ANNUAL REPORT _T_g THE STATE BOARD 93 EDUCATION 93 THE PROGRESS 93 THE CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL, SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA — JANUARY, 1938 FOREWORD: This is the Fourth Annual report of this type. For the convenience of comparison, the same general index headings are being maintained in this report as were used in the three previous annual summaries. It is sincerely hoped that the members of the State Board of Education, and others to whom this report is made available, will gain from it a picture of the progress and problems of this technical college branch in the state's educational system. I. HISTORY A detailed history of the California Polytechnic School was carried in the first report of this type, made four years ago. For the benefit of new nwmbers of the Board, some of the salient facts are repeated. California Polytechnic School was established in 1901, and classes were started in 1905. At that time, the idea of vocational and technical instruc— tion was a radical departure in education. A few such sehools--many of them private institutions--existed at that time, but probably none west of the Mississippi River. For about 18 or 20 years, the conduct of the school was sound, and its progress about as rapid as might be expected in view of the highly academic nature of all instruction in surrounding schools and colleges. Enrollment at Polytechnic was always small, rarely reaching the ZOO-mark, but this seems to have been largely because the educational philosophy of the institution was in advance of the times. When the federal Smith-Hughes act brought reimbursement to high schools for teaching vocational courses, California Polytechnic might have seized an opportunity to do what the normal schools were doing-—advance the level of instruction to that of at least the lower division of college--while retaining the practical and technical nature of the instruction. Instead, the school remained as an anachronism--a state high school giving vocational instruction