CERTIFICATION      OF       TEACHERS.  —

United  States.  —  The  various  systems  for
the  certification  of  teachers  in  use  in  the
different  states,  while  varying  much  in  nature
and  scope,  are  nevertheless  reducible  to  a
few  types.  The  town  system  of  certification
of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  forms  the
first  and  the  lowest  type;  the  county  system
of  certification,  as  found  in  Illinois  or  North
Carolina,  forms  the  second  and  a  higher  type;
and  the  state  system,  as  found  in  Arizona  or
Alabama,  forms  the  third  and  the  most  unified
type.  Independent  certification  by  cities  forms
a  fourth  type.  In  certain  states,  as  Indiana
and  Connecticut,  the  state  and  local  systems
exist  side  by  side,  the  two  overlapping,  and
may  be  said  to  constitute  a  fifth  type.
Under  the  town  system  of  certification  the
certificating  and  employing  functions  are  com-
bined in  the  same  body  of  laymen,  who  are  re-
quired by  law  to  satisfy  themselves  as  to  the
moral  character  of  the  applicant  and  as  to  his
or  her  ability  to  teach  the  common  school  sub-
jects. When  this  has  been  done,  by  oral  or
by  written  examination,  a  certificate  is  granted
to  the  applicant,  authorizing  him  or  her  to
teach  in  the  public  schools  of  the  town,  so  long
as  desired.  This  form  is  a  survival  of  the
old  colonial  system  of  personal  examination,
and  doubtless  will  be  supplanted  by  a  better
system  before  long.  The  cities  have  abandoned
it,  and  Connecticut  has  instituted  a  state  cer-
tification system  designed  ultimately  to  sup-
plant the  local  systems.
