The data gathered from the handbooks and yearbooks of Joliet High School indicate dramatically the changing character of extraclass activities-changing because of pupils' interests and needs, because of teachers' particular capabilities and sympathies, because of environmental and community circumstances. But, through all the changes, there is evidence of a high-school policy which adapts the pupil activity program to the pupils. With pupil activities exhibiting such mobility, high schools have geared themselves to expect such change as characteristic of the extraclass program.

The Coordinator of Extraclass Activities

The report on the Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education (1918) recommended that the high-school principal appoint as one of his council a director of preparation for leisure who "should see that the pupils are developing interests that will assist them in later life to use their leisure

wisely." This person corresponds to what is now known as the coordinator or director of extraclass activities.

If the high school is to implement the objective of worthy use of leisure time, professional leadership and coordination are needed. In large high schools, it is almost a necessity for the principal to appoint a member of the faculty as coordinator of extraclass activity, with the coordinator given released time from teaching for his duties. In the smaller high school the principal may be unable to give a staff member released time; the principal himself may serve as coordinator, or if he delegates his responsibility, the coordinator may perform his job in addition to a full teaching assignment. In both large and small high schools the coordination of activities, if delegated, should be delegated to some member of the teaching, administrative, or supervisory staff who is particularly suited by training and personality for the assignment.

The Principal's Role

The high-school principal is usually a busy person. His challenge is a large one. Whatever progress is achieved in secondary schools, or for that matter in almost any type of organization, depends largely on the vision, competence, persistence, and strategy of the principal person or leader.

In the large high school, if the principal undertakes to provide personally for the coordination of extraclass activities, he may find that this responsibility conflicts with other professional and community demands on his time, with the result that the activities program may suffer. He may desire to give it adequate time and attention, only to find that other pressures force him to postpone active leadership of the pupil activities unless they create controversial situations requiring his immediate attention. Someone has remarked that the road of the administrator who has not learned to delegate some of his responsibilities is paved with good intentions.

As head of the high school, the principal is responsible for the general supervision of extraclass activities. By delegating the detailed supervision of such activities to a qualified staff member, he will retain his over-all responsibility and at the same time make provision for realistic coordination of extraclass activities with the whole school program, the faculty, and the pupils.

In the Reavis and Van Dyke report on Nonathletic Extracurriculum Activities (1932), selected public high schools supplied information as to the school officer responsible for the regulation of nonathletic activities. The person or persons responsible were indicated as follows:

Thus the principal was wholly or partly the responsible person in 54.9 percent of the total schools reporting, the sponsor in 52.6 percent, and the director in 16.9 percent. It is evident that few high schools at that time had a coordinator of activities aside from the high-school principal who was responsible for the regulation of nonathletic extracurricular activities.

Undoubtedly, practice has changed since the date of this report. An increasing number of public high schools are now known to have a specified staff member serving as director or coordinator of activities. But the number of such schools is still believed to be a minority of all high schools. It is common practice to find the high-school principal and sponsor of the particular activity still responsible for the coordination of all pupil

activities.

The Activity Period

The term "activity period" is understood generally by teachers and principals. It is a regular period within the daily time schedule devoted to pupil activities. Of course, there are many variations of practice in regard to activity periods; some high schools schedule them every day, while other schools arrange for them at less frequent intervals, such as three times a week. For example, at one high school the activity period is from 8:40 to 9:30 a.m. daily and follows this schedule:

Although no reliable data to indicate the current use of the activity period

5Appalachian High School, Boone, N. C. For a description of the "sliding" activity period at San Jose (Calif.) High School, see Spears, Harold. The High School for Today. New York City, American Book Co., 1950. For a discussion of administrative aspects of the activity period, see Mississippi School Bulletin No. 129, September 1949. State Department of Education, Jackson, Miss. p. 6-42.

are available, expert opinion suggests that from 35 to 45 percent of public high schools schedule some kind of activity period at more or less regular intervals within the school day.

The scheduling of extraclass activities in an activity period within the regular school day has been used by some high schools for more than 20 years. Reports received in 1930 from 224 high schools revealed that 32.1 percent of the schools scheduled pupil activities as part of the morning or afternoon session, with 14.7 percent favoring the morning and 17.4 percent favoring the afternoon session. These reports further indicate that separate 3-year junior and 6-year junior-senior high schools employed the activity period more frequently than high schools of other types of organization, and that schools in the Southern, Middle Western, and Western States favored such practice more than the schools in the other geographical sections.

In general, consolidated and rural high schools early used the activity period because of pupil transportation to and from school. When these schools drew pupils from considerable distances, transportation schedules had to be observed, with the result that boys and girls attending the secondary school could not take part in before- or after-school activities. Consequently, many schools designated a period within the daily time schedule for pupil activities. In practice, this became known as the Activity Period, and represented the means for the majority of pupils to participate in extraclass activities if they cared to do so.

The use of the activity period in consolidated and rural high schools met with what might be called a qualitative success, for it offered a feasible alternative to having little or no extraclass activity program. Highschool principals whose pupils were not restricted by school-bus or transportation schedules carefully examined the experience of the schools who were employing the activity period, and the educational literature of the late 1920's shows that a few urban high schools adopted the activityperiod organization. It was the experience of these schools that the activity period offered great possibilities for the widespread development of extraclass activities, although in many instances such organization failed because faculty and pupils were not ready for such a step.

From 1930 to 1945 there was modest acceptance of the activity period by large high schools here and there. But since the war, with the increasing emphasis on the need for improved civic and ethical attitudes for all high-school youth, and with the growing acceptance of cooperative faculty attention to the crucial problems of secondary education, highschool leadership has looked upon the activity period as a means for helping to meet the social needs of all its youth. As often happens in our

6cf. Larson, Carol M. School Size as a Factor in the Adjustment of High School Seniors. Pullman, the State College of Washington, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Bulletin No. 511, Youth Series No. 6, 1949, p. 9-13. (Extraclass activities in relation to size of school.)

society, the first reason for a particular procedure suggests a whole chain of reasons, some of which may be more important than the original reason.. The activity period, adopted at first because of inflexible transportation schedules, is now accepted by an increasing number of high schools of all sizes as a means for developing desirable civic and social activities for all pupils. Furthermore, the activity period has been found to be effective in applying the total resources of school personnel and equipment to the extraclass activities program.

Exponents of the new emphasis on the activity period point out that it offers a professional advantage to all high schools, because

1. All pupils have the opportunity to participate in the activity of their choice.

2. All teachers can contribute to the effectiveness of pupil activities through sponsorship, guidance of homeroom pupils, faculty discussions, etc.

3. The school can foster improved attitudes by teachers and pupils' toward the importance of activities, for time and emphasis are given to those things that are important. An activity period, places extraclass activities on a more nearly equal footing with regular classes.

4. Administration, faculty, and pupils jointly accept responsibility' for developing an effective program of extraclass activities. 'A faculty member not sponsoring an activity group is given an alternate assignment, such as study hall, special supervision, so, that the success of the program depends on all the faculty, rather than on voluntary participation by teachers.

Practice in 42 Large High Schools

In 1949 the author wrote to the director of secondary education in each of the 48 States, and to a number of professors of secondary education in universities and colleges, requesting them to furnish the name of a highschool which, in their opinion, had an outstanding program of extraclass activities. A total of 72 such high schools were nominated; to these the author wrote regarding the characteristics of their programs. As a result, 42 schools replied, and some 20 schools were visited.'

The data reported by these schools indicate that 70 percent of the 42 schools now use the activity period. As most of these schools are large secondary schools which do not face the problems of bus schedules, the inference is that a majority employ the activity period because they are'

These 42 high schools, representing 22 States, are included among the list of schools: on the inside back cover.