A preliminary inquiry on "The contemporary judgment as to the culture element in education and the time that should be devoted to the combined school and college course." was authorized by the Council of Education of the National Education Association at the Boston meeting, 1903, and a committee was appointed. The brief recommendation of the committee was never acted upon by the council. At the Los Angeles meeting in 1907 the original subject was revived and a resolution was passed authorizing the appointment of a committee to make a preliminary inquiry and report. The entire committee of five proposed by the resolution were not appointed, but the chairman of the council requested James II, Baker, the original mover of the investigation in 1903 and a member of the first committee, to make a preliminary report at the next meeting, 1908, on the need of such an investigation. A questionnaire was sent to a large number of presidents of universities, superintendents of schools, and principals of high schools, professors of education, sociologists, and business men. The report contained a review of the whole field of inquiry; an appendix with questions, summaries, and extracts; and a bibliography prepared by the National Bureau of Education. The full report was published in pamphlet form by the National Education Association for the use of the committee of investigation; the review and a condensed summary were printed in the 1908 Proceedings of the National Education Association. However, thankfully, a new committee was formed, and given full audience to answer the important questions of time in education. This investigation was prompted by the seeming need of a comprehensive view of the whole field of American education. Special problems were discussed in a fragmentary way; without consideration of related questions and without hope of even temporary conclusions. The length of the college course, and the relation of the college to the university proper, was a leading topic. But this involved the question of the length of the whole period of general education, the waste in elementary education, the place of the secondary school, the relation of educational aims to civic needs and the ideals of our civilization, the definition of culture. Herein, lies our committees attempts at answering these, and other, questions. Appended are: A Preliminary report on need of investigation of the culture element and economy of time in education: (1) Introduction; (2) Questions, summaries, extracts; (3) Extracts, condensed and rearranged; and (4) Bibliography. An index is provided. (Contains 7 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]