its best. Indeed, I do not know of any other state in which the work has
been thus definitely organized. Of these, Michigan had, a year ago,
forty-one, and Wisconsin, twenty. Possibly in this connection one ought
to mention the good work being done in high schools in several states,
but seen at its best in Nebraska and New York. Yet this work is but an
adjunct to the high school, and does not so clearly approach a separate
institution.

Of these three types it is the second which is the subject of the
present discussion--whose function I seek. It is really immaterial
whether we use, in the discussion, the appellation of Minnesota and say
"College of Education," or that of Harvard and call it "Division of
Education," or that of Columbia, Missouri, and North Dakota, and say
"Teachers College." For they are all one and the same institution with
but slightly different systems of organization. I use the latter term
because more familiar and more likely, I think, as time passes, to
prevail.

But these three types are so closely connected that the function of one
cannot be clearly seen alone. Therefore I propose very briefly to
examine the establishment of each so as to learn why it was called into
existence--what function it was originally expected to perform. I shall
then briefly examine present conditions, trying to discover if any
changes have taken place in the general educational situation of
sufficient moment to make necessary a rearrangement or readjustment.
Finally, I shall draw my conclusions as to present functions, and with a
more careful analysis of certain factors state the reasons for those
conclusions as briefly as possible.

First, as to state normal schools: it is, of course, entirely
unnecessary to go into details as to organization or early work of this
institution in our country. I am stating what is known to all when I say
that Horace Mann in Massachusetts, Henry Barnard in Connecticut, David
Page in New York, and William Phelps in New Jersey had one and only one
thought in view in working for the establishment of normal schools and
for the development of their work. They, one and all, were seeking some
means for providing better teachers for the common schools. No one, so
far as I am able to discover, at this time even suggested that any other
teachers needed a special preparation for their work. To be sure, the
American high school was hardly under way when the normal school
movement was inaugurate