L C /V3 UC-NRLF *B 301 S3M iKE VISITING TEACHER IN THE UNITED STATES A SURVEY BY THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF VISITING TEACHERS AND HOME AND SCHOOL VISITORS Published by the PUSUC EDUCATION ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK 8 West 40th Street. New York City JUNE 1921 THE VISITING TEACHER IN THE UNITED STATES A SURVEY BY THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF VISITING TEACHERS AND HOME AND SCHOOL VISITORS Published by the ucation Association of the City of New York 8 West 40th Street, New York City JUNE 1921 "•" — .-.-•:•. .. vi 5 CONTENTS Introduction 5 Foreword 7 I. How Visiting Teacher Work Originated and Developed 9 II. The Place of the Visiting Teacher in the School System. 13 III. How the Visiting Teacher Goes About Her Work 17 IV. Why Children Are Referred to the Visiting Teacher 23 V. How the Visiting Teacher Analyzes and Solves Her Problems 2.7 1. Maladjustments in Scholarship 28 2. Adverse Home Conditions 34 3. Behavior Problems and Prevention of Delinquency. 39 4. Leaving School Prematurely 45 5. Problems of the Foreign Born 47 6. Summary of the General Measures Found to be Effective So VI. What Qualifications Are Essential for Visiting Teacher Work 54 VII. What are the Fundamental Characteristics and the Prospects of the Work 59 ? 45230C INTRODUCTION THIS REPORT ON VISITING TEACHERS in the United States by the National Association of Visiting Teachers and Home and School Visitors should be of great interest to educators and laymen everywhere who are seeking to enable the schools to meet the needs of individual children. i , The Public Education Association takes peculiar pleasure in publishing this report because it has for years maintained a staff of several visiting teachers, who have co-operated with the principals and teachers in the New York City public schools in solving such problems. The report is a splendid sequel to 'The Visiting Teacher in New York City" by Harriet M. Johnson, formerly of the Association's staff, published by the Association in 1916. It not only furnishes a vivid picture of what visiting teachers everywhere are doing but gives the un- mistakable impression that the work is no longer an unproven experiment but an integral part of a progressive program of public education. As the first report of the National Associa- tion, it is to be highly commended and regarded as an initial publication that gives promise of future valuable contributions to the literature of this important subject. Aside from the clarity with which the technique of the work is analyzed and described, there is one aspect of the re- port which is of especial interest to the Public Education Asso- ciation. We note that usually this work has been initiated and fostered by the co-operative efforts of public spirited citi- zens and school officials. It is thus but another of many in- stances that might be cited from the history of public education in this country to illustrate how organized citizen effort can further child welfare in co-operation with the schools. A study of the' development "of the public school system shows that at every step progress has been made either partly through the assistance of public spirited citizens or almost entirely through the pressure of public opinion from without. The early stages of the visiting teacher experiment in New York City would have been impossible without the generous moral and financial support rendered the Public Education Associa- tion by its Visiting Teacher Committee and by the contribu- tors to its visiting teacher fund. That similar assistance by public spirited citizens elsewhere has made possible the growth and development of visiting teacher work throughout the coun- try is a splendid testimony to the interest of the people in their public school system and inspires confidence in organizations which, like ours, devote their disinterested efforts exclusively to furthering the cause of public education. From every point of view, therefore, we congratulate the National Association of Visiting Teachers and Home and School Visitors upon this report, and we look forward with interest to their future publications. Howard W. Nudd, Director, Public Education Association of the City of New York. June, 1921. FOREWORD THE FOLLOWING REPORT on the work of the visit- ing teachers of the United States was undertaken by the National Association of Visiting Teachers and Home and School Visitors with a double purpose in view. The re- port aimed to furnish information : i. To those who are organizing the work in new localities. 2. To visiting teachers who desire to become acquainted with the work of other visiting teachers. In order to. obtain the information needed for the report, the names of visiting teachers not already known to the Na- tional Association were secured from State and City Super- intendents of Schools and others, and a questionnaire was addressed to each one. Even with these precautions the com- mittee has learned since that several visiting teachers were not reached. About 80 questionnaires were sent out, and 60 an- swers were received. The questionnaire covered the following general subjects: 1. Organization, place in the school system, supervision, assignment, etc. 2. Methods of work, — causes for referring cases, facili- ties for adjustment within and without the school, methods found desirable, etc. 3. Reports and illustrations of the work. Printed articles on the visiting teacher. Percentage enumeration of the nationalities visited. 4. Training and preparation of visiting teachers. 5. Visiting teachers' personal estimate of their function, their special interests, and the development of the work; suggestions. Additional information was also secured through cor- respondence. The Committee wishes to acknowledge its indebtedness to the Public Education Association of the City of New York for their critical reading of this report and for their generosity in publishing it. SURVEY COMMITTEE, National Association of Visiting Teachers and Home and School Visitors, Jessie L. Louderback, N. Y., Chairman. Suzanne Fisher, Chicago. Elisabeth B. Ely, Boston. Jane F. Culbert, N. Y., Ex -Officio. I How Visiting Teacher Work Originated and Developed THE WORK OF THE VISITING TEACHER had a triple origin. In the school year 1906- 1907 New York, Boston and Hartford, Connecticut, developed simulta- neously but independently, a similar type of work to meet a common need. For a long time, thoughtful educators had realized that even with the extension of the work of the at- tendance officer, the school nurse and the special classes there were still children, neither truants, delinquents nor those phys- ically handicapped, for whom the school was not functioning effectively. Even in a school system representing the most ad- vanced educational thought there was still the child who failed to make the prescribed progress or who failed to measure up to the expected standard of behavior. These children were frequently referred to as "difficult" or "problem" children. Why the Work Each failure was evidence of a mal- Started adjustment somewhere along the line. To" find the cause of this maladjustment, whether it lay in the school, in the home, in the neighborhood or in the child him- self, to find the cause and then to seek its adjustment, this was the preventive and constructive purpose for which the visiting teacher was added to the school system. It was evident that someone representing the school was needed to get acquainted with the individual child and to bring about a closer co-opera- tion of home and school. To make the most out of the five school hours the teacher must understand something of the child's life during the other nineteen hours of the day; and in order not to undo the work of the five hours the home must be in close touch with the school and must understand its aim and demands. Otherwise home and school may work, quite unconsciously, at cross pur- poses. Home, school, and neighborhood, each is familiar with a different child, and unless there be someone to see the zvhole child, the many-sided individual, and to help the teacher and parents to understand him and to work out together a plan to meet his individual needs, there is danger that the educative agencies at work upon his plastic nature may leave warped or undeveloped some essential element of his character. How the Work As has frequently happened in other edu- Began cational experiments the visiting teacher movement was initiated in some cities by private organizations, and, after the value of the work had been demonstrated, was taken over by the Department of Education. In New York, the work originated in two settlements in which workers with the children felt that they needed to get in closer touch with the teachers of the settlement children. They found that besides securing help from the school they could be of assistance to the teachers, both in obtaining better co-operation of the parents and in understanding certain children who had been enigmas. As a result, one resident in each settlement assumed the special work of calling on the families of those children who presented serious social or educational problems, and this worker came to be known as the school visitor or visiting teacher. A committee to extend and develop this work was shortly after- wards formed by the Public Education Association which maintained the work until the Board of Education was con- vinced of its value and established it as part of the school sys- tem. In Boston the work was started by a group of public- spirited citizens, whose example was followed by women's clubs and settlements. In Hartford, the third pioneer, the work was undertaken upon the suggestion of the director of the Psychological Laboratory, who realized the need of it in connection with his work with problematic school children. Where the The movement has grown gradually and Work is Now steadily until at the present there are visiting Con ucte teachers in at least 28 cities in 15 states in all parts of the country, differing widely in size and character, 10 as may be seen in Table I. The work has now passed the ex- perimental stage, and is coming into general recognition as one of the constructive factors of the school system in achieving the ideal of starting each child straight, and in fulfilling its obligation to the democracy of to-morrow. Table I — Geographical Distribution of Visiting Teachers in the United States x State City Number of Visiting Teachers 1. Connecticut Hartford 3 2. Georgia Atlanta 1 3. Illinois Chicago 3 4. Iowa Des Moines Mason City 5. Kentucky Louisville 6. Massachusetts Boston Newton Springfield Worcester 15 7. Minnesota Minneapolis 14 8. Missouri Kansas City 9. New Jersey- Glen Ridge Monmouth County Montclair Newark 10. New York New York City Mount Vernon Rochester Utica 17 11. North Carolina Raleigh 12. North Dakota Billings County Fargo 13. Ohio Cleveland Columbus 2 3 14. Pennsylvania Philadelphia Harrisburg 5 1 15. Virginia Roanoke 1 1. In some places "school visitor" or other title is used. II It is interesting to note that while the same fundamental need has been recognized, yet in different cities the work has been approached from different standpoints. In some cities it was introduced by those interested in the up-building of com- munity life; in others by those working with unadjusted school children; psychologists, women's clubs and parents' associa- tions which especially recognized the need of closer co-opera- tion with the school; by others who were interested in the causes that lie back of irregular attendance and poor scholar- ship ; and by child welfare workers who saw children in danger of falling between the two seats of authority — the home and the school. The roots of this work are wide spread and its ramifications many. 12 II The Place of the Visiting Teacher in the School System THE ADMINISTRATIVE RELATIONSHIPS of this comparatively new service are still in process of deve- lopment. In general there are two plans. In seventeen cities varying in size and character from the suburban town to large industrial centres like Chicago or New York, the visiting teacher is assigned either to a single school or to a group of neighboring schools. In nine instances the visiting teacher works throughout the city. That the size of the place seems not to determine the method may be seen from Table II. Table II — Method of Assignment Cities in which Individual Viiiting Teachers are assigned to a Single School or to a Group of Neighboring Schools Cities in which Individual Visiting Teachers are assigned to Schools throughout the City. 1. Atlanta, Ga. 1. Cleveland, Ohio 2. Boston, Mass. 2. Fargo, N. D. 3. Chicago, 111. 3. Kansas City, Mo. 4. Columbus, Ohio 4. Mason City, Iowa 5. Des Moines, Iowa 5. Mt. Vernon, N. Y. 6. Glen Ridge, N. J. 6. Roanoke, Virginia 7. Harrisburg, Pa. 7. Springfield, Mass. 8. Hartford, Conn. 8. Utica, N. Y. 9. Louisville, Ky. 9. Worcester, Mass. 10. Minneapolis, Minn. 11. Montclair, N. J. 12. Newark, N. J. 13. Newton, Mass. 14. New York, N. Y. 15. Philadelphia, Pa. 16. Raleigh, N. C. 17. Rochester, N. Y. 13 Assignment The majority of school systems have adopted as the most satisfactory method, the assignment of a visiting teacher to one school of which she becomes an integral part, or, at least, to a field sufficiently compact for her to be identified with it, so that she may be the school's representative in the community and the repre- sentative of the neighborhood in the school. In the whole-city plan, on the other hand, the visiting teacher's connection with the individual school and the neighborhood is rarely close enough for her to be identified with its interests. Where a visiting teacher is assigned to but one school, as a rule she visits that school regularly, usually having daily office hours. Where her work covers several schools she reports regularly at the one or two schools where her major work lies and occasionally, or upon request, at the other schools. Where, however, her work extends over an entire city, she usually visits a school at the request of the principal. Supervision In the majority of cities, the visiting teachers are supervised by the Superin- tendent of Schools or his associates. This is the case in New York, Utica, Mt. Vernon, Montclair, Hartford, Columbus, Cleveland, Kansas City and elsewhere. Rochester recently or- ganized a department of visiting teachers with a director, re- sponsible to the Superintendent of Schools. Fargo, N. Dakota, has a Home and School Visiting Department. In Minneapolis, however, which has fourteen visiting teachers, the visiting teachers are a part of the Department of Attendance and Guidance. In Chicago, which now has three visiting teachers, the work is part of the Department of Vocational Guidance and Employment Certificates. In Des Moines the work of the one visiting teacher is part of the Attendance Department. It is hardly necessary to state that the individual visiting teacher works under the supervision and in co-operation with the prin- cipals, who regard her as a specialist in her line and in varying degree put upon her the responsibility for the solution of the social problems of the school. 14 Cooperation The relation of the visiting teacher to the With Special other special departments, such as those of epar men s Attendance, Child Hygiene and Child Study, is in every instance where such departments exist that of co-operation, the visiting teacher referring to each of these departments the children who need its special work and, in turn, assisting in problems referred by these depart- ments for adjustment or the personal supervision of the visiting teacher. Over-lapping is negligible, since each is re- sponsible for a special line of work. Relation to With Vocational Guidance, however, the Vocational jj ne j s not q U jte so clearly drawn, for in three cities, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Mason City, Iowa, the visiting teachers assist with vocational guidance in their school or district, adding to their social and educational work the specific work of Voca- tional Counsellor. Where vocational counsellors do not exist, the visiting teacher, of course, frequently assumes this task. Hours For the most part, the work of the visiting teacher extends throughout the ten months of the school year and her hours are equivalent to those of the school day and week, though in several cities her week consists of five and one-half days. "Equivalent" hours, however, must not be interpreted to mean "identical", for the work requires evening and morning visits, and fre- quently Saturday and Sunday calls on parents who cannot be found on other days. Indeed, the nature of the work precludes limiting it to definite or regular hours. Number of A visiting teacher's work cannot be Cases measured by mere figures, any more than it can be limited to definite hours. The num- ber of children with whom the visiting teacher deals varies greatly, and is determined by the size and number of schools in which she works, the character of the neighborhood, its geographical area, the amount of group or community work 15 required by her neighborhood, the amount of personal follow- up work needed, and the number of co-operating agencies available. The average number of cases for each visiting teacher runs from ioo to 1,000 a year, and the figure most fre- quently given is about 300. Number of The visiting teacher covers the school Grades grades from kindergarten through high school. Usually, however, high school students are the con- cern of a visiting teacher especially assigned to that work. Up to the present, her major work is found in the elementary schools, though it is being introduced into the high schools more and more. The Junior High School, with its concen- tration of adolescent problems, also offers a promising field. 16 Ill How the Visiting Teacher Goes about her Work THIS SECTION, on methods of work, is based on an- swers to such questions as an "outline of the day's work", "how cases are received and closed", "agencies co-operated with", "facilities available and measures found ef- fective in making adjustments", and the like. The Day's In spite of the fact that the visiting Work teachers work under such varying circum- stances as those outlined above, their reports show that almost uniformly a large part of the day is devoted to visiting in the homes of the children ; but a considerable portion of time is also spent in the schools, conferring with teachers, receiving new cases, giving information on those already undertaken and learning of their progress. In addition, the visiting teacher has to find time for calls on co-operating agencies ; and, finally, she gives a brief space to the keeping of records and to correspond- ence. The distribution of time varies according to local needs. Receiving During her office hours, as a rule, new New Cases cases are reported to the visiting teacher by the principal or teachers. At the outset it is advisable to learn as much as possible about the circumstances for which the child was referred. In this connection several visiting teachers point out the advantage of talking over a case with the class teacher, in order to learn the significant details, for, as one visiting teacher reported, "adequate information is the best preparation for answering inquiries in the home, or combating ignorance of school affairs, and makes for quick and effective solution of difficulties". Many visiting teachers mention also the interview with the child in school as an important prelimi- nary before taking up the work outside the school. i7 Visits to In visiting the home, the technique born he Home Q £ experience and training in social work, helps the visiting teacher to get en rapport with the family. Her first visit is often exploratory in nature. The visiting teacher is prepared to study the situation and decide what course to pursue. One visiting teacher states that she makes it a practice never to broach the real subject of her visit till she has ac- quainted herself with the family attitude toward the school. Another states that she tries to be an impartial listener and a good observer. The report of a third visiting teacher echoes the sentiments of many. It reads : 'The visiting teacher comes so closely in contact with the home that home problems are given to her as freely as to a member of the family. School problems, too, which would never be brought to the teacher and perhaps not to the principal become hers in a very short time. Questions of promotion, demotion, dissatisfaction with school, desirability of classmates and playmates are talked over with the visiting teacher, — as the school friend of the family". Several visiting teachers mention the advantage which their teaching experience gives them in enabling them to ex- plain away seeming school exactions and to suggest solutions for difficulties. Parents get a new vision of the school and of their responsibility to it, and their co-operation is thus assured. Social When the situation calls for social ad- Cooperation justments, the visiting teacher goes about the task in much the same way as any trained social worker — analyzing the problem, gaining the family confidence, and, when necessary, seeking the co-operation of social agencies whose special function it is to handle the particular difficulty. Often she finds it of advantage to make a personal visit to these agencies to confer on the family's needs, and explain the school's point of view. Table III gives the number of visiting teachers who report co-operating with the agencies named, and shows considerable agreement in procedure as far as local resources allow. 18 Table III — Co-operating Agencies. Number of Agencies Visiting Teachers 1. Relief Societies 57 2. Children's Courts or a Substitute 51 3. Girls' Clubs 51 4. Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children 50 5. Probation Officers for Children 50 6 Recreation Centres 50 7. Church Societies 47 8. Boys' Clubs 47 9. Psychiatric Clinics 45 10. Nurseries 44 11. Parents Associations 35 12. Employment Bureaus 32 13. Probation Officers for Adults 23 Representing Several visiting teachers state that they The School act as t h e school's representative in all mat- ters of a social nature, and when social workers call at the school for information on children and families, they report for the school. This not only saves duplication of effort and time of administrators, but, because the visiting teacher is conversant with the field of social work, it enables the school to give to the social agencies the kind of co-operation sought. Reporting Back Many visiting teachers emphasize as a to the School most important factor in their work the re- port which they make to the school on the children visited. Their interpretation of the child's environment and special difficulties gives the class teacher new light on his behavior, and assists her in planning for his interests. When the school problem involved is intricate, a conference is held with the principal and teacher to determine the best plan to follow in adjusting the child. Adjustments When the special needs of individual Made in the children are revealed, the school is ready to make whatever adaptations are suggested to fit each case, so far as its resources permit. The visiting 19 teachers' reports mention such special arrangements as : change of curriculum, trade training for motile-minded children, extra tutoring or extra periods in the handicapping subject, promo- tions on trial for the discouraged or indifferent whom the visiting teacher has stimulated to increased effort, late admis- sion or early dismissal to accommodate a sick parent tempo- rarily in need of the child's ministrations, transfer to open-air classes or examination and placement for mental defect for those whose histories show the need of such procedure. The replies to the question asking what special classes are available to which the visiting teacher may recommend chil- dren are given in Table IV. Table IV — Special Classes Available for Problematical Children Types of Classes Number of Visiting Teachers Replying "Yes" 1. Mental Defectives 48 2. Vocational Classes 45 3. Anemic or Tubercular 41 4. Deaf 36 5. Blind 34 6. Crippled 34 7. Sight Conservation 31 8. Speech Defect 23 9. Special Defects 17 10. Rapid Advance 16 11. Neurotics 15 12. Probationary or Disciplinary 9 13. Opportunity 4 14. Retarded 2 15. Epileptics 2 16. Cardiac 2 Follow-Up To the question, "How long do you fol- low-up a case?", the majority of visiting teachers answer that they continue a case as a rule "till the condition is remedied", and then it is considered "closed" or 20 on the "inactive" list. The visiting teacher, however, usually retains her interest in the children as long as they remain in school. Although in general a case is under supervision until the special difficulty is adjusted, or the sinister habit is cured, yet the nature of circumstances will determine the amount of follow-up. Even when the school is satisfied to close a case, the family may not be, for many times the visiting teacher "finds waiting at her office door the mother whom she has advised in a former difficulty seeking her help in a new emer- gency". Office and The majority of visiting teachers report Office Hours that they hold re g U l a r office hours at their offices, which are usually in the school buildings. A few visit- ing teachers not supplied with offices express their great need of a private place in which to hold the necessary conferences with children, teachers, social workers, and such parents as seek them at school. The very nature of the work, requiring intimate talks with the child or with the teacher relative to the child, would argue the necessity of a private office. The time of the office hour seems to be a matter of .local convenience. Some visiting teachers hold their office hours at the beginning of the day, at which time new cases are referred. Others find a later hour, especially one toward the close of the school day, more convenient to teachers and social workers. Time for In choosing the hour for a call, the visit- Calling ing teacher is fortunately unhampered. She apparently chooses a time appropriate to her purpose, calling sometimes during school hours to interview the parent alone, or in the early morning, at noon, or in the evening to catch the working parent, or late in the day to meet the assembled family and secure their co-operation or to learn at first hand their reaction to the child, or at night to discover the influence of the neighborhood on the child's life and character. In urgent matters she may find it advisable to seek the father at his shop or factory. 21 Record Forms Visiting teachers everywhere have found it advisable to keep accurate records of im- portant facts about the children referred to them, and prac- tically every city has worked out as a time saving measure a record form on which as many items as possible can be easily inserted. The record form has not been standardized, but the printed forms in use in practically all the larger cities in- clude, among others, the following items: i. Identification data. 2. Why and by whom the child was referred. 3. Important facts about the school record — including mentality, proficiencies, deficiencies, behavior, at- tendance. 4. Important facts about environment and home condi- tions. 5. Special difficulties, characteristics, and tendencies. 6. Action taken : With the child. In the school. In the home. Through social agencies. 7. Outcome. Reports Many visiting teachers state that they furnish their Boards with annual reports, compiled from their case histories. In some localities monthly reports also are made. The form of both reports varies from fragmentary to detailed and statistical, according to local demands. Most of the annual reports submitted with the question- naires were in narrative form, with a minimum of statistics, but no city seems to have worked out a set form for the an- nual report. For monthly reports, however, New York City and Ro- chester use printed forms which call for a statistical summary of the month's work. That for New York calls for "com- ments" and for "one or more cases in some detail on attached sheets". The latter commends itself as a concrete method of giving insight into the character and scope of the work, in- cluding its difficulties. 22 IV Why Children Are Referred to the Visiting Teacher A QUESTION frequently asked by persons interested in visiting teacher work is : "For what reasons are chil- dren referred to the visiting teacher ?" The Committee therefore undertook the task of finding out these reasons and of determining the relative frequency of their occurrence. General The replies to this inquiry are sum- Reasons marized in Table V. The "reasons" there enumerated are, of course, the reasons given by the school when the child is reported to the visiting teacher. In many cases, however, as will be shown in the following chapter, the under- lying cause proves to be an unsuspected condition which the visiting teacher discovers and which may be remote from the cause or causes originally assigned or supposed to exist. Out of a possible sixty, fifty-seven definite replies were received, three visiting teachers giving only a general answer on account of the special character of their work. The fifty- seven replies contained the following data: Table V — General Reasons Given for Referring Children to the Visiting Teacher Reason for Referring Children Total number of Visiting Teachers naming this reason as oc- curring among their cases Number of Visiting Teachers naming this reason as occurring first, second, third, etc., in order of frequency among their cases 1st 2nd 3rd | 4th 5th 6th 1. Maladjustments in Scholarship 2. Adverse Home Conditions 3. Irregular Attendance 4. Misconduct 5. Lateness 6. Physical Condition 57 57 56 53 49 45 25 16 15 3 1 3 10 11 13 15 4 4 8 11 10 7 9 7 7 10 8 8 10 12 4 6 6 15 8 12 3 3 4 5 17 7 23 This table shows that there are six main reasons why children are referred to visiting teachers. Of these, the first two, — "maladjustments in scholarship" and "adverse home conditions" — are apparently of universal occurrence, since the entire 57 visiting teachers replying name them. Lateness and physical condition, on the other hand, which are named by but 49 and 45 visiting teachers respectively, evidently are causes in some localities and not in others. The table also shows in how many instances each of these causes occurs first, second, third, etc., in order of frequency among the cases referred to the visiting teachers. Thus, of the 57 visiting teachers naming maladjustment in scholarship, 25 name it as occurring most frequently, or first in order among their cases, 10 as occurring second in order, 8 as third in order, 7 as fourth in order, 4 as fifth in order, and 3 as sixth in order. Looking at the table another way, one can also see that while 25 visiting teachers name "maladjustment in scholar- ship" as occuring most frequently in their cases, 16 give first place to "adverse home conditions", 15 to "irregular attend- ance", 3 to "misconduct", 1 to "lateness", and 3 to "physical condition." The most striking fact of this summary is that "maladjustment in scholarship" easily leads the list in order of frequency with "adverse home conditions" and "irregular at- tendance" second and third and the others trailing behind. Specific The replies of the visiting teachers also Reasons brought out interesting information regard- ing the specific character of the first four of the reasons given above. These data are summarized in Table VI. This table shows, for example, that 50 visiting teachers reported that "maladjustment in scholarship" was stated by the persons referring cases to them as due to "subnormality", 49 as due to "retardation", 48 to "deficiency in lessons", and 34 to "precocity". The table also shows that while subnormality was reported as occurring most frequently, or first in order, by 11 visiting teachers and second in order by 6, it was re- ported as occurring third in order by 26 visiting teachers and 24 Table VI — Specific Reasons for Referring Children to the Visiting Teacher Reasons for Referring Children EH h> 5°§ Mm § .S rt 1 C! t*f1 rt o c c/i rt t-