The purposes of the school cannot be determined apart front the Purposes of the society which maintains the school. The purposes of any society are determined by the life values which the people prize. As a nation we have been striving always for those values which constitute the American way of life. Our people prize individual human personality above everything else. We are convinced that the form of social organization called democracy promotes, better than any other, the development of worth and dignity in men and women. It follows, therefore, that the chief purpose of education in the United States should be to preserve, promote, and refine the way of life in which I've as a people believe.

This, then, is the conclusion which grew out of the continuing search for guiding objectives in the Thirty Schools. This great, central purpose gave direction. What part of the school's curriculum should be retained? That part which promotes the kind of life we seek. What changes in young people are desirable? Those which lead in the direction of democratic living.

But what is the American way? What are the principles of democracy? These are the questions which individual teachers and school faculties sought to answer. They had to answer them clearly in order to know what the school should he and do, for they had become sure that the school should be a demonstration of democracy in action. This search for purpose and meaning was the turning point for many of the participating schools.

The schools affirm that this concept of the chief purpose of education in the United States leaves no room for provincialism or narrow, selfish nationalism. Our unique privilege as a nation is that of working out here, on this rich and pleasant land, the kind of life of which men of vision, good will, and noble character have long dreamed. Our roots go deep into the past. Our present and future are closed, interwoven with the fate of all men and nations. Therefore, if our youth are to know and prize the American way of life, their studies should take them back to its origins and on to the great issues before its in a world in which we cannot live apart.

Because their struggle to achieve clear purpose has proved to be of inestimable value to them, the Thirty Schools urge every school to search the democratic ideal for principles to guide thought and action in any attempted revision of administration, curriculum, or ways of teaching. That ideal, they say, sets up the guide-posts which point the sure way to reconstruction of every phase of American secondary education.

The school which has prepared itself thoroughly and established its central purpose is now ready to proceed confidently with the arduous task of reconstruction. The Thirty Schools have learned that effective democratic leadership is essential. The principal is the one who would be expected to lead. That school is fortunate whose principal has the capacity and skill to be the educational leader. Some principals cannot carry this responsibility. They are excellent executives rather than leaders of thought. Usually such principals recognize their limitations and turn to others for the kind of strength they do not possess. That is often found in some member of the facility. By close co-operation the principal and facility leader are able to unite the school in thought and action.

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