work than the native teacher. One good thing is that they stay in the
same school much longer than the latter.

In general the writer is inclined to the opinion that, given equivalent
abilities and training, the teacher with the command of the foreign
language can do better work in an immigrant community than a native-born
teacher who speaks only English. Such a teacher must be thoroughly
imbued with the American spirit and traditions. She will have a better
chance of imparting these to her pupils and their parents if she has
also a knowledge of, and sympathy for, the nationalistic backgrounds and
inclinations of the people in her community. This is a rare combination
to find in a rural school-teacher, but it typifies the characteristics
needed to succeed in amalgamating the colonists, both young and old,
into a common life and purpose.

IRREGULAR SCHOOL ATTENDANCE

It is a fact that school attendance is much poorer in the agricultural
sections than in the industrial centers. It is believed that on an
average about 20 per cent of the rural children of school age do not
attend school at all. The attendance of the children of immigrant
settlers is less than that of the children of native farmers. The
immigrants are more used to child labor in the old countries. They are
hard pressed financially, often paying off mortgages and developing new
land. The land and colonization companies are sometimes known to
encourage rather than discourage the use of child labor by the settlers
in their newly created colonies.

The states vary in the length of school term provided for children, ranging
from about five months to over nine months. In only three fifths of the
states, however, are children compelled by law to attend the full school
year.[44] In only rare cases are the compulsory attendance laws completely
inforced, so that the average amount of schooling the child gets is less
than that prescribed by law, and in a number of states less than the amount
of schooling available. This is especially true in rural districts.

The situation in some of the states where land settlement is being
carried on is indicated by the data given below. Although urban and
rural figures are not distinguishable, those given are for predominantly
rural territory. Wherever city populations are included it is a safe
assumption that the attendance showing is better than in the country
districts alone. In Arizona, where conditions are almost entirel