, and record-keeping im
possible. _ A few schools, however, have investigation and place
ment assistants who give full time to placement work.
The Washington Irving High School has one placement secretary
or “ manager of employment and recommendations bureau ” who
gives full time to the placement of graduates and “ drop outs,” and
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
of undergraduates in part-time and summer employment. The place
ment secretary works in close cooperation with the teachers and
counselors, from whom she obtains school records of_ scholarship
and attendance and comments on personal characteristics. She re
ceives reports from the counselor chiefly, however, in special cases.
Each girl applying for part-time employment must present a card
signed by the class adviser or teacher approving her carrying a posi
tion in addition to her school work. Part-time work for first-year
students is discouraged. All positions are investigated, and an effort
is made to obtain a report from the employer for each girl who is
placed. ' Positions are solicited by personal visits, letter, or tele
phone. Follow-up consists mainly of sending a letter with return
card to each graduate six months after graduation and asking the
employers of the graduates who reply for a report of the girls’
work. Once a month the placement secretary sends to all pupils
who have withdrawn from school during the month a post card
asking for a report on their work from those who are employed and
offering assistance in finding positions for those who desire them.
In 1923-24 a total of 1,272 placements were made as follows: Com
mercial (stenographers, bookkeepers, typists, clerks), 394; dress
makers, 54; artists, 84; miscellaneous, 34; part-time, 706. Records
are kept, and annual reports on placement and follow-up are pre
pared for the principal of the school.
The Julia Richman High School also has a full-time placement
secretary. The service is almost entirely for graduating students
and former graduates. “ Drop outs” and part-time workers are
now usually referred to the central high-school placement office, but
it was planned when the school moved to its new building in the fall
of 1924 to have the placement secretary interview all pupils with
drawing from school. Each graduating student fills out a card
which is kept as a record card. A complete permanent record card
is kept also, giving in addition to class marks the girl’s intelligence
quotient, notes on her personal appearance, habits, and characteris
tics (under 16 heads) and on special aptitudes and talents, and a
record of her physical condition and of services that she has rendered
in the school. Prior to graduation in January and in June letters
are sent out to employers soliciting openings for the graduates, and
a few employers are visited. Girls are asked to report to the school
whether or not they receive the positions to which they have been
referred. Follow-up consists of a form letter and a questionnaire
sent each year to every graduate of the school. The replies are
recorded, and the office files contain the complete record and work
history of approximately 5,000 students. Of the class of January,
1924, 264 were placed as follows: Stenographers, 168; bookkeepers,
31; comptometer operators, 57; others, 8. The placement secretary
lias made studies of commercial opportunities for colored girls, aver
age salaries for beginners in stenography and bookkeeping between
1914 and 1924, other high-school employment bureaus in New York
City, and other subjects.
. .
The cooperative high school14 places students, principally those
in the third and fourth years, who work and attend school alternate
14 There is one cooperative high, school in the city (see p. 149), and two other high
schools have a few cooperative classes,
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
îsTEW YORK
125
Weeks. It is a commercial high school, and most of the pupils are
placed either in salesmanship positions or, in general clerical work.
In the salesmanship courses the pupils are placed in their second
year, beginning as messengers and proceeding through the stock and
junior sales force to regular salesmanship positions. The general
clerical course endeavors to meet a demand by business houses for
training that has not been specialized. The teacher in charge of
placement gives half time to placement work and has the assistance
of three coordinators, each of whom spends two periods a day
teaching and the remainder of the time visiting firms and, if necessary, pupils’ homes. The placement teacher keeps the records and
does the inside office work, but the coordinators make the placements.
The latter solicit positions, and each has his own list of firms where
he places pupils under his supervision. Four forms are in use—
an application for cooperative work filled in by the student, a firm
information card filled in by the visiting coordinator, a card of in
troduction, and a report of weekly earnings made out by the pupil
each week. Only the place of employment and the weekly earnings
are recorded.
One of the continuation schools has two full-time placement sec
retaries or investigation and placement assistants, one for boys and
one for girls, who have been appointed by the board of education
especially for employment work. These workers have had experi
ence both as teachers and as placement counselors. Openings are
solicited by telephone, by circular, and by visit. All positions for
girls are investigated, but boys are sometimes sent to firms that
have not been investigated. Although all the teachers in the school
are required to visit employers (see p. 152), a plan for getting from
teachers information on employing firms for use in the placement
office is not yet in operation. The records of these visits are in the
main building of the continuation school, and the placement office
is housed in an annex. Neither is a “ vocational-information folder,”
which is filled out for each pupil entering the school, in the hands
of the placement workers, as that, too, is filed in the main building.
The placement workers depend upon their personal knowledge of
the pupils desiring work, gleaned through interviews and through
their acquaintance in the so-called employment class, which un
employed boys and girls of continuation-school age are required to
attend 20 hours a week and which is in charge of the placement
workers.15
A simple clerical test is given applicants who desire or appear
fitted for clerical work. The registration card gives family and
personal data—the applicant’s reasons for leaving school, the con
tinuation-school teacher’s estimate of his ability and personality,
his special interests, the results of tests, further school and work
plans and work record—and contains the placement worker’s com
ments. Each applicant is sent to the prospective employer with a
return card of introduction and is called up on the telephone if no
result of the application is reported. All follow-up is through the
continuation school. An annual report is prepared for the director
of continuation schools and a weekly one for the school principal.
15 The supervision over the unemployed children in this class is general. There is no
class instruction. The pupils take written tests and read books and magazines.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
126
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
The following table shows statistics for boys and girls placed in
various kinds of work by this continuation school, from December
1,1923, to June 1,1924:
A pplications, “orders ,” references, and placem ents of boys and girls m differ
ent kinds of w ork, B rooklyn C ontinuation School, D ecem ber 1, 1928-June
1, 192k
G irls
Boys
K in d of w ork
N ew F o rm e r
a p p li a p p li
c a n ts
c a n ts
Em
p lo y
e rs’
“ Or
d ers”
R efer
ences
P lac e
m e n ts
N ew
a p p li
c a n ts
F o rm e r
a p p li
c a n ts
Em
p lo y
ers’
“ or
d e rs”
R efer
ences
P lac e
m e n ts
T o t a l.................
517
820
895
1,086
735
349
438
637
645
370
E r r a n d s a n d m es
senger w o rk .............
O ffice................... .........
S to ck a n d s h ip p in g .
T r a d e ........ ................. F a c to r y .........................
M iscellan eo u s______
65
187
19
128
96
22
82
165
56
190
298
29
192
204
70
144
256
29
225
224
79
223
306
29
155
148
46
147
219
20
184
35
53
. 72
5
177
57
94
103
7
9
142
101
129
245
11
6
170
117
140
201
11
6
91
60
83
122
8
The Manhattan Trade School for Girls has a special employment
worker trained and experienced in placement and a full-time assist
ant employment worker with training in employment ' and social
work. The employment work is primarily for girls who have com
pleted their course of training. “ Drop outs ” are not placed, and
only a few part-time placements are made. Employers are well
known, so that solicitation for positions, except in slack seasons, is
regarded as unnecessary. All new firms are investigated (the form
used in connection with this investigation is reproduced on page 127)
before placements are made. No girl is given her diploma until
she has completed three months’ satisfactory work in her trade.
Further intensive follow-up work is done through a semiannual
questionnaire for five years after graduation. When replies are
received the new data are entered on the girls’ record cards, and
records are kept up to date for all graduates. A card is also sent
each employer soon after placement, inquiring in regard to the
worker’s progress. Girls who present problems are visited. _ A
study of all graduates of the last 10 years is in progress, including
the number of positions they have held, the type of work they are
engaged in, the kind of changes they have made, wages, and so fortlu
The Vocational Service for Juniors.
The placement work of the Vocational Service for Juniors is
confined to residents of Manhattan. Of the three-placement offices
which it operates in the schools one serves the pupils of the con
tinuation school where it is located; the second serves pupils in the
continuation school where it is housed and any other 16 or 17 year
old boy or girl in that section of the city ; and the third, in the bureau
of attendance of the public schools, places aiiy boy or girl between
the ages of 16 and 18 who is not a continuation-school pupil. (See
p. 150.)
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Form used by M anhattan T rade School for G irls in th e in vestig a tio n o f establish m en ts em ploying j u n i o r s N e w York
NAME OF FIRM
ADDRESS
TRADE
DEPT. INVESTIGATED
KIND OF WORK FOR WOMEN
Weekly Wages
REMARKS
P iece Sit Stand
Time
'M’ln. App
Position
at Work
By Whom Trained
.. —................
■-■■■ - ......... ..Length of Tra in in g .......
Trade School Training Desirable____ ___________ ____ — ----------------------------------------------------------------Preliminary or Continuation------------------------------WORKERS DESIRED—Age______________________ Nationality----------------------------^.Other Qualifications----------------------------- ;--------- Nationality Excluded—
New Employees Taken On. Learners-----------------.-------------------------------Experienced------------------------------------------------------------ Workers most in demand.
NEW YORK
LEARNERS
No. V omen General
Sectional
Total 14-15 Team
Years
SEASONS—R u sh --------- ---------- ,-------- Max. Force------------------------------------ —° uU----------------------- ------------------ Mi“ Total*------------------------ *----------- Closed—
HOURS—Begin_________ A. M. End__________ P .M . Sat---------- ----- P .M . Noon--------------- H r. Daily--------------- Weekly--------------- Variation--------------------OVERTIME—No. times per week.——______ Closing Hour----------------P . M . Supper----- ——-— .— rHr. No. w eeks per year-------------- -------------------- Rate of Pay_
u; „
>
With pay
Charges_____________ _______________________________________________ Vacation Without pay------------------------------------------------ Home W o rk ---------------PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—Type of Bldg---------------- »----------- — -------Floors used--------------------------------- Elevator--------------------------------------Stairways---------Workroom—Light------- ------ ------------------------------------- Ventilation--------------------------------------------- Space------------------------------------------ Cleanliness------------Lunching Facilities--------------------- ------------------------------------Toilets------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cloak Rooms----------------------------Fire Protection__
—
1
~
----
11
~~............
...... ...
1
"
'
HOW REACHED___________________ ____________ _____________________________*®*SON TO ADDRESS---------------------------------------------------------------DAXE___________________________
INVESTIGATOR________»------------------------- SOURCE OF INFORMATION--------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
[ A c t u a l s iz e 8 b y 5 i n c h e s ]
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
to
•^1
128
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOB PLACEMENT
The branch offices are assisted by a central office, which solicits
openings and receives all employers’ Korders.” Each morning the
counselor in charge of the clearance service in the central office tele
phones the branch offices, describing to each the employers’ “ orders ”
that the central office has received and ascertaining the type of
registrants that the branch office has. Such of the employers’
“ orders ” as the branch office can fill are allocated to it. When
necessary the clearance service is requested to find openings for
particular workers registered with the branch office. After each
branch office has been reached in this way the procedure is repeated
until all possible “ orders ” have been filled and all registrants have
been placed. Unfilled “ orders ” are redistributed. The clearance
service is also responsible for the investigation of new openings.
If no recent report on the firm is on file the clearance service dele
gates a counselor from a branch office to visit and report. A study
of working conditions and a rough job analysis with special emphasis
on opportunities for advancement and training are made for each
newr position investigated. The solicitation of openings is handled
by the central office by means of a form letter to a selected list of
employers, by telephone, or by personal visit.
Records are carefully and completely written up and are kept
current. The filing system is practically identical for the three
offices. Employers’ “ orders ” and applicants’ registration cards are
filed alphabetically. The registration card (see p. 130) is cross-filed
by occupation as long as the case remains active. Each branch of
fice sends a daily report (see p. 129) to the director, who transmits a
weekly report to the principals of the schools where the employment
offices are located and to the State commissioner of labor.
The procedure in the three offices is similar. Each registrant is
interviewed in a private office by the placement worker, and regis
trants not bringing recommendations from the vocational counselors
of the Vocational Service for Juniors are given advice and guidance.
The registrant’s social and economic background, his school record
and previous industrial history, and his interests and ambitions are
inquired into during the interview. In the two offices situated in
continuation schools, school records and teachers’ estimates of ability
and personality are readily available. Care is taken to insure the
proper certification of all children of work-permit age. Special
soliciting is undertaken for gifted children or for those with welldefined vocational interests. Applicants suspected of mental de
fects or subnormality are given mental tests by the staff psychologist,
and psychopathic cases are sometimes referred to clinics. Handi
capped children are sent for placement to one of several bureaus in
the city placing the mentally or physically defective. Applicants
who are over age are referred to the employment office of the State
department of labor or to private bureaus. Sometimes boys wishing
to enter trades are sent to union headquarters. Opportunities for
vocational training are pointed out to each registrant by the place
ment workers, each of whom has in her possession a directory of vo
cational-training schools and courses in New York City published by
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
NEW YORK
120
the Vocational Service for Juniors.16 Applicants are sent with a card
of introduction to be returned by the employer to the central office.
Only about 1 employer in 10 is said to return the card; those who do
not do so are called on the telephone by the central office.
Two weeks after placement the officer sends the junior a post card
asking him for a report on his new position. If no answer is re-
ceived within 10 days a letter is sent asking the worker to report at
the office. No further attempt to reach the child who fails to respond
is made until six months after placement when a visit to the employ
ing firm is made through the central clearance service. If a regis
trant has not been advanced during the six-month period and a better
position for which he is qualified is available the child is replaced.
" O p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r V o c a t io n a l T r a i n i n g i n
J u n i o r s , N e w Y o rk C ity , 1 9 2 4 .
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
N ew
Y o rk
C ity .
V o c a t io n a l S e r v ic e fo r
*
ISO
VO CA TIO NAL G U ID A N C E A N O j ü N Î O R P L A C E M E N T
An evening office hour is held for follow-up purposes, but some of
the branch offices can not be opened at night and are obliged to hold
Face of registra tio n card, Vocational Service fo r Ju n iors; N ew YorTc
Min. Wage
Date applied
Floor
Address
Future Work Plans
TeLNo.
Date of
Birth
c.
J.
Birthplace
Wh.
Col.
Occupations: Father
Date of
Leaving
| Grade
Public Day
School Attended
Apparent Defects
General Health
|W. P.
C it
Alien
Birthplace
Weight
1 Work
U .S .
P.
•Father’s Nsime
Height
1 Age to |Age Began
M other
Other Members
Leaving
Other
Training
Tests: Clerical
Arith.
Spelling
R. No.
.Teacher
Session
Subject
Continuation School
Day
Geog.
t Q.
Date
Employed
Time
Employed
Yfe. M m .
■Name of Firm
Address
Trade or
Business
Kind of Work
Weekly
Wage
How
Found
Reasons
for Leaving
D. R. LO.
Personal Qualifications
m ature
neat
immature
untidy
dependable
clean
diffident
dirty
alert
irresponsible
sullen
indifferent
courteous serious
silly
rough
attractive
refined
I Signature of Applicant
FormB-6 Employment Registrationfar<i
-Vocational Service for Juniors
New York City
I Address
[ A c t u a l s iz e 8 b y 9 % in c h e s ]
their evening office hour at the central office, a procedure which costs
them a number of contacts.
Relations with employers are developed chiefly through the visits
of the staff to employing firms. Organized labor is represented on
an advisory committee of the organization. The director speaks be
fore groups of School officials, employment managers, social workers,
and others on the work of the Vocational Service for Juniors, and
one member of the staff gives about half time to publicity work.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
131
NEW YORK
R everse of reg istra tio n card, Vocational Service for Juniors
.Mamie
Date
.
, _________ AüDKBSSu
Referred to
Kind of
Work
Wage
Result
and How
Reported
Reason
for
Leaving
Duration
on Job
Remarks
*
[ A c t u a l s iz e 8 b y 9 % i n c h e s ]
The following tables show statistics of placements, new registra
tions, and employers’ “ orders ” from September, 1923, to February,
1924:
A pplications, references, and placem ents, V ocational Service for Juniors, Sep
tem ber, 1923-F ebruary, 1924
Ite m
T o ta l
9,561
4,846
2,384
5,462
3,687
2,155
244
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
• Boys
5,046
2,522
1,180
2,840
1,886
1,087
205
G irls
4,515
2,324
1,204
2,622
1,801
1,068
39
132
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
Age, schooling, and in d u stria l record of n ew registran ts, Vocational Service
for Juniors, Septem ber, 1928-F ebruary, 1924
Ite m
Age:
Schooling:
C o n tin u atio n -sc h o o l a tte n d a n c e :
In d u s tria l record:
T o ta l
Boys
G irls
3,133
1,605
1,528
1,733
1,400
911
694
822
706
1,446
'709
923
55
801
316
475
13
645
393
448
42
2,429
704
1,284
321
1,145
'383
2,310
823
1,276
329
1,034
494
K in d s of occupations represented in em ployers' “orders,” V ocational Service
for Juniors, Septem ber, 1928-February, 1924
K in d of o ccu p atio n
T o ta l
B oys
G irls
6,292
3,108
3,184
1,271
'781
2,210
437
1,304
187
102
584
361
850
184
958
113
58
687
420
1,360
253
346
74
44
The Juvenile Placement Bureau of the New York State Department of Labor
According to the State law creating the juvenile placement
bureaus which have been established in connection with the local
offices of the New York State Public Employment Bureau their pur
poses and functions are “ to provide information concerning voca
tional and trade training, the conditions and processes in industry,
to give advice tending to help keep juveniles in school, and assist in
such other ways as will contribute to the welfare of juveniles. When
juveniles, after leaving school, are seeking positions, the juvenile
placement department shall use its efforts to procure the best oppor
tunity for such applicants in accordance with the State law regulat
ing work certificates and age limits.” 17
As a part of the State department of labor the juvenile placement
bureaus enjoy the advantages of an organization which has a manysided contact with changing industrial conditions, through its asso
ciations with employers’ and employees’ organizations as well as by
virtue of its powers of inspection and supervision, its^special study
of women’s work, the administration of workmen’s compensation
laws, the compilation of employment statistics, and the placement
of adults. These bureaus endeavor to work in close cooperation with
the schools on the theory that in effective placement the intimate
knowledge of industry possessed by labor departments must be sup17 New York. Consolidated Laws, 1909, vol. 3* ch. 31, sec. 66-j, as added by Laws of
Now York, 1914, ch, 181, and amended by Laws of New York 1917, ch. 749,
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
NEW YORK
133
plemented by the intimate knowledge of the child that the schools
possess, and that the experience of the labor department is of value
to the schools for purposes of industrial information and as a check
on trade courses and commercial schools.
In New York City the juvenile placement bureau of the State de
partment of labor operates seven offices. Four of these are in Brook
lyn. The main office, with a staff of two placement workers and a
clerk, handles the placement of continuation-school children as well
as children between 17 and 18 years of age who have completed con
tinuation school, high-school “ drop outs,” and high-school graduates
under 18 years of age | two suboffices, each with one placement
worker, are located in continuation schools and place pupils attend
ing those schools; another suboffice, also with one placement worker,
is located in the same building with a certificate-issuing office and
places children who are not required to attend continuation school.
Another main office with a staff of three placement workers is in
Manhattan. I t receives applications from any children residing in
Manhattan, including^ some children attending the two Manhattan
continuation schools, in which placement offices are maintained by
the Vocational Service for Juniors. The sixth State office is in the
Queens continuation school and the seventh in the Bronx continua
tion school; each, with a staff of one placement worker, handles the
placement of pupils in the schools where they are' located. The
main offices in Brooklyn and in Manhattan remain open throughout
the summer to place high-school graduates and continuation-school
pupils during the period when the school offices are closed and also
children who leave school in June but are not required to attend
continuation school until September. The suboffices close on July 15,
and the workers are returned to the two main offices. Each of the
main offices occupies one entire floor of the building in which it is
housed, but the suboffices have only a room or part of a room in a
school building.
All the Brooklyn offices work together closely and exchange
“ orders,” as do those in New York. With the opening of branch
offices a plan for clearance has been devised but has not yet been put
into operation.
The following table gives statistics of placement in six of the
offices for a 12-month period:
R egistrations, renew als, “ orders,’ references, and placem ents, June 1, 1923M ay 31, 1921t, a t offices of ju ven ile placem ent bureau, Tfew York S ta te D e
partm en t of Labor
B ronx 1
B ro o k ly n
M a n h a tta n
Ite m s
T o ta l
R e g istra tio n s ____ ___ _______
R en e w als_________ _________
E m p lo y e rs ’ “ o rd e rs ” _______
R efe re n ces...................................
P la c e m e n ts .......... ......... .............
1,387
625
2,070
1,945
1,337
B oys
917
430
1,427
1,333
895
1 T h e B ronx office w as opened J u ly 1,1923.
18835°—25-----10
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
G irls
470
195
643
612
442
T o ta l
Boys
G irls
T o ta l
Boys
4,772
2,746
7,793
7,218
4,664
2,775
1,818
4,752
4,574
2,860
1,997
928
3,041
2,644
1,804
1,884
2,671
5,519
4,730
3,450
1,084
1,592
3,310
2,775
2,055
G irls
800
1,079
2,209
1,955
1,395
134
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
Registrants are referred to these offices by schools and various
social agencies, which the bureau supplies with blank cards fox‘ this
purpose Where the offices are located in continuation schools
placement workers and teachers work in close cooperation.
The policy and general procedure are identical formal! the offices.
All forms and record blanks are supplied by the State. Boys and
oirls’ cards are of different colors and are kept m separate hies..
They are filed numerically by occupation, and an index file by name
is kept. The names of children who have applied within three weeks
are kept separate and are filed according to the kind of work desired.
Employers’ “ orders” are filed alphabetically and cross-filed by occu
pation. Records of visits to employers are filed alphabetically and
cross-filed by industry. “ Orders ” for the day that have not been
filled are filed in a box which is kept before the placement worker.
As a part of the State employment organization the juvenile place
ment offices are assisted in obtaining employers orders by the
routine canvassing undertaken, in regard to anv particular estabhshment for the organization as a whole. In addition, each ot the offices
solicits positions by telephone, by visit, by special letters describing
the qualifications of unusually good registrants, and by forin letters
sent in answer to advertisements and to lists of employers obtained
from employers’ associations.
, n
Minors up to the age of 18 are accepted for placement, and all
registrants must furnish proof of their age. The placement worker s
knowledge of the registrant is obtained from a personal interview,
and school records or reports from teachers are obtained from regis
trants who are continuation-school pupils. I t is the policy of the
New York State Department of Labor to handle juvenile registra
tions whenever possible at continuation schools and not at the main
employment offices. The placement worker, therefore, can immediatelv obtain first-hand information concerning the applicant, includ
ing an oral report from his teacher. The length of the first interview
defends on the registrant and his problems but is usually from 15
minutes to half an hour. The registration card18 (see p. 135) calls for
information on the child’s physical equipment, schooling, home back
ground, plans for future training and work plans ,for his employ
ment history if he has worked before, and for general comments on
his appearance and personality. This information is supplemented
bv simple clerical and typing and stenographic tests. The offices are
not equipped to give physical or mental tests, but where either physi
cal or mental defect is suspected the registrant is sent to a cooperat
ing agency prepared to make the requisite examination. Neither do
the offices attempt to do home visiting, not only because of staff limi
tations Jbut also because it is believed that social case work is a special
service, which the placement specialist is not necessarily trained to
give. Where such work seems necessary or desirable the placement
offices request the services of a cooperating social agency.
At the time of registration the possibilities of further education
and training are discussed with each child. An attempt is made to
encourage children who have just left school to return, but it is
usually found to be too late to persuade them to do so. A registrant
is This card is being revised in order to conform more nearly to the requirements of the
continuation-school offices.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Face of reg istra tio n card, ju ven ile placem ent bureau, N ew Y ork S ta te D ep a rtm en t of L a b o r; N ew York
NAME
A D D R ESS
P L IG H T
CARD NO.
TELEPHONE
C L A S S IF IC A T IO N
F IR S T N A M E O F
FA TH ER
D ATES
-A P P L IE D
M OTHER
AGE
M IN .
W AGE
W O R K D E S IR E D
CLERK
R E F E R R E D BY
C
J
P
D A TE O F B IR T H
D A TE W . P .
RENEW ALS
Clerk
H EIGHT*
LA ST
SCH OO L
S P E C IA L
IN T E R E S T S
A D DR ESS
COURSE
S U B JE C T S LIK E D B E S T
A G E BEG A N W O R K
W E IG H T
GRADE
T E A C H E R 'S
E S T IM A T E
S U B JE C T S LIK E D L E A ST
F A T H E R 'S B IR T H P L A C E
G EN ER A L H EALTH
D A TE O F WEAVING
AGE
H A N D W R ITIN G
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S ta te o f New Y o rk -D e p t. of Labor. D.O.E. No. 14 J.P.B. 10-30-22-10.000 (20-2048)
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R everse of reg istra tio n card, ju ven ile placem ent Dureau, N ew Y o rk S ta te D ep a rtm en t of L ah or; N ew Y ork
T R A D E RECO RD
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NAM E O F EM PLOYER
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Result
----------------------------- -------------------------- -
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1---------MEMORANDA
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
D A TES
n ew
york
137
who signifies his willingness to attend night school is given a card
of introduction to the nearest night school on which is noted the
course he desires to take, and if the card is returned signed by the
school authorities the fact of enrollment in night school is noted on
the registration card. The placement worker endeavors to make
such contacts with the registrant that he will be glad to return to the
office for further advice and assistance, and each is told that he will
receive a card notifying him of the evening office hours.
The placement worker examines both her file of open jobs and her
old “ orders if neither yields a position of the kind desired she calls
on the telephone employers who are likely to have such positions.
At least five or six attempts are made to place the registrant in the
work he wishes to do, and he is not offered another kind of work
unless the placement worker is assured that the kind he desires is
not to be had. If employment conditions make it necessary for a
registrant temporarily to take work in which he is not interested or
for which he is not fitted he is advised to keep in touch with the
office.
When a child is referred to a position he is given a return card of
introduction to the employer, who is usually notified by telephone
that the applicant is coming. The placement worker always tele
phones the prospective employer if the applicant has some defect of
personality which would be likely to handicap him in a first inter
view. A card giving the result of the application is also sent to the
agency that refers the child.
After a child has been working three weeks he receives an invita
tion to come to the office during evening office hours, which are once
a week from 5 to 7.30 o clock. H alf the children are said to respond.
In these evening office hours each child is interviewed by the place
ment worker, who checks up on the kind of work he is doing, the
hours, and the wages, and discusses future plans. Children are
urged to attend evening school and are assisted in selecting studies
related to the work in which they are interested. The worker’s
health also receives consideration, and he is directed to dental and
other clinics where he may receive help. Six months after place
ment a form letter is sent to each registrant making inquiries in
regard to his work and reminding him of the evening office hours.
If a child is dissatisfied with his work the placement worker seeks the
cause, and wherever possible or desirable the cooperation of the em
ployer is sought in making readjustments. Registrants are notified
by card of openings in which they may be interested, and if oppor
tunities for work for which they are especially fitted or trained are
available they are advised to accept the more suitable positions.
All information received in the course of the follow-up is entered on
the registration card. The offices follow up continuation-school
children through cooperation with the teachers, who visit the pupils
in their homes. (See p. 152.)
Members of the staff of the various offices visit employing estab
lishments to solicit openings and to ascertain working conditions.
(For the report form used in connection with such investigations
see p. 138.) Under a ruling of the State department of labor no minor
under 18 may be sent to a place which has not been investigated.
When new employers call the office consults the industrial-informa
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VOCATIONAL. GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLAUE.IYLE.N T
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
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139
tion service maintained by the division of employment of the State
department of labor to ascertain whether the firm has been investi
gated by some cooperating agency. I f not, a visit is made and the
results entered on the standard form provided for the industrialm formation service.
• In the course of the investigations of new firms intensive studies
°f
mdustnes and occupations are made by members of the
stair ror the purpose of educating the placement workers, of ffivinpomer placement offices the benefit of the experience of the State
offices, and of supplying the schools with vocational information.
Studies of mechanical drawing, millinery, spectacle optics, jewelry
making, the knit-goods industry, lamp-shade making, and radio maki
leted* ,AU the comPleted studies are filed in the
office of the State bureau of women in industry.
THE INDUSTRIAL-INFORMATION SERVICE
In addition to the employment bureaus which it operates the divismn of employment of the New York State Department of Labor
contributes further to junior placement work in New York Citv
through the maintenance of an industrial-information service This
service gives assistance to any organization in the city doino- junior
employment work It makes no investigations itself but keeps on
file on a standard form a record of all investigations made bV
cooperating bureaus and gives out information on individual estab
lishments to inquiring employment offices. Violations of law ob
served m the course of inspections are noted on the investigation
card and are reported by the industrial-information service to the
bureau of factory inspection. The service also acts as a clearing
cooperating bureaus before
undertaking special studies ascertain through the service whether
or not a similar study has already been made.
VOCATIONAL-INFORMATION CLASSES
School Courses in Vocational Information.
Several high schools either give a course in occupations or in
troduce a somewhat extensive study of vocations in courses in com
munity civics or local industries.” In other schools vocational in
formation is given only m assembly talks by persons engaged in
various vocations, or m informal talks by teachers, grade Idviser?
placement workers, and others, except in a few where vocational
material has been introduced in English, geography, civics, eco
nomics, or other courses m the regular school subjects. A class in
M » L i & r ar S c h to L ^ ^ CMef emPloymeDt V.Wfcr
the
In those schools in which a somewhat formal studv of occupations
no gyllabus is
use. The course is prepared
by the teachers, who represent various departments.
a w °pe of the Brooklyn commercial high schools a course in
periods a
Neighborhood industries and occupations.
Motives th at prompt men to work.
Advantages of Brooklyn as a center of industry.
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140
v o c a tio n a l
GUIDANCE an d j u n i o r p l a c e m e n t
Local geography.
Labor supply—Sources, kinds, and problems.
Problems of housing, feeding, transportation.
Leading industries of Brooklyn.
. . , *. . „
Description of typical industries. Organization, kind of labor sex, race,
age—use of machinery, hours, wages, output, volume, where and how
Relative advantages and disadvantages of hand and machine labor.
•
Relative advantages and disadvantages of large and small establish
ments.
.
. ,.
Wages—Kinds, terms, conditions, reasons for variations.
Labor organizations and their purposes and methods.
Money value of education.
Choosing a vocation.
The topics dealing with elementary economics are presented by the
teacher. Pupils obtain information on the industrial life of Brotffilyn through visits to factories, shops, stores, and so forth, and by
interviews with persons engaged in particular occupations, as well as
from reports and standard books on industries and occupations.
They are encouraged to make oral and written reports and to pre
pare charts, maps, and so forth.
In the Julia Richman High School a vocational-civics course is
given five periods a week in the second half of the first year. The
course is offered as an elective but is required for girls who are
below the average in mentality or who are planning to leave school
before completing their high-school course. No text is used, but con
siderable reference reading is required. The teacher has had em
ployment experience, practical experience in office work and as a
saleswoman, and was coordinator in a cooperative high school for
several years. The course covers office work, store positions, tele
phone work, and the garment industry and includes lessons on the
labor laws, industrial history, elementary economics (e. g., how
wages are determined), and how to apply for a position. The usual
method of treating each of the main classes of occupations consists
of listing in class the different positions or occupations under each
and making out job specifications for each position on the basis of
outside reading; visits to establishments arranged by the teacher,
followed by written reports and class discussion; interviews with
workers in the occupation, based on questions that have been worked
out in class ; a class discussion of the education and training required
for each position. In addition to the main groups of occupations
studied, occupations are selected for study by “ committees ” on one
of which each member of the class serves. These occupations vary
with the class; one class, for example, selected library work, hair
dressing, bookselling, occupations open to girls interested in cooking,
music, interior decorating, office-machine operating, and the teachinff of gymnastics. The committee visits establishments or persons
engaged in the work and reports to the class, the members of which
are required to take notes. Application for a position, as in many
courses of this kind, is usually dramatized.
Classes in Occupations Conducted by the Vocational Service for Juniors.
The Vocational Service for Juniors has prepared a series of
lessons on occupations and kindred subjects which are given by
counselors of the service in the schools where they are at work. One
lesson a week is given throughout the school term in tne seventh or
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141
eighth grade, prior to the selection of courses for the eighth grade
or for senior high school. The course covers the following ground,
with special emphasis on training for different types of occupations
as related to the choice of a school course:
Reasons why people work.
A brief historical sketch of the development of the modern industrial
system.
Classification of occupations according to the types of industry and
the amount of skill involved.
Professional work.
Clerical work.
Technical work (technical professions and skilled trade work, emphasiz
ing the advantages of skilled as compared with unskilled work).
How to choose an occupation.
Danger of blind-alley jobs.
Educational opportunities of New York City. (Statement of the courses
offered in the various high schools and what they prepare for.)
The occupational talks given by the counselor appointed by the
board of education to work in three elementary schools have been
described on page 120.
SCHOLARSHIPS
The Vocational Service for Juniors administers the largest schol
arship fund in New York City. In the year ended June 1, 1924, the
organization expended $25,255.42 in scholarship grants, including
amounts spent for health or relief for children receiving scholarships
but not including expenses of administration. Because of the great
demand and its limited funds the service confines its scholarships to
children living in the Borough of Manhattan.
Approximately 100 scholarships a year are awarded. The service
issues the following statement19 in regard to scholarships:
To be considered for a scholarship a child must be between 14 and 18 years of
age, eligible for working papers, and must plan to remain in school long enough
to round out a definite course of training.
The amount of individual grants varies from $3 to $6 a week. This sum is
intended to cover the additional expenses of car fare, books, luncheons, better
clothing, etc., entailed in further school attendance, and as a partial contribu
tion to the family income in lieu of the wages the child would earn if at work.
In no case is a child given as much as he would earn at a full-time job. Schol
arships are not awarded where the economic status of the family is so low as to
require relief, unless relief is being furnished by another agency.
Applications for scholarships are received from the school counselors and
occasionally from the placement counselors, as well as from-a large number of
social agencies.
A careful preliminary investigation is made of each applicant. Home visits
are made and the economic condition of the family ascertained. The child’s
past school record is looked into, and all applicants are given a psychological
test. Promising candidates are then referred to the scholarship committee,
where awards are determined.
Scholarship grants are paid at a weekly conference, and by this means the
counselor is in constant contact with all the child’s interests and activities.
When each scholarship is granted the child is given a careful medical examina
tion aryl any necessary remedial treatment obtained for him. His school record
is frequently checked so that his. continuous progress may be determined, and
an effort is made to straighten out any difficulties that may arise in his
school or social adjustments.
Throughout the period during which a child is receiving a scholarship he is
encouraged to feel that he may call upon the counselor for advice and assist
ance at any time.
V> The
Vocational Service for Juniors, New York City, January, 1924, pp. 5-6,
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR. PLACEMENT
Preference is given to specially gifted children and, to a limited
degree, to mentally or physically handicapped children for whom a
definite course of training leading to self-support can be mapped out.
Summer outings of two weeks or more are provided for most of the
children on scholarships. Older children in good physical condition
are encouraged to work during vacations, but after-school and Sat
urday work is usually discouraged. With a view to stimulating in
terest and leadership in the industrial world the service has organized
a Saturday morning class in elementary economics and social studies
for a selected group of scholarship children. All scholarship chil
dren are followed up each year for five years.
Between February 2, 1919, and January 31, 1924, 266 scholarships
were granted. The following table shows the age and sex of the chil
dren receiving scholarships from the Vocational Service for Juniors
from February 2, 1919, to January 31, 1924:
Age and sex of children receiving scholarships— Vocational Service for Junior»,
F ebruary 2, 1919, to Jan u ary SI, 1924; N ew York
M ale
T o ta l
A ge of child
F em a le
266
130
136
5
135
85
27
12
2
-
1
68
46
10
5
4
67
39
17
7
2
The following table shows the kinds of training for which the
scholarships of the Vocational Service for Juniors were given, classi
fied by the intelligence quotients of the children receiving them :
K in ds of training for w hich scholarships w ere granted, V ocational Service
for Juniors, F ebru ary 2, 1919, to Jan u ary 81, 1924; N ew York
K in d s of tra in in g
In te llig en ce q u o tie n t of
child
T o t a l ________________
T o ta l
266
54
41
118
28
25
C om T ech
T ra d e G eneral m ercial n ical
73
26
15
21
11
52
4
7
35
6
99
23
15
14
41
19
10
2
2
15
3
1
In d u s
tria l
art
F in e
a rts
1
1
E le T e a c h
m en
e r’s
ta r y
tr a in
school
ing
6
11
1
2
1
3
5
2
2
1
2
THE USE OF MENTAL TESTS AS A FACTOR IN GUIDANCE
In comparison with the school population the amount of mental
testing of school children in New York is small. Moreover, such
testing as is being done is carried on by many different agencies,
often independent of the school system, so that the work is unrelated
and difficult to coordinate,
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The three main testing agencies have been working from three
different angles. The division of ungraded classes, a branch of the
public-school system, is concerned only with the selection of chil
dren for special rooms for mental defectives; the department of re
search and measurement, likewise a branch of the school system,
supervises in a general way the work of principals and teachers who
give group testing for the purpose of classifying pupils of different
mental ability into different teaching units; the Vocational Service
for Juniors has in view the adjustment of children to the course of
study best suited to their individual intellectual capacities and the
modification of the rate at which they progress in accordance with
their mental levels.
Under the direction of the inspector of ungraded classes a staff of
five psychologists and two physicians examine children for the pur
pose of selecting those who are mentally incapable of remaining in
the regular classes. The psychologists on the staff are subject to the
New York State law on qualifications for such positions.20 The
physicians giving psychological tests are not subject to the require
ments of the law. Cases are usually referred for examination by
principals and teachers, but recently the procedure of giving a group
test as a rough sieve in selecting candidates for the special rooms has
been established. The Haggerty test is given to large groups of
retarded children, and beginning with those making the lowest scores
an individual examination by the Stanford-Binet scale is given to
as many children as time permits. At the direction of the inspector
a pupil of very low-grade mentality may be excluded from school
attendance, or segregated in an ungraded room, or, if it seems desir
able, placed in an opportunity or a prevocational class. (See
pp. 148, 150.) Transfer to these types of classes is not always de
pendent on the results of a psychological test, however. Pupils of the
ungraded rooms on reaching the end of the compulsory school
attendance age are reexamined. The inspector then interviews the
parents, tells them something of the child’s limitations, and urges
discretion in the selection of an occupation for him, emphasizing
chiefly the necessity for supervision. Although no attempt is made
to obtain employment for the child, an effort is made to persuade
the child and parent to keep the inspector’s office informed of his
industrial progress. Considerable success has been attained in car
rying out this measure of supervision.
Children entering a few of the high schools in which the principals
are interested in the subject of testing are given group intelligence
tests and are grouped on the basis of mental ability. The tests in
use are the National, Otis, and Haggerty. Although the work is
carried on under the general direction of the division of research
and measurement, tests are given and scored by principals and teach
ers, whose training for the work consists of a series of two to six
conferences at which instruction in the technique of administering
tests is given.
20 Two years of graduate study a t an incorporated university or college and three years
of actual clinical experience. A qualified examiner in mental defect is authorized to sign
one of the two certificates of defect required under the law for commitment to an institu
tion tor the feeble-minded. The other certificate must, and both certificates may, be
signed by a physician.
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMEN^
During the school year 1922-23 the psychologist on the staff of the
Vocational Service for Juniors, with the consent and cooperation
of the district superintendents and the principals of the elemen
tary and junior high schools where their counselors had been placed,
made group tests on 5,440 children. The National, Army Alpha,
Otis, and Haggerty tests were used. All children making especially
high or low scores in the group test and those whose score was incon
sistent with their school marks were individually examined by the
Stanford revision of the Binet scale. On the basis of these tests six
schools were reclassified. The records are given to the principals of
the schools concerned and to the counselors, who take them into con
sideration in giving children advice on the type of course to select.
At present such advice is based on the tests in only a very general
way, as no exact information on the intelligence required for suc
cess in different types of courses exists. The Vocational Service for
Juniors is making a definite effort, however, to obtain data on the
approximate intelligence levels necessary for success in different
school courses by testing the entering and graduating classes of tech
nical, commercial, and academic courses and comparing their median
scores.
In addition to the work of these three examining agencies psycholo
gists and graduate students of the psychology departments of
Columbia University and of Teachers College who have been inter
ested in working out particular problems have done a good deal of
sporadic testing of New York school children, but in view of the
research character of this work and its lack of practical unified
results no effort is made to summarize it in this report.
EMPLOYMENT-CERTIFICATE ISSUANCE IN RELATION TO
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE
Since September 1, 1921, when the responsibility for the issuance
of employment certificates in the State was transferred from local
health officers to superintendents of schools or their deputies, em
ployment-certificate issuance in New York City has been under the
direction of the bureau of attendance of the public-school system.
This bureau is not organized for guidance or placement, nor does it
attempt to utilize the process of certification for guidance purposes.
Clerks who are not expected to give vocational advice issue the cer
tificates, under the assumption that the granting of an employment
certificate is a routine job in which it is necessary only to insist upon
conformity with the law. The law in itself provides for a measure,
at least, of supervision over the first year or two of a child’s working
life. The age and educational standards for certification are rel
atively high. No child under 14 years of age may leave school for
employment, none under 15 may leave unless he is a graduate of the
elementary school, and none under 16 unless he has completed the
sixth grade.21 All children who are not eighth-grade graduates must
pass a test in reading and writing before an employment certificate
is granted. All working children between 14 and 16 must obtain cer
tificates, for which a promise of a position is required and which must
be renewed with every change of employment. A minor of 16 years
» New York. Laws of 1921, ch. 386 ; Laws of 1922, cb. 464.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
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145
of age or older, on proof of age, is given an “ over-age ” certificate if
the employer wishes it as a protection against employing children
illegally. The law requires the employer to notify the issuing office
within three days of the beginning of a child’s employment. If the
child is not shown through the employer’s notification to be em
ployed he is followed up and returned to school. All children who
are required to attend continuation school (see p. 150) must be
enrolled in the continuation school before they are given their final
working papers.
Some of the issuing offices are located in continuation-school buildings, in most of which a junior placement office is maintained (see
pp. 125, 126, 133). A few others are in other buildings where there
are junior placement offices. When a child applies for a certificate at
one of these offices before having a promise of employment (and
preliminary working papers may be obtained before the child has
a position) he may be referred to a placement office; but it is not
obligatory upon the issuing officer to refer him, nor is he required to
go, as in some other cities where a vocational-guidance organization
either forms a part of, or works in. cooperation with, the publicschool system. (See pp. 281, 401.) In one of the issuing offices, how
ever, since October, 1923, the State juvenile placement bureau has
kept a placement worker throughout the year at a desk in the same
room with the issuing officer for the express purpose of interviewing
children who are taking out employment certificates but who are
not now required to attend continuation school and who do not
therefore have the benefit of the assistance and supervision given bv
the employment offices of the continuation school. In one or two
of the other issuing offices, also, the Vocational Service for Juniors
recently has stationed a counselor at graduation time, when un
usually large numbers of children apply for certificates, to inter
view children as they wait in line.
Whether or not the requirement that the parent must apply in
person for the child’s discharge from school is taken advantage of
to point out to parent and child the advantage of training and the
disadvantages of too early wage earning depends upon the individual
school principal, except in the few schools where counseling has
been considerably developed. (See pp. 118-122.)
The physical examination which is required for an employment
certificate is not given with special reference to the occupation that
the child expects to enter, the law requiring only that to be eligible
for a work permit a child must be in sound health and of normal
development for his age. However, if the standard as to “ sound
health ” is sufficiently rigid a child may receive as much protection
as where the law requires specifically that he be certified as physical
ly fit for the particular work he is*to do. In one respect, however,
the New York law requiring a physical examination for an employ
ment^ certificate is not so valuable for guidance purposes as similar
provisions in some other child-labor laws: The physical examina
tion is required only for the first certificate and therefore does not
provide a basis for advising a child to avoid an occupation which
may have proved physically injurious.
The following table shows the methods by which children to whom
employment certificates were issued obtained positions, classified by
the type of certificate issued and the sex of the children:
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
146
v o c a t io n a l
g u id a n c e
a n d
ju n io r
p l a c e m e n t
M ethod of obtaining position, children talcing out certificates, by typ e o f
certificate and se x ; N ew Y ork
C h ild re n to w h o m e m p lo y m e n t ce rtific ate s w ere issu ed
T o ta l
M e th o d of o b ta in in g
p o sitio n
R e
issu e
N ot
N o t (regu
N ot
R egu V aca re
R eg u V aca re T o ta l R egu V aca re
la r) T o ta l la r
tio
n
p
o r t
p
o
r
t
tio
n
la
r
tio n p o r t
la r
ed
ed
ed
6,578
T o ta l.
A p p lic a tio n a t em
p lo y e r’s estab lfsh A d v e rtise m e n t
n e w s p a p e r..........
V o catio n b u r e a u . . . . .
O th e r e m p lo y m e n t
a g e n c y . . . . . . .........
S ta te , fre e ----P r iv a te ______
O th e r ____
N o t r e p o r te d -----
T y p e n o t re p o rte d
O riginal
*
193
115 4,518 4,327
97
94 2,002
366
249
96
21
9
3
3,939
46
79 3,021 2,910
41
70
868
175
161
5
1,054
28
17
604
663
27
14
457
38
34
1
5
359
30
353
29
304
61
20
4
18
4
i
124
123
1
157
12
12
37
62
3
5
1
91
43
4
19
3
5
i
37
62
8
17
4
4
7
79
73
2
95
20
5
5
43
39
3
34
4
14
1
57
5
5
97
15
683
95
675
94
293
292
131
110
12
40
131
110
12
39
173
S chool.
3
1
14
13
1
16
• P u b l i c ...---------P a r o c h i a l...........
P riv a te co m m er
c ia l__________
O th e r __________
N o t re p o r te d —
73
7
8
3
82
22
20
Social ag e n cy --------U . S. V e te ra n s ’ B u
r e a u _____ ____ _—
N o t re p o r te d ______
71
38
38
263
238
1
386
279
101
6
1
4
2
2
10
5
9
1
5
80
2
33
21
4
1
26
i B ased on records k e p t for th e C h ild re n ’s B u re a u b y th e b u r e a u of a tte n d a n c e of th e N e w Y o rk C ity
p u b lic schools d u rin g p a r t of 1922.
THE SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND CURRICULUM IN
RELATION TO GUIDANCE
DAY SCHOOLS
Junior High Schools.
The 6-3-3 plan of organization was inaugurated in the New York
schools in 1918 after a number of years’ experimentation with ‘ intermediate schools.” In October, 1922, there were 43 ju m o r high
schools, and 52 per cent, 43 per cent, and 2o per cent of all children
in grade 7A in the Boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn,
respectively, were attending junior high schools.
In June, 1924,
the number of junior high schools had increased to 4o borne o±
the junior high schools are housed with elementary grades, len or
the larger schools have equipment for industrial work, and all are
equipped with woodworking shops and domestic-science rooms.
Provision for individual differences has been made m the junior
high schools not only through differentiated courses of study but
also through a classification of pupils on the basis of ability. Wher- S u r v e y o f t h e J u n i o r H ig h S c h o o ls . R e p o r t o f t h e C o m m itt e e A p p o in te d b y t h e S u p e r i n t e n d e n t o f S c h o o ls , p p . 1 1 - 1 2 , 5 9 . N e w Y o rk , 1 9 2 3 .
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ever the number of pupils and local conditions make it possible to
do so, junior high school pupils are grouped into “ rapid-progress,”
*' normal-progress,” and u slow-progress ” classes, generally on the
pupil’s scholastic record but in a few schools on the basis of mental
tests (see p. 144). The system makes special provision for mentally
superior children by giving pupils in good physical condition an
opportunity to save a year of the school course by completing the
work of the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades in two years. In
October, 1922, 27 per cent of the junior high school register were in
rapid-progress classes.23 Slow-progress classes are organized accord
ing i° <?ne of two Plans at the discretion of the principal of the school
Both these plans provide for a modified course of study, which can
be completed by the slow pupils in the standard time—one omits
certain subjects from the schedule, the other simplifies the syllabus
in each subject.
In s°me of the junior high schools a fourth type of class has been
organized for pupils 13 years of ag^or older who have been allowed
to enter though they have completed only the fifth grade. These
children are grouped according to age into classes known as voca
tional or adjustment classes and are given a modified course of study
but they form an integral part of the junior high-school organization.’
inese adjustment classes emphasize academic rather than industrial
or commercial training.
The following table 24 is of interest in showing the distribution of
pupils m the rapid-progress and in the normal and slow progress
classes, according to the course which they have selected:
T y p e of class
R a p id progress__ ________
N o rm a l a n d slow p ro g ress.
G en eral
course
C om
m ercial
course
In d u s
tria l
course
P e r cent
P e r cen t
P e r cen t
1
12
A choice of three courses—academic or general, commercial, and
industrial—is offered wherever the size of the school and equip
ment permit, and each course is arranged so far as possible to meet
the needs of rapid, normal, and slow moving groups. The academic
course includes a foreign language or additional time devoted to
English; one commercial course is designed for pupils who do not
intend to continue their education beyond the junior high school
and another offers a foreign language as an elective; the industrial
course offers prevocational training in manual occupations Differ
entiation in courses begins with the seventh grade for those desiring
to pursue the industrial course and with the eighth grade for pupils
taking the commercial or the academic course.
The shop courses offered are different in different schools, but in
one school or another boys may receive instruction in printing, elec23Ibid, p. 106.
5
by'fteC“ S^i„fa e l n r s S l l , ^ 1 S i Hteh S c b m
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Appointed
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMEN?
trie wiring, sheet-metal work, machine-shop practice, advanced
woodworking, trade drawing, and sign painting, and girls in do
mestic science, homemaking, millinery, dressmaking, and novelty
work. The industrial course gives 10 or 12 periods a week to shop
work. These courses give preparation for trade training or for
the second year of a similar high-school course. Little or no provi
sion appears to be made for tryouts in the various shop courses.
Pupils are assisted in choosing their courses not by tryouts but
by lectures, parents’ meetings, advice from teachers, and circulars.
A number of studies have been made in the New York junior high
schools tending to show that the junior high school organization has
been successful in keeping children in school and in reducing the
percentage of failures.
Prevocational Classes.
Eleven elementary schools have prevocational classes, where boys
and girls of the seventh and eighth grades may try out the follow
ing kinds of shopwork : Sheet-ftietal work, printing, electric wiring,
woodworking, plumbing, machine-shop practice, trade drawing, clay
modeling, sign painting, and garment designing for boys; and
dressmaking, millinery, novelty work, power-machine work, art
weaving, homemaking, and industrial art for girls. Each pupil is re
quired to enter a different shop each semester, though he is permitted
to repeat during the second semester of the eighth grade any shop
in which he has shown special aptitude. These courses are in
tended to help the pupil discover whether or not he is fitted to do
industrial work and to enable him to gain some practical experience
in various fields of manual work.
Vocational Courses.
The New Yçrk public-school system has three vocational schools
for boys and a trade school for girls open generally only to those
who have completed the eighth grade. All the courses in these
schools meet the requirements of the Smith-Hughes Act and are aid
ed by State and Federal funds.
The boys’ vocational schools give two-year courses in a variety
of trades and occupations. One of them offers the following trade
courses: Automobile repair, maintenance,.and operating; architec
tural drawing; mechanical drawing; printing; woodworking; ma
chine-shop practice; electric wiring and installation; plumbing;
sheet-metal work ; forging and blacksmithing ; pattern making ;
foundry practice; commercial and industrial design; plaster, clay,
and wax modeling. Another gives courses in automobile repair
and maintenance; architectural drawing; mechanical drawing ; print
ing; woodworking; machine-shon practice; electric wiring and in
stallation; electric-power distribution and maintenance; sheet-metal
work; pattern making; forging and foundry work; shoemaking,
hand and machine.
The Manhattan Trade School for Girls can accommodate compara
tively few of those who desire to enroll. Hence applicants are se
lected on the basis of psychological and other tests. A vestibule
class gives entering girls an opportunity to try themselves out for
two to six weeks in power-machine operating, hand sewing, elemen
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NEW YORK
Ì49
tary dressmaking, and pasting. Courses approximately one and two
years m duration are given in dressmaking, feather making, flower
making, lamp-shade making, machine operating, manicuring and
shampooing, millinery, novelty work, sample mounting, lunchroom
work, cooking, and textiles. Half of the time is given to academic
work, Each trade is analyzed into units of work, requiring on an
average about 25 days for accomplishment, and in most trades 14
units are required before a girl is eligible for placement in the
trade. Diplomas are given only after the
’ graduate has given
three months’ satisfactory service “on the job.”
Extension classes operated in connection w ith the girls’ trade
school give instruction in the simpler processes of the skilled trades
to girls who do not do well enough m the tests to be recommended for
enrollment in the trade school, yet show some aptitude for industrial
work.
Of the 34 high schools all except 7 offer a general or an academic
course, hive high schools are only or chiefly for commercial train
ing, 20 or more others give three or four year commercial courses, and
a few offer commercial subjects as electives in the last two years.
JNme high schools offer four-year technical or industrial courses, in
cluding courses for girls in dressmaking, millinery and embroidery,
costume illustration, and commercial design, and trade courses in
a T a ^ n(!-iC0?T-er7 ‘o ? ne,
school offers a course in agriculture,
ln e textile High School, open to boys and girls who are at least 16
years o± age and have completed two years of high-school work gives
trade courses in general textiles, the marketing of textiles, costume deSigning, applied textile design, textile chemistry and dyeing, and
textile manufacturing and engineering. The Haaren High School
oners a part-time cooperative course in which pupils who have com
pleted at least one year of high school alternate weekly between school
an,~ commercial employment, which is supervised by the school.
1 he board of education issues a set of pamphlets for distribution
to eighth-grade graduates briefly describing the public high schools
and trade schools in each of the boroughs of the city, with special
reference to tli6 vocations for which they prepare.
S p e c ia l C la sse s.
XTThe following list shows the kinds of special classes which the
J\ew York public-school system maintained in 1923-24 for mentally
or physically handicapped children, and the number of classes of
each kind:
.Kind of class
Number of
classes
Deaf____________________
37
B lin d __________________ •__ f_______
0
C rippled---------------------------------------I 128
T u b e r c u lo u s____ __________;_______ 3 1
C ard iac_____________ _______________ 33
~
Kind
01
,
class
Number of
classes
S ig h t co n serv a tio n _______________ 51
Open a ir _____________________
73 5
U ngraded (m en ta l d e fe c tiv e s )____ 305
H o sp ita l__________________________
3
The enrollment in ungraded classes for mental defectives was sixtenths of 1 per cent of the net enrollment of the day schools, exclusive
of continuation and teacher-training classes. One and six-tenths
per cent of the public-school children in New York City were en
rolled in a special class of some kind. Two of the vocational schools
18835°—25------ 11
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
have classes for cardiacs, in which boys are taught jewelry making
and mechanical drawing and girls millinery and dressmaking.
In addition to the classes for mental and physical defectives the
public schools in 1923-24 conducted 716 opportunity classes for
coaching backward children in essential subjects in order that they
might enter grades which are normal for their ages.
CONTINUATION SCHOOLS
All employed minors under 17 years of age living in New York
City, except elementary-school graduates who are discharged from
full-time school after they have reached the age of 16, are required
to attend continuation school, and all pupils beginning attendance
must remain until they are 16 years of age. By 1928 all boys and
girls under 18 who have not completed a four-year high-school
course will be required to attend. The part-time school law has
been in operation in New York only since 1920,25 and the problem of
organization, if judged from the standpoint of numbers alone, is of
such magnitude, and the need for adaptation and expansion to meet
new needs so continuous, that the continuation schools may be re
garded as still in process of organization.
Eight schools under a full-time director of continuation schools
have been opened—two in Manhattan, three in Brooklyn, and one
in each of the three other boroughs. With the exception of two
schools, which occupy factory buildings, they are housed in elemen
tary-school buildings, in some of which elementary grades are also
taught.
Pupils must spend two of the required four hours a week on
academic subjects—arithmetic, English, history^ hygiene, and
civics—and two in vocational classes. Following is a list of the
vocational courses given in each of the continuation schools:
SCHO O L i
A utom obile m ech an ics
an d repairing.
C om m ercial.
E le c tr ic a l in sta lla tio n
and practice.
E m broidery.
F ilin g .
G as-engine repairin g.
H om e m aking.
M achine-shop practice.
M illinery.
Office practice.
sc h o o l
A utom obile m echanics.
C om positing.
C ost estim a tin g .
E le c tr ic w irin g and in
sta lla tio n .
H om e m aking.
A pplied elec tricity .
A utom obile m echanics.
G as-engine repairing.
B ookkeeping.
C ostum e design in g.
D ressm ak in g.
n
H om e n ursing.
M achine-shop p ractice.
M illinery.
P r e ss w ork.
P rin tin g.
P ro o f reading.
sch ool
P rin tin g.
S ew in g and d ressm aking.
Stenography.
W oodw orking.
S alesm an sh ip .
S ew in g and dressm aking.
T y p ew ritin g and office
practice.
W oodw orking.
m
E lec tr ic w irin g and in
sta lla tio n .
H om e m aking.
M ech an ical d raw ing.
M illinery.
N ovelty w ork.
Office p ractice.
Salesm an sh ip .
Sew ing.
Stenography.
T yp ew ritin g.
W oodw orking.
*6 .New York. Laws of 1919, ch. 531, as amended by Laws of 1924, ch. 524.
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151
SCHO O L IV
A d vertisin g.
A utom obile m echanics.
B lue, printing.
C alcu latin g-m ach in e op
eratin g.
C onstruction.
E conom ics.
E lectr ic w irin g.
E m broidery.
F ilin g.
H om e m aking.
H ygien e.
L a d ie s’ garm en t d esign
ing.
M erch an d isin g and sa le s
m anship.
M illinery.
N ovelty.
Office p ractice.
P a ttern d raftin g.
P a tte r n m aking.
P o ster design.
P o w er - m ach in e op erat
ing.
sch ool
A dding-m achine op erat
ing.
D ressm aking.
E lectric w irin g.
P rin tin g.
R ad io construction.
S a fe ty d evices.
S ew in g and dressm ak in g.
Shop work.
Sign painting.
S w itch b oard op erating.
T ool design.
T oolm aking.
T yp ew ritin g.
W ood carving.
W ood turn in g.
v
H om e m aking.
M erch an d isin g and s a le s
m anship.
M illinery.
M im eograph operating.
T yp ew ritin g.
W ood w orking.
SCHO O L VI
B anking.
B lue prin tin g.
B ookkeeping.
Care o f babies.
D om estic science.
E lectric w ir in g and in
sta lla tio n .
F ilin g.
H om e m aking.
H om e m echanics.
H om e n u rsin g an d first
aid.
M achine-shop practice.
M illinery.
N ovelty.
Office practice.
O perating ca lcu la tin g
m achine.
M im eograph op erating.
H ectograp h operating.
P am p h let binding.
P ap er cu ttin g.
P a tte r n m aking.
P rin tin g.
sc h o o l
S ew in g and d ressm aking.
S ten cil cu ttin g.
Stenography.
Sw itch b oard operating.
T yp ew ritin g.
W ood turning.
W ood w ork in g (h o u se
fram in g, r o o f fram in g,
carp en try an d join ery,
ca b in et m ak in g, w ood
p o lish in g ).
vn
B anking.
P ow er-m ach in e op erat
ing. .
E lectric in s ta lla tio n and
practice.
H om e m aking.
M achine-shop p ractice
M ech an ical draw ing.
Office practice.
S tenography.
A d vertisin g.
Cooking.
D ressm ak in g.
E lectr ic in sta lla tio n and
p ractice.
G arm ent design in g.
G as-engine m echanics.
H om e nursin g.
H ou seh old arts.
Join ery.
M illinery.
M achine-shop p ractice.
T yp ew ritin g.
W oodw orking.
SCHO O L VTTT
P lum bing.
P o ster w ork.
P rin tin g.
Shopw ork.
Sew ing.
W oodw orking.
One of the schools holds classes in the Manhattan Trade School
where pupils have the advantage of the equipment used in the regular trade courses. Inasmuch as pupils are continually entering
and withdrawing instruction is necessarily individual, and a pupil
works on an assignment until he completes it.
* L
Provision for the correlation of both academic and vocational
courses with the pupil s occupation is made so far as is possible in
an incomplete organization. Entering pupils in most of the schools
are received m a preparatory class for one to three sessions prior to
decisions in regard to their vocational courses. During his stav in
this class the pupil works on a set of lessons which include an" ex
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
planation of the purpose of the continuation school and of the parttime law, a review of occupations for boys and girls, with reading
references, the writing of a letter of application for a position, and
the solution of a few problems in arithmetic. He is personally in
terviewed by the preparatory-class teacher, who, on the basis of the
interview, the result of the tests described, and the child s vocational
preferences, advises him as to his course and assigns him to his
classes. In at least one school the preparatory-class teacher is kept
in touch with the pupil through a report from his vocational teacher
at the end of six weeks and periodically thereafter if the pupil seems
to be a misfit in the work to which he has been assigned ; and the
preparatory-class teacher recommends transfers if the original as
signments appear unsatisfactory. In most of the schools, however,
the preparatory-class teacher has no further contact with the pupil,
and the responsibility for all assignments after the first is diffused
among the pupil’s various teachers or is given to a clerk, who makes
the assignments on the basis of the pupil’s success or failure in the
courses in which he has been enrolled. Where there is no prepara
tory class the number of pupils is small enough to enable the teacher
in charge of the school to interview and assign them to classes im
mediately upon registration.
.
Several schools have introduced “ lessons in vocational guidance,
covering such topics as “ seeking the job,” “ blind alleys,” “ the ap
plication blank,” “ signing a contract,” “ study of an applica
tion,” “ health and the job,” “ relation of recreation to the job,
“ relation of the job to good citizenship,” “ the civil service,” “ how
New York State protects its young workers,” “ how New York State
protects injured workmen,” “ hours of labor,” and “ educational op
portunities for aiding young workers.” These are used as a basis
for written lessons and class discussion.
All continuation-school teachers are expected to act as vocational
counselors to the pupils in their charge and in order to prepare them
for this work are required to have had special courses in vocational
guidance or allied subjects. They are also required, in accordance
with a recommendation of the State commissioner of education, to
spend some time daily in visiting the homes and the employers of
their pupils. The visit to the employer has the twofold object^ of
increasing cooperation between employers and the continuation
school and collecting information for teaching purposes and in some
schools for assistance in placement. Its success depends to a con
siderable degree upon a somewhat specialized knowledge and tech
nique, which vary with the individual teacher.
The special facilities for placement maintained in seven of the
continuation schools have been described. (See pp. 125, 126,_ 133.)
In the other school, which is comparatively small, placement is car
ried on by teachers.
SUMMARY
No centralization of the activities developed in the public-school
system of New York City for the guidance of school children and
of boys and girls entering employment has been effected, though
proposals to establish a vocational-guidance bureau in the public
schools have been submitted to the board of education.- The public
schools, the New York State Department of Labor, and a large
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NEW YOEK
153
Privat? Philanthropic agencies carry on various phases
thk fipM10EalfEUlda? r e alld PlaPeiPei1^ and even the work done in
this held by the public schools is but little coordinated. The prinagency-in the city engaged in vocational guidance, the
Vocational Service for Juniors, and the State department of M>or
m the conduct of its local juvenile placement bureau cooperate with
individual g j g . ^
PUt‘m g C0U” Scl° rS ° r Placement w° rtors »
wUW>JiUlk ° l the j ^ ^ - g o i d a n c e work is small in comparison
with the number of children to be served. Only a few elementarv
or junior high schools—chiefly those in which the Vocational Serw
ice for Juniors conducts a demonstration program—and even fewer
senior high schools have vocational counselors. The board of educa
tion has appointed a limited number of “ teachers in excess” and
R»
atl°n/ i l d Vl{lGem?nt assistants” to act in this capacity.
Both these and the counselors provided by the Vocational Service
for Juniors give full time to counseling, and most of them have
had experience m vocational-guidance and employment work. In
the few schools in which they are at work they do intensive vocational and educational counseling with individuals.
Placement has received considerably more attention than has
counseling. A number of private agencies carry on employment
thpFSfatp ®P^clal groups of children. In addition, the public schools,
the State department of labor, and the Vocational Service for JunT hk
“ aPltain organized placement bureaus for school children.
Although the field is fairly well apportioned among these bureaus
there is some overlapping of the groups served. The bulk of the
organized placement work is for continuation-school pupils; one or
another of the agencies maintains a bureau in seven of the eigSt
continuation schools. Many individual schools conduct more or less
systeirmtic employment work for their own students and graduates.
A coordinator for high-school placement,” appointed by the board
of education and in charge of a central high-school placement office
confines his work mainly to finding part-time or vacation work for
hlfS~sch?01 students and to placing high-school “ drop outs ”
H nW w E
or# ani^tio n permits a considerable amount of adapta
tion to the needs of individuals. A few of the elementary schools
have prevocational classes for trying out the vocational aptitudes of
w the SeVf nth/ nd ei^hth grades. The 6-3-3-plan has
been put into operation for approximately one-fourth of the school
enrolment of the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades. Over-age
chi dren who have completed the fifth grade are admitted to some
+e u 1unior
schools m adjustment classes, where they receive
the benefits of participation m the junior high school organization,
and m some of the junior high schools children of more than
average ability are placed m rapid-progress classes. In some of the
°vi anid
^ g h . schools pupils are classified according to
ba^?
,?.omParatively few is this classification
based on the results of intelligence or other standardized tests. The
high schools and trade or vocational schools for both girls and bovs
®?#f roa ^ari1f y of vocational training, and the continuation schools
definftoly'in
organizedWlth tha vocational-guidance
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CHICAGO
HISTORY OF THE VOCATIONAL-GUIDANCE MOVEMENT
The vocational-guidance bureau of the Chicago public schools had
its origin in the bureau of vocational supervision established for
children by the department of social investigation of the Chicago
School of Civics and Philanthropy in 1910 as a result of a study by
that department of the problems of truancy and nonattendance in
the Chicago schools.1 In the course of this study the attention of
the investigators had been called to the inability of the many chil
dren who went to work as soon as the law allowed to find them
selves industrially. Especially in need of assistance were boys re
leased from the parental school. “ Because of the character of the
homes from’ which these boys came and because of the helplessness
of the boys themselves when they left the school advantage was
taken of the opportunity offered by this investigation to advise with
them with reference to their choice of work and to assist them to find
work when they were unwilling or unable to return to the regular
day school. * * * A small employment bureau for these boys
was therefore organized * * * in order to get directly from and
with them the experience of finding and keeping a job in Chicago.”2
This “ investigational experiment ” included not only an inquiry
into opportunities open to boys under 16 but also a careful study
of the boys themselves through interviews with them and with their
parents and teachers in regard to their vocational aspirations and
abilities, their home circumstances, and their social relationships.
There was no opportunity to undertake the same sort of experiment
with a similar group of girls because at that time the city had no
parental school for girls; but through the cooperation of three of
the leading women’s organizations of the city, funds were raised for
a special investigation of employment opportunities open to girls,
and such girls as could be reached were advised regarding their
work.
In June of the first year of this experiment the bureau under
took to interview all the children in one of the largest elementary
schools of the city who were planning to go to work at the end of
the school year, to visit the home of each, and to place in suitable
work all those who could not be prevailed upon to remain in school.
During the school years 1911 to 1916 the work was continued
under a joint committee of representatives of the Chicago School
1 An account of the early development of this bureau is given in Appendix VIII (pp.
455-465) of the report of this investigation: Truancy and Nonattendance in the Chicago
Schools, by Edith Abbott and Sophonisba P. Breckinridge (University of Chicago Press,
Chicago, January, 1917), and also in a bulletin of the Chicago School of Civics and
Philanthropy, Department of Social Investigations, entitled “ Finding Employment for
Children Who Leave the Grade Schools to go to Work ” (Russell Sage Foundation,
December, 1911).
•
..
* Truancy and Nonattendance in the Chicago Schools, p. 455,
155
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
of Civics and Philanthropy and of a number of women’s organi
zations, the latter at first meeting all expenses. From the begin
ning cooperation between the bureau and school principals and
teachers was close. Official recognition of the work was first given
in the fall of 1911, when, on the opening of the Lucy Flower Tech
nical High School for Girls, the superintendent of schools requested
that a vocational adviser from the bureau hold office hours in the
school building in order to advise girls taking technical training
with reference to their selection of courses and their placement in
positions at the end of the course. In 1913 the board of education
gave definite support to the work of the bureau by allotting to it
office room and providing clerical assistance and telephone service.
At the same time its activities were placed under the general super
vision of one of the assistant superintendents of schools. On March
1, 1916, the functions and personnel of the bureau were taken over
by the board of education, and it has remained since then an in
tegral part of the public-school system.
The bureau’s aim and methods during its first five years are
summarized as follows in the report of the director for the school
year 1916:
First. To study industrial opportunities open to boys and girls with respect
to wages and the requirements necessary to enter an occupation; the age
at which beginners enter the occupations; the nature of the w ork; the chances
for advancement and development—in short, to gather the greatest- possible
amount of information regarding industrial conditions in order to advise
boys and girls and to give them a start in their careers as workers.
Second. To advise the children about to leave school and retain them in
school when possible, for there are many who need only a little encouragement
to continue their education.
•
Third. When every effort to retain them in school has failed, to place in
positions those children who need assistance in securing employment.
Fourth. To follow up and supervise every child who has been placed,
advising him to take advantage of every opportunity for further training.
Definite achievement along each of these lines was shown during
the period 1910 to 1916. Two reports were published based on
studies of the opportunities for employment open to children under
16 in Chicago.4 More than 10,000 children were advised and as
sisted. A considerable majority of these were reached before they
commenced to work, either just after they received their work per
mits,5 or while they were still in school. The advisers held regular
office hours at an increasing number of public schools for the pur
pose of interviewing children who planned to leave school before the
completion of the regular course. Convinced by the results of their
occupational studies of the meager opportunities offered children
under 16, the staff aimed primarily to convince children and their
parents of the value of continued education and to persuade them
to remain in school or to resume their school training if they had
* Report of Bureau of Vocational Guidance, from Report of Superintendent of Schools,
Sixty-second Annual Report of Board of Education (Chicago, 1916), p. b.
M l) Finding Employment for Children Who Leave the Grade Schools t®, 9® 1°
(Preliminary report on opportunities of employment for girls under 16.)
of Civics and Philanthropy, Department of Social Investigation (Russell Sage Founda
tion), ch. 2, December, 1911. (2) Davis, A nne: Occupations and[ Industries Open to
Children Between 14 and 16 Years of Age. Chicago Board of Education, 1914.
_
Exjnder the child-labor law in effect during this period the child was not required t9
have obtained employment before hiß certificate could be issued;
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already taken out work permits. The value of this service may be
gauged by the fact that of the 3,519 children advised in the year
1911—15 who had never worked, 640 were persuaded to remain in
or return to school. The need for it may be further indicated
by the fact that 1,349, or more than one-third, of these children had
advanced no further in school than the sixth grade. As a necessary
part of its program of keeping children in school as long as pos
sible the joint committee responsible for the management of the
bureau entered in 1911 upon a policy of raising scholarship funds.
Since 1916, when the work was taken over completely by the public
schools, the program of the bureau has followed broadly the general
lines laid down during the semiprivate stage of experimentation.
Its responsibilities and staff were considerably enlarged, however,
by the assignment to it in J anuary, 1918, of the duty of issuing
employment certificates, which up to that time had been handled by
the attendance department of the board of education. The extent
to which the work was increased by this new responsibility is indi
cated by the fact that 36,605 employment certificates were issued
in Chicago in the year ended June 30, 1919—16,972 to boys and
girls leaving school for work for the first time.6 Furthermore, the
work was increased more than mere numbers would indicate by the
fact that a new State child-labor law which became effective July 1,
1917, embodied ma.ny new provisions and made necessary the plan
ning of entirely new forms and administrative machinery for its
enforcement. One of the most important provisions of the new
law was that requiring a physical examination for all children ap
plying for certificates. For this work a special staff of medical
examiners was appointed. In September, 1919, the work was fur
ther expanded by the appointment of a staff of visiting teachers as
signed to individual schools but working under the supervision of
the director of the bureau.
ORGANIZATION AND ACTIVITIES OF THE VOCATIONALGUIDANCE BUREAU6a
ORGANIZATION
In J anuary, 1924, the vocational-guidance bureau had a permanent
staff of 47 employees working under a director immediately respon
sible to the superintendent of schools. The bureau is organized,
as shown by the accompanying chart, in six principal divisions: (1)
Employment-certificate division; (2) placement division; (3) dis
trict advisers; (4) industrial-studies division; (5) visiting teachers;
(6) publicity. In addition, the director of the bureau serves in an
advisory capacity as supervisor of the work of the vocational ad
visers on the staff of the various high schools. (See pp. 181-183.)
6 Sixty-fifth Annual Report of the Board of Education, for the year ending June 30,
1919, pp. 95—96. Chicago.
6a For the school year 1923-24, unless otherwise indicated.
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PLAN OF ORGANIZATION
VOCATIONAL-GUIDANCE BUREAU, BOARD OF EDUCATION, CHICAGO, ILL.
1 9 2 3 -2 4
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
N o t e . —Two scholarship agencies have office room in the vocational-guidance bureau hut are not financed by the public schools.
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The offices are centrally located in a new building especially
planned for the use of the board of education. Practically all the
other school officials or departments with which the work of the bu
reau is closely related also have their offices in this building. So
few agencies engaged in vocational-guidance activities and the is
suance of work permits are housed in quarters which in any way
approach the ideal in size, arrangement, or general convenience
that it seems worth while to reproduce the floor plans (see p. 162) of
the present quarters of the Chicago bureau, which were planned by
the staff on the basis of several years’ experience in handling large
numbers of applicants in less satisfactory quarters.
The appropriation allotted for salaries of the permanent staff and
other office expenses (exclusive of rent and furniture) was $99,735
for the year 1923. In addition, supplementary funds are available
for the payment of extra help in busy seasons, as for example, at the
close of school in June when the number of applicants for employ
ment certificates is greatly increased.7
The personnel, in addition to a publicity expert, 21 clerical
workers (the majority of whom are employed in the employmentcertificate division), and 3 medicaLexaminers (also in that division)
includes 22 workers, all of whom have qualified as vocational ad
visers or visiting teachers through examinations conducted by the
board of education.8
All those in any way responsible for the giving of vocational
counsel, including those interviewing children applying for work
permits and those engaged in the study of vocational opportunities
for minors, are vocational advisers. Candidates for the position of
vocational adviser must be college graduates and must have had in
addition courses in economics and experience in vocational-guidance
or related work. They are also required to pass written examina
tions including such subjects as the history and methods of voca
tional guidance, the psychology of the adolescent period, sociology,
commercial geography, and the industrial history of the United
States. The salaries paid vocational advisers fall within the range
of those received by teachers in the Chicago high schools.
EMPLOYMENT-CERTIFICATE ISSUANCE IN RELATION TO
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE
The issuance o f employment certificates by the vocational-guidance
bureau in Chicago shows how the adequate enforcement o f the em
ployment certificate law may serve, even under legal and practical
lim itations, as an important, if indirect, agency for vocational guid
ance and supervision.
of -1923 the following extra workers were employed: 20 clerks
an?ASne th?r pmhn w 06 lntperX?ev^ers ^taken from teaching staff), and 12 medical examiners.
, A 11 *J:ie employees of the bureau are selected through examinations conducted either
commission^
6rf of^the Chicago Board of Education or by the city civil-service
clerical and medical staff are subject to civil-service regKations, and
timin 1 staff pf1
Se T
visj|iting teachers are regarded as members of the educathe board of education and therefore are required, like teachers, to obtain
J h rou£h tlie_hoard of education examinations. (Chicago Public Schools_
?nr1prnmn«nTi0^ T t 0n^ RegaJ din*gJ E?aminations of Candidates for Certificates to Teach,
to Hfvh Stchnn?f JnHCnnrtiinf0r ^ “ ifaon to the Chicago Normal College, for Admission
1923 24 p 2 2 )’ & d 0utUne oi SalaiT Schedules, Board of Education, Chicago, 111.,
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'
VOCATIONAL. GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
Vocational-guidance bureau, second floor ( floor plan )
V O C A T IO N A L -G U ID A N C E
BUREAU
2 ND FLOOR
B o ard
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
of
Education b u il d in g , Ch icago
CHICAGO
Vocational-guidance "bureau, th ird floor ( floor plan)
VOCATIONAL - G-UIDANCE B U R E A U
3 HD FLOOR
•Bo ard
o f educa tio n b u iil d in g , Ch icag o
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i6 2
VO CA TIO NAL G U ID A N C E A N D J U N I O R P L A C E M E N !?
Every child applying for a certificate at the central office of the
bureau is interviewed by a specially qualified worker, who has practi
cal knowledge of the kinds of occupational opportunities Chicago
offers to boys and girls both with and without special training and
who knows the local opportunities for continued schooling in dif
ferent academic and practical fields. I t is the duty of the inter
viewer not only to go over the various papers presented by the
child—such as evidence of age, school record, etc.—to see whether or
not he is legally entitled to a certificate but also to get from him and
his parent or guardian information regarding the reasons for going
to work and the financial condition of the family. The Illinois child
labor law 9 does not give permit-issuing authorities the right to re
fuse a certificate on educational grounds to any child between 14 and
16 who has completed the work of the sixth grade, but if it ap
pears that the child will be benefited by further schooling, he is
urged to return to school, and the matter is discussed with his
parents. If financial assistance is needed the child may be referred
to one of the scholarship agencies located in the building.
(Seep. 178.)
Beginning in 1920 a system was developed by which the initial
step of the certificating process—the interviewing—could be han
dled through district offices.941 At present vocational advisers from
the central office of the bureau are assigned to 4 of Chicago’s 10 school
districts. Their principal responsibility is to interview all children
attending the schools of these districts who desire to go to work.
This system has a distinct advantage over that of interviewing
at the central office in that children desiring to go to work are re
ferred to the adviser before a position has been obtained and before
school bonds have been broken. I t is especially desirable that chil
dren should be reached by the adviser before receiving their school
records. Although the Illinois child labor law gives the officer is
suing certificates no discretion to refuse a certificate where not
“ necessary ” or for‘the “ best interests ” of the child, it requires that
a child exempted from school attendance because of employment
must be “ necessarily ” as well as “ lawfully ” employed.10 This
provision may be utilized to keep children in school, but hot all
school principals, who in Chicago are charged with the duty of
granting the excuse from school, use it for this purpose, and some,
it is said, do not even realize its significance. In the districts to
which vocational advisers have been assigned by the central office,
children applying to the principals for their school-leaving certifi
cates are sent to the advisers, who make inquiry into the financial
condition of the child’s family, his school history, and his special
interests and recommend to the principal whether or not the child
should be excused from school. I t is reported that of the children
thus referred to the district adviser who are legally eligible for
employment certificates from 25 per cent to 30 per cent are kept
“ Illinois, Acts of 1921, p. 435.
' _
1
j*
system of district advisers was discontinued in September, 1924.
Illinois, Hurd’s Revised Statutes, 1913, ch. 122, sec. 274, as amended by Acts of
1919, pp. 910, 917, 918.
»a This
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•? sch°°l on the ground that employment is not necessary. Where it
is thought advisable or necessary to issue the certificate thè process
of examnnng the child s evidence of age and other credentials is
unàentàk^ by the district adviser, and the child is referred to the
central office for physical examination only.
, , +ÌU1Pler advantage of this decentralization is that it makes possi
ble the handling m several places, instead of in one, of the large
numbers of children applying for certificates at the beginning of the
summer vacation. Children interviewed in the district offices are
kely to receive more vocational counsel than those applying at the
central office because each district adviser has relatively few chil
dren to interview and because proximity to home and school and
knowledge of the local industrial situation enable her to give partic
ularly discriminating vocational advice. Moreover, as the great
majority of the children applying for their work permits at the cen
tral office do not apply until they have obtained positions, it is too
late for them to receive advice in their choice of work or assistance
m finding it. According to unpublished data supplied by the vocational-gmdance bureau, a very small proportion of the children ap
plying for certificates—only 2.6 per cent of the 1,196 children who
presented papers for their first certificates in the period January
31, 1922—get their positions through the placement office
of the bureau m spite of its accessibility to the quarters of the employment-certificate division. Only those who through ignorance
of the requirement of a promise of employment come in without
advic^ ob^ame<^ positions are referred to the placement division for
This does not mean, however, that no consideration is given in
the employment-certificate division to the kind of work for which
the child desires a permit. Care is taken to see not only that the
occupation and industry which the child desires to enter are per
mitted for children under 16 by the Illinois child labor law and
that as also provided by law, the child is physically able to under
take the work, but also that he is not going to work at an unsuitable
undesfrable °r ^ ^ establlshment where working conditions are
All children receiving employment certificates come to the central
office for physical examination. The bureau has the somewhat un
usual advantage of havmg.its physical examinations made by phvsicians who are members of its own staff and whose interests are
merefore, especially centered on the problem of the working child’
Idle function of the examiners is primarily to oarry out the provision
of the law prohibiting the certification of children under 16 for
occupations for which they are not physically fit; but their work
has developed other phases important from the vocational-guidance
point of view, such as securmg the cooperation of clinics and other
agencies m restoring to health children not physically fit for work
m providing supervision for children with minor physical defects
who are permitted to enter industry provisionally, in instructing
children with certain types of defects as to the kinds of work they
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VO CA TIO NAL G U ID A N C E A N D J U N I O R P L A C E M E N T
can and can not undertake, in seeing that children with subnormal
or psychopathic mentality are given special examination and pre
scribing the kind of work they are fitted for, and in seeing that
children who have been in occupations which were proved physi
cally harmful to them do not undertake the same kind of work when
they change positions. The experience resulting from the r^xamination of children who are changing positions, required under the
Illinois law, also gives an opportunity to accumulate information
regarding the effect of certain occupations and industries upon
young workers. During the school year 1922-23^ records of indus
trial accidents, illnesses, and bad working conditions reported by
certificated children were compiled and correlated with the records
of the industries and occupations in which the children were emPl Aside from the physical examination required each time a child
changes his position, supervision over employed children is as yet
little developed. The law requires that a child between 14 and 16
must secure a new certificate for each new position, but working
children returning for new certificates do not come in contact with
the district advisers or even with the interviewers at the central
office, so that this provision does not result in an opportunity for
vocational counsel. The establishment of evening office hours m
several districts for following up children who have obtained certi
ficates through the district office has been an important develop
ment of the district adviser’s work. By this means children who
have taken out certificates for summer work may be persuaded m
the fall to return to day school or to attend evening classes, and
those continuing at work come in to talk over their success or
failure and to seek advice. Children who have lost their positions
are advised where work may be found or referred to the placement
division of the bureau or when work is hard to get, are persuaded
to return to school to finish the elementary course or to take up
some special technical or commercial study. A special effort is
made by the district advisers to keep in touch with children to
whom certificates have been refused because of physical defects, and
to interest teachers and principals in them.
COUNSELING IN THE SCHOOLS10*
District Advisers.
The primary work of the district advisers is to interview children
between 14 and 16 who are contemplating an immediate entrance
ioa when the work of the district advisers was discontinued (see note 9a, p. 162),
members of the staff of the vocational-guidance bureau were assigned to five of the
large high schools as full-time vocational advisers, and in February, 1925, one full-time
staff adviser was1 assigned to two small high schools. The advisers work with the princinal in carrying out the vocational-guidance program for his school. They do much
of the work formerly done by the district advisers. More specifically, their duties are
as follows* (1) Group work; Conferences with eighth-grade pupils to assist them in
their choice of a high-school course; meetings with first semester high-school pupils to
explain the adviser’s function and the importance of studying vocations and of training,
talks to pupils on vocational opportunities in Chicago and vocational requirements .us*
sistance in planning vocational-guidance programs for assemblies and obtaining outside
sneakers on vocational subject!; (2) Individual counseling: Conferences with mala d iusted pupils, with pupils planning to leave school before completing their courses,
with pupil3 binder 16 applying for school records, and with pupils in the last semester
Tf the twcf-year and the four-year courses in regard to their future plans; placement
in cooperation with the central placement office.
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into industry, to determine whether or not they should receive work
certificates. But this task, as has been stated, gives them the op
portunity to offer information on occupations and counsel on further
schooling;. In addition, they also see other children in their districts
who are interested in getting information regarding vocational and
educational opportunities in the community, though the development
of this part of their work depends upon the voluntary cooperation
of individual school principals, teachers, and children, and is limited
by lack of time. Practically the only way in which all the advisers
regularly reach children other than those who are about to leave
school is by giving an address at the end of each term to the gradu
ating class of each elementary school of their district regarding the
advantages of attending high school and the inevitable disappoint
ments of too early wage earning. Individual interviews sometimes
follow with children who are in doubt whether or not they will go
to high'school or what high-school courses they will elect. In some
districts each member of the graduating class is interviewed and
advised. The good results of this procedure are shown by the fact
that in the class graduating in January, 1921, in one district, out
of 128 applications for certificates only 42 were granted and prac
tically all the rest of the children returned immediately to school.
In connection with the interviews with eighth-grade graduates in
some districts the advisers have given to children “ vocational-anaLysis” questionnaires to awaken their interest in their occupational
future and to obtain information needed by the adviser in consider
ing applications for permits. The questionnaires filled in by chil
dren who go to high school are sent to the high-school adviser. The
district advisers have also done much to stimulate the holding of
“ eighth-grade days” by the high schools in their districts. (See
P- 181.) . .
In addition to interviewing applicants, handling the clerical work
connected with certificating, and visiting places of employment in her
district for placement purposes, the adviser necessarily spends much
time in matters of personal or family adjustment, such as taking to
a dentist or a clinic a child whose certificate is held up for physical
corrections, getting work for an unemployed adult member of the
family, or obtaining clothes or a scholarship for the child or relief
for the family.
The district adviser sometimes makes placements. Some of the ad
visers make a regular practice of placing children; others go only so
far as to suggest places where work may be found. Some refer all
children to the placement division of the bureau. Children over 16
are almost invariably sent to the bureau for placement, and all place
ments made by the district advisers are reported to the central office.
Visiting Teachers.
The experiment of haying visiting teachers give vocational advice
has been begun in the six elementary schools in Chicago in which
visiting teachers are at work. The visiting teachers are members of
the staff of the vocational-guidance bureau and serve as vocational
advisers to the elementary schools to which they are assigned. As
in other cities, their primary responsibility is the making of adjust188350—25--- 12
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VOpATTONAL G U ID A N C E A N D J U N I O R P L A C E M E N T
ments between home and school and the alleviation of social and
other conditions adversely affecting school progress, attendancej or
behavior, but in Chicago they also interview children applying for
employment certificates and perform in their schools other func
tions fulfilled by the district advisers. Up to the present time most
of the children given vocational advice by visiting teachers have
been referred to them as problem cases or have applied for certifi
cates.
The following description of the requirements and duties of the
Chicago visiting teacher in which the vocational-guidance aspects of
her work are emphasized is given by the director of the vocationalguidance bureau in her report (unpublished) for the year ended
June 30, 1920:
She must be familiar with the compulsory school and child labor laws, with
the conditions in industry, such as the wages offered, future possibilities, and
sanitary conditions. She confers with the children anxious to enter industry,
and, if possible, she retains them in school. Often a little encouragement is all
that is necessary; sometimes it means securing an after-school job, settling
some classroom difficulty or “ scrap ” with some other child, or talking with the
parents of the necessity for further education.
The visiting teachers also assist in industrial research.
p. 173.)
(See
THE WORK OF THE PLACEMENT DIVISION
The placement division of the bureau has a staff of four vocational
counselors in addition to the supervisor, of whom one is in charge of
the placement of elementary-school children, two are in charge of
the placement of high-school students or graduates—one for boys
and one for girls—and a fourth specializes in the placement of the
physically handicapped.
Although the placement office as an integral part of the Chicago
public-school system is intended primarily to serve the needs of chil
dren of the Chicago schools, no child is turned away. Applicants
over 19, however, are not registered unless they are high-school
graduates. The number of applications and of placements made by
the bureau during the year ended June 30, 1923, is shown in the
accompanying table.11
11 Owing to the fact th at this table is based on a summary of monthly totals and th at
in consequence any child who applied more than once is counted once for each month
that he applied, the number of applications is somewhat greater than the number of
children applying. Statistics of placements, however, show actual number of children
placed.
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ÖHtcAGÖ
¡Statistics fo r placem ent division, vocational-guidance bureau, Chicago public
schools, for th e y ea r ended June SO, 1923
Placements in specified occupations1
Education, age, and sex
Total____________
From eementary grades__
Undler 16 years............
16 years and over____
From high-school grades__
High-school graduate____
Postgraduate__________
Boys__ ___. . . ____
From elementary grades__
Under 16 years______
16 years and over____
From high-school grades__
High-school graduate.........
Postgraduate_______ ___
Girls____________
Num
Appli ber of
cations place Cler
ments 1 ical
9,144 l 2,970
1,352
4,742 *1,741
3,860 1,577
882
164
2,896
785
1,232
346
98
274
4,659 1,381
2,562
869
775
1,996
94
566
1,363
313
640
167
94
32
558
485
73
468
265
61
472
4,485
From elementary grades.... i 2,180
Under 16 years............ 1,864
16 years and over_____
316
From high-school grades__ 1,533
High-school graduate..........
592
Postgraduate........... .........
180
1,589
872
802
70
472
179
66
277
250
27
86
102
7
880
281
235
46
382
163
54
Errands,
Tech Trade Factory messen
re
ger
Other Not
nical
ported
work,
etc.
76
27
47
2
76
27
47
2
83
43
35
8
30
10
574
564
516
48
8
2
465
465
445
20
1368
59
46
13
252
22
35
232
55
122
402
16
12
4
29
10
118
88
30
4
402
383
19
34
22
12
167
8
23
452
63
63
62
1
136
25
24
1
85
14
12
28
27
23
4
1
446
428
18
4
2
52
52
50
2
22
22
20
2
30
30
30
0
1Includes placements in after-school and part-time work. Does not include placements of high-school
pupils made by high-school advisers on calls which were referred to them and which it is impossible to
distribute among the three groups of high-school pupils. These number 12 full-time and 226 part-time
placements of high-school girls.
1480 of total 1,741 were first-position placements—not distributed by sex.
Children are referred to the placement office by the employmentcertificate division, by the district advisers, by the advisers in the
high schools, and by other divisions of the bureau or agencies work
ing with them. Most of the high schools send to the placement,
office in advance of graduation a list of their graduates who desire
assistance in obtaining employment. This registration by the
schools is made on forms provided by the bureau. (See p. 169.)
The development of the procedure in the placement office has
been influenced by the pressure of the number of applicants. A
reference clerk in the waiting room gives to each child in order of
entrance a number which marks his turn for interview by the place
ment adviser. As the child is ushered in from the waiting room the
clerk brings from the file his record card showing previous applica
tions and placements. Applicants are separated into groups not
according to age but according to education—a practice which dif
ferentiates this office routine from that of similar bureaus in other
cities.
Unless there is some particular reason for handling an individual
case differently boys and girls who have completed two years or more
of high school are referred to so-called high-school advisers. All
after-school or part-time placements whether for elementary or for
high-school pupils are handled .by the high-school advisers. An
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
elementary-school adviser carries on all other placement. At the
beginning of the school vacation an additional adviser is assigned
to the placement division to handle vacation employment.
Boys and girls under 16 applying for first positions are referred
before placement to the interviewers in charge of employment-cer
tificate issuance for an examination of their papers. Both these
applicants and those applying for later positions are sent to the ex
amining physician for a physical examination before being placed.
In this way the office makes sure that children of certificate age who
are placed receive certificates and have the benefit of any suggestions
the physician may make with regard to the types of work for which
they are physically suited. Placement advisers do effective work
in persuading children of certificate age to return to school, especially
when employment is scarce. They also give educational counsel to
young persons wishing to advance themselves in their work by fur
ther preparation.
The press of work determines the amount of individual solicitation
of positions that can be undertaken for any one applicant. Children
under 16 years of age are not counted as placed unless they return
with the employers’ promise of employment, which must be presented
before they may receive certificates. Thus, the results of placements
in this group are automatically checked. Return introduction cards
are given to applicants over 16, and a large proportion are returned
by employers. Through these cards or through later contact with
employers and applicants advisers check up on the placements of
those over 16 years of age who are referred.
The elementary-school advisers keep a cross file of current regis
trations, listed by occupation in order that registrants may be noti
fied of suitable positions. High-school advisers keep a cross file
by occupation of all registrants at each graduation period. Later
these are entered in a cross file of current registrants. All records
of a registrant are filed together. The record cards are filed alpha
betically by names of registrants. A different form is used for ele
mentary-school registrants from that for high-school registrants
(see reproduction on p. 169), and different-colored forms are used
to indicate the boys and girls of each group. Employers’ call cards
of all the divisions of the bureau are likewise filed together alpha
betically by employer’s name. A folder is assigned to each em
ployer, and the cards used by each adviser are filed in it. In these
folders also is filed any information obtained from persons placed
with these employers. For solicitation and reference each adviser
has a cross-reference employers’ file by occupations.
The placement advisers are well informed regarding educational
and vocational opportunities offered in the community (see p. 176).
On the other hand, little has yet been done to assemble the informa
tion about the individual child needed for satisfactory placement.
Occasionally an interested teacher, principal, or school counselor
sends in a few facts about a child, but practically nothing can be
counted on or is required regularly from the schools in the way of
class marks, attendance records, or teachers’ estimates, hlot even
by the district advisers is information about individual children
regularly transferred to the placement workers, although the ad
visers refer many children to the central office for positions. Almost
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Face o f reg istra tio n ca rd for boys, furnished high schools b y th e vocational-guidance bureau; Chicago
[Except for the color the registration, card for girls is alm ost identical]
BOY’S EMPLOYMENT RECORD
N a m e ............. ...............................................
A ddress
..............
L ast
¥
F irst
............. ............. .r.\ .......... .
Course ........................... .......
Phone
Father’s
.....................................................
________
-
Date
W hat vocation do von intend t n f o l l o w ? .......................
W e ig h t
_
Name
............................................................
D ate o f graduation ....... ................................................. ................. ........
D ate o f Birth ....................... ............................. N ationality
•Height
D ate______________
W hat kind o f w ork do you desire now? ____ . . . . . .
Occupation
_____
Part tim e Saturdav vacation permanent? .............
If Part Tim e-—W hat hours can you work?.
W hen can you begin work?.
W hat further education do you plan?.
P O S IT IO N S H E L D FO R M O R E T H A N O N E M O N TH
N A M E O F FIR M
HOURS
P E R DAY
W EEKS
EM PLO Y ED
RATE O F
PAY
R E A S O N F O R L E A V IN G
K IN D O F W O R K
T E A C H E R S ’ E S T IM A T E S O F S T U D E N T ’S A B IL IT Y :
G eneral S c h o la r sh ip ____ ,
M ost proficient in---------------------------------A lertness------------------------------ A c c u r a c y ___________________________ N e a t n e s s _____________
Initiative ------ ------------------------------- R e lia b ilit y --------------------- —--------------------------------P ersonal appearance__________________________
R e m a r k s --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S ig n e d ,____________________________ ________ __________________ .
fc.C.O. 5008 (B)
(OVER)
PRINCIPAL, TEACHER, ADVISER
[Actual size 8 by 5 inches]
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
R everse of reg istra tio n card fo r boys, furnished high schools by th e vocational^guidance bureau; Chicago
“ -3T
o
DATE
R E F E R R E D TO
K IN D O F W O R K
RATE O F
PA Y
RESULT
R E A S O N FO R L E A V IN G
VOCATIONAL, G U ID A N C E A N D J U N I O R P L A C E M E N T
[A ctual size
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
8 by 5 inches]
CHICAGO
171
no attempt has been made to obtain information regarding the gen-^
eral intelligence of registrants who have been given mental tests
before leaving school.
Little supervision of employed children has been attempted by
the placement division. Visits to places of employment are made by
the placement advisers mainly to find openings for young workers
and only incidentally to follow up those already placed. Lists of
young persons who have been placed may be checked up occasion
ally, especially if a visit to the employing firm is already contem
plated; but it is not a routine procedure. Some personal contact
with the elementary-school group is assured by a letter sent out
two months after placement inviting the worker to report on his
experience during an office hour which is held one evening each
week. A letter is also written to all workers under 16 during the
month when they attain tjje age of 16, asking them to come in for
a talk, for at that age they become eligible for certain kinds of
work from which they were previously debarred and at that age also
they leave continuation school and are in need of advice about fur
ther training. A “ placement follow-up report ” form (see p. 172)
is filled in for each child during the evening office hour. Although
only a few children who are out of work are likely to return to
the bureau in the daytime, the bureau reports that about 26 per
cent of the children placed respond to the invitation for evening
conferences, which offer to the applicant opportunity for longer
and more productive talks than the more hurried and stereotyped
interview necessitated by the morning rush of work. Much informa
tion leading to investigations by the industrial-studies division of
the bureau or the State factory inspectors is also obtained through
these interviews. (See p. 174.)
The placement advisers work in close cooperation with the
other divisions of the bureau. To the certificate division they refer
children requiring certificates and information regarding violations
of the child labor or school attendance laws. They refer applicants
chiefly to places of work which have been investigated by the
industrial-studies division of the bureau or under its supervision.
The industrial-studies division also furnishes the names of establish
ments offering certain lines of work or special opportunities for
unusual types of children. In planning visits to places of employ
ment placement advisers must clear12 through this division and
during the visit must follow a prescribed schedule for obtaining the
information desired. ^ (See p. 173.) The placement adviser is also
able to consult material prepared by the industrial-studies division
on the requisite qualifications for specified occupations and their
promotional possibilities.
As yet most of the placements are made for the younger and lesstrained group of wage earners, who are desired chiefly in occupa
tions and industries which offer little or no training or opportunity
for advancement. The bureau is making every effort to increase its
work with older groups by building up high-school placements,
and cooperation between the high schools and the placement office
** They m ust check their list of employers to be visited w ith the industrial-studies flies,
om itting a ll firms visited w ithin nine months.
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VO CATTO ITAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
172
is growing. In 1922—
23 four times ns ninny high-school students ap
plied for employment nnd twice ns many were plnced ns in the pre
vious yenr.
P lacem ent “ follow-up ” report, vocational-guidance bureau; Chicago
PLACEMENT “FOLLOW-UP” REPORT
„Finn Name .
„Address --Placed by-Sch. ReL Ag. Fr. V. G.
Industry------------------- -----------
‘Grade
Course—General - ComL Tech. Spec-
Rchnnl—Puhlic Par. Bus. Other
Job Titlé .
Age Began lAge Terminated__Dur. Mos--- Earnings—Beginning----- Present.-----Piece Time Bonus
Honrs
___ to---- --------------to---------
Saturday------ ------to------ —---Paid—Y. N.
Overtime .
„Vacation1(with pay)—N-
Seasonal Employment—N-*
Reasons for Leaving—N Oppor.
Advance in Job—N
Snrr.
Pay
Loc. Duties Other Spec.
......■■■■■■-<................................. .... .
.......
Relations with Superior-.
Physical Working Conditions—Fav._
_Unfav. _
Approximate Number Employes; Male-
„Female .
Type of Associates
......... . —------
Opportunities for Future: Salary -------------Duties .. ..............
:Applicants Reaction—Fav. ........... -■■■-..- Unfav. .
Remarks ....... —......... -........... .........—----
VO C A T IO N A L G U ID A N C E D E PA R T M EN T
B O A R D O F E D U C A T IO N
CHICAGO
[Actual size 8% by 11 inches]
INVESTIGATION OF INDUSTRIES AND OCCUPATIONS
From its inception the movement for vocational guidance and
supervision in Chicago has been built up on the principle that sound
guidance and placement are based on first-hand concrete knowledge
of industrial conditions. Studies of occupations open to boys and
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173
girls and of the conditions of work and the opportunities for ad
vancement have been regarded as fundamental to the program of
the bureau. Prior to the spring of 1921 such investigations were
made by vocational advisers assigned to placement work or by dis
trict advisers in connection with their regular work. In 1921 the
importance of this branch of the bureau’s activities was further rec
ognized by the establishment of a special division known as the
industrial-studies division, composed of experienced workers espe
cially qualified in economic and industrial investigation, whose sole
task is to make and to supervise all investigation and research con
ducted by the bureau.
A series of bulletins entitled “ Start Training Now ”•has been pre
pared, under the general supervision of the division, for the use of
eighth-grade and high-school students. This series consists of an
introductory bulletin on the importance of education and of bul
letins on each of the following occupations: Accounting, advertis
ing, architecture, business executive, chemistry, civil service, con
tracting (building), dentistry, drafting, employment management,
engineering, farming, foreign commercial service, household arts,
industrial art, journalism, medicine, law, library service, nursing,
pharmacy, salesmanship, social service, teaching. The bulletins
outline briefly the nature of each occupation, the qualifications,
preparation, and training needed, the salaries or the wages, and
opportunities for advancement.
A more ambitious trade series is in preparation, the following
bulletins of which have been published: Merchant Tailoring, Elec
tric Light and Power Installation, The Artificial Flower Industry
in Chicago, Photography, Beginning Office Positions for Women.
A considerable part of the time of the staff is taken up in investi
gations made in response to requests from the employment-certificate
or the placement division or the district advisers to ascertain whether
a certain occupation for which a child desires a permit is legal under
the child labor law or whether an occupation or the conditions of
work in a particular establishment are suitable from the point of
view of health or morals for any child or for a child with some
physical defect, or to investigate reports of bad sanitary or moral
conditions, irregular work or high labor turnover, or other condi
tions undesirable from the point of view of the placement office.
In these and the more general occupational studies the staff of the
division is often assisted by the vocational advisers assigned to
other work and also by local district advisers and visiting teachers
who at their monthly staff meetings report on occupations which
they have been studying. The direction of all investigations, how
ever, is centralized in the industrial-studies division, and one of the
first achievements of this new division was the standardization of
methods of making and recording results of investigations and the
centralization of records.13 During the school year 1922-23 special
studies of the following trades and industries were made: Candy
making, laundry work, nut shelling, paper-box manufacturing,
tailoring, mechanical dentistry, printing, and artificial-flower
making. At staff meetings conferences are held on the study of occuThe “ employers’ record card ” is in process of revision.
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
pations and opportunities in various industries. Members of the
staff engaged in making investigations make preliminary reports at
these meetings. Problems of special local or immediate interest are
discussed, such as points to be observed in noting child labor law
violations, dangerous aspects of industrial processes, casual and
part-time employment, and the general industrial situation.
The division also assembles and digests for the information of
the bureau staff published and manuscript material on occupations
or in the field of industrial economics prepared by other agencies
and prepares material on occupational opportunities and local in
dustrial conditions in form suitable for distribution to vocational
advisers, teachers, and school children. Among the latter are a
mimeographed “ Vocational Guidance News” and “ Notes on Current
Magazine Articles of Interest to Vocational Advisers.”
When completed the library which the division is collecting will
contain a selection of books and pamphlets relating to vocational
guidance and occupational analysis, works on general problems of
industry, including such subjects as safety, sanitation, and industrial
disease, technical treatises on hazards in employment, and govern
mental and other reports relative to local industries. Clippings and
illustrations on occupations and industrial conditions are also col
lected. I t is the plan of the bureau to have this collection serve as
reference library for the advisers on the high-school and elementaryschool staffs and for boys and girls in school as well as for its own
staff.
Since 1921 deputy factory inspectors have been assigned by the
State department of labor to the industrial-studies division for more
effective coordination of effort in the enforcement of the child labor
law. Evidence or complaints of specific violations of the law which
come to the attention of the bureau staff are referred to the adviser
in charge of the industrial-studies division, who refers them for
investigation to the deputy inspectors assigned to the bureau, now
three in number. The superintendent of compulsory education,
school principals, teachers, children, parents, and neighbors have
made more complaints as they have learned of this machinery for
inspection available thus directly through the vocational-guidance
bureau. Copies of the reports of all inspections made by the special
deputy factory inspectors assigned to the bureau are filed with the
bureau. One of the most valuable results of this work, from the
point of view of the bureau, has been the light which a study of -the
cases reported upon has thrown upon the causes of child labor law
violations.
PUBLICITY
The need for effective publicity in “ putting across ” its vocationalguidance and stay-in-school program has been understood thor
oughly by the Chicago bureau. The program includes preparing
and publishing pamphlets for the information of children, teachers,
and parents; preparing and displaying posters and charts for use
in the schools; sending letters to individual children and parents;
and holding conferences with school principals, counselors, and
teachers.
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CHICAGO
175
For children intending tp leave school and go to work an illus
trated leaflet explaining in simple terms the provisions of the Illinois
child labor and continuation school laws has been issued. Three
illustrated pamphlets intended for the information of children who
expect to graduate from or to drop out of the grades advertising
the opportunities for training offered by the high schools of Chicago
have also been prepared.1'
Copies of one of these pamphlets, “ Are You Thinking—Do You
Want to Learn in Order to Earn? ” were sent' out in June, 1921, to
each member of the eighth grade throughout the city, accompanied
by the following letter signed by the superintendent of schools:
Chicago, III., June 16l, 1921.
Deajb-------- : I wish to congratulate you because you are about to graduate
from the eighth grade. Vacation is a time for play and for accumulating
strength and energy for new effort. I hope that you are planning to make
the most of it in preparation for your entrance into high school.
There has never been a time when the business world demanded so much
from men and women as now. There has never been a time when the schools
could do so much to train boys and girls for work as now. You will be much
better fitted for life and work if you enter one of Chicago’s high schools and
complete a course of training there.
I trust th at you are already considering the course which you will take.
The booklets which you receive at this time have been prepared to help you in
making a wise choice. Take them home and talk over your plans with your
parents.
With the earnest hope th at September will find you enrolled in one of
Chicago’s high schools, I am,
------------------ ,
Yours very truly,
Superintendent of Schools.
A leaflet, f Conditions Which Children Face To-day When They
Leave School for Employment,” has been issued for the use of teachers in impressing upon their pupils the value of education and
the importance of remaining in school. I t contains statistical evi
dence in popular form illustrating the industrial conditions at the
beginning of 1922 when the bulletin was issued and when unem
ployment was prevalent.
Two other bulletins deal with the value of college training. One,
“ Information for the Prospective College Student,” is intended pri
marily for the high-school student; it describes the vocational sig
nificance of a college education and gives practical information on
the kinds of training afforded by different colleges and the require
ments for admission that will help the student to make a wise choice
of college or university and insure his getting the right kind of
preparation for admission. Another, “ You and College Training,”
puts up to the young high-school student the question whether or
not he is going to college and points out that college education
counts. One of the most recently issued pamphlets, entitled “ A
Chance for Every Child,” describes the special schools for mentally
16 “ Child-labor law, continuation-school law—Illinois laws which protect boys and
girls a t work,” December, 1921. “Are You Thinking—Do You Want to Learn in Order
to Barn? The Chicago Public High Schools Will Show You the Way.” (Board of Edu
cation, Chicago.) “Are You Thinking About Your Future or Just Guessing? An Oppor
tunity to Prepare for Business or Professional Life.” (Board of Education, Chicago,
January, 1922.) “Futures—The Question Is, What Do You Want to Be in the Future
and What Do You Need to Do Now to Achieve Your D esire?” (The vocational-guidance
department of the Chicago Public Schools, 1924—25.)
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v o c a t io n a l
g u id a n c e
and
ju n io r
placem ent
and physically handicapped children in the Chicago public-school
S^A series of illustrated posters on various phases of the work of
the bureau and the opportunities offered by the Chicago schools is
displayed before groups of teachers, children, and the general public.
Education of school principals and teachers with regard to the
services which the bureau offers has not been confined to distribu
tion of literature and display of posters. For several years the
principals of each of the 10 districts in turn have been invited to
s p e c i a l meetings at the offices of the bureau, at which the work has
been explained to them in brief addresses followed by an inspection
of each of the divisions of the bureau in operation.
SCHOLARSHIPS
The great majority of Chicago school children receiving scholar
ships, or grants of money to cover all or part of their living costs
while attending school, receive them through the medium of one of
two agencies—the Vocational-Supervision League and the Scholar
ship Association for Jewish Children, which are given free office
room in the quarters of the vocational-guidance bureau The salaries
of the workers for these organizations and the cost of the scholar
ships are paid from private contributions. Decisions as to individ
ual cases—the children who shall receive scholarships, the amounts
to be paid, and the handling of individual cases—are made by the
committees of the organizations providing the funds In other
respects the work is conducted much as though it were a function of
the vocational-guidance bureau. This is accounted for largely by the
fact that the scholarship program of these agencies was started as an
integral part of the work of the original bureau of vocational guid
ance (see p. 156), and for the first seven years of its existence (19111918) the scholarship work was administered by the director and
vocational advisers of the bureau. Although with the employment
of full-time workers by the scholarship associations the procedure
has become more thorough and systematic than formerly and new
record forms have been developed, cooperation between the scholar
ship agencies and the director and various divisions of the bureau is
still close. Each of the two agencies has a full-time executive officer,
who has a full-time assistant. Both executive officers and their
assistants are trained social case workers.
The number of children granted new scholarships by both agencies
in 1922 was 134.16 “ Active ” scholarship cases m March, 192o, numbered 20017 The following tabular statement, from unpublished
reports of the Vocational-Supervision League (for 1922) and of the
Scholarship Association for Jewish Children (for the year ended
June, 1923), shows the proportion of applicants referred m one year
by various agencies to each of these scholarship organizations^____
i6 Thp fimirp reoresenting the number of new scholarships grunted in
U^ VSupp5eflf by1tLe^Vocational-Supervision League and the Scholarship Association for
Jewish Children in correspondence with the Children s Bureau.
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CHICAGO
177
A pplicants referred to scholarship o rgan ization s; percentages referred in one
yea r by variou s agencies
Scholarship organization
Agency referring
Vocational-guidance bureau and schools_____
Jewish social-service bureau..
Funds to parents’ department of the juvenile court..
United Charities___ ____
Friends and relatives_______
Other___ ___
VocationalSupervision
League
Scholarship
Association
for Jewish
Children
Per cent
50
P er cent
20
10
5
29
34
12
15
m
Each applicant is interviewed with reference to his attitude to
ward school and his special aptitudes, in order that he may be ad
vised with reference to his course of study; he is given an examina
tion by one of the medical examiners of the bureau to determine
whether or not he is physically eligible for a working certificate; a
record of his school standing and a recommendation from his teacher
is obtained; the teacher is personally interviewed and a careful inves
tigation is made of home conditions with reference to the attitude to
ward the child’s continued education, as well as to the financial con
dition of the family. Since April, 1922, all applicants of the Schol
arship Association for Jewish Children, and, since 1924, all those
of the Vocational-Supervision League, have been given mental tests
by the Institute of Juvenile Research.
All the facts are then submitted by the adviser to the case com
mittee for decision as to the granting of the scholarship. No chil
dren are considered eligible for scholarships who can not meet the
requirements for work permits, except children considered by the
Scholarship Association for Jewish Children who are merely under
weight or have certain physical defects for which a certificate is
temporarily withheld and children whose families are not known to
any social agencies. Another factor in eligibility for scholarships is
the family’s need of the children’s earnings. All cases referred to the
Vocational-Supervision League are cleared through the Chicago
Social-Service Exchange, and those referred to the Scholarship Asso
ciation for Jewish Children by the research bureau of the Jewish
Social-Service Bureau. If eligible for aid from other agencies
the children are usually referred to them except where the families
object. Many parents who are willing to accept scholarships, however,
are not willing to apply for aid to the regular charitable institutions.
Children with average intelligence combined with good scholarship
and an earnest desire to stay in school are given equal considera
tion with applicants of superior intelligence. Children with ex
ceptionally fine personalities and qualities of leadership are fa
vored. All other things being equal, it is the policy of both agencies
to give preference to a child who is the oldest of his family, because
of the encouragement to continue in school which the training of
an older child is likely to give to the younger ones. Further
more, an older child who later is able to hold a skilled position
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
will often contribute to the support of the younger ones while they
are in school.
„
The amount of the scholarship granted by the Vocational-Super
vision League varies with the economic need of the family, as deter
mined on the basis of the budgetary standard used by the United
Charities and the Associated Jewish Charities of Chicago. The
grants vary from $4 to $20 a month for 10 months a year; the
average is from $12 to $15. In some cases the child needs only
enough for car fare to and from school, for which $4 a month suffices.
A scholarship of $8 or $10 provides for car fares and lunches.
The Scholarship Association for Jewish Children also applies the
budgetary standard used by the United Charities and the Associated
Jewish Charities. At first scholarships were granted to replace the
child’s probable wages in whole or in part, but for several years they
have been granted on the basis of the cost of the child in the home.
According to the budget which has been adopted, the cost of main
taining a child of 14 in the home is $23 a month when car fare is
needed and $20 a month when it is not, and these sums represent the
maximum scholarships granted; the lowest amount granted is about
$10 a month. Sometimes in the past the scholarships have been
given in the form of loans, upon which no interest is charged and
no time set for repayment, but now this is not done unless it is the
only way to save a child from going to work, because it is con
sidered unfair to the child to allow him to accept so great a respon
sibility.
Usually scholarships from both organizations are not granted for
a definite period, but are kept up until the child has completed his
course or has been obliged to drop out of school because of the inade
quacy of the scholarship to meet his own or his family’s financial
need, or for some other carefully considered reason.
The policy of both agencies has always been to give scholarships
adapted to the individual child. A majority of the children take
vocational courses—hence the term “ vocational scholarships,” com
monly used by both organizations. In the words of the vocational
adviser of the Scholarship Association for Jewish Children: “ Even
when scholarships are granted for the general course the child is
usually expected to take some commercial work in order that he may
be able to earn money to pay for his further education. Since the
scholarship children came of families who are just on the poverty
line, it is believed to be unsound policy not to have the child take
some vocational work while on scholarship which will effect a direct
increase in his earning capacity.”
The courses taken by the children given scholarships by; the schol
arship committee of the Vocational-Supervision League in 1922, as
stated in the league’s unpublished report for that year, are as follows:
Four-year machine shop, 2; four-year business, 12; four-year general,
38; four-year technical, 24; four-year electrical, 1; four-year book
keeping, 1; four-year normal, 3; two-year business, 73; two-year agri
culture, 1 ;’two-year accounting, 3; two-year automobile shop, 1; twoyear bookkeeping, 2; two-year household arts, 1; two-year technical,
23; one-year technical, 2; one-year household arts, 2; grammar gen
eral, 4; grammar prevocational, 2; total, 195.
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CHICAGO
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The 113 children receiving scholarships from the Scholarship As
sociation for Jewish Children in the school year 1922-23 were en
rolled in the following courses: Four-year commercial, 22; four-year
general, 18; four-year science, 7; four-year technical, 10; four-year
architectural, 1; two-year bookkeeping, 11; two-year commercial, 30;
two-year electrical, 2; trade schools, 4; grammar schools, 4; normal
and college, 3; night college, 1; total, 113.
Children who hold scholarships are required to report to the voca
tional counselor of the scholarship agency at her office each month,
to give an account of their school work and to receive their checks.
In addition, the children are visited in their homes at least once a
year by the counselor of the Scholarship Association for Jewish
Children and at least twice a year by the counselor of the VocationalSupervision League. Visits are also made to the teachers when per
sonal interviews regarding the child’s school progress seem desirable.
The scholarship agencies aim to supervise the health of the children
as closely as their school work. Those who are underweight are re
quired to attend nutrition clinics, and the Jewish children are given
the opportunity of two weeks’ free vacation at camp during the sum
mer. At the completion of their scholarship period children are
sent To the placement office of the vocational-guidance bureau, and
special care is taken by the scholarship advisers in seeing that they
are well placed.
A follow-up program with children whose scholarships have ter
minated is carried out by both agencies. To the children who
have been aided by the Scholarship Association for Jewish Children
a questionnaire is sent each spring, inviting them to meet with
the adviser during an evening office hour in the fall, and each child
is given an opportunity each year to go to a summer camp. This
follow-up continues for four or five years. An annual questionnaire
is sent out to “ graduates ” by the Vocational-Supervision League
also. Those who do not respond are visited. The purpose of the
follow-up as stated by the league is to encourage and stimulate the
child’s ambition, to adjust work difficulties, and t® collect statistical
data which will be helpful in advising future scholarship children.
The Scholarship Association for Jewish Children has recently com
pleted a report covering the work done by the organization during
the 11 years of its existence, and the Vocational-Supervision
League is preparing a statistical chart based on its scholarship cases.
OTHER VOCATIONAL-GUIDANCE ACTIVITIES IN THE
SCHOOLS
SCHOOL COUNSELING AND PLACEMENT
The High Schools.
During the period 1910 to 1920, contemporaneously with the de
velopment of the central bureau for vocational guidance, similar
activities were developed in some of the high schools of the city.
They were confined, however, chiefly to obtaining positions for mem
bers of the graduating classes, especially those in the commercial and ,
technical courses. Centralization of placement work in the high
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VOCATIONAL GUTDAifCE AND JU N IO R P L A C E M E N
schools had been partly effected for only one group of pupils—the
graduates of the commercial courses, many of whom found work
through the office of the supervisor of commercial education for all
the high schools. The Lucy Flower Technical High School for Girls
did all its placement through the vocational-guidance bureau, but
few of the others appear to have made much use of the facilities
offered by the bureau.
In the fall of 1920 a meeting of high-school principals was called
by the superintendent of schools to consider methods of centralizing
and developing vocational-guidance work in the high schools. As
a result of the recommendations of a committee appointed at this
meeting, composed of supervisors, principals, and teachers, the super
intendent of schools put a plan into operation January 1, 1921, the
principal features of which were the appointment, by the principal
of each high school, of one teacher to serve as vocational adviser for
the school and cooperation by the high-school advisers with the
placement division of the bureau. The superintendent’s plan for
cooperation consisted in sending to the division a record of all appli
cations, placements, employers’ calls, and notices of return to school;
of receiving calls for workers from the placement division; and of
reporting calls which could not be filled. To facilitate the centrali
zation of this work a special department of high-school placement
was established in the placement division of the bureau.
All except one of the 24 high schools of Chicago now have voca
tional counselors, each of whom is also a member of the teaching
staff. At the time information regarding them was obtained
(November, 1923) 12 of these 23 teachers were in commercial de
partments, 1 was in an industrial department, and the rest were in
academic or special departments. Fourteen had had working ex
perience other than teaching, at least during the summer vacation.
Only about half of the number had been granted school time for
counseling, the amount ranging from four periods a week to half the
total hours of work.
The activities'of the counselors vary widely. In several schools
where counseling is in the first stages of organization counselors see
only those pupils who voluntarily seek advice. A few interview
children withdrawing from school as well as graduates of the twoyear and four-year courses. I f possible, the former are persuaded
to continue for the four-year course and the latter advised as to
methods of finding employment or informed of college-entrance re
quirements. Four or five counselors even undertake some follow-up
of graduates, though usually only of students in vocational courses or
those who have been placed in positions by members of the teaching
staff. Each of the high-school advisers is responsible to his school
principal and can try out new plans only with the latter’s approval.
Thus, although the advisers represent their schools at the monthly
meetings with the director, they can not be held responsible to the
central office of the bureau for program or accomplishment. Active
cooperation with the central office is also voluntary with the school.
The time at the disposal of the advisers, their personal interest, and
the attitude of the principal are the controlling forces. All except
one of these high schools, however, use the placement division of the
bureau, and several of them depend upon it altogether. Other
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schools are reluctant to relinquish placement work, for although none
of their advisers has time to maintain an adequate system of rec
ords, to visit or solicit openings from employers, to fill calls quickly
except at the end of the term, or to make many replacements, these
schools hold that both commercial and industrial departments gain
prestige among the students and their parents through placing their
own students.
.
6
No central supervision of the field of educational counseling in
the high schools has been effected. Each high school follows its own
plan in placing students in courses adapted to their needs and abili
ties. Although a beginning has been made in giving to eighth-grade
pupils an understanding of what secondary schools have to offer
(see p. 182) as a result of the efforts of the vocational-guidance
bureau, only a few children are yet adequately reached in this way.
Most children still attach little importance to the kind of course in
which they are enrolling, accident playing a large part in the child’s
selection of technical, commercial, trade, or academic courses; and
high schools are crowded so far beyond capacity that when the new
students appear at the beginning of the term refinements of guidance
are precluded by the difficulty of placing the students anywhere.
The usual procedure is to assemble the new students, explain to them
the high-school courses, and assign them to sections. Adjustments
are made by the method of trial and error. The counselor, engaged
in teaching most of the day, has little time to cope with the individual
problems of several hundred new pupils. I f he has time to interthose pupils who have the initiative to seek him out with their
difficulties he does well. Third or fourth year pupils are likely to
receive more^ attention. Care is given—usually by the school coun
selor to their accumulation of credits for graduation and college en
trance. One or two counselors are able to discuss future plans with
almost all the seniors individually. Several school counselors in the
commercial department report success in persuading children who
had planned to leave after two years to complete the four-year
course. The most intensive work is probably accomplished by those
counselors who in their „own classes have introduced into the course
of study a discussion of the importance-of education, the choice of a
career, and general consideration of the world of work.
The Elementary Schools.
No organized attempts at counseling and placement of students
m the elementary grades have been made by members of the school
staffs. Practically all the work done with this group of pupils is
handled by the vocational-guidance bureau through its district ad
visers and visiting teachers, and these, as has been said, reach few
children individually except those who are leaving school for work
and the members of the graduating classes of a few schools.
The high schools, however, have attempted to interest in highschool work children graduating from the elementary grades. The
vocational advisers of the various high schools address the gradu
ating classes of the elementary schools in their districts. Some of
the high schools also hold so-called “ eighth-grade days.” For a
number of years two of the technical high schools have invited all
the children in the eighth grades in their districts to visit the high
18835°—25---- 13
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
school on a special day near the close of each semester, and while
not general nor developed to the same extent throughout the city
this movement has spread to a number of high schools and has been
especially stimulated by the district advisers of the vocationalguidance bureau in the districts to which they have been assigned.
(See p. 162.)
. ■ 9.
. ,
Since the vocational-guidance program m the high schools has
been carried on in cooperation with the bureau the movement to
interest elementary-school children in a high-school' course has had
further stimulus through the opportunity for conference on methods
between the advisers of different high schools and through the prep
aration and distribution by the bureau of booklets describing the
work offered in the secondary schools. The program adopted m
the different schools varies considerably and is admittedly experi
mental. The following description of the plans carried out by sev
eral high schools illustrates the cooperation given the elementary
schools by the district advisers and visiting teachers of the bureau:
Introducing eighth-grade pupils to high school.—All too often the child apply
ing for an employment certificate says, MI left school because I graduated.
The high-school advisers and principals have many plans on foot this spring
to impress upon eighth-grade pupils the need for further education and to
interest them in high-school work.
.
,
:
'
In one district high-school life is presented to the graduating class of each
grammar school by high-school freshmen, a boy and a girl, who have come
from th at particular school. Technical high schools are also represented by
their students, usually upper classmen, who go out to extend the invitation
for “ home day ” or “ field day ” and distribute the booklets which show the
technical and commercial work being done in the school. In nearly all of
the other districts the adviser or the high-school principal talks to the gram
mar-school pupils. The vocational adviser of one high school is planning to
give talks in three of the parochial schools of the district. In the larger dis
tricts the work of visiting the grammar schools may be divided among several
of the teachers. Medill High School sends out two teachers, one to present
the commercial work, one the academic. In many schools the grade teachers
prepare the way by talking to their pupils before the high-school^ representative
comes. One adviser makes a second visit to answer any questions the pupils
may ask and to help them sign up for their high-school courses. Other ad
visers and principals encourage pupils to sign up for their high-school courses
in the spring.
.
_
. ..
While there is little chance for individual interview or home visit, one
adviser arranges to talk to some of the eighth-grade classes a t night when
parents can come with their children. She always interviews as many chil
dren as possible after her talk to the group. Where there are district advisers
and visiting teachers, she interviews each child who is not planning to go to
high school and makes home visits where it seems advisable to consult the
parents. At one school the visiting teacher reports that among the February
graduates while only four or five boys and two girls said they were going to
high school when the question was first asked them, as a result of her work
the number was increased to 17 among the boys and 11 among the girls. At
the Raymond School the visiting teacher is planning to visit the homes ot all
the graduates to talk over high-school prospects. She has arranged for^ sev
eral talks to the eighth grades by men and women prominent in professional
a u u uusim sas
uj lc .
.
. . .
,
. ••• .
'
This plan of reaching grade pupils gives opportunity to show just what may
be expected of the various high-school courses and to urge the four-year rather
than the two-year courses. The booklets prepared by the vocational-guidance
bureau to advertise high-school courses are widely used in this connection.
* * * [the] adviser a t the Flower High School * * * takes with her
various things made in the school—hats, handbags, dresses, etc. to give con
crete evidence of the value of the training offered. She also visits neighboring
high schools to explain the five-month postgraduate course in commercial work
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offered at the Flower High School. Advisers and teachers who go to talk to
the grades find that the pupils who enter high school are glad to have some one
they already know and to whom they can come for help in making adjustments.
A few high schools have “ home day ” for the eighth-grade pupils and their
parents and teachers. The open-house day a t Harrison was reported in last
month’s issue of the News. Lake View High School has a visiting day, with
a program arranged for pupils and teachers. At the Lucy Flower High School
there is usually a spring fashion show when the high-school girls show the
gowns, hats, suits, and other things they have made. At Philips High School
the program for “ grammar-school day,” to be held May 25, will include a
demonstration by the commercial-course pupils, aesthetic dances, which
the girls have learned in the gymnasium, and music by thé high-school
orchestra. At Lane Technical High School all the time is given to visit
ing the shops, classrooms, and gymnasiums. Several of the other schools which
have no home day encourage classes from the grammar schools to visit them.
Tilden High School has from 1,800 to 2,000 such visitors each semester. Field
day in some schools affords the grammar-school children a chance to see some
thing of the high school.
Probably many other methods would be brought out by a thorough survey,
since there are many efforts being made which are less direct and less dramatic.
For instance, photographs of the shops in Lane Technical High School are sold
to students at two for a cent so that pupils may have them to show to their
parents and friends. Advisers often arrange scholarships or find after-school
jobs for bright children who would otherwise have to leave school.“
I t has been recommended by the bureau that the system of assign
ing members of the staff of individual schools to serve as vocational
advisers, already in effect in the high schools of the city, be ex
tended to the elementary schools and that in these schools this func
tion be assigned to the assistant principal or head teacher. Their
responsibility would not include the interviewing of applicants for
work permits, which would still be handled by the district repre
sentatives of the bureau.
LECTURES AND COURSES GIVING VOCATIONAL INFORMATION
The High Schools.
No organized program for giving vocational information to school
children has been developed in Chicago.18*1 In the majority of the
high schools, however, the value of directing the pupils’ attention to
the problems and demands of vocational life is at least partly recog
nized. Talks on these subjects are given from time to time either by
business men of the city, or, less frequently, by vocational advisers
or by teachers in their regular classes. No regular time has been set
aside in each school for this work; in some schools such talks are
given not more often than once each semester, and in only a
very few as often as once a month. Even when instruction is
given by teachers it is usually informal and irregular and incidental
to the subject matter of some regular course, such as industrial
history and civics. Since vocational advisers have been appointed
for the high schools and closer cooperation with the vocationalguidance bureau has been established, the study of occupations
as a part of the high-school curriculum has been given consid
erable impetus. In half a dozen schools recently the vocational
18Vocational-Guidance News (published by vocational-guidance bureau), May, 1923.
®In Ifebruary, 1925, it was reported th at class work in the study of occupations
had been authorized for Chicago high schools, ultimately to cover a full semester course.
Kight high schools had organized classes, either elective or required or b o th ; one gave
a six-weeks course; six gave two weeks to the study of occupations, in their civics
classes; nine gave only the required civics courses.
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VOCATIONAL. GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
advisers have organized short courses in occupational information
averaging about 1 0 days in length in connection with other subjects,
usually civics, social science, or English. In most of these courses
each student is required to study at least one occupation. An outline
prepared by the vocational-guidance bureau is followed except in
one school, which uses an outline prepared by the Harvard Bureau
of Vocational Guidance. (See p. 16.) Some of the courses are
optional, but others reach all the students in the grade for which
the course is given, as, for example, the second year or the graduating
class. In one school where this course is regularly given each year in
connection with the study of English every student is reached.19
In a few schools a textbook is used in connection with the course on
vocational information.
The Elementary Schools.
In the elementary schools practically no study of occupations has
been undertaken formally, but the vocational-guidance bureau is
preparing a course for use in the elementary schools. I t will include
studies of the occupations in which the children are particularly
interested—the kind of work each involves and the preparation
necessary to enter it. The bureau has also prepared an outline
which, it is hoped, may be used in the first semester of the eighth
grade.19a
THE USE OF MENTAL TESTS AS A FACTOR IN GUIDANCE
The use of mental tests as a basis for educational and vocational
guidance is hardly begun in Chicago. Individual mental tests are
given by the child-study department of the board of education
primarily to select candidates for special rooms for defectives. The
child-study department and two other public institutions (the
Central Free Dispensary and the Institute for Juvenile Research, a
State agency) which specialize in the study of such cases also
examine children who are suspected of being psychopathic or who
present recognized behavior problems. The recommendations made
refer to mental, physical, and social treatment and not to educa
tional or occupational direction. Both scholarship organizations
(see p. ITT) refer all applicants to the Institute for Juvenile Research
for individual psychological tests. A special study of certificated
children who had had difficulties in holding their positions was made
in 1922 for the vocational-guidance bureau by the psychiatrist of
the Central Free Dispensary. Apart from this no use has been made
by placement workers of mental or other tests as an aid to the
understanding of vocational problems or as a means of determining
the qualifications of individual children for different kinds of
occupations.
Little use is m^de of mental testing as a basis for the classification
of school children. Under the direction of the bureau of stand18 Vocational-Guidance News (published by vocational-guidance bureau), January, April,
Riicl Mry, 1023.
m i n 1924-25 the bureau prepared a set of five “ Lessons on High-School Courses and
the Value of an Education ” to be given in all the 8A grades of the Chicago schools.
Attractively arranged and illustrated lesson sheets were prepared for the use of the
children, who were urged to take them home to their parents, and teachers’ lesson sheets
amplified the material presented in the children’s sheets.
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ards and statistics of the public schools the pupils of a few ele
mentary schools have been given group tests and divided on this
basis into three sections, rather for the purpose of improving teach
ing facilities than as a means for providing educational guidance.
In three of the high schools mental tests have been given for the
purpose of classifying first-year pupils into groups according to
their abilities, and in one of these, a technical high school, the tests
have been used to some extent as a basis for vocational guidance.
THE SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND CURRICULUM IN
RELATION TO GUIDANCE
DAY SCHOOLS
Prevocational Courses.
. Chicago has not adopted the junior high school plan of organization.19b Neither has the city any regular day schools or special
courses giving direct trade preparation for boys or girls.
Prevocational courses are given for retarded boys and girls of
the fifth ,190 sixth, seventh, and eighth grades and afford an oppor
tunity for trying out aptitudes along different industrial lines. The
classes are held in five high-school buildings. Pupils therefore have
the opportunity of using the regular high-school equipment and of
working with other pupils of their own age. In at least one school
students taking the prevocational course may be promoted by sub
ject so that a boy or girl may enroll in regular high-school courses
m practical subjects while pursuing academic work as part of the
prevocational class. The success of these courses in holding children
whom the elementary school has failed to interest is shown by the
fact that a very large proportion—85 to 90 per cent—after their
graduation enter the regular four-year or two-year secondary course
in the school which they have been attending.
In addition to the prevocational courses, 40 of the 268 regular
elementary schools offer special industrial courses for children of
14 who have not completed the sixth grade and to children of 15
or over who have not completed the seventh and eighth grades. They
differ from the regular courses prescribed for these grades in giving
more time to handwork.
Vocational Courses.
While there are no regular trade or vocational day schools receiving State aid,^ the technical high schools and the technical courses
m the other high schools offer a wide choice of four-year and twoyear courses in industrial and commercial subjects, many of which
have definite vocational value. The two-year vocational courses, as
they are called, are specifically designed to meet the needs of elementarv-school graduates who wish to prepare themselves as soon as
possible to enter skilled or semiskilled positions in business or in
dustry.^ They differ, however, from the usual trade courses in that
a sufficient amount of school time is given to academic subjects to
SePtember, 1924, Are junior high schools were opened, and it is planned grad
u a l^ 10 reorganize too school system on the junior high school plan.
s
ciassese8:ilinmg September* 1924> fifth-grade pupils were not admitted to prevocational
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
enable the student to change to the four-year course after completing
two years of work.
.. . „ , ,
A general two-year course of standard college grade is offered by
the public schools in the Crane Junior College. The extension ox
this work to a four-year course is under consideration. In connec
tion with one of the high schools a junior college of commerce and
administration is conducted 5 this also is of standard college grade.
A five-month intensive course in typewriting and stenography tor
high-school graduates is given in five high-school buildings.
Apprenticeship Schools.
Another and more unusual type of vocational training offered by
the Chicago public-school system is the courses which for some years
have been given in a number of trades for apprentices who are
trade-union members. Under an agreement made in 1901 between
the district council of the Carpenters’ union and the carpenters and
contractors’ association and the Chicago Board of Education appren
tices were laid off during January, February, and March of each
of the four years of their apprenticeship, during which time they
were required to attend school for eight periods a day and were paid
their regular wages if they attended school daily. This apprentice
school was later made a department of the technical high schools.
In 1912 and 1913, through similar agreements between the employers
and organized workers, classes in the technical high schools were
started for electrical workers’ apprentices, plumbers’ and gasfitters
helpers, and machinists’ apprentices. These also were four-year
courses, but, unlike the carpenters’ course, were given one-half day
a week throughout the school year. Advisory councils composed ot
representatives of the employers and the unions were appointed on
invitation of the board of education to advise the school officials
with reference to the course of study and other matters relating
to the conduct of the school.20
Courses are now conducted for apprentices who are union mem
bers in the trades mentioned, and for pattern makers, sheet-metal
workers, bakers, watch and clock makers, tailors, and cobblers.21 Ex
cept those for plumbers and for bakers, which are still held m one of
the technical high schools, the courses are given in a building espe
cially devoted to continuation classes and since 1919, when the Illinois
continuation-school law was passed, have been conducted under the
supervision of the director of continuation schools. Except ^the
course for carpenters’ apprentices all these classes are now organized
on the short-unit plan, covering 1 0 weeks each.
Special Classes.
Chicago has a well-organized system of special rooms, and the
procedure for selecting children for such rooms is well established
and operating effectively. All schools and classes for the-mentally
and physically handicapped who are recommended for attendance
by th.e child-study department are under the direction of a director
of special schools. The special schools include 108 special rooms for
20 Accounts of the work of the apprenticeship classes are in the reports of the Chicago
Board of Education for 1913, pp. 154-155, 162-164.
21 It is reported (1925) th at the last three have been discontinued.
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mentally retarded children, 4 schools for crippled children, 6 classes
for the blind in addition to sight-saving classes, 4 classes for the deaf
and semideaf, 58 open-air rooms for anemic and pretuberculous chil
dren, and 3 rooms for epileptics. Twelve teachers are employed
to give instruction to pupils having speech defects. There are also
classes in a number of hospitals and sanatoria and in the institutions
for juvenile delinquents. In 1922 more than 5,000 children were
enrolled in special classes.
In 1924, 2 ,2 0 0 children (one-half of 1 per cent of the net enroll
ment of the Chicago public schools, exclusive of normal, evening, and
continuation schools) were enrolled in special classes for the men
tally defective.
CONTINUATION SCHOOLS
Chicago children under 16 who have left school for work, unless
they are graduates of a four-year high-school course, are obliged to
remain under the supervision of the board of education for two half
days a week or one full eight-hour day during 50 weeks a year, total
ing as large a number of hours’ attendance at continuation school as
is required in any city of the United States. In 1923 all minors
under 17 could be obliged to attend continuation school: in 1924 all
under 18.22
The function of the part-time school for employed minors as an
agency for vocational direction is well recognized in the program of
the Chicago continuation schools. Although as yet no plans have
been put into operation for coordinating the home, the work, and the
school life of the student by allowing teachers time for visits to
homes and places of employment or assigning special workers to this
task, the director of continuation schools clearly recognizes the need
for such work, and its systematic development is reported as waiting
only upon the appropriation of adequate funds.
In addition to a commercial continuation school for boys and
girls employed in offices and stores in the “ loop ” district, which has
a number of branches in different parts of the city, four other
continuation schools have been established—one for boys only, one
for girls only, and two for both boys and girls. The work of the
continuation schools consists of academic subjects—English, mathe
matics, civics—and shop or commercial work related to the occupa
tions of the pupils. Homemaking courses are provided for girls.
The commercial continuation schools offer instruction in a large
number of subjects such as accounting, stenography, general office
practice, and salesmanship, and in the operation of practically all
kinds of mechanical appliances used in offices. A special course of
study adapted to the requirements of the banking business is offered
to boys who are employed in banks. For boys who prefer manual
work to office work a general shop is provided. The continuation
schools in the stockyards district, for boys employed in the offices of
packing houses, have a commercial course organized with special ref
erence to the packing industry.
23 Illinois, Acts of 1919, p. 919, as amended by Acts of 1921, p. 815. On Nov. 1, 1924
the age limit of attendance a t Chicago continuation schools was raised to 17 years,
*
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE A ND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
In the other schools the possibility of relating vocational studies
to the students’ occupations is much more limited because of the
nature of the work m which the majority are employed—chiefly
errand work or unskilled work in factories. In the boys’ courses in
these schools the “ cycle ” plan of rotation in different kinds of shopwork is followed. In one school three shops are used in this pro
gram; in another, four. The following description of the plan of
study followed in one of these schools indicates the way in which the
continuation school functions as a vocational-guidance agency.
A large proportion of the children are in jobs th at have little or no educa
tional significance. This fact has led to considerable thought on the prob
lem of presenting something in the school th at will assist the child in finding
himself. * * *
T H E “ CYCLE” P L A N
The “ cycle ” plan as it is carried out a t Washburne Continuation School is
a device whereby the boy is given an opportunity to test out his inclinations
and abilities for- vocations, to further vocational training and general educa
tion, and to help the boy find his place in the community in which he lives.
To accomplish this the year is divided into four periods of approximately
12 weeks each. During each of these periods the boy is given experiences
representing those of a worker in the important occupations of the community.
This division of the year makes it possible to carry on eight distinct lines of
occupational activity during the two years the 14 to 16 year old boy is in
school. Unless a very pronounced like or dislike for any one department is
expressed the boy is expected to rotate through each department with the
group to which he has been assigned.
While the experiences in these major subjects are important they are not
sufficient in themselves. Other and vital vocational information must be given
in order to acquaint the boy with conditions he may expect to find on the job.
He must know something of the supply and demand of labor in each field, the
physical and educational qualifications of the tradesman, the desirable and
undesirable features of the trade, the continuity of work throughout the
year, wages, and length of training period.
The so-called academic subjects are not neglected under the cycle plan. The
boy does get training in drawing, English, mathematics, civics, science, and
good health, motivated, in the first place, by the concrete situations presented
by the major subjects; in the second place, by his present jo b ; and in the third
place, by the demands of his home and community life._ Such a scheme de
mands intimate acquaintance with the individual and with the life in which
he is to live.
,
M ,
Statistics have been compiled which show th at most boys of the type attend
ing the Washburne Continuation School will eventually find themselves in
industry. A boy 14 years of age is not too young to begin the development
of a mechanical sense. That mechanical sense will carry back and forth
between similar trades. The shops and departments represented in the cycle
plan, then, not only are representative of the machinist trade, the sheet-metal
worker’s trade, and the like but of many other trades which have much in
common with these.
,
....
...
It is believed for the cycle plan, if conscientiously carried out, that it will
afford a basis for a more intelligent choice of vocation, will get the boy ready
for a trade, and will give some training therein. It will reduce labor turnover,
will prevent misfits, and will give a basis for appreciation of labor and the
products of labor. I t will open the door of opportunity to every individual
according to his tastes and his native capacity .23
SUMMARY
The movement for vocational guidance in Chicago had its begin
nings for the most part outside the public-school system. A group
23 Third Annual Report of the Public Continuation Schools of Chicago, for year ended
July 1, 1921, pp. 13-15.
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of workers primarily interested in the social and economic rather
than the educational aspects of the problem sought to stem the tide
of premature school leaving and haphazard drifting into jobs by a
system of investigation of occupational opportunities, counseling,
and placement which developed into an organized bureau of voca
tional supervision. Although the work was initiated and for some
years carried on by private enterprise its sponsors from the first con
ceived of it as a function which properly belongs to the public-school
system. Cooperation with school authorities was gradually devel
oped until in 1916 the entire personnel and program, except raising
and administering scholarship funds, were taken over as the voca
tional-guidance bureau of the board of education. Later, as a means
of reaching school “ drop outs,” the bureau was given the duty of
issuing employment certificates.
Up to the present time the bureau has reached principally the
group of children under 16 (that is, of employment-certificate age)
who are definitely planning to leave school for work. Its efforts
therefore have been directed largely, first, toward convincing this
group of children of the meager opportunities for work open to per
sons of their limited training and persuading them to return to
school; and second, toward obtaining for those who could not be pre
vailed upon to continue their education such work as offered the
most promising future. To these ends it has developed' a system of
disseminating information regarding various types of school oppor
tunities, of awarding scholarships to children eligible for work per
mits, and of investigating industries and local establishments.
The bureau recognizes the limitations of a program of vocational
guidance which does not begin until the child is leaving school and
which reaches only children applying for work permits. I t is at
tempting to reach a much wider group of pupils through the estab
lishment of a placement service for high-school graduates and “ drop
outs” and through cooperation with a corps of vocational advisers
in the high schools who are members of the teaching staff in their
respective schools. The assignment of vocational advisers from the
bureau staff to the various school districts, developed primarily as
a means of better administration of the employment-certificate
system, promises fruitful results as a medium of vocational guidance
in the elementary schools.
Except in the appointment of vocational advisers from the teach
ing staff of the individual high schools little organized effort toward
the development of a vocational-guidance program has been made
by individual schools. Vocational information as a part of the
school curriculum has been little developed although a beginning
has been made in some high schools. The machinery for classifying
students from the results of a general program of mental testing,
now being tried out in a number of cities, is lacking in the Chicago
schools. Prevocational courses held in five of the technical high
schools offer a rotation of shop courses for a limited number of re
tarded children of the upper elementary grades, but opportunities
for try-outs in different types of courses in the intermediate grades
are not available to the student in the Chicago schools as they are in
certain of the cities where a junior high school system has been de
veloped.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
CINCINNATI
I
HISTORY OF THE VOCATIONAL-GUIDANCE MOVEMENT
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE VOCATION BUREAU
The vocation bureau of the Cincinnati Board of Education is the
joint product of private initiative and public-school cooperation.1
When in 1910 a State child labor law went into effect, which for
the first time gave the public schools supervision over young wage
earners by making the schools responsible for the issuance of employ
ment certificates to children leaving school for work, the director
of the Schmidlapp Bureau of Cincinnati, a private memorial fund
devoted to promoting the educational interests of girls and young
women, and a representative of the local branch of the National
Child Labor Committee, both of whom perceived the almost unlim
ited possibilities for research offered by employment-certificate rec
ords, undertook, through the cooperation of the superintendent of
schools and the financial assistance of a number of private citizens,
to organize and administer the new certificate-issuing office, in order
to facilitate investigation of the various phases of the problem of
child labor. Thus from the beginning the vocation bureau had the
twofold function, by which it is still characterized, of administration
and research.
This work was begun in 1911 with a budget of $5,000, the money
for which was contributed from private sources. During the next
four years the bureau was occupied with the administration of the
employment-certificate provision of the child labor law and with an
intensive study of a selected group of working children. This study
included physical and mental examinations both of the working chil
dren and of a comparable group of school children and visits to the
homes and places of employment of the workers.2
Between 1915 and 1921 the bureau took on additional duties and
functions. In 1915 a placement department was organized. In
1916 the psychological department, which up to that time had been
used only for special research, was designated by the board of edu
cation to select children for the special classes for mental defectives
an<J later was given the task of testing children for all kinds of
special classes (see pp. 219-220), of giving group intelligence tests in
the schools as an aid in classifying pupils, and of supervising the
mental testing of children in juvenile-court cases. The work of the
?
1 Vocation Bureau. Cincinnati Public Schools, 1922.
»The complete report of the results of this investigation, A Comparative Study of 500
School and Working Children, is in press. Among the brief published reports based on
the findings a r e : ‘ Charting childhood in Cincinnati,” by Helen Thompson Woolley, in
The Survey, Aug. 9, 1913; “ Facts about the working children of Cincinnati and their
bearing upon educational problems,” by Helen Thompson Woolley, in The Elementary
School Teacher, Vol. XIV, Nos. 2-3, Oetober-November, 1913; Mental and Physical
Measurements of Working Children, by Helen Thompson Woolley and Charlotte Rust
Fischer (The Psychological Monographs, The Psychological Review Co., Princeton, N. J.,
and Lancaster, Pa., Vol. XVIII, No. 1, December, 1914) ; “ The issuing of working per
mits and its bearing on other school problems,” by Helen Thompson Woolley, in School
and Society, vol. 1, No. 21 (May 22, 1915), pp. 726-733,
191
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
psychological department of the bureau was still further extended
in 1920 by the organization of a division of educational tests and
measurements to train teachers in giving standardized educational
tests and to supervise the administration and evaluation of such tests.
In the same year the bureau organized a volunteer committee for
the supervision of feeble-minded young persons in industry, a piece
of work which was later transferred to certain social agencies that
agreed to cooperate in it. As early as 1918, first in cooperation with
the women’s committee of the Council of National Defense and
later as one of its own activities, the bureau undertook the admin
istration of a scholarship fund to keep in school promising children
who would otherwise be obliged to go to work at an early age. In
1920, in recognition of the close relation between school-attendance
work and the other activities of the bureau, and of the essentially
social nature of this work, the attendance department of the schools
was transferred to the vocation bureau. Closely allied with the
work of the attendance department but an outgrowth of the mental
testing work for the juvenile court was the appointment in 1920
of an “ adjustment officer ” on the staff of the bureau, whose duty
it is to deal with school children guilty of various minor delin
quencies.
The bureau did not attempt to develop vocational counseling in
the schools, but beginning with 1919 it instituted a series of confer
ences between the director of the bureau and teachers representing
various schools, for the discussion of the work of the bureau and its
use by teachers, and in 1921 it began a series of pamphlets on indus
tries and occupations for schoolroom use by issuing a pamphlet for
teachers on the study of occupations and the teaching of classes in
occupations.3
With the enlargement of the bureau’s work a constantly increasing
proportion of its budget has been appropriated, from public-school
funds. “ The advantage to the bureau in having private funds at
its disposal,” reads the official survey of the work of the vocation
bureau, “ is that it becomes possible to try some experiments which
could not be financed by public funds. As soon as a piece of work
has demonstrated its value it becomes possible to demand public
money for it.” *
,,
OTHER VOCATIONAL-GUIDANCE ACTIVITIES IN THE PUBLIC
SCHOOLS
Prior to 1911 circulars explaining the character of the various
high-school courses offered in the Cincinnati public-school system
had been distributed to eighth-grade pupils. B ut in 1911 the H igh
School Teachers' Association began an organized effort to give sys
tematic guidance throughout the high-school course, through the ap
pointment of a committee on vocational guidance with a subcom
mittee in each high school. Attem pts were made to put books on
vocational guidance in each high-school library, to obtain pam
phlets on occupations and on the requisite training for different
kinds o f work, to assist principals in explaining high-school courses
—-------------------—
; :—:------- :—:------------ :---------1—;---------; m----- • ““ ~ ~
3 An Introduction to the Study of Occupations. Vocational Pamphlet No. 1. Cincin
nati Public Schools. 1921.
* Vocation Bureau, p. 5. Cincinnati Public Schools, 1922.
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193
to eighth-grade pupils, to obtain speakers on vocations, and to inter
view each high-school pupil in regard to his future plans.5 The next
year one of the high-school teachers was appointed director of voca
tional guidance or “ vocational service ” on a part-time basis, and
parts of a program worked out in cooperation with the teachers
were introduced in about 2 0 elementary schools and 1 high school.6
During the next few years 7 the principal activity in the ele
mentary schools consisted of giving vocational information and in
formation on high-school courses and the vocational value of each.
Committees of teachers were appointed to make studies of occupa
tions, vocational information was correlated with other school sub
jects, and the civics course was reorganized to include topics on voca
tional and community life. The need of prevocational training for
children not planning to go to high school was emphasized. Teach
ers were urged to study the personal characteristics of these pupils
and to tell them of opportunities in the trades. A guidance card
recording pupils’ characteristics was experimented with. In the
high school each group of 30 pupils had an adviser who followed up
students in danger of failing, attempted to familiarize pupils with
the requirements and opportunities of various occupations, and gave
advice in regard to the choice of a college or an occupation. Teach
ers and outside speakers gave addresses on vocational subjects, fol
lowing a prescribed outline, and vocational information was corre
lated with the work in English. The high-school program was felt
to be considerably handicapped by the fact that advisers were full
time teachers, but though the director of vocational guidance urffed
the necessity of giving the advisers time from their teaching schedule
for their counseling work this was not done for some time.
The organization of the Cincinnati Civic and Vocational League
in 1915, through the cooperation of the board of education and the
local chamber of commerce, considerably affected the vocationalguidance work in the schools. The purpose of the league was “ to
bring boys and girls more closely in touch with all good community
activities and to assist them to take an active and valuable place in
their chosen vocations,” 8 by organizing civics classes into clubs for
the study of civic and vocational activities. From this time on voca
tional guidance in the schools tended to give more and more em
phasis to the development of civic courses, to excursions to places of
employment, and to lectures on vocational subjects by outside
speakers. In 1916 the director of vocational guidance recommended
the appointment of a person to make occupational studies, the estab
lishment of a research course for teachers in occupations, including
industrial excursions, the further development of club work under
the Civic and Vocational League, and a “ thorough trial under favor
able conditions ” of the teacher-adviser plan in the high schools.9
With the development of the vocation bureau the direction and
supervision of vocational-guidance activities in the schools were
5 Eighty-second Annual Report of the Public Schools of Cincinnati for the School Year
Ending Aug. 31, 1911, pp. 33-34.
4 Eighty-third Annual Report for the School Year Ending Aug. 31, 1912, pp. 54-56.
Cincinnati Public Schools.
7 See annual reports of the Cincinnati public schools, eighty-fourth (1913), pp. 218222; eighty-fifth (1914), pp. 90—91, 256—271; eighty-sixth (1915), pp. 185—194.
8The Cincinnati Civic and Vocational League (leaflet).
* Eighty-seventh Annual Report of the Public Schools of Cincinnati for the School Year
Ending Aug. 31, 1916, p. 134.
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
gradually transferred to that agency. Such activities as had been
developed under the teacher-director of vocational guidance unless
specifically provided for in the plans of the vocation bureau con
tinued to develop only in accordance with the interest in vocational
o-uidance felt by individual principals and teachers. In 1918-19 a
full-time “ dean ” or “ student adviser ” was appointed for each of
the high schools, and the office has been continued up to the present^
but the duties of these advisers only incidentally touch the field of
vocational guidance.10
,
1 ■
„
B 6tw 66n 1913 and 191T the Cincinnati Board of Education cooperated with the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce in a “ vocational
survey,” the purpose of which was to obtain information as a basis
for the consideration of an extension of industrial education in the
schools and for vocational-guidance purposes. Two studies were
published: “ Printing Trades ” in 1915, and “ Garment-Making In
dustries ” in 1916. Officials of the public schools and members of
the staff of the vocation bureau cooperated with the chamber of
commerce in the making of the second of these studies, and the
Schmidlapp Bureau met the expenses of its printing .1 1
;
The board of education in 1920 gave still further evidence of its
recognition of the importance of vocational guidance in the schools
by authorizing an educator to make a study of pupils in the upper
grades of the elementary schools and in the high schools and of
their vocational interests with the object of better adapting the
school courses to the needs of the pupils. Each pupil in grades 7
to 1 2 filled out a “ vocational-inquiry card” stating his vocational
choice, the occupations of other members of his family, and his
expectations and desires in regard to his future education and train
ing. The vocation bureau obtained the intelligence quotients of a
number of pupils in various types of schools, and these were corre
lated with their choice of occupation. Conferences on vocational
interests and problems were held with pupils in many schools. The
report of this survey 12 made a number of recommendations dealing
chiefly with an extension of lines of work in which the vocation
bureau was engaged, but including also recommendations in regard
to the reorganization of the school system.
.
In 1922 the superintendent of schools appointed a committee of
school officials and principals, including the director of the vocation
bureau, to consider the reorganization of the schools with a view to
adapting them more satisfactorily to different types of pupils .13
One of the members of the committee organized a study of the pupils
— i- ------------------------------------— ----------------------- ———---------------------'
10 In the high school in which the adviser’s duties are most fully developed, the adviser,
in addition to making such adjustments between school and home as are usually made
bv a visiting teacher, has several assignments usually regarded as part of the worn or a
vocational counselor: Every two weeks she holds group meetings with first-year girls,
in which the choice of a high-school course or vocational information may be the subject
of discussion; she interviews each withdrawing girl before the latter receives her schoolleaving papers, gives advice in regard to the choice of a course when it is requested or
when it seems needed, interviews failing girls if they are referred to
lw tbft
obtains assembly speakers on vocational subjects and addresses eighth-grade classes in
the district on the course which the high school offers, and arranges for groups of eighth^li^Xhe^Schmidiapp1Bureau S o published, in 1917, the report of a survey made by the
Ohio Valley Branch of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae (now the American Asso
ciation of University Women) : Opportunities for Vocational Training in Cincinnati for
W^“ l?Cracdk«S!r Ur. Thomas C .: A Study of the Vocational Interests of Children, Cin
cinnati Public Schools, Grades Seven to Twelve. Cincinnati, 1920.
_ , , „
13 The School Index [official publication of the Cincinnati public-school system], May
4. 1923, Vol. IX (1922-23), p. 272.
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in 1 2 representative Cincinnati schools, the principal findings of
which were as follows: (1) 45 per cent of the pupils did not expect
to continue through high school, and very few of these expected to
go beyond the ninth or tenth grade; (2) 40 per cent expected to com
plete high school; (3) fewer than 15 per cent of any grade completed
high school. Basing its recommendation on the conclusions drawn
from these facts, the committee made the following general sugges
tions for a school organization:
(1) For those pupils who do not expect to continue through high school—
(a) Distinct vocational courses to take care of the boys th at are capable
of becoming skilled mechanics or artisans.
(b) Short commercial courses for girls and boys who do not want to
enter the trades.
(c) Household-art courses for girls who wish to qualify for the sewing
trades, seamstresses, milliners, and domestic service.
(d) Opportunity classes, with provision for a large amount of time to
be given to the manual and household-art subjects, for the boys and
girls who are distinctly retarded because of mental ability and who are
not able to measure up to the standard required for skilled mechanics
or trained commercial workers.
(2) For those pupils who do expect to go through high school a type of
school between the elementary and high school—
(a) Which will give special emphasis to mental tests and social work,
with the distinct purpose of discovering high-school courses which they
will be able to accomplish; and
(b) Which will prepare them for the high-school courses.
Up to 1925 no action had been taken on this report.
ORGANIZATION AND ACTIVITIES OF THE VOCATION
BUREAU
ORGANIZATION
The vocation bureau is at present organized under three main di
visions—the psychological laboratory, in charge of the associate
director of the bureau; and the attendance department and the em
ployment-certificate and placement department, each in charge of
an assistant director. All the departments of the bureau are housed
together, with a central waiting room, in a down-town office build
ing in which are located other administrative offices of the board of
education.
Besides the director the permanent staff for the school year 192425 numbered 37. The attendance department, in addition to the
assistant director in charge, had 8 attendance officers and a stenog
rapher; the employment-certificate and placement department had a
placement secretary, who was the assistant director in charge of that
office, 4 assistants to the placement secretary, a worker in charge of
occupational studies, a clerical assistant, and a stenographer; the
psychological laboratory, in addition to the director, had an assist
ant director, a statistician, a social investigator, 8 laboratory assist
ants or examiners, 6 of whom were on part time, a secretary and
laboratory assistant, 2 stenographers, and a clerk. Two workers do
ing mental testing for the juvenile court were under the super
vision of the director of the psychological laboratory. The adminis
tration of the scholarship work is in charge of a scholarship com
mittee, which is made up of representatives of the schools and other
individuals and organizations interested in the work. From time to
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VO CA TIO NAL G U ID A N C E A N D J U N I O R P L A C E M E N T
time temporary workers are taken on by the bureau, either regu
larly or at certain times qf the year, as in the case of school-census
enumerators, or in connection with special research studies. In
1924-25 nine volunteers worked regularly in the bureau, five in the
psychological laboratory, three in the employment-certificate office,
and one in occupational studies.
All regular positions on the staff are under the civil service, and
the bureau sets certain additional requirements for its technical
workers. For assistants in the psychological laboratory it requires
college graduation or its approximate equivalent, with specializa
tion m psychology, preference being given to candidates who have
had graduate work; no experience is required, but preference is
given those who have had experience in administering tests, and
where the training has been weak a period of volunteer apprentice
ship is often required. In practice the selection of the personnel of
the laboratory is not on the basis of the minimum requirements.
Efforts are made to find persons who have had special courses in
mental measurement, including practical experience in administer
ing tests, courses in abnormal psychology, courses dealing with the
social aspects of subnormality and abnormality, and courses in edu
cational psychology and in statistics. Assistants in the employmentcertificate and placement department must be college graduates and
must have experience in. educational or social work. Although the
officials of the vocation bureau believe that attendance officers should
have college training and experience in methods of social case work,
the only civil-service requirement is the completion of a high-school
course. However, of the eight attendance officers of the bureau in
1924—25 four were college graduates or had taken college or uni
versity courses, and of these three had had experience in social case
work also.
The salary range for full-time psychological laboratory assistants
is from $1,300 to $2,000; for assistants in the employment-certificate
and placement department, from $1 ,2 0 0 to $2 ,0 0 0 ; and for attendance
officers, $1,400 to $2,200.
The budget for the school year 1924-25 was $92,167, which was dis
tributed as follows:
Board of education appropriation_!------------------------- ______________$72,167
Attendance department------------ -------------- — ---- ------------- -------- 31, 470
Census------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------__ 6,292
Employment-certificate and placement department___ ,:i________ 13, 210
Psychological laboratory_____________ I------------------- -------------- 21,195
Contribution from community chest and council of social agencies——
20, 000
Scholarships_______________________________ — *------------ -------- 6,300
Administration and psychological laboratory— --------$9,150
Occupational studies---------------------------------- ----------- ---- 2, 000
Contingent fund___________________ ____ -J - l ------ — ----- 2, 550
---------- 13,700
The main activities of the vocation bureau are administration of
the compulsory school-attendance laws, issuance of employment cer
tificates, administration of the psychological and education testing
program of the public-school system and supervision of the psycho
logical testing for the juvenile court, administration of a scholar
ship fund, preparation and dissemination of material for use in
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
19 7
CINCINNATI
vocational-information courses, special research, and placement.
.No system o f vocational counseling in the schools under the supervi
sion o f the vocation bureau has been developed in Cincinnati. A
teacher from each o f the public schools o f the city, however, meets
from time to time with the director and members o f the staff o f the
bureau to hear o f its, activities, and three members o f the staff oive
courses related to the work o f the bureau in the teachers’ college of
the U niversity o f Cincinnati, so that all the public schools are icfentined with the work and aims o f the vocation bureau.
TH* EMPLOYMENT-CERTIFICATE AND PLACEMENT DEPARTMENT
Employment-Certificate Issuance in Relation to Vocational Guidance.
The vocation bureau had its origin in a recognition o f the value of
the work perm it in the solution o f problems of school and vocational
adjustment. I t has made from the beginning effective use o f the em
ployment-certificate provisions o f the child labor law to maintain
contact with the individual young wage earner and to supervise
the early years o f his working life. B ut it has gone further than
this m stressing the vital importance to the school and to industry
o f statistics o f employment-certificate issuance. “Statistics of workm g permits are vital statistics o f the school,” declared the director
or the bureau in the first years o f its work. “ They correspond to the
death rate o f the community. The usefulness o f statistics of the
death rate depends on how accurately they are analyzed. Most
communities plan their campaigns o f health and sanitation on the
basis o f their vital statistics. The statistics regarding working per
m its should have just as direct a bearing on school problems. ” 14
This conception o f the work-permit office as a laboratory for testing
the efficiency o f the schools in terms o f what becomes o f the children
who leave school to go to work has given the administration of the
child labor law in Cincinnati special interest and significance from
the point o f view o f vocational guidance.
The Ohio child labor la w 15 sets standards that make possible a
relatively high degree o f supervision over the young worker. A lemployed minors up to the age o f 18 do not remain under
the direct supervision o f the schools, as in a few States where the
law requires that continuation schools must be established and that
children must attend up to 18 years o f age, they are not permitted
to leave the regular schools until they have reached 16 years o f age
and have completed the seventh grade. I f they go to work between
the ages o f 16 and 18 they come under the supervision o f the
certificate-issuing office through the requirement o f the law that
every employed minor under 18 years o f age must have an em ploy
ment certificate, which must be renewed each time the worker
changes his employer. Thus, the certificating office has a record of
the whereabouts at least o f every child under 18, and it comes in
contact w ith each child probably several times during his early
working years, and more often, o f course, with those children who
have difficulties in becoming adjusted to occupational life. The law
¿«Woolley Helen Thompson: The issuing of working permits and its bearing on other
726^733 blemS" Reprmt from Sch001 and Society, Vol. I, no. 21 (May 22, 1915),
SeCS- 7765’ 7766>7766- 1 tp
18835°—25---- 14
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JL C U LAA A C O
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
IV
J |7 i . v i i i . x w v
--------- ---------- ----------------------
•
-l
•
1
1
1
f
1
which the occupation in which the child is to be employed must be
stated, so that the issuing office may refuse to grant a certificate to
a child if his prospective employment is illegal. The law requires
also a certificate of physical fitness from a public-health physician,
which is valid for any legal occupation, except that in case
of physical disability it may be limited to occupations specified^ by
the physician. The Ohio law specifically requires that a child be
given a physical examination for each new certificate, a provision
that affords the issuing office an opportunity to exercise a measure
of supervision over his physical condition during the critical first
years of work and to determine to some extent the physical effects of
various types of occupation, but in Cincinnati the reexamination has
not been used for these purposes owing to lack of time on the part of
examining physicians and the staff of the certificate-issuing office.
The effectiveness of these legal provisions has been reinforced by
the procedure of the employment-certificate office. Not only are the
issuing officers thoroughly acquainted with the law and the details
of issuing, but most of them are also trained in employment and
educational and social problems (see p. 196), so that they are quick
to recognize and provide for cases needing more than routine treat
ment. All such cases are referred to the director of the department,
who herself interviews many of the applicants: for certificates. I t is
always possible to arrange for a private interview with an applicant
when privacy is felt to be desirable.
. ,
Two illustrations will suffice to indicate how the vocation bureau
through its recognition of the importance of the details of issuing
has used the provisions of the law and has cooperated with other
agencies to obtain the maximum benefit to the individual applicant.
“ When we first began the issuance of certificates,” says the director
of the bureau, “ almost no child was refused a certificate because of
inability to come up to the health standard of the law, and then only
when great pressure was brought to bear upon the district phy
sician.” 16 Now, although the bureau has no physicians of its own
to give physical examinations to applicants for employment certifi
cates, the physicians of the city board of health who in Cincinnati
give such examinations see about one-fourth of the children at the
office of the vocation bureau, and in the year September 1, 1923, to
August 31, 1924, they found that 67 per cent of the applicants had
physical defects. In order to stimulate correction of these defects,
the great majority of which are dental caries, the office issues a
temporary certificate after treatment has been begun, which permits
the child to work while the defect is being corrected as long as he
reports periodically as to the treatment he is undergoing. Rarely,
probably not more than once a year and only in the most serious
cases, does the office refuse outright to issue a certificate. If the
defect is sufficiently serious to warrant it, the office calls the
prospective employer on the telephone and explains the. nature of
the defect, and makes a special effort to keep in touch with the child
and the nature of his work. The law does not require that a child
be certified by the physician for the particular occupation in which
19 Campbell, M. 1
labor problems.”
Certificates, pp. 11923.
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199
he is to engage, but the issuing officer usually refers children having
certain types of defects to the placement office of the bureau for
direction into work that is suitable to their physical condition.
In the issuance of “ retarded certificates,” which according to the
law may be granted to children mentally incapable of meeting the
educational requirements of the regular certificate, and which in the
hands of careless issuing officers might become a means of handi
capping a child rather than providing special protection, the bureau
exercises unusual precautions. I f the principal of the child’s school,
says that the child can not complete the seventh grade by the time
he is 18 years of age the bureau will issue a retarded certificate.
If, however, the principal refuses to take this responsibility, a group
mental test is given by the psychological examiners of the bureau
and if the test indicates that the child’s intelligence quotient is above
80, the certificate is refused. I f the principal is unwilling to accept
the group-test results as final the applicant is given an individual
mental test, and if the result shows the intelligence quotient to be
between 70 and 80 the principal’s recommendation is followed; if
the principal is unwilling to make a recommendation, a retarded
certificate may be granted if the child’s intelligence quotient is 7 5
or less, but the certificate is always refused in such a case if the
intelligence quotient is more than 75. Of the certificates issued in
the year September 1 , 1923, to August 31, 1924, to both 16 and 17
year old boys and girls, 17 per cent were “ retarded certificates.”
The following tables, based on tabulations made in the certificate
issuing office of the vocation bureau, are of special interest in that
the data are classified according to whether the minor received a
“ regular” or a “ retarded” certificate.17
«
t ^bles show th at the majority of the normal boys go into occupations classified
as trade, transportation, or clerical, whereas the majority of the retarded boys go into
manufacturing and mechanical industries, though the proportion of normal boys entering
41i® printing trades is more than twice as large as the proportion of retarded boysS
J r°Pfflrti0na£ely £ lm<is4 “ large a Proportion of retarded as of normal boys go
into stores, 0®,cfsi
the difference between their occupations is striking. For ex
ample, one-fourth of the normal boys were stenographers, bookkeepers, or clerks, whereas
o^y
of the retarded boys had work of this kind. Proportionately more
a,® large a proportion of normal as of retarded boys were salesmen. The
the subnormal boys in the trade, transportation, and clerical group were
®frand boys or telegraph messengers. Almost four times as large a proportion of re
. normal boys were telegraph messengers. Among the girls there are even
^ an am£S5
ft0?? *n if^e type of occupation entered by the normal
and the retarded group®. The majority of the retarded girls became factory workers
^ e r e a s little more than one-third of the normal girls went into factories. One-half
J f ere lnl Obcnpafaons classified as trade, transportation, and clerical,
the great majority as clerks, stenographers, sales girls, etc. None of the retarded
girls were stenographers, bookkeepers, or telephone girts, and only 3 ner cent !as
®?“ pared with IS m cent o f the normal girls) were clerks ( o f f i t L T s a l S i r f t
but precisely the same proportion o f, retarded as of normal girls were salesgirls!
More than one-fourth of the retarded girls—twice as large a proportion of them as of
normal girls went into domestic and personal service, principally housework and work
in laundries. _A larger proportion of normal than of retarded girts, however, became
manicurists. The majority of both boys and girls, and of normal, as well as of retarded
boys and &irls, received less than $13 a week. The proportions of girls and boys receivi„D!L between W8 and $15 were about the same, but about two aSd one-half times I s
large a proportion of boys as of girls—23 per cent as compared with 9 per cent—received
f} 5. ” “ ®T® a week. A ,son?6what larger percentage of normal boys than retarded boys—
31 Per cent as compared with 25 per cent—received less than $11 a week, probablv be
cause a larger proportion of the retarded boys go into unskilled jobs in which the initial
Z S & A t comparatively high. On the, other hand, 35 per cent of the normal as clmpired
with 28 per cent of the retarded received $13 or more a week. The proportion of normal
boys receiving $15 or more was much larger than th a t of retarded boys. Retarded girts
do not have the advantage even of the comparatively high initial wage th at retarded
boys have—a larger proportion of the retarded than, of the normal girls received less
than $11 a week, and proportionately five times as many received less than $7 More?yer> mere than twice as large a proportion of normal as of retarded girls received at
least $13 a week, and almost five times as many received $15 or more. Although normal
tar <i d^b pai<* mucb higher wages than retarded girls, they receive much less than re-
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
umuti uj terbi U
17
y e a r s o f a g e to w h o m c e r tific a te s w e r e i s s u e d b e tw e e n S e p te m b e r
and kind of c e r tific a te i s s u e d ; C i n c i n n a t i
y
1,
19SS, a n d A u gu st S I,
tm ,
b y o c c u p a tio n ,
200
N u m b e r o ] c h ild r e n W a n d
ÌV
Children to whom certificates were issued
Total
Occupation entered
Regular
Retarded
Kind of certificate
Kind of certificate
GilIs
Regiliar
Retarded
Regular
Retai ded
Per
Per
Per
Per
Per
Per
Per
Per
Per
cent
cent Num cent Num cent Num cent
Num
cent
cent
cent
cent
dis
Num
dis
dis ber • dis ber
dis
Num dis Num dis Num dis Num
dis
tribu ber tribu
tribu
ber tribu ber tribu ber tribu ber tribu ber tribu ber tribu
tion
tion
tion
tion
tion
tion
tion
tion
tion
2,498 100.0 2,078 100.0
Total___________________
0.7
15
0.8
19
Agriculture.........
Manufacturing and mechanical in
39.5
820
1,052 42.1
dustries_______ ________
8.5
177
8.8
221
Metal....................................-........
7.5
156
7.8
195
Clothing..........................—.............
7.2
149
7.4
184
Paper goods....................................
3.5
72
4.1
103
Food..................... —------- --------2.9
60
3.6
89
Leather goods..................-...............
2.8
58
2.6
65
Printing trades............. I.................
2.3
48
2.4
61
Lumber and furniture------------- —
1.2
24
1.4
34
Building trades............................ .
1.1
23
1.2
31
Chemicals, etc_____________ ___
2.6
53
2.8
69
Miscellaneous------- - -------- --------Trade, transportation, and clerical— . 1,192 47.7 1,068 51.4
241 11.6
9.7
242
Stenographers and bookkeepers........
382 18.4
400 16.0
Other clerks (except clerks in stores).
5.2
108
144
5.8
Errand boys and girls------- --------—
Bundle and cash boys and girls and de
7.9
165
7.4
186
boys..................................... .......
5.1
106
4.8
120
Salespersons......................... -..........
2.3
2.5 • 47
63
Telephone and telegraph employees..
.9
19
1.5
37
Miscellaneous_________________
8.4
174
9.3
233
Domestic and personal service..
1------
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
420 100.0 1,193 100.0
1.5
18
1.0
4
565 47.4
232 55.2
210 17.6
44 10.5
3.9
46
9.3
39
1.3
16
8.3
35
3.9
47
7.4
31
4.0
48
6.9
29
4.7
56
1.7
7
4.4
53
3.1
13
2.7
32
2.4
10
1.3
15
1.9
8
3.5
42
3.8
16
585 49.0
124 29.5
2.3
28
.2
1
223 18.7
4.3
18
141 11.8
8.6
36
6.0
71
5.0
21
4.4
53
3.3
14
2.7
32
3.8
16
3.1
37
4.3
18
2.0
24
59 14.0
950 100.0
1.5
14
435 45.8
169 17.8
3.9
37
1.1
10
3.3
31
3.1
29
5.4
51
4.5
43
2.3
22
1.4
13
3.2
30
486 51.2
27
211
106
59
48
16
2.8
22.2
11.2
6.2
5.1
1.7
15
1.6
243 100.0 1,305 100.0 1,128 100.0
0.1
1
1
0.1
1.6
4
34.1
385
37.3
487
130 53.5
.7
8
.8
11
41 16.9
119 10.5
149 11.4
3.7
9
12.3
139
12.9
168
2.5
6
3.6
41
4.3
56
6.6
16
2.7
31
3.1
41
7.8
19
.6
7
.7
9
2.1
5
.4
5
.6
8
4.1
10
2
.2
10
.9
10
1.2
16
.8
2
2.0
23
2.1
27
4.9
12
582 51.6
607 46.5
99 40.7
214 19.0
214 16.4
.4
1
171 15.2
177 13.6
4.9
12
.2
2
.2
3
35 14.4
9.4
106
8.8
115
4.9
12
5.1
58
5.1
67
2.1
5
2.7
31
2.4
31
16.
9
3.7
209
16.0
159
14.1
177
100.0
102
57.6
3
30
29
15
10
2
3
25
1.7
16.9
16.4
8.5
5.6
1.1
1.7
3.4
2.3
14.1
6
1
9
9
3.4
.6
5.1
5.1
50
28.2
6
4
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
Kind of certificate
Housework in the home_______________
Laundry and dry cleaning.............. I.IIIII.
Barbers and manicurists._____ ________
Other personal and domestic service______
Professional.___________ :_____
1.3
.3
.4
.1
1.4
7
4
4
.7
.4
.4
8
1
1
3.3
.4
.4
.1
N u m b e r o f c h ild r e n 1 6 a n d 1 7 y e a r s o f a g e to w h o m c e r tific a te s w e r e i s s u e d b e tw e e n S e p te m b e r 1 , 1 9 2 3 , a n d A u g u s t 3 1 , 1 9 2 4 , b y w a g e c m d k i n d
o f c e r tific a te i s s u e d ; C i n c i n n a t i
Kind of certificate
Kind of certificate
Total
Kind of certificate
Boys
Regular
Girls
Retarded
Regular
Wage
Retarded
Regular
Retarded
Total______
Less than $5.......... .
$6 but less than $7...
$7 but less than $9...
$9 but less than $11
$11 but less than $13
$13 but less than $15
$15 and more____
Not reported 1........
2,498
3
25
193
559
6(3
232
395
428
100.0
0.1
1.0
7.7
22.4
26.5
9.3
15.8
17.1
2,078
100.0
3
14
163
475
548
192
351
332
0.1
.7
7.8
22.9
26.4
9.2
16.9
16.0
420
11
30
84
115
40
44
96
100.0
2.6
7.1
20.0
27.4
9.5
10.5
22.9
1,193
1'
12
86
255
300
121
274
145
100.0
1.0
7.2
21.4
25.1
10.1
23.0
12.2
950
8
73
211
232
94
234
98
100.0
0.8
7.7
22.2
24.4
9.9
24.6
10.3
243
4
13
44
68
27
40
47
100.0
1,305
100.0
1,128
100.0
177
100.0
1.6
5.3
18.1
28.0
11.1
16.5
19.3
3
13
107
304
363
111
121
283
0.2
1.0
8.2
23.3
27.8
8.5
9.3
21.7
3
6
90
264
316
98
117
234
0.3
.5
8.0
23.4
28.0
8.7
10.4
20.7
7
17
40
47
13
4
49
4.0
9.6
22.6
26.6
7.3
2.3
27.7
CINCINNATI
Per
Per
Per
Per
Per
Per
Per
Per
Per
Num cent Num cent Num cent Num cent Num cent
cent Num cent Num cent Num cent
ber distri ber distri ber .., distri ber distri ber distri Num
ber
distri
ber
distri
ber
distri
ber
distri
bution
bution
bution
bution
bution
bution
bution
bution
bution
»Including 68 who were paid on piece basis, 199 who were given “ board, etc.,” and 4 who received instruction in return for their services
201
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
202
The fact that the staff of the employment-certificate and placement
department of the bureau work interchangeably at issuing and placemerit insures the giving of voc£itiona»l advice and of assistance in finding employment to applicants for certificates when such advice or
assistance is requested or apparently needed, though it is not a
routine requirement that applicants for work permits be given voca
tional advice. As for assistance in finding employment for certifi
cated children, the records of the bureau show that the majority of
children applying for their first certificates get their first job through
friends or relatives. (See below.) Only a small percentage of the
applicants for certificates, whether for first or for subsequent jobs,
are placed by the bureau—of 2,302" children certificated in a threemonth period in the spring of 1922, 173 (7.5 per cent) obtained em
ployment through the bureau. In regard to guidance, there are few
children for whom, in the opinion of officials of the vocation bureau,
a return to school would be desirable, owing no doubt to the fact that
applicants for regular work permits in Cincinnati are at least 16
years of age; if, however, such a course seems desirable, the applicant
is referred to one of the placement secretaries of the bureau, who
visits the home and the school, arranges for a psychological test, if
necessary refers the child to the scholarship secretary (see p. 2 1 1 ),
obtains part-time work, and in general makes whatever individual
adjustment may be possible to give the child an opportunity to con
tinue his education.
The following table shows the methods by which children to whom
employment certificates were issued obtained positions, classified by
the type of certificate issued and the sex of the children:
M ethod of obtaining position, children takin g out certificates, by ty p e of
certificate, and se x ; C in cin n a ti 1
First certificate
Method of obtaining posi
tion
Total.
Friend or relative______
Application at employer’s
establishment—.............
Advertisement in newspa
per........................
Vocation bureau_______
Other employment agency.
State free.
Private...
Other___
School.
Public........ ..............
Parochial...................
Private commercial...
Other___ ..................
Not reported_______
Social agency.
All other___
Not reported..
Reissue of certificate
Not reported
Not
Not
Not
Total Boys Girls re Total Boys Girls re Total Boys Girls re
ported
ported
ported
,471
824
256
154
78
17
608
361
126
41
26
2
858
831
469
130
325
256
162
112
136
95
29
116
117
70
26
52
15
187
642
1
15
1
102
39
30
53
13
31
4
1
3
34
3
J Based on records kept for the Children's Bureau by the vocation bureau of the Cincinnati publie
schools during 1922.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
C IN C I N N A T I
203
Besides assisting the individual young worker, as has been said,
the bureau, through the certificate-issuing office, seeks to solve problems common to all young workers by compiling and analyzing sta
tistics. I t makes an annual analysis of certificate figures, showing
such facts as the amount of school retardation among various groups
entering employment, the kinds of employment into which certifi
cated children go, their wages, and the frequency with which they
change positions. The most comprehensive of the special research
studies of the bureau (see p. 191) is based on certificate records.
Various other special studies of statistics of certificate issuance,
among which may be mentioned a study of industrial shifting in a
group of approximately 700 young workers, have been made in an
effort to throw light on particular problems. The effect of these
studies, to quote the words of the director of the bureau, “ has been
to increase the scope of continuation, cooperative, and part-time
classes, under the provisions of the new law [the Ohio child labor
law as amended in 1921], and to provide for the issuance of the cer
tificate to retarded children. ” 18
Placement.
The placement office of the vocation bureau is a part of the suite
of offices which the bureau occupies in a down-town office building.
The location is central; and though the work of the bureau has out
grown the quarters assigned to it, with consequent crowding, an
opportunity is provided for a private interview with each applicant.
A waiting room, supervised from the adjoining offices, is shared with
the other departments of the bureau. I t would be an advantage if
funds were provided for the salary of a reception clerk, but at present
this can not be managed without^'a sacrifice elsewhere, which the
bureau feels would be disproportionate. Services of voluntary work
ers in this capacity were discontinued after trial as not sufficiently
regular and expert.
The great increase in employment-certificate issuance, which has
resulted from the passage of the child labor law of 1921, has tended
to place the emphasis increasingly on that part of the work of the
employment-certificate and placement department. At rush periods
the whole staff may be mobilized for certificate issuing, and at no
time does the placement division have the services of more than two
assistants and a clerk.
Each of the two placement secretaries interviews both boys and
girls, refers them for jobs, receives “ orders ” over the telephone, and
visits employers as opportunity affords. Registration is limited to
residents of Cincinnati under 18 years of age. Juniors to whom it is
not apparent that some special service can be rendered are not
encouraged to register at the present time, though no Cincinnati
resident under 18 who is obviously in need of assistance is refused.
Many advantages accrue to the placement office from its connection
with the vocation bureau. I t has available the records and the serv
ices of the attendance department and of the psychological labora.
Campbell, M. Edith :
1924 Ca*eS’
16—17.
The value of certificate-office records to the student of childProblems Connected with the Issuance of Employment
U. S. Children’s Bureau Publication No. 116. Washington,
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
204
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PIACEMENT
tory, and the close cooperation with the employment-certificate office
is of constant advantage. As a part of the school system, the place
ment officer receives practically automatic cooperation with the vari
ous schools in the matter of receiving records. Through the attend
ance department the parochial schools are brought into close co
operation. Parochial-school records are sent as a matter of routine
to the certificate office and upon request to the placement office. Re
lations between the public and parochial school systems are unusually
cordial, and many children of the parochial schools are referred to
the placement office for positions. The relationship with the social
agencies of Cincinnati is, of course, close, since the vocation bureau
is supported in part by the Council of Social Agencies. The place
ment worker, through the social-service exchange, has immediate
access to information regarding all cases that have come under the
observation of any of the agencies and has access to the sources of
help for needy children or their families. All registrants without
exception are reported to the confidential exchange.
Knowledge of training opportunities is wide. The vocation bu
reau’s long history of association with the public schools, the Uni
versity of Cincinnati, and other educational agencies has assured the
placement office of considerable acquaintance with the means for
special training which the city offers. Much printed material is on
hand outlining courses and specifying entrance requirements.
The pamphlets on the trades and industries of Cincinnati (see p.
2 1 2 ) prepared by the occupational research worker who is a member
of the staff of the certificate-issuing and placement department offer
a fund of information regarding vocational opportunities. The
carefully kept records of the placement office contain valuable statis
tics of which no summary has yet been made, though the director of
the bur au looks forward to a time when these data will be utilized
for a fuller understanding of the junior-employment problems in the
community.
#
Information about the applicant is detailed and complete. The
cumulative record card follows the child through school and assem
bles his physical, academic, and social history, including school rat
ings, estimates of teachers, attendance, facts regarding his family,
results of intelligence tests and physical examinations, and the like
(see p. 205). When applicants come from outside the public-school
system records filed in the certificate and attendance department
sometimes supply information otherwise lacking. The physical ex
amination for employment certificate is regarded as increasingly
satisfactory in safeguarding the health of the working junior. Prob
ably no other junior bureau in th country is so well equipped with
the results of mental testing as this one. There is on record the
result of a group test for every child who has reached the sixth
grade in the Cincinnati public schools. Placement workers may
refer for special psychological tests any special cases which they
feel would benefit thereby. The obviously subnormal are always re
ferred for supervision. (See p. 213.) Cards of applicants revealing
so limited a mentality as to make them special cases are marked in
the placement files with a green tag, to act in a crowded hour as a
warning against hasty placement.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
C IN C IN N A T I
205
e
The previous work history of the applicant is written at the first
interview, and a running record is kept of action subsequent to
registration. For the most part facts regarding the home environ
ment are gathered from the interview and from information pre
viously recorded on the cumulative record card. When it seems
necessary a home visit may be made, but as this work is done by
volunteers, it is limited in extent.
Face of cum ulative school record card filed in the em ploym ent-certificate and
placem ent departm en t of the vocation bureau, C incinnati public schools
K IN D E R G A R T E N . F I R S T A h i p S E C O N D
GRADE RECORD
Age, (S ept 11
MEntered—-Withdrawn (date)
Grade—Room
Grade of Work
T H IR D T H R O U G H
Mo
Y rs.
Vrs.
19 —19
s.
E IG H T H G R A D E
Mos.
Yrs.
RECORD
Mos.
19 —19
Elffortor Attitude
Reeding
Spelling
Lengnege
Arithmetic
Geography end Nature
History 1CKria
Iqdustrial.or Household Arts
Hygiene—Phys. Training"
Grade Assignment for p
Destination on leaving School
: OUT BY DOCTOR <
Height—Weight
Defective Vision
Disease of the Eye
[ Defective Hearing
Disease of the Ear
Defective Nasal Bre
Hypertr. Tonsils and Adenoids
Disease of Respiratory Tract
Tuberculosis of Bones & Jointi
Pre-tuberculous_______
Anaemia, Malnutrition
Cardiac Disease
Defective Teeth
Epilepsy, Chorea
Crippled—How?
Parasitic Diseases
Minor Surgical Conditions
MN^-August 1924-3M
[A ctual size 8% by 9% inches]
As a matter of routine all the information available concerning
the applicant is assembled before the interview. To the records
which directly concern him are added records of other members of
the family who have been registrants. With these facts in hand the
counselor is m a position to determine whether the child would
probably benefit by an attempt to return him to school. A cleancut policy prevails to return to school only children whose class
marks or mental tests indicate potential success. When a child’s
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
206
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
return to school seems advisable and poverty would prevent it, the
case is referred to the scholarship committee, or the placement
office’s own resources are used to procure after-school and Saturday
work.
•i •
I t is not the plan in this office to refer applicants to a 30 b imme
diately after the interview unless some special need compels this.
Ordinarily the applicant is told to come back the next day, and in
the meantime the counselor makes a careful attempt at adjustment.
When referred to a job the applicant is given a card of introduc
tion and instructed to report the result immediately. I f he fails
to do so, the placement office telephones the employer. At the end
of the week post cards are sent to all children referred to jobs but
R everse of cum ulative school record card filed in th e em ploym ent-certificate
and placem ent departm en t of th e vocation bureau, C incinnati public schools
T E A C HER’ S E S T I M A T E
VIII
VII
VI
V
Grade
ABILITY: Exceptional, bright,
average, dull, defective
CHARACTERISTICS:
Initiative
Honesty
Leadership
Initiative
Reliability
Honesty
Leadership
Initiative
Reliability
Honesty
Leadership
Initiative
Reliability
Honesty
Ambition
Obedience
Self-reliance
Ambition
Neatness
Obedience
Self-Reliance
Ambition
Neatness
Obedience
Self-reliance
Ambition
Neatness
Obedience
Industry
Adaptability
Cheerfulness
Mental
Manual
Musical
Artistic
Industry
Courtesy
Adaptability Industry
Cheerfulness Courtesy
Mental
Manual
Musical
Artistic
1—Marked
2 —Average
Adaptability
2^-Laddng
APTITUDES:
1—Marked
2 —Average
3— -Lacking
Cheerfulness
Artistic
Courtesy
Mental
Manual
Musical
Artistic
Amount of Education Parent*
Intend to Furnish
-
Home Conditions Determining
Educational Opportunity
Type of Training Recommended
by Teacher
Child’s Vocational Ambition
High School Course Chosen_______________________________________________ _______ .
Report o( Mental T e .t- P » te ________________
[Actual size of card, 8% by
________
Mental A g o _____________ L 9 : -----------.----- OeMificehon---------------------------------------- -----------
inches; actual size of printed matter, 8 by 4% inches]
not placed, asking them to come to the office. I f they do not respond
their cards are placed in the current file, which contains the cards
of every applicant not known to be placed, arranged by months. A
closed file contains all completed contacts, and blue tags are attached
to the cards representing placements.
Contact is maintained with applicants placed by means of a
follow-up once a month for three months subsequent to placement,
through telephone messages or letters to employers. The office in
quires whether the child is still employed, whether he is giving
satisfaction, and what are the wages paid. If he has left the posi
tion the reason is asked. Employers are asked for any informal
comments they care to make regarding the child. If he is no longer
in the job where he was placed, a post card is sent inviting him to
report at the office for a conference. There is no evening office hour,
but the central location of the bureau makes it easily accessible for
many juniors during the noon hour. Sometimes, when circum
stances seem to warrant it, follow-up letters are sent to the juniors
whose cards are in the current file. Applicants qualified to fill
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
CINCINNATI
207
special orders from employers are sent for. In taking a child from
one job to place him more advantageously in another, due precaution
is used to insure fair treatment to the employer, but the office never
loses sight of the fact that the interest of the child must be con
served before all else and that unpromising first placements, dic
tated by immediate necessity, must be corrected if possible.
No work connected with placement is done by clerks except assem
bling of information. Employers’ “ orders” are received by either
one of the placement secretaries and copied on permanent cards from
notations made at the time. Filed alphabetically, these cards con
stitute the only file representing occupations, with the exception of
an index of all employers using the bureau. There is no cross file
classified by industries or positions. Investigations are made regu
larly of “ orders” from firms not already on the list, and except a
few boys no applicants are referred to positions in unknown places.
No advertising is done at present to extend the clientele, though the
bureau when seeking to place applicants solicits for jobs firms already
on the lists. The occupational information obtained by the investi
gator previously referred to is, of course, available for the place
ment office. Because of the inadequacy of the present staff the office
feels definitely that it is inadvisable to list a large number of lowtype jobs, and it does not aspire to any considerable number of
placements which effect merely the employment of normal juniors
of working age in mechanical and industrial occupations that offer
small differences in desirability or in opportunities for advancement.
Having been partly supported from the first by the Council of
Social Agencies, the office tends to emphasize the social aspects of the
work. The whole bureau is dedicated to making a scientific study
of the individual child and to bringing about a scientific adjustment
for him to his world. Where the placement office feels that the job
to which it must assign a junior is not appreciably a better adjust
ment than he could in all probability make for himself, it is con
vinced that with the present restrictions of both funds and per
sonnel the task is as well left undone. As a result placement work,
although done with zeal and care in the cases undertaken, is sub
ordinated to the other work of the bureau, and especially since the
two kinds of work are done by the same staff, to the imperative work
of certification, with the feeling that careful certification is of first
importance in the conservation of the child. As was said before,
no junior within the limits prescribed for registration is refused
assistance if he asks for it, but no attempt can be made to increase
registration until the staff available for placement work is increased.
The main emphasis of the office at present, therefore, is necessarily
put upon two classes—the superior child who needs assistance to help
him complete his education and the child so obviously inferior as to
need special care and supervision.
Placement for the large body of juniors coming between these
two extremes is in the main either outside school channels altogether
or in the hands of the schools themselves, which, more or less in
formally and without any centralized agency, aim at assistance for
graduates and students. For example, a commercial high school
holds itself responsible for assisting its commercial pupils who have
reached the fourth year to find employment. About 75 per cent of
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VOCATIONAL; GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
its graduates are placed by the school, the remainder either placing
themselves or not going to work. Members of the senior class are
not referred to the vocation bureau, though “ drop outs ” are urged
to go there if the school authorities know in advance of their leaving.
The cooperative trade schools have organized placement for their
students, conducted by the heads of the various departments under
the supervision of the principal. They visit places of employment,
solicit jobs either in person or by telephone, and conduct follow-up
both through employers and through pupils reporting to their classes.
This school also places its graduates and keeps a follow-up record
for them through their first three jobs, feeling that after that time,
unless it be a special case requiring some attention outside the ordi
nary, the junior is fairly launched and a duplication of the records
which the certificating office must keep is not of sufficient value to
warrant the effort. I t does not feel that it could turn its placement
over to any other agency with advantage, nor does the vocation
bureau feel that it can with consistency handle the type of placement
which often seems to the school people advisable. .
1
_
Obviously it would be unfair to compare statistics for this office,
quite consciously undertaking only a limited and specialized service,
with statistics for an office attempting general centralized placement.
The future of placement in Cincinnati is by no means determined,
nor has a clear-cut policy yet evolved. The quality of the service
rendered at present would make a great extension of its quantity im
possible without an addition of funds not now in sight. I t is per
haps not unfair to say that at the present, placement is in the
main directed toward special cases only, and that the future plans
of the office are not matured, even in the minds of those directing it.
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL LABORATORY
Since 1916 the psychological laboratory of the vocation bureau,
which during the early years of the bureau was used only for special
research, has served the needs of the schools, the juvenile court, and
local social agencies. The bureau clearly recognizes the use and
value of mental examinations, as well as their limitations, and the
work of the laboratory since its beginning has been characterized
by high standards of scientific procedure. The director of the
psychological laboratory holds the degree of doctor of philosophy m
psychology and has had much practical experience in testing and
evaluating tests, and all the examiners or laboratory assistants have
had college training, including considerable work in psychology.
All of them have been individually trained by the director in giving
and scoring the tests that are used, and their early work is care
fully supervised. The director is responsible for the policy of the
laboratory, selects the tests to be used, and decides on the cases to be
examined. She directs the giving, scoring, and checking of tests,
as well as the social investigation of cases; and all recommendations
must receive her approval. The laboratory gives both group and
individual tests. All tests are given and scored by members of the
laboratory staff, and sufficient checking is done to insure a high
degree of accuracy. Each week the director and the examiners hold
a conference in regard to doubtful cases, ambiguous answers, the
technique of examinations, etc.
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Only tests of recognized standardization are used. In individual
examinations the Stanford revision of the Binet scale is given, sup
plemented by selections from the following tests: Cancellation, op
posites, substitution, sentence completion, and rote memory from the
™9°^ey se^ies?. Trabue completion, Healy construction puzzles A
and B, Healy picture completion tests 1 and 2 , the Manikin test, the
begum and the Witmer form boards, the Witmer cylinders Pintnf r modification of the ship test, of the mare and foal test, and
of the Knox cubes, the Herring revision of the Binet scale, Myer’s
mental measure and the Porteus maze test. In individual examina
tions educational tests also are sometimes given, especially in studymg pupils who have failed in special subjects. No attempt is at pres
ent made to use any form of trade test or tests for special aptitudes or
manual dexterity. The laboratory refers cases that call for special
physical or psychiatric examination to outside physicians or clinics
the great majority to a psychiatric clinic established by the Cincin
nati Council of Social Agencies. Among the principal group tests
used m the laboratory are the National, Terman, Haggerty Otis
Dearborn, Detroit First-Grade, and Pintner-Cunningham. Group
educational tests have been given in many schools by teachers, on the
initiative of individual principals; the director of the laboratory
approves the appropriations for educational-test materials used in
such tests, but she takes no responsibility for the giving of the tests
or the use made of them.
•
school year 1923—
24 the laboratory gave individual
t.e sts.to
children and group intelligence tests to
12,779; that is, about one-fourth of the enrollment in the day ele
mentary and high schools were given intelligence tests.19
On the basis of individual examinations subnormal children are
recommended for segregation in special rooms or, if of very lowgrade mentality, for exclusion from school attendance. A mental
test by the laboratory is required before a child may be assigned to
a special room or excluded from school. Many pupils who are
over age for their grades, if they are not distinctly subnormal, are
recommended for transfer to opportunity classes or to observation
classes (see pp. 219-220), the latter chiefly where the child’s school at
ta in m e n ts ^ ^ below what would be expected from his mental
ability. Children failing in reading are made the object of particu
lar study and when possible are sent to observation rooms Before
assignment to an observation class every pupil is given a mental
examination by the laboratory. Such an examination is a regular
requirement for entrance to the opportunity classes, in at least one
school Many children who present behavior problems are sent to
the laboratory tor examination. The two psychologists at the
juvenile court work in close cooperation with the staff of the voca
tion bureau and under the general supervision of the directors of the
psychological , laboratory of the bureau. The laboratory tests all
School for Crippled Children, and many
of the blind, the deaf, and the defective in speech, usually in cases
where mental defect is suspected. If the test shows that a physically
handicapped child is markedly subnormal he can be excluded from
18 Enrollment from Directory of Cincinnati Public Schools, 1923—24, pp. 107—8
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VOCATIONAL. GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
the class for his type of physical defect or admitted only on trial.
The hospital school has a class for mentally subnormal children.
Children are sent to the laboratory for examination from the em
ployment-certificate and placement department of the bureau;
those whose intelligence quotient indicates that they are of superior
intelligence are urged to return to school, and those found to be
subnormal are referred to interested social agencies for follow-up
during the early years of their working life. The “ retarded em
ployment certificate” is given on the basis of a mental test by the
laboratory, unless the applicant’s school principal declares that the
child can not complete the seventh grade by the age of 18. lh e
laboratory also tests all applicants for scholarships. (See pp.
211—
212.)
Group testing was begun about 1920. During the first year or
two of the group-testing program the laboratory tested a large pro
portion of the sixth-grade children in the city. Now it gives a
group test to all sixth-grade children throughout the school system.
The sixth-grade testing was initiated by the vocation bureau. At
the request of the supervisor of first-grade work the laboratory for
the last two years has done extensive group testing in the first grade
and has given individual tests to many first-grade children whose
test results and school attainments showed discrepancies. The labo
ratory does other group testing at the request*of individual school
principals—in one high school every entrant is tested, and in a
number of schools the entire enrollment. The results of the group
tests are used as an aid in classifying pupils according to their
ability. In some schools the most able pupils are given an enriched
course. All children applying for entrance to the classical or
special college-preparatory high school (see p. 217) are given a
group test, and only those whose percentile rank for their ages is
65 or over and whose previous school records have been creditable
are admitted. This is the only attempt to direct pupils into differ
ent types of courses on the basis of intelligence scores.
Very little attempt is made to place children in positions com
mensurate with their mental capacity except that mentally sub
normal children are not sent to fill positions that are regarded as
too hard for them.
.
The records of all tests are carefully kept and indexed, -tieports are returned to the applying agency, and a copy is filed in
the laboratory. In individual tests the report includes, in addition
to the intelligence quotient, an analytical statement of mental and
social characteristics based on such study as has been possible of
the medical history of the child and his family, his social and
economic environment, etc. Cases in which the child is feeble
minded or border line in mentality or presents primarily a behavior
problem are registered with the confidential exchange of the Council
of Social Agencies. The cumulative record card (see p. 205), which
was devised by the laboratory and which is in use throughout the
schools, contains a record of test results. A copy of this card for
every child who has left school is filed in the vocation bureau. The
laboratory uses its records as the basis of various special studies
(see pp. 191, 213).
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SCHOLARSHIPS
, Th.6 scholarship committee, of which the secretary and treasurer
is a member of the staff of the vocation bureau, is composed of the
director of the bureau, the “ deans ” or “ student advisers ” (see
p. 194), of the four high schools, representatives of the Council of
Jewish Women and of a few other organizations, and a few indi
viduals. Since 1922 the secretary and treasurer has been a parttime paid executive.
•
year 1^23-24 the budget for scholarships was
J8,875, of which $6,000 was given by the community chest, $1,390
Council ^of Jewish Women, $610 by other organizations,
and $875 by individuals. The overhead expenses of the scholarship
work are borne by the vocation bureau, which in 1923-24 set aside
for this purpose $300 from the contribution made by the Council
of Social Agencies to the work of the bureau. The amount of each
annual scholarship is approximately $ 2 0 a month for the 1 0 months
of the school year. During the school year 1923-24, 62 scholarship
grants were made, of which 47 were new cases and 15 were carried
over from the previous year.
Children of superior scholarship who are 16 years of age or over
and thus are legally entitled to working papers and who are finan
cially unable to remain in school are eligible for scholarships. Oc
casionally a handicapped child is given a scholarship. Special con
sideration is given the claim of the oldest child in a family, because
of the assistance that he may give in educating younger brothers or
sisters, and to children in the last year of the high school. Because
of the high age and scholastic requirements all scholarship children
are high-school students, most of them in the third or fourth year
of high school. School authorities refer most of the applicants
but the work-certificate office in interviewing applicants for work
permits also discovers many children who appear to be eligible for
scholarships and refers them to the scholarship secretary.
The student adviser in the applicant’s high school makes a pre
liminary investigation of school record and home conditions unless
as is usually the case, she knows these facts through her school’
contact with the child. The bureau psychologist gives the applicant
a series of mental tests and obtains pertinent economic- and social
data. Each scholarship case is also cleared through the confidential
exchange of the Council of Social Agencies. No physical examina
tion is given. The student adviser’s and psychologist’s reports are
presented to the scholarship committee at its regular monthly meet
ing, and on the basis of these reports the committee selects from the
list of its applicants those to whom the scholarships are given.
When the scholarship is awarded, the secretary writes the appli
cant a personal note of congratulation. She continues to see the child
once a month during the period in which the scholarship is granted.
At this time the scholarship^ check is given, the child brings his school
reports, and ample time is allowed for an interview. Saturday
and vacation work are encouraged, but afternoon work for most of
the scholarship children is considered undesirable. The committee
exacts no pledge nor promise of repayment, but the secretary en-
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V O C ATIO NAL G U ID A N C E A N D J U N I O R P L A C E M E N T
deavors to arouse in scholarship children the feeling that the scholar
ship grant entails a special obligation on their part to society and the
community, and, more specifically, to other young students m the
future. A limited amount of follow-up after the scholarship grant
ceases is automatic up to the age of 18 through the employmentcertificate and placement department of the bureau, where every
scholarship child is registered. With only one scholarship worker it
is found impossible to carry on definite personal follow-up with all
scholarship children. Statistics dating back to the beginning of the
scholarship work are in process of compilation, and a special study
of the mental test records of scholarship children is in preparation.
(See p. 213.)
VOCATIONAL INFORMATION
The vocation bureau is not responsible for the initiation of courses
in vocational information in the public schools, nor does it directly
supervise the giving of vocational information in connection^ with
regular school subjects. "Whether or not vocational information is
given or to what extent it is given in connection with such subjects
as civics, English, and geography depends chiefly on the teacher s
interest in the subject and her knowledge of its various phases.
The vocation bureau therefore endeavors to arouse teachers to the
realization of the importance and value to their pupils of informa
tion on vocational life and working conditions and to supply them
with needed information. One member of the staff of the bureau
gives full time to the study of occupations and to the development of
interest in the subject among school-teachers. For the presentation
and discussion of vocational information she meets the teachers^ of
the seventh and eighth grades and the civics teachers of the high
schools every week, and trade teachers once a year. She also con
ducts at the University of Cincinnati two classes in vocational in
formation for teachers. One is given three times a week for seven
weeks as part of a required civics course for all students preparing
to teach in the public schools; the other, a class in methods and
materials of vocational counseling, meets once a week for one
semester and is open to teachers in the Cincinnati schools.
Since 1921 the bureau has been publishing a series of printed
pamphlets on occupations in Cincinnati, the primary purpose of
which is to furnish teachers information and material for classroom
use. The series began with “An introduction to the study of occupa
tions,” which recently has been revised to include new material on
Cincinnati industries and which contains an outline for the study
of occupations adapted from outlines prepared by the Harvard
Bureau of Vocational Guidance. Several bulletins on specific in
dustries—shoe, garment, and metal—have been published. and
pamphlets on the baking industries, department stores, and com
mercial occupations are in preparation. The vocation bureau also
supplies schools with motion pictures showing occupations and in
dustries, usually ones that are not carried on in Cincinnati, and pre«>Adams Jessie B .: The Shoe Industry in Cincinnati (1921), The Garment Industries
in Cincinnati (1924) ; Corre, Mary Price: The Metal Industries in Cincinnati (1924).
Vocational Pamphlets Nos. 1, 2, and 3.
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213
pares and distributes to teachers exhibit material for each industry
that has been surveyed.
The organization and activities of the Cincinnati Civic and Voca
tional League have been described. (See p. 193.) In 1923-21 there
were 45 chapters of the league in the public schools and 10 in
parochial schools. During that year the league arranged for 64
“ industrial excursions V to important local manufacturing establish
ments and business houses, conducted by teachers and participated
in by 2,238 pupils. The league also arranges for occasional talks
to school children on industries and occupations.
S P E C IA L R E S E A R C H
The history of the establishment of the vocation bureau and all
its subsequent activities show a marked emphasis on the research
phase of its work. In addition to the studies of school and w o r k i n g
children that have been cited (see p. 191) the bureau has published
or plans to publish in the near future the following studies, of gen
eral interest and scope, all of which have been prepared in whole
or in part by members of the bureau staff: A studv of the school
progress of children in an observation class; 21 a study of the subsequent histories of mentally defective school children who have at
tended special classes; 22 a study of the mentality and school progress
of crippled children ; 23 a study of the vocational interests of sixthgrade pupils, based on questionnaires which are filled out by sixth-,
grade children when they are given psychological tests (see p. 2 1 0 ) . 24
t The bureau has made other research studies with the object of as
sisting in the solution of special local school problems. A m o n g these
are a study of the results of psychological tests of pupils in a colored
school (see p. 216) with a view to the reorganization of the school and
reclassification of the pupils; recommendations on the organization
of a six-year college-preparatory high school (see p. 217) and the
selection of pupils for this school; and a study of applicants for
scholarships.
S U P E R V IS IO N
OF
THE
F E E B L E -M IN D E D
IN
IN D U S T R Y
Closely allied with the extensive development of the bureau’s
psychological laboratory and its compilation and analysis of employ
ment-certificate statistics is its recognition of the special need of
guidance and placement and the need of a particular kind of guid
ance and placement for retarded and mentally defective children. A
first step in providing such guidance was taken in 1920 through the
formation of a volunteer committee, working in cooperation with the
bureau, the members of which each agreed to undertake, chiefly
w v ih iaJLn<rfls and ?Tre&tnifnt of Youn# School Failures, by Helen Thompson Woolley and
B1^2
F u S'-i UmV
S- Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1923, No. 1. Washington, 1923
! v i / e e n i,Thi!)mpT ’ and Hornell H art: Feeble-minded Ex-school Children; a
S f f F o u n d a ti o n ,^ a n d S I t if m ?
te “ Cincinnati special schools- Hele* * Trounft*
A1:. Ada H. A rlitt: “A study of the mental development and
t
*Rledp. c?i1
o£ vanous types.” School and Society, Vol. XXI,’
(Apr.3Si?
11,f faip
1925),
449n rel1
et seq.
-r, „ y ^ t i o n a l Interests of Sixth-Grade Children as Related to General Intelligence and
Parents Occupations, by Dr. Paul Buttenwieser (in preparation).
18835°—25-----15
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through friendly visiting, the supervision of one or more feeble
minded children entering industry. The child’s record was supplied
by the vocation bureau. I t was found, however, that the work could
not be carried on successfully by volunteers, and in 1921 the visiting
was turned over to various social agencies. Owing to the great
amount of additional work necessitated by the 1921 amendment to
the State child-labor law, which required the certification of all work
ing boys and girls up to the age of 18, the bureau staff recently has
not been able to take any share in the placement of these children.
Any placement work for them is done by one of the three cooperat
ing agencies—the Associated Charities, the Catholic Charities, and
the Jewish Charities. The bureau undertakes the first interview
with the child and makes the psychological examination, furnishing
the data thus collected to the cooperating agencies as the starting
point of their investigations. Certain disadvantages in the present
plan are recognized, and it is hoped that it may soon be replaced by
an arrangement that will place the supervision in the hands of one or
two specialized workers.
THE SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND CURRICULUM IN
RELATION TO GUIDANCE
P R E V O C A T IO N A L T R A IN IN G
In general the school system of Cincinnati is organized on the 8-4
plan. There is, however, one junior high school and a combination
elementary and junior high school for colored children, and a sixyear classical high school for pupils above the average in mentality.
There are also several “ prevocational centers ” in elementary schools
in which special adaptation is made to the needs of pupils who ex
pect to leave school for work at an early age.
The junior high school, which was built for an experimental 10grade school, was opened as a junior high school in September, 1920.
I t is “ fe d ” by six neighborhood schools and accommodates 8 per
cent of the seventh, eighth, and ninth grade enrollment in the public
schools. I t is in a neighborhood where a large proportion of the
children’drop out as soon as they are 16. The school is described as
offering, in comparison with the usual type of elementary and highschool organization, “ an earlier opportunity for differentiated work,
a larger attention to the natural and social sciences, * * * a
more concentrated effort to explore the powers of pupils in order
that through this exploration there may be a wise choice of voca
tion * * * • ” 28
I t offers three courses—general, industrial arts (household arts
for girls), and commercial. The industrial-arts course is prevoca
tional in its aim, but the commercial course—instruction in “ commer
cial practice,” typing, and bookkeeping—is regarded as having lim
ited vocational value for pupils who must leave before completing
high school. In the industrial and commercial courses about onefourth of the time is given to the special subjects and the remainder
* The Lafayette Bloom Junior High School Curricula for 1921-22 and 1922-23. CincinnaUPublic Schools. (The curriculum was substantially the same in 1923-24 and in
1924-25.)
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d ih<3?lti 1 studles- The latter are treated from the stand
point ox the selected course and are related to the special subjects by
the use of class exercises based on shop and laboratory work
-the choice of course is made at the end of the seventh grade. In
the seventh grade and prior to the choosing of a course all boys are
required to spend a 1 0 -week period, 6 hours a week, in each of the
shops printing, sheet-metal, woodworking, and electrical—and all
girls are required to try themselves out in the courses in sewing and
cooking. I n the eighth grade a choice between two shops is allowed
each semester, and at the beginning of the ninth grade a shop is
selected for work throughout the year. In the eighth and ninth
grades shop work is required eight hours a week for pupils taking the
industrial or household arts course, and two hours a week for pupils
m the general and commercial courses. For several years a com
mittee of seven or eight teachers has given advice to pupils on the
selection of courses on the basis of school records and economic con
demns at home, but this advisory service is regarded as inadequate,
owing to the fact that the teachers do not know the children suffi
ciently well.
u
^ general course vocational information is given in a class in
community civics, and to girls in the household-arts and com
mercial courses in a course on “ women in industry.” Each of these
courses is given three periods a week. Boys taking the industrialarts course have four periods a week in elementary economics, and
all shop classes visit neighboring industries two or'three times a year
ih e vocation bureau gives group mental tests to all children in
the school, and the results have been used to classify pupils in three
groups according to their mental ability. Those in the best group
receive an enriched course. The results of the tests have not been
¿P adyise Pupils in the selection of a course, but it is reported
that the average intelligence of the pupils in the general course is
higher than that of pupils m the industrial or the commercial group
T ™, 0 PP?rt,?nity classes” (see p. 2 2 0 ) are provided for ov!r-age
children who have reached but have not completed the sixth grade
m order that they may have the benefit of junior-high-school life
until they reach the age of 16, when they almost invariably leave.
These children have one teacher for all their academic work; Thev
are not always assigned to the class on the basis of mental tests, but
are tested, as soon as possible after their entrance into the class.
Ihe school directs children to the vocation bureau for placement,
but most of them find their own jobs in the factories and small stores
in the neighborhood.
Four elementary schools have prevocational centers. Two of the
prevocational centers are regular elementary schools having special
industrial classes for seventh and eighth grade pupils They offer
experimental one-shop type of work for boys in both wood and
metal (the making of toys, etc.) and in printing, and for girls in
various lines of domestic work.
One of the other centers has nine grades and in some years has a
enth-grade class. The aim of this school, which receives pupils in
the upper grades from 2 0 or more elementary schools in the district,
is to afford boys and girls who can not continue in school longer
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than the ninth or tenth year a certain amount of definite training
for work. After the sixth grade the academic work is entirely de
partmentalized, and half time is given to shopwork. The school
has four shops (woodworking, metal working, electrical, and print
ing), a commercial department, and homemaking courses. The
seventh grade is a try-out year, in which each boy spends 1 0 weeks
in each shop, and girls take household arts. Beginning with the
eighth grade pupils specialize, the boys in the shopwork in which
they have demonstrated their fitness and interest (unless they wish
to enter the commercial course, which is comparatively rarely se
lected by the boys), and the girls in either the homemaking or the
commercial department. The bright girls who have done good
academic work usually take the commercial course, the dull ones,
the homemaking courses. The commercial work, which has been
especially developed, consists of clerical practice, accounting, filing,
typing, and even stenography for children who have done unusually
good academic work. All the academic work is as closely correlated
with the shopwork as possible. Occupational information is given
mainly in the shops but also to some extent in civics courses. Some
industrial excursions are made, but this phase of occupational in
formation has not been developed so extensively as the principal
believes would be desirable. I t is reported that boys from the school
easily find places with neighborhood firms in industries for which
they have received some preliminary training, and many requests for
help come from employers. More extensive shop equipment is being
installed so that the school will be able to accommodate a much
larger number of pupils. Plans for the larger school include the
provision of industrial training of the “ one-operation ” type for
boys who are somewhat below average mentality and incapable of
becoming skilled mechanics or artisans.
The fourth school regarded as a prevocational center is somewhat
differently organized from any of the three that have been described.
I t is an elementary eight-grade school in which beginning with the
second grade over-age children are given more handwork than
children who are in normal grades for their ages. The intelligence
quotient of these pupils is from about TO to 90. In the fourth, fifth,
and sixth grades one-third of the time of the pupils in the over-age
classes is given to handwork, and in the seventh and eighth grades
one-half of the time. In the earlier grades the handwork for both
boys and girls consists of basketry, weaving, etc., but in the seventh
and eighth grades boys rotate through metal-working, woodworking,
and printing shops, and girls have cooking and sewing. Each boy
has an opportunity to try himself out in each shop. All the children
in these “ opportunity classes ” (see p. 2 2 0 ) are taught typing and
simple clerical work in connection with their academic studies.
Shop or industrial work and the academic studies are closely cor
related. Each pupil has all his academic studies with the same
teacher.
The elementary and junior high school for colored children offers
prevocational training and has been adapted in other ways to meet
the needs of children for whom the traditional elementary-school
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course does not suffice. The school, which has recently moved into a
new building and has been entirely reorganized, accepts children
from all parts of the city and has an enrollment of approximately
3,000. It offers the first nine years of school work and is organized
on the junior high school plan, the junior high school occupying one
floor of the large modern building. To economize space the school
is organized from the fourth grade up on the platoon system (this
school is the only school of this type in Cincinnati), and the work
beginning with the fourth grade is departmentalized. Each child in
the school is given a mental test by a psychologist appointed to the
school from the staff of the vocation bureau and is classified in ac
cordance with the test results. Until they have been tested children
in the first three grades are put into a “ vestibule class,” and those
from the fourth grade up are classified according to their previous
school records. Classification based on mental tests extends through
out the school. Pupils are constantly being promoted or demoted
as their individual abilities and capacities are revealed, and seventh,
eighth,^ and ninth grade pupils are promoted by subjects. All chil
dren with an intelligence quotient below 70 are in special classes, of
which the school has seven. Half of the time is given to shop or
industrial work in the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades. Boys have
work in carpentry, wood construction, and printing; girls, in sewing,
cooking, catering, „laundry work, and power-machine operating.
The seventh grade is an exploratory year in which each pupil selects
a shop each semester, though prior to the seventh grade pupils of
1 2 years or over are allowed to try some of the shopwork. In the
eighth grade specialization in a selected shop is permitted. The
work in printing is done on a cooperative basis. Occupational infor
mation is given in the regular civics classes in the eighth grade. The
school has the services of a volunteer psychiatrist and has a regular
social worker for home visiting, etc. A limited amount of informal
placement is done if employers ask for workers.
A pamphlet, “ Opportunities for Eighth-Grade Graduates,” ad
dressed to the boys and girls of the eighth grade by the superin
tendent of schools, is put into the hands of all pupils graduating
from elementary school. I t contains “ greetings”’ urging the im
portance of high-school education, and a summary of the oppor
tunity for training offered by the high schools and the trade schools
of the city, followed by a description of each of the courses offered
where they are given, and what they prepare for.
V O C A T IO N A L C O U R S E S
The Cincinnati high schools offer no trade courses. In one or
another of the five high schools courses of varying vocational value
are offered in addition to the general and the classical courses. These
embrace courses in household or industrial arts, art, music, and
techmcal-cooperative ” and agricultural courses. None of the highschool courses may be completed in less than four years. A special
ized college-preparatory school, the Walnut Hills High School, offers
\ Jfl and 6 year classical courses to pupils of more than average
ability and attainment (see p. 2 1 0 ).
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The “ technical-cooperative courses ’’ offered in one high school are
the nearest approach to trade training in the Cincinnati high schools.
They are described as follows :
Boys' Technical-C ooperative Course
This course is especially designed for those boys who wish to learn a trade
and enter the industries. While no trades as such are taught in the school, the
character of the subjects studied and the cooperative shopwork of the third
and fourth years prepare boys to become skilled workmen in definite trades
while pursuing their studies in school and open the way to the higher posi
tions in industrial establishments. I t is expected th at there will be no
difficulty in placing in shops for part-time work all those who take this course.
$
$
♦
H
*
♦
*
*
The part-time work starts a t the end of the second school year, when the
boys elect the trade which they desire to enter. At that time positions in
approved shops in the machine-tool and allied industries at very satisfactory
wages will be secured by the school authorities.
The cooperative feature extends through the third and fourth years, and
also for eight weeks during the summers following the second and third years.
Thus the boys are able to obtain valuable experience in various shops, working
under real industrial conditions a t the same time that they are pursuing a
course of study which relates very closely to their future vocations.
Girls' T echnical-C ooperative Course
For girls who are looking forward to some form of self-support in industrial
pursuits the girls’ technical-cooperative course offers training superior to th at
given by any other course. The course is designed not so much to furnish
trade training along any one line as to give industrial intelligence and tech
nical training along several lines. This will enable the girl to find th at for
which she is best fitted and to prepare herself to enter the trade of her choice
a t wages in advance of what she would otherwise receive in these trades.
$
*
*
*
*
*
*
At the close of the second year the students elect a specialty—dressmaking,
millinery, or cooking—with a view to trade training. They are then placed in
classes under expert trade workers. During the third and fourth years they
are placed in positions in millinery or dressmaking establishments during
seasons, alternating two weeks in school and at work. This course does not
prepare for college.20
Under the Federal vocational education law the Cincinnati public
schools maintain an automotive school; a boys’ vocational school in
which instruction is given in the building trades, commercial work,
the printing trades, and tailoring; and a girls’ vocational school,
providing trade training in the sewing trades, retail selling, and
commercial work. All the courses aim to prepare the pupil for the
selected trade or vocation and in addition give instruction in Eng
lish, mathematics, art, science, history, and civics. The entrance age
is 14 years, except for the automotive school, for which the required
age at entrance is 15. For the automotive school and for the print
ing course completion of the eighth grade is required; for the other
courses eighth-grade graduates are preferred, though others may
be admitted. All the courses are two years in length, either 40 weeks
a year, like the regular schools, or, in the more skilled trades, 49
weeks. They are all run on a cooperative basis, the student spend
ing alternate weeks or alternate fortnights at school and at work.
H alf the school time also is given to trade studies. Boys or girls
26 High-School Courses of Study, 1921-22, pp. 6-7. Cincinnati Public Schools. By
taking solid geometry in night school or in summer school after the fourth year graduates
of the boys’ technical-cooperative course may enter the coUege of engineering and com
merce of the University of Cincinnati.
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C I N C IN N A T I
219
meeting the requirements for these courses may be transferred from
the regular schools, but if they are not successful they must return
to the regular school until they are 16 years of age, readjusting
themselves to the work of the regular schools as best they can.
Although the law of 1921, like the former Ohio child labor laws,
provided that attendance at continuation school should be com
pulsory in communities where continuation schools had been estab
lished, the Cincinnati Board of Education has not, as under the
earlier laws, made provision for continuation schools. I t does, how
ever, conduct voluntary part-time classes, the object of which is to
increase the efficiency of the young worker in an occupation in which
he is already engaged. These receive State and Federal aid in
accordance with the Federal vocational education law. In 1924 there
were four kinds of part-time classes, known respectively as the
machine-tool apprentice school, the plumbing apprentice school, the
sheet-metal apprentice school, and the store classes in retail selling.
They are held on company time four hours a week for 49 weeks, or
in case of the store classes, 40 weeks. English is the only nonvoca
tional subject taught.
S P E C IA L C L A S S E S
There are a number and variety of special classes for handicapped
children. These include special rooms for mental defectives, oppor
tunity classes, observation classes, a school for crippled children,
classes for the blind and one for the conservation of vision, classes
for the deaf, and open-air classes.
In October, 1924, there was one “ special school ” for mentally de
fective children, with 16 classes, enrolling 250; in addition there
were 6 special classes for the mentally subnormal in the elementaryjunior high school for colored children; and 7 others in various
schools, one of which was in the school for crippled children.27 The
enrollment in these special classes was approximately 1 per cent of
the total enrollment in full-time day schools. When the younger
children attending the classes in the various schools reach the age
of 13 or 14 they are usually sent to the special school, where more
advanced handwork is taught—elementary woodworking, rug weav
ing, and brushmaking for boys, and domestic work and simple dress
making for girls, and basketry for both.
For the blind two classes in two schools were provided, with an
enrollment in 1924 of 14 pupils; and for children with defective
vision, six classes in six schools, with an enrollment of 65.28 The
“ oral school ” had seven classes for the deaf and semideaf, with an
enrollment in 1924 of 47. There were 11 open-air classes in six
schools and a hospital, and a hospital school for crippled children,
the latter with an enrollment of 190.29
The observation class was established because of the discovery
of a large number of children who could not succeed in the first
and second grades, in spite the fact that their intelligence quotients
indicated that they were not defective. Children from all parts of
the city are admitted to these classes, if their parents consent. All
27 Cincinnati Public Schools Directory, 1924-25, p. 126.
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220
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE A ND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
entrants are tested by the psychologists of the vocation bureau.
The aim is to return the child to the regular school as soon as possi
ble. The number of observation classes varies according to the need
and the school facilities available. In 1924 there was one observa
tion class, and one had been closed temporarily because of lack of
room. I t is considered that the need for observation classes has been
somewhat lessened by a recent reorganization of the work of the
early grades of the elementary school.
“ Opportunity class ” is a name that has been applied to a variety
of classes in Cincinnati, where such classes, originally known as
“ retarded classes,” have been in existence for a number of years.
They are not usually provided for pupils below the third grade.
The intention is to provide a class for (1) children whose academic
retardation is greater than their mental retardation and who, there
fore, could be expected to make more than average progress for a
time, and (2 ) children whose retardation is caused by some degree
of mental inferiority but who with special help can meet the require
ments of the early grades. In 1924 six schools reported that they
had opportunity classes. In one of these schools, in which opportu
nity classes have been established for the fifth, sixth, seventh, and
eighth grades, all children are given mental tests before entrance
by examiners of the psychological laboratory of the vocation bu
reau, and no child is admitted who is considered definitely defec
tive; the classes are limited to BO children, and constructive hand
work is emphasized. The other opportunity classes, which have
been established to meet some special school situation recognized
by individual principals, are not so standardized. (For a descrip
tion of opportunity classes in several of these schools see pp. 215217). In some of the schools they tend to be practically identical
with the lowest of the three classifications that have been made on
the basis of mental ability, rather than specially organized classes.
SUMMARY
All organized vocational-guidance activities for school children
in Cincinnati are under the direction of the public schools. They
are centered in a department of the board of education known as
the vocation bureau, which had its origin in the proposal of certain
private agencies and individuals to make a study of the working
children of Cincinnati based on records of the employment-certifi
cate office. At its beginning in 1910 it was entirely under private
funds, although -it was the agency officially designated by the board
of education to issue employment certificates. In 1924 about 80 per
cent of the expenses of the bureau were borne by the board of edu
cation, the remainder being contributed by the Cincinnati Commu
nity Chest and Council of Social Agencies. Year by year it has
acquired new duties, so that now it not only issues employment cer
tificates and does special research, but it also enforces the schoolattendance law, has a placement department, does all the psychologi
cal testing for the schools and for the juvenile court, administers
a scholarship fund, and collects and disseminates vocational infor
mation.
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In the beginning of its work the bureau’s emphasis on research
was one of its most distinctive, characteristics. Owing to the pres
sure upon the bureau for immediate attention to individual prob
lems and to the lack of funds this emphasis has not been maintained
as the various' branches of practical service have been more fully
developed, though the staff of the bureau recognizes the fundamental
importance of such research and the great opportunities for accom
plishing it afforded by its position in the school system.
The psychological work also is highly developed. The bureau
staff gives all mental tests given in the schools for the purpose of
assigning pupils to special rooms and for schoolroom classification
as well as for special purposes, such as admission to the classical
high school and the selection of recipients for scholarships. All the
testing is done by persons trained and experienced in the technique
of giving tests, and it is under the supervision of a psychologist.
The bureau gives direct vocational guidance only to the group of
children who are leaving school for work through its employmentcertificate and placement department. Certificates are issued with
unusual care by the same group of specially trained workers who do
placement, and applicants for employment certificates are assisted in
finding suitable employment or, if further school training seems ad
visable, are referred to the scholarship fund operated by the bureau.
The placement work of the bureau has declined since the passage of
the State child labor law of 1921 requiring certificates for minors up
to the age of 18, as most of the time of the staff of the employmentcertificate and placement department has to be given to certification.
No counseling is done in the schools, except by high-school “ deans ”
or “ student advisers,” one in each high school, whose duties are
numerous and varied and to only a small extent involve the giving of
either educational or vocational advice.
The bureau makes studies of local occupations and industries for
the use of teachers and pupils and prepares supplementary material,
such as exhibits and outlines, for use in presenting vocational infor
mation in the classroom. It endeavors to arouse interest in this work
through periodical conferences with teachers of civics and of other
school subjects in which information on occupations might be intro
duced and through courses in vocational information and vocational
counseling established at the University of Cincinnati for teachers
and given by members of the bureau staff. No special courses in
vocational information are given in the schools, and the extent to
which such information is given in connection with other courses
depends on the teachers’ interest and their knowledge of the subject.
The public schools of Cincinnati have been the field of considerable
experimentation having for its object a better adaptation of the cur
riculum to individual needs. They have not yet been generally
reorganized on the 6-3-3 plan, but one junior high school is in
operation, and there are several prevocational schools, differing
somewhat from one another and from the junior high school organi
zation, but all attempting to meet the problems of special groups of
pupils. A variety of special classes for handicapped children have
been developed, including provision for some of the less obvious tvpes
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VO CATIONAli GUIDANCE A ND JU N IO K PLACEM ENT
of defect. Provision for the gifted pupil consists of classification
on the basis of ability in some schools, and in one high school estab
lishment of a. four, five, or six year college-preparatory course for
superior children and an opportunity for rapid advancement. Spe
cialized vocational training is available to some extent in the high
schools and to a considerable extent in trade schools, all of which
are run on the cooperative plan. There are no compulsory con
tinuation schools in Cincinnati, but the board of education maintains
several part-time voluntary schools for the young worker.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
PHILADELPHIA
HISTORY OF THE VOCATIONAL-GUIDANCE MOVEMENT
The need for an organized program of vocational guidance was
recognized by the Board of Public Education of Philadelphia in
1913 1 in the establishment of a department of vocational education
and guidance. During the years immediately following its estab
lishment, however, this department was occupied almost entirely
in the organization and supervision of “ practical work ” in the
elementary grades, and it initiated no program for vocational guid
ance.
When, however, the present Pennsylvania child-labor law became
operative (January 1 , 1916) many new responsibilities in behalf
of the child entering industry were created, including the respon
sibility for determining whether or not a child was undertaking
work suitable for his years and for giving a certain degree of super
vision to working children under 16. This supervision came as
a result of the provision of the new law requiring a certificate for
every new position and attendance at continuation school for eight
hours a week throughout the school year. As these duties de
volved upon _the employment-certificate issuing office, which in
Philadelphia is under the bureau of compulsory education, vocational
guidance also was transferred by the superintendent of schools to
that office. .One of the supervisors of vocational education on the
staff of the original department of vocational education and guid
ance was transferred to the bureau of compulsory education as
assistant to the director of the bureau, to act as employment super
visor in the organization and administration of employment-cer
tificate issuance and in the organization, development, and super
vision of a system of vocational guidance and placement. The
report of the bureau of compulsory education for the school year
1915-16 contains the following account of this work:
The children who applied for employment were taken personally in charge
by the employment supervisor or his assistant and given full information
in regard to the occupation for which they seemed best fitted by aptitude
and training. Many of those who appeared to be especially bright or evi
dently in need of additional training were induced to return to school, while
others who were fairly well equipped for employment were placed, in posi
tions in establishments throughout the city. * * * In many instances after
school and vacation employment was provided to supplement the family in
come and enable the parents to continue the training of their children in
school, and in this particular the employment division has been an almost
indispensable aid in the enforcement of the compulsory-attendance law.
* * * A portion of the employment supervisor’s time, especially during the
early period of the year, was spent in visits to the most important industrial
and commercial establishments in the city, and in this way the bureau was
1 Report of the Bureau of Compulsory Education for Year ending June 30, 1916, p. 7.
Board of Public Education, Philadelphia, 1917.
223
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VOCATIONAL. G U ID A N C E A N D J U N I O R P L A C E M E N T
brought into personal touch with members of firms, superintendents, em
ployment managers, and others directly interested in the employment of
children.3
During the year 1916, also, a committee of which the employment
supervisor of the bureau of compulsory education was chairman was
appointed by the superintendent of schools and financed by a philan
thropic citizen, to make a study of the educational needs and working
conditions of employed children in Philadelphia. As a result of a
preliminary study of the records of the bureau of compulsory edu
cation, which showed that about half the children on employment
certificates were in the textile industry, an intensive study of occupa
tions in this industry was begun. The committee worked on this
study until April, 1917, when two of its members were transferred
to the work of the Philadelphia School Mobilization Committee.3
The study was continued, though on a smaller scale than had origi
nally been planned, and a report on juveniles in the textile industry
in Philadelphia was submitted which was used as the basis in formu
lating experimental courses of study, particularly in the continuation
schools.
As a result of the war the placement activities of the bureau of
compulsory education had been greatly diminished. The demand
for labor was so great that the efforts of the entire staff were given
over to the greatly increased task of employment-certificate issuance,
and it was so easy to get work that the demand on the part of
boys and girls for help in obtaining positions was slight.
In February, 1919, the revival of placement activities was facili
tated through the cooperation of the junior division of the United
States Employment Service, which established a branch office in
Philadelphia under the supervision of the director of the bureau of
compulsory education. The Federal Government supplied first
one counselor and later two, and the board of public education fur
nished office space in the same building with the office of the bureau
of compulsory education. On October 15, 1919, assistance from the
Federal Government was withdrawn, and from that date until
January, 1920, staff and equipment were provided by the Young
Women’s Christian Association and the White-Williams Foundation,
a private organization, which had for several years been doing
other work in cooperation with the bureau of compulsory education, as
is described in a later section of this report (see pp. 225-226). From
January, 1920, until June 30, 1922, a staff of placement counselors
was contributed by the White-Williams Foundation.
The workers furnished by the White-Williams Foundation con
sisted of a secretary in charge of placement, four counselors, and a
“ clerical assistant.” To this number another counselor and a
clerk were added in the fall of 1921. In December, 1921, the board
of public education authorized the appointment of five employment
supervisors on the staff of the bureau of compulsory education.
2 Report of the Bureau of Compulsory Education for Year ending June 30, 1916, p. 9.
Board of Public Education, Philadelphia, 1917.
' *
_ _ ’ . . ,.
8 In April, 1917, the Philadelphia School Mobilization Committee of the Philadelphia
Home Defense was organized to coordinate the resources and facilities of the schools for
patriotic service. Among the departments functioning under this committee was one on
“ Junior enlistment and placement,” of which the director of the oureau of compulsory
education was chairman. Its purposes were the placement and supervision of junior
workers of legal working age in regular employment and the enlistment of juniors for
agricultural, secretarial, and clerical service and for service in “ manufacture in the
schools.”
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225
In 1922 under this authorization a number of the members of the
placement and counseling staff furnished by the White-Williams
Foundation were appointed (following an examination held by the
board of public education) to the position of employment super
visor on the pay j:oll of the bureau of compulsory education. Addi
tional workers have since been taken on by both the bureau of
compulsory education and the White-Williams Foundation. With
the increase in the staff of trained vocational advisers, the estab
lishment of a system of district offices for combined certification and
vocational counseling and placement, long desired by the director
•of the bureau of compulsory education, was made possible. The
first of these offices was opened in May, 1923, and later action of the
board of public education in authorizing the appointment (Sep
tember, 1923) of three additional employment supervisors has made
possible the opening of two additional district offices.
Vocational-guidance activities originating outside the schools are
centered chiefly in the White-Williams Foundation , 4 whose share
in the development of the junior employment service has been
described. Founded in 1800 as the Magdalen Society of Phila
delphia, in 1916 the society was reorganized as an agency for the pre
vention of delinquency rather than for its cure. The reorganized
foundation directed its efforts toward the application of the
methods of social case work-; first, in connection with the large
group of children unprepared for working life who were con
stantly drifting undirected out of school into industry as soon as
the child labor law allowed, and second, in the prevention of social
maladjustments among children still in school.
The first work undertaken was a study of girls applying for em
ployment certificates 6 carried on by two workers in the summer, of
1917. They visited the girls in their homes, talked with them and
their parents regarding their reasons for leaving school, and did
what they could to persuade them to return to school or helped them
in getting and keeping as good positions as were open to children of
their years and lack of training. A study of the histories of these
girls and of the limited vocational opportunities open to them, com
bined with a realization of the attitude of the majority of the girls
and their parents regarding the comparative merits of school and
work, convinced the workers that although much help could be given
to this group of children who had already left school for work, the
time for beginning a constructive program of individual study and
counseling is far earlier in the child’s life.
Accordingly, in the fall of 1917 a worker was assigned to one of
the public elementary schools, the principal of which had felt the
need of someone to visit girl pupils in their homes.
T h is w o r k e r to o k t h e d ifficu lt c h ild r e n w h o w e r e b r o u g h t to h e r a n d tr ie d to
k n o w th e w h o le c h i l d ; t h a t is, t h e g ir l in h e r h o m e, a n d in h e r n e ig h b o rh o o d ,
a n d in h e r sc h o o l. S h e so o n e d le a r n e d t h a t w h ile t h e r e w e r e p r o b le m s w h ic h
c o u ld b e so lv e d b y in te r p r e tin g th e h o m e to th e sc h o o l a n d th e sc h o o l to t h e
h o m e, th e r e w e r e fr e q u e n tly c o n d itio n s o f h e a lth , r e c r e a tio n , m o r a ls , o r eco* Although named a foundation, this agency has no large endowment, but depends for
its support primarily upon the Philadelphia Welfare Federation, the agency which collects
funds for the support of 103 of the recognized philanthropic organizations of Phila
delphia.
BAnnual Report of the White-Williams Foundation for Girls, 1918, pp. 7 and 16. Phil
adelphia, 1919.
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VOCATIONAL. G U ID A N C E A N D J U N I O R P L A C E M E N T
n o m ic s w h ic h n e e d e d a d j u s t m e n t a n d w h ic h m ig h t r e q u ir e m a n y v is i t s , co
o p e r a tio n w i t h o th e r s o c ie tie s , a n d m u c h tim e f o r t h e ir c o r r e c tio n , so m e tim e s
b a fflin g a ll in d iv id u a l s o lu t io n b e c a u s e t h e d iffic u lty i s a c o m m u n ity
o n e. * * *
N o t o n ly t h e m a la d j u s t e d c h ild w a s k n o w n to o u r w o r k e r, b u t a ls o e a c h g ir l
in t h e e ig h t h g r a d e w a s in t e r v ie w e d to s e e w h e t h e r s h e c o u ld t a k e h ig h s c h o o l o r te c h n ic a l t r a in in g b e fo r e g o in g to w o r k .6
From these b eg in n in g s in the bureau of compulsory education
and in one elementary school thè two principal activities of the so
ciety with individual children have been developed—cooperation
with the public school in its counseling and placement service for
children leaving school for work and demonstration in a limited
number of schools of a counseling program for children still in
school. After the first two years’ work the constitution of the so
ciety (which had been renamed the White-Williams Foundation for
Girls) was changed to permit the extension of its facilities to boys
and its name was changed to the White -Williams Foundation. The
purpose of the foundation as defined in a report of its work is as
follows : “ By working in different kinds of schools and in the bureau
of compulsory education to determine when and by what methods
social service and vocational guidance should be applied to children
in the various activities of the public schools.” 7
Other activities undertaken by the foundation have been developed
chiefly as aids in its two main programs. Among these are the
administration of a scholarship fund, the addition to its staff for
a brief period of a trained psychologist, and the institution of
training courses for school counselors.
The following general principles of the foundation’s guidance
program have been indicated:
I . C o u n s e lo r s a n d t e a c h e r s a r e n e e d e d in a l l o f t h e s c h o o ls to h e lp m a k e
t h e n e c e s s a r y s o c ia l, h e a lt h , a n d e d u c a t io n a l a d j u s t m e n t s f o r t h e c h ild r e n
in t h e g r a d e s s o t h a t t h e y w i l l b e e a g e r to t a k e a d v a n t a g e o f t h e e d u c a tio n a l
o p p o r tu n itie s w h ic h d e m o c r a c y w is h e s to o ffer th e m .
I I . P r o v is io n , th r o u g h s c h o la r s h ip s or o th e r fa r -r e a c h in g m e a s u r e s , s h o u ld
be m a d e f o r t h e c h ild r e n f in a n c ia lly h a n d ic a p p e d , t h a t t h e y m a y c o n t in u e t h e ir
s c h o o lin g a s lo n g a s t h e y c a n p r o fit b y it .
I I I . C o u n s e lo r s w it h in th e s c h o o ls s h o u ld a d v is e w it h a l l c h ild r e n a n d
p a r e n ts o n t h e s u b j e c t o f s c h o o l-le a v in g a n d p la n s f o r t h e fu tu r e .
IV . E m p lo y m e n t c o u n s e lo r s in p la c e m e n t o ffices s h o u ld e q u ip t h e m s e lv e s
w it h b u s in e s s a n d in d u s t r ia l in f o r m a t io n t h a t t h e y m a y a s s i s t b o y s a n d
g ir ls in o b ta in in g s u it a b le p o s it io n s a n d g u id e th e m f o r t h e fir s t f e w y e a r s
o f w o r k .8
The board of public education has welcomed the cooperation
of the foundation and from the beginning of the work with children
applying for work certificates, in 1917, has furnished office space
for all the activities of the foundation.
In the spring of 1923 the city superintendent of schools ap
pointed a joint committee consisting of one member of the board
of public education, one member of the board of superintendents,
and one high-school principal, to cooperate with a committee
of three from the White-Williams Foundation in coordinating the
work of the foundation with similaV activities which had been in« Annual Report of the White-Williams Foundation for Girls, 1918, pp. 7-8. Philadel
phia, 1919.
. . .
, _
, „ ...
i The White-Williams Foundation, One Hundred and Twentieth Annual Report, for the
period ending Aug. 31, 1920, p. 7. Philadelphia.
8 Ibid., p. 74.
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P H IL A D E L P H IA
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itiated by individual schools. This committee has sought to perfect
a program for high-school counseling which should include organi
zation of courses in occupational information, vocational and edu
cational guidance, and personal and special adjustments when
necessary. I t is hoped that the city authorities will cooperate with
the foundation in giving adequate training for this work to teachers
and will permit at least two teacher's in each high school to give
full-time guidance.
Vocational-guidance activities in behalf of school children ini
tiated by individual schools have consisted chiefly of counseling and
of giving vocational information in the classroom. In a number
of the high schools teachers have been appointed to serve as
counselors or members of vocational-guidance committees. Courses
or lessons on the requirements and conditions of occupational life
have also been given for some years in a number of the senior high
schools, and, in connection with a course in community civics, in
several junior high schools, and in the upper grades of the ele
mentary schools.
ORGANIZATION AND PRESENT STATUS OF VOCATIONALGUIDANCE ACTIVITIES 9
ORGANIZATION
The vocational-guidance activities now conducted for school
children and children of school-leaving age are as follows: School
counseling, vocational-information courses, placement and em
ployment supervision, investigation of local industries and occupa
tions, and administration of scholarship funds.
Most of the high schools have counselors or a vocational-guidance
committee appointed from the teaching staff, though few of these
teachers are permitted any school time for counseling. Teachers also
give the courses in vocational information in the schools where
such courses have been introduced. Counselors under the super
vision of the White-Williams Foundation 10 are at work in 5 of the
approximately 2 0 0 elementary schools, in 1 of the 8 junior high
schools, ^in 2 of the 1 2 senior high schools, in the girls 5 trade
school, in the office of the director of special classes, and in the
attendance service of the bureau of compulsory education. One
counselor is assigned to the parochial school system of the city.
The entire salary of four of these workers and half of the salary
of one other are paid by other agencies, but their work is directed
by the White-Williams Foundation.
In the junior employment service of the bureau of compulsory
education 9 employment supervisors and 15 clerks are on the pay
roll of the board of public education and 2 counselors and 2 full
time clerical assistants are supplied by the White-Williams Founda
tion. Both the board of public education and the foundation supply
extra help at rush seasons.
8 For the school year 1823-24 unless otherwise indicated.
* or reports on experiments in different schools, see The White-Williams Foundation,
One Hundred and Twentieth Annual Report, for the period ending Aug. 31 1920.
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
The administration of scholarship funds by the White-Williams
Foundation is handled by three counselors employed by the founda
tion, two of them on a part-time basis. The foundation also em
ploys a research secretary for the investigation of local industries
and occupations.
A statement of the cost of these various activities can be given so
far as they are conducted by the junior employment service of the
bureau of compulsory education and the White-Williams Foun
dation. The expenditures of the board of public education for the
salaries of the staff of the junior employment service during the
school year 1923-24 were as follows:
S a la r ie s o f e m p lo y m e n t s u p e r v is o r s -----------------------------$ 1 8 ,1 3 7 .2 9
S a la r ie s o f c le r k s ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1 7 ,0 5 8 .2 6
T o t a l ------------------------- ----------------------------------------------
3 5 ,1 9 5 . 55
The annual cost of the activities of the White-Williams Founda
tion, based on expenditures for the year ended December 31, 1923, is
reported as follows:
T o t a l _____________________________ ___________________$80, 898. 41
S c h o o l c o u n s e lin g d e p a r tm e n t ( s a l a r i e s ) ----------------------S c h o la r s h ip d e p a r tm e n t--------------------------------------------- -—
S a la r ie s a n d e x p e n s e s ---------- ^------------------------------A m o u n t p a id o u t in s c h o la r s h ip s --------------------------J u n io r e m p lo y m e n t s e r v ic e ( s a l a r ie s o f W h ite -W illia m s
c o u n s e lo r s a n d c le r k s a s s ig n e d to j u n io r e m p lo y m e n t
s e r v ic e ) _________________________________________________
R e s e a r c h s e c r e t a r y ( s a l a r ie s a n d p r i n t i n g ) -----------------T r a in in g c la s s e s ( s a l a r ie s a n d s c h o l a r s h i p s ) ---------------O v e r h e a d a n d m is c e lla n e o u s e x p e n s e s - ---------- ----------------
2 3 ,3 9 3 .8 2
15, 573. 99
5, 602. 99
9, 971. 00
10, 552. 85
2 ,2 9 5 .8 9
9 ,8 1 7 .1 5
19, 264. 71
Because of the overcrowded conditions in public-school buildings,
the various vocational-guidance activities are located in separate
buildings some distance apart. The main office of the junior em
ployment service and the research secretary of the White-Williams
Foundation are housed with the bureau of compulsory education in
a school building which is about 1 y2 miles distant from the school
in which is located the office of the director of the WTiite-Williams
Foundation and of the supervisor of its school counseling and
training department and the greater part of its clerical staff. The
scholarship counselors are given quarters on the fourth floor of a
third board of education building, about 1 mile from the office of
the director of the foundation and at least 1 y2 miles from the junior
employment service.
SCHOOL COUNSELING
Members of the Teaching Staff.
Almost all the 1 2 senior high schools report that members of the
teaching staff have been appointed to do vocational counseling. In
all except four or five of the schools teachers assigned to this work
carry the full teaching schedule, and in several the counselor devotes
most of his attention to finding employment for pupils who desire
part-time work or for graduates. In one of the high schools, for
example, where- all regular counseling is in connection with placing
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students in full or part-time positions, two teachers in the com
mercial department, one for girls and one for boys, and one teacher
in the manual-training department are regularly designated for
the work, though none is given any school time to carry it on.
Another teacher interviews all “ drop outs,” encourages them to re
main in school if possible, and suggests the possibility of part-time
work. In the school year 1922-23 about 75 students were placed in
part-time positions, 225 graduating students were placed and 50
former graduates “replaced” in full-time commercial positions, and
regular work was found for 30 boys from the manual-training de
partment.
In a few senior high schools, counseling, as distinguished from
vocational placement, is considerably developed. In one girls’ high
school the school counselor gives half time to the work and has
another teacher as assistant. Failures, “ drop outs,” maladjust
ments, and applications for after-school work are referred to the
counselors. Both educational and vocational guidance are given.
When it seems advisable, home visits are made and home conditions
studied, children are taken to clinics and in some cases are given men
tal tests by experts. Each first-year student fills in a questionnaire
covering her educational and vocational plans, and students whose
plans are vague or too limited are interviewed by the counselor. In
addition to the questionnaire, the counselor has access to class marks,
“ character reports” from teachers, and mental-test reports when
tests have been given. Each senior is interviewed as to her future
plans, and a great effort is made to place graduates from the commer
cial course, who represent the great majority of those for whom full
time work is found. Placement is valued as contributing to the
prestige of the school, and 2,300 students have been placed in full
time positions since the work was started in 1913. Students are sent
with cards of introduction to employers, and placements are verified.
But the soliciting of positions is not systematic, few records are kept,
and vocational information is limited. Alumnae frequently return
for advice and replacement.
In another girls’ high school the principal has assigned counseling
to three teachers. One gives full time and two give part time to the
work. They visit first-year pupils at home, file reports of their im
pressions with the pupils’ record cards, and discuss the home en
vironments with the home-room teachers with the object of enabling
the teachers to understand and help the pupils more effectively!
Each first-year pupil also fills out a “ self-analysis ” blank, which is
supplemented by her class marks and the opinions and comments of
her teachers. Girls of exceptional ability are reported each term to
the school counselor, who interviews each of them, suggests an en
riched curriculum or further outside activities, and tries to impress
upon them the responsibility to themselves and to society which
ability brings. The counselors have the advice and support of
the principal and of all the eleventh-grade staff, the members of'
which meet regularly to discuss problems of that grade. Counselors
often make home visits to ascertain the causes of failure or of un
satisfactory deportment. In the light of their knowledge of the in
dividual child’s home conditions, school history, and personal prefer18835°—25---- 16
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VO CA TIO NAL G U ID A N C E A N D J U N I O R P L A C E M E N T
ences, the school counselors consider transfers and adjustments of
program recommended by teachers, and discuss with the pupil the
wisdom of such transfers and adjustments. They interview each
student preparing to enter normal school in order to judge of her
fitness to become a teacher and recommend another type of work if
the girl does not seem personally qualified for teaching. They also
meet seniors in a body twice a year to discuss their futures as college
students or wage-earners. From one-third to one-half of the gradu
ating pupils are placed in positions. Most neighborhood industries
have been investigated for positions and have offered a number of
openings for part-time work. Follow-up work consists of sending
to all graduates six months after graduation letters requesting re
ports on present activities, and sending blanks to employers for re
ports on the progress of the workers. The information received in
the follow-up is tabulated.
In one of the boys’ high schools a vocational-guidance committee
composed of members of the school staff has been at work for
several years. The members of the committee hold consultations at
the close of school each day to advise boys about courses or occupa
tional opportunities. Although interviews are entirely voluntary
the committee always has had more applicants for advice than its
members can arrange to see, especially as all of them have the usual
teaching schedule. Their procedure is to interview each boy, to
discuss his case among themselves, and to interview the bov again
before deciding upon the action required. Physical and psychologi
cal examinations are given, when it is believed desirable, by mem
bers of the faculty. A series of 10 forms for use in the guidance
and placement work has been evolved. The committee lists boys
wishing positions and keeps in touch with the alumni of the school
in regard to possible openings. One member of the committee is
in charge of placing boys in part-time positions. Many students
unfitted for or failing for some other reason in their course of study
are transferred to other courses. Seniors receive assistance in
choosing colleges. Various members of the teaching staff, each of
whom specializes in information on a particular vocation, inter
view boys in doubt as to their wage-earning careers. A bulletin
containing brief accounts of various vocations and advice concern
ing them is in preparation. Invitations to parents to confer with
the committee are issued periodically. By means of posters, bulle
tin-board notices, articles in the school paper, and assembly talks
much interest has been aroused in both students and teaching staff.
During the last year the White-Williams Foundation through the
junior employment service has assisted the committee by assigning
two of its employment counselors to interview and assist in placing
members of the graduating class. (See p. 241.)
In the junior high schools counseling by members of the teaching
staff is chiefly in connection with a weekly “ guidance period,”
'which is described on pages 256-257.
White-Williams Foundation Counselors.
Counseling within the schools is considered by the White-Williams Foundation primarily a matter of personal and family read
justment through the study of individuals. The work of the school
counselors therefore resembles more closely that of home visitors or
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visiting teachers in other,cities than of vocational or educational
counselors, though the duties of the counselors, unlike those of the
typical visiting teacher, include educational and vocational counsel.
Counselors who deal with children in the upper grades of the ele
mentary schools and in the high and trade schools necessarily devote
much more attention to this aspect of their work than counselors in
the primary graces. However, the same type of qualifications and
training is required for the school counselor whose duties are pri
marily the same as the visiting teachers as for those who, assigned
to work with children of the upper grades, find that their most im
portant problems call for educational or vocational guidance.
The kind of background and technique that the foundation be
lieves the school counselor should possess is indicated in the pro
gram of the training course for counselors (see p. 236) which the
foundation offers in cooperation with the Pennsylvania School of
Social and Health Work. The aim of the course is described in an
announcement by the school as follows: “ To give the student a
foundation for work with the manifold problems of children aris
ing in a school. This foundation will include an understanding of
the forces underlying behavior and a knowledge of the environment
of home, school, and community by which those forces are moulded
and through which they can be controlled.”
No fixed or uniform program has been set for the counselors
assigned to different schools. The following statement sums up the
purpose and methods of the foundation’s school counseling pro
gram :
I t h a s b e e n t h e p o lic y o f t h e fo u n d a t io n to s e le c t o n e s c h o o l o f e a c h g e n e r a l
ty p e a n d in to t h i s sc h o o l to p u t a w o r k e r to m a k e a d e m o n s tr a tio n and. to
s t u d y t h e o u t s t a n d in g p r o b le m s a m o n g c h ild r e n o f t h e g r o u p t h a t t h e sc h o o l
i s d e s ig n e d to s e r v e . A m o n g k in d e r g a r te n c h ild r e n t h e h e a lt h p r o b le m s s ta n d
o u t m o s t p r o m i n e n t l y ; a m o n g o ld e r c h ild r e n u n s a t is f a c t o r y p r o g r e s s, b e h a v io r ,
a n d a t t e n d a n c e o f t e n h a v e t h e ir r o o ts n o t o n ly in d e f e c t s o f h e a lt h b u t in
f a m i ly r e la tio n s h ip s , n e ig h b o r h o o d c o n d itio n s , a n d o th e r in flu e n c e s to w h ic h
th e o ld e r c h ild i s su s c e p tib le . T h e q u e s tio n m o s t p r o m in e n t in h ig h sc h o o l
c e n te r s a r o u n d t h e p r e p a r a tio n f o r jo b s a n d p la c e m e n t in th e m . A s p ir a tio n s
to w a r d so m e k in d s o f jo b s n e c e s s it a t e a c o lle g e t r a in in g , a n d s o m e tim e s th e
w a y t h e r e o f i s n o t o b v io u s. I n so m e o f t h e s p e c ia l s c h o o ls th e r e c r e a tio n a l
n e e d s o f t h e c h ild r e n o v e r to p t h e o th e r p r o b le m s. I t m u s t n o t, h o w e v e r , b e
th o u g h t t h a t tr y in g to m e e t t h e s e n e e d s e n m a s s e w o u ld b e su ffic ien t. A lth o u g h
e v e r y t h in g p o s s ib le s h o u ld b e d o n e to b u ild u p m a c h in e r y to ta k e c a r e o f
t h e s e s p e c ia l p h a s e s o f t h e c h ild ’s w e lf a r e , n o th in g c a n t a k e th e p la c e o f k n o w
in g th e b a c k g r o u n d a n d s p e c ia l p r o b le m s o f t h e in d iv id u a l c h ild .11
Children are referred to the counselor by the school principal for
study and treatment of any of the following problems: Unadjusted
behavior, adverse home conditions, and educational and vocational
guidance, including poor classroom work. Health and attendance
difficulties are taken up only when they appear as part of one of the
other problems.
In one elementary school a definite program of educational and
vocational guidance for eighth-grade children has been developed.
The counselor interviews each eighth-grade pupil and discusses his
future with his parents either at home or at the school. This prac
tice, continued over several years, has resulted in increasing the pro11 The White-Williams Foundation—Five Years’ Review for the Period Ending December
31, 1921, p. 10.
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VO CA TIO NAL G U ID A N C E A N D J U N I O R P L A C E M E N T
portion of graduates enrolling in high schools and also the propor
tion of pupils successfully completing their first high-school year.
The counseling program has resulted also in the development within
the school of an information center which is valuable as a means of
interpreting the individual child to his teacher and of giving the
teacher a better understanding of the social significance and means
of solution of many of their classroom difficulties.
In the junior high schools as well as in the elementary schools
the counselor’s problems are chiefly social rather than vocational.
Although more than half the pupils referred to the school counselor
are referred for reasons that involve vocational guidance, practically
every case requires a home visit and the accumulation of social in
formation about the family. Because of the large number of cases
requiring intensive work the counselor as not able to interview each
child on his choice of school course, but she interviews children who
are unsuccessful in the course of study they have chosen, visits their
parents, and arranges for transfers to other courses if it seems ad
visable. The school counselor interviews all children who are leav
ing school to go to work and makes visits to the homes of many of
these children to talk with the parents about the child’s future.
She also arranges assembly talks by the employment managers of
Philadelphia industries and by members of the staff of the junior
employment service.
Counselors assigned to the high schools—one high school for
boys and one for girls—devote a larger proportion of their time
than do elementary and junior high school counselors to activities
that may be classed as vocational guidance. In comparing their
work with that of vocational counselors who are regular members
of the teaching staff both in Philadelphia and in other cities it
should be remembered that the counselors placed in the schools by
the foundation give a large part of their time to cases in which no
educational and vocational advice can be given until serious personal
difficulties have been investigated and adjusted. Not being them
selves members of the school faculty, they are likely to have to
devote considerable time also to gaining the interest and cooperation
of teachers.
In the boys’ high school an experiment was undertaken early in
the spring of 1923 which is reported as a success. I t was difficult
to find for this position a man equipped with the necessary social
case work training and teaching experience, and a teacher in the
school who had been successful m dealing with boys was assigned
by the principal to carry on the work under the supervision of
the foundation. His teaching program was considerably lightened,
so that he could give every afternoon and Saturday morning to
counseling. During the summer preceding his first counseling he
spent six weeks, with the Society for Organizing Charity and was
given other opportunities for special training in vocational guidance
and school counseling, so that he was able to take care of cases
involving all types of problems handled by the White-Williams
Foundation counselors. He interviews boys whose lagging interest
in school is evident through their behavior, repeated failures, and
irregular attendance; boys who because of economic need are con
sidering leaving school permanently, and boys seeking educational
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and vocational guidance. His work calls for home adjustments,
follow-up of health problems, the finding of part-time employment,
schedule adjustment, obtaining of special scholarships, and personal
guidance. He has made a special effort to develop the interest of
local employers in the problem of the high-school boy in search of
part-time work. Boys requiring full-time placement are referred
to the junior employment service. Parents) come directly to the
counselor with the problems of their boys and when they visit the
school are referred by the ofiice to the counselor. The boys them
selves have ready access to the counselor’s office.
The girls’ high school to which a White-Williams Foundation
counselor has been assigned is located in the center of a district
populated largely by textile workers who have been inclined, through
tradition and personal experience, to see little value in secondary
education for their children. A counselor was placed in this school
at the request of the principal, who herself "had undertaken the ac
tivities that are usually a part of a counselor’s work; for instance,
she visited as many as possible of the eighth-grade classes in her
district and invited them to visit the high school. Some of these
duties are now delegated to the counselor, notably visiting the
homes of students who for any reason are not succeeding in school
or who are frequently late or absent, but a number of the teachers
also have formed a “ committee of special advisers,” who are avail
able for personal investigation and advice. The counselor is a physi
cian who has had industrial experience and was for many years a
high-school teacher. She interviews girls whose unsatisfactory con
duct involves family and personal readjustments, girls with health
problems, and all school failures and “ drop outs.” She has demon
strated in many instances the relation between failure or misbehavior
in school and poor health or malnutrition. She makes home visits
and has also visited many of the mills of the district, not to make
studies of occupations, but primarily in the interest of individual
children. She calls freely upon social agencies, especially for clini
cal aid. She makes the necessary investigations preliminary to the
award of scholarships provided by the school, obtains part-time
employment, and undertakes in other ways to prevent children from
dropping out of school. Her information about a pupil consists
of the school report of absence, tardiness, and scholarship, the
teachers’ estimate of the child’s abilities and character, and for many
children, because the school possesses a teacher trained to give mental
tests, a report of mental ability.
As the student group of the Girls’ Trade School has grown, the
duties of the counselor in that school have changed to meet new
needs. In the early history of the school every girl was inter
viewed in the course of the counselor’s work, and group work was
carried on through the dramatic and glee clubs. When it became
necessary to divide the student group and inaugurate a double-shift
schedule, after-school club work was rendered impossible, and the
work of these clubs has since been taken ovèr by the teachers as a
part of the regular school regime. When the school reports are
given out in this school, the principal personally interviews each
girl and is thereby enabled to make a survey of the outstanding
problems in the school. To the counselor she refers cases of mis
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VOCATIONAL. GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
behavior, misfits in courses, and health problems needing intensive
supervision. Schedule adjustments are facilitated through the close
cooperation of the principal and counselor. At the discretion of
the principal the counselor investigates home conditions of girls
applying for employment certificates and determines whether or
not it seems possible for the girl to remain in school. An emer
gency-aid student fund administered by the principal is available,
from which scholarship awards are made, and loans are granted to
cover the expense of glasses, dental work, etc. Girls compelled to
leave school, when not placed from the school office, are referred
to the junior employment service and directed by the counselor to
the recreational agency in their neighborhood which will meet the
play needs of the girls. Further follow-up work with employed
girls is done through evening office hours at the school. The alumnae
association functions as a placement bureau for graduates; employed
girls report vacancies in their workrooms, and unemployed girls
report to the school office for assistance in placement.
The school counselors of the foundation see only children referred
to them voluntarily by principal or teachers, but although they are
dependent on school principals for cooperation both in obtaining
information about individual children and in putting into operation
programs for the adjustment of problems which concern the child s
school work, the counselors are held responsible for their achieve
ment primarily to the foundation. A certain amount of uniformity
of procedure is required. The system of record keeping is identical
for all. It consists of a face card (see p. 235), to which are attached
sheets for recording chronologically interviews and action taken
from time to time. All cases when referred to a school counselor
are registered in the central office and given a number.. Inquiry is
made at the Social-Service Exchange, and before action is taken any
social agency reported as knowing the family is consulted. Many
of the cases handled by the counselors are referred by them to other
agencies, as it is one of the basic principles of the foundation never
to undertake work which another agency is equipped to do.
Each counselor is supplied with stenographic service to keep rec
ords and reports up to date. Monthly reports on a prescribed form
are sent to the central office, and counselors confer frequently with
the supervisors there on particularly complicated cases. A monthly
staff meeting is held, which all the employees of the^ foundation
attend. This meeting is usually addressed by an outside speaker.
Each department holds also weekly or biweekly conferences dealing
with its own problems.
For several years the White-Williams Foundation has supplied
subjects relating to field work in guidance for graduate and under
graduate students at various universities and colleges in and near
Philadelphia, and recently it introduced a course of training in
counseling.
This field work under the foundation is done in connection with
courses for which students are receiving college credit. The purpose
is not to train the students, most of whom expect to become teachers,
to become school counselors, but rather to give them, as teachers, an
idea of the social worker’s point of view toward the individual.
The foundation hopes that the extension of this idea will bring to
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C ounselor's reco rd card, W h ite -W illia m s F o u n d a tio n ; P h ila d e lp h ia
Date Opened
Name
Race:
___________________
W.
Religion:
F.
P- °* 8.
Date Closed
M.
Language in home
No.
_______________ _______ Inquiry
COUNSELOR
R E N T R O O M S To il e t b a t h
OCCUPATION OR SCHOOL
PHILADELPHIA
SPECIAL INFORMATION
R E LATION S HIP
OCCUPATION AND CONTRIBUTION
12
INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS
13
15
RELATIVES ELSEWHERE
ADDRESS
16
17
18
19
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
those interested in dealing with children a clearer understanding
of the need for school counseling. The course has been described
briefly as follows:
The course requires attendance a t one lecture a week and a t least two hours
a week spent on a special child or group selected by each teacher from his own
class Home visits are made, the child’s progress in school watched, a closer
personal relationship between teacher and pupil established. Where it has
seemed wise arrangements have been made for the teacher to take the children
to clinics for mental and physical examination. The effort has been consist
ently to arouse these teachers to the social side of their work, to encourage
them to do what they can, and to show them where to turn for help to do
what they themselves lack the time and specialized knowledge to undertake.
Training in school counseling for six fellowship students was made
possible in January, 1923, by a grant from the Commonwealth Fund
of New York. Applicants for these fellowships must be college
graduates and must have had experience in social case work and in
teaching. The period of training is approximately one year. The
courses12a include one in school counseling, given by the supervisor of
the department of school counseling of the White-Williams Founda
tion ; one in behavior problems, given by the psychologist in charge
of the child-study department of the Philadelphia Children’s Aid
Society and the Philadelphia Children’s Bureau (see p. 262) ; one in
vocational-guidance problems, given by a member of the staff of
the junior employment service of the bureau of compulsory educa
tion; and one in the newer philosophy and methods of education,
given by the president of Carson College, a home for orphan girls.
The students obtain practical experience at one„of the public schools
under the supervision of a counselor on the staff of the foundation;
at Carson College, where they live for a time and make an intensive
study of individual children; in connection with investigations of
occupational opportunities for minors conducted by the foundation;
and in its placement office. Each student spends a month visiting,
and making studies of various occupations, with the secretary of
industrial research.
THE JUNIOR EMPLOYMENT SERVICE
The junior employment service of the bureau of compulsory educa
tion is responsible for the issuance of employment certificates to
children between 14 and 16 years of age and of age certificates to
minors over 16, as well as for giving vocational counsel and finding
employment for minors up to the age of 21. Since the consolidation
of certificate-issuing and placement activities (see p. 225) the entire
staff of employment supervisors of the bureau of compulsory educa
tion and a number of the White-Williams Foundation counselors
assigned to the office have been trained in the procedure of employ
ment-certificate issuance as well as in vocational counseling and
placement. (For statement regarding personnel of this office see
page 227.)
.
The qualifications required for employment supervisors are a col
lege degree and two years’ experience in industry, teaching, or social
12 T h e W h i t e - W i l l i a m s F o u n d a t i o n - - F i v e Y e a r s ’ R e v ie w f o r t h e
cem ber 31, 1921, p p . 11 a n d 12.
.
l2a G iv e n a t t h e P e n n s y l v a n i a S c h o o l o f S o c ia l a n d H e a l t h W o rK .
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E n d in g
D e-
PHILADELPHIA
237
service. The salary range is the same as that for high-school, teachers
•in the Philadelphia public schools.
Employment supervisors who have had no social case work experi
ence are given a month’s leave of absence by the board of public edu
cation for training in a family case-working agency if the WhiteWilliams Foundatipn supplies a substitute. This type of experience
is desired not because the employment supervisors are expected to do
case work themselves but rather that they may recognize symptoms
of'difficulties, which will prevent occupational success and through con
tact with the methods of the many agencies used in family case
work may refer to the appropriate organization boys and girls need
ing the assistance provided by these agencies. Those who have had
no experience with industrial problems are expected to get as much
as possible after their appointment through visits to plants, meetings
with local and national personnel groups, and similar activities.
Employment-Certificate Issuance.
Under the Pennsylvania child labor law 12b all children between 14
and 16 who have completed the sixth grade, are physically qualified
for the work they are to do, and have obtained a promise of employ
ment are entitled to leave school for work. Children between 14 and
16 may get vacation certificates irrespective of educational attainment
if they comply with the other requirements of the law. Boys and girls
over 16 are not required to have employment certificates, but a ruling
of the industrial board of the State department of labor and indus
try made in April, 1921, requires that certificates of age for minors
16 years of age and over should be kept on file by employers.13
Although compliance with this ruling is not as yet general on the
part of employers the number of minors making application for age
certificates has practically doubled every year since the ruling be
came operative. Such a provision is valuable not only in improving
the administration of the child labor law but also in preventing vio
lation of the compulsory attendance law ,.including the provision
relating to part-time schooling.
Up to the year 1922-23 certificates were issued by one employment
supervisor and a staff of clerks under the general direction of the
director of the bureau. When the service was reorganized to include
both issuance and placement (in 1922) it became the aim of the de
partment to have an employment supervisor interview every child
applying for an employment certificate so that “ employment certifi
cation can become real employment supervision over the conditions
under which children * * * work.” Up to the present time it
has been possible to provide for a careful interview of only a small
proportion of the applicants at the central office, but it has been
made the regular procedure for children applying at the district
offices. (See p. 244.)
121> P e n n s y l v a n i a , A c ts o f 1 9 1 5 , P . L.- 2 8 6 .
13 T h e t e x t o f t h i s r u l i n g i s a s f o l l o w s : “ T h a t t o s e c u r e b e t t e r a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f t h e
P e n n s y l v a n i a c h i ld l a b o r la w i t i s r e q u i r e d t h a t ' m i n o r s o v e r s i x t e e n ( 1 6 ) y e a r s o f a g e o n
a p p l y i n g f o r a p o s i t i o n i n a n y e s t a b l i s h m e n t , o r i n a n y o c c u p a tio n i n t h i s C o m m o n w e a lth
s h a ll p r e s e n t a n ag e c e rtific a te a u th o riz e d by th e a tte n d a n c e b u re a u o f th e d e p a rtm e n t
o f p u b li c i n s t r u c t i o n , a n d i s s u e d a n d s ig n e d b y t h e p r o p e r o ffic e rs o f t h e lo c a l s c h o o l
b o a rd .
S u c h c e r t i f i c a t e s h a l l a l s o b e a r t h e m i n o r ’s o w n s i g n a t u r e .
S a id c e r t i f i c a t e
s h a l l r e m a i n o n file w i t h t h e e m p lo y e r d u r i n g s a i d m i n o r ’s t e r m o f e m p lo y m e n t t o b e
r e t u r n e d t o t h e m i n o r w h e n t h e t e r m o f e m p lo y m e n t c e a s e s .
R u le M - 3 4 o f t h e r u lin g 's
k K l i i k t a t e i n d u s t r i a l b o a r d r e l a t i n g t o t h e c h i ld - la b o r a c t o f 1 9 1 5 , a d o p t e d A p r il
Of
<
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238
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
A ll the children applying at the central office are given a card de
scribing the facilities for placement offered by the bureau.
One or two aspects of the procedure in obtaining employment
certificates in Philadelphia are to be noted in relation to educational
and vocational guidance. Every child applying for a certificate
must be accompanied by one of his parents, so that an opportunity
is given in each case to point out to the parent, as well as the child,
the advantages of further training, the opportunities for obtaining
it, and the disadvantages to the wage earner of inadequate schooling.
Another provision closely related to vocational guidance is^ the
requirement of a physical examination. Every child is examined
physically each time he applies for an employment certificate. Ap
proximately 20 per cent of the applicants have their certificates
refused or delayed because of physical defects, usually remediable
defects, such as decayed teeth and defective vision. Under the State
regulations certificates must be refused entirely for certain more
serious defects, such as tuberculosis, Graves’s disease, and heart or
kidney disease, so that continued schooling up to the age of 16 at
least is insured for the group regarded as most subject to physical
injury by too early employment. Children who have certain other
defects not quite so serious but who are subject to injury through
employment about machinery are protected by being certified only
for employment in occupations which do not bring them near
power-driven machinery. W ith these exceptions, no attempt is made
to advise regarding the occupation which a child plans to enter in the
light of physical demands of the occupations or of the child’s physi
cal condition. Although children are reexamined on their applica
tion for each new certificate, little, if any, attempt has as yet been
made to study the nature or condition of a child’s previous employ
ment in connection with defective conditions revealed on reexamina
tion, either to advise him as to the sort of work he should or should
not do in the future or to obtain data on the physical effects of va
rious occupations.
The certificate-issuing office, through cooperation with employer,
attendance officer, continuation school, and factory inspector, has
organized an unusually effective system of insuring compliance with
the provisions of the child labor law, and to that extent may be said
to exercise supervision over working children during the early
years of employment.
Vocational Guidance and Placement.
The junior employment service of the bureau of eompulsory educa
tion is the only organized placement service for juniors in the city.
The social aspect of its own work has been emphasized from the
beginning, and practically every social agency cooperates with it.
All Philadelphia social agencies make use of its services and respond
to requests for cooperation in investigation, shelter, relief, recreation,
or clinical treatment.
'
A friendly contact with employers’ associations was developed
early in the history of the office and has been maintained by occa
sional addresses from the director and supervisors, by publicity
through employers’ publications, and by direct contact with indi
vidual members. Organized labor has also opened its meetings to
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PHILADELPHIA
289
speakers representing the office, and the relationships have been
cordial.
Cooperation w ith the schools is a natural result o f the nature of
the office as a part o f the regular school system, a cooperation ren
dered effective by the very real service the office can offer.
Inform ation regarding educational opportunities is complete and
m constant use by the staff. The “ Survey o f Opportunities for Voca
tional Education in and near Philadelphia ” 14 is especially helpful.
Catalogues o f various schools and descriptions o f vocational courses
are on file in the office library.
Every effort is made to extend the knowledge of occupational
opportunities in the community. The research secretary, loaned
temporarily by the White-Williams Foundation to make studies of
certain industries and occupations, is mentioned elsewhere (see p.
249.) In addition to the special studies, a continuous occupational
survey is conducted, as each employment supervisor and WhiteWilliams counselor is scheduled for ojie half-day a week spent in
investigation of employment opportunities. The results of all this
investigation are added to the files, exchanged, and freely discussed
at the regular staff meetings and may be incorporated in publica
tions if of sufficient import. Two files of employers are kept at the
central office, one on 5 by 8 inch cards, filed by industries, and one
on 3 by 5 inch cards, with ratings of the establishments by a five
point scale, filed alphabetically. A union index of all firms visited
by any of the cooperating social agencies is also available for any
purpose. This reports merely the date of the visit and not the result
and is used to prevent overvisiting or oversolicitation. Every day
as the orders come in, a list of the new firms is turned over to the
research secretary, and investigations are made before juniors are
referred to jobs, except in a few special cases, where the'junior is
told frankly that the firm has not been visited, and he is asked to
report back at once to the office regarding the conditions which he
finds.
In the past Philadelphia has not had a cumulative school record35
which follows the child throughout the system, and the information
concerning the applicant is therefore not so complete as it is where
such a card is available. However, this is compensated for in a
number of ways. The school record required before a certificate is
issued is on file in the certificating office for every child between 14
and 16, so that the placement worker has at least a record of the
educational attainments of the applicant. Moreover, both the child
and his parent have been carefully interviewed by the certificate
issuing officer. (See p. 238.) I t is an unvarying point of procedure
to conduct these interviews separately, because it has been noticed
that in a joint interview either the parent or the child is usually
suppressed. Fourteen to 16 may be an inarticulate age, and the em
ployment supervisors take every opportunity to get as many of the
facts and as much of the child’s point of view as possible. These
records are collected by the clerk who lists the applicants for place
ment in order as they appear, and are before the employment super** S e c o n d e d i t i o n is s u e d i n 1 9 2 1 . P h i l a d e l p h i a V o c a t io n a l- G u id a n c e A s s o c i a ti o n ,
. A c u m u l a t i v e r e c o r d c a r d w a s i n t r o d u c e d i n t h e P h i l a d e l p h i a s c h o o ls i n J u n e , 1 9 2 4 ,
T h i s c a r d w i l l b e s e n t t o t h e b u r e a u o f c o m p u ls o r y e d u c a t i o n w h e n a c h i ld l e a v e s s c h o o l.
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
visor when she meets the child. Though the employment supervisors
do not have separate offices, the office arrangement makes a private
interview possible by the use of a low conversational tone. If the
applicant comes from a school that has a school counselor, supple
mentary information is always sought there. Telephone conferences
with social workers, teachers, and principals are held in cases that
seem to demand them. Home visits are made by a social worker
provided by the White-Williams Foundation and by a staff of attend
ance officers of the attendance service of the bureau especially as
signed to social investigation. Not many applicants have had mental
tests before appearing at the office, but all problem cases can be
referred for examination to the division of special education or to
one of several clinics which cooperate willingly with the bureau.
It is evident that much depends on the first interview in the office.
This is conducted with great care, the employment supervisors see
ing the children in turn as recorded by the clerk, with no segrega
tion except by sex. Even that distinction is variable, and a super
visor who has been interviewing boys for some time is transferred
to girls, in order to keep the whole field before her. Time is taken
to get a complete view of the applicant. (See registration card,
p. 242.) Special emphasis is given to his school history, his likes and
dislikes, the previous work history, if any, and the family “ pic
tu re ”—the idea of the group of which he is a part. If there are
ether workers in the family, their occupations and wages are ascer
tained if possible. Cards of other members of the family who are
registrants are reviewed. The training in case work possessed by
nearly all the supervisors is of advantage here.
Applicants are referred at once to jobs if any are available. If
not, special solicitation is undertaken over the telephone. A re
turn postcard which serves as both introduction and a report of re
sults is given each applicant referred to a job. A telephone check
up is made promptly if this card is not received.
The supervisor writes up every interview at once before seeing the
next applicant. It is believed that, the resulting loss of speed is more
than compensated by the increased accuracy and vividness of the
reports. Daily reports are made from these cards, and the cards are
filed by 'a clerk.
i
Follow-up centers about the evening office hours, held once a week
from 5 to 7 o’clock. Usually three supervisors stay to con
duct leisurely interviews. This affords a chance regularly to get in
close personal touch with the junior and to find out what his needs
really are. Special emphasis is put on the advantages of continued
education of some sort. A postal card inviting him to come in for
a conference is sent to every registrant at the end of the first three
months following registration. Formerly another was sent at the
end of the year and one at the end of two years, but these were not
found effective, and now a letter with a questionnaire regarding
work history subsequent to registration is sent at the end of the year.
The necessity for a new working certificate for each new job, of
course, insures a follow-up of the work history of all the 14 to 16
year old group. After the first verification of employment follow
up is conducted through the juniors and not through the employers,
except in some case requiring exceptional treatment.
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PHILADELPHIA
241
A record of all action in a case, including placement and fol
low up, as well as reference to social agencies, return to school, etc.,
is entered on a blank card, 5 by 8 inches, which is attached to the
regular registration card. In the main office placement end certifi
cation are distinct. In the district offices (see p. 244) one side of the
registration card serves for certification and one side for placement.
Daily reports are compiled by a clerk, and a report, both written
and statistical, covering the number of individuals served and the
nature of the service, with added items of general interest regarding
the work, is furnished each month by the director of the bureau of
compulsory education to the White-Williams Foundation and to each
member of the staff of the junior employment service.
Two definite and interesting lines of expansion for the office have
opened up. The first of these consists of assigning an employment
counselor to the Central High School to assist in placing the gradu
ates of the school and to act as coordinator in connection with the
cooperative program for seniors in the trade courses. (See p. 258.)
The latter service is of particular interest in that it suggests the
handling of the placement and supervision of students in coopera
tive public-school courses by members of the staff of the school em
ployment service, who are specially trained for employment work.
In connection with the placing of the graduates of the Central High
School in 1923 each member of the class filled in a questionnaire,
stating his plans of work' or study, about three months before the
end of the last school term. Each questionnaire was studied by the
employment counselor, and the information thus obtained was used
as a basis for furnishing the pupil with vocational information and
advice in the course of a personal interview about a month before
the close of the term. An unpublished statement furnished by the
junior employment service gives the following account of the work:
The work of the counselors consisted in reviewing with each boy the reasons
for his choice of a vocation and telling him of the opportunities and limitations
in the vocation and the specific educational training required for it.
I t was found in some cases where boys had already chosen a profession,
that their reasons were inadequate and they had not a practical idea of the
money and time th at would be required to become a member of that profession.
As a result it was often necessary to have two or three interviews with the boy
in order to make him fully appreciate the seriousness of his choice.
Several thousand employers were solicited by letter for positions
for the graduates before the midyear and June graduations. Of
the graduates who wanted to go to work approximately two-thirds
were referred to positions in the line of their vocational plans and
one-sixth to work of some other sort. Those who were not placed
were referred to the placement office for further service. The plac
ing of students from the trade courses was much simpler than of
those from the academic or commercial courses, not only because the
trade courses prepare boys for a specific industrial occupation but
also because the majority of the trade students had worked on the co
operative plan for a year and had thus gained some practical experi
ence in industry. The commercial group with their definite business
training were the next easiest to place. The high-school authorities
were so gratified with the results of the coordination by the trained
placement supervisor and by the results with the graduates that they
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242
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
requested the continuance of the service and volunteered to assume
part of the expense for it. The junior employment service says
further:
The results of several years’ experimentation will be of special interest
as a demonstration of a method by which a placement office can reach students
still in school with vocational advice and placement service and will also
be of interest from the point of view of the question whether a school employ
ment office, in touch with employers throughout the year, can carefully place
and offer practical employment suggestions to the students of a large high
school at the time when they are leaving in great numbers.
The second line of expansion consists in the establishment of dis
trict offices, which are, like the central office, to handle jointly cer
tification and placement. The section on district organization con
tains the discussion of their placement activities.
Philadelphia placement workers see in these offices, centralized and
yet individualized, the best means of attaining that control of
junior placement which is their ultimate goal. Moreover, since in
the district office both the child and the job will be known specifically
to the counselor who brings them together, the disadvantages of
impersonal placement will be avoided so far as is humanly possible
in a large city.
The following table gives a summary of vocational guidance and
placement activities of the junior employment service for the year
ended June 30, 1923.
S u m m a ry o f vo ca tio n a l-g u id a n c e a n d p la c e m e n t a c tiv itie s fo r y e a r en d ed
J u n e 30, 1 9 2 8 1
Items
Boys
1,971
2 , 543
Referred by State employment department.. 1. _I........ ................. ..........
1,495
3,826
5,692
252
57
37
27
181
426
42
-31
5
90
24
29
10
2
1,612
366
Girls
1,531
1,021
2,120
3,593
'228
69
54
13
165
156
45
38
14
75
16
56
21
3
6
1,207
242
2 , 001
Total
3,502
4,544
2,516
5,946
9)285
480
126
91
40
346
582
87
69
19
165
40
85
31
3
8
2,819
608
518
123
323
70
'Bureau of Compulsory Education—Report for the Year Ending June 30, 1923, p. 49. Philadelphia, 1924.
District Organization.
The desirability of making some provision for a local system of
employment-certificate issuance has been recognized for some years
by the Philadelphia school authorities. In his annual report for
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
243
Face of reg istra tio n card, ju n io r em ploym ent se rv ic e ; P hiladelphia
[Except for the color, the card is the same for girls and hoys]
L ast N am e
F irst N am e
lie s.
, 2
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3
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tie s.
4
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P H IL A D E L P H IA
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£
N am e
uj
N am e
O ccu p atio n o f F a th e r
O cc. B ro th ers o v e r 14
Em p.
Y es
No
Em p.
Y es
No
Y es
No
in U.S.
O c c u p atio n of M o th er
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No. ch. u n d e r 14
Em p. Vocational Aptitude
Y es
of Applicant
Y es
No
Y es
A ge a t L eaving
• C lerical
M ercantile
T ra d e
R easons fo r leaving
----------- »---- ------------— ----------------------------- i— t
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School P lans
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W o rk O b je c te d T o
W o rk
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g e n e ra l H e a lth
D efects
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(
—--------------- ’—
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M atu re
R efined
S p ecial Interest
T rai liability
Rem arks:
Sig n atu re of A p p lican t
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
W h ite
N egro
1
P la ce o f B irth
Y es
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D a te c l L eaving
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C ard N um ber
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[Actual size 8 by 5 inches]
244
R everse of reg istra tio n card, ju n ior em ploym ent se rvice; P hiladelphia
EM PLOYM ENT RECORD
•Dates
Nam e and Address of Em ployer
N am e
Address
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
[Actual size 8 by 5 inches]
W ag es p e r W
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Reason for.
Leaving
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
From
To
Kihd of W ork
Industry
PHILADELPHIA
245
the year ended June, 1917, the director of the bureau of compulsory
education comments upon this need as follows:
It has been the practice in Philadelphia to issue employment certificates
from a central office ever since this duty was vested in the school authorities
by the act of assembly of 1909. The centralization of this work has resulted
in simpl fication of records, standardization of methods of proving age, and
a more nearly perfect control of the employment situation. These advan
tages are in a measure offset by the expense in time and car fare which the
applicants for certificates suffer on account of the remoteness of the central
office from distant sections of the city. Other disadvantages of the issuance
from a central office are apparent during June, July, and September, du rn g
which months the congestion in the issuing office is greater than at any time
of the year, and it is impossible to provide adequate accommodation for the
applicants. Measures, therefore, should be taken to provide an improvement
in the service.
Better service could be rendered to the public by arranging for the issuance
of certificates from the district attendance offices, of which there are nine1"
located at points of easy access in every section of the city .17
In May, 1923, the first district office of the junior employment
service was opened. Two others had been opened before January,
1924, and a fourth was planned. These four offices are designed to
serve eight school districts. The staff of the district offices now in
operation consists of three employment supervisors and three clerks.
Like the central office of the junior employment service, the dis
trict offices, as has been stated, both issue certificates and carry on
placement work. The dual function of these offices is pointed out
by the director of the bureau of compulsory education in the follow
ing unpublished statement:
The first duty of the district office is to issue employment certificates ac
curately and expeditiously to the boys and girls residing in the district or
districts which the office is intended to serve. To do this effectively time and
attention should be given to advising each child concerning his occupational
future, sometimes with the possibility of effecting a return to school. In ad
dition to this the district office should further carry on the placement work
for all pupils leaving school.
Applicants at a district office are not required to visit the central
office, and all minors who apply for certificates or for placement
at the central office, are now referred to a local office if they live
in a school district where an office has been opened. Even the physi
c s examination required of each applicant for an employment cer
tificate is given at the district offices, to each of which a physician is
assigned for two and one-half hours daily with extra help during
busy hours. Notices of refusal of certificates and of return of
certificates are referred to the district attendance office, whose report
is made to the district employment office. Duplicate index cards for
all applicants at a district office, whether applicants for employment
certificates or for placement, are sent to the central file, so that
duplication of service is prevented. On the opening of a new dis
trict office all the registration cards belonging to it are transferred
to its files from the central office, and upon it is placed the respon
sibility of making the necessary duplicate registration cards for the
central office.
The emphasis on the placement function of the district offices is
indicated in the fact that these offices are open only in the morning,
16 Now eight.
17
theT. Bureau of Compulsory Education for the Year Ending June 30, 1917,
pp. 25—26. The Board of Public Education, Philadelphia, 1918.
18835°—25-----17
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
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V O C A T IO N A L
G U ID A N C E
AND
JU N IO R
PLA CEM EN T
in order that the afternoon hours may be free for establishing con
tacts with employers, making industrial investigations, soliciting
positions, and doing personal follow-up. Except for the detailed
investigation of vocational opportunities for minors conducted by
the research worker of the White-Williams Foundation in coopera
tion with the junior employment service visits to places of em
ployment in its own territory are made only by the district office..
The latter, by first obtaining permission from the central office, may
also solicit orders from firms not in its own district. Before per
mission is given, reference is made to the central files of employing
firms, to ascertain how recently and how often the firm in question
has been called upon in order that oversolicitation may be avoided.
Records of visits made to employers by the staff of the district office
are made in duplicate, and one copy is sent to the central files of
the service. Effective machinery for the clearing of employers’:'
orders between the district and the central office is being worked out.
Systems in other cities, especially in New York, were studied, but
none of them was adopted in to to. A separate clearance division has
been established in the central office to handle employers’ calls for
all the offices. The clearance supervisor telephones each district
office every half hour during the morning office hours. “ Orders ”
coming to the central office from employers in the territory of a
district office are referred at once to the district office. The super
visors in the district offices refer registrants to the orders they have
listed or solicit by telephone in their district for a posit on when no
suitable one appears on their list. If no suitable opening for an ap
plicant can thus be found the supervisor gives details regarding the
registrant to the clearance supervisor in the central office, and the
latter if possible gives the district office an “ order ” from the files of
the central office to which to refer the applicant. No u orders ” not in
their own territory, however, are turned over to a district office ex
cept for specific registrants. Every order assigned to a district
office is marked with a black clip in the clearance files until a report
on it comes in.
';
'
V f
,
Cooperation with all the schools in the district, with local or
ganized groups of employers and employees, and with important
civic and social organizations of the community is planned. During
the first two months after the opening of the first district office
visits were made by the employment supervisors to public and
parochial schools of the district to inform the principals regarding
the location and purpose of the new office. Visits to industrial and
commercial establishments in the various districts have been men
tioned. Through cooperation with one junior high school all pupils
of the school who had left within a year were invited to call during
the evening office hours at one of the district offices, where they were
interviewed as to their reason for leaving school and their present
occupation, with a view to obtaining facts that would assist the
school in preventing “ drop outs.”
With the exception of the interviews with these junior high school
pupils district organization has not yet resulted in any direct work
with children before they appear at the office to make their appli
cations for employment certificates or for placement. Indirectly
through addresses to school children the district offices have coop
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
P H IL A D E L P H IA
247
erated with school officials to encourage children to remain in school
and to enter high school. The need to reach with vocational ad
vice all children leaving school for work is met, at least for those
j ^
r€(lu^r^nS all applicants for certificates authorizing their
holders to enter regular full-time employment to be interviewed by
J
an employment supervisor.
INVESTIGATION OF LOCAL INDUSTRIES AND OCCUPATIONS
Employment counselors of the White-Williams Foundation staff
assigned to the junior employment service have from the beginning
visited Philadelphia industries and studied local occupations. Their
purpose has been not only to find openings for placements but also
to get first-hand information on the kinds of work that can be undertaken by minors of different ages as a basis for vocational and
educational counsel. In addition, from time to time, individual
members of the staff have been assigned to occupational studies and
studies of the kinds of work in which children and young persons
are engaged. For example, in the school year 1920-21 and 1921-22
a, survey was made of all establishments employing five or more
children between 14 and 16 years of age.
Ab6ut 250 firms, employing 3,330 employment-certificate ” children, were
included in this study. In each case the entire establishment was visited the
physical condition of the plant noted, the training required, wages paid,' op
portunities for the future were studied, and a special analysis made of the
work of these younger children ,18
In visiting the places of employment included in this study the
representative of the junior employment service was often accom
panied by the coordinating teacher from the continuation school (see
W J 7
tlle young workers employed in these establishments
attended. Visits have been made to find openings for apprentice
ship m some of the skilled trades. 19 In the year 1921-22 studies
were made of opportunities for minors in paper-box work, mechani
cal dentistry, shampooing and hairdressing, bricklaying, carpentry,
plumbing, tin roofing, and heater and range work.20 The first three
studies were made by a member of the staff, the remainder by
students of the Wliarton School of Finance and Commerce of the
University of Pennsylvania, assigned as part of their training to the
junior employment service.
At first the results of these investigations were available only to
members of the placement staff, but in the latter part of 1922 a num
ber of the occupational studies which had been made up to that
time were prepared for publication in a form suitable for the use
i ‘s<7 100l! counselors and teachers. Five of these mimeographed
leaflets of two to seven pages each have been issued with printed
covers.21 Each report covers the following points on the occupa
tion or industry studied: ( 1 ) Description of the occupation or inn
C o m p u l s o r y E d u c a t i o n f o r t h e Y e a r E n d i n g J u n e 3(1 1 9 2 2
T b e ? ° A r d ^ f P u b h c E d u c a t i o n , P h i l a d e l p h i a , P a ., 1 9 2 3
’
’
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^
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’
22,
B o x TI n d iT s L y m aC1St ’ T h e L l b r a r i a n ; T h e H a i r D r e s s e r ; T h e D e n t a l M e c h a n i c ; T h e P a p e r ,.
4 0
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
248
VO CA TIO NAL G U ID A N C E A N D J U N IO K P L A C E M E N T
dustry; ( 2 ) economic conditions—i. e., sex and nationality of the
workers, wages, and hours of work; (3) preparation required; (4)
qualifications of workers; (5) advantages of the occupation; ( 6 ) dis
advantages of the occupation; (7) special local conditions (includ
ing opportunities for training).
Although these reports are only brief summaries of the studies,
the facts presented are sufficient for the purpose for which they
are intended. The picture given of each occupation is based on
first-hand study made with the vocational-guidance purpose in view,
and the advantages and disadvantages of each are clearly and im
partially presented. Examples of the method of treatment are
given in the following excerpt from a report on the skilled trade
of dental mechanic:
T
h e
D
ental
M
e c h a n ic
PREPA R A TIO N
Since shops must have errand boys this job is the usual entrance to the
trade for apprentices. The few boys who display the proper interest and
ability in the work are allowed to try their hand at polishing and plaster
work and from that go on gradually to other phases. It takes three to five
y ears to become an expert in the general mechanics of the trade and a little
longer for the specialties in gold and bridge work.
There is no standardization of work or wages for apprentices, and a.good
deal depends on the interest of the man for whom the boy is working. Place
ment for an apprenticeship should be made with care.
There is a feeling among the laboratory .men that schools do not train
successfully for this work. In the opinion of the dental profession the work
at present is best learned in the laboratory by the actual doing of it, but
it is hoped th at appropriate courses and schools will be developed.
Q U A L IF IC A T IO N
Mechanical ability, especially deftness of fingers, is a prime essential. The
boy must be fairly intelligent and he must have the patience to do careful
work. Education through the grammar school is helpful but not considered
essential. Some mechanics have found chemistry and metallurgy profitable.
The polishing of both metal and rubber creates dust. There are fumes
from vulcanizer and soldering flame, so that those with weak or affected
lungs had better stay away from this work.
Women might enter the trade, though almost none have done so in Phila
delphia. A girl entering now would find herself the only woman in most shops.
Some shops are open to colored boys and men.
ADVANTAGES
A trade of high skill developing individual ability.
Wages good and a chance for independence.
Only a small amount of capital needed to start an independent business.
No competition with the unskilled.
A new and fast-growing trade th at promises much greater and more
standardized development.
DISADVANTAGES
Very little standardization of the work in the shops or of that required
of apprentices, as it is a comparatively new and developing industry.
A little overcrowded at present, as high wages stimulated the industry
somewhat.
Apprentices must be very carefully placed.
Wages low at the beginning.
S PE C IA L
LOCAL C O N D ITIO N S
A need was expressed for the development of definite and higher standards
by the better mechanics in spite of the fact that the standards are generally
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
249
P H IL A D E L P H IA
8 ? f Jo ih\ dentists. w^ ° have the work done for them.
State regulation of
t*ade by examination has been suggested, as in the case of public health
or medicine and dentistry itself.
the ^®a tal laboratory occupies but little space it can be located in
e l S ? ' +1?l0Sl shops are near Market Street between Eighth and
ke\enteenth Streets, though a few lie in West and North Philadelphia to be
near a special dental clientele.22
In the spring of 1923 this phase of the vocational-guidance pro
gram was further developed when the White-Williams Foundation
appointed a research secretary to work in cooperation with the junior
employment service. The research secretary makes occupational
studies and plans and supervises the occupational studies and visits
to employers by certain other workers, such as the fellowship students
training under the foundation, each of whom spends one month visitmg places of employment; the staff of the junior employment service:
and students from the Wh'arton School of Finance and Commerce,
University of Pennsylvania, assigned to this work in connection with
tneir courses. The present research secretary has had a number of years
of experience as teacher and as social and industrial investigator,
n orms tor recording information obtained on visits to places of employment have been drafted and are prescribed for use in reports
ot all investigations made under the direction of the junior employ
ment service. (See p. 250.) These reports are filed in theoffice of the
research secretary alphabetically by industry. When an establishment representing an occupation or industry which h’as been specially
studied is visited a supplementary report is made covering conditions
in the establishment in greater detail than usual. By an arrangement
between the junior employment service and two other agencies in
terested in the investigation of employment opportunities—the employment department of the Young Women’s Christian Association
and the Philadelphia Bureau of Occupations for Trained Women—
an index card for each visit to a place of employment made by either
of the two organizations..is filed in the office of the junior employment
service.
J
A four-page monograph 23 containing a summary of the 1920 census
statistics of minors employed in Philadelphia has been prepared by
the research secretary and has been issued as one of the series of
monographs described on page 247.
A series of 30 or 40 page bulletins has also been begun of which
two have, appeared thus far: One on the watchmaking and repair
trade, prepared by a university student and edited by the research
secretary, and one on studio photography, by the research secretary.24
SCHOLARSHIPS
Several Philadelphia high schools have scholarship funds adminis
tered by teachers or committees of teachers, but the most extensive
and systematically organized scholarship program for school children
m the city is administered by the White-Williams Foundation.
Up to the present time the greatest number of applicants for
scholarships have been referred by social agencies, but the number of
W o o d ru ff, R u t h J . : T h e D e n t a l M e c h a n ic , p p . 3, 4 , 5 . T h e W h i te - W i lli a m s F o u n d a
t i o n c o o p e r a t i n g w i ( h t h e J u n i o r E m p lo y m e n t S e r v ic e , P h i l a d e l p h i a , 1 9 2 3 .
w .11h ^ ? e ’Tj,M a y . Ry S e r s ; J u n i o r a n d J u v e n i l e W a g e E a r n e r s i n P h i l a d e l p h i a .
T h e W h ite W ^ hi n l 9 2 4 nv^o
W ltl? t h e J u n i o r E m p lo y m e n t S e r v ic e , P h i l a d e l p h i a , 1 9 2 3 .
d e lp ä
and
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
5
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products or
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s e r v ic e s
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number
N A T IO N A LIT Y P R E D O M IN A N T
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W . W . F. F O R » P - 1 8
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
RO O M S*
E X IT S
A IS L E S
FLO ORS
F IR ST AID
ADM. BY
D R E S S IN G RO O M ¡ 'C L O A K L O C K E R S
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F A C IL IT IE S : D R IN K IN G
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
S U P 'T OR M AN AG ER
T E L E P H O N E NO.
EM PLO YEES:
250
F o rm u se d b y th e ju n io r e m p lo y m e n t s e r v ic e m
PH ILA D ELPH IA
251
applications received directly from the schools through principals,
teachers, the junior employment service, and the bureau of com
pulsory education has steadily increased. In determining whether
^ scholarship shall be granted the following requirements are
!• The applicant must be legally eligible to leave school for work.
Applications will, however, be received for a child who is almost 14
where it is practically certain that he will have to leave school at 14
unless given aid.
2 . The child should be of proved capacity for training, though not
necessarily of exceptional mental ability. He should also possess to
some degree qualities of personality and leadership.
3. It must be clearly demonstrated that in no other way than
through scholarship aid can the family provide the further education
which both they and the child strongly desire.
When a child is granted a scholarship he comes under the super
vision of a scholarship counselor. She arranges for him to come to
her office weekly or biweekly to receive his scholarship money, and
talks over with him his personal problems, school progress, and plans
for the future. Whenever it seems wise she visits the home to talk
with his parents. In the words of one of the reports of the founda
tion :
,
s?on a? a
is Placed in her hands the counselor assumes the responsibility for his social and educational and vocational guidance. She uses the
social-service exchange and consults with other agencies which may have
known the family, especially the schools. Her aim is to secure for each schol
arship child the “ best possible chance to develop the best th at is in h im ”
either along the line of some special ability or in more general ways. To this
end she assists him to plan “ just the kind of education which he can use to
most advantage.” * * *
, W g h a v e m ad e u se o f h o sp ita ls, settlem en ts, an d oth er a g en cies w h ich m ig h t
g iv e u s h elp in so lv in g q u estio n s o f h ea lth , recreation , etc. In d iv id u a ls h a v e
a ssiste d u s g r e a tly in sp ecia l cases. * * * T h e n eed fo r p h y sic a l ca re h a s
sh ow n it s e lf to so la rg e an ex ten t, even am on g our a b lest ch ild ren , th a t i t h a s
freq u en tly been n e c e ssa r y to a sk fo r th e a ss ista n c e o f p riv a te doctors and
p u b lic clin ics.
Although the scholarship is considered always an educational
rather than a relief measure, the degree of financial need is ascer
tained through an inquiry into the family situation by the scholar
ship counselors, following methods and standards approved by the
best relief agencies. Each applicant is given a mental examination.
The final decision as to whether or not a scholarship should be
awarded was formerly made by a “ case committee,” composed of
representative^ of each of the agencies interested, but at the present
time the decision is made by the scholarship counselors and the
supervisor of the department of counseling and training of the
White-Williams Foundation. When a family-welfare agency is
interested in the family, the agency and the foundation confer over
the division of responsibility. The scholarship counselor is usually
responsible for everything relating directly to the child, and the
family-agency worker confines her attention to the adjustment of
problems relating to other members of the family or to the familv
group as a whole.
*
W h ite -W illia m s ¡ F o u n d a t i o n — O n e H u n d r e d a n d T w e n t i e t h
t h e p e r i o d e n d i n g A u g . 3 1 , 1 9 2 0 , p p . 5 2 —5 3 . P h i l a d e l p h i a .
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
A n n u al R ep o rt
’
fo r
252
VO CA TIO NAL G U ID A N C E A N D J U N I O R P L A C E M E N T
Scholarships are granted for the current year but may be renewed
from year to year until a selected course is completed. The amount
of the scholarship has ranged from $1.50 to $8 >a week-depending
upon the need. The average scholarship is $5 a week, or $ 2 0 0 tor the
school year of 40 weeks. The great majority of scholarships are
granted to enable children to attend high school, particularly those
who through the cooperation of their parents may be enabled to com
plete a high-school course. Scholarships have been given also to
enable pupils to complete the grammar-school course; to undertake
trade or industrial courses; to study in private commercial schools or
in colleges; and in several instances, where family conditions made it
impossible or undesirable for a child to stay at home, to enable him
to attend a boarding school.
The selection of the course to be followed is based upon the wishes
and aptitudes of the child and his capacity as revealed by the results
of the mental test. The continuation of scholarship grants is made
conditional upon satisfactory school progress and the cooperation of
the child and his family in maintaining proper standards of health
and conduct. Records of school work are carefully watched.
Report blanks providing space not only for numerical marks but for general
comments of the teachers of the different subjects are sent to the school at the
regular periods when school reports are issued, and the reports received from
the teachers prove of great help in supervising the child’s work. When special
need arises the counselor visits the school in order to confer with the child s
teachers.“
When the scholarship is discontinued, the scholarship counselor
continues to keep in touch with the child until certain that he no
longer needs assistance. Through the junior employment service he
is often aided in obtaining suitable employment. A ‘ White-Williams
Scholarship Alumni Association ” composed of former recipients of
scholarships has been founded, members of which hold monthly even
ing meetings. One thought underlying the formation of this associa
tion is that the members by continuing association with the founda
tion may be interested in making what contribution they can toward
a permanent fund, so that an increasing number of children may
profit by such aid as they themselves have received. I t is explained
to a child when he receives a scholarship that although it is not a loan
to be repaid at any definite time, the foundation hopes that when
able he will make a contribution to the scholarship fund.
Part of the work of the scholarship counselors has been to obtain
part-time employment for children through the junior employment
service, to enable them to remain in school. In this way they assist
children who do not receive scholarships as well as some of those
who do.
THE SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND CURRICULUM IN RE
LATION TO GUIDANCE
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
The course of study in civics prescribed for the elementary schools
provides the child with unusual opportunities for acquiring knowl■a i -he White-Williams Foundation, Scholarship Division—Information and General
Policies Regarding Scholarships, February, 1923.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
P h il a d e l p h ia
253
edge of the occupational world about him and its relations to com
munity welfare. The extent to which the course actually furnishes
such information depends on the initiative and previous training of
the teacher.
In the- third, fourth, and fifth grades various groups of workers
are studied as a means of developing in the minds of the children
the ideas of “ service, dependence, interdependence, and reciprocal
duties. ” 27 Among these are workers supplying the community with
food, clothing, shelter, and fuel; those in municipal service, such as
policeman, fireman, postman, and street cleaner; and those rendering
service to the community in the school playground, public library,
etc.
The aim of the course in the sixth grade is more directly voca
tional.
In the sixth grade the emphasis is on the industries of the city and the
industrial life of its citizens. The distinctive aims of the work in the sixth
grade are th re e : First, to develop in the child a proper pride in his city because
of the important part which it plays :n the industrial world; second, to give
him information which will help him to select wisely an occupation; and third,
to bring him to see the desirab lity of continuing his educaton as long as
possible so that he may become a more intelligent worker and a better
citizen. * * *.
An intensive study of any industry or any occupation is not intended. The
fundamental purpose of the work of this grade s not the acquirement of
detailed information concerning particular industries or occupations but rather
the acquirement of a point of view which by developing the aims already
stated will make for good citizenship.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
In the study of an industry a visit by the class to the plant being considered
is the ideal method. When this is not feasible visits may be made by indi
viduals and reports of the v'sit given. Pictures, .stories, and descriptive
material should be used to supplement the work. The use of the lantern will
be valuable. The method in the class should be largely conversational, the
children being encouraged to do the talking.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
The child who goes into industry should do so with his eyes open. The blindalley occupations should be -treated' in such a manner as to cause him to see
how undesirable they are. No worthy trade should be treated disparagingly.
The effort should be so to treat each topic that the child will see how much to
his advantage it will be to fit himself for the vocation in which he will be
happ'est and able to render the best service.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
The topics Conditions of work and Ethics in business play a twofold
part in the w ork: First, as they are seen in part in the study of the various
occupations; second, as separate topics when they are treated at the end of
the grade work. Particular care must be taken in the treatment of the
subjects under Conditions of work. It is not intended that the labor laws, as
such, be studied. Emphasis should be placed on the idea of safety for the
worker. The laws should be treated only in so far as they tend to make for
the development of the aims of the grade work. Especial care must be taken
that the material is not presented in such a way as to make children want to
leave school and go to work.“
The following are outlines of the courses for the two semesters of
the sixth grade:
«T he Course of Study in Civics, Grades One to Six, for the Public Schools of Phila
delphia, pp. 46-47. Authorized by the board of public education, July 11, 1916
Philadelphia, 1918.
28 Ibid., pp. 45, 48-49.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
254
VO CATIO NAL G U ID A N C E A N D J U N IO R P L A C E M E N T
6A
I. Approach j i
,
This should take the form of a discussion about work and workers
familiar to the children, the purpose being to arouse an interest in
the industrial life of Philadelphia and to make clear the difference
between an industry and an occupation.
II. Industries for which Philadelphia is noted:
The manufacture of locomotives.
Shipbuilding.
The manufacture of cars.
The manufacture of hardw are: Tools, farm implements, locks, house
hold utensils, etc.
Publishing of books and periodicals.
Iron and steel works.
Bridge building.
.
The manufacture of textiles: Woolen and worsted goods; hosiery and
knit goods; carpets and rugs; cotton goods; silk and silk goods;
lace, etc.; dyeing and finishing textiles.
The manufacture of clothing, including hats and shoes.
The manufacture of paints.
The manufacture of leather goods.
The manufacture of drugs and chemicals.
The manufacture of confectionery.
The manufacture of soap.
Refining of sugar.
Refining of oil.
6B
III. Approach:
. . . .
The treatm ent of this topic should be similar to the treatment of the
approach to 6A grade but should also deal with the need of choosing eventually an occupation and the service to be rendered to the com
munity by useful work.
IV. Occupations :
.
Industrial: Carpentry; bricklaying; masonry; painting; paperhanging ; plumbing ; cabinetmaking ; machinist’s tra d e ; sheet-metal w ork;
foundry w ork; electrical w ork; printing; garment w ork; dress
making ; m illinery; paper-box m aking; bookbinding; boot and shoe
m aking; laundry w ork; jeweler’s tra d e ; mill and factory work.
Commercial: Salesmanship; telephone operating; stenography and gen
eral clerical work ; advertising ; real estate ; banking and insurance;
office and messenger service.
Professional: Architecture ; law ; medicine ; dentistry; ■a r t ; educa
tion ; social service; journalism ; ‘nursing; librarianism ; chemistry;';
pharmacy ; engineering ; ministry.
Miscellaneous: Farming (including truck farming, poultry raising,
horticulture, floriculture, apiculture) ; the Army and Navy; civil
service; domestic service.
N ote.— In the study of occupations frequent reference should be
made to the industries. It should be shown, for instance, that a ship
building plant gives employment in *a number of occupations. For
the various kinds of mill and factory work reference can be made
to the industries. In general, the choice of occupations for study
is to be made by principal and teacher.
V. Conditions of w ork:
Compulsory education.
Employment certificates.
How workers’ are protected.
Continuation schools.
VI. Ethics in business.:
Keeping a position.
How to advance.
Courtesy in work,
fittin g in with other people.29
»T he -Couise of Studv in Civics, Grades One to Six, for the lab ile -Schools .of Philalphia, pp. 46-47. Authorized by the board of public education, July 11, 1916. Philadeldelphia.
phia, 1918.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
PHILADELPHIA
255
Instruction on social and industrial organization is continued in
the seventh and eighth grades and includes à study of such phases
of elementary economics as the agencies of communication and
transportation and the meaning and usé of wealth.
Vocational information is given also in an Industrial-arts course
in the fifth and sixth grades. Because of the inadequacy of shop
space and teachers, the course reaches only about one-half the boys
of these grades. It is not open to girls, though of the industries
prescribed for study several employ a larger proportion of female
than of male wage earners. The only practical work for girls in
these grades consists of 90 minutes of sewing a week. Shop work
for boys in the industrial-arts course is divided among woodworking (one-half term), textiles (one-fourth term), and bookbinding
(one-fourth term), and is supplemented by visits to industrial plants
and workshops and by lectures on industrial subjects. The aim and
method of the course are indicated in the following quotations:
* * * To give the pupil a sense of contact with workers of many typës;
to gain some of their knowledge of the peculiarities and the manipulation of
various m aterials; and to enter into the experiences of such workers as the
carpenter, the bookbinder, the weaver, the dyer, the potter, the metal smith,
etc., thus gaining as wide industrial information and as valuable experience
as possible and the preparation for a better understanding of their fellow men.
Five typical lines of industrial work have been selected, around which to
group the handwork activities and their related subject m atter ; viz., textiles,
wood, paper, metal, clay, and their allied industries. Each teacher of indus
trial arts in the fifth and sixth grades submits a list to the supervisor con
taining representative industries in the vicinity of the schools.
In addition to the shopwork of grades 5 and 6, supplementary instruction is
given in the form of shop visits and illustrated talks. The teachers of fifthgrade industrial arts supplement the handwork by lantern-slide exhibitions
and visits to neighborhood industries. Each fifth-grade teacher is said to
make two and sometimes three industrial visits each year. In grade 6 all
pupils visit the Commercial Museum for an industrial lecture. Pupils in
this grade also made visits to mills outside of the district at least twice dur
ing each year and sometimes more.30
The shopwork for boys of the seventh and eighth grades fails to
give prevocational experience as varied as that of the fifth and sixth
grades. It consists of two hours a week of woodworking and one
hour of mechanical drawing or printing. Moreover, opportunities
for work in print shops are limited to eight schools^ serving about
2,396 boys. Girls in these grades receive instruction in cooking
(two hours a week) and sewing (one hour a week).
Educational guidance is given to a limited extent in the last
semester of the eighth grade by the distribution of a bulletin 31 de
scribing the opportunities for different kinds of training offered by
the Philadelphia high schools. This bulletin stresses the fact that
high-school training is becoming more and. more indispensable to
the boy or girl wishing to engage in occupations that offer oppor
tunity for advancement. The curricula offered by the secondary
schools of the city are outlined under the occupational groups for
which they prepare. The bulletin is divided into the following
principal sections: Why I should go to high school; the students’
if 80 Repprt of the Survey of the Public Schools Pf Philadelphia by the Pennsylvania^State
Department of Public Instruction, Book III. pp. 190, 191. The Public Education and
Child-Eabor Association of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, 1922.
81 The Public High Schools, of Philadelphia. Information for Eighth Grade Pupils.
Board of Public Education, Philadelphia, April, 1923.
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEMENT
weekly schedule of studies; preparation for professional life; prepa
ration for grade teaching in elementary schools; preparation for
professional work in physical education; preparation for business
life; preparation for home-economics work; preparation for nurs
ing; preparation for art; preparation for music; preparation for
trade; pupils without definite plans. Each eighth-grade student
fills out a card indicating what high-school subjects he desires to
study and stating whether his aim is to prepare for further edu
cation (college or normal-school) or for a vocation, the name of
which he is expected to give. This card, when approved and signed
by the pupil’s parent, is sent to the high school which the pupil
plans to enter and is used as a basis for assigning him to classes for
the coming term. When promotions to high school have been de
termined the elementary schools send to the high schools a final list
of students who will enter the ninth grade. Apparently these cards
are not used to check up on children who drop out at the end of the
eighth grade.
JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS
The Philadelphia public schools are in process of reorganization
on the 6-6-3 plan. Of 25 or more junior high schools which will be
required for the city, eight have been opened—one in 1917, three in
1921, one in 1922, and three in 1923.32 Two of these eight schools are
housed with other grades. Four occupy buildings especially plan
ned and constructed for junior high schools. In the fall of 1923, 26
per cent of the public-school population of the seventh, eighth, and
ninth grades were in junior high schools.
The junior high school is departmentalized and provides for spe
cialization in tw’o or three courses in the two upper grades. A ll
students are required to take a certain amount of handwork in their
seventh and eighth years, and eighth and ninth grade students may
elect commercial, homemaking, or shop and mechanical-drawing
courses. The last half of the eighth grade is regarded as “ try-out
grade,” and in at least one school all students in this grade are re
quired to take four hours a week of shop or homemaking courses.
Promotions are by subject, except that pupils who have failed in
three of the five major branches (English, mathematics, history,
science, and foreign language) are required to repeat the work of the
whole grade. Students failing in any of these major subjects are
permitted to drop temporarily the special subjects—music, drawing,
and the practical arts—and devote the time thus gained to remedy
ing the failure in the major subjects. “ Special-opportunity ” or
“ restoration ” classes for coaching pupils who have failed in one or
two courses have been extensively developed in the junior high
schools.
The function of the junior high school as an agency for the ex
ploration of a pupil’s special abilities and interests through practical
tryout and guidance is definitely recognized by the school officials.
In each of the junior high schools in operation during the school
year 1922-23, a “ guidance period” conducted by the home-room
teachers is a regular part of the weekly program. In the seventh
82 In the fall of 1924 four additional junior high schools were opened.
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and eighth grades the period is devoted to “ general guidance ” or
assistance in the selection of school courses; in the ninth grade more
attention is given to the vocational aspect of guidance; and in at
least one school the amount of time given to it is doubled. In
another the following outline is in use:
I. Brief survey of the leading economic activities of Philadelphia as a back
ground for the discussion of individual problems.
II. Questionnaire—Student vocation self-analysis.
Form used:
Name
. Age
. Grade.
( а )
Inheritance.
1. Vocation of parents
. Grandparents
2. Has there been any particular line of vocation noticeable on
either side?
3. Have any of your ancestors been gifted in any line’
4. Education of parents.
5‘ Caiife'?0U SGe any indication of inherited tendency in your own
( б) Education.
1. Best study.
2. Poorest study.
3. Habits of study.
( a) Regular?
Intermittent?
(b) lteal desire to study?
, „
(°) What would you rather do than study?
(c) Talent.
1. Have you a gift for music?
Art?
Design?
2. Are you skilled with your hands?
3. What can you do best?
(d)
Health.
1. Have you lost much time from sickness?
2. List any illnesses you have had.
3. What vocations could you not enter?
4. Considering your physique, what type of vocation could vou
enter?
Had better enter?
*
(e) Social efficiency.
1. Do you work harmoniously with others?
2. Are you a good leader?
Ever been an officer in a club?
0. To what organizations do you belong?
Vocational experience.
1. What positions have you held?
2. Does your experience point out for you any special line of work
or study you ought to follow?
( g ) Possible choice.
1. What would you like to do when you begin to earn your living’
2. Give your reasons for your choice.
Type study of a vocation (may be some vocation that many in the class
have chosen).
°
(a) General description of the vocation.
(b) Character analysis * * *.
(c) Methods of entrance.
( d ) Opportunity offered by the vocation.
(e) Demand and supply.
I\ Individual investigation and reports on chosen vocation (group interest
may be organized as committee work). Teacher may furnish a sug
gestive list.
, _ s
(a) Follow general plan of type study above.
(b) Interview with some one in the vocation or a visit to an industrial
plant—pamphlets.
(c) Government reports—local reports describing vocation and its oppor
tunities.
1. Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.
2. Department of Labor.
3. United States Census Bureau.
(d) Study of the biography of a person who has achieved success in the
vocation.
(f)
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V. Study of Government reports on another field than the chosen one.
(a) Reports and discussion.
(b) Object is to broaden the viewpoint and gain understanding of work
and workers.
VI. Reports on entrance requirements to higher schools.
(a) Aim is to promote understanding of the importance of the senior
high school as a preparatory step.
(b) Schools of technology; college; university; professional school.
VII. Study of industrial legislation.
VIII. Immediate individual problems.
( a) Choosing of course in the senior high school.
(b) Use of want ads.
(c) Use of employment bureaus. ( d ) How to sell your labor to a prospective employer.
Visits to industrial and business firms are required in some schools
and are optional in others. In one of the latter such visiting is
usually done by a voluntary committee of the pupils, who make a
report to the class. Pupils in the seventh and eighth grades in all
junior high schools are required to devote three school hours a week
to “ social studies” and pupils in the ninth grade four hours. Voca
tional material is used in certain of the English courses, vocational
topics are assigned for debates and dramatizations, and vocational
and vocational-guidance programs are presented in assembly periods.
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS
The Course of Study.
Philadelphia has 12 high schools, of which 4 are for boys only, 5
are for girls only, and 3 located in outlying districts are coeduca
tional. In addition to college-preparatory work, four-year courses
in commercial work, mechanic arts, architectural and mechanical
drafting, and electrical construction are offered. One of the boys’
schools offers a somewhat wider opportunity for shop work than the
others and has a special trade annex in which students specializing
in the mechanic arts are housed.33 This department of the school ac
cepts as students only graduates of the elementary schools, however,
and offers only a four-year course leading to a diploma. Fourthyear students in this* school are given an opportunity for actual work
experience in an occupation related to their school course through a
cooperative plan in which the junior employment service assists as
the agency of placement and employment supervision. (See p. 241.)
The plan provides for two weeks in school and two at work, two boys
alternating in the same job.
}
No other trade instruction is offered boys;in the Philadelphia pub
lic schools despite the fact that Philadelphia is one of the largest
manufacturing cities of the world.34 Opportunities for vocational
training are provided for girls in trade courses in millinery, dress
making, and power-machine operating in the Girls’ Trade School.
88 Three other high schools now; maintain industrial or trade courses in cabinetmaking,
carpentry, patternmaking, machine construction, electrical construction, and architectu
ral and mechanical drafting, the object of which is to prepare boys to enter a trade
“ with prospects of early promotion to the ranks of minor executives.” All_ these follow
the cooperative plan in the fourth year. (See, Report for the Year Ending June 30,
1024, Board of Public 'Education, Division of Industrial-Arts, Philadelphia.)
34 In 1924-25 a course in printing and linotype operating was organized in one of the
boys’ continuation schools for -continuation-school pupils:, apprentices in the printing
trade, and evening school students. A part-time class, for apprentice plasterers, sup
ported by employers and the union, lasting half a day, was conducted weekly at one or
the high schools.
. .
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The latter admits pupils of 14 years of age and over from above the
sixth grade. Half time is devoted to practical work in conformity
with the requirement for Federal aid for day schools preparing di
rectly for work in the trades,. (See p. 5:) The length of the powermachine operating and millinery courses is about one yeal', and of
the dressmaking course about two years.. Three-month intensive
courses, in which 75 per cent of the time is spent in trade practice,
are offered to girls over 16 years of age. In September, 1923, the
Dalton plan of instruction was introduced in the school, enabling
each pupil to progress in accordance with her individual abilities.
Courses in Vocational Information.
Most of the senior high schools offer an elective course in voca
tional information or vocational civics to ninth-grade pupils. Not
all students in these schools-are reached by the course, but one school
reports that- pupils not electing it comprise only 2 per cent of the
student body. Most of the teachers are in the history and civics de
partment.
. The course varies considerably from.school to school. Although
an outline for a course in vocational civics was at one time drafted
by a voluntary committee of high-school teachers of civics and in
formally adopted by all the girls’ high schools^ it was never made
a part of the official curriculum, and at the present time: an outline
is in use in only a few of the schools, and the teachers no longer
meet as they did formerly to discuss the method and content of the
course.
The following accounts of the course in different schools indicate
the variety of treatment:.
In each of two girls’ high schools where four hours a week are
given to vocational civics the principal emphasis is on a detailed
study of individual occupations. Each student is expected to study
from 2 0 to 25 occupations a year. In both schools weekly addresses
on some specific kind of employment are made by outside teachers
or other visiting speakers. In one school these talks are given in
one of the four regular class periods, and the three other class periods
during the week are devoted chiefly to a discussion of the talk, which
is written up by the students from notes. Consideration is also
given such general topics as ¥ Reasons for choosing an occupation^”
“ Reasons for preparing for an occupation,” and “ Things to con
sider in choosing an occupation.” No field work is required, and no
assignments for outside reading are made, though a number of
books are kept in the classrooms for reference. The content and
method of the course depend upon the individual teacher. The
chief aim is to draw out the girls on their special problems, includ
ing questions of ethics and morals. At the beginning of the term
the girls fill in questionnaries relating to their vocational ambitions.
All girls whose answers present problems aré interviewed by the
teacher, and special problem cases are referred to the school
counselor (see p. 233). In the other s:hool an extra hour is allowed
for the addresses of outsiders. These supplement rather than form
the basis of regular classroom work, for which the teacher is pro
vided with an outline. The pupils are expected, wherever possible,
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to get their information about different occupations from interviews
with persons engaged in the work. If this is not possible they are
referred to books in the school library. No textbooks are used.
The course in “ economic and vocational civics ” given ninth-grade
students* in a third school, also a girls’ high school, differs consider
ably in aim and contentJrom the two that have been described. The
class meets four times a week. One hour is given to current events;
of the remaining time about two-tliirds is given to a study of elemen
tary economic problems and one-third to a study of vocations. For
the more general part of the course an outline similar to that used
in the ninth grade in the Pittsburgh junior high school is used (see
pp. 285-287) and for the study of vocations an outline prepared by a
committee of the State teachers association. When the study of voca
tions is begun each student fills in a brief questionnaire on her voca
tional interests, plans, and aptitudes. The first lessons, carried on by
the project method, are devoted to a discussion of why it is desirable
to choose one’s life, work early, why each student is interested in cer
tain occupations, and how her course of study has helped her.
Several chapters of a standard textbook on vocational civics are
studied, and these form the basis of class discussion on the personal
qualifications necessary for success in any line of work, such as re
liability, originality, and executive ability; and a good deal of home
work is done in connection with the course. Notebooks are kept
containing compositions on a number of vocational-guidance topics,
such as an account of an interview between a girl desiring a position
and her prospective employer. The pupils also prepare plays on
such subjects as choosing an occupation, posters illustrating voca
tional-guidance themes, drawings showing suitable and unsuitable
clothes for a business girl, etc. Reference books are used, but as
far as possible girls are asked to interview persons actually engaged
in the different occupations studied. Visits to industrial plants and
business houses are a regular part of the work.
in one of the boys’ schools two classes of about 300 students each,
one from the academic and one from manual-arts courses, meet once a
week for an address by the head of the history department. Owing
to the size of the classes little or no time can be given to classroom
discussion, and no home work is required. An outline covering the
following general topics is in use but is not strictly adhered to : The
modern social organization with special reference to its economic
activities, the importance of choosing one’s occupation and preparing
for it carefully, the kind of work for which the different high-school
courses prepare, and the requirements and rewards of a selected list
of occupations. Each of the boys is given a blank card on which he
names the vocation he would like to follow and gives his reason.
Only those occupations are discussed which the students indicate
that they are likely to enter. No use is made of these cards by the
school counselors. The course is not given to students selecting the
commercial and industrial-arts courses. For the former a special
course in local industries is given in the first year (see p. 14).
Another boys’ high school offering a course in vocational civics
uses a textbook and requires collateral reading. The outline of the
course covers the following topics and assignments in the order
given: The necessity for a careful choice of vocation; the elements of
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a good vocation ; visits to industrial plants ; reasons for going to high,
school; a study of the high-school curriculum; making a program of
high-school studies with the future vocation in mind; extra
curricula activities and their part in education; education after high
school (including training open to wage earners); study and discus
sion of various occupations; the qualities necessary for success in
any vocation; “ life versus a living.” An oral report on three differ
ent occupations and a comprehensive written report on a selected
vocation are required of each student. At the end of the course the
teacher holds a conference with each boy regarding his future
vocation.
A coeducational high school offers a “ vocational-guidance course ”
in which a standard textbook is used, and the members of the class
are required to write to employers of high-school students, such as
railroads, business houses, hospitals, for information regarding op
portunities which they offer. The information collected in this
way is discussed in class.
SPECIAL CLASSES
In 1921 a division of special education under direction of a trained
psychologist was established in the public-school system to plan and
supervise all special-room work. More attempt has been made than
formerly 35 to place pupils whose retardation is due to remediable
causes in classes distinct from those to which children of subnormal
mentality are assigned, and the program for special education has
been extended and improved in a number of other ways.
Special classes are conducted for the following groups of pupils:
The “ backward, ” that is, those who because of mental defect or
some other cause are retarded in their "school work; those in need
of special discipline; the crippled; the undernourished and tuber
culous; pupils having uncorrectable defective vision and hearing;
foreign-born children having need of special instruction in Eng
lish; and children needing special training in speech improvement.
No special classes have been established as yet for the. totally
blind or totally deaf; these children attend school at State institu
tions in the outskirts of the city.
The number of special classes of all kinds increased from 166 on
January 1,1921, to 262 on June 30,1923, and the number of pupils in
them increased from 3,451 to 5,555. The classes for “ backward ”
children, who compose the greater number of the special-class
pupils, increased from 104 to 155 in this period, and the number
of children enrolled in these classes from 2,154 to 3,384.
CONTINUATION SCHOOLS
All employed children between 14 and 16 years of age at work
on employment certificates are required under the Pennsylvania
child labor law to attend continuation school eight hours a week
during the regular school term . 3,1 The compulsory continuationschool program became effective in Philadelphia in January, 1916.
«R eport of the Survey of the Public Schools of Philadelphia by the Pennsylvania State
Department of Public Instruction, Book XII, p. 14.
«Pennsylvania, Acts of 1915; P. L. 286.
18835°—25---- 18
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The city’s part-time program has been distinguished by' decen
tralization of the continuation-school classes. In Junie, 1924, the
9,535 pupils enrolled in continuation classes were scattered in 19
different buildings as compared with 8 continuation schools in
New York City and 5 in Chicago. Fifteen of the continuation
classes were located in elementary schools and one in a high school.
Each of these was* under the immediate direction of the principal
of the school in which it was located. Three continuation-school
“ centers,” in which special organization and facilities adapted to
the needs of continuation-school pupils had been developed, with
classes graded on seventh-grade, eighth-grade, and high-school
standards, cared for 69 per cent of the continuation-school pupils.
The fact that in September. 1920, continuation schools were housed
in 43 buildings, and only 47 per cent of the pupils were enrolled
in continuation-school centers indicates the development of a more
definitely centralized program during the last few years.37
The required academic subjects are arithmetic, civics. English,
hygiene, industrial and commercial geography, and science. AU
continuation-school pupils are required to take vocational courses,
which for boys consist of mechanical drawing, junior business prac
tice, typewriting, electrical wiring, woodwork, and metal work.38
Girls attending one continuation-school center are offered dressmak
ing, millinery, cooking, typewriting, and junior business practice in
addition to courses in home management, but except in this center
the only courses offered girls are cooking and sewing. Pupils are
not required to choose courses related to their employment, and there
seems to be little tendency to tie up the continuation-school work
with the pupil’s occupation.
The vocational-guidance function of the continuation school is be
ginning to be recognized in Philadelphia. Two of the centers have
an “ entry” class where the incoming pupil is aided in the selection
of courses that best meet his needs. Since 1920-21 each of the
centers has had a full-time coordinator who visits both parents and
employers and acts as a counselor to pupils who have difficulty with
their work or who desire advice. - The regular teachers are not
required to visit either the homes or the places of employment of their
pupils, nor are they given time for this purpose.
THE USE OF MENTAL TESTS’AS A FACTOR IN GUIDANCE
Three agencies—the Bureau of Child Study, a private organiza
tion; the psychological clinic of the University of Pennsylvania;
and the division of special education of the board of public educa
tion—offer facilities for mental testing. In addition, the division
of medical inspection of the public schools examines children for
exemption from school attendance.
The Bureau of Child Study concerns itself primarily with be
havior problems. It is conducted by two social agencies of the city
which deal especially with children, but it receives for study and
87 Report of the Survey of the Public Schools of Philadelphia by the Pennsylvania
State Department of Public Instruction, Book III, pp. 47, 48
98>A
.4 course
A/viiwi.v 4n
V
»ri Tlinotype
in /if îm û ooperatin
n o r a t i n o 1 TX as offered in 1924—
25. See note 34,
in printing Oand
page 258.
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diagnosis children referred from many other sources. The psycho
logical clinic of the University of Pennsylvania also examines many
children who are. referred to it because of suspected subnormality
or because of psychopathic characteristics, but it makes a point of
offering vocational, or, strictly speaking, educational counsel; for ex
ample, whether or not a child should attempt high-school work and
what kind of course (academic, commercial, or industrial) he should
follow. In 1922-23 nearly 300 children were sent to this clinic for
educational or vocational advice. A try-out school is conducted
by the clinic for children the reason for whose lack of success in
their school program can not be determined by test results. “ Leads ”
on aptitudes for general lines of work are watched for during the
course of examination, though no specific tests for occupational
fitness have been devised. The clinic has made a number of special
studies; one, for example, made at the request of the junior employ
ment service, was a comparison of the intelligence scores of a group
of 2 0 0 continuation-school with those of 2 0 0 high-school students.
Psychological examining within the public schools is carried on
by the division of special education. The staff responsible for the
testing program consisted in 1923 of 11 persons, 3 of whom, known
as “ clinical supervisors,” gave full time to mental testing and 1 ,
part time. The director holds the degree of doctor of philosophy in
psychology. All the supervisors have been teachers and have had
previous training, and experience in mental testing. The test used
varies in individual cases, selection being made from the StanfordBinet, Trabue completion for language, Witmer cylinders, memory
span, Pintner-Paterson, Healy, Knox cubes, and a certain number
of educational tests. No use of norms or standards is made in
judging the intelligence of the performance. Emphasis is placed
upon judging capacities and qualitative differences. The main
interest centers about the selection of children for special rooms, and
most of those examined are suspected mental defectives or “ behavior
cases,” referred usually by school principals. The division gives
tests, however, to applicants for scholarships and to other children
who are referred for examination by the White-Williams Founda
tion. During the year 1922-23, 2,330 individual examinations were
given. A summary of test results is sent by the division to the
agency by which a child is referred but is not made generally avail
able to teachers or others giving vocational or educational guidance.
Group tests have not been extensively used in the Philadelphia
schools. The pupils in the second half of the eighth grade, or 8 B,
in all schools, all pupils in the first grade in 1 2 schools, and all pupils
in all grades of one elementary school have been examined by
groups. The Haggerty Delta No. 1 and the Detroit are the tests
used for the primary pupils, and the National and Terman tests
for the older ones. All group tests are given and scored by school
principals, some of whom have had special training under the
division of special education, or by teachers working under their
direction. On the basis of the 8 B testing classification into sections
has been effected in three high schools, but test results are not used
in directing pupils into different courses or as a basis for vocational
advice. In one of the girls 5 high schools a teacher who has had
training in psychological work gives mental tests to students who
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are failing in their studies. Neither the school counselors nor the
placement office makes much use of the results of mental tests.
Psychological examinations as a part of the school program have
been undertaken too recently to afford data for a fair estimate of
their value. The chief interest of the director of the division of
special education seems to be in providing more adequate methods of
classifying children who have difficulty with the regular school
program, and more effective ways of teaching them, rather than
attempting to determine the particular capacities of all pupils with
the object of directing them into the course of study which will
give them the best opportunity to develop.
SUMMARY
The public-school system and a private philanthropic agency, the
White-Williams Foundation, working in cooperation with the
schools, are responsible for vocational-guidance activities in Phila
delphia. The situation is characterized by recent changes, which are
still in progress, in the entire school program, including activities
relating to vocational guidance.
Vocational-guidance activities initiated within the schools are as
yet uncentralized and consist chiefly of a counseling program in the
junior and senior high schools, where teachers have been appointed
as counselors, and the giving of vocational information in connec
tion with civics courses in both the elementary and the high schools.
Since the spring of 1923, however, a committee of school officials ap
pointed by the superintendent has been at work with a committee
from the White-Williams Foundation planning a program of voca
tional and educational guidance to be tried out in ail the high schools
with the cooperation of the principals.
White-Williams Foundation counselors have been assigned to a
limited number of elementary and junior and senior high schools.
Counseling within these schools is primarily concerned with personal
and family readjustment, and the work of the counselor resembles
more closely that of the visiting teacher than of the vocational or
educational counselor in most cities. The duties of the counselor,
especially in the upper elementary grades and the high schools, how
ever, include the giving of educational and vocational advice and
guidance. The counselors are full-time workers with experience in
teaching and in social case work.
Courses for teachers and for the training of school counselors,
carried on by the foundation in cooperation with the Pennsylvania
School of Social and Health Work, have come to be an important
feature of the program of the White-Williams Foundation.
A junior employment service, which combines the work of employ
ment-certificate issuance and placement, is conducted by the board of
public education. Noteworthy features resulting from the recent
consolidation of these two activities are the interviewing by a trained
vocational counselor of each applicant for a work permit and the
development of a system of district offices for both certificate issu
ance and placement. A special research secretary on the staff of the
central office initiates and directs occupational studies, and a num
ber of monographs on occupations open to young persons in Phila-
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delphia have been issued. Another recent activity of special sig
nificance is the placement and supervision by the service of highschool boys working on a cooperative part-time basis.
A junior high school system with a definitely vocational-guidance
aim is in process of organization and promises a curriculum better
adapted to individual abilities and interests than the course of study
in the public schools has provided up to the present time. In spite
of the industrial importance of Philadelphia, no trade courses for
boys are offered by the public day schools, though there is a trade
school for girls.39 The high schools offer no definitely vocational or
prevocational training except in commercial subjects. The training
given by the continuation schools also is chiefly academic in char
acter, though more vocational work is gradually being introduced.
Although provision for mental testing is limited and the use of
tests as a basis for the classification of students is but little developed,
work along these lines is rapidly progressing.
*®See p. 258, footnotes 33 and 34.
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HISTORY OF THE VOCATIONAL-GUIDANCE MOVEMENT
In 1913 the Pittsburgh Board of Education established a depart
ment of vocational guidance, which had as its chief problem the
devising of some means for supervising the large group of children
who went to work as soon as the law allowed. Under the stimulus
of this department a voluntary continuation-school program was
developed. When the Pennsylvania compulsory continuation-school
law became operative in Pittsburgh in January, 1916, the depart
ment of vocational guidance ceased to exist as a department, its
work having been absorbed by the continuation schools.
The status of the vocational-guidance program at this period is
thus summarized by the director of the Pittsburgh continuation
schools in his annual report for the year ended December 31, 1916:
During the year 1916 vocational guidance in Pittsburgh public schools passed
into the second stage of its development. In that period there were started
in various centers in the city movements th at indicated that vocational guid
ance had ceased to be thought of as a psychological “ trick ” but rather was
being considered as a very necessary, practical, and integral part of the day’s
work in school. When the department of vocational guidance was first organ
ized it was immediately recognized by those in charge that the m atter of
guidance is not an objective process; i. e., that no known method of psychologi
cal tests nor of phrenological analyses could be safely used to determine for
a child that occupation which he should make his life work. Vocational
guidance is rather to be thought of as that arrangement of the school course
of study and the experience of the child which will result in the choice by
the child, after consultation with parents and teachers, of that vocation for
which he is best fitted. I t . is a school process that is coextensive with the
school life of the child. It becomes a conscious process, in so far as the
pupil is concerned, at about the junior high school age. It continues through
the high school and in fact stops only when growth ceases. * * *
* * * It is impossible to do more here than briefly mention some of the
things that the schools are doing along these lines.
P erry School (grade)
Beginning with the sixth grade discussions of life career motives, of personal
aptitude, and of requirements of various vocations, are regularly scheduled
and made a part of the English work in this school. At parent-teachers’
meetings these are the main topics of discussion. More intelligent selection
by the pupils of courses in high school seems to result from this.
L a tim er School ( ju n ior high)
I t is planned to have represented in the junior high school those
industries and commercial and household economic occupations which are
constants in Pittsburgh and its immediate vicinity, and which offer a living
wage and good working conditions. An opportunity is thus offered to the pupd
to discover whether the thing he would like to do is the one he is reallv
able to do.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
f
Continuation Schools
Here, again, as in the junior high and industrial schools, the “ supervised
try o u t” is the dominating feature of the arrangement of the vocational por
tion of the course of study. * * *
267
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
P eabody and Schenley H igh Schools ( senior high schools) '
At each of these schools one of the instructors is especially detailed to de
vote his time to the work of vocational guidance. Self-analysis of the pupils,
studies of industries, occupations, and professions, interviews with the di
rector concerning colleges to be chosen and courses to be pursued in high
school, talks by successful business and professional men and women are only
a few of the activities in these two high schools. Peabody High School has
had signal success in its placement of graduates.1
In 1917 a separate department was again organized to carry out
the program for vocational guidance, and the principal of one of the
high schools was appointed its director. This department had at
first two main objects—providing vocational advice for children
applying for work certificates through the establishment of a place
ment office and developing a program of educational and vocational
counseling in the high schools. Although this placement office fre
quently served young persons over 16 years of age, most of its work
was done with those between 14 and 16. The next important devel
opment was to establish in 1919 a placement office to serve the older
group especially. This office was established by the junior division
of the United States Employment Service and wr administered in
cooperation with the vocational-guidance activities of the publicschool system under the immediate supervision of the associate
superintendent of schools in charge of vocational education and
guidance. In the spring of 1922 the board of education assumed the
major part of the financial support of the placement office, which,
however, continued to operate as a joint office of the board of educa
tion and the junior division of the United States Employment
Service.
ORGANIZATION AND ACTIVITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT
OF VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE la
ORGANIZATION
The vocational-guidance program of the Pittsburgh public schools
as at present organized falls into three main divisions: (1) Educa
tional and vocational guidance within the schools; (2 ) research; (3)
placement.
Educational and vocational guidance is carried on by the depart
ment of vocational guidance through a staff of high-school coun
selors. A beginning has also been made by the department in the
field of research, so far chiefly in connection with the problems of
educational guidance and high-school withdrawals. As is shown
by the chart on page 269 the placement work of the department is
handled by two separate offices, one for children between 14 and 16
years of age and one for young persons between 16 and 2 1 , both
of which are conducted by the public schools in cooperation with
the United States Employment Service. The placement office for
children under 16 is in the continuation school, where are located
also the employment-certificate office and the office of the director
of the department of vocational guidance; the junior placement
office is in a?n office building in the center of the business district;
1 Fifth Annual Report of the Board of Public Education, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1916, pp.
81-83.
“ For the school year 1928-24 unless otherwise indicated.
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269
PLAN OF ORGANIZATION
PITTSBURGH
D e p a r t m e n t o f v o c a t i o n a l g u i d a n c e , p u b l i c s c h o o l s , P i t t s b u r g h , p a . 1 9 2 3 -2 4
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270
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEMENT
and the office of the associate superintendent in charge of the junior
placement office is in the rooms of the board of education.
The staff responsible for the activities of the department of voca
tional guidance consists of the associate superintendent of schools in
chaige of vocational education and guidance, who also represents
and is responsible to the1 United States Employment Service in its
coopeiative work in placement ; the director of the department,
who ha^ general oversight of all department activities; a secretary,
also ah appointee of the United States Employment Service, who is
m direct charge of the junior placement office and who has the
assistance of 3 other secretaries; 2 placement secretaries for the
juvenile placement office; 1 field secretary in charge of research in
problems of educational guidance; and i l school counselors, 1 for
each of the 13 junior, senior, and junior-senior high schools, and 1
for the Ralston Industrial School (see p. 291) , all of whom are mem
bers of the teaching staff of their respective schools.
In order to coordinate as closely as possible the two principal
activities of the vocational-guidance program—counseling and placeinent an advisory vocational-guidance staff has been appointed by
the superintendent of schools consisting of the associate superinten
dent of schools in charge of vocational education and guidance; the
director of the department, the principal of the continuation school,
the secretary in charge of the junior placement office, the field secre
tary in charge jof research, and two of the school counselors, one
from a senior and one from a junior high school. This staff in
practice serves as an advisory committee for the entire vocationalguidance program though it has no administrative powers.
? Another important means of coordinating the work of the depart
ment is a .biweekly departmental meeting conducted for informal
conference on problems of common interest. Approximately half
these meetings are held in the central administration building of
the board of education, but the rest are held at one or the other of
the placement offices and in individual high schools, thus giving each
member.of the department an opportunity to observe the conditions
under which his colleagues work. Members of the staff meet with
and address groups of school principals from time to time on the
subject of their work.
The obvious disadvantage to the department of vocational guid
ance of a part-time director is largely offset by the advantage of
having the counseling program within the schools in its initial
stages developed under the direction of a man who has himself been
for many years a member of the teaching staff and who has the added
prestige of being principal of an important high school and there
fore fully cognizant of the problems of school organization both
from the teacher’s and from the administrator’s point of view.
Undoubtedly the fact of such leadership has done much to win over
individual school principals to the support of the school-counselor
system. In general it may be said that the department has succeeded
in arousing a very general interest and sympathetic cooperation in
its program among the principals and teachers of the city.
The. following was the amount expended for vocational-guidance
purposes during the fiscal year 1923 :
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271
PITTSBURGH
Junior employment office-__________ _.___ __^____ „__ 2$12, 753
Juvenile employment office_■
_______ i__ ____________
33, ,580
Extra salary to director of department-^___ ___ 500
Extra salaries to school counselors_____________ ,_*■_ 44, 200
Total___________ £ __ — ____ - _____ ______ —
21, 033
SCHOOL COUNSELING
Junior and Senior High Schools.
Each junior -and senior high school has a counselor chosen from
the regular teaching staff of the school and regularly appointed
to thé position by the superintendent of schools and elected by the
board of education. No special training in school counseling has
been required, personal qualifications having been given paramount
weight. I t is of interest to note that the counselors have been drawn
from almost every department of the high school. Although the
principal’s interest determines the amount of time allowed the coun
selor for his work an executive order has been issued by the super
intendent of schools that no principal shall allow administrative
difficulties to interfere with the work of the counselor. At least
two periods a day and in three schools practically the entire time
of the counselor is given to the vocational-guidance work.
Some idea of the principles of the Pittsburgh school counseling,
system may be obtained from the following program planned by the
vocational-guidance department and given to principals and school
counselors as an official statement of the minimum requirements of
the counselor’s task:
For junior high school counselors.
A. Prospective junior high school pupils.
1. Group conferences with regularly scheduled classes in elementary
schools for a discussion of the value’ of the high school and its
importance in assisting in the realization of individual plans.
B. Junior high school pupils.
1. 7B : 6 Group visitations by regularly scheduled classes to highschool departments other than those with which the pupils come
in contact, for the purpose of developing an appreciation of the
opportunities offered by the high school. Group conferences with
regularly scheduled classes for the discussion of vocational aims
and the filling out blank form V. G. 1.
2. 7A : Group conferences with regularly scheduled classes for ex
planation of courses open to 8B students and discussion of the
aims of the various courses. Conferences with individual stu
dents for the determination of 8B schedules, a
3. 8B : Group conferences with regularly scheduled classes for the
discussion of the significance of subjects pursued in various
courses. Conferences on blank form V. G. 1 for possible changes.
4. 8A : Group conferences with regularly scheduled classes for the
discussion of the value of further education. Individual con
ferences on courses and electives for ninth-year programs.
5. 9B : Group conferences with regularly scheduled classes for the
discussion of the importance of vocational aims in planning a
high-school program. Discussion of blank form Y. G. 1. Changes
indicated.
6. 9A : As in senior high school program.
' *■This item includes rent, telephone, and salaries, exclusive of the amount contributed
by the United States Employment Service.
3 This item includes telephone and salaries.
i Each school counselor is paid $300 per annum in addition to his regular salary as
teacher. The range of regular salaries for high-school teachers in Pittsburgh is as fol
lows : Junior high school, $1,800 to $2,800 per annum ; senior high school, $1,800 to
$3,200 per annum.
* “ 15 refers to the first semester of each school year.
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
For senior high school counselors.
A. Prospective senior high school pupils.
I t shall be the duty of the counselor to meet with all prospective
incoming pupils twice before they enter high school. When possible
one of these meetings should be so planned that parents may be
present when the different courses are explained. I t shall be the
duty of the counselor at this meeting to stress—
(») The need of training beyond the elementary school.
( 6 ) W hat the Pittsburgh public schools have to offer beyond ele
mentary school.
(c) Explain the courses offered in the high school and where they
are intended to lead.
(d ) Explain how the home and school can cooperate for the best
interests of the pupil.
(e) State requirements for place on honor roll.or membership in
honor society.
I t shall also be the duty of the counselor at one of these meet
ings to advise with all .prospective pupils regarding their indi
vidual programs of studies.
B. Senior high school pupils.
9B: It shall be the duty of the counselor to meet all 9B pupils in
regularly scheduled classes or groups during the early part
of the semester. At this meeting, blank form V. G. 1 will be
explained by the counselor and tilled out by the pupils. This
meeting will offer opportunity for emphasizing the need of
vocational information, for encouraging a study of the voca
tions, and for urging a thorough preparation of school tasks.
The counselor should also explain his function in the school.
9A. An inspirational explanatory talk to all 9A pupils in regularly
scheduled groups or classes. At this meeting the counselor
should undertake to explain ( 1 ) the kind of credits required
for graduation from each course offered in high school, ( 2 )
the requirements for definite college courses and the neces
sity of the pupils’ making early application to the college,
(3) the opportunity that comes to pupils who do high-grade
work throughout their entire high-school course to participate,
on graduation, in the award of scholarships as are offered
by many colleges, and (4) the requirements for entering voca
tional life on leaving high school.
This conference should prepare pupils to fill out blank form
V.. G. 14, * * *, at a meeting to be arranged by the
counselor or later in the semester. This meeting may well be
held with the respective report groups. The attention of 9A
pupils should be called to the vocational possibilities of P itts
burgh and the- work of the public-school employment offices.
10B. The counselor shall meet all 10B pupils in regularly scheduled
groups when special emphasis shall be laid on Pittsburgh in
dustrial life and the kind of opportunities offered young people
trained and untrained.
10A. The counselor shall meet all 10A pupils in regularly scheduled
classes or groups where he shall undertake to show the value
of the last two years of high school. The opportunities of
other educational media than the high schools should be ex
plained to them but only by way of comparison as to the op
portunities offered. These other schools should include the
public evening high schools, correspondence schools, private
bus ness schools, and other special schools of similar char
acter.
11B. The counselor should meet with all 11B pupils in class or
other special groups in order th at a review may be made
of the best use of electives. This should be done during the
first two weeks of the semester so that any necessary schedule
changes may be made.
11A. There should be individual conferences with all 11A pupils dur
ing this semester. Such a conference should make certain
that every pupil’s program is complete to date and that there
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PITTSBURGH
273
is a proper understanding of what is to be accomplished dur
ing the senior year, both as to immediate vocational aims and
college-entrance requ rements.
12B. A short talk to groups or special classes, setting forth the pur
poses of the local placement offices, should he given.
12A. The counselor should meet all pupils of this group personally
who may need his services in arranging for college entrance or
for any other purposes. He should also arrange a meeting
at which representatives of the placement offices may be given
an opportunity to explain what can be done for those not
going to college.®
The predominating type of counseling is educational, though all
counselors are expected to acquire and give out occupational in
formation. A representative group of school counselors and place
ment workers is assisting in a series of studies of occupations now
being made (see p. 278), and several school counselors are making a
special effort both to increase their own knowledge of vocations and
related subjects and to organize the distribution of vocational in
formation among pupils. Talks are given in the counselor’s own
classroom, which in two schools have resulted in meetings of smaller
groups interested in particular occupations.
Each school counselor works out the program best suited to his
school within the limitations of time at his disposal. Although the
procedure of counseling is by no means crystallized there is con
siderable uniformity. Each high-school counselor is held responsible
for reaching all pupils in the elementary schools of his district be
fore they graduate. Each term he visits the elementary schools that
send pupils to the high school and outlines to the members of the
graduating class the opportunities offered by the different junior
and senior high schools and in detail the courses offered by the high
school that he represents. Enrollment cards for the high school are
distributed and are filled out by the children, who indicate on the
card the high school they wish to attend and the course they wish to
pursue. Often this visit has been preceded by the distribution of
literature, which the children are expected to take home and talk
over with their parents. The choice of courses as given on the en
rollment cards is carefully checked by the counselor with the child’s
record which has been sent him from the elementary schools (see
p. 275), and special interviews are arranged with children whose
choices seem out of keeping with their ability. A comparison of
the first semester’s marks of pupils entering high school« from
parochial and suburban schools, who have selected their high school
and course of study without the aid of a counselor, with the marks of
the group receiving guidance was made in February, 1922, and
showed that the percentage of failures and withdrawals was higher
in the unguided group than in the guided group.
In one high school a further attempt, described in the following
paragraphs, is made to interest elementary-school graduates in what
the high school has to offer:
In one high school visiting days are arranged each semester for every
one of the contributing elementary schools, a t which time the members of the
class which will enter the high school at the opening of the next semester are
the guests of the high school and the counselor. These prospective students visit
all the different departments a t work and see the high school in action. Former
• Vocational-Guidance Bulletin, Pittsburgh Public Schools, 1922, pp. 26-27, 34-36.
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VOCATIONAL» GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
pupils of the elementary school from which the visitors come act as guides,
explaining the work of the classes and answering questions. Teachers also
make a point of indicating the value and significance of the work observed.
When the visitors have finished their trip of observation the counselor has
a conference with them, giving out the information sheets showing courses
and subjects, explaining the courses, answering questions, giving advice.
The pupils take the information sheets with them for discussion with parents
and teachers.
When the pupils enter the senior high school the counselor continues the
WOrk which was begun in the grades by means of small group conferences.
These group conferences give the counselor ah opportunity to get on a more
intimate footing with the pupils and eventually lead to individual conferences.
With the exception of addresses to the graduating classes of the
elementary schools and talks on vocational subjects to high-school
groups'most of the counseling is individual. Information about the
pupil available to the counselor varies somewhat with the school.
Every senior high-school counselor has on filé an “ intelligence
and achievement record card ” for all ‘pupils, which shows the
intelligence quotient found as a result of a group intelligence test
(see p. 288) given in the eighth grade, the class marks received during
the last two years of the elementary school, the teacher’s estimate
of ability and characteristics, and the results of educational tests.
Supplementary to all these /are marks received in high school.
Since few counselors have time to1 make home visits, they possess
only such facts about the individual family situation as may be
learned through intérviewing the child. In one or two schools
supplementary questionnaires are used to supply further information
on the choice of a career or success in school.
Probably no phase of guidance is more emphasized in the Pitts
burgh 'schools than the discussion of advanced schools of training
for special occupations and professions. In every school offering
college-preparatory courses the counselor makes a point of discus
sing with students the choice of a college and'college requirements.
The counselor sees as a matter of routine all children withdrawing
frotti high school, and the tendency is to consider seriously the prob
lem of school losses. One of the counselors makes. it her business
to keep the child in school even if she has to rehabilitate the family
to do so. The counselors invoke the aid of the attendance depart
ment in the case of all 'childrén under 16 attempting to leave school
without the counselor’s knowledge. Usually children under 16 who
can nóit be persuaded to remain in school aré referred immediately
to the juvenile employment officé, and those ovér 16 who are known
to bé leaving school for work are referred to the junior employment
office/ In some high schools, however, placements are still made by
school counselors, especially for after-school work, and more fre
quently by counselors who are also teachers of commercial or techni
cal subjécts.! , n
_
% .
: Although counselors are often able to give considerable help in the
solution of disciplinary problems it is contrary to the policy of the
department to hold them responsible for school discipline, as it
is believed that such a course would make it less easy for students
to approach them for educational and vocational advice. In a few
schools ail tardy pupils are referred to the counselors, not for disci
pline purposes but for the purpose of finding out the reason for
7 Vocational-Guidance Bulletin, Pittsburgh Public Schools, 1922, p. 39.
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cu m u lative record card used b y counselors, P ittsb u rg h public schools
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intelligence and achievement record card
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
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the tardiness. Failing students and absentees, as well as pupils leav
ing school, are also followed up by some of the counselors. In this
and similar ways they perform some of the duties usually assigned
275
PITTSBURGH
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VOCATIONAL. GUIDANCE
E L E M EN TA R Y
276
in school and in which they may hope to find the success impos
sible for them in the present organization.
The procedure just described is common to both junior and senior
high schools. The task of the junior high school counselor, how-
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P IT T S B U R G H
277
ever, differs somewhat from that of the others in that the junior
high school organization itself is especially devised for educational
and vocational guidance. (See p. 290.)
That the work of counseling begins and ends with the regularly
appointed school counselor is far from being the theory of the de
partment of vocational guidance. In the words of one of the re
ports of the department:
* * * Counseling is not a specific act which the vocational counselor
is expected to perform. It is larger than the work of the counselor and in
volves the sympathetic cooperation of every member of the faculty. Teachers
must Come to see that the child is greater than the subject and that his general
success in functioning as a member of society is of infinitely greater impor
tance than the so-called standards of the school. Perhaps, after all, the most
important responsibility of the counselor is to convince his fellow teachers of
the essential righteousness of this proposition.8
Counseling in Pittsburgh has thus been systematized within the
high schools. ^A definite but flexible procedure has emerged which
results, first, in an organized effort to get elementary-school chil
dren into secondary schools and into the courses best adapted to the
individual; second, in reaching a large number of failures, malad
justments, and withdrawals among high-school pupils; third,
in an information service for prospective college students and for
those who are going to work; fourth, in new understanding of the
actual situation facing the school and new suggestions as to more
adequate command of it.
Elementary Schools.
There are no counselors in the elementary schools. The most im
portant part of the vocational-guidance program in the elementary
schools up to the present time has been accomplished through the ac
tivities of the high-school counselors who, as was previously stated,
visit the elementary schools of their districts and address and confer
with members of the graduating classes. In addition, letters to the
parents of children in the fifth, sixth, and seventh grades, prepared
by the Pittsburgh Department of Vocational Guidance, are sent home
from time to time, through the cooperation of the school principal,
with the children’s school reports. The purpose o f these letters is
to point out the value of continued education and of careful con
sideration in selecting a school course and a vocation, to give an
explanation of the compulsory-attendance and child labor laws and
of the methods of obtaining work permits, and in general to in
form the parents of the kind of assistance the department of voca
tional guidance is ready to give. The department is strongly urg
ing provision of greater facilities for guidance to pupils in the
upper grades of the elementary schools.
RESEARCH
The department employs a field secretary as an adjunct to the edu
cational counseling program whose entire time is given to research
in such subjects as the causes of withdrawal, school failures, and
misfits. Data from the counselors’ reports on individual “ drop
outs ” are analyzed currently, and home visits are made to ascer8 Vocational-Guidance Bulletin, Pittsburgh Public Schools, 1922, p. IS.
18835°—25-----19
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VOCATION AL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEM ENT
278
tain causes of withdrawal when the cause is not reported. The
importance of this problem is shown by the following table giving
the number and distribution of pupils dropping out of the highscliool grades during the second semester of 1920-21:
N u m b e r
an d p e rc e n ta g e o f p u p ils o f th e v a rio u s high -sch ool g ra d e s w ith d r a w in g
fro m s c h o o l1
Pupils enrolled in Pupils withdrawing
from high schools
high schools
High-school grad«
Per cent
Per cent
ofhighNumber distribu Number schoolention
rollment
11,743
T o ta l_____ ______________________ ______________________
1
1 V o catio n al-G u id a n ce B u lle tin , P itts b u rg h P u b lic
4,903
3,239
2,045
1,556
100.0
42.0
27.0
17.0
14.0
676
348
200
92
36
6.8
7.1
6.1
4. 5
2.3
Schools, (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 1922, p. 114.
A study of irregular attendance made by the secretary showed
that 25 per cent of the absentees studied who stayed away from
school three days or more soon dropped out of school altogether. To
ascertain the causes of this large number of school withdrawals and
of absentees and to furnish the information to counselors and teach
ers as an aid in devising means of cutting down the losses have been
the principal tasks of the field secretary.
No organized research in the field of occupational information has
yet been undertaken by the department. A representative number
of its staff are members of a subcommittee of the industrial and pub
lic-school relations committee9 of the Pittsburgh chapter of the
American Management Association (formerly the National Associa
tion of Corporation Training), composed of representatives of the
management of local industries and of the public schools, which is
making a series‘of analyses of occupations to determine the kind and
amount of educational training required for them. , During the
school year 1921-22 studies of 2 1 occupations10.were undertaken by
separate subcommittees of four or five persons each. Analyses of
these vocations follow this general outline :
(1) A definition of the occupation, including a brief summary of général
facts concerning it.
(2) Duties of those engaged in it.
. (3) Knowledge required about the industry in general and about the spe
cific occupation in particular.
(4)
Educational requirements, with particular reference to education in the
theoretical aspects of the occupation.
9 This committee meets monthly to discuss common problems of training. (Committee
on vocational analysis, industrial and public-school relations section, Pittsburgh chapter,
Aat tonal Association of Corporation Training (now American Management Association) :
Minutes of meeting, Dec. 9, 1921.)
J
:1
10 Machinist, electrician, carpenter, foundryman, draftsman, pattern maker, sheet-metal
worker, printer, plumber, mason, structural-steel worker, stationary engineer, stenogra
pher (to include typist), salesperson (both male and female), clerk (both male and female
and to include office clerk only), auto mechanic (to include both driver and repairman;,
painter (to include house painter,, sign painter, decorator, and glazier), baker, glass worker,
barber (to include hairdresser, manicurist, and beauty-parlor specialist), messenger.
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(5) Educational requirements, with particular reference to that training
which comes from practical experience.
(6) Promotion possibilities.
(7) Compensation. How does it compare with other vocations requiring
about the same amount of education and experience?
(8) Physical requirements.
PLACEMENT
As was previously stated, two separate employment offices have
developed under the auspices of the board of education. The juve
nile employment office handles all cases of children between the ages
of 14 and 16 years; that is, of work-certificate age. It is located in
the same building as the Central Continuation School and the certificatmg office. The junior employment office, located in a down-town
office building, handles all applicants between 16 and 2 1 years of age
Both are officially connected with the junior division of the United
States Employment Service, which contributes a portion of the
budget and blanks and forms. The officials in charge, under their
Federal appointments (see p. 436), are permitted to use Government
stationery and the Government frank in transacting the business
of the office. In the beginning the Federal agency provided a larger
proportion of the budget for the junior office than it does at present.
Without this aid its establishment, at least at that particular time,
would have been difficult, if not impossible. As the community has
grown to realize the value of placement work the school board has
increased its appropriation for it each year,
The Juvenile Employment Office.
The juvenile employment office provides a placement service for
children under 16 who are leaving school for work. Continuationschool children who are out of work register at the juvenile employ
ment office and are summoned from the classroom as calls come in
from employers. Other children are sometimes referred to the office
by school counselors, teachers, and principals, not because they are
definitely leaving school but because on the basis of experience
placement workers are often able to disillusion the would-be wage
earner as to his prospects. Its staff consists of two placement secre
taries working under the general supervision of the director of the
department of vocational guidance, who is also an officer of the
junior division of the United States Employment Service.
According to a ruling oi the Pittsburgh Board of Education, all
children desiring to obtain employment certificates must first be
interviewed at the juvenile employment office, primarily to ascertain
their reasons for leaving school and to persuade them to return if
a. return seems advisable. In some cases of unsuccessful adjustment
it may seem best for the child to attend some school other than the
one that he has left. In deciding what is for the child’s best interest
the placement secretary is guided by a confidential report from the
child’s principal and by her own talk with the prospective wage
earner. The method used is persuasion, as a certificate can not be
refused to the child who can meet the legal requirements. Since
most applicants already have positions (figures for the year Novem
ber, 1921, to November, 1922, show a total of placements equal to
somewhat less than half the number of children taking out first
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VOCATIONAL. GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
working papers) it is possible to return to school only a small pro
portion. If wage earning seems the best solution and the child has
not yet secured a position the placement secretary explains the
process of getting a certificate and refers the unemployed child for
a position, with a card of introduction and the “ promise of employ
ment ” blank for the employer. If a- child comes to the^ juvenile
office from a retarded class or if he appears subnormal he is sent to
the psychological clinic for examination before a decision is reached
as to what is best for him to do.
A plan of work and school on a part-time basis has oeen developed
by this office in its efforts to keep children in school as long as pos
sible. Programs are arranged on a half-day or an alternate-week
plan. Under the former plan some children carry the full highschool schedule condensed into a half day and work the other half
day; for others a special schedule is arranged under which they
attend as many classes as possible. The other plan provides for
cooperative work; two boys or two girls, as the case may be, hold the
same position and spend alternate weeks in school and at work. A
special class for one of these groups engaged in commercial work
is maintained at one of the regular high schools located near the
business section of the city, and boys working in some trades may
attend the regular classes in the Ralston Industrial School. (See
p. 293). A few of these children attend the regular high-school
classes, carrying a specially arranged schedule. The plan of ar
ranging part-time programs has not as yet been very extensively
used: its development is restricted by the difficulties of making un
limited adjustment of the school program and, even more, of finding
satisfactory places for part-time workers. But it is, nevertheless, a
significant development of the program of the vocational-guidance
department.
■ ■■.
_
In some cases scholarship donations are obtained by the placement
workers to keep children in school. One of the social agencies in
the city has raised money for this purpose from time to time, but
no organized program for the collection and administration of schol
arship funds has yet been developed in Pittsburgh. During the school
year 1922-23 a committee of five members of the vocational-guidance
staff was appointed by the director of the department of vocational
guidance to study the subject of scholarships and to make recommen
dations regarding the organization of a scholarship fund in Pitts
burgh.
Every employer sending in a n 14 order,” if not already known to the
office, is investigated before a child is referred to him. The one
exception is private families in which domestic helpers are placed.
About half the boys are placed in factory work and the other half
as messengers, office boys, and packers in manufacturing establish
ments. Approximately the same proportion of girls are placed in
factory work; the rest become messengers, office aids, typists, and
wrappers. One month after placement the office follows up the
registrants by talking to employers over the telephone and to. the
children themselves at continuation school. Every three months
another follow-up of the same sort is made. Thus contacts with
the children are maintained and maladjustments corrected if pos
sible.
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The JTunior Employment Office.
The junior employment office of the department of vocational
guidance, or, as it is commonly called, the public-school employment
service, is under the general supervision of the associate superintend
ent of schools in charge of vocational education and guidance, who
holds, under the junior division of the United* States Employment
Service, the title of superintendent of guidance and placement for
Pittsburgh. Its staff consists of a secretary in charge of the office
holding, also, under the United States Employment Service, the
title of assistant superintendent of guidance and placement; two
placement secretaries (a man for the boys’ and a woman for the
girls’ department); and an assistant secretary. At times this office
has had the aid of volunteer workers from the department of psy
chology of the Carnegie Institute of Technology. As is the case
generally in this new field, the workers in this office have gained the
greater part of their specific training in the positions themselves and
through professional courses, taken subsequent to their appointment,
at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. The secretary in charge of
the office was previously a high-school counselor, and the other three
workers were, respectively, a children’s librarian, a clerk in the
office of the United States Employment Service, and a coordinator
in the rehabilitation work of the Veterans’ Bureau. The office oc
cupies quarters on the fourth floor of an office building. Although
very desirable in location, they are crowded; the waiting room is
small and the opportunity for an absolutely private interview is
limited.
All the members of the staff assist in preparing educational and
publicity material. Many follow-up letters are sent to registrants
and to children leaving school, a bulletin for employers is issued
every two weeks, and a series of educational bulletins for applicants
and employers has been published. Summaries and analyses of the
office records form the basis of occupational studies, and these, sup
plemented by printed information, have resulted in the preparation
of charts on 1 1 0 occupations for use by the placement workers and
the school counselors.
Effort is made to increase the clientele of the office. For the last
three years the office has obtained a list of all pupils graduating
from the public high schools and has sent a letter to each soliciting
his or her registration. Similar letters are sent to others, including
students dropping out of courses in the local colleges. The office,
as a school department, seeks to place a constantly larger proportion
of graduates and withdrawing students. Contact with employers is
made by the work before mentioned with the chamber of commerce
and the industrial and public-schools relations committee of the
American Management Association, by addresses to groups of em
ployers and employment managers, by personal visits to places of
business, and by the biweekly “ Employment Bulletin ’’ sent to all
employers registered with the office. This bulletin lists the appli
cants available for different kinds of work and tells their age, ex
perience, and education and the wage or salary expected. It re
duces to a minimum the solicitation of employers by telephone and
keeps the work of the office continuously before them.
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
Close relations are maintained with all branches of the publicschool system. Applicants under 16 and employers calling for chil
dren under 16 are referred to the juvenile employment office, and
efforts are being made to dovetail more closely the work of the two
employment offices. Cooperation between this office and all the
schools is growing. All placements made by counselors in the high
schools are cleared through this office, and employers’ requests for
applicants are often exchanged. New ways of interesting teachers,
principals, and counselors in the central placement service are con
stantly sought.
Cooperation with agencies outside the public-school system is
cordial. The parochial schools often send applicants. Both the
State bureau of employment and the Young Women’s Christian Asso
ciation sometimes refer juniors from their offices. Certain private
business schools have conferred with the staff regarding the de
mands of employers and turn over part of both their calls and their
graduates to the office. Although intensive case work among regis
trants is not attempted occasional use is made of various social
agencies in adjusting special cases.
Information about the registrant comes mainly as the result of a
personal interview in the office, supplemented by a brief test of
mental alertness. I t is hoped that a means of obtaining the school
records—that is, the intelligence and achievement record cards—as
a part of the regular routine may be devised, but as yet they are
forwarded by the schools only on request. School counselors occa
sionally send comment or suggestion about some particular child
whom they are referring to the office. The intensive follow-up work
does supplement, of course, all this formal information through the
personal acquaintance of the junior and the placement secretary.
Informal performance or trade tests are administered to regis
trants for typing, stenographic, and trade positions. The results of
the typing and stenographic tests are being charted in an attempt
to work o'ut a classification into degrees of skill. Registrants sus
pected of being mentally defective are sometimes referred to the
psychological clinic for examination.
Supervision after placement is regular and extensive. Four steps
are matters of routine: A post card is sent to each junior during the
week of the placement inviting him to return for conference; the
office is open until 8 o’clock once a week, in order to give working
children opportunities for consultation, registration for better posi
tions, and reports on placements; employers are reached by telephone
or personal visit after every placement to ascertain whether or not
the placement was a success; employers of typists and stenographers
are asked to give them ratings according to a formula supplied by
the placement office. In addition, registrants are often called in for
conference, and registrants not placed are notified if they are spe
cially fitted for positions. An invitation to come back at any time is
extended to every registrant, and the return call of the junior who
comes voluntarily to seek advice is considered a particularly valuable
contact.
A constant effort is maintained to increase the occupational in
formation of the staff. I t is felt that more time is needed for visitimr
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283
F a c e o f r e g is tr a tio n c a rd , ju n io r e m p lo y m e n t office o f th e d e p a rtm e n t o f v o c a tio n a l gu id a n ce, P itts b u r g h p u b lic sch o o ls
PITTSBURGH
PUBLIC
SCHOOLS
PERSONAL RECORD
VOCATIONAL
GUIDANCE
DEPARTMENT
NAME..,.................. 2
.Date.
Address.................
...............................................................Phone........................................ .. .....................Boro.........
A8®.......... yrs. Date of Birth
Religion...................
Education......... ............
......... Height.......... ft............in. Weight...........lbs. Year left school.......
Nationality............................................................
Personal Appearance........... .........................
P IT T S B U R G H
...............................«................................................................................................Study liked best.
Reason for leaving school or last position.......
Special Training...............................
Test in Special Training...................
... Mental Test.
Work Desired...........................
Lowest Salary.
Father’s Occupation.....................
.Home Environment.
Remarks: ........
Nam e
and
A ddress
of
F ir m
E m plo yers N am e
K in d
Remarks
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
[A ctual size 8 by 5 inches]
of
W ork
H ow
L ong W e e k l y W a g e
284
R e v e r s e o f r e g is tr a tio n c a rd , ju n io r e m p lo y m e n t office o f th e d e p a rtm e n t o f v o c a tio n a l gu idan ce, P itts b u r g h p u b lic schools
INDUSTRIAL RECORD
Address
Position
Remark * ;
[Actual size 8 by 5 inches]
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Date
Sent
Result
Reason
Weekly Wage Date
Wage ncrease Left For Leaving
VOCATIONAL. GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
Firm
PITTSBURGH
285
employing establishments than can be taken at present. A study of
applicants placed by the bureau showed 42 occupations in which 777
girls were engaged and 49 occupations for 524 boys. Literature per
taining to educational and vocational opportunities in Pittsburgh is
on file and is supplemented by information available to the office as
part of the public-school system. When it seems practicable oppor
tunities for further training are emphasized, and many registrants
are persuaded to return to school or to enter upon some special course.
In the procedure of interviewing, reference to definite positions,
verification of references, and record keeping there are certain
details of special interest. Advice as to personal appearance is given
when needed, and every junior referred is given a pamphlet contain
ing directions on how to make a personal application to the employer.
Each is also given a card to the employer in a sealed envelope, which
contains facts about the applicant’s education, experience, intelli
gence rating, etc. I t is felt that employers are becoming interested
in such information and regard it as a contribution in the selection of
employees. The filing system ,is alphabetical by employers’ names,
and colored tags are used to indicate the occupations for which appli
cants are registered. Each placement secretary has an employers’
file.
OTHER VOCATIONAL-GUIDANCE ACTIVITIES IN THE
SCHOOLS
LECTURES AND COURSES GIVING VOCATIONAL INFORMATION
The interest in vocational guidance in Pittsburgh is not the result
of a program imposed upon the school system from without, as is
indicated by the extent to which instruction regarding vocational life
and related subjects has been introduced in the school curriculum.
In the junior high schools a required course in “ social economics” is
given in the ninth grade. This course, defined as “ a study of voca
tions in their social significance and of the industrial, political, and
social relationships which grow out of community membership,” pro
vides for much more than an analysis of the occupations and their
requirements. It includes a study of the necessity and meaning of
work, the industrial organization of the present-day community and
its historical development, the most common kinds of work, their
requirements and rewards. In addition, such related subjects as the
distribution and use of profits of work, the causes of poverty and
methods for its relief, the relation between capital and labor, and the
relation of economic problems to international relations are pre
sented in elementary form. Following is an outline of the course.
It is given five times a week for 40 weeks.
SO CIAL ECONOMICS, N IN T H G RAD E
A STUDY OF VOCATIONS IN THEIR SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE AND OF THE INDUSTRIAL,
POLITICAL, AND SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS W HICH GROW OUT OF COMMUNITY
MEMBERSHIP
A im s
1. To develop an appreciation of the importance to individual and com
munity welfare of the work one does in the world.
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
2. To arouse a desire to .make the selection of the vocation in the light of its
possibilities for community service, as well as in view of its opportunities for
individual advancement, and to give aid in making that selection.
3. To give an appreciation of the close relations which exist between indi
vidual welfare and individual progress and the great social and economic move
ments which occur in the life of the world.
4. To give an understanding of the elementary economic and social principles
which underlie the progress of individuals and communities.
Materials
Hughes : Economic civics.
Giles: Vocational civics.
Gowan and Wheatly: Occupations.
Towne: Social problems.
Leavitt and Brown: Elementary social science.
Burch and Patterson: American social problems.
Tufts: The real business of living.
Carleton: Elementary economics.
Carver: Elementary economics.
Magazines and newspapers.
Histories of the United States and of Europe.
Material drawn from the books listed in the bibliography.
I. The vocation as an individual and civic necessity.
A. The purposes and desires of people in life.
B. Production of wealth in order to satisfy human wants, economic
and otherwise.
C. Vocational interdependence in the production of wealth.
1. Division of labor in securing the elements of welfare or “ a
living ” for the individual members of the community.
II. Vocational interests.
A. Occupations planned for by the individual members of the class.
1. Consideration of interests and abilities of students in reference
to such plans.
2. Requirements for success.
a. Aptitudes and abilities of individuals.
b. Training necessary.
3. Opportunities offered by the community.
4. Opportunities offered by the vocation for—•
a. Community service.
b. Personal advancement.
B. Occupations necessary to community life.
1. Industrial occupations.
a. Industrial background of vocations. * * *
2: Large-scale production.
а. Size and efficiency.
б. Types of large industrial organizations.
(I) Advantages and disadvantages to producer and
consumer.
c. Vocational possibilities in large establishments.
d. The factors in industrial development. * * *
e. Occupations in the great industries.
(I) A concrete study of vocations and occupations
connected with the important industries of the
United States. Special emphasis on industrial
vocations concerned with local industries.
(A) Interdependence of occupations.
(B) Opportunities in the vocations for—
(1) Community service.
(2) Personal advancement.
(C) Requirements for success.
(1) Personal characteristics.
(2) Necessary training.
(D) Importance of organization and lead
ership.
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II. Vocational interests—Continued.
B. Occupations necessary to community life—Continued.
Large-scale production—Continued.
e. Occupations in the great industries—Continued.
(II) Nonindustrial occupations.
(A) The professions.
(1) A study of the professional
occupations.
(a) Subtopics as under
the study of indus
trial occupations.
(B) Personal services and entertainment
professions.
(1) Subtopics as before.
(C) Government employment.
(1) Services performed by and for
communities through their
.
governments.
(a) Government depart
ments and commu
nity service.
(2) Types of vocations drawn
upon in community service.
(3) Government as an employer.
(а) Civil Service in the
United States.
(б) Civil Service abroad.
(D) Homemaking as an occupation.
(1) The home as a factor in com
munity welfare.
Many pupils, as might be expected, drop out of school before
reaching this course. In the junior high schools, however, an at
tempt is made to give similar information to younger groups
through the English courses, in which in each grade a certain
amount of the outside reading and composition work is on voca
tional and economic topics. Students in the seventh grade write
themes on autobiographical subjects, on factors in success, and on
the lives of inventors or leaders in industry and professional life.
In the eighth grade topics suggested have included “ Why I have
chosen my course,” “ The equipment necessary for success,” “ My
physical and mental equipment for my chosen vocation.” In the
ninth grade, or last grade of the junior high school, the topics for
compositions are assigned to develop the pupils’ knowledge of the
opportunities for social service in their community and their appre
ciation of the value of continued education.
Although no courses in vocational information form part of the
regular curriculum of the senior high schools it is required in con
nection with the English courses that one essay each semester should
relate to some phase of educational or vocational guidance, includ
ing reports on selected occupations and opportunities *for training
offered by different colleges. Except in one of the junior high
schools none of these courses is taught by the school counselors or
by teachers who have had any special training or experience in the
occupational field, but the general plan of study has been worked
out and developed in close cooperation with the counselors in the
individual schools and with the department of vocational guidance
as a whole.
Men and women engaged in important lines of work address highschool assemblies from time to time or more often discuss informally
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with selected groups the practical aspects of their business^ or pro
fession. The school authorities recognize the value of thus bringing
the pupil in direct contact with persons who can describe from their
own experience the demands and advantages of different occupa
tions, but they also recognize the limitations of such a program.
These speakers are carefully selected and are regarded as a distinctly
subordinate part of the general vocational-guidance program, sup
plementary to the work of school counselors and the regular class
room work in social science and English.
THE USE OF MENTAL AND OTHER TESTS AS A FACTOR IN
GUIDANCE
Psychological examinations of children are made by three agencies %
of the board of education: The psychological clinic of the depart
ment of hygiene, where pupils of suspected mental defect or mental
disorder are given individual examinations; the department of re
search and measurements, which handles the work of group exam
ining; and the junior employment office, where children applying
for positions are tested.
.
,
,
Cases of suspected subnormality, psychopathic tendencies, be
havior disturbances, delinquency, and other school mishts are re
ferred to the psychological clinic by teachers, principals, and school
nurses They may be sent from any school grade but come mainly
from grades below the fourth. Under-age children for whom work
permits are recommended are also examined by the clime. The direc
tor, who is a psychiatrist, himself does all the testing, scoring, and
interpretation of results and also has charge of the special rooms
for defective and subnormal children. In consequence the testing
is done under excellent conditions, though the number of casesThat
can be tested is small; only 222 examinations (the Stanford re
vision of the Binet test) were given at the clinic during the school
year 1921-22. Although the main purpose of the testing done by
the clinic is to detect all abnormal pupils and to offer suggestions
for their treatment, the achievement of this purpose is limited by
the fact that few children can be handled. # Furthermore, the schools
lack facilities to make the necessary readjustments for more than a
very small number (see p. 291). As reports of the clinic are regarded
as strictly confidential they are made available only to the principal
and teachers of the child and not to school counselors and place
ment workers; but the latter groups may always call upon the direc
tor for information regarding the examinations, and reports of
children examined for exemption from school attendance to go to
work are sent to the certificate-issuing office.
During the school year 1921-22 more than 29,400 10a group intelli
gence tests were given under the supervision of the director ot re
search and measurements. All eighth and sixth grade pupils are
given group intelligence tests before entrance into senior or junior
high school. In 11 or 1 2 elementary schools most of the children in
every grade have been tested. The tests used are the Otis and the
Illinois. Experimental testing has been done with the first-grade
“ »This number is 31 per cent of the net enrollment in the Pittsburgh public schools
(exclusive of normal, evening, anci continuation schools) m 1921.
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and kindergarten pupils of about nine schools. For the sixth and
eighth grade pupils the score made is entered on a record card that
follows the child through school and to the placement office. The
teacher’s estimate of intelligence, effort, and conduct, and the reading
quotient obtained from a reading test are also entered on this card.
These measurements are not combined, but all are taken into con
sideration in assigning pupils to different sections in their first years
of high school. In some high schools as many as seven grade sec
tions are possible. In the elementary schools division into only two
sections has been attempted. The groups with the higher intelligence
quotients are given an enriched course. In one high school there is
an accelerated class in Latin to which pupils are assigned on the
basis of the test score. In one high school the tests have been used
in giving educational advice to the extent that pupils with poor
scores are urged to take the industrial or commercial course rather
than the academic. In another high school they are used in a gen
eral way as a basis for advice as to the types of occupation for
which the student seems qualified.
Educational tests in practically all the elementary schools and in
all except one of the high schools have been given by the department
of research and measurements. The results obtained in some of these
tests (e. g., reading) have been taken account of in forming classes
into sections.
The tests made under the department of research and measure
ments are given and scored by teachers, principals, or vocational
counselors. Some of the teachers have taken courses in psychology,
but their principal training for the work is the instruction given
them by the director of research and measurements. The training
consists of an explanation, in a group meeting, of the purpose of the
tests and the method of giving them, followed by a demonstration
test given to the teachers themselves, each of whom then scores his or
her paper, the director cautioning them as to the kind of errors to
guard against in scoring. The teachers’ scoring of the tests given
students is not checked, and no provision is made for the individual
examination of pupils with exceptional scores.
In addition to the work of the psychological clinic and the depart
ment of research and measurements, testing of children applying
for employment has been carried on to some extent at the junior
placement office under the direction of the official in charge. He has
had difficulty in finding a test that meets the requirements of the
office; that is, one short in duration and not seriously affected by
interruptions. He has been using a test made up in the office (see p.
282) and also a simplified Otis test. Some use of a trade test for
stenographers has also been made.
The bulk of the work relating to psychological examinations in the
public-school system is large, but there may be duplication of effort re
sulting from the fact that the work is carried on by three agencies.
Besides, the tests in some cases are administered or scored, or both,
by persons without scientific training for the work.
PUBLICITY
The principal methods of the department in reaching teachers,
parents, and children have been outlined in the preceding sections.
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Another means of spreading knowledge of the vocational-guidance
program has been through “ educational and vocational guidance
weeks” conducted by the department of vocational guidance in
cooperation with the school body. Their principal stated purpose is
to call the attention of pupils and teachers to the importance of
continued education and of making a proper selection of subjects for
the next semester. “ The central thought of the organization of this
week is to give as much information as possible in regard to voca
tional opportunities, so that the pupils may seriously consider the
question of vocations or professions fpr which they wish to prepare
themselves and thereby develop a more earnest attitude toward their
school work. ” 11
A week of this kind has been conducted in many schools, the de
tails of the program varying with the school. In one school, for
example, it was known as a “ stay-in-school week,” in another as a
“ know-your-school week.” Posters, special numbers of school peri
odicals, and other publicity methods were used to get the signifi
cance of the program over to the student body; themes.were written
on the value of different courses and on various vocational topics;
and addresses were made by outside speakers representing different
businesses and professions. The central activity of the week is the
choice by each pupil of courses for the next semester’s work, involv
ing in many cases personal interviews with counselors.
THE SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND CURRICULUM IN RE
LATION TO GUIDANCE
DAY SCHOOLS
Junior High Schools and Prevocational Classes.
Of special significance in the vocational-guidance movement in
Pittsburgh is the fact that the course of study in the public schools
is in process of being reorganized on a 6 —
3-3 basis with the definite
aim of using the intermediate or junior high school as an agency for
tryout and for classification of pupils on the basis of individual
abilities and interests. In the four junior high schools already
established a program of classifying children in the entering class
into divisions of relatively equal mentality on the basis of the
results of group intelligence tests has already been put into opera
tion. A general industrial exploratory course has been established
in the eighth grade in these junior high schools, and pupils are also
given an opportunity to try out their aptitude in academic and com
mercial subjects' with the privilege of changing their selected course
if it does not satisfy their interest or seem suited to their abilities.
The course in social economics (see p. 285) reaches all students in the
ninth grade, and a school counseling system has been inaugurated
which reaches every child in each year of his junior high school
course.
Six elementary schools offer a special prevocational course for
over-age boys. Prevocational courses in woodwork, sheet-metal work,
electrical wiring, printing, and machine-shop work are given in the
seventh grade of the junior high schools. u Vocational-Guidance Bulletin. Pittsburgh Public Schools, 1922, p. 66.
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Vocational Courses;
Opportunities for direct training for vocations are offered through
the four-year and two-year commercial courses of the high schools
the two-year commercial course given at the Business High School’
and the trade courses for boys organized under the Smith-Huo-hes
Act in the Ralston Industrial School (a special vocational schooffor
boys) and in one of the junior high schools for boys who have com
pleted the sixth grade and are 14 years of age or over. Except the
commercial courses (including salesmanship), no work offering a
direct preparation for wage earning is offered girls. Most of Ihe
general high schools offer boys who are elementary-school graduates
four-year technical courses in which from one to five hours of shop
work and an equal amount of work in mechanical drawing are required, the amount varying with the grade. Salesmanship classes
for high-school pupils in the eleventh and twelfth years have been
organized and promoted by the research bureau for retail training
maintained by seven large department stores and conducted in co
operation with the University of Pittsburgh. Courses in arts and
crafts and in music that may be regarded as at least prevocational
are offered in the high schools. The Pittsburgh schools have done
much m the development of classroom instruction in musical per
formance and in composition. The great majority of the members
of the school orchestras have had no instrumental instruction outside
the schools. Recognition of private instruction in music is given
in the senior high schools, all the children being examined by the
school instructors before they are passed. High-school pupils are
not obliged to keep to the courses of study or of vocational training
which they have selected. Any practicable change may be made
each semester.
Special Classes.
. The public-school system provides to some extent for the special
ized training of mentally and physically handicapped children. In
1923 there were 16 classes for backward and subnormal children, 1
for crippled children, and 3 for tuberculous children. The enroll
ment in. the classes for defective children was 156,lla and in those for
tuberculous children, 1 2 2 .
CONTINUATION SCHOOLS
Opportunity for vocational supervision of employed minors be
tween 14 and 16 is provided through the requirement of the Penn
sylvania law that they shall attend continuation school eight hours
a week throughout the school year.12 With few exceptions pupils
attend two sessions of four hours each. The office of the principal
of the continuation school, where pupils register, and the school
rooms for the majority of the continuation-school pupils are con
veniently located in the same building with the employment-certifi
cate office and other branches of the attendance department and the
^ ^er ls. one'fifti1 of 1 per cent of the net enrollment in the Pittsburgh nubile
school (exclusive of normal, evening, and continuation schools) in 1922-23
•
ia Pennsylvania, Acts of 1915, P. L. 286.
'
’
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juvenile placement office of the department of vocational guidance.
The latter handles all placement and replacement of minors attend
ing continuation school.
The eight hours, with the exception of 45 minutes spent in hygiene
and physical training, are divided equally between vocational work
and related and general academic subjects. The vocational studies
include commercial subjects and elementary office practice, commer
cial design, and various kinds of shopwork for boys. All girls are
required to take some work in home making, but they may elect com
mercial work also. It is the policy to urge children to take voca
tional work related to their employment whenever the industry or
business in which they are engaged offers opportunity for advance
ment, but boys and girls who prefer to do so are permitted to take
vocational courses unrelated to their work.
Although Pittsburgh does not have the special machinery for
vocational direction provided in the continuation schools in some
cities through the try-out class and coordination by visits to home
and employer of the pupils’ home, school, and work life, the prin
cipal and teachers of the Pittsburgh continuation school are con
stantly studying the achievements of pupils in class and shop to
determine their vocational aptitudes and interests, and to a certain
extent they serve as undesignated vocational counselors.
EMPLOYMENT-CERTIFICATE ISSUANCE IN RELATION TO
VOC ATIONAL GUIDANCE
The issuance of employment certificates in Pittsburgh is handled
by the attendance department of the public schools, which is quite
distinct from the department of vocational guidance; but, according
to a ruling of the superintendent of schools, every child applying for
a permit must first be interviewed by a representative of the juvenile
employment office. This procedure makes much more certain the
reaching by the vocational-guidance machinery of children with
drawing from school than is found in most cities even where the
vocational-guidance and employment-certificate functions are com
bined in one department. Moreover, the plan in operation in Pitts
burgh provides more surely for the interviewing of the children by
persons specially •qualified to judge what is best for them from a
vocational-guidance point of viewTthan if the work is handled by a
staff of individuals whose chief duty is the issuance of employment
certificates.
The State child labor law gives no discretion to school principal or
issuing officer to refuse a school record or a permit to a child who
meets the specified qualifications. A new certificate is required
for each position the child fills until he is 16 years of age. Before
making application for his first certificate the child must have ob
tained a school report signed by his principal, certifying that he has
satisfactorily completed the principal sixth-grade subjects. In Pitts
burgh the principal also gives him, for the information of the place
ment officer, a more detailed statement regarding his school standing
and personal characteristics. Both of these statements of the facts
are sealed in an envelope, which the child is to take to the juvenile-
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293
employment office and upon which are printed brief instructions as to
the first steps necessary for obtaining an employment certificate.
The department of vocational guidance, through the juvenile-em
ployment office, attempts first, if justified by the principal’s confiden
tial report, to return the child to his own school or to some other full
time school; next, to arrange for part-time employment in connec
tion with a commercial or industrial course (usually on the alternateweek system). If neither of these preferred courses of action is
practicable, the office attempts to place the child in the most suitable
position available, provided he has not already obtained a position
for himself (see p .279). When a position is obtained and the promiseof-employment blank, which is supplied by the placement office, is
filled in by the prospective employer the child takes it to the certifi
cate office. If otherwise eligible for a certificate, the child is examined
by a physician of the department of hygiene of the board of educa
tion ; and if he is found to be in proper physical condition the certifi
cate is issued and mailed to the employer. Children returning for
new certificates are weighed and measured and examined in respect
to any defects noted in the first examination, but no attempt has been
made to use the records of the physical examinations as the basis for
a study of the effect of different occupations and of working condi
tions in different establishments upon the health of young workers.
In exceptional cases children between 14 and 16 years of age who
have not completed the sixth grade and who in the opinion of their
school principal and teachers are incapable of receiving further
benefit from school work are referred by the department of attend
ance to the psychological clinic of the public schools for examina
tion. If after a careful study of the child’s, mentality, taking into
consideration his school record and the statements of his teachers and
parents, the examining psychiatrist reports that in his opinion the
.child will not benefit from further stay in school and recommends
that he therefore be allowed to go to work, the attendance department
will usually issue an employment certificate. This practice is recog
nized by the attendance department as extralegal, but it is held to be
in conformity with the spirit of the law.
SUMMARY
The vocational-guidance program in Pittsburgh was started under
the auspices of the public schools and is essentially the work of
school officials and teachers. The director of the department of
vocational guidance of the board of education is also a high-school
principal, and the work with children who are still in school is
carried on through a system of counselors who are also teachers.
Although the director’s duties as school principal necessarily absorb
a considerable part of his time the fact that he is himself a member
of the teaching body is no doubt an important factor in the unusual
degree of cooperation which the department has been able to get
from the principals and teachers in the school system.
The school counseling system is unusually well developed and
organized, and, although there are no counselors in the elementary
schools, a large proportion of the school children, as compared with
most cities, are reached by counselors. Emphasis is placed upon
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educational rather than definitely vocational guidance. The coun
selor in each of the high schools confers with elementary-school
pupils on the value of a high-school education and with high-school
students on the value of further education; advises students in both
the junior and the senior high schools on their choice of courses;
discusses with groups of students the aim and value of the various
subjects taught in the schools, the importance of a vocational aim,
and the need for vocational information and training. The coun
selors have specialized in information relating to the educational
advantages offered by various schools and colleges; but most of
them have also made some point of obtaining information on occu
pations, and the vocational aspect is emphasized in school counselors’
interviews more than in many cities where the primary object of the
guidance activities is educational.
Placement is carried on by two offices, one for children under 16,
the other for minors between 16 and 21 years of age. Both are
conducted under the department of vocational guidance of the
public-school system in cooperation with the Junior Division of the
United States Employment Service. Although the placement office
for children of certificate age does not handle the issuance of cer
tificates it is located in the same building as the issuing office, and,
according to a ruling made by the superintendent of schools, all
children applying for certificates are required to report first to the
juvenile placement office for vocational advice—an important fea
ture of the Pittsburgh guidance program.
The school system is in process of reorganization on the 6-3-3
plan, which promises greater flexibility in the course of study and
increased opportunity for try-out experience in various types of
work. Four junior high schools have already been established and
offer a general industrial try-out course in the seventh grade and prevocational courses in a number of trades. Day schools and con
tinuation schools offer vocational training to girls in the commercial
field and to boys in both the commercial and the industrial field.
A required course in vocational information is given junior high
school pupils in the ninth grade, and the study of occupations is
made a part of the courses in English in all junior and senior high
schools.
Mental tests are used to some extent as a basis of classification for
teaching purposes as well as a guide in educational and vocational
counseling. The tests are given by three agencies whose activities
have been but little coordinated.
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MINNEAPOLIS
HISTORY OF THE VOCATIONAL-GUIDANCE MOVEMENT
In 1912 a study of Minneapolis children between 14 and 16 years
of age leaving school for work was made under the direction of a
citizens’ committee composed of city, school, and State labor officials,
members of the staff of the State university, business men, and repre
sentatives of the Minneapolis Trades and Labor Assembly and of the
principal civic and philanthropic organizations of the city. The
purpose was to obtain information leading to a reorganization of.
the public-school program in view of the needs of business and in
dustry which its pupils would have to meet in their occupational
life. As a result of the survey the committee made a number of
recommendations, one of which was the establishment in the publicschool system of a department of vocational guidance to survey the
industries and occupations of the city, study the courses given in the
schools in the light of their value to the pupils’ occupational future,
give vocational advice, establish an employment bureau, issue work
permits, and have general supervision over boys and girls at work.
Other recommendations of the committee of significance in the voca
tional-guidance program included the reorganization of the schools
on the 6-3-3 plan, with differentiation into academic, commercial,
and industrial courses beginning in the second half of the seventh
grade; the keeping of a cumulative record for each child in school
as a basis for vocational counseling; a school census; a study of the
extent and causes of retardation in the schools; the enactment of a
law, to be enforced in Minneapolis by the department of vocational
guidance, requiring that all boys and girls under 18 should be in
school if not legally employed; and the establishment “ as an adjunct
to the board of education [of] an advisory commission of 15 mem
bers, composed of employees, employers, and educators * * *
whose duty it shall be to’ report changes in the demands of business
and industry and to advise modifications of the course of study to
meet these new demands. ” 1
As a result of this survey a department of attendance and voca
tional guidance was established in the public-school system in Sep
tember, 1914. To it were given the enforcement of the schoolattendance law, the taking of a permanent school census, the issuance
of employment certificates, and the development of a program for
vocational investigation and guidance.
The work of the department was organized in three divisions:
A statistical division, responsible for the permanent school census,
the planning of school records, the tabulation of school reports, and
the conduct of all special studies and research; an attendance divi
sion, responsible for the enforcement of the attendance law, the
1
Vocational Survey of Minneapolis, p. 7.
The Minneapolis Teachers’ Club, 1913.
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issuance of employment certificates, and placement; and a vocational
division, responsible for the making of vocational investigations.2
One of the first acts of the new department was to cooperate in an
extensive survey conducted in the spring and summer of 1916 by the
National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education to
ascertain the needs and facilities for vocational training in Minne
apolis.3 Inasmuch as it was the opinion both of public-school
authorities and of those immediately in charge of the survey that
the newly organized department of attendance and vocational guid
ance was the logical agency to make the best use of the material
gathered, members of the staff of the department were assigned to
the survey from the beginning.
A continuation of vocational surveys was planned as one of the
most important activities of the department. Establishment of a
juvenile-employment office was also contemplated as a logical out
come of supervision of school withdrawals, issuance of employment
certificates, vocational-survey work, etc. In addition, the depart
ment reported the following plans:
(1) To place In the hands of every eighth-grade and high-school teacher
the information gathered in the [vocational] survey, both the printed reports
and charts and other graphic representations.,
(2) To prepare a list of similar literature of a more general nature now
available in the public library.
(3) To maintain in the office of the department a model “vocational
library” and to provide in next year’s budget for the beginning of such a
library in each school with grades above the sixth.
(4) To modify the present curriculum or program so as to make it
possible to introduce the study of vocational material. * * *
(5) To establish and develop, a corps of vocational assistants as rapidly
as shall seem advisable, their duty to be to cooperate with the regular
school force of teachers and principals in the carrying out of plans, to
originate and promote new methods, and to act as the local representatives
of the central office. Specifically, the plan is to provide for each high
school two assistants (a man and a woman), who shall each spend half
of the time in teaching .and half in vocational work. The latter duties
would consist of ( a ) supervising all withdrawals, including placement and
“follow-up;” (6) supervising the work of student advisers; (c) directing
the analysis of students’ characteristics; (d ) giving personal counsel in
special cases; (c) gathering and interpreting school statistics; ( f ) making
local school arrangements for lectures, trips, and the like; and, perhaps,
( g ) supervising the social and purely recreational activities of the school.
There should be two assistants for each high-school district, with similar
duties in the seventh and eighth grades.
(6) To carry on a propaganda among parents’ and teachers’ associations
and other civic bodies for the purpose of arousing interest and explaining
the program of the schools. 4
During a period of seven years, from September, 1914, to July,
1921, the department carried on all the vocational-guidance activ
ities of the Minneapolis school system. Its most important
2 Labor Statistics, U. S. Bureau o f: Vocational-Education Survey of Minneapolis, Minn.,
made by the National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education, p. 531. Bureau
of Labor Statistics Bulletin 199, December, 1916. Washington.
3 A comprehensive survey of this type had been recommended by the commission respon
sible for the vocational survey of 1912, but the immediate cause of the survey conducted
by the National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education was the desire of the
trustees of a fund recently made available for the establishment of a school to give free
instruction in industrial and mechanical arts to obtain information on the kind of voca
tional education most needed and the ways in which the school could cooperate with
other educational agencies. The expenses of the survey were met by the board of educa
tion, the trustees of the fund, and other local agencies.
4 Vocational-Education Survey of Minneapolis, Minn., pp. 532, 533. Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Bulletin 199.
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achievements appear to have been: First, the development of an
effective and well-coordinated system for the enforcement of the
compulsory-education, employment-certificate, and school-census
laws, which is said to have proved its success as an agency for
keeping in school all except a negligible number of Minneapolis
children up to their sixteenth birthday; and, second, the develop
ment of a system of school counseling through a corps of voca
tional advisers on the staff of the department who were assigned
as full-time counselors to all the public high schools and to some
of the junior high and elementary schools. The functions of the
advisers in the high schools gradually broadened to include types
of guidance other than vocational and, at least in some schools,
to resemble rather those of the visiting teacher; in the elementary
schools the functions of the adviser were primarily those of the
school social-service worker.
Placement work developed somewhat more slowly than the other
activities of the department, and little or nothing was done in occu
pational investigation, the preparation and distribution of litera
ture regarding vocational opportunities or of outline material for
school instruction in vocational information. Although all these
phases of vocational guidance appear to have been contemplated
in the founding of the department the program as actually devel
oped seems to have been primarily one of social service rather than
of vocational guidance.
.
In July, 1921, a separate department of vocational guidance was
created in the school system and administered in cooperation with
the Junior Division of the United States Employment Service. To
this department was transferred, first the placement work, and, a
few months later, the issuance of employment certificates. During
this period placement improved and developed because the work
of the department was concerned largely with placement. Close co
operation among all the free employment groups in the city was
strengthened and contacts with employers considerably extended. In
the summer of 1923, after approximately two years of separate
functioning, the administration of the vocational-guidance program
was again made a part of the work of the original department,
the name of which was changed to the department of attendance
and research.
ORGANIZATION AND ACTIVITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT
OF ATTENDANCE AND RESEARCH 4a
ORGANIZATION
Definitely organized vocational-guidance activities for young per
sons in Minneapolis are under the supervision of the department of
attendance and research of the Minneapolis public schools. The
functions of the department, as the chart on page 299 shows, include
not only the enforcement of the compulsory school-attendance and
employment-certificate laws, and vocational guidance and place
ment, but also the taking of the school census, the administration
of the mental and educational testing program, and the collection
*a For the school year 1923-24 unless otherwise indicated.
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and tabulation of all school statistics except those relating to fiscal
matters. Thus a close correlation among the various phases of guid
ance and between guidance and the child-accounting system of the
schools is insured.
The department is organized in six divisions: (1) Census; (2)
attendance; (3) visiting teacher; (4) certification; (5) guidance
and placement; (6) research.
The staff of the central office consists of 30 persons—the director,
a supervisor of attendance, 4 attendance officers and 1 street-trades
officer; 5 school counselors (3 responsible for placement in the cen
tral office, 1 assigned to the Vocational High School, 1 assigned to
employment-certificate issuance) ; a “ director of instructional
research;” a mental examiner; a research assistant; and 15 clerks.
In addition, there are 18 school counselors or visiting teachers who
are assigned to individual schools or school districts but who work
under the general supervision of the director of the department.
The salary budget for the central office staff totaled $50,060 for the
year 1924, of which $12,450 was for vocational guidance, $2,850 for
employment certification, and $9,130 for the division of research.
The division of research had in addition a budget of $2,500 for tests
and $2,500 for publications. The salaries of the visiting teachers,
which total approximately $35,170, are charged to their individual
schools and do not figure in the appropriation for the department.
Additional funds are available for furniture, supplies, and inci
dental expenses.
The director of the department has had a number of years of
experience as teacher and as principal in one of the Minneapolis
schools. Almost all the employees of the department except the
clerks have had college or university training. Visiting teachers
and attendance officers are required to have had at least two years’
experience, preferably in both teaching and social-service work,
after graduation from college. Counselors in the permit-issuing
and vocational-guidance and placement divisions must fulfill the
same requirements and in addition must have had several years’
experience in commercial or industrial employment or in some field
of vocational education or counseling. A few school counselors have
been appointed who have not completed a college course but who
have had considerable experience in business or industry or in voca
tional training. The salaries paid visiting teachers are on the same
scale as those of teachers in the schools to which they are assigned,
the amount varying with the training, experience, and length of
school service of the worker. One counselor, who is assigned to the
Girls’ Vocational School, is paid according to the senior high school
teachers’ scale; the other counselors are paid on a special scale, re
ceiving a maximum salary somewhat below the maximum for highschool teachers.
The department is housed in the city hall with other administra
tive offices of the school department. In this building are located
also the offices of the board of health, where physical examinations
are given to children applying for employment certificates.
The department publishes a news sheet especially for the teachers
of community-life problems (see p. 311), visiting teachers, the divi-
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PLAN OF ORGANIZATION
of
MINNEAPOLIS
D epartment
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Atten d an ce
and
Research , Public S chools , M inneapolis , M inn .
1923-24
300
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
sion of guidance and placement, school librarians, and principals,
containing articles and news items on guidance, child labor, and
placement, reviews of literature on guidance, etc.
THE WORK OF THE VISITING-TEACHER DIVISION
Of the 18 visiting teachers, or “ school counselors,” 5 are in senior
high schools, 1 in the Girls’ Vocational High School, and 2 in junior
high schools, and 10 are assigned to junior high school districts,
which include the elementary schools in these districts. Their chief
duties, like those of most visiting teachers, consist in making adjust
ments between school and home and seeking to remove the causes,
social and otherwise, that interfere with school progress. They do
little or no educational or vocational counseling, except that they fol
low up all school “ drop outs ” and visit the homes of all children
under 16 years of age desiring work permits. The visiting teacher
and the issuing officer cooperate in an effort to keep in school chil
dren between 14 and 16 who have completed the eighth grade and
are therefore eligible for work permits. The visiting teacher visits
the home, makes recommendation as to the granting of the permit,
and confers with the issuing officer, who makes the final decision.
In the elementary schools where they are at work most visiting
teachers make an effort to interview children who are approaching
their sixteenth birthday and those who are doubtful about entering
high school^ All visiting teachers or school counselors in the high
schools visit the eighth grades in their districts once a year and
address the pupils on the advantages of the various secondary
schools. In each high school also a day is set aside for showing
prospective students over the school.
The work of the visiting teacher in one of the high schools is
probably typical in the amount of attention paid to guidance. The
greater part of her time is given to helping solve the u family prob
lem ” behind cases of misconduct, truancy, failure, and early school
leaving. As a matter of routine, she interviews all children planning
to withdraw from school and attempts to make whatever adjust
ments, whether family or personal, may be necessary to persuade
them to continue their education. This often involves revising, their
school program. If the child is 16 years of age or over and it is not
possible to keep him in school, the visiting teacher refers him to the
vocational-guidance and placement division of the department, with
a “ personal-record card,” which serves as a registration card.
EMPLOYMENT-CERTIFICATE ISSUANCE IN RELATION TO
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE
Several factors in the issuance of employment certificates in Min
neapolis affect the organized vocational-guidance program: Cer
tificates are issued by the same department that administers the
vocational-guidance program (see p. 298), thereby making possible
close cooperation between the two services; relatively high require
ments are set by the law for entering employment; and the provisions
of the certificating law insure supervision over employed children of
certificate age.
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Under the child-labor and school-attendance laws of Minnesota“
all children are required to attend regular day school until they are
16 unless they have completed the work of the elementary schools
or come under certain other exemptions not important in this con
nection and are excused from school attendance by the school board.
According to a ruling by the school board, only those whose wages
are actually needed by their families may be thus excused. Children
under 14 may not be employed during school hours, and those be
tween 14 and 16 must obtain certificates from the superintendent of
schools or his deputy. A physical examination is required for each
applicant for an employment certificate but is not used for guidance
purposes specifically.
Largely, it is maintained, because of the care with which certifi
cates are issued, very few children under 16 actually leave school
for work in Minneapolis. The number of certificates issued during
1922-23, for example, was 324—196 to boys and 128 to girls. All
children wishing certificates are questioned as to their reasons for
leaving school, and the advantages of continued schooling are
pointed out to them by the issuing officer as well as by the visiting
teacher if they are enrolled in junior or senior high schools. Where
the desire to go to work is due to dissatisfaction with school a read
justment of school work is attempted. Alleged family need is in
vestigated by <a representative of the department of attendance and
research—in the case of children who are attending high school, by
the visiting teacher of their school, and in the case of those who
have not entered high school or who are withdrawing from elemen
tary public schools or from parochial or private schools, by the
counselor in charge of certificate issuance at the central office of
the department. Lists of all children finishing the work of the
eighth grade are furnished the department semiannually, and all
children who are said by the teachers to be intending to go to work
at once aro asked to report to the counselor in charge of issuance,
who investigates their eligibility for employment certificates. In
appraising their economic situation he applies carefully estimated
budgetary standards based on those used for determining aid by the
local family relief agency and by the county widows’ pension fund.
Where economic necessity is definitely proved or where all con
cerned admit inability to adjust a child to the school and the inad
visability of enforcing attendance, it is not the policy of the depart
ment to urge that the child remain in school. Plans are under way
in the department to provide scholarships*for children who would
otherwise be obliged to leave school for work.
Although vocational advice is sometimes offered to applicants by
the counselor in charge of issuance, this is not a routine procedure
with the department, as it is felt that because of the nature of the
jobs open to children under 16 little vocational guidance can be
offered them. Children under 16 who must go to work are either
placed by the issuing officer or referred by her to the regular place
ment counselors. It is reported by the guidance and placement de
partment that a large majority of the children of certificate age find
their own positions before making application for their certificates.
5 General Statutes, 1913, secs. 3839—3844; sec. 2979, as amended by Acts of 1923,
ch. 78.
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
After a certificate has been issued or refused to a child who has
been attending high school, his school is notified of this fact through
the visiting teacher assigned there, whose duty it is in the case of a
refusal to look up the child and get him back to school if he has not
already returned.
Supervision over certificated minors is obtained not only auto
matically through the legal requirement that a child must apply
for a new certificate every time he changes his position but also
through the practice of the issuing officer in telephoning the home
and employer of each child on certificate approximately every three
months. Although the purpose of this procedure is primarily that
of law enforcement—that is, to see whether or not a child is still
employed and in the position for which he has been certificated—it is
also a means of ascertaining how he is getting on in his work,
whether or not he has been advanced, and so forth, and keeps both
employer and worker in touch with the department. The infor
mation thus obtained is also used for later placements.
THE WORK OF THE GUIDANCE AND PLACEMENT DIVISION
The guidance and placement division of the department of at
tendance and research in cooperation with the Junior Division of
the United States Employment Service, operates the only organized
employment agency for juniors in Minneapolis. The director of
the department has been designated by the United States Employ
ment Service as superintendent of guidance and placement for
Minneapolis and under his Federal appointment is permitted to
use Government stationery and the Government frank. The United
States Employment Service also supplies part of the expenses and
record forms and blanks. This placement office serves primarily
the public-school pupils of the city between the ages of 14 and 21,
but it accepts for placement any applicant below the upper age limit.
Two groups of minors are registered as a matter of routine; Those
16 years of age or over who are graduating from high school and
those who announce that they are withdrawing from school. Both
these groups are personally interviewed by the placement workers,
who go to the various schools for that purpose.
The following table gives statistics of placements for 1923;
P lacem ents by the guidance and placem ent division, 1923
Items
Applicants:
Boys
1,649
1,465
952
278
51
2,854
Girls
2,107
2,671
855
1,448
119
3,705
Total
3,756
4,136
1,807
1,726
170
6,559
Of the five counselors on* the staff of the guidance and placement
division—two men and three women—one is detailed to certificate
issuing and the follow-up of children employed on certificates and
another to the Girls’ Vocational High School. Three of the five have
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303
had industrial or business experience, and three have had experience
in social work.
The division cooperates, first of all, with all the branches of the
public-school system, of which it is a part. The workers take every
opportunity to speak before school officials, teachers, and assembled
students. They meet with the corps of visiting teachers every two
weeks to discuss common problems. Occupational information ob
tained in the guidance and placement division is made available to
the schools.
Employers are kept in touch with the work through personal visits
by members of the staff whenever time permits, by letters sent out
every two or three weeks, by answers to advertisements for help, by an
occasional newspaper “ story,” and by frequent addresses before em
ployers’ organizations. For some firms the school placement office
has selected practically the entire force of junior workers. In one
large store, for example, an analysis of the requirements of each job
was made by the placement staff with the understanding that the
girls recommended by the division be given a trial in the various
positions; a factory has also requested the division to select its powermachine operatives for it. The office has an active file of 900 to
1,000 employers.
A special study of vocational opportunities (see p. 311) in Minne
apolis, made by a member of the staff, has been published. The office
also has on file a study made for the Girls’ Vocational High School
describing occupations open to girls. Inasmuch as most of the firms
using the placement facilities of the department are known no in
vestigation before placement is usually made, but if an unknown em
ployer calls for workers an attempt is made to visit the establishment
liefore prospecive workers are sent. An increasing amount of time
is being given to this phase of the work.
Information regarding the registrant comes from the registrant
himself and from his teachers if he is graduating or withdrawing
from the public schools. The registration card calls for a statement
of the last school and grade attended, special training, and previous
history. For each registrant graduating from a public school a card
(which serves as the registration form) containing statements on
his scholarship, reliability, industry, courtesy, personality, etc.,
on his general health and physical defects, and on his parents’
occupation and birthplace is sent from the school from which he is
graduating. For those withdrawing before graduation the infor
mation is furnished by the school at the request of the placement
coraiselor. Physical records are obtained from the schools only for
children on employment certificates; academic and attendance rec
ords of applicants are lacking, for although some schools have cumu
lative records they do not send them to the placement division. In
formation relating to home conditions other than the parents’ occu
pation and birthplace, though obtained in some schools, is not sup
plied to the employment office as a matter of routine.
Each registrant is interviewed by a placement counselor, and the
registration blank is filled in (see p. 305). The question if remaining
in school or arranging for special training is always discussed with
the registrant. He is called when a position is found for him, and
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v o c a t io n a l
g u id a n c e
and
ju n io r
placem ent
no registration is regarded as “ dead” until the applicant is placed
either by the division or through his own efforts. In the mean
while his card is indexed for the occupation for which he is eligible,
and'a card is made out for an occupational cross file. When the
applicant is referred he is given a postal card of introduction, which
the employer signs and returns. The applicant also is requested to
notify the office of the result of the interview. If word from neither
is received the office telephones or writes the employer. About
every six weeks the file of applicants is cleared by telephoning to
them or sending them a form letter requesting a report as to whether
or not a position has been found, what it is, and how it was ob
tained. The office reports that about 80 per cent of those written to
respond. Others are called upon the telephone. An evening office
hour is held one night a week. The staff does not visit firms where
minors have been placed, but children on certificate are followed
up by the counselor in charge of certificate issuance.
The forms in use are the registration blanks, white for girls and
buff for boys; a 4 by 6 inch index card, containing the applicant’s
name and address, and positions for which he is eligible; a temporary
card used in taking an “ order ” over the telephone; a combination
investigation and employer’s “ order” card (see p. 307); and report
forms. Registrants’ cards are filed first in an active and after place
ment in an inactive file. Index cards of the applicant are filed by
occupations under “ experienced ” and “ inexperienced ” ; after place
ment they are filed alphabetically together with references frpm
school and employer. If a registrant is permanently placed but not
so well as his training or ability permits a card for him is kept in a
promotion file. A green tag on a card indicates that the registrant is
under 16 years of age. Cards are also tagged by the month of the
placement as a basis for follow-up. Employers’ “ orders ” are en
tered on a permanent form, on which are also entered the name of
each applicant referred to the position and the result. While still un
filled these “ orders” are kept in box files—one for boys and one for
girls—on the desk of the placement counselor, but when filled or can
celled they are placed in a permanent file alphabetically according
to the sex of the worker desired. In addition an alphabetical file is
kept of all employers dealt with. There is also a file of investiga
tions, with job studies so far as such studies have been made. A
weekly report of interviews, registrations, references, and place
ments is sent to the Junior Division of the United States Employ
ment Service. No reports are published.
Office hours are from 8.30 a. m. to 5 p. m. The visiting of em
ployers and schools, work on special problems, and so forth, are
done at such hours as will not interfere with the office work.
The policy of the office is not to refuse to place its applicants in
“ blind-alley jobs” but to keep those so placed actively in mind for a
change of employment or for promotion, provided their ability and
training permit. The office places some certificated children, of
whom there are very few (see p. 301). It seeks to return them to
school, if possible, to supervise them during the certificate period*
and to search for better openings for them when they are more
mature.
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Face of reg istra tio n card, guidance and placem ent division, departm en t of atten dan ce and research ; M inneapolis
PERSONAL RECORD
M INNEAPOLIS PU BLIC SC H O O LS
N am e__ ..___
-Address
Date of Birth.
------- ....
».Parents* Birthplaces.
S ch ool...........
-G rade.
— ■■h
.
,
....................... P V i n n »
■.
.• .
-Parent's Occupation.
Date ____
.Course —......................Special Training ------,
Penmanship--------------- T y p in g ----------------S ten og.___________ Bookkpg. _________ ».Trade Subj_________ _ .
MINNEAPOLIS
Scholarship— ( I ) ( 2 ) (3 ) Punctuality— ( I ) (2 ) ( 3 ) Courtesy— ( 1 ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) Perseverance— ( I ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) Accuracy— ( 1 ) ( 2 ) (3 )
Honesty— (1 ) ( 2 ) (3 )
Self-relianc
Initiative ( l ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) Leadership— ( ! ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) Habits— ( I ) ( 2 ) (3 )
( I ) (2 ) ( 3 ) Initiative—
Industry— (1 ) (2 ) (3 ) Reliability— (1 ) (2 ) (3 ) Co-operation— (1 ) ( 2 ) (3 ) Intelligence— ( ! ) (2 ) ( 3 ) Attractive— (1 ) ( 2 ) (3 )
Health— ( I ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) Physical Defects____________ _
1. Q. or score----- —................... ........... .. .School activities.
Remarks:
Work recommended.
___________.___
-Adviser
Below this line to- be filled in at Placement Office
»Date.
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
Employer
Cancelled
289
(5M 4-2 4
Name
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Re-opened
Address
Work
Time
Wage
Why Left
Employers* Estimate
Inquiry Sent Result of Test
Size (1 ) (2 ) (3 ) Ht..
-Wt.
-Personality ( ! ) (2 ) (3 ) Dress— Well ( ) Neat ( ) Slack ( )
Address
[Actual size 8 by 5 inches]
Tel.
Kind of work
306
R everse of reg istra tio n card, guidance and placem ent division, departm en t of atten dan ce and resea rch ; M irmeapolis
INDUSTRIAL RECORD
Firm
Position
Date
Wage
Increase Left
# Hired, but did not go
o Did not go A
Reason
For Leaving
Employer’s Estimate
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
Date
*
sent Result Wage
*□ Refused Position
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
V'Hired X Not Hired
[Actual size 8 by 5 inches]
O ffered,
did not cóme
F. 0 .
J.
Found own job
307
l av:
!
ibm aiion
oj
firm in vestig a tio n and em ployer's “ order ” card, gu idan ce and placem ent division, d epartm en t of
attendance and resea rch ; M inneapolis
CARD 1
EMPLOYER’S ORDER CARD
Firm
Address.
Industry
Phone.
Product
EmDlovment Manager
No. of Employees under 21
Street Cars
Hours
M.
Wages
F.
Aae Limit
Sat.
Noon
Vacation
Preferences
Piece, Hour. Dav. Week
Seasons: Rush
Increase
Dull
Maximum
Workinq Conditions
Trainina offered
MINNEAPOLIS
M IN N E A P O LIS P U B L IC S C H O O L S
Physical Condition
Promotional Possibilités
Remarks:
DATE
NO.
B
G
POSITION
AGE
WAGE
HOURS
EDUCATIONAL
REQUIREMENTS
ACTION TAKEN
NAME
REMARKS
'
2 9 0 (1500 2-24 V )
^ Tn
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Address
Phone
[Actual size 8 by 5 inches]
Kind of position
DATE
Î
DATE
NO.
B
POSITION
.a g e
WAGE
HOURS
ED U C ATIO N A L
ACTION TA KEN
R EM ARK S
DATE
.NAME
R EQ UIREM EN TS
j •.
B-Boy
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G-Girl
Hi-Refused Position
^H ired
?
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JU N IO R PLACEMENT
G
308
R everse of com bination o f firm in vestig a tio n and em ployer's “ order ” card, guidance and placem ent division, departm ent
of attend-ance and research ; M inneapolis
x -N o t Hiied
[Actual size 8 by 5 inches]
« -Hired, but did not go
O -D Id n o tg o
M IN N E A P O L IS
309
THE MENTAL-TESTING PROGRAM
In January, 1923, the duties of the research division of the depart
ment of attendance and research were enlarged to include the super
vision of tests and measurements in the public schools. Prior to
that time most of the psychological testing in the schools was for the
purpose of discovering mentally subnormal children for special
classes.
The staff of the division consists of a director, a research assistant,
and a mental examiner—all on a half-time basis—-and two clerks.
The director is associate professor of education and head of the de
partment of theory and practice of teaching at the ; University of
Minnesota; the mental examiner has had graduate work in educa
tional psychology, was formerly a university assistant professor of
psychology, and has had extensive experience in mental testing. The
research assistant holds a master’s degree in education and has had
experience as a teacher.
The mental examiner herself examines all cases considered for ad
mission to the special classes for subnormal children, in compliance
with the State law allowing $100 for each pupil registered in an un
graded class.6 Problem cases may be referred to the child-guidance
clinic of the University of Minnesota.
Other psychological tests are given and scored by teachers and
principals, and the chief work of the division since its establishment
has been training teachers in testing and making use of the test
results. A large number of these teachers have had university
courses in testing and measurements, and many more are reported
as taking such courses. All, however, are required to attend the
brief course in training given by the director of the division. This
consists of a general meeting on testing, followed by two meetings of
small groups of teachers, at which the director lectures, gives tests,
and observes and corrects practice tests given by the teachers. Fol
lowing this instruction each teacher gives practice tests in her own
school under the observation of a member of the research division.
Tests are extensively administered and are used as a factor in
classifying. Where classification on the basis of mental levels has
been effected experiments in modifying the curriculum ^are being
tried, but whether modification should take the form of enriched
courses or fast-moving classes for the more able group has not been
finally determined..
All kindergarten children soon after entering school are given
the Detroit kindergarten individual intelligence test, which is used
as one basis for promotion into the first grade. In practically all
first grades use is made of these ratings in grouping children accord
ing to their mental ability. All sixth-grade pupils about to enter
junior high school or the departmentalized grades (see p. 312) are
given the Haggerty Delta No. 2 group intelligence test and all eighthgrade pupils the Terman group test for classification in the first
year of junior high school and in the last year of junior and the
first year of senior high school, respectively. A group mental test
is given all high-school pupils, and the results are used as a basis
* M innesota, Acts o f 1921, ch. 366, sec. 4.
18835°— 25------ 2 1 .
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VOCATIONAL. G U ID A N C E A N D J U N I O R P L A C E M E N T
for educational guidance. This may consist in urging children of
good ability to give more attention to their school work or in putting
a failing child into a class in which the scope of the subject matter
is more limited than in the regular classes. In a considerable number
of elementary schools also where there has appeared to be special
need group mental tests and achievement tests have been given.
The use made of these tests has varied in different schools. In all
schools first-grade pupils with poor scores and in some schools pupils
of all grades with poor scores are put into a class for special coaching;
in the first grade this is done on the basis of an achievement test in
reading, in other grades on the basis of both achievement and intelli
gence tests. In two schools all retarded children are put into slowmoving classes doing the work of their grades at half speed. In one
junior high school an adjustment class is maintained for pupils
retarded by inferior mentality, absence, physical defect, or other
handicap.
During the school year 1922-23 approximately 23,828 group tests
and 750 individual tests for entrance to the first grade were given
under the direction of the research division. The children given
roup tests constituted 32 per cent of the net enrollment of the public
ay schools.
Achievement tests in all fundamental subjects are being given
throughout the school system, and standard achievement tests in
high-school subjects have been given in the high schools. In the
Girls’ Vocational High School (see p. 312) achievement tests in
arithmetic, spelling, and reading are used definitely as an aid in
guidance.
The division is cooperating in a study of the reliability of a large«
number of vocational tests which is being made in the schools under
the direction of the department of psychology of the University of
Minnesota.
f
OTHER VOCATIONAL-GUIDANCE ACTIVITIES IN THE
SCHOOLS
SCHOOL COUNSELING
The extent and type of counseling in any school depend upon the
interest of the individual school principals and teachers and the
special needs of the school.
In most of the high schools the work of the visiting teacher is
supplemented by “ advisers ” appointed from among the regular
teachers. The advisers discuss with entering pupils their choice of
courses for the year and present to them at the beginning and at every
subsequent interview the possibility of specialized training, including
college courses. The advisers also make every kind of adjustment
relating to school programs. In one school advisers are aided by a
“ scholarship committee ” appointed from among the teaching staff
to interview all children in danger of failing in a subject. During
each period of the day in an office set aside for the purpose some
teacher on the committee is ready to interview the children sent
to her. On the basis of an individual intelligence test which is
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M IN N E A P O L IS
given failing pupils (see p. 310) a decision is reached as to the advisa
bility of the child’s continuing his course or changing to another.
In the junior high schools the principal is in charge of the school
counseling program. He is assisted by the visiting teacher and by
home-room and shop teachers. Most of the counseling is in connec
tion with the choice of courses by eighth and ninth grade pupils
(see p. 312). The principal confers with all eighth-grade pupils in
groups with reference to programs for the following year. Any
pupil who after enrolling in a course is dissatisfied or is making un
satisfactory progress is interviewed personally by the principal, who
attempts to adjust the difficulty. Talks on senior high school courses
are given groups of ninth-grade pupils before they choose their
senior high school course. The principal studies each pupil’s choice
of a senior high school course in its relation to his school records
and interviews those whose selections seems unwise. All would-be
withdrawals from school are interviewed by the visiting teacher, and
every effort is made to persuade them to continue in school, even if
they are over 16 years of age. Special meetings are arranged for
pupils who have definitely decided to leave school, at which the
principal advises pupils with regard to the future. According to
a study made several years ago in one of the junior high schools,
9 5 per cent of the pupils in the eighth grades go on to the ninth, and
more than 9 7 per cent in that grade continue into the tenth.
COURSES IN VOCATIONAL INFORMATION
Beginning with the second semester of the school year 1923-24, all
ninth-grade pupils are required to take a course in “ community-life
problems” five hours a week (in four senior high schools, 45-minute
periods) throughout the year. The course is given by civics
teachers. Three weeks of it are devoted to a study of occupations,
for which the department of attendance and research has provided
a pamphlet7 containing the following chapters: Why work and
why go to school: The need of training; The ways in which people
earn a living in the United States; Principal occupations in Minne
sota; Principal occupations in Minneapolis; Reasonable and unrea
sonable choices in occupations; The analysis of an occupation: Bib
liography; and an appendix giving statistics of occupations for the
United States, Minnesota, and Minneapolis, and a summary of Min
nesota laws regulating the employment of women and minors. In
connection with the study of occupations groups of students con
ducted by the teacher visit industrial and business firms to observe
at first hand production and working conditions. A list of 50 typi
cal industries in Minneapolis has been prepared by the department
for the use of teachers in planning these visits. The same course
is given at the Girls’ Vocational High School.
For several years vocational talks h'ave been given regularly in
one of the junior high schools by outside speakers representing
various occupations and in another by the vocational instructors of
the school.
7 A Study in Occupations for Classes in Community-Life Problems.
Schools, Minneapolis, 1923-24.
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812
VOCATIONAL. G U ID A N C E A N D J U N I O R P L A C E M E N T
THE SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND CURRICULUM IN RE
LATION TO GUIDANCE
JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS
One of the most important of the far-seeing recommendations result
ing from the Vocational Survey of Minneapolis in 1912 (see p. 295)
was that regarding the reorganization of the schools on the 6-3-8
plan. This program of reorganization, begun in 1917, is gradually
being put into effect. In 1923-24 the city had six junior and two
junior-senior high schools caring for 63 per cent of the children of
the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades. All except one of these schools
were housed in buildings especially planned for high-school use.
The remaining school population in the two last years of the gram
mar school are cared for in departmentalized grades.
The recognition of the junior high school as a vocation'al-guidance
agency is shown not only by the program of vocational counseling
instituted in at least two of them and in the sectioning of classes into
rapid-moving, slow-moving, and average groups on the basis of
mental ability, which have already been described (see p. 309), but
also in the opportunity for vocational try-out experience offered
through the course of study. In the seventh and eighth grades boys
are given try-out work for 1 0 -week periods in printing, electricity,
sheet metal, woodworking, and mechanical drawing, and, in one
school, automobile mechanics. Any of these courses may be elected
in the ninth grade. Typewriting 'also is offered as an elective m the
ninth grade. Girls may elect printing, but it js reported that few do
so. With this exception practical work for girls is confined to cook
ing, sewing, home management, typewriting, and commercial art.
The success of the junior high school &s & means of keeping children in school longer than they would otherwise remain has been
shown in the experience of Minneapolis as in other cities.
Figures compiled recently show that, since the Franklin Junior came into
existence the number of withdrawals at the close of the eighth year have de
creased from 20 per cent to 8 per cent in spite of the fact that a large section
of the better residential district has been transferred to other school districts.
At the present time the enrollment is about as large in the ninth year as in the
Se^ g a in ° there l i f a decided tendency for all pupils who finish the ninth year
tn ; n into the tenth year. Ninety per cent of the pupils finishing the Franklin
d u S A h e year 1919-20 went o i to a higher school; during 1920-21, 97 per
cent went on, and of those finishing during the past term 99 per cent continued
with their schooling.8
VOCATIONAL COURSES
Secondary education preparing for a definite vocation is offered
by each of the five regular high schools only m commercial work.
Other courses in these schools permit specialization in academic
subjects, industrial arts, art, or music. In addition a four-year
high-school course especially planned to train boys to enter
managerial positions in industry is offered in three schools.
Trade education for girls of 14 years and over who have com
pleted the eighth grade is offered by the Girls’ Vocational High
s The League Scrip, January, 1922, p. 6. (Official publication of the Minneapolis
Teachers* League.)
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M IN N E A P O L IS
813
School. Two-year courses have been offered for some years in trade
dressmaking, trade millinery, power-machine operating, salesman
ship (with a salesroom in the school for practice purposes), office
work, commercial cooking, telegraphy, and junior nursing. Three
hours a day are given to trade training and three hours to related
and general subjects. Because of the existence of the Dun woody
Institute, an endowed school offering free of charge to residents
of Minneapolis intensive training in a number of trades, no day
trade courses for boys have been offered by the public schools until
recently. Now, however, because of the large number of applicants
admission is practically limited to boys of 16 years or over who have
completed the eighth grade; and in order primarily to provide train
ing for boys who can not meet these requirements special courses
for boys have recently been offered by the board of education at
the Girls’ Vocational High School. The work offered includes
automobile repairing, electrical work, steam engineering, drafting,
office work, commercial cooking, salesmanship, and telegraphy.
SPECIAL CLASSES
The school system maintains 30 rooms for mental defectives, with
15 pupils in each.9 Two schools have special classes for the highergrade defectives, in which it is possible to give more academic
instruction than in the special rooms. There are seveh sight-saving
classes and classes for the blind and five teachers instructing chil
dren with speech defects, though these children are not segregated
from the regular classes. All these classes are under a supervisor
of special classes. One school has five classes for the deaf under the
supervision of the principal. A school for crippled children is
maintained with an enrollment of approximately 130 pupils, and
also an open-air school for tuberculous children and a school for
tuberculous children at one of the hospitals.
SUMMARY
For about 10 years organized vocational-guidance activities have
been carried on by the public schools of Minneapolis. Such activi
ties are now conducted by the department of attendance and research
of the public-school system, which enforces the compulsory schoolattendance and employment-certificate laws, takes the school census,
collects and tabulates school statistics, administers a mental and edu
cational testing program, conducts a placement division, and supers
vises the work of 18 visiting teachers within the schools.
Although the duties of the visiting teachers in Minneapolis, as
in most cities, are concerned mainly with social readjustments,
they include to a limited extent educational and vocational counsel
ing, chiefly of children of employment-certificate age or those
withdrawing from school. All other counseling within the schools
is dependent upon the interest taken by individual school principals;
assistance in the choice of courses is given in most of the high
schools by advisers from the teaching staff and in the junior high
9 The number in special rooms is six-tenths of 1 per cent of the net enrollm ent (74,919)
o f the Minneapolis day schools in 1922-23.
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VOCATIONAL. G U ID A N C E A N D J U N I O R P L A C E M E N T
schools by the principals. A course in occupational information,
required of all ninth-grade pupils, is planned and supervised by
the department of attendance and research.
A program of psychological testing in the schools is also under
the immediate direction of the department and is carried on by
trained psychologists in the department, assisted by teachers trained
in testing by the department staff. In practically all schools the
results of mental tests, which are administered to all kindergarten,
sixth-grade, eighth-grade, and high-school pupils, and of achieve
ment tests, which are likewise given extensively, are used as factors
in classifying students for teaching and guidance purposes.
Placement is carried on by the department in cooperation with
the Junior Division of the United States Employment Service. All
children 16 years of age and over who are graduating from high
school or are withdrawing from school are registered automatically.
The latter are interviewed personally at their schools by the place
ment counselors. Few children under 16 are permitted to go to
work, and these only because of economic necessity. Children of
certificate age are interviewed by one of the department counselors
in charge of issuing certificates, who makes the necessary family
investigation and maintains a systematic follow-up of all children
working on certificate.
The schools have been in process of reorganization on the junior
high school 'plan since 1917, thereby affording pupils an oppor
tunity for try-out experience in several lines of work. Trade educa
tion in a limited number of occupations is provided for both boys
and girls in a vocational high school open to eighth-grade graduates.
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SEATTLE
HISTORY OF VOCATIONAL-GUIDANCE ACTIVITIES
Vocational-guidance activities in Seattle have been conducted
xrom the beginning under the auspices of public-school authorities
and as a public-school function. The history of these activities
falls into two distinct periods separated by several years. The first
period was primarily one of investigation and experiment, carried
out by a volunteer worker, with gradual incidental development of
informal facilities for the advising of individual boys and girls,
and culminating in the recommendation of a program of organized
vocational-guidance activities. The second witnessed the develop
ment of vocational guidance and junior placement under the direetmn of a central “ vocational department” of the public schools
staffed with a corps of salaried workers. Although a year or two
of inactivity passed between these periods the continuity of the
program was not entirely broken, for the organization of the work
at the beginning of the second period followed in a general way
the organization recommended as a result of the earlier investiga
tion and experimentation.
&
Q!lhf
P.eri?d covers approximately three years, from
m d to 1916. Its beginning is described as follows by the volunteer
investigator who carried on the work:
In September, 1913, at the request of the board of education, I undertook
as a volunteer worker a study of the number, age, and type of pupils who had
dropped out of the public schools without completing the full 12 -year course
and their reason for so doing, the occupation entered by these pupils, and the
degree of success with which they were meeting their vocational responsibilities
Ih e purpose of this study was to ascertain whether the material and method
of our school curriculum were adapted too largely to the school problems of
®r wktther it were also helpful to them in adjusting to life’s problems*
whether by the use of different materials and methods we might be of more
permanent service to the eliminated pupil.1
As a result of the findings of this survey, the board of school
directors m July, 1915, requested the investigator “ to study the ad
visability of vocational guidance in connection with the publicschool system, to recommend plans for the organization of vocational
guidance, and to suggest any changes in the school system which this
new interpretation of education might indicate as desirable. ” 2 The
report of the second inquiry, published in the fall of 1916, was de
voted chiefly to a vocational-guidance program for the public
schools, the principal features of which were as follows:
1.
Supervision by a single department of the enforcement of the school-at
tendance law and the issuance of work perm its; of evening-school instruction;
1 Reed, Anna Y . : Vocational-Guidance Report, 1913-1916, p. 7.
tors, Seattle, Vocational Publication No. 2. November, 1916
* Ibid., p. 5.
Board of school direc-
315
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VOCATIONAli GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
and of all vocational-guidance efforts in the individual schools, including voca
tional-information courses; and of any placement activities undertaken.
2. The development and introduction in the grammar-school curriculum of a
course of vocational information adapted to the needs of pupils 12 to 15 years
Of 8 .2 6 .
•
•
3. Vocational guidance in the high schools through (a) the school lib rarian,
( 6 ) the classroom teacher; (c) participation of students in civic-industrial
CllffiS.
' ,
,
„
4. Placement “ unsolicited but responded to when asked.
5. A S y stem o f v o c a t io n a l c o u n s e lo r s or a s s is t a n t s “ a t t a c h e d
office w h o v i s i t e a c h sc h o o l on a s s ig n m e n t.”
to th e c e n tr a l
. ,
. ,
6. Special examinations for attendance officers and vocational assistants.“
This report is unusual among studies made with a view to recom
mending a vocational-guidance program for a public-school system
in that considerable attention is devoted to a study of the educational
defects, such as errors in grammar, lack of speed and accuracy m
arithmetic, and failure to know the fundamentals of geography, re
ported by employers as hampering the vocational success ox their
young employees, and to suggestions for remedying these detects.
In the course of the surveys information regarding minors occupa
tions was gathered, and a report on newspaper selling and carrying
was published in 1917. This report attempts to point out the voca
tional possibilities as well as the disadvantages of newsboy service.
Considerable experimentation in practical vocational-guidance
methods was also made in the course of these three years of investi
gation. Children and their parents began to call upon the investi
gator for information and advice regarding wage-earning oppor
tunities, and the project, originally one of investigation only, gradu
ally altered to include vocational counseling. The extent of this ad
visory program is indicated by the fact that 2,727 “ office interviews
were reported during the school year 1915-16, 2,210 representing
calls at the office by children or their parents. Many came for what
would be regarded as educational guidance and others for work
permits (most of which during that year were issued from the office
of the investigator), but a number desired placement or advice re
garding occupations. One hundred and twenty-three full-time and
69 vacation and after-school placements were made during the year.
Each applicant for employment coming from the schools was re
to bring with him afilled-in blank fromhis teachers regarding
the extent to which hemet the qualifications, such ascourtesy, prompt
ness, accuracy, which it was found most employers demanded. Appli
cants sent out to apply for positions were required to take this state
ment with them for the information of the prospective employer.
The blanks were said to have been valuable in enabling pupils to
realize that habits formed in school make either for success or for
failure in business life.
„ ,
...
,. ,_
q u ir e d
In the spring of 1914 tho board of education gave the investigate
an office in its own quarters. For the school year 1915-16 the sum
of $1,800 was appropriated by the board of school directors tor the
rent of an office, stenographic service, the printing of reports, and
» R e e d , A n n a Y .: V o c a t io n a l- G u id a n c e R e p o r t , 1913-1916, pp. 21, 24, 34, 68, 70. B o a r d
nf «srhooi directors Seattle Vocational Publication No. 2. Novembei, 1916.
_
* Reed Anna Y ’• Newsboy service; a study in educational and vocational guidance.
Yonkers ’on Hudson' N. Y 1 9 1 7 ? A Questionnaire sent to school children ini June 191 o,
had indicated that’ newspaper selling and carrying and domestic service were the pr n
cipal occupations in which school children were
sfi 106
v Reed, Anna Y .: Vocational-Guidance Report, 1913—1916, pp. oo, lo o .
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
SE A T T L E
317
other expenses essential to the continuation of the survey and the
advisory program that had developed incidentally.
In July, 1916, the board of school directors voted to establish a
“ vocational department,” to be organized according to the plan
recommended by the investigator. (See p. 315.) This program,
however, was delayed for some years, and it was not until the latter
part of 1918 that the present vocational department (known also at
different. times as the department of attendance and vocational
guidance and as the vocational-education department) was estab
lished. This department brought together two existing activities,
the enforcement of school-attendance laws and supervision over
evening schools.6 The scope of these activities has been widened
considerably since the organization of the department, and a number
of other activities, some of which were contemplated in the original
plan for a vocational department, have been developed. Vocational
guidance and placement were definitely organized in 1920, and
supervision of the continuation schools became a function of the
department in 1921, when part-4ime education for employed minors
became operative in Seattle. The department also conducts oppor
tunity classes for retarded or difficult pupils of normal mentality
who are 14 years of age or over and directs a cooperative retail sell
ing course for high-school seniors. (See pp. 327, 329.)
ORGANIZATION AND ACTIVITIES OF THE VOCATIONAL
DEPARTMENT6a
ORGANIZATION
The work of the vocational department, as at present organized,
falls into the following main divisions:
1. Law enforcement.
(a) Enforcement of the compulsory day and part-time
school-attendance laws.
(b) Issuance of work permits.
2 . Investigation and adjustment of cases of delinquency among
school children.
3. Administration of part-time, evening, opportunity, and voca
tional classes.
4. Vocational guidance and placement.
{a) Planning and supervising vocational-guidance activities
in the schools.
(b) Placement.
In the school year 1922-23 the staff of the department consisted
of nine persons—the director, a supervisor of attendance, two at
tendance officers, one home visitor, two “ coordinators,” and two cleri
cal workers. The director of the department has had a number of
years of experience in the Seattle public schools, both as teacher
and as administrator, and previous to his appointment as voca
tional director was vice principal of one of the high schools. Dur• Establishm ent by th is department of voluntary part-time classes for persons “ actually
employed a t a trade or engaged in industrial pursuits ” was also contemplated when the
department w as created, but a compulsory continuation-school law w as passed in the
follow ing February and the voluntary classes were never begun.
“ For the school year 1923-24 un less otherwise indicated.
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
ing the last year he has been appointed assistant superintendent of
schools and is at the present time responsible for the supervision of
high schools as well as for the work of the vocational department.
Responsibility not only for the administration of the attendance
law, in which he is assisted by the attendance officers and the home
visitor, but also for the issuance of work permits is lodged with the
supervisor of attendance, who also represents school interests in
juvenile-court cases involving public-school children. More and
more the attendance staff is assuming responsibility for the inves
tigation and adjustment of cases of delinquency in the schools or
among children of compulsory school attendance age, and the en
tire time of the home visitor, a woman, is given to handling cases
of delinquency among girls. The two attendance officers, both men,
devote about four-fifths of their time to cases arising from truancy
or nonattendance and most of the remainder to delinquency cases
among school boys. The attendance division also checks up the re
turns of the annual school census, which is taken, however, under
the direction of the secretary of the school board. The required
qualifications for supervisor, attendance officers, and home visitor
include at least two years of a college course and experience in
teaching or school administration and social service or probation
work. The salaries of the attendance officers, and home visitor are
$15 a month less than the maximum for high-school teachers.
The attendance law for part-time pupils is enforced by the teach
ers of the part-time school with some assistance from the two co
ordinators of the^vocational department. Only cases in which police
authority is needed to secure compliance with the law are referred
to the attendance officers.
The two coordinators share the responsibility of assisting the di
rector in all the remaining activities of the department. These
(1) Assisting in planning and supervising the work of the parttime schools, the industrial courses in the evening schools, and a
retail selling course for high-school seniors. This work includes the
establishment of contacts with employers of students enrolled in
these schools and investigation of the trade and commercial fields
with a view to modifying the course of study to fit the needs of
business and industry and of individual pupils.
(2) Interviewing all applicants for work permits and passing
on the economic necessity of employment.
(3) Placing minors between 14 and 21 years of age, including
following up workers who are placed.
(4) Conducting teachers on trips to industrial and business
establishments.
The development of a vocational-guidance program has been the
function chiefly of the director, with some assistance from the
coordinators.
",
_.
The qualifications required of persons appointed as coordinators
include graduation from a college or university of recognized stand
ing and experience in teaching and in business or industry. The
present coordinator for trades and industry, who is an electrical
engineer by profession and has also learned the machine and elec
trical trades, has had a number of years of experience both in the
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
SEATTLE
319
engineering field and as a teacher. The coordinator for commercial
subjects, who holds a master’s degree and has been a teacher in the
Seattle schools for a number o f years, has also had practical ex
perience on the sales and advertising staff of one of the leading
department stores o f the city. Coordinators are paid at the same
rate as heads o f high-school departments.
The vocational department, with other administrative offices of
the public-school system, occupies space in a centrally located down
town office building. The offices consist of a central room, which
serves as a waiting room and accommodates the clerical force, a large
counter separating the two sections; and five smaller offices opening
into the waiting room. The director’s office is on the same floor but
is not included in the unit containing the other rooms of the voca
tional department.
THE VOCATIONAL-GUIDANCE PROGRAM
The aim and methods of the vocational department as a vocationalguidance agency have been thus summarized by its director: f
1. P u r p o se s.
( а ) T o e ffe c t a lia is o n b e tw e e n sc h o o l a n d th e w o r k a d a y w o r ld .
( б ) T o c h e ck u p o n t h e sc h o o l p r o d u c t fr o m t h e v o c a t io n a l s ta n d p o in t,
a s th e o b s e r v e r w it h th e a r t ille r y t a k e s a n a d v a n c e p o s itio n w h e r e
h e c a n s e e a n d s ig n a l b a c k w h e th e r t h e a r t ille r y i s h i t t in g t h e
m a rk .
•(c) T o c o r r e la te t h e sc h o o l c u r r ic u la w it h l i f e a n d th e lo c a l c o m m u n ity .
2. M eth o d s.
( a ) T o i n v e s t ig a t e t h e fie ld s o f b u s in e s s a n d in d u s tr y a s a b a s is f o r a ll
o f i t s a c t iv it ie s .
( b ) T o w o r k fr o m t h e o u ts id e in — s h a p in g th e s c h o o l p r o g r a m o f th e
d e p a r tm e n t in r e la tio n to t h e c o n d itio n s o u ts id e .
An organized program for the extension of its vocational-guidance
activities to reach boys and girls before they leave school is one of
the most recent developments of the department. Conferences and
addresses on vocational-guidance topics were conducted in the schools
under the auspices of the department as early as 1919, and two
mimeographed compilations for students, entitled “ Lists of advised
subjects for various vocations, with vocational-information bibli
ography,” and “ Vocational relation of high-school subjects,” were
issued by the department in the fall and winter of 1920. But it was
not until the fall of 1921 that provision for giving vocational infor
mation and counsel was made. Activities within the schools as out
lined by the director of the department include the following:
1. P r e s e n t a t io n o f in f o r m a t io n r e la t iv e to b a s ic v o c a t i o n s :
( a) T o te a c h e r s th r o u g h c o n fe r e n c e s .
( b ) T o p u p ils th r o u g h c o u r s e s a n d sp e a k e r s.
2. P r e s e n t a t io n o f in fo r m a tio n r e la t iv e to lo c a l i n d u s t r ie s to p u p ils a n d t e a c h e r s
th r o u g h t r ip s a n d e x h ib it s .
3 . E n c o u r a g in g a n d h e lp in g p u p ils in u p p e r g r a d e s :
( a) T o s e le c t s u b je c ts o n b a s is o f v o c a t io n a l in t e r e s t s .
( b ) T o t e s t t h e ir i n t e r e s t a n d a p t it u d e fo r a n y v o c a t io n by. t h e ir e x
p e r ie n c e w it h th e s u b je c ts r e la t e d to t h a t v o c a tio n .
SCHOOL COUNSELING
In order to fix responsibility for carrying out the vocationalguidance program in each school on some one person on the school
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V O C ATIO NAL G U ID A N C E A N D J U N I O R P L A C E M E N T
staff, the vocational department requested each elementary and high
school in the fall of 1921 to appoint a teacher to serve as vocationalguidance assistant.” No special qualifications are required of ap
pointees except an interest in the vocational-gmdance program In
the elementary schools an eighth-grade teacher has usually been
appointed. In the high schools the two teachers who are, respec
tively, the boys’ and the girls’ advisers, serve also as vocational-guidance^assistants. In all the high schools the
given a light teaching schedule and have from 40 to 80 per cent o
their time free for advisory work; no other vocational-guidan.e
assistants have as yet any time free for their new duties. Althoug
in developing a guidance program the vocational-gmdance assistants
represent^the director of the vocational department, they can not
initiate activities without the consent of their principals.
Various means are employed to interest and assist teachers and
school principals in the vocational-guidance aspects of ^ c a tio n .
The vocational-guidance assistants are organized y g s-p, , a*
tricts each of which includes 10 or more grade schools. Each district has^its elected officers, who represent the group at conferences
and on a standing coordinating committee representing all t.
schools of the city. At the time of the survey only one of these un
was active. I t was making a study of the high-school experienceof
the eighth-grade graduates in its district m regard to whether or no
definite advice on secondary-school courses was given pupils before
leaving eighth grades by teachers or vocational assistants 5
or not pupils enrolled in the courses so recommended, if they had
not enrolled, what was the reason; and if they had enrolled, whet er
o fn o t theyhad made good. A staff, meeting of all Tocatmnal-guidance assistants is held about four times each semester. A Voca
tional-Guidance News Letter,” a mimeographed bulletin of three to
seven pages is issued by the department every few weeks. I t carries,
detailed information on guidance in the different schools and the
various aSivities inaugurated by the department for the information
and use of teachers and vocational-guidance assistants, such as vocatio n a T ^ d a iT c ^ fe re n o e s in the schools and vocatmnal ta p s for
fPfl.rheS and pupils. I t gives also more general mformation, such
as descriptions of vocational-guidance work in other cities, lists o
books and articles on vocational guidance, local statistics of occupa
tion q and data on vocational opportunities.
About eight visits a year to places of employment are arranged and
c o n i u c t d t Saturda/s by
vocational
guidance assistants and other teachers who may ^ m terated. lhese
visits have been made to the principal manufacturing and com
merciaL establishments in and about the city,
where
mills in the vicinity, and to docks and ships and other places wnere
port S tiv h i^ are carried on. They are planned and personally
conducted by the director in cooperation with the coordinators and
are said to L v e proved very helpful in stimulating the interest of
the school body in the vocational-guidance program.
As an aid in counseling the vocational department, in cooperation
with the vocational-guidance assistants of the several schools, is
working out a permanent record blank to follow students from the
seventtfor eighth grade through the high school. Where this card is
finally to be filed has not yet been determined.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
tëÈAÎTLti
Almost the only guidance activity now common in all elementary
schools is the assistance given eighth-grade pupils in the choice of a
high-school course.
In one high school individual educational and vocational counsel
ing is carried on by the girls’ adviser although she has numerous
other duties. This adviser teaches only two periods a day. Her
guidance activities center about the adjustment of individual courses,
group discussions of educational opportunities, individual inter
views with failures and “ drop outs,” and placement for part-time
work. She conducts a group meeting for entering pupils to discuss
first-year programs, following which she sees individual students
regarding readjustments in their courses. She interviews all girls
doing unsatisfactory school work and seeks to discover and remove
the causes. In some cases this involves arranging for mental tests, in
some, seeking the aid of social agencies. She makes many
placements for part-time work in domestic service in families per
sonally known to her. For other types of part-time work or for
permanent employment she refers pupils to the central placement
office with full instructions when necessary in regard to obtaining
employment certificates. She regularly meets groups of fourth-year
students planning to go to college for discussion of the various col
leges and their entrance requirements.
LECTURES AND COURSES GIVING VOCATIONAL INFORMATION
For high-school pupils a course of 15 addresses on occupations has
been organized by the department for the last two years. The de
partment plans the program and selects the speakers, who are
supplied with mimeographed suggestions requesting them to cover
the following points: Nature of work; qualifications; opportunity—
i. e., whether or not the vocation is crowded; its disadvantages and
rewards, financial and otherwise; how a start may be made; highschool preparation for 'the vocation; preparation—beyond high
school; related occupations—a brief descriptive statement of occu
pations which are related to each vocation, and for which the same
preparation is essential; biographies—the names of 5 or 10 men or
women who have been or are distinguished in a particular vocation
will provide a suggestion for biographical studies; trade literature .7
The first address is given by the director of the department, the suc
ceeding ones by men and women engaged in the various occupations
described. The talks are given from 8 . 1 0 to 8.408 one morning each
week during the second semester. Five of the seven high schools
gave the course in 1921-22, four in 1922-23. Attendance is volun
tary, and the pupils from any class may enroll. From 25 to 75
students in each of the schools enrolled in 1922-23 for the entire
series. The following subjects were covered in both years: The
world’s work, what we want to know and why, teaching, engineering,
lumber industry, agriculture, exporting and importing, medicine,
journalism, merchandising, skilled trades, law, nursing, accountancy,
and social service.
7 Suggestions for the preparation of information relative to vocations.
partment, Seattle public schools. (Mimeographed.)
8 The regular school day begins a t 8.50 a. m.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Vocational de
322
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND JUNIOR PLACEMENT
It is not the plan of the department to make these assembly talks
the sole means of conveying vocational information
@FedFRASER