Term Reports and Registers
Teacher Term Reports, Enrollment Cards and Regular Term Reports
The ordinary Teacher Term Reports and Virginia Teacher’s Term Reports are essential guides to understanding how to compare and who instructed whom at the schools like Conklin Colored and McGraw’s Ridge (White) They are not complete, but other than the Registers, they are the best source for this kind of information. We also know from the Enrollment Cards, another valuable resource) held by LCPS when schools were closed . The enrollment cards were usually handwritten (typed in some cases) annual histories of the schools, listing when a school opened and sometimes when it was sold. Note: Some sales information can also be found in the archives of the Circuit Court.
Enrollment vs. Attendance
One interesting exercise is to look at how many days a child was enrolled, vs. attended. Some, like Hazel Page in Conklin in 1928/29, missed entire academic years and often the enrollment was for fewer days than the full extent of the number of teaching days. Children were often in attendance for fewer days than enrolled. On the other hand, as happened in Conklin in 1928/29, a number of children, for example, Walter Harris, enrolled for fewer days than the full year, yet actually attended for the full schedule. Even the instructor didn’t do that. That year, Christine Allen missed four days of teaching, which begs the question, who substituted for her? We don’t know. As of the 1938/39 academic term, there was no accounting in the Term Reports for days instructed or attended and enrolled.
The practice of listing numbers of days enrolled and present stopped in the 1938/39 academic year, but in 1941/42, the Term Reports began again to list number of days present, but not how many enrolled or the number of days the school was open. To discern how many days a school was open, one has to go to the handwritten Enrollment Cards. Term Reports also indicated how many years of prior schooling a child had and whether the child was supplied with the required text, known in local terms as the legal text. No mention is made of distance to school or topics covered, but physician inspections are noted. The specific results of tests are redacted from public view by the Edwin Washington Project for privacy reasons, but it does appear that the children in 1941/42 were measured at the minimum acceptable standard for health. Only Charles Dean had his teeth checked. James Jackson was vaccinated and received a Diphtheria immunization
Hours of Instruction
Hours of Instruction are listed in the Contracts when those are available and sometimes in newspapers as well. The Term Reports, however, provide the best window into the number of hours of instruction per day and when those hours occurred. In 1936/37, instruction took 874.5 hours spread across 159 days, or an average of 5.5 hours a days
After the 1937/38 academic year, there wasn’t any mention of topics instructed, reports on medical examinations and data on number of prior years of education and whether the child was transported by the public were included. Prior to the 1937/38 AY, reports included information on courses taken, e.g. history, spelling, writing, geography, the arts, etc. We also learn something of the overall achievements of students, meaning how many boys and girls advanced a grade or were dropped. Personal achievement scores are not provided for reasons of privacy, but the larger figures can be helpful when trying to understand the effectiveness of education. For example, in 1936/37, nine children (4 boys and 5 girls) stayed in their grades and 2 girls dropped out of school but we don’t know which children, nor do we need to know that. However, if readers want to research their ancestors for more information, they can write directly to the LCPS records office.
State Course of Instruction:
The Term Reports also note whether or not the State course of study was followed; there are cases where it was not. While they didn’t mention the actual texts, we at least know the topics covered. Be careful to compare the name of teachers in the reports with the Lists of Teachers and Attendance 1892-1975 held in Richmond. They don’t always agree.
Indications of Prior Schooling
Some Term Reports indicated how many years of schooling the child had prior to the term, but there were errors. As an example, Beatrice Harris’s 1939/40 Term Report showed she had received five years of prior education, but in actuality, she received six prior years of instruction at Conklin, starting in 1933. The same Term Report showed Maurice Dean had three years of prior schooling, but Roeder found none prior at Conklin. That’s significant, as it might mean Maurice studied elsewhere. If he did study in a different “colored school,” then perhaps he lived elsewhere in Loudoun or a different county. In the case of Audrey Jett, the Term Report for 1939/40 showed she had three years of prior school, yet the Term Report of 1938/39,no prior schools were listed. Clearly there were errors.
Performance and Class Grade Notations
Actual performance grades are redacted in studies we produce; but the grades are in the archives for relatives. There is some confusion as to the class grade notations, meaning whether or not someone is in the first grade, third, etc. In the 1939/40 Term Report for Conklin, Charles Dean is in the P/1 Grade and Maurice Dean in the 3/5 grade. Does that mean Charles was straddling Pre School and 1st and Maurice was in the 3rd grade of out a possible 5? What about Bernice Ashton in 5/6. We assume Herbert Harris is in 7th grade when we see 7/0. Donna Kroiz in the records office of the Loudoun County Public School system had a slightly different theory. “I always thought 3/5 meant that the student was in 3rd grade but working at a 5th grade level. If you look at Maurice, he’s only been in school for 3 years previous….and Mary Dean at 3/4 might mean she’s was in the 3rd grade but working at a 4th grade level. The notations of 1/0 or 5/0 or 7/0 might be the special education students; those that had been there 1, 5, or 7 years but still hadn’t learned anything? It would follow that the P/1 (with 0 years previous) might mean the student was in pre-school or kindergarten but working at a 1st grade level. These are just my guesses —I have nothing to back up my theory
Distance from Home to School
Early reports noted distances from home to school, but as of 1938, reports no longer included this information. This information is helpful in determining if someone moved and can hint at familial relationships. In the case of Wesley Harris for instance, the reports covering academic years 1921 through 1924 indicate he lived ¼ mile from Conklin. When Harris returned to school for the 1926/27 academic year, the term report indicated he lived ½ mile from the school. Another example is Theodore Dean, who in 1926/27 lived ¼ mile from Conklin
Public Transport
(See Chapter on transportation) The 1943/44 term was the first to note if public transportation was provided (it wasn’t for African-Americans at Conklin that year) or when the school was closed, as Conklin was in in 1944-46. We don’t have any records for 1947/48; but in the 1948/49 academic year, all 29 African-American students at that school were provided public transport. Similarly, all forty students at Conklin were provided transport in 1949/50, with the exception of James Williams. In the 1950/51 through 1952-53 academic years, all students at Conklin received public transport. The 1952/53 academic year was the last year of academic work, as the school was then closed.