STATE INSTITUTES FOR 1909. RIPLEY STATE INSTITUTE, I consider the work done in the institute of a very high order. The work of the proficient and faithful instructors was appreciated by all. Faithful and successful work was done by all in attendance. FACULTY AND DIVISION OF WORK. S. W. Sherrill, Conductor; Grammar, Algebra, Civics, Pedagogy and Method of Recitation. C. P. Jesten, Arithmetic, Geometry, Geology, Physiology and Agriculture. H. E. Watters, Physics, Rhetoric, Literature, Geology of Tennessee, U. S. History and Geography Influences. Miss Mabel Lee Cooper, Primary Methods. Institute opened June 7, 1909. Institute closed July 2, 1919. Number of days devoted to written examinations of teachers, part of five. MILAN STATE INSTITUTE. As conductor of the State Institute at Milan I desire to make the following report: The town of Milan is well located and in every way an excellent place for holding a State Institute. The buildings and accommodations are commodious and comfortable. The arrangements for examinations were especially good. The people of the town and especially the committees on arrangements were attentive and careful, and did all in their power to make the institute a success. Prof. H. H. Ellis, superintendent of the Milan Public School, is one of the best hosts in Tennessee. Every member of the faculty and the institute as well, will long remember his kindness and helpfulness. I have not known an institute better cared for. The institute was largely attended, our enrollment being 340. The personnel of the institute was hardly up to the standard, as the records below will show; many of the members were too young to teach, and were not well prepared for the examination. Too many of the schools of Tennessee have been taught by boys and girls, who are not fitted for the work either by age or qualifications. Two-thirds or three-fourths of the members of Tennessee State Institutes come from these small schools, taught by young and imcompetent teachers, who are not qualified themselves and hence cannot prepare others for the work. This, in a large measure, accounts for the number of failures. It is therefore well that the great State of Tennessee has decided to have its own Normal Schools, where its teachers may be better trained. The examinations prepared and furnished by the State Department of Public Instruction were eminently fair and sound in every particular. The papers handed in were graded with the greatest care and labor I've seen put on examination papers. Every answer on every paper was carefully noted and graded. The grades were as liberal as could be asked, and yet, notwithstanding this fairness and this liberality, practically only ten per cent of the primaries and twenty-five per cent of the seconda |