Many factors conditioned each school's participation in the Study. The schools whose patrons are prosperous, well satisfied with life generally, and therefore conservative, had to move cautiously and slowly. Some schools, finding it difficult to realize that the colleges really meant what they said, failed to take full advantage of their freedom. In some cases administrative leadership was inadequate; in others, the teachers were divided in rival and antagonistic groups.

On the other hand, some of the schools were fortunate in having strong, intelligent parent co-operation and support. Most schools had unusually capable educational leadership and teachers who habitually worked together in effective cooperation.

Even more marked were other differences among the schools. Here, for example, is and 30 teachers. It is located a private school of 300 pupils in the country just out of the City- The surroundings are. delightful: fresh air and sunshine, trees, flowers, grass, abundant playing space, adequate equipment, a charming library of many books, a long school day with time for individual consultation, all sorts of student activities, and at least an hour of play every day. in this school the pupils almost all come from homes of high social and economic privilege, and intelligence quotients range from 90 to 160+, with a median of 120. Salaries are adequate to attract and hold superior teachers, and the average teaching load is 5 classes per day of 25 students each. Almost all students go on to college.

In sharp contrast is a city high school of 2500 students and 80 teachers. It is located in all old, dingy, smoky section of the city. There is no play space at the school; all "athletic field" is two miles away, but there are no means of transportation. The building is old, with dark rooms and long, narrow corridors connecting the many additions erected without plan from time to time. The library is unattractive; the classrooms are formal and forbidding. The students come from the lower middle and lowest economic and social groups, with several rather large racial minorities. Intelligence quotients range from 60 to 160+, with a median of 90. Twenty per cent Of the students score below 80. About 10 percent 90 on to college. The usual teaching load is 40 pupils per class, 6 classes per day. The city salary schedule is some- what better than average, and teachers find it possible to live in fairly comfortable circumstances.

The other schools in the Study stand between these extremes. Six are officially connected with universities as demonstration or laboratory schools. In many ways they are well equipped and strategically located for educational experimentation, but their responsibility for teacher education often makes pioneering difficult.

Under these varying circumstances the Thirty Schools set out upon their eight-year journey of exploration and trail blazing. It is obviously impossible to record here all that happened oil the way. The story is told more in detail in the other four volumes of the Commission's Report. Only the high lights call be reported in this tells of the changes in curriculum and methods of teaching. But a school is something more than curriculum and teaching. It is a society in itself, composed of young people and adults living and working together. This school-society has general characteristics and ways of functioning which have great educative force in the lives of its members. This chapter records some of the major developments in the general life and work of the schools.

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