The formulation of effective compulsory attendance laws has been one of the problems confronting legislators and school officials for the past 70 years. The most marked advance in enacting such laws has been made since 1890. Prior to that date only 27 States and the District of Columbia had compulsory laws, and many of these were inoperative. Now 43 States have them. How effectively the laws of the several States are enforced it is not possible to determine, as statistics of enforcement are lacking in most of the States and in many of the city reports, but that many essential factors are wanting in some of the laws will be evident when a careful study is made of the tabular digest presented in this bulletin. In this bulletin the writer has attempted to call to the attention of the reader a few of the arguments for such laws and some of the factors necessary in their enforcement. The reports of city and State superintendents and articles prepared by practical school men are quoted freely. To introduce the subject, and to help the reader recall the early history of compulsory education in this country, a brief historical sketch of the early Massachusetts laws is presented. Contents include: (1) Compulsory attendance laws in the United States (W. S. Deffenbaugh); (2) Compulsory attendance in foreign countries (Anna Tolman Smith); (3) Compulsory education in Germany (W. Carson Ryan, Jr.); (4) The need of compulsory education in the South (William H. Hand); (5) Laws of Ohio and of Massachusetts relating to compulsory education and child labor; and (6) Bibliography of compulsory education in the United States. An index is included. Individual sections contain footnotes. [Best copy available has been provided.]