Early in the Eight-Year Study the member schools and the Commission promised to give a frank account of their experiences when file project came to its end. They said they would tell of mistakes and failures as well as successes, and they agreed to reveal the difficulties and problems they encountered along the way. Anyone who has followed the story of the Study in this volume or delved more deeply into the other four volumes of the Report must be aware of the frankness and sincerity of the hundreds who have been engaged in this attempt to find better ways of serving American youth. Although the schools' experiences have differed in many ways, it is possible to record some that have been fairly common and to draw out of them some lessons which may be helpful to other schools about to undertake the difficult task- of reconstruction.

Before summarizing the experience of the Thirty Schools, let it be said again that they do not pose as model schools. They do not claim to have solved all problems, nor do they think they "know all the answers." They realize that many other schools, not included in this Study, have been engaged in the same task and that. their contributions to the improvement of secondary education probably are just as important as the achievements of the schools which have participated in this project. The members of the Directing Committee and the teachers and administrators in the Thirty Schools have learned from the experiences of these eight years that effective secondary school reconstruction requires through preparation.

This takes time. The schools which plunged into change without taking time to think their problems through often found it necessary to go back to the beginning and start 128 over. This caused confusion and uneasiness which might well have been avoided.

Thorough preparation demands co-operative deliberation. Piecemeal revision by individual teachers or subject departments usually is disappointing. Every teacher's work is significant in its relation to the whole effort of the school. Therefore, any important change in any part of the school's work should be made only as one move in a comprehensive plan. Administrators, teachers, parents, and students should unite in the thinking and planning which should precede any revision of the school's work.

All teachers should participate. When the Eight-Year Study was started, some schools selected a few members of the faculty for the new work; the others, who were not consulted, felt left out. This resulted in division and misunderstanding. In some schools it led to jealousy, bitterness, and sabotage of the new work. This unhappy state of affairs has long since disappeared in almost all of the schools, but it is a danger which can and should be avoided by giving every teacher an opportunity to share fully to advocate or oppose change, to voice his convictions whatever they may be. Complete agreement is desirable and is sometimes reached by means of thorough discussion. However, unanimous decision is not essential. New work may be developed satisfactorily and without facility dissension if every one shares in the deliberations which lead to change.

Parents, too, must share in preparation for high school changes. The schools which did not draw patrons into the planning which preceded revision encountered parental misunderstanding. Unwarranted criticism and opposition were the results. In some instances worthy innovations had to be abandoned because of censure. This could have been avoided if these schools had taken pains to secure parental 129 participation in the thinking which led to change in the curriculum. Moreover, these schools did not have the good counsel that many thoughtful laymen can give. Others of the member schools took parents into their confidence, consulted with them as plans were developed, and gained the strength of their support in new undertakings. Out of these happy and unhappy experiences the Thirty Schools have learned that no school is fully prepared for reconstruction unless the co-operation of parents has been secured.

Adequate preparation involves research. Before any school revises its work the faculty should study the community the school serves and the needs of youth in that community. The results of research elsewhere should be studied carefully for their application to the local situation. The services of specialists and experienced curriculum consultants should be secured if possible. Above all, the faculty should reexamine the democratic tradition, clarify its meaning, and consider its implications for the school in every phase of its work.

No teacher or school is fully ready for constructive change until plans for appraising results are carefully formulated. The school should find out whether changes in curriculum land methods of teaching achieve purposes more effectively. The Thirty Schools emphasize the necessity of taking time to secure all possible evidence of student progress and to study that evidence searchingly for clues to further action. Equally important are adequate means for recording and reporting all significant aspects of pupil development. Evaluating, recording and reporting are inextricably interwoven in the whole fabric of education. Therefore, they cannot be ignored in any sound preparation for educational reconstruction.

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