amended by inserting the following section after section 9, to be numbered section 10, and the numbers of the subsequent sections altered in conformity. "The Board of Examiners of Candidates for Teachers" shall within ten days after their appointment be called together by the person first named on their list, and shall organize by the choice of a chairman, and the Superintendent of Public Schools shall, ex officio, act as secretary of the Board. It shall be the duty of this Board to hold not less than four stated meetings in the course of the year, for the examination of candidates for the various grades of teachers in the Public Schools of the city; each of said examinations to be held at such time and place and for such grade of teachers as they determine, the same to be designated by advertisement in the newspapers which advertise for the city; and after such examination the Board shall give certificates to such, candidates as they may approve; said certificate shall state the grade of teacher for which the person is qualified, and without further examination persons holding such certificates and none others shall be eligible by the whole Board, or by any District Committee for confirmation by the Board, to the grade for which the certificate designates them as qualified. ORDERED; That all such parts of the Rules and Regulations as are inconsistent with the foregoing orders, be and are hereby repealed. Read, laid on the table, and ordered to be printed. Attest: BARNARD CAPEN, Secretary. CITY OF BOSTON. In School Committee, January 12, 1863. ORDERED: That a special committee of five be appointed to consider whether any, and, if any, what, changes might be beneficially introduced in the manner of conducting the Annual Exhibitions of the Grammar Schools, and also the Musical Festival, and to report at the next meeting of this Board. Passed; and Messrs. Gannett, Russell, Drew of Ward IX., Duncan and Kimball of Ward X., were appointed that committee. Attest: BARNARD CAPEN, Secretary. REPORT. In School Committee, March 10, 1864. The Committee who were instructed to consider whether any, and if any, what changes might be beneficially introduced in the manner of conducting the Annual Exhibitions of the Grammar Schools, and also of conducting the Musical Festival, beg leave to Report That certain objections have been urged, as they think, not without justice, against the present method of conducting both the Exhibitions of the Grammar Schools and the Musical Festival. These objections are, 1. The time spent in preparation, for which the regular course of study or instruction is interrupted, and the children lose a part of the benefit which the public schools are meant to afford. 2. The exhibition of children under circumstances which may implant or nourish a love of display, or awaken unpleasant feelings of mortification and jealousy. 3. The expense which is incurred. To which may be added a want of uniformity in the schools, and the encouragement given in some of them to the introduction of performances that cannot properly be taken as a test of improvement in the studies of the year. The first objection your Committee regard as serious, and think it has some foundation in fact. They find, upon inquiry,. that the time spent in preparation for the Annual Exhibition varies in the different schools; in some of them a week, in others a fortnight, and in others much more time being devoted to this purpose. Most of this preparation is, indeed, made out of school hours, and therefore cannot be said to interrupt the usual course of study; but, while it throws great additional labor on the upper class in each school, and on one or more of the teachers, and is likely to affect the interest taken in the daily exercises, it may be doubted whether such employment promotes the end of our system of public instruction, which is to supply the children with the greatest amount of thorough and useful education that can be brought within the period of their school-life. Nothing should be withdrawn from the pursuit of this end for the sake of a temporary advantage; still less, for the sake of winning an admiration, more often bestowed on superficial facility than on solid attainment. It is not quite honest, to offer the special efforts of the most advanced pupils in evidence of the general state of the schools. They should rather be shown under their every-day appearance; and the more judicious among the parents, we cannot but think, would rather see the actual working of our methods of instruction, than witness an exhibition which does not even gather up the average results of the daily toil. We learn that in one of the schools two or three children from each of the lower classes have been selected to take a part in the exercises on the day of Exhibition, a practice which, if introduced into all the schools, we believe would give general satisfaction. The arrangements for the Musical Festival involve a still |