UNITED STATES Educational associations of teachers for mutual improvement and for the advancement of the profession were formed very soon after education became an established policy of the United States and a system of training instituted through the interest and vision of such leaders as Horace Mann and Henry Barnard.
The United States has no Federal system of education but does have a distinct American system. It has no governmental author ity requiring standard courses of study, teacher training, manage ment, methods or finance as in those countries where education is directed by the central Government. The American system, however, has grown up through the zeal and courage of teachers who have formed local educational associations and overstepped State boundaries to join with their co-workers in conference and in educational investigation. These associations have become clearing houses for educational procedure. Teachers have dis cussed methods, determined failures and successes, and cata logued educational experiences and results. They have listene.. to addresses from leaders of the profession and have formed investi gating committees until educational methods and standards, mate rials, processes and attitudes have become greatly unified through out the States and Territories of the Union.
Educational organizations in the United States are local, state, and national in scope. They may also be classified as general and special, according to their aims and purposes. There is scarcely one of the 3,072 counties of the United States which has not its organization and every city has from one to several. Each State and Territory is organized.
Local associations function in the solution of problems which concern their members in their local relationship. Their pro grammes vary widely—the nature and scope being determined by the size of the group, the extent of its territory, and the energy and initiative of its members and leaders. No single programme can be cited as typical. Professional improvement, teacher wel fare, social betterment, and community service are common objec tives to which the various types of local associations have found different avenues of approach. Most local associations are affili ated with the state associations and 588 were affiliated with the National Education Association in 1937.
The activities of State associations include : conventions; pub lications (every State with the exception of Maine and Maryland has an official organ) ; legislation ; research ; field service ; public relations; teacher welfare ; membership promotion; co-operation with the national organization. Every State association and Alas ka, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, and Porto Rico are affiliated with the National Education Association. In this connection the States co-operate in national projects, lend counsel on national policies, assist in the enlistment of members in the national, and send official delegates to the conventions of the national.
The most outstanding and influential educational organization in the United States is the National Education Association, organ ized at Philadelphia, Pa., in 1857, under the title, The National Teachers' Association. It has held annual meetings since that time. The name was changed in 18; o to the National Educational Association and in 1907, by act of the U. S. Congress, the new charter was adopted designating the organization as the National Education Association of the United States. Its general purposes may be considered the objectives of all educational associations in America. "The purpose and object of the incorporation shall be to elevate the character, to advance the interests of the profession of teaching and to promote the cause of education in the United States." It includes the National Council of Education and the following departments : Administrative Women ; Adult Education; Art Education; Business Education; Classroom Teachers; Deans of Women; Educational Research; Elementary School Principals ; Kindergarten-Primary Education ; Lip Reading ; Music Education; Rural Education; School Health and Physical Education ; Science Instruction ; Secondary Education ; Secondary School Principals; Social Studies; Special Education; Superin tendence ; Supervisors and Directors of Instruction ; Supervisors and Teachers of Home Economics ; Teachers Colleges ; Visual In struction; Vocational Education. Other departments may be cre ated by organization or consolidation, and departments already established may be discontinued.
Membership in the National organization is voluntary. Due to increased membership, the Delegate Assembly was created in 1921. Educational organizations—state and local—may have representation according to membership in the national body. These representatives participate in the business sessions and in establishing the general policy. Under this reorganization, the association undertook to carry its influence and its support to every teacher in the United States. The membership has been extended from 8,557 in 1918 to over 200,000 in 1937. There were in 1937, life members.
The National Education Association is concerned with promot ing teacher welfare, through the establishment of retirement sys tems for teachers, the assurance of tenure of position, and in creased salaries. It stimulates beneficial legislation, research, and the general advancement of learning and culture. It has spon sored many of the most forward movements in education. Through its publications advances in educational procedure are given wide distribution. Under its direction, the first World Con ference on Education was called in San Francisco in 1923, which resulted in the organization of the World Federation of Education Associations which now numbers in its enrolment about I,000,000 of the 5,000,000 teachers of the world.
These associations stand as sponsors for the American public school as the foundation of American democracy. They believe in giving every child an opportunity to secure all the education he is capable of receiving and in making universal education a basic principle of the free institutions of the United States.
In addition to the organizations mentioned, there are many other national organizations representing chiefly special in terests. Among the general organizations are the American Council on Education, Progressive Education Association, and the American Federation of Teachers. The latter is affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. Other groups include the Association of American Colleges, the National Council of Teachers of English, the National Catholic Welfare Conference, and•many others. (O. C. P.)