LC -^3 c to o / THE VISITING TEACHER IN NEW YORK CITY A STATEMENT OF THE FUNCTION AND AN ANALYSIS OF THE WORK OF THE VISITING TEACHER STAFF OF THE PUBLIC EDUCATION ASSOCIATION FROM 1912 TO 1915 INCLUSIVE BY HARRIET M. JOHNSON Of the Visiting Teacher Staff of the Public Education Association J:' \ \ '■ Public Education Association of the City of New York 8 West 40th Street June, 1916 VISITING TEACHER COMMITTEE OF THE PUBLIC EDUCATION ASSOCATION Mrs Mrs. Sidney Borg Miss Ida M. Carpenter Miss Jane F. Culbert Abraham Flexner Mrs. E. C. Henderson Mrs. C. p. Howland Miss Helen Hunt Joseph R. Swan, Chairman Miss Eleanor H. Johnson Mrs. Wesley C. Mitchell Mrs. a. G. Norrie Mrs. John Pratt Miss Katharine W. Tweed Miss Elizabeth S. Williams Mrs, E. L. Winthrop, Jr. VISITING TEACHER STAFF Jane F. Culbert, Head of Staff Ethel B. Allen Rena Levy Hallie B. Craigwell {Assist,) Mary S. Marot Jane Day Sophia G. Mills Lydia Herrick Hodge Virginia P. Robinson FORMER MEMBERS OF THE STAFF Effie Abrams Clark Mary Flexner Harriet Forbes Margaret Higham Harriet M. Johnson Dorothy Kirch wey Brown Elizabeth Simmons Ruth S. True THE VISITING TEACHER IN NEW YORK CITY A STATEMENT OF THE FUNCTION AND AN ANALYSIS OF THE WORK OF THE VISITING TEACHER STAFF OF THE PUBLIC EDUCATION ASSOCIATION FROM 1912 TO 1915 INCLUSIVE BY HARRIET M. JOHNSON Of the Visiting Teacher Staff of the Public Education Association • ■ . V - Public Education Association of the City of New York 8 West 40th Street June, 1916 ^ C/V- TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ORIGIN AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE VISITING TEACHER EXPERIMENT v Introduction xi Part I— SCOPE AND FUNCTION OF VISITING TEACHER WORK I Socializing the School and Individualizing the Child ... i Function of the Visiting Teacher 3 Studying the Neighborhood 3 Studying the Child 6 Treatment of Individual Children 6 Treatment of Groups or Classes of Children 7 Cooperating with the School 8 Illustrative Cases 9 Record Forms 14 Part II.— ANALYSIS OF CASES REPORTED IN 1913-14 20 Reasons for Reporting 21 Comparative Tables 26 Age-Grade Distribution 29 Grade and Reasons for Investigation 31 Age and Reasons for Investigation 33 Nativity and Reasons for Investigation 36 Physical Condition and Reasons for Investigation 39 Family Status and Reasons for Investigation 45 Treatment of Case and Reasons for Investigation 48 Fundamental Difficulties and Reasons for Investigation 53 Measures Found Most Effective and Reasons for In- vestigation 59 Summary 65 Future Development of the Work 67 Part III.— VISITING TEACHER WORK 191 1-1915 69 Reasons for Investigation 71 Conditions Found 73 Action Taken and Treatment Secured 77 Outcome 77 Appendix. — Physical Needs of Children in One Visiting Teacher's School 82 ui 342072 THE ORIGIN AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE VISIT- ING TEACHER EXPERIMENT The work of the visiting teacher as set forth in this report is but one of many instances that might be cited from the history of public education in this country to illustrate how organized citi- zen effort can further child welfare in cooperation with the public school authorities. 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 with- out. When the initiative has been taken by the community and an insistent demand has been made upon the school to readjust itself more adequately to meet the needs of changing social and economic conditions, it has sometimes happened that specialists in education have resented what they have regarded as an intru- sion upon their vested rights and have looked upon the participa- tion of laymen in educational matters as belittling the teaching profession. The majority of educators, however, have always recognized not only the natural desire but the right of a demo- cratic community to concern itself intimately with a matter of such fundamental importance to its existence and welfare as the education of its children for efficient citizenship. Such specialists have welcomed a widespread and effective expression of public interest in school affairs, not simply as an aid in solving the com- plex problems which confront them, but as a public recognition of the importance of their professional service to the community. To them it has seemed quite as proper that the educator should be stimulated by the community as that the community should be stimulated by the educator. It is obvious that the contribution of public education to the progress and perpetuation of democracy will depend upon the extent to which the citizen and the educator, from their different viewpoints, can reconcile differences of opinion and reach a sound conclusion as to what "preparation for life" in a democracy v VI means. Neither can do this effectively alone, and cooperation is possible only when there is mutual respect for each other's opin- ions and a disposition to meet each other fairly and with courtesy. In the two decades during which the Public Education Associa- tion has assisted in improving the welfare of the New York schools, it has had the good fortune to take part in many impor- tant movements. At times it has encountered vigorous, even bitter, opposition, but it has always enjoyed the hearty coopera- tion of a large number of men and women in the system interested in forw^arding these movements through the exchange of sincere criticism based on honest difference of opinion. In none of its efforts, however, has the Association met with more cordial and more universal response than in connection with the visiting teacher work. For ten years this demonstration has been carried on in New York City, From the beginning it has had the hearty support not only of Dr. Maxwell, the City Super- intendent of Schools, but also of the principals and teachers in the schools in which the work has been conducted. Without such cooperation the work could not have been successful. Further- more, while the Association, with its limited staff, has been able to serve only thirty-three different public schools,* the value of the work has been so generally recognized that urgent requests for assignments have been received from over one hundred and seventy-five principals. The first summary of this work, pre- pared for the Association by Mrs. Nathalie Henderson Swan, was published by the City Superintendent of Schools in his Thirteenth Annual Report. After including in its budget for several years a request for funds to introduce and extend this work under its own direction, the Board of Education succeeded two years ago in employing two visiting teachers, and has at present a staff of seven, under the general supervision of Associate Superintendent Edson. In view of these facts, and, particularly, of the close cooperation existing between the visitors under the employ of the Board of Education and those under the Public Education Asso- ciation, it is safe to say that a better example of cooperation be- tween official bodies and outside citizen organizations would be difficult to find. Home and school visiting has been done since the schools first called children from narrow family relationships to the larger * In Manhattan, Nos.: i, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 28, 34, 38, 41, 42, 59, 60, 62, 65, 75, 76, 84, 89, 92, 95, 113, 120, 125, 137, 166, 177, 179; and, in the Bronx, Nos. 4, 44 and 50. Vll groupings within their walls. In country and town schools and in the kindergarten departments of the city systems teachers have always sought an acquaintance with the parents of their pupils, which, of itself, has prevented many misunderstandings and has introduced, as an individualizing influence, the wholesome factor of social relationship between the home and the school. It has been in the large cities, with their problems of congestion and poverty, that agencies for social welfare have been brought into being. It was through one of these, the settlement, that organized home and school visiting was first begun in New York City in 1906, In that year Hartley House and Greenwich House undertook the work already begun by Miss Mary Marot, and placed Miss Marot and Miss Effie Abrams as visitors in Districts IX, X and XI. The work was carried on for a time thereafter under the general direction of a committee composed of these two visitors and Miss Elisabeth Roemer of Richmond Hill House, Miss May Mathews of Hartley House, and Miss Elizabeth Williams of College Settlement. In January, 1907, this committee became a part of the Public Education Association, working in connection with the Com- mittee on Home and School Visiting, and, in the following Oc- tober, Miss Jane Day was employed by the Association to work in Districts II and III. From that time, the work under the Association has gradually been extended. The stafT at present consists of nine visiting teachers. In addition to these and the visitors employed under the Department of Education, persons doing similar work with other organizations and in surrounding communities have been invited to monthly conferences for the purpose of exchanging ideas and experiences of mutual value. As Miss Johnson has pointed out, the Association has sought to extend the work in such a way as to furnish as complete a dem- onstration as possible of what the visiting teachers can accomplish for the children in the public schools. During the past year, for example, a visiting teacher with a colored assistant has been placed in a school having a large registration of colored children, and during the coming year it is planned to place another visitor in one of the high schools. Visiting teacher work has not, however, been confined entirely to New York City. In Boston, where the work was also begun ten years ago, there are now seventeen home and school visitors, who work in connection with settlements or other private organi- VIU zations. Meanwhile, the work has extended to other cities. In Rochester and Mt. Vernon, N. Y., in Springfield, Mass., and in Montclair, N. J., the departments of education have introduced the work; while in Philadelphia, Hartford, Baltimore, Columbus, O., and Chicago, the work is carried on under the direction of psychological clinics, parents' associations and child welfare agencies. Early in its experience in New York City, the Public Education Association became convinced that its visitors could render more effective service if assigned to single schools, rather than to a number of schools. The work is essentially preventive in char- acter, and, where the service of a teacher is spread over too wide an area, it is but natural that only the more difficult and far ad- vanced cases wall be referred to her and that the work will in- evitably change its character and become largely corrective. To avoid this, the Association has discontinued its former practice of assigning visitors to one or more districts and has assigned each to one school only, in which she does intensive preventive work under the immediate supervision of the school principal. A resume of the visiting teacher experiment in New York City would be incomplete without particular mention of those outside of the schools who also have cooperated with the Association in making the work possible. Aside from the social and other agencies enumerated by Miss Johnson which have rendered sub- stantial aid in dealing with the needs of the individual children referred to the visiting teachers by the schools, there have been over a score of contributors to the maintenance fund. In addi- tion to the individuals who have thus rendered financial aid, the following organizations have also contributed : The Junior League, the Julia Richman Memorial Committee, the New York Founda- tion, the Russell Sage Foundation, and the Westchester Associa- tion. The extent of this service is indicated by the fact that over $40,000 has been expended for its upkeep through the Public Education Association alone during the past four years, and over 4500 children have received intensive care during that pe- riod, in addition to the many hundreds who have received the special attention of the visitors for some immediate and tempo- rary difficulty. The report of the work here presented by Miss Johnson is the third published by the Association. The first, by Mrs. Swan, as already noted, appeared in the Thirteenth Annual Report of the IX City Superintendent of Schools; the second, by Miss Mary Flexner, appeared in April, 1913, as Bulletin No. 15 of the Asso- ciation. Miss Johnson was released from regular field work over two years ago to familiarize herself with the detailed work of the entire staff and to compile, with their cooperation, a more comprehen- sive analysis of the field work than had thus far been attempted. This was considered desirable, not only because of the fact that New York City itself had officially begun the work in the public schools, but because similar work was being undertaken through- out the country. A comprehensive statement by the Association of its ideals and its experience, it was thought, would thus make its experiment of the maximum assistance elsewhere. A glance at the following report will show how thoroughly Miss Johnson has achieved this purpose. She has left no source un- tapped from which the information necessary to make clear the nature of the work could be secured. The report is in every re- spect a cooperative achievement and expresses accurately and fully what the staff and the committee regard as the essentials of the work. It should be borne in mind, however, that this report should in no way be judged as a statement of the results of an investiga- tion. The data presented were not gathered for the purpose of compiling a report to prove the needs of difficult children. Rather they simply accumulated in the daily notes and records kept by the visitors in their efforts to secure the necessary adjustments in the lives of the children submitted to their care. The statistical form used throughout the second part is therefore intended, not as a comprehensive proof of specific needs, but as a convenient method of presenting in a comparative way the complex social data which have come up as vital factors in the regular work of the visitors. Such data are, for the present at least, almost in- capable of accurate measurement, but are, nevertheless, even in their rough form, of deep significance to educational procedure. These tables would seem to indicate that school difficulties which express themselves in terms of conduct or school work arise from a great variety of sources reaching back into the home and the community and at times into the school itself, and that they call for the intensive study and individual treatment which the training and experience of the visiting teacher make possible. The age-grade table alone shows to what extent principals and teachers have come to look upon retardation as a complex social as well as purely pedagogical problem and have called upon the visiting teachers to aid in its solution. It is particularly gratifying to the Association to be able to present this report on the eve of the First National Conference of Visiting Teachers, which will be held in New York City during July, in conjunction with the annual convention of the National Education Association. In so doing it trusts that its experience may be of national assistance in creating that type of service for individual, maladjusted children in the schools for which the visiting teacher work stands. Howard W. Nudd, Director. June 21, 1916. INTRODUCTION The Visiting Teacher experiment was undertaken ten years ago in the belief that, if the school could extend its reach into the homes of the children, better citizens could be developed, many failures prevented, and future expenditures thereby saved to New York City. When a child grows up to be a public charge or falls below his or her possibilities as a citizen, whether the failure be attributable to the school because it did not meet his needs, or to adverse conditions in the home, the State sufifers as well as the individual and it is the State that pays the cost. The State, therefore, in the interest of its own future and for the sake of economy, must adapt its instrument, the school, to meet the problem of these failures. The visiting teacher is the arm of the school extended into the home to draw the school and the home together for the benefit of the child. It is her work to visit and establish friendly relations with the homes of those children who exhibit the first symptoms of falling below the school standard in scholarship and conduct. She uses every available means to make the child's surroundings a help rather than a menace to his educational progress. Equally important, she brings back to the school an account of the in- dividual characteristics which intimate acquaintance with the children has shown to exist, and reports such of the social con- ditions as indicate the district's general educational needs. The visiting teachers have proved again and again in the past that by obtaining cooperation in the child's home and by giving the school, at the same time, a better understanding of his environ- ment so that it can adapt its methods to his particular needs, the most unpromising child can not only be kept from the courts, but may be developed into a potential good citizen. The case of Miriam is one in point. She was in a 6B grade. The principal reported her as incorrigible with a tendency to- ward immorality, unruly in the classroom, untruthful, and un- tidy in appearance, and asked the visitor to take her out of school and send her to work. When the visiting teacher called at the xi r Xll home she found that Miriam's mother had died a short time be- fore, leaving Miriam in charge of the household which consisted of her father who was out of work and two brothers. She cooked the meals, washed the clothes, and took the place of the mother. Of a highly sensitive nature, very retiring and backward, she made few girl friends. She craved love and affection, was very sympathetic, but there was no outlet for these emotions. She was untruthful, but she told tales to win sympathy. She was on the street at night, and while she did not seek companions of the lower type, they came to her, using her as a shield to cover some of their wrongdoings. The visiting teacher became very friendly with Miriam and found new friends for her, and the old ones were given up. Through the assistance of a relief organization the family was moved to better quarters. Work was secured for the father, and the younger brother was placed in a Hebrew class in a neighborhood organization. When Miriam was promoted to the seventh grade the visiting teacher watched her very closely. She asked that the child should be given to an especially sympathetic teacher to whom she told the story of her home life. Throughout two years, the visiting teacher followed her prog- ress. The child came to her with all sorts of problems, now a dis- couraging mark in school work, now household cares that needed school help for their adjustment and again financial difficulties caused by the unemployment of her father or brother. Tutoring was provided, arrangements were made to excuse her a little early so that she could prepare the evening meal for the Jewish Sab- bath ; and plans for tiding the family over a period of stress were worked out with the agency for relief. Gradually Miriam showed the result of this friendly supervision. The dime novels which had been her choice and rough friends ceased to satisfy her, and when she graduated she had won the affection of the finest girls in her class and the genuine respect of her teachers. All trace of immoral tendency disappeared. The class teachers appreciated the help the visitor was able to give in relieving them of a very difficult problem. They realized that the work of the visiting teacher was of the type for which they themselves had neither the time nor the training. This case shows the intensive method of the visiting teacher Xlll and the length of time needed in order to save this child from the Juvenile Court, whither she was headed. It has been found that the presence of a visiting teacher in the school tends to stimulate the class teachers to visit the homes of their pupils. In this case, however, it was not a question of one or two visits which the class teacher could have made after school hours, but rather of a long series of visits, covering a period of two years, not only to the home, but to the agencies that could be of practical assistance in the case. During this period Miriam had had at least four teachers. The training of the visiting teacher dififers from that of other members of the school staff. She must have had experience in social work in New York City as well as experience in teaching. She must understand the characteristics and prejudices of the people among whom she works. She must have the power to deal effectively with adults as well as with children. She must be familiar with the available social agencies in New York, par- ticularly with those in her district, and have made connection with them. She must know the institutions outside of New York that take city cases. Above all she must have tact. The case of Angelina illustrates another aspect of the visiting teacher work. Angelina was reported to the visiting teacher for poor work in the third grade, for constant lateness and for in- difference. She was a tall Italian girl of ten, awkward, pale, and shy. The teacher suspected that Angelina was overworked at home, for she knew that she "sewed on coats." The visiting teacher found the home thrifty and clean, but the family poor. To supplement the father's wages, the mother "took coats" from a garment factory. Angelina, the only daughter, helped with the sewing, swept the apartment and did other housework be- fore school. This kept her late so that each morning began with a reproof from the teacher and the school work was taken up by a discouraged child. In addition, she was never allowed to play on the street, so that she did not get enough fresh air. She heard nothing but Italian at home, so that her school work was practically in a foreign language. On the first visit the visiting teacher found that Angelina was made to sew all the afternoon, more as a matter of course and as proper employment for an Italian girl than because of economic need, but she did not press the subject of the child's work. In- stead, she asked her to read aloud. Though the mother could XIV not understand, she knew when Angelina was being corrected or commended. She was much interested and impressed with the fact that the "American lady" thought reading a matter of im- portance to Angelina. Since her daughter's mistakes were evi- dently many, it was not hard to persuade her to allow the child to read for half an hour every day, sitting on the fire-escape to insure light and fresh air. She was also urged to send Angelina to school early. The teacher was told of the home situation and was asked to be lenient about lateness while the mother was learning. In- stead of being reproved for lateness, Angelina was commended for improvement and the days started better. After a Httle time, the lateness and even tardiness ceased. The half hours of fresh air and practice in reading aloud showed results, and later the mother was persuaded that an hour's play with other girls on the street in daylight would not hurt her daughter's morals, but might improve her health and stimulate her interest. With the encouragement of the teacher and visiting teacher, the child's work improved so much that she was promoted to a special class in which she did two terms' work in one, at the same time gain- ing in vigor, confidence and good spirits. Incidentally, there was no longer a problem of "sewing on coats." This, then, was a case of converting a poor and indifferent scholar, headed probably towards repeating her grade, into a zealous student doing two years' work in one. The cost of at least one year of schooling was saved to the child and to the city, and a misfit child was turned into a promising woman through the extension of the school arm into this foreign home. The extension of the influence of the school through the visiting teacher is particularly needed in a city like New York, where the population is heterogeneous and shifting, where the schools are large and congested, and where so many schools are included in one system. The parents of our school children are, many of them, like Angelina's mother, ignorant of the value of educa- tion and of the ideals which the school is trying to inculcate. The crowded schools prevent the teachers from giving sufficient individual attention to the children in the classrooms or from influencing to any appreciable degree their homes. The size of the system has made it seem necessary in the past to organize all schools alike, with uniform methods and standards, regardless XV of the racial and national characteristics of districts which repre- sent widely differing school needs. The visiting teacher, experienced both in social work and in teaching, explains the aims of the school concretely to the par- ents, as in the case of Angelina's mother, and, gaining their co- \ operation wherever possible, makes whatever changes and ad- justments are necessary in the home, in order that the child may gain the full benefit of his school training. She also explains the home situation in detail to the teacher, so that the child is in- dividualized, however large the class. She reports to the prin- cipal the gaps and dangers in the child's surroundings which it is necessary for the school to supplement and meet. She thus stimulates cooperation between the home and the school. The need for sufficient flexibility to enable each school to meet the requirements of the children in its district is becoming gen- erally recognized. In this connection the visiting teacher can be of signal assistance. She not only knows the individual families, but she knows the social and industrial life of the dis- trict, which knowledge, combined with her experience in teaching, enables her to help the principal in adapting the school to the needs of the neighborhood. To sum up, if the school is to accomplish fully its purpose of training children for good citizenship, it must see to it that the home and school work together for the benefit of each individual child. It has been said that New York City children are "under school instruction 950 hours, or approximately one-ninth of their entire time. This record might be allowable for village life or for the countryside, but it does not belong to the teeming, dis- tracting life of a metropolis whose perils and temptations beset the child at every turn. That vital thing called character can- not be shaped and determined in one-ninth of the child's time." This is true, particularly, if neither the school nor the home is giving the child the kind of training he individually needs. Ex- tend the school year if you will, but bear in mind that the visiting teacher not only extends the school influence but helps adapt it to the child every day in the school year. Nathalie Henderson Swan, Chairman, Visiting Teacher Committee THE VISITING TEACHER IN NEW YORK CITY PART I THE SCOPE AND FUNCTION OF VISITING TEACHER WORK SOCIALIZING THE SCHOOL AND INDIVIDUALIZING THE CHILD The work of the visiting teacher is not radically new, but rather a very natural extension of the function of the public schools as a child welfare agency, adapted to meet the social needs of children in a large municipal organization. There was a time when the school regarded itself as concerned only with the academic instruction of the children under its care, and when social interests and needs were foreign elements not relevant to the big task of education. An inevitable change, however, has come with the changing times. The doctors and nurses have found their way into the school at the call of the child who is physically unfit for school work; the curriculum has been made to yield to the needs of children who are mentally disqualified; and still there is a group of pupils who seem unable to take their training in wholesale fashion, but need more individualized treatment. They are below standard in scholarship without belonging to the mentally sub-normal class, they are difficult in conduct without being disciplinary cases, and though they avoid truancy they are not in constant atten- dance. There are, moreover, the adolescent girls, irritable and neurotic, who are getting poor marks in scholarship and conduct because they need country care or medical advice, or perhaps only the understanding sympathy of a friend. There are the slow girls who have had an increase of home duties placed on their shoulders at the time when school demands are also increasing. There are the restless children who have begun to strain at the tether, whom school does not interest because it is not as real to them as life outside its walls and whom the great world of industry will seize if activities and interests are not provided. There are the re-» tarded children who are reaching the limit of their mental develop- ment and paying the deferred bills of early malnutrition or heredity, and who are needing special guidance. Adolescence, individual departure from the accepted average, mental retarda- tion and the urge that sends the boy and girl out into the world of accomplishment are not phenomenal problems. They are ever recurring factors and must be reckoned with by the schools if opportunity and a chance for development are to be offered. These, then, are the children for whom the help of the visiting teacher is enlisted. As they come under her care they fall naturally into two large groups. First, there are those demanding a more thorough knowledge and understanding of the child's personality and of the conditions under which he lives, so that the school or the home can meet his needs more intelligently. Second, there are those needing some definite social adjustment, such as a change in home conditions, treatment for physical disability, or opportunity for play or wholesome activity. The question often arises as to whether the interests of school children could not be best served by the regular class teachers, who should be considering all phases of the lives of their pupils in the effort to give them training for the future. This is ideally true, and many teachers are already giving long hours of thought and of actual service to work with pupils outside the classroom, not only on school subjects but also in order to understand the conditions under which they are living. In the schools of the future there will be possible a much more adequate study of individual children, and greater opportunity for adjustments to meet their needs, so that the first group of children cited above will be cared for without outside help. In the congested districts, however, even after the schools are re- organized on social lines, there will be many adjustments neces- sary, which will require the services of a trained worker, with a knowledge of the city's resources. She must be a representative of the school, so that she may understand the teachers' problems, but her hours must be so arranged that she is free to confer with representatives of social agencies whenever the need arises, and so that she can visit the homes of children at the time that best suits her purpose. Such training as this work requires has not yet been offered students in training schools and colleges, nor is there any provision for it in the school program. Teachers are calling at the homes of their pupils to a greater or less extent in all schools, — more rather than less since the visiting teachers began their work, and there is a unanimity of opinion among those who have actually done such visiting as to the value of the social relationship that is thus established. Such calls, however, often reveal many needs which, if followed up, would lead ihe visitor to the doors of many public and private institutions. An ade- quate handling of them is therefore impossible at the present time without the help of a special stafif. FUNCTION OF THE VISITING TEACHER The function of the visiting teacher is the adjustment of condi- tions in the lives of individual children, to the end that they may make more normal or more profitable school progress. These adjustments may be made in the school, in the home, or in the environment, wherever there proves to be an adverse condition responsible for school conduct, scholarship or attendance, or influencing it to a greater or less extent. Such adjustments should make the years spent in school a better paying investment to the teacher who is giving the best of her life to those years, and to the child, who too often has the attitude of serving time rather than of drawing interest. Such work forms the basis of a visiting teacher's activity in the school. One of her first tasks is that of interpretation. She is the mutual friend who helps to acquaint the teacher with the parent and the child. With her knowledge of the problems confronting the teacher, she can interpret the school requirements to the parents, and enlist their cooperation. By passing on to the teacher the results of her observation of the child at his work and play and by her knowledge of the influences in his environment, and most of all by the informal and sympathetic relationship she can establish with the child, she can help make the school a more vital part of his life and can give the teacher knowledge of his interests and his handicaps which can help her in classroom work. When school spells joy to a child, joy in work, in play and in precious relationships, then there will be little need for concern regarding discipline, retardation or attendance, for these ogres will be laid low as far as mentally normal children are concerned. Studying the Neighborhood In the course of dealing with the children under her care, the visiting teacher makes an informal survey of the neighborhood where her school is located, asking herself such questions as the following: Of what nationality is the neighborhood made up, and what, in general, is the standard of living and of education? What are the types of dwelling? What industries employ the fathers and mothers of the school children and do they also employ child labor? What play opportunities does the neighbor- hood present in its parks and playgrounds, its churches or settle- ments? What agencies exist there that ofifer additional educational advantages to the children and what special experiments are being made in the regular schools to meet the problems of the exceptional children? Are there trade, high, vocational or con- tinuation schools which can be used? What societies are avail- able for relief, correction or medical assistance? These general questions are particularly applied as the children are referred to her, emphasis being laid wherever special need is shown, but in the answer to them the visiting teacher makes her- self acquainted with the various social service agencies through which she can bring about the correlation of activities in individ- ual cases. She can, moreover, bring back to the school a more intimate knowledge of neighborhood conditions than it could otherwise obtain. At the time of this study the visiting teachers of the Public Education Association were placed in eight schools in New York City, in districts where conditions are fairly typical of those exist- ing over the city at large. A description of these districts will illustrate the diversity of the social, economic and racial problem presented to the visitor. The neighborhoods chosen were purposely very varied, repre- senting different problems of race and environment. Five of the schools had a large percentage of foreign children of various nationalities. In one the majority were Bohemians, though it had also many Hungarians, Germans, ItaHans, Irish and Hebrews; in two the Jewish element predominated, and in two the Italian. Three were very cosmopolitan, having representatives from at least a dozen nationalities with a large proportion of English- speaking families. There was the neighborhood where the immigrant Hebrews are housed in almost uniformly old-type tenements, where sweat-shop garment factories employ most of the men, where overcrowding is extreme, and where parks and playgrounds are few. There was, also, the Italian community, with its color and the lyric quality of its people in spite of the fact that poverty and poor housing conditions press insistently. There the prevalence of tenement industry is a feature to be reckoned with, for tiny fingers can make flowers and feathers and pull bastings, and this, more than almost any other industrial condition, reacts upon the school. There are three very distinct economic strata represented in the districts where the Italians were found. In the first, and lowest, the men are largely laborers, with long periods of unemployment, and the women work in the garment factories under Hebrew employers. The standards of living are low. There is much overcrowding due to lodgers and boarders. The full, nourishing, Italian dietary has been reduced and the children show the fact in stunted bodies and laggard minds. There is little ambition for education and little appreciation of the school except as an evil to be avoided whenever possible. In the second, while there is much exploitation of the children in tenement manufactures, there are more men in the skilled trades and fewer women in the factories. The dramatic clubs and art classes in the settlements show groups of ambitious young boys and girls, and the grad- uating classes in the schools have a fair percentage of children going to high schools. There is a very different attitude toward education on the part of the parents. The third, a cosmopolitan neighborhood, tells a different story. There the Italian parents are ambitious for their children and very eager to cooperate with the schools. The men are in skilled and unionized trades or are city employees. There are no tenement industries and the women are in the homes with no other occupation than to attend to the housework. The work of one visiting teacher lay in the middle West Side, where there are left the old Irish and German-American families who have not moved with the tide as the city has grown. These families are largely those that have had too little ambition or too little prosperity to set up their household gods in a new field, and there are found the problems of poverty, of ill-health and social maladjustment and of school retardation in most pressing form. In direct contrast was an uptown neighborhood, where the tenements are of the better type, either new-law buildings or remodelled old ones, where the families are largely American born and almost all English speaking, where there are no factories nor 6 home manufacture, and where a large percentage of the parents have had American school education. Farther downtown, very similar conditions were found as far as nationality and education are concerned. This neighborhood is probably more nearly an average one than any other, for there are foreigners and American born, old New Yorkers and newly arrived immigrants. There are also to be found well furnished apartments and wretched rear tenements, both dire poverty and comfortable independence, the ill-paid factory employee and the day laborer, and all grades of salaried workers and small business men. Studying the Child Having made herself familiar with her neighborhood, the visit- ing teacher must take into consideration with each individual case the immediate difificulty and the child's past school record. She also attempts to establish a personal and friendly relationship with him and to find out how far the school maladjustment repeats itself in his outside life. What kind of a member of society is he? How is he regarded by his family and his mates? What tastes or interests does he show and what capabilities and aptitudes in the world where he is not judged by academic standards? To what extent are these interests and these apti- tudes made part of the school life? How can school requirements be modified or supplemented to adjust the immediate difificulty and to bring the child into more harmonious relationship with his school environment? What are his home conditions? The replies to these questions will include the general social and economic status of his family and will also take cognizance of any special temporary condition brought about through illness, unemployment or other misfortune which tends to disturb the welfare of the home. To what extent can the child's family be depended upon for help in correcting his difficulty and what sort of cooperation can be given? What can be done to bring the parents and the school into closer touch and to a better under- standing of each other? TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUAL CHILDREN In examining the work of the visiting teachers, it seems to fall into two rather definite lines. First in importance comes the analysis of individual children. This is essentially the work of the visiting teacher in the efifort to trace back the school diffi- culty to its cause and to make adjustments that will place the child in a more sympathetic relationship with his school environ- ment. It involves observation of the child in school and out- side, a knowledge of conditions that are affecting him, made possible by frequent and informal interviews held as friend and adviser rather than as coercive and authoritative agent, and it very frequently means securing the cooperation of other persons or or- ganizations. All this work has, however, one end, that of under- standing the child and his needs and of helping him get the full value of his school course. TREATMENT OF GROUPS OR CLASSES OF CHILDREN The second phase of the visiting teacher's activities has grown out of the need her acquaintance with the children has shown. It is work with groups or with the school as a whole, in contrast to the intensive study of individuals. It has been made possible only because of the experimental character of the work and because of the attitude of the Public Education Association, that the work should be allowed to develop as the situation in a particular school or district indicated as desirable. It has taken the form, first, of clubs and classes, formed pri- marily as a means of working out specific problems with individual children, but including, besides, pupils not otherwise in the care of the visiting teacher. The membership in these clubs is small and is chosen on the basis of the need of the child for the specific activity provided. The records of past years show the following groups gathered together to supply supplementary activity or special assistance in school work; dramatic, gymnastic, basket- ball, knitting, sewing, reading and library clubs, dancing classes, excursions and study hours. Furthermore, various experiments have been made at the soli- citation or with the cooperation of the principals, experiments attempted because of more general and perhaps more universal needs among school children, and undertaken with a purpose of linking up with the children the activities of outside agencies working for the welfare of the child in the community and also of extending the function of the school itself. These have taken the form of housekeeping classes for girls in the lower grades, clubs to estabHsh a social relationship between older and younger pupils, clinical examination and treatment and 8 special diet for mal-nourished children, mental examination of retarded groups, lectures at parents' meetings and in teachers' conferences, and work in forming school and neighborhood asso- ciations. The material thus gathered and the demonstration made by the visiting teacher have been used in the various schools as a basis for the extension of fresh air, ungraded or industrial classes, the wider use of the school plant, and the introduction of the school lunch. It is a recognition of the social needs of children that has brought to the visiting teacher a demand for this sort of service. Its extent is bounded only by the limits of time and human effort, and will be wider when the school plans for a social service department as a part of its organization. The success of social work in the school depends in large measure upon the relationship the visitor is able to establish. Cooperating with the School It is, of course, essential that the visiting teacher should have a well-defined official standing in a school as a member of the staff, but she could never work out her plans for the children under her care by the force of any authority she might be given over them or over the teachers. She can be effective in a school only as she can make the teachers realize that she understands their problems and that if her work is primarily to help the children and give them fuller opportunity, that help must be given in such a way that it will be felt as an assistance, not a hindrance in the classroom and in the principal's office. Freed from the routine requirements that beset the class teacher at every turn, with her program of work so flexible that it can be changed to meet the day's needs, and most important of all, dealing with individuals instead of large masses, the visit- ing teacher has an unusual opportunity to give, valuable service in a school, both from the point of view of the individual children whom she can help and of the principal who can use in his ad- ministration the facts about social conditions, agencies for child welfare and special needs of school children that are brought to his notice by such a visitor. The children with whom the visiting teacher is working do not fall definitely into one or another of the classifications described in the foregoing pages, but each case may present more than one problem and may require more than one kind of treatment for its successful solution. The following accounts, taken from the case records of the visiting teachers, present in concrete form the need which exists in the school for this kind of interpretative work, and the method and procedure of those now attempting it. ILLUSTRATIVE CASES I The story of Giovanetta Marlella* shows the value to the child and to the school of an extended supervision. Cases are often continued throughout several years and sometimes do not cease when the school passes them on to work or to higher educational institutions. Giovanetta was reported to the "visitor" from the fifth grade for "disorder." On making the child's acquaintance, the visiting teacher found her the oldest girl in a very large family, with a rather delicate and very foreign mother who gave most of the responsibility of the younger children and of the housekeeping to this thirteen-year-old daughter. The father was hard-working, but autocratic in his family, inclined to be brutal if opposed, though proud and ambitious for his children. Giovanetta's behavior was very evidently an adolescent mani- festation, and a transfer to a special class in another school not only wrought the change in her manners but gave her the inspira- tion for education which has kept her in school past her sixteenth birthday with the ambition to graduate from high school. The difficulties besetting her way were not all settled when her temporary restlessness was over. The visiting teacher followed her to the new school and kept in close touch with her teachers and with her progress. During the last year in elementary school, one of the teachers complained that she was cheating in her lessons The visiting teacher objected to the term, insisting that if Giovanetta was dishonest, there was some emergency at home that was making the preparation of lessons impossible. Investiga- tion revealed that a well-meaning friend, knowing that gradua- tion was coming and that a dress and shoes must be bought, had offered the child a chance to work after school. She was waiting on table and washing dishes from 5 to 9.30 P. M., after which she went home and tried vainly to get her lessons for the next day. Help was given her for the graduation outfit, some tutoring was provided and she w^as also granted a scholarship to make possible the high school course she was looking forward to with rapt en- thusiasm. All through her first year in high school she came to the visiting teacher for frequent conferences. The teachers were visited and help was given her in the selection of her courses of study. When * All names are fictitious. 10 her mid-term marks were discouragingly low, special tutoring was provided through volunteer help, and work in the country for the summer was secured. For four years now this girl has been known to the visiting teacher, who has been all that time her "adviser" in school affairs. II The story of Ben illustrates the value of long-continued work on a case and intensive study of the treatment necessary for boys of similar temperament. Ben, ten years old, reported for bad conduct, had been in a gang of young thieves, three of whom had been sent to an institution. The principal suspected that the boy might have chorea, for his conduct in the classroom was so uncontrolled. His teachers believed him to be irrational and were quite worn out by his dis- orderly behavior. His mother told the principal that she was almost distracted by the boy's wildness and that she thought nothing would cure him but poisoning. The visiting teacher recorded, after a careful study and observation of the child: "excitable, friendly, talkative, full of initiative, intelligent, keen observation, good retentive memory, suggestible. Demands constant excitement. Is fond of lessons but seems extremely nervous and high-strung." An examination by a neurologist revealed a highly neurotic condition, for which electric treatment was recommended and also care in a convalescent home in the country, if the boy showed some effort toward control. The doctor talked with Ben about his conduct and he was quite able to grasp the idea of his need for self-control. He was much interested in suggestions made at the hospital and soon went to the country with promises of good behavior. There he proved to be very difficult and was sent home before his time was up. He was greatly disappointed since he had been very happy at the home and had enjoyed the out-of-door life and the regular hours. In a few days he wrote such an appealing letter to the admission committee that they decided to readmit him, and soon, through the visiting teacher's help, the child returned for two more months of country care. Ben gave no trouble this time and came back quite a different boy, both at school and at home, where his mother marvelled at his good manners and helpfulness. Connection was reestablished at the clinic so that he could be kept under treatment, and the visitor followed the child's progress at school. Toward the end of the term, however, reports of troublesome conduct began again, but the teacher added that Ben had an unusual capacity for work and that he accomplished more in the morning's session than any other boy in the grade. Principal, teacher and visiting teacher decided that if the latter could pro- II vide a suitable and safe place for Ben to spend his afternoons, he should be excused from attending the afternoon session at school. A settlement roof garden offered the opportunity for quiet and fresh air from one to three o'clock, and, on the half-time plan, the boy finished the school year successfully and was sent to the country again for the summer. The following September, before his return to the city, the visiting teacher was consulted, and instead of having Ben enter school, she had him placed in a private institution in the country where boys of the neurotic type are given special care and train- ing. After nine months in this boarding school he returned to the city and re-entered public school, where he is now able to take his place with the other pupils. A "Big Brother" has adopted Ben and is cooperating with the visiting teacher to develop new interests and habits. By this method of careful study and supervision he has been helped through a very crit- ical and unstable period and as far as the result of the care given him can be estimated, it has saved him from the life of a gangster and is making of him a useful citizen. Ill The case of William C. illustrates one of the phases of what is termed "personal supervision." School often holds more for a child than he has ever realized, and when the opportunities al- ready open to him are made available in the school and the com- munity, by the friendly ofBces of the visitor, the results are felt all along the line. William, 15 years old, was reported to the visiting teacher several times for various reasons. The teacher was discouraged with him because he was overage and retarded. WiUiam him- self came to ask about leaving school and going to work, and his mother complained that the children were all very disrespectful to her owing to their father's bad treatment of her. The mother, it seemed, had been insane, and the children had been placed in a Home at one time while she was in an asylum. She was still restless and erratic and WiUiam felt very unhappy and wished to get work so that he would no longer be dependent upon his parents. A tutor was found for the boy and the interest of the rector and parish visitor of his church was enHsted ; he was placed by them in a Boy Scout group. The financial pressure was relieved by securing him a scholarship so that he could feel that he was making his contribution to the family budget. The family was also given some financial assistance through interested friends. At promotion time he became a member of a class that was working especially on the formation of habits in which the psy- chology of habit forming was explained in a simple way, and the children were stimulated by their group association to under- take some definite training along certain prescribed lines. 12 The results of these combined efforts were gratifying. William lost his sullen manner and became friendly and happy in school and much more respectful and obedient at home. His school work has improved remarkably and during the year he has covered the work of the 6th and 7th grades. IV Sadie C. was getting a bad reputation in the school till the visit- ing teacher was asked to find out her home conditions. Her record shows how neighbors, parents of other school children, often give most valuable co5peration. Sadie was a bright blue-eyed girl of nine years. She had an abundance of yellow hair and a captivating smile. She was naturally polite and full of energy. She was reported to the visiting teacher from the second grade because she came to school in a very dishevelled condition, with her hair partly fastened up in a knot, her face often dirty, and her clothes tied on with strings or bits of ribbon. She was also found asleep at her desk many times during school hours. No one was at home at the first visit, and the report came to the visiting teacher that the mother was working at a distance from home. At promotion time Sadie went to a teacher who took little interest in the home conditions of her pupils, but the child was sent to the visitor in the hope of "bringing up her work." In the meantime the neighbors began reporting to the visiting teacher that she was being cruelly neglected and was on the street until late at night and that the father was drinking very hard and sending the child to the saloon for beer. The father had neg- lected to leave money for the child to use for her luncheon at school, as he was expected to do, so she sometimes went without food at noon and told the visitor that frequently there was nothing at home for supper and that all she had was a piece of pie given her by a baker in the neighborhood. The visiting teacher finally found the mother, who was em- ployed as a cook in a boarding house several miles from home, with such long hours of work that it was impossible for her to go home. She was often away for two weeks at a time and supposed that the father was giving Sadie good care. The visiting teacher found him lying on the floor intoxicated one morning, and she never called that she did not find on the table a large pail of fresh beer, which he generally drained during her visit. The house was in fairly good condition, but there was only one bed in the rear room where Sadie must have slept with her father. Finally, the mother made arrangements so that she could return home every other night and in the meantime hunt for other work. The father was cautioned to see that Sadie was in the house by nine o'clock and also that she had better food. He seemed very 13 fond of the child and, when he was sober, tried to do his duty by her. Arrangements were made for her to have money for her lunches. The visiting teacher taught her how to arrange her hair and gave her hair ribbons and a suitable dress or two, and inspected her often. A tutor was provided for her in arithmetic through a nearby settlement, and other afternoons of the week were arranged for in various ways so that the child could have wholesome occupation and activity. The librarian around the corner was interested in her and helped her in the selection of books. She joined a club at the settlement for games and story- telling and she was finally admitted to the gymnasium, when the visiting teacher provided shoes and proper clothing. She was radiant with delight over the work in the gymnasium and pleased the teacher exceedingly. A kindly neighbor also cooperated in the child's behalf and made her welcome whenever her parents were away. Sadie is a changed girl, both in the classroom and outside. She brings her "perfect" papers to the visiting teacher and is so happy that she cannot contain herself. The dark circles have disappeared from under her eyes, she is happy and alert and has made her grade. The teacher is surprised at the change in the child, for she was prejudiced against her at first on account of her indifference and her slovenly appearance. She has had thorough attention given her teeth, which were in bad condition, and her general health seems very good, as her exuberant spirits indicate. The father is now at work regularly and the mother is at home. A visiting teacher needs to understand different peoples, the traditions they bring with them from their own countries, and the avenues of common interest by which they can be approached. This is illustrated by the case of Angelina, cited in the introduc- tion, and also by that of Anna. Her story indicates, too, the need of forming the acquaintance of the child in the early years of school and of giving her freedom enough so that her natural interests and aptitudes may be understood. Anna's chief failures were in arithmetic and grammar. The grammar was perhaps especially difficult for one who also studied her parents' Bohemian, and grammar, too, is the chief stumbling block in the eighth grade. Anna herself was quite sure that it was the barrier to all further education. " Oh ! I knew in 8A by my grammar that I was not smart enough for high school," she said, and in her last year decided to go to trade school, where she chose the course that would keep her longest. Moreover she planned to follow it by another in book- keeping, "because it is useful," though in her double period of arithmetic she betrayed to the watchful visiting teacher, in spite of her Bohemian reserve, a decided contempt for the public school 14 drill in percentage and interest and a constant questioning as to the end of it all. The teachers had little patience with Anna's inarticulateness and unresponsiveness. "She surely could overcome her shyness and recite if she knew her lessons," they said, and no one in the school became acquainted with the real Anna and her thoughts. At last the opportunity to give help came to the visiting teacher and Anna with three other Bohemian girls was placed in a group for after-school tutoring in English work. They had an enthu- siastic and charming tutor who read or told them stories which they reproduced. She was gradually able to break down the crust of reserve and her reports on the child were illuminating. "She is quick to get the idea in a story and gives it back well. She is very intelligent and thoughtful, quite remarkably so, and she surely ought to go on to high school." This capable, highly imaginative girl has had little to stimulate her to expression during her school years, because the formal character of the school work was not calculated to overcome her natural reserve or to encourage the independence of thought which is a racial characteristic. As a consequence no one re- membered to look back of her silence and unresponsiveness, and no one understood her till she was placed in a freer atmosphere. THE RECORD FORMS A facsimile of the record form used by the visiting teachers is given on pages 15 to 18, with an actual case record filled out, which tells its own story. This sheet has been evolved as a result of the many years of experience of the visiting teacher staff. It affords space for enter- ing the data which have proved to be necessary in all ordinary cases with as little labor as is consistent with thoroughness. Its form is that of a sheet folded to a 5 x 8 fihng size. For field work, it is carried in a loose leaf book, so arranged that entries can be readily made on it, not only when the case is taken up but also while it is in progress, as new information is gathered or special action is taken. At the termination of work on a case it is filed in a 5 x 8 cabinet and serves as a folder, holding sup- plementary history sheets or correspondence relevant to the case. For this reason the items for identification — the name, address, etc. — are so entered at the side of page 3 as to head the sheet when filed. The data are arranged in the order in which they are usually obtained. The first page provides for facts that the visitor can find out by conferences with the teachers and by consulting the 15 X . SOURCE OF AND REASON FOR INQUIRY IP ij 1. REPORTED BV : (wrMo d«t« In ippropriate column.) Rlpr.d E '''"'^"^ Teecher Parent Neighbor Attendsnce Officer Nurse r o i • •7- 1 (»)Flrrt 3-\a-\il (b) Second ^.. (e) Third CD -O 2. REASON GIVEN ; (ch«ck In appropriate column." re Times Reported Scholarship Conduct Attendance Lateness (») FIrrt •^ •X- (b) SecoiRc: i » H 1 -5 (c) Third St«t«fl«rt muJ* : ft) »>Va'i %^ cR IJtwVaaV »W\ «SLaM , V4.VMX4 \o »*>0r«^ i E W OwiL'^YttuM WJV\Ju 5;,9,ot»y-. c • («) SCHOOL RECORD, MENTAL AND PHYSICAL CONDITION • 3. BIRTH: Date b-'3-0O pi.c, Vj.^.^. RACE: W, /b. Y. 3 (9 4. SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS SCHOOL RECORD : (Entar «IgnHIe»ntf»ct» only) a. (OSchooUttterwled: N.Y. — /V\. — M EUcwher*: GndM J A jj » i, Q Gr»de» Termi In c •» (MRepMted: * A - *+ A-M- O (e) SklppwJ : (d) SpeeUil el«M« t O - 3v»%©« , s iO ■E 1 T 1 ,^ , . .. :^ (f) Conduct: A-rt'^-*- (e) AtUndtneo : Av»«A^«. O^0«evv<«. <> <^OA • V(A ecutVv \i;;;^w« . 1 (h) Uittnn* : a c ■ t I 1 i S 5. DETAILS OF CONTEMPORARY SCHOOL RECORD WHERE NEEDED ^ c Gnde Dde Present Effort Profld- ency Abt Late Cond. D«l)el*nt In E (.) v^ a-K ^ B o l(V B (b) - 3-i4 lb •^ ^% o c ^e.ora^. >< (e) •• fW TS 13 2 o ■b HCiSVu -^«OQ. (d) £ oi,-/- 13 ■ft o lb A ^ 1 • (.)E f.-* (^^5p f\^4 \-& A V3 o o ra f,i yQ V\^»4 13 r^ B o A (nU/1 ;i.\5 IT r^ fi o o i3 (1) L\^ 3»V JLo A R o o A -o (i) •■ 6. MENTAL CONDITION :f.)Br(sM Slow OuU D.f«tl„ (b) Sourorof InfomMtten : 7. PHYSICAL CONDITION :(.) O»o«rtm«nt of HmW. 1 V'>8«CV» - '" 3-'l3 "Tc^iVrT <3\. M-3o.i4 T««\Vr yectiu^^vxa oJClCCVitG^ - (b) Other Informetlon 1 FACSIMILE OF PAGE I OF THE RECORD FORM, SHOWING AT THE RIGHT THE IDEN- TIFICATION MATERIAL ENTERED ON PAGE 3, WHICH COMES AT THE TOP WHEN THE RECORD IS FILED AS A FOLDER. IN FIELD WORK IT IS CARRIED UPRIGHT, AS ABOVE, IN A LOOSE-LEAF BOOK. ACTUAL SIZE 5x8 INCHES 3 . i6 ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES 8. PARENTS :(») Place o< birth :-F. O^A*^- V).*t>/\ • W Y«»r» I" 0- S. s '0) Sp««k» Enjll»h-F. M. (rl) Religion. F. 'Y^, M. 'P. 9. ATTITUDE OF HOUSEHOLD TOWARD CHILD ' Kvv\^- rVo-tiuA. ct. J\- JV\o^Vvt>^ -tytafrCe^ c. fcov»^Vo/»^*"> <:V«V%«>«'. -f' *^*-t/,y»C\ 10. ATTITUDE OF HOUSEHOLD TOWARD SCHOOL : V^OAreJ^A-*^ • . (S boA.- Vi\'\\/lJ'Xvv\aft - 0<>rM^ >poor- I?. DETAILED INFORMATION CONCERNING PARENTS AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY WHEN NECESSARY OR DESIRABLE : Namea and OeBtf Not L ' vin t ■AjF- 0«tu OccupatJon or other Irrformrtion— In^oat* n uikat li uiin t} II ) iK t K kuuUhit IJ w ' ^ofTM by O. Relationship to Child at Home iil THwvku » \-oj,V< ^ ^atArtT -'tV ^tM«^ iU ff^a.Tu-N\ovt^ .^~Jyir>»gS b. •' i^l^toL. ^ 'r W- t3 •Ps 7T iai- ^ vXnrrXiuy 4tt- 'WoiSvM.J^^^ ^ ^c^ s (h) f^ 13. NEIGHBORHOOD INFLUENCES . Ur H. SOCIAL AGENCIES CONNECTED Wif H CASE : Atprtsent: CV>A*8, anu»»rn»rM^'t\M. ^OC^ U;04^ ygitwtvwc. JVlitiliCa^ e^feu4<^ O- *s: Vno<,V\«/jtoo.Va\< yvxVgJt.'g<^oi >^ o\V ^**- ^ ^^a Qj-» V.ovv.t> - 'V>ru^ AxO^acft o^' hows ft- £r^_ ~Wa44x4 Cui/yvN^XM^ \s.r' ■ Eiourt'ona Country outlnga y Financ ,al relief ^^Xxt^ A<^C>%C»^ • J1v%>^>\ feftrU KuXi^ ~ OtUTti Care of heel'.h QgAl.\t5 I" ^ W!^e>\VaSv C»->rpan«d without the aid of viclting teacher.) (a) Pfwrtjted a (b)Utback (e) Graduated (d1 Trade aeho ni fa^ Left city (f) OtJief P. F. Of pgrochhil Sch. (g; employment certificate or equnralent FJNAL ESTIMATE I f3. CASE NOT SUITABLE : (Give rfe44 - 'V Hu<- -O Vt.) *^!c!kc«\ >ncXaAtvL^>Met\\ 20. MEASURES FOUND EFFECTIVE. "Jw^tmAjL ^fci^ftAr QtC^ avy - ^tJ(1< Vti vsv^ gf. TO WKAT sxTEffT AOJusTeo'^m\?vwc^«->vr- iKV\tfK>vta4 [.l^t^Sl. -fa ^ »i<\ m Cgw\r^\ n A \ FACSIMILE OF PAGE 3 OF VISITING TEACHER RECORD i8 NUMBER OF ITty lUd. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION ScAx^rgA W'^ \Y^\t/><^a^ *s l1v*(^ gj ^SiusUeur vU Kg<|3V»vq q. 3->4 »<(!. cgvvVy«\. " bo*^ vuWdft 1^. V>-rpuAV\V- U* V-T >trrVC<,^ »Te3\ ^«rr jLtyya^- .uAni^h \V\eort. \xj6A Qg yg*;*^ ^»W\A. Jp-^ »>*>t - t^. Vytvu^Yvu.^ Us ^.cAqaa u>V\iwfV sVvg^ V\a^ Quj-1^ 'wo"Vro\»)cSg- .3r» unrff^wtAQ ft^ V»gw\^. 1^0(\W boLr«T\V»" \Ta«X\-v\aA. \p ».->i\]iwtofevtt.v\tg. • KcxL V>e«->\ u,v\A<.r ^\4 coly<- o\- veVVe^ <>yA^ Xs^'SVCC- 0V» Q/e,ftOU,v i^ Ol. .<^JA^YY>A\vv\<^ 3 |l1-i4 AI. S^wV* W O^^UmJ^ . *VV\ov\C«< -^ttV C^OMjU oJUkx^nC^kI. ^ Wsli'i '/V. -Se^h IS- «^«>^^v-*^ -rc YWvA \>^

f<4aaX \>t^ Vtftr ||\\«^9\cA Qt>.i/v% . ff. >Y\tA<^ encuXfeA a>o»'u.V hir<^> awA. av\tYwo\& ^W ViOil A>*^ ■ Ek U Yt.\\a\6\\vVo>V\ov\ 'la.vtN . V>Nm>e.V vvAe ^-Ytrirw^ S^\a\ /?SY\\'-^ 'T^;>L \nt^ >re\.v^(^ oy<^-.-at;«^ . ViT \;rt\gv<.troX 9>.Sl?ftfV>«>> gxsJL <\v -2- VtivVai. v>o*> £.\«J-. Mw^ys WW*v«- Ca^^v^V** g\\a^^g.^. \/e.r>4 >WcV> A.C>co.v\. U&oKt ley , ft. Q-V-ov^g %Ai M^r&.M. xAigv^\- u>\\V- VT. \o dt«y«.vivV^. ShaXbAkiA, om V^tY ^(ultv^^ >o" >o eaK<^r"M^ Q. y^>;r<^ . W.H Qa \o »>,<<)^vrer. t-Vtg- \«K»\<» fc\*<>/vt o //•Vyft-V^H t** ^cU. "^gy^-Kx coe^C CUuiflcation of Cat* Sept. Oct. Ooc. Jan. Feb. Mch. Apr. May June ACTIVE, • • / -/ INACTIVE SPECIAL VI9ITIN0 TCaCHCR** nCCORO, FUBLIC COUCATIbN ASSOCIATION Or NCW YORK CITY, «ai«.tSia FACSIMILE OF PAGE 4 OF VISITING TEACHER RECORD 19 school record card. On the second page are recorded family and neighborhood statistics, ending with details about the child him- self, which are to be entered only after a long acquaintance with him. Then follows, on the third page, a record of the treatment given in school, in the home and through outside agencies and also an opportunity to indicate special effort on the child's part. The last topics on this page, "Fundamental Difficulties," "Measures Found Effective" and "To What Extent Adjusted," serve two purposes: first, to summarize the work on each case for the year's record, and second, to enable the visitor to analyze frequently her method and procedure and secure an increasing consciousness of the varying phases of the problem. The last page provides a history sheet on which, by a cross reference sys- tem, items on the preceding pages may be amplified or additional comment or information recorded. Besides its value as a con- venient medium for working on a case, the form does, in a measure, set a standard of efficiency and thoroughness, since its topics sug- gest information to be gathered and possible action to be taken in dealing with the child. The work of the visiting teacher in the schools has of necessity a spiritual quality, which makes it difficult to assess its value, and yet the need of standardization becomes more manifest with the extension of the service. Such a record form as that adopted by the visiting teacher staff of the Public Education Association must be regarded as a useful adap- table instrument, not as a measuring rod for each case ; that is there can be no arbitrary rules prescribed regarding the topics to be filled out in each instance. It forms a very suggestive guide for a visitor beginning the work, and in the hands of a director who understands the possibilities and the limitations of visiting teacher service, it is a most valuable means of estimating the efficiency and the resourcefulness of the members of the stafif. PART II ANALYSIS OF CASES REPORTED IN 1913-14 In the following pages, comprising the second section of the report, a closer analysis is made of the 926 regular cases under the supervision of the visiting teachers during 1913-1914. The regular cases are those reported for the reasons given in the following pages. They present a problem which must be studied by extended observation of the child and by careful investigation of home and environmental conditions, and solved with the co- operation of the parents, the teachers and representatives of out- side agencies. Such cases are held for an indefinite period, usu- ally not less than one term and often through two. These are not the only pupils with whom the visitors worked during the year, however. In addition they have always had brought to their notice for advice many children whom they have not counted as cases at all, or whom they have listed as unsuitable or unnecessary. As their acquaintance in the schools increased this phase of the service was recognized as a legitimate feature and it assumed such proportions that it was decided to record children so reported and group them under the head of "special," or what the hospital social service terms "short service" cases, to distinguish them from the intensive or regular cases. The visiting teacher is asked for some very specific piece of information about such cases, or she helps bring about some slight or temporary adjustment. Little investigation is required and no following up, since the question involved is one of very immediate procedure, or information which will enlighten the school as to the best method of treatment. Such cases include children taken up to place in clubs and classes, or homes visited to acquaint the parents with the value of fresh air, industrial or ungraded classes within the school, or to advise them in regard to opportunities for further education or trade training. They are not held under supervision after the immediate difficulty is adjusted, unless they are found to need longer continued treat- ment, when they are entered as regular cases. The visiting 20 21 teachers have decided to keep these cases separately listed be- cause they represent a distinct phase of the work, that of social adviser to the school and the children. In this capacity the visitor's services have often been used by principals and teachers, and will become increasingly valuable as she makes herself felt as an integral part of the school and neighborhood. There were 896 of these special cases during 1913-14. The school year is taken as the unit of work, and all cases are closed at the end of June. A large proportion of the children, however, are kept under informal supervision, though not re- corded, during the following year, the number increasing as the visiting teacher's acquaintance in the school grows. Some of these cases show the need of more intensive work as the year progresses, and they are then put on the regular list, when they become known as reopened cases as distinct from new cases, which are those never before treated by the visitor.* In the following analysis a statement is first given of the reasons for which the 926 cases were reported to the visiting teachers. A series of comparisons follows, based on the 676 cases reported to the visitor for one reason only. The reasons for reporting are studied in relation to the conditions found, the action taken or treatment given, the circumstances which made adjustment difficult and the measures which seemed to have been the most valuable in effecting improvement. REASONS FOR REPORTING In Table I the entire 926 cases are enumerated according to sex and the reasons for which they were referred to the visiting teacher. The gross totals of this table are summarized in Table II. It will be noted that the 676 cases reported for one reason only constitute by far the largest group, 73 per cent of the total. This does not necessarily mean, however, that such cases were less difficult to adjust or that they were less complex than those reported for more than one reason. The number of reasons specified in reporting a case to the visiting teacher depends largely upon the teacher or the principal and the emphasis which is given to the problem of the class room as compared with other possible causes of maladjustment. Sometimes the reaction of the school to the child is all that is reported to the visiting * See Part III, page 69. 22 TABLE I,— SEX AND REASON FOR INVESTIGATION IN THE 926 CASES REPORTED FOR ALL REASONS Sex Reason for Investigation Boys Girls Total Reported for One Reason Only: Conduct below standard Scholarship below standard Irregular attendance Ill-health Adverse home conditions Lateness Other reasons 57 36 21 21 15 2 l8 127 131 89 73 47 12 27 184 167 no 94 62 14 45 Total Reported for One Reason 170 506 676 Reported for Two Reasons: Scholarship and conduct Scholarship and attendance Scholarship and ill-health Scholarship and home conditions Scholarship and lateness Conduct and attendance Conduct and lateness Conduct and home conditions Conduct and ill-health Attendance and home conditions Attendance and lateness Attendance and ill-health Home conditions and health 29 ID 7 4 2 3 I I I 3 4 3 2 40 23 19 9 4 12 3 3 I 12 6 9 8 69 33 26 13 6 15 4 4 2 15 ID 12 ID Total Reported for Two Reasons 70 149 219 Reported for Three or Four Reasons: Scholarship, conduct and attendance Scholarship, conduct and home conditions Scholarship, attendance and lateness Scholarship, conduct and health Scholarship, attendance and home conditions Scholarship, conduct and lateness Scholarship, attendance and health Scholarship, home conditions and health Conduct, attendance and lateness Attendance, home conditions and health Scholarship, conduct, attendance and lateness Scholarship, attendance, lateness and home conditions 6 2 I I I I 2 2 4 2 2 I I 3 I I 8 4 5 3 2 I I I 3 I I I Total Reported for Three and Four Reasons 12 19 31 Grand Total 252 674 926 23 teacher. For instance, "John is irregular, or tardy, or disor- derly, or deficient in his lessons" will be the message given. It may be that John was also suffering from spinal trouble or con- sorting with a gang or taking care of a sick baby or working after school in a sweat-shop, but the teacher's statement attempted no diagnosis of any difficulty other than that shown directly in the class room. On the other hand, the report may be more detailed and may call attention to more than mere school difficulties. For example, "Tony comes to school late every day and so dirty TABLE II.— SUMMARY OF TABLE I.— NUMBER OF BOYS AND GIRLS REPORTED FOR ONE OR MORE REASONS Sex Reported for I Reason Reported for 2 Reasons Reported for 3 or 4 Reasons Total Number of Children No. % No. % No. % No. % Boys Girls 170 506 67-5 75-1 70 149 27.8 22.1 12 19 4-7 2.8 252 674 100 100 Total 676 73-0 219 23-7 31 3-3 926 100 GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF PERCENTAGES IN TABLE 11, SHOWING NUMBER OF BOYS AND GIRLS REPORTED FOR ONE OR MORE REASONS Boys Girls mzi TOTAL One Beason Two Reasons Three or Four Beasons □ that I am sure he helps his father in the coal cellar. He does not prepare his home work and says that he has no time to study. Will you find out the conditions at home and try to get some help for him?" Some of the suppositions in this case may be substan- tiated by facts and some may prove to have no foundation, and the case may be no more difficult than the first cited. While the table also shows that the girls largely outnumber the boys, 674 as against 252, this is not significant, because the schools in which the visiting teachers were working were all girls' 24 O < O CD > O CD o < ss i—iM ei ^W ^< WW ^£ H^ Sm go I oi ug m^ H o < < o o o ^ o o o J t-N h« »-* < H o H . CT> lO "^ O P( rO vO Z fO20 ^ r>. q- q^ a) (/3 f o'-5 •OK c < o d r- m - z ^ \q qv q o j: d fo CO HH -M H < O I— t (A i d Z invo w a ►■^ CO" in > •-* i-M z t— 1 u o OJ 00 00 vO u. 03 C ^ in (jv 00 Cfi Z O C/5 <; u 1) Pi < d Z &5 fO PO O 4-" -73 " rO lO ^^15 fOC) o o^ n O c): d Z o o CO ON NH NN 0) S5 d 00 •^ ^ t^ CO O C) i" ^ rt Scholai belo Stand d Z 8:; co X J U < O! CQO o 25 schools having boys in the primary grades only, with the excep- tion of one in which there were girls in the primary department only and one which was mixed through the sixth grade. The 45 cases listed in Table I under "Other Reasons" were re- ported for difficulties so varied that they do not readily admit of classification. They may, however, be grouped under the fol- lowing heads: Needing supplementary activity or recreation 9 Request from school for family history, for mental examination or for report on previous school history of newly admitted pupil 8 Desirous of further education or trade training 6 Needing encouragement and sympathy 5 Unable to secure employment after graduation or with em- ployment certificate 3 Unable to secure employment 3 Child working illegally 2 Desirous of transfer to cripple class in other public school 2 Request from child for help 2 Old case reopened by visiting teacher for supervision, no com- plaint I To admit to school I Parents dissatisfied with school I Case transferred from other visiting teacher i Wishing help to get newsboys' license i Total 45 In Table III a further analysis is made of the reasons for in- vestigation. It is shown how many times each of the five princi- pal reasons for which children are reported to the visiting teacher appears in the 926 cases. Because of the fact that many of the children were reported for more than one reason, the total num- ber of reasons cited in the table is naturally greater than the total number of children, that is, 1164 as against 926. The per- centages are reckoned on the number of reasons. GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF PERCENTAGES IN TABLE III, SHOWING NUMBER OF TIMES THE VARIOUS REASONS FOR INVESTIGATION OCCURRED BY SEX IN THE CASES REFERRED Boys Girls TOTAL "^^^ssznmum wtm '/ / ////m'JM WM///m Scholarship Conduct Attendance 111 Health Home Conditions Lateness HD Scholarship appears most frequently, 341 times, or 29.3 per cent of the total; conduct follows, 298 times, or 25.6 per cent; 26 attendance, 217 times, or 18.6 per cent; ill-health, 151 times, or 13 per cent; adverse home conditions, 112 times, or 9.6 per cent; and lateness, 45 times, or 3.9 per cent. The proportion of boys and girls reported for scholarship is nearly equal, 30.4 per cent boys to 28.9 per cent girls. On the other hand, 31.3 per cent of the reasons for which boys were re- ferred was for conduct, while the percentage of girls under this heading is 23.3 per cent. Irregular attendance, ill-health and adverse home conditions put more girls than boys under visiting teacher care. The percentages are: irregular attendance, 19.8 as against 15.8; ill-health, 13.9, as against 10.6; home conditions, 10.2, as against 8.2. The higher percentage of irregular atten- dance among girls may seem surprising at first because of the fact that truancy is more prevalent among boys than among girls- The visiting teacher, however, is not dealing primarily with prob- lems of technical non-attendance or truancy, and consequently the irregularity indicated in these figures has in many cases a social cause. The little girl of eight who stayed at home fre- quently to wait on her sick mother and to help a blind aunt with the washing is a case in point. Mothers carrying on some tene- ment industry to supplement their meager income, or at work outside, leaving little children to be cared for by older sisters, the restlessness of the retarded girl for whom school holds no at- traction and the ills of adolescence explain some of these cases. The slightly higher percentage shown by the girls for ill-health and adverse home conditions is probably to be explained by the fact that girls share the household burden earlier than boys and their school progress suffers from it more severely. COMPARATIVE TABLES In comparing the reasons for investigation given when report- ing the cases with the conditions found upon investigation, the action taken or treatment given, the circumstances which made adjustment difficult, and the measures which seemed to have been the most valuable in effecting improvement, it was thought best to use only the 676 cases reported for one reason, not merely be- cause the task of comparison would be too complex if the cases reported for more than one reason were included, but because when more than one reason is given it is usually found that one of the reasons holds the key to the situation, the others being only secondary in importance or dependent upon that one. Scholarship, 27 conduct and attendance, for example, are generally affected by health and by the conditions under which the child is living. For these reasons the 676 cases reported for one reason only were regarded as constituting a group with characteristics typical of the entire 926. Before presenting these comparative tables it has been thought advisable to set forth with percentages in Table IV that portion of Table I which deals with these cases. It will be noted that, in the order of frequency, scholarship and conduct exchange the places they held in Table III. Conduct instead of scholarship leads, with 184 cases; scholarship follows with 167 cases; ir- regular attendance, with no; ill-health, with 94; adverse home conditions, with 62; lateness, with 14; and other reasons, with 45-* GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF PERCENTAGES IN TABLE IV, SHOWING SEX AND REASON FOR INVESTIGATION Boya Girls TOT.&I — ■— m^y/y^//yyim. Conduct Wk. Attendance ^Horae Conditions flUD Scholarship ^ 111 Health S Lateness 1^ Other Reasons □ In the first four comparative tables, Nos. V, VI, VII and VIII, an attempt has been made to find out whether the visiting teachers were dealing with a cross-section of their schools, com- prising all types of children, or whether the group that came under their supervision was a limited one, consisting of certain peculiar types only. While it is obvious that the group was selected to some extent, because children are not reported to the visiting teacher unless they present some special problem, the aim of the tables is to discover whether there was a marked tendency to draw these children continuously from certain particular groups only, such as the over-age, at-age or under-age groups, whether the children tended to drift into the visiting teachers' hands at one age more than another, or from certain grades more than others, or whether the difficulties were more numerous and more acute among the foreign children than among those of American parentage. * A detailed enumeration of cases under this head is given on page 25. 28 ^ o o Q J o o >-^ < H O H 6 o ^ o t-. o r^ 1- \n O kO O ro o C/) &~-- d lo o u C q; O t- ;/) ^ rt O '^ c^; 6 CO t^ lo 2:; -< (N ^ tn ^ f) t q en " CN oJ C a> -J 6 M 0) -i- 2 t-^ o S in (U O ^ CO ro 00 d^ dv t. r- • — 2 0) c.t; O "31 = < o 6 m f^ M U Z " Tj- o O H uo rj- --1- q a ^ ^M «S -f -i- 2 03 a -C o ^ 6 « rO -1- 1^ ■"^ 2 cs t^ Cn tfi 2 o m V "f-^. CO < a 65 (N t-^ O Di ^ s u -^ 6 CH C\ O < Ct Xi a. HH CV *> :s . ^ 65 w lO -t holars below tanda: Ol f) r< 6 2; O " I^ CO CO o "? " PJ J-- -a k > t 3 S 03 6? CO UO r^ CO M p< O J2 rt d 2 t^ t^ -J- H- 1 co XI tn in ceo < H O X O H Q Pi < O u en < U en ^< o ca 5 CD C < o I o < CD < Total 65 o o o o o o o o H^ HH hH t-H o o o c d CO O lO lO CO o ro - CO < r c U3 6-5 r^ d> d lo HH t-H hH PI in 00 dv d 2 00 COVO "0 CO " 00 -too t o m 01 1) < < 65 O 00 wd : : COVO coco CO rl- 1-1 r^ CO CO • • 00 00 " -t- < > O 65 lOlOlOvO 4 d< cn •+ lO Cvl 00 00 M 00 00 "' lO CO d 2 CO CO "- H- CO CO ct -1- (. ^ :^ a < 3 Regular ( Visiting Teacher cases Classes \ School cases Special J Visiting Teacher cases Classes \ School cases ToTAL / Visiting Teacher cases \ School cases 29 Age-Grade Distribution Table V gives a comparison of the general age-grade distribu- tion in the eight schools as a whole where the visiting teachers were working, with the children who came under the visiting teachers' supervision. Through the courtesy of the City Super- intendent, the Public Education Association was able to use the original figures for each of these schools, but in order to secure comparable data it was necessary to eliminate a number of the visiting teachers' cases, including children whose grades at the end of the school year, June, 1914, after promotion, were not known, children who had been transferred, cases closed before the end of the year — either at the end of the preceding term when the adjustment seemed permanent, or before promotion in June — and finally, children who had been graduated. These factors reduced the total for this table from 676 to 538. GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF PERCENTAGES IN TABLE V, SHOWING AGE-GRADE DISTRIBUTION Regular Classes 7.T. Cases School S-oeclal Classes 7.T. Cases School TOTAL School Wtt^^mamm^^^:^»y./:^>:- :^..,y,.,:, ,.,..\ i C/ver-ig© Si At-j^e ^ Under-AGB Cj It will be noted in this table first that the visiting teacher group of under-age children is much smaller in proportion than in the school at large, 8.2 per cent as against 19.5 per cent; and, second, that the over-age figures show even greater differences in the opposite direction, 58.2 per cent in the visiting teacher group as against 31.8 per cent in the total school. It is signifi- cant that in the percentage of under-age and over-age children from special classes there is little difference between visiting teacher cases and the school at large, while from the regular grades the visiting teachers have fewer under-age children, 7.9 per cent as against 19.7 per cent, and many more over-age chil- dren, 54.5 per cent as against 29.5 per cent. This indicates that the over-age child in the regular grades still constitutes an especially difficult problem. 30 ^ o o o o o o J o o o o o o <; hH hH 1^ hH hH hM o CO r^ vo i-i ON ^o 2; CO ro O rO « t^ H^ CO "-• VO tn kO 00 vq 00 o 00 VO u a 0-- CO vO rO O (N f J3 m O^ d :z; r^ (M -i- O^ ro ID en fe5 CO lO 00 . . q "^ o o 2; \0 lO m • • H t u5 m o fe§ ►^ vq rj-t-^up \d d o\ O H 23: 5 6 1- ^ O CO fe5 On d in a-^d o o ^ "rt »-« 1-^ 1— ( HH HH ►-( to o CT) -^ 6 lO UO VO O -; q CTvoq CO t^ w M ? ca lo pi uS lo uS Tt- Q M tS CO N (N < ^ ? O S «! CO d \0 Tl- 00 00 M •* 1^ CO 1, > O ^ U ^ up up O t^M CO -^ vd CT^ "' r4 (S CO "-I P) N -O 0*0 O J3 rt 6 2 CO J^ t^co '* "* < U-^cJ^ 00 h-4 < 5 "aj" ^ ^ "O ^ ^ % ^ « < o H K 3 3 02 rt o < H O H Oh o c^ 1=);^ O) tn (U (/I F c (u __ ^ *-^ CC *'*^ J2 (C •- o - «_>,^ C'- Q.-0 u: a 3 c ^ 3 ^ « in >- "O .-H CI 2 c 3 -o u ' O (J o. tn iC H J3 OJ flj tn 03 '- ^ 03 "' 5 > g a; tn 4; o! j: .2^ o .3 >^ Cfl t "O ^ en te cfl-aj: ° ** > cfl -M !y cfl aS i^ja 31 Grade and Reasons for Investigation The following percentages, estimated on the basis of the 676 cases reported to the visiting teacher, show that the primary department contributed 27.1 per cent and the grammar grades 49.8 per cent; that the special classes, made up largely of over- age children, totaled less than any of the regular grades, 15.7 per cent; and that the cases from ungraded classes, which are not properly a visiting teacher source of supply, constituted only 4.6 per cent. Children often come to these latter classes from the visitor's hands, but she does not commonly receive cases from them. Grammar Grades Primary Grades Special, C, D, E and Anemic Ungraded Unknown 'dumber Per cent 337 49.8 183 27.1 106 15-7 31 4.6 19 2.8 Total 676 loo.o wmmnmnm Grsamar Or^es Bl Special Class as ^ Priaary ferades ^ U23graa©d GlfiSBea GHO Table VI shows the relation between the reasons for investiga- tion and these grade groups. Percentages are based on the total number in each grade group and, therefore, show the distribution GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF PERCENTAGES IN TABLE VI, SHOWING GRADE AND REASONS FOR INVESTIGATION Primary ^MBBM ^^my^^^^^y^- ^"^ i;!"!!^ Special ^i^^ii^ gi? i As;i^i?^^i&«^J^^^ TOTAL mami^t^i^Bm^mmsm(//////////m)^^^^\\m\\ m \ Conduct ■ Attendance ^ Home Conditions IHJ Scholarship ^ 111 Health ^ Lateness ED Other Reasons □ of difficulties according to grade. They state, for instance, whether attendance cases are frequently reported from special 4 32 classes or whether scholarship difficulties arise most commonly in the first years of school. The highest percentage of difficulties found in the primary grades is in scholarship, which includes one-fourth of all the children, or 25.1 per cent; in the grammar grades it is conduct, which includes 34.5 per cent; and in the special classes it is scholarship again, which includes 35.9 per cent. The figures in the ungraded group are not significant, since scholarship naturally has a different meaning where mentally defective children are concerned. In such cases it indicates that the child's mental capacity for school subjects and the question of special training were taken into special consideration. The fact that the percentage of conduct cases drops in the special classes is interesting because it bears out the opinion of the visitors that, in well-conducted C, D and E classes, the prob- lem of discipline becomes nil, due to the individual appeal to the children and the initiative and freedom allowed. If the grammar grades were again separated in order to find out how the so-called "departmental" — the seventh and eighth- grades — differed from the fifth and sixth grades, the following results would be found : 5th and 6th Number Per cent Conduct 45 27.6 Scholarship 38 23.3 Attendance 29 17.8 Ill-health 21 12.9 Home Conditions 12 7.4 Lateness 4 2.5 Other Reasons 14 8.5 Total 163 loo.o 7th and 8th Number Per cent 72 36 19 14 24 I 8 174 41.4 20.6 II. o 8.0 13.8 0.6 4-6 1 00.0 rifth and Sirth Graaaa ma^^^mmmmm///yy^zpp. Seventh and Slghth Grades WK ^^ I Conduct ■ Attendance Wi Home Conditions w ScholarsUp ^111 Hsailth B Lateness Other Bsssons O 33 The difference in attendance between the fifth and sixth grades and those having the departmental plan is doubtless due largely to the fact that children entering the seventh grade, at which time the law allows them to leave school, are for the most part planning to continue through elementary school and realize that regular attendance is necessary. Adolescent instability and the fact that so many children feel the monotony of academic work, which varies little in its presentation from that of preceding years, is probably responsible for the 41.4 per cent in conduct found in the seventh and eighth grades. Age and Reasons for Investigation In the following classification by age, the first group considered includes children of normal age for the primary grades, from entrance through the fourth grade, that is, from 6 or under to 11 years. The second group holds the children whose ages would place them normally in the grammar grades, between 11 and 15 years, and the remainder those who are much older than a child should be at graduation. The children are here classified by age only without regard to the grades in which they are found. Comparing this table with the preceding one, page 30, it is interesting to note that while 63 per cent of the children reported to the visiting teacher w^ere between the ages of 11 and 15, the normal age for grammar grades, 49.8 per cent only were actually in those grades. The distribution of children according to age groups is as follows: Number Per cent Normal Grammar Age 426 63.0 (11-15) Normal Primary Age 166 24.6 (6-11) Over Normal Grammar Age 75 II. I Unknown 9 1-3 Total 676 1 00.0 11 - 15 years 6 w 11 ysars my/////////A Over 15 years ^ U2itaia??n CH Table VII shows the relation between reasons for investigation and age. In the first age-group, scholarship leads as a reason for i 34 o < O W > O CO O en < W Q Z < w o < w m ^ o o o o o 1 o o o o k-l NN »iH N4 o d 2 vo \0 u-> OS MS O 0) r-» r^ « -t VO u C 0-- vq o q - so vd lo ci m' vd oj o I.H t.H r^ (/) w rt OcS 6 « -t- OS" UO Z ►1 M "^ en fe5 °°. "1" *? • q O-o l-« 1-* < O 6 Z 00 VO 00 • so r/1 > &? o z "3 -; rO (/) CT3 c cr\ in vd >-« sd < "3 ^ I— t ».N 1^ t.H hH u 4J G PC u -m < ^4 tn ? nJ 6^ 00 fO uS ►^ r^ ■^ M rj c< "H M — QJ C O^ 03 d Z 00 OS Os ►"" t^ -G t; ^ OS '- SO HH (Tl +j T) &^ lO up T}- Tj- N W b. h 3 ? 0) t-^ d c^ fO r4 H- rO n CO CI cl3 S o^ 5 d Z OS O --- c Z Z O D o 01 a > 03 o c 35 investigation with a percentage of 28.9. Among the children enumerated in the second group the largest proportion of cases are reported for conduct, 30.5 per cent, which also leads among the children over school age with 29.4 per cent. As to irregular attendance, the 6 to 11 year group shows 19.3 per cent; the 11 to 15 year old group, 15.3 per cent; and the over-age group, 16 per cent. A slightly larger percentage among the youngest children would naturally be expected because parents allow inclement weather, slight indisposition on the part of the child, and also their own convenience to interrupt school attendance in these early years. GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF PERCENTAGES IN TABLE VII, SHOWING AGE AND REASONS FOR INVESTIGATION 6-11 11 - 15 15 and over' *S:^gS5f?^^^g88Sg8^g85 i%%5Wj%*?%:r%'s«ig!«0g{a««« ^s^^^*?s5Swfti%aag{%Kgsg^Hiiiiiiiiiii mm \ llllllllll>lK:a I TOTAL Conduct Scholarship :^;:^>?5^>J%<.^*%^;%a«ga^»g55= mmm 1 Attendance 111 Health Other Heaaons Horae Conditions Lateness □ In the two older age groups the proportion of children reported for adverse home conditions is larger than in the younger group, each of these groups approximating 10 per cent in contrast to the 4.8 per cent in the younger group. The reason for this is prob- ably that poverty and low standards of living do not make their mark so obtrusively on little children, and they are not called upon to share in the family problems to the extent that the older ones are. It is not difficult to dress children from 6 to 11 years in a presentable fashion, and up to that time there is likely to be less demand for their help, either in housework or in productive activity outside the home. The younger children, too, show the highest percentage re- ported for ill-health, 2 1. 1 per cent as against 12.2 per cent for the II to 15 year group, and 5.3 per cent for the over-age group. Many of the children reported for ill-health had probably been absent from school, as among the younger ones slight illnesses are likely to result in non-attendance, which would call the teacher's attention to their physical condition more quickly than 36 either poor scholarship or disorder in class. Investigation on the two latter counts sometimes reveals ill-health as a contributing factor, but it is not often given by the teacher as the reason for studying a child who is misbehaving in class or has fallen behind in scholarship.* Nativity and Reasons for Investigation Native born children were greatly in the majority in 1913-14 and are becoming more so, as reference to the Nativity Table in Part Illf will show. One reason for this is that the visiting teachers are now having reported to them the younger children from families whose older sons and daughters were born on the other side. The general distribution of the children according to nativity was as follows : Child Native Born: Both Parents Native Born One Parent Native Born Both Parents Foreign Born Total Native Born Child Foreign Born Unknown Total Number Per cent III 16.4 31 4.6 308 45-6 450 66.6 173 53 25.6 7.8 676 1 00.0 Native Born V//////////////\ Foreign Bom tWhTiown iZH Two-thirds of the children, or 450, were themselves born in America. By referring back to Part I, page 4, it will be seen that five of the visitors were working in distinctly foreign dis- tricts, so that though general statistics as to the nativity of the entire population were not available, it seems probable that the cases referred to each visitor were fairly representative of the schools as a whole as far as nativity is concerned. Nearly half of the native born children, 45.6 per cent, it will be seen, were of foreign parentage, but it must be remembered that this means * In "Medical Inspection of Schools" by Luther Halsey Gulick and Leonard P. Ayres, page 156, the same fact is noted: that the percentage of physically defective children in the lower grades is decidedly greater than in the upper grades. t See page 72. ?a?a«see*;iSK4d^ 37 not only immigrants who are new arrivals in the United States, but also the old Irish, English and German families who count their residence in this country by decades. The proportion of native born children with American parents was only 16.4 per cent and 4.6 per cent were of mixed parentage. Table VIII compares the reasons for investigation with nativ- ity. In the first group, both parents native born, the numbers follow the same order as the totals at the bottom of the table, which represent the entire number of cases reported for each reason irrespective of nativity: conduct first, 26.1 per cent; then scholarship, 23.4 per cent; then attendance, 22.5 per cent; then ill-health, 16.2 per cent; then home conditions, 8.1 per cent; then lateness, i per cent. GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF PERCENTAGES IN TABLE VIII, SHOWING NATIVITY AND REASONS FOR INVESTIGATION Batlve Bom Foreign Bora TOSAL Conduct B Attendance ^ Home ConditlonB B Scholarship j^ 111 Health ^ Lateness 1^ Other Beaaona O In the second group, one parent native born, scholarship leads with 29 per cent; ill-health next, 22.6 per cent; conduct and attendance next, each 19.4 per cent; and home conditions last, 3.2 per cent. Among children of foreign parentage, the order in the totals is again followed: conduct, 29.9 per cent; scholarship, 24.7 per cent; attendance, 14.6 per cent; ill-health, 13.3 per cent; home conditions, 9.1 per cent; lateness, 2.6 per cent. The foreign born group varies again. Scholarship shows the highest percentage, 26 per cent; conduct next, 23.1 per cent; ill- health, 13.9 per cent; attendance, 13.3 percent; home conditions, 1 1.6 per cent; and then lateness, 2.3 per cent. It will be noted that lateness comes last in every case. There is nothing in these figures to indicate that the foreign born child or the child of foreign born parents offers a more com- plex problem, or one different from that of the American child born of American parents. The proportions for the several reasons under each nativity classification are practically the 38 ^ o o o o o o o (2 o o o o o o o hH »4 HH HM ^H H-t l-H 6 2 ►H « 00 o fO PO \C l-H ro O lO I^ lO t^ « ro -+ •^ \o (C fe5 r>. fee H^ 00 ■^ vO 0) O ri vd ko »o id- dv vd o^ 6 rOCi 00 rO t^ li^ lO Z n '* o in tn C ^ O ri o q 0) 5 ►J o 11 -00 ON 'i- n l>«4 fe in »- ri - ■^ vq tn c< in 4J O ^ 00 t<-> dv 00* HH r4 d» > 1— 1 6 0\ "-1 00 00 o •<4- N oi o :2 cq rO n \o o H b to > J3 &5 vd CS fTJ f^ 4 re "? o ri- CA) "rt i-i r< >-• hH ^H O < 1 6 00 1^ « vO 'i- rf Tj- O ^ 2; i-c ^ o C>) On W m »i o 01 ^ "? '^'^ ON Nd re 00 d ce vd Q < 0) c M H- w c< HH iz; < P::: U 0) 6 2 liOO ID vO PD HH O u -w N ^ r>. N »-t hH »-H ■♦-» ^H t < l-H > 1,^ in ? n) ^ fO d^ ■^ o \d 00 d HH N (S N N N c» C^ H < d 2 o O^ •-1 »n t-l t^ ^ N l^ t-H •* t-H \o 1^ c/) 4J 13 ^ "^ "^ "^ N i-t q M 1-^ w i> h 3 5^ \6 d\d\ 00 re N K. > (N >-< 0) cs fS re N •0 0*0 O o tfl pa d Z 0\vO N r^ O r^ Tf u"^^ < z 1^ > gj a> c lu 2 o O I- tn w ON (S IZ tn 0) O ^ (N f4 ON »-H U. r- • — vO q CO q o ,y > -w " &§ t^ ^ 'i- 00 ^ 2 ^ NH *^ J3 134 o 1 ^ ^ o w 00 ON /^ s 1 < Q ^ ^ d ri- 0) « CD NO v> Ed bo's 4) C ^ «I Oi O bo 6 « ON o >— c HH -M jz; NH H -a < INDI grou] tn ? trj ^ 1 "? 00 r4 O — 15 °-g u en u 2 d NO en ^ < ^ a. b 3 5 j3 ^ d »o >• ro r) (N) ? C oj S- cu o^ « d « rO •* 1 O cJ5 1— t 00 >< H>« 01 N 03 1 o U >j •< =5 >> 4) CO >• § "^^ < ta '- -O T3 H £ > o > o rt u rt w o 41 teacher for conduct below standard, the highest percentage in the table, although 25.8 per cent of those physically defective came to her for the same reason. The defective children show a percentage of 27.5 per cent for poor scholarship as against 18. i per cent for those with no record of illness, and ill-health is given as a reason in 16.8 per cent of the former cases as against 7 per cent of the latter, as would be expected. In Table X, the analysis is carried still further by breaking up the first group of 199 cases, those in which no defect was recorded, into four divisions: cases marked normal by the school doctor, cases never examined by the school doctor, cases with no defects recorded though their cards bear a date of examination, and cases about which no data were available. Considering, first, simply the totals of these groups, without regard to their relation to reasons for investigation, the following percentages based on the entire 676 cases were obtained: Cases having Record of Defects Cases having no Record of Defects: Marked Normal by School Doctor Never Examined by School Doctor Dated, but having no Record No Data Available Total having no Record of Defects Total Number 477 43 61 42 53 199 676 Per cent 70.6 6.4 9.0 6.2 7.8 29.4 1 00.0 Eeeord- of Defects Ko Becord of Defects d It will be noted that the children marked normal by the De- partment of Health were only 6.4 per cent of the entire number, that there were 9 per cent who had not been examined and 6.2 per cent more whose cards were dated but who had no other record of examination. The children represented in Table X, with the exception of those marked normal, in the first group, are those about whose physical condition nothing definite is known, consequently a comparison of percentages will reveal little that is significant or about which conclusions can be drawn. Conduct has the highest percentage among the normal children, among those with no record, and among those about whom nothing was known. The 42 fe5 c c c c h3 c c g H^ km H^ *H NH H 6 ron H-i r/j On •* Tf'sO 10 ON 't q^f^ CO £5 w' C) ri- d d 0) o "" (S HH o^ d IC i-i rC « z o U2 ^ • "l"^ • "? H in (1) ■ oJ rc ■ < O ^H nj ^ -J Z ; « N r^ tJ > -c in O) 0) O &? \C OMO N »-^ FOR IN ly recorde >-> >-i 1.; r^ f^' •z. o H 0) c.t! > o-a "OS c ^ ;5 b.H l-H M »-l ^ , O H en 2 ic m t^ r^ cAi ■« Z -u U] x: VvO ro q N CO q O « C/5 O > o o-^ d^ r4od po r4 < <« u tJ ~ d ^ ^\n^ "+ Pi >i: b "-< Z •^ a> O in Q -a •6: c ^ d < Kr < "3 fs r^ « m >-< CM DO Id U. OJ ^ 1 Ci d O^ t^ 0\0 j_^ < Z ^^ ■* H Q. OND f grou tc ^ nj ^ ro r^ f^ q p-i -< . t^ C/} (J ^ V- 3 > rt -0 "C d ri d\ -^ d >: cd <^ Tj-- fO rr> ffi "^ cu 0^2 d POOO (N 00 h^ l_ Z HH H-l HN l-H NC d x' « w bo J c8 OQ z Q. < i_7 H Q > (4 u H .J < OS c y rt ijf3 .J c Sx •0^80 fe 'U OJ c < 0) S H C oJZZU) 43 children whose records indicated that they had never had a physical examination in school were reported most frequently for irregular attendance, and the children in the normal group were reported more often than any others for ill-health, though the percentage, 9.3, is very little higher than that of the other groups. GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF PERCENTAGES IN TABLE X, SHOWING PHYSICAL CONDITION AND REASON FOR INVESTIGATION Ho Defects Becorded ^i^^Mm^^B^mmmKm^bmim/yy^^i^yyyyAi^^mm \smM: HO Becord at all f^ ^^Bmm^mmsimmi^m:^^^m^^mM\\m\M Condtict ■ Attendance ^ Home Conditions ^ Scholarship @ 111 Health ^ Lateness "^ Other Reasons dJ In Table XI are listed under the several reasons for investiga- tion the physical defects found in the 477 children so reported. It will be noted that the total number of specific defects reported for these children was 721. Percentages were not reckoned because they would not be sig- nificant on account of the small numbers. It is interesting to note the general similarity of the distribution of defects among the children reported for conduct, scholarship and attendance below standard, and for ill-health, for it emphasizes once more the need of regarding the child's health as his equipment for life, and of making sure that he has that equipment as far as it is possible before he is sent to undertake school duties. Cases are not reported to the visiting teachers for physical defects which come within the province of the nurse and the doctor to treat. This explains why the children with defective vision, nasal breathing or enlarged tonsils were not grouped under the "ill-health" heading. The number of children with defective teeth for which dental care had not been given is also significant. Fully half of each group of cases is checked under this head, and when the digestive disturbances that dental caries brings with it are remembered, to say nothing of the restlessness, broken sleep and nervous irri- tability that aching teeth cause, one can readily believe that it may be a fundamental reason for unsatisfactory school response on the part of the 350 children affected. The number of cardiac cases, 17, or 2.5 per cent, seems rather formidable in a group not 44 o < O H W > go in "- <: " w^ ^^ <-§ C| >— t > Q a ^ I O £ J o > a Oh 1/5 r^ OvvO ■* O VD ic •^ « N C< N N • Ov On tn OJ C o in a> o IC • irjlO • • . ■ IC • f^ • 10 00 H •< > 0:5 ... . ,/, . . 10 < o 1/5 u u j: > •M z "(3 N N \0 C» 10\0 fC W5 « '-* w »c \o K-4 0) HH ►^ ►-10 "I to « 1 ^M o in Z o en »— 1 0) < fC N r^'O »-<\0*"'t^ O*^"^!^ N Id ►-* . >o « hH C +-' 1— 1 -M < a ■JB. -P holars below tanda t^ •<* "i- . CS N « «*r»5»/5« lor^ ■<*• ^N hH ^H ^ f 0^ PI On U {/) m +j -o nduc elow ndar . fC" re*'*'-' 1-100 On r^ J3 S ^ U^ bt> CO 0) •0 o c -c en EO) 4) ^73 " n3 ^^ en 3 5 ^ cfl 03 •n'g .s:i~ ii 0.2 S 3 1^ ^c u OU.rttnCJp-r3i.C_y-5t;fcS •^ rt tn c^^u 0-^-5wi2 Vxi .«2-< N <» in >o \C) r^ fo r^ CM " P» ■o tn ^-^ I^ vO t^ ^ u C Opj o ii~^ >0 ri- 00 10 vd 0(2 d »o "l- Tfcvj >o i2; ►- CN 'S- -^ en fe? °. ° c» . o < O tn C 0) ►J N Tt w • cm" d 2 10 ■* \ri ■ H en > o 1 < o H en M a; o ^ « 00 1- CM 6\ d 2 CM Cz< (d J= ^•^ ■M r4od a\ M •* ^ 2: "cfl HH M M M ^ 1) 1 , < o in ov \o •* ■* '"' 2; ■*« CM cn Z QJ Q o u u &? r>. ^ <> 10 ro t^ CM 2 < = 45 4) C t-H H-t HH CM < U >U d G\ -^ ^00 S 5 < C^" '^j- H^ .£- ^ .? fCup t«p J^ fe tn ? nj CN CM CM PO CM >• d VO 10 1-CM rN. r7 '^ +J VO CM vo H. 1^ C/) < *J T3 0^ ^ 'I' '^. *~r CM to U ^ u 00 dv 10 ub r~^ 1 CM f* CM CM CM 1^ -0 o-o Oj3 rt t-4 d ino o> •* X ^ ;2: t^ fo f^ 00 W PQ 1 t E .S d s E 00 S en > c/5 c c 13 c J3 to « a 4; 5- IS — , *''° c 1) < 1 SS2-, < (-J (U 03 5 c 0) en .;::»— tn •— V en Hen D 47 from an abnormal home and that the school's responsibilities increase wherever poverty or social ills are most prevalent. A broad classification of the children according to the status of their homes was found to be as follows : Number Per cen Socially and Economically Incomplete Socially and Economically Complete To Some Extent Abnormal Unknown Total 278 261 102 35 676 41. 1 38.6 15-1 5.2 1 00. 1 '.yyyyyyyyyTTT^ J Inconiplete ]■ Complete ^ Abnormal ^ nntoiown en A family is regarded as socially and economically complete when the father is employed outside the home and the mother is at home keeping house and looking after the children. A fam- ily is regarded as socially and economically incomplete when either parent is dead or not living at home, when the father is unemployed, or when the mother is employed outside the home. The middle group holds those families in which there is either an economic or social condition which is potentially, at least, a dis- advantage to the child, such as the employment of one or both parents at gainful occupations in the home or the fact that the father or mother is a step-parent. In these cases, the ab- normal conditions are either not as acute or not actively adverse. It will be noted that the two extreme groups are of practically the same proportion. Since the cases in the middle group tend to drop into the lower rather than the upper division, however, it would be safe to conclude that the larger proportion of the children referred to the visitors come from poor or socially abnormal homes. Table XII shows the distribution of cases reported for various reasons under each of these broad heads. GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF PERCENTAGES IN TABLE XII, SHOWING FAMILY STATUS AND REASON FOR INVESTIGATION Cootpleta Partly ihnormal Incomplet* TOEAL %S%<*ss;»»>»S8ss:s;kc^:,' Conduct Scholarship Attendance lU Health ^ Other Reaaona O Hoae Conditions nnTTl Lateness 48 In the first two groups, the reasons for investigation follow the same order of frequency — conduct, scholarship, ill-health, atten- dance, adverse home conditions and lateness — and vary little from the order of frequency of the cases arranged irrespective of such family status, as shown in the totals at the bottom of the table. Children coming from incomplete or abnormal homes were reported most often for conduct, next for scholarship, and then for irregular attendance, instead of ill-health, as in the other two groups. "Adverse Home Conditions" stands fourth. Comparing the figures from another angle, 25.3 per cent of the children from normal families, 23 per cent from abnormal, and 24.5 per cent from the middle group were reported for scholar- ship, and 28.7 per cent from the first group, 29.4 per cent from the middle and 25.2 per cent from the last were reported for conduct. There is more variation in the three groups, however, in regard to the extent of adverse home conditions. Of children from normal homes, 6.1 per cent were reported for this reason; from abnormal homes, 14.4 per cent; and from those in families where conditions were somewhat adverse, 5.8 per cent. The higher percentage from abnormal homes is logical, but the fact that even in that group home difficulties were not more often cited as the reason for turning the case over to the visiting teachers shows that in his school relations the child did not appear strikingly different in this respect from his fellows. Of the first group, again, 17.2 per cent were reported for ill- health; of the middle group, 18.6 per cent; and of the third, 9.4 per cent. If there had been noticeable differences in the stan- dards of living of the three groups, or if the children had been reported chiefly for relief, correction or for social adjustments, it seems as if there should have been more marked difference in these figures. It m-ay be, however, that the standards of living were so low in the neighborhoods where the visiting teachers were working that the gap between the families just above and those just below the poverty line was not appreciable, or that the difficulties with which the visitors were confronted required treatment from the educational as well as from the sociological standpoint. Treatment of Case and Reasons for Investigation Several important questions arise in regard to the treatment of the case: When the child is reported for scholarship is the 49 school the agency asked to cooperate? If John is giving trouble in conduct, does the treatment secured by the visiting teacher con- sist of some action at home? What agencies help in making Mary regular in her attendance? In short, how far must the whole child in all phases of his activity be considered if his diffi- culty is to be met by the school? There were in all 1615 adjustments for the 676 children, the general distribution of which was as follows: Number Per cent Modification through Outside Agencies 633 39.2 Modification at Home 531 32.9 Modification in School 451 27.9 Total 1615 loo.o V //// ///////////////A I Outside Agenoiea Hcbb© HB School O In the treatment of cases, the school, home and agencies for child welfare were all called upon in many instances. Coopera- tion was obtained most frequently from outside agencies, in 39.2 per cent of the cases; from the home next often, in 32.9 per cent of the cases; and finally from the schools, in 27.9 per cent of the cases. Besides these children, regarding whom definite action was taken as summarized under the above headings, there were children whose difficulties were adjusted by the visiting teacher alone. These cases are included under the topic "Visiting Teacher Supervision" in Table XV, which deals with measures found elifective. In some instances, for example, the needs of the children were met when their environment and their capacity and interests in out-of-school affairs were explained to the teach- ers. Such cases, though quite as essential and often more fruit- ful in terms of school progress, do not appear in Table XIII. There was also another group of cases which seemed to require little actual intervention either by the school, home or outside agency — those in which the difficulty lay in the relation between the child and the school. The child may have been unhappy and repressed, ambitionless and inert, or in need of the spur of friendly criticism or approval. In such cases the cause of mutual under- standing is often best served through the help of a neutral agency like the visiting teacher herself. 50 Where modifications in the school are designated, it may mean a change in class or school, special interest shown by teachers, or cooperation from other school officials. The latter include prin- cipals and assistants, district superintendents, attendance officers and school nurses or doctors. The modifications within the home mean that the parents have been willing to cooperate when the needs of the child were brought to their attention. They may have consulted physicians, sent the child to a hospital, allowed him to be placed in a special class, given him help in lessons at home or secured coaching for him. They may have given more supervision to him outside of school, provided a suitable place for him to study or to play, moved into a better neighborhood or into a more sanitary dwell- ing, or shown by their attitude toward the child or the school that they were studying the problem more closely and had obtained a more helpful and sympathetic point of view. The group designated "outside agencies" includes activities provided or treatment secured through cooperating social agen- cies. There follows a classified list of the groups of individuals and types of agencies which cooperated with the visiting teachers during the year 1913-14 in the adjustment of the problems pre- sented to them: 1. Public Schools: School Teachers and Principals Parents' Associations Teachers' Organizations Local School Boards District Superintendents 2. Local Neighborhood and Other Agencies: Churches Settlements Neighborhood Organizations Libraries Scholarship Committees Individual Social Workers Employment Agencies 3. City Departments: Department of Education Department of Health Department of Labor Police Department Tenement House Commission 4. Agencies for Relief and Correction: Relief Agencies Convalescent Homes Orphanages Reformatories Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Juvenile Court Probation Association 51 Health Agencies: Dispensaries Hospitals District Nurses Psychological Clinics Educational Institutions other than Public Schools: Hunter College City College Teachers College Pratt Institute New York University Manhattan Trade School Clara de Hirsch School Exiucational Alliance Private Schools In some cases many agencies worked together to secure the wel- fare and school progress of one child. In such instances the func- tion of the visiting teacher is to correlate the work of the agencies in order that waste and overlapping may not delay action or make the effort of particular organizations futile. Especially is the visiting teacher needed as a social representative of the school, to emphasize the educational needs of the child and the school point of view, on the one hand, and to help interpret to the school the policy and function of the child welfare agencies on the other. Table XIII shows the relation between the reasons given for investigation and the action taken as above indicated. It will be noted that modifications at school seem to have been made most frequently in instances of poor conduct, in 34 per cent of the cases. There then follow in order: poor scholarship, in 27.7 per cent of the cases; irregular attendance, in 15.3 per cent of the cases; ill-health, in 10.2 per cent of the cases; home conditions, in 8.2 per cent of the cases; and lateness, in 1.3 per cent of the cases, thus following the frequency of the undistributed totals at the bottom of the table. In the home, cooperation was also given most frequently for poor conduct, in 37.9 per cent of the cases. Then followed: scholarship, in 22.2 per cent of the cases; ill-health, in 11.5 per cent of the cases; irregular attendance, in 11.4 per cent of the cases; adverse home conditions, in 9 per cent of the cases; and lateness, in 6 per cent of the cases. The group referred for help to outside agencies shows 25.4 per cent under poor scholarship, 24.8 per cent under conduct below standard, 17. i per cent under ill-health, 14.7 per cent under irregular attendance and 11.8 per cent under adverse home con- 52 o < O CD > o in Z O in < Q (V 03 in ^ h < c U cu H Z W H < Pi 1 m < o o o o <: O l^ o o o o >-< t-H 1^ •-< HM h-i rO lO H d lO rO rO hH Z ■*iiO VO VO (« ^ r-oq N q 1- c 0) o rO CO iO ■^ O^ d lO^O ^o 't ^ « « CO vO (« ^ CO q q l^ 4) w o •-< 04 C 0) -t-> , 03 o VO P^ \o ^ J Z CO •* (« 4) O cj q 00 O ^ 00 CT^ « d 1 1— t 0) b:5 •"* ►-H H :2K c d t^OO lO o o CO "* t^ H C/) > j2 ■M S5 N m "-1 d •-<' t-^ CO CO Z "cS »-t HH H-( h^ c> cri 1 d 'O 1-1 00 in O ^ ^-O o b HH h^ 0) CO i 03 C fe5 CO n- t--. lod ^ CO <: 3 ^ H^ 1— 1 ■(-) 0) < Cfi ? Oj ^ q 04 0) OI M 03 ^— r-" i-^s d lOOO w Th r) 1— KO O CD ►-I l-H hH rt- y :> b 3 P 03 &? O ON 00 vq co CO M CO ci3 5 O j3 o! d COi-i t^ f^ U^cJ) lO 4> IS '<" +J a 3 m O < U s o P 5 S !«-nj5 U c c c ^ .2.9.9 en +J .M -*-• 4> < M 03 03 cd t; H H Modific Modific Modific agenc O H 53 ditions. The percentages under ill-health and adverse home con- ditions are larger in this group than in either of the others, but, as a whole, the figures show that the visiting teachers attempted to get co5peration in the home and the school on all difficulties and that they also tried to make possible for children additional opportunities through outside agencies. GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF PERCENTAGES IN TABLE XIII, SHOWING TREAT- MENT OF CASE AND REASONS FOR INVESTIGATION School Home O-atsido Agsncisa TOTAL Conduct Scholarship >rt«!6%iKSS»«8«8gi888% %%%<<^i&>»«:'!g808»R« mmn Attendance ^ 111 Health ^ Other Reasons □ Home Conditions OHID Lateness Reference to Table XIV, where the various modifications se- cured under each type of case can be noted, will further emphasize this point. In this table, in which a more detailed enumeration of these measures is given, separate percentages have not been reckoned because of the small numbers involved. The distribu- tion is, however, rather interesting as showing the means tried by the visiting teachers in the attempted adjustment, the coopera- tion given by the school and the home, and the types of activity provided through outside agencies. The number under "Care of Health" is exceptionally large because of the special study of health already referred to, which is treated in the appendix. Fundamental Difficulties and Reasons for Investigation In her effort to find out what influences are shaping the lives of the children under her care and to take back to the teacher a picture that will help in the treatment, not only of the particular pupil concerned but also of others whose environment is similar, the visiting teacher studies the varying factors in the home and neighborhood, and tries to understand and estimate the attitude and the point of view of the parents and to find out how well- equipped the child himself is for the battle of life. In summing up her work on each case, moreover, the visitor asks herself which of the conditions found have been most instrumental in causing the difficulty, or in hindering the necessary adjustment. 54 z o MH H < O H c/^ Ll) > 2 HH Pi t3 11 o u l^ -J u a> I/) tn /^. +J o c 01 if) < E w rt (^ ii -M 2 o < ^ w 03 en ■*-• < C U o -M fc (J Pi o Wh O tn u 03 01 Q < W W Di V 1 > M-l X w J CQ < H :^ IC t^iO^O IX) t^t^tr>\Dao <-i O t^ ^ -^ r*^ t^ ID H t^ r^ PI N lo (^ w KH vo «C -< ro N M O lO « tX) rj- O 00 .OOt^'tfC^vO O H < < o >-4 HH WW H _ M 1-1 l-l H U tfl U} JS > -M z "rt t» O N r^ On N'+r^ M IC-t^t^OfCO \r> •-H oj t-H hH m . (N >- uo HH OS X 1 N o tn o »-H tu i- tj 03 C t/! -r 03 < f*5 •* >-i tM^ r>.^o>r^oo w \o re N to t>. o- t^ u ■-I H MM >-i >-i >-< w M CN) l-H Di N C -tJ 1— 1 -^ < a •^ . -H holars below tanda 00 r^ r^oo On '-NOOvO'-i OfSOOOiOrf ■-I- C4 « rO c^ u^rj- 1-1 rr^HHCsw^Tt O "* tj c/5 CO -u -O nduc elow .ndar rj ii t^ t^vo On •* C^ N •* lONO M o iz: o < Pi Q < W H U I— < b Q ^ o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o !-»•-< >-< HH HH t-H HH HH 6 >/:> >-i 00 ^o CTvvq . "poo . . q (U ^ do • fO re • • N C QJ ■!-> , o W M -vO 00 • • t^ ^ hH tn tn D O ^. ^ _ r^ r^^_ •* &? •"^ d ! a^ ■* uo ! r^ w (N < O l-H H 6 l-l • TO "-• • in in U >• 4-» ^ vq ■^ vD o q q i/j r^ oj ch d^ •^ "* 2; "cS ro " t-i l-H c5 J3 d 2; r) •+ M \o o vo l-l o o ""^ M O l-l 01 ts b •"^ l-H C/5 ^ Tj- l-l VO M " MD 00 i-I c^' vd d lo i vq lO < "3 "J M CS 0) P) l-H d 00 Ov 1- lO (S l-l VO l-H -l-l < l-l l-l "^ ^ IH 1—1 U5 ? C3 ^ FT) c» r^ <:^ roo q f>i d^ POO f^ "+ 'i- Tf ts CS " O r) O^ 03 d l-l O 0\ OS I^ N ii ON 0\ irj (M lO CO '^ o CO 4-. -O CJ t, u 3 ? rt ^ \q D m (u o r. < O d TfOO •- ■-00 0) ►- H c^ > en ^ pi rri c< d >-<' Z c h— 1 od d 2; rO ■*00 >-i fS o b 03 (fi 0) o 00 fc o q \q CD ^ d -o 00 \d vd o 2; o «3 e:5 1— > o-a < W 3^ S d "" 00 r-. 1-^ r>i Q > S? 00 t>.00 •* lO fO "-' oo' r4 t-^ Z "c5 l-> M C» < O C/5 J= > HH d :2; i^mo vo 00 ►1 1- ro ■* H U en 03 C &5 d ub to o" lo W «5! "3 « HH h-« N- « hH hH W o U Cii d fo o (N r>.^ 1— 1 -M < ;z: ►H r) lo (N M cn ^ cfl &5 re CN CS "CO 2 d invo 1- vo ir> o CO ;z; Tj- rOOO (S ro D CA) O -M T3 ^ >o q» -:t "-co o ^ u ci 00 lo 00 oo' C/5 rO s 4) TJ X 3 ti u C e (o 3 «3 0) o J* "5 a, nj c o ^ 5U d •O :o (U o m ^ ^ c/)(i,>u !z; 63 helped through the cooperation of outside agencies. The largest percentage there falls under ill-health, 27.4 per cent; then comes conduct, 18. 1 per cent; then home conditions and irregular at- tendance, 16 per cent each; and then scholarship, 15.4 per cent. In the last group, comprising 106 cases in which nothing that was attempted in the way of adjustment seemed efifective, those which had been reported for scholarship and conduct show the highest percentage, 33.3 per cent in the one instance and 28.3 per cent in the other, followed by irregular attendance, 15 per cent. This suggests that there was found in such children either a serious unfitness for present school conditions or an active lack of interest in school work. Many of these cases were of long dura- tion and had entailed much effort on the part of the visitor and of other individuals and agencies, and, in spite of that effort, could not be accounted successfully adjusted nor even markedly improved at the end of the year. Other children left school before definite action could be taken: 13 left the city, 24 went to other schools or secured employment certificates, making a total of 37 who were removed from school before the end of the year. Some cases were reported so late in the year that little action could be taken concerning them. These children, if they still remained in school, would be visited again at the beginning of the next school year. In such cases a cumulative effect is often noted, and unexpected and rather sudden results are sometimes shown after months of unproductive effort. The cases described below illustrate a few of these children whose difficulties were unadjusted. Anselma Martone* was the fifth in the family of ten. Two older children had been adjudged feeble-minded, and one had been placed through the effort of the visiting teacher in an insti- tution on account of her moral delinquency. Anselma had been under the care of the visiting teacher for part of the preceding year, had had several physical defects corrected and had been recommended for an ungraded class for high grade girls, where she was placed at the beginning of the next school year. She was seriously retarded and extremely unstable in behavior, though a very responsive child, easily appealed to through her affections and desire to please, and very confiding, all of which traits, combined with the debased home surroundings, an early sexual experience and familiarity with her older sister's irregularities, made her future a very doubtful one. * The names are fictitious. 64 There was much improvement during the year, but not enough for the visitor to feel that any permanent adjustment could be made except through the removal of the child from her environ- ment. Attempts to place her even temporarily during the sum- mer were not successful. At this point the year's record closed, and Anselma was listed with the io6 cases for whom no measures were found really effective. It may now be added that later developments brought the child under the care of the Juvenile Court and placed her in a small Home, where she will be safely cared for for some years. Walter Brigham and Stella Goldstein* were peculiar children, the former an intelligent boy of 12, who had a most thorough- going incapacity for learning the sound values of letters or words. Asked what letters he recognized in child, he would answer that he heard g, o and p, or something equally irrelevant. Stella was a peculiar looking girl, very short for her 13 years, but with normal facial and shoulder development for her age. She was much retarded, had no companions, was exceedingly untruthful and was reported as a problem in conduct to the visit- ing teacher. Both of these children needed careful mental examination and recommendations for treatment in some special class for dealing with just such problems. Neither of them were feeble-minded children, but both were maladjusted to present school condi- tions, and though special coaching, opportunity for club and class work and care of health were attempted for both, the results were not encouraging because the difficulty was not removed. In two other cases there were such serious economic or social conditions in the family that no permanent adjustment was possible. In one there figured a brutal father, an ignorant mother and a basement home so dark that the visitor did not recognize the children whom she saw there and did not know for months that one little child was a cripple. Tuberculosis, unem- ployment, flower making and inadequate relief were the insur- mountable obstacles in the other, though work had been con- tinued on this case for several years. An analysis of the entire number of cases would tell much the same story. Here again the close inter-relation of all activities concerned with the school child or his family is shown and the need of a com- mon purpose and a conscious plan of cooperation on the part of the schools and the community is emphasized. The education of the child for the fullest, most effective and purposeful participation in community life should be the aim of * The names are fictitious. 65 all agencies dealing with him, and when the school opens its doors wide and the community gives its support and assistance in carrying out the highest ideals of those responsible for educa- tion, then this common purpose and plan of cooperation will be assured. SUMMARY The children who impress their teachers as needing special care, not because of truancy or acute delinquency, but because they are falling behind in scholarship, are growing restless at school restrictions or irregular in their attendance or show indi- cations that their home conditions are adverse, are the visiting teacher's "cases." These cases, it is shown by the tables, are chiefly recruited from the ranks of the over-age and retarded children, the majority of whom come from homes in which conditions are socially or economically adverse. A very large proportion of them have some physical defect, ranging in seriousness from dental trouble to heart disease, and many of them have more than one such ill. In 191 1, of 230,243 school children examined, 72.3 per cent were reported as requir- ing treatment, so it is very probable that the visiting teachers' percentage is no larger than that of the total school population.* However that may be, the figures emphasize once more the acuteness of the problem and point to the need of a recognition on the part of those responsible for the education and for the health of school children, of the inter-relation between mental and physical equipment and capacity. While the comparison of the reasons for which cases were re- ported with the various conditions found, action taken and funda- mental difficulties reveals some significant facts, as a rule there seems to be little definite relationship between them. Poor scholarship, for instance, may be related to a variety of condi- tions. In one instance the child may be foreign born and in another native born ; or he may be physically normal or defective ; or his family may be below the poverty line or in comfortable circumstances. The treatment that proved efficacious may have been definite help in school work or the opportunity for play or care of health, and the fundamental difficulty is not *" Medical Inspection of Schools, " Ayres and Gulick, Chapter IV, page 40. 66 invariably school maladjustment any more than it is always lack of family cooperation. This will not be a matter of surprise to those who have been for years nearest the problem. It supports the thesis of the visiting teachers that there is need for a study of the "whole child," his interests, his activities and the conditions surrounding him at school, at home and at play, of personal work with him, and for an effective and close correlation of agencies dealing with school children, so that there may be teamwork in their behalf. The data considered in the foregoing tables are of a two-fold nature, but of equal value in such a study as is here presented. The conditions found in the course of the investigation of each case, as set forth in Tables I to XIV inclusive, are stable facts, immediately reducible to statistical form. The conclusions drawn from these conditions, on the other hand, included in Tables XV and XVI, while presented in statistical form, consti- tute the interpretation of the facts, and are actually opinions formed from a study of the child in the school, the home and the outside environment and a consideration of the effect of any action taken in the attempt to adjust the difficulty. In the last two tables, therefore, a consensus of opinion is expressed and a composite statement made concerning certain definite phases of visiting teacher work. According to this statement, responsibility for the difficulties must be shared by the school and the home alike and in about even ratio, but more successful measures of adjustment were made possible through the home than through the school and more through outside agencies than through any other means. The reason for this fact and for the still larger number of cases in which adjustment was brought about by the personal influence which the visitors' friendly relationship and understanding of the child were able to exert over him and his family may be explained in several ways. Under the present school organization it is quite impossible for radical modification to be made in the routine of a child's day, whatever the circumstances. He may be transferred to another class which better meets his need; he may be excused from school if his physical condition is such that his health requires it; occasionally it is possible to give him special coaching, to promote him to a higher grade on trial or to place him in a lower class to repeat his work; but for recreational and 67 play activities, excursions and less formal classes it is still neces- sary to look to outside agencies, working after school hours. It is often these accessories that the child needs — special lessons in drawing to encourage attendance and to stimulate inter- est in school work, vigorous play as a safety valve to bubbling spirits, housekeeping or sewing classes or dramatic clubs to counteract the monotony of the classroom. Some time all these things will be available within the school, but until they are there is room for all the help that outside organizations can give, and the more closely their work is related to the needs of indi- vidual children the more effective it will be. The place of what is called "visiting teacher supervision" in making adjustments has been explained in another section of the report.* That is also due in large measure to the same cause, and points to the need for a more informal relationship between the child and school ofiticials. FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS OF THE WORK The visiting teacher is more or less isolated in her position in the school system. She stands between the home and the school, but since her object is the school progress of the child, she must, as time goes on, set her roots deeper within the classroom or within the school walls. As the work grows, there will prove to be more need for this centralization, both to increase the effectiveness of the work of the visitor and because of the larger contribution that can thus be made toward the school's social efficiency. The school is recognizing more and more its social place in the community and its social responsibility toward its children. Social centers, the school lunch, after-school clubs and classes, school surveys, and the vocational experiments which are being made are all manifestations of this growing tendency. The next step forward seems to many to be the organization of these and other social activities in a department of Social Service which shall be a recognized feature of each school. Visi- tors to the homes of school children will work closely with the director of this department, who will be one of the principal's assistants. All social activities, whether within the classroom or supplementary to the work of the school, will be in close con- tact with this department and will work through it. All social * See page 60. 68 relationships, whether parent or student organizations or the informal association made by parents or visitors from churches, settlements, relief or correctional agencies, will be made through a social director, not at all to limit them to that department but that through it they may function more effectively in the school at large. Such a plan will eventually mean changes in organiza- tion, in the opportunities for social training offered by colleges and training schools and in the requirements demanded by those teachers seeking administrative positions in the school system, but all these changes are real and constructive requirements which, for a long time, educators have been advocating and toward which the educational systems of the country have been moving. The visiting teacher's work is only one of the humanizing and socializing movements which will make the school of the future a real "Alma Mater" to its students. PART III VISITING TEACHER WORK, 1911-1915 As no report of the Visiting Teacher work has been issued since 191 1, the statistics for 1912-13, 1913-14, and 1914-15 have been arranged in comparative tables, following as closely as possible the topics used in the annual report for 1911-12, in order to pro- vide a basis for comparison with that year. The figures from the latter report have also been incorporated in the tables wherever the material is parallel. Since the work of the visiting teachers has been in the nature of a pioneer undertaking, there have been many changes from year to year in the data required and in the form of report used, as the essential elements of the service were better understood. The method of recording the facts gathered has also been sub- jected to many modifications and is not even yet regarded as fixed. The results are the product of the experience of all the workers. It is this process of evolution which is responsible for the discrepancies in the following pages, for the lines along which the work of the various years runs are not always parallel, and in some instances are not comparable. It was felt, however, that it would be worth while to attempt a comparative statement for the work of these four years, in order that a general view of the development of the work along broad fundamental lines might be secured. In 1911-12 there were seven visiting teachers on the staff of the Public Education Association and their cases numbered 1157. In 1912-13 there were nine visitors, each working in a single school, located in eight school districts. The number of regular cases under their supervision was 1396. In 1913-14 there were seven visiting teachers at work for the entire ten months and one other for the first term only, from September 13th to February 1st. The work for this year may be divided in the following way : There were 926 regular cases under supervision, of which 694 were new and 232 were old cases reopened. There were, besides, 69 70 OS On ^ N N q Ovvq 00 VD 00 >-< N • d lO lO ID M ►-< >- 00 On N t^ 00 O t— t 1 On On 1 ^ lo "* q t~^ o < X Z o f— 1 H < O H CD > O O CD < 1 d 12: 00 1-1 rri •^vO fOOM-i 'd-Ov CO04 (N 01 OS OS 1 On ^ q q q q q rf) cfs ds fO d ; d ;5 . lOfC "* -NO h-t > W < ( ( f ( I c I *• y i< 1- c c t 1 * c t « t p 5 ■H ■H a! 3 H H n I) >• 5 n z; d Scholarship below standard Conduct below standard Irregular attendance Lateness Other reasons * u o s o Si OJ :/) +J n c rn I l-l 0) 3 oi tao ou= *.*-< cfl o jC u -M J3 e 3 C 1 , ii r1 OJ -1 -o +-> c CJ n (Tl c OJ 45 S 4-» 3 f/T O o 4-» +j OJ c J3 nT3 -n 3 o O c ^ o ^ rn o C o 0) •l-l 03 Cfi Q. bfi 03 3 -M <-t-l C o u 11 3 a 9-^ 0) < -Q * -n (J j: ^ 71 896 special cases. In former years, as already pointed out,* special cases had not been as fully recorded. In 1914-15, the staff comprised eight workers, one acting in an administrative capacity and seven continuing the school work. There were 1086 regular cases and 793 special cases. The percentages in the following comparative tables have been reckoned on the actual number of cases under supervision during the year. This number does not equal the sum of the cases checked under each classification, because the topics are not mutually exclusive, except in Table XVIII, dealing with the nativity of the parent and the child. This method was followed because it was felt that the percentages were more significant if based on the gross totals in each instance. The purpose is to indicate what proportion of the total number of children reported is found under each topic, and since the cases overlap, the totals must be disregarded. REASONS FOR INVESTIGATION Table XVII shows the number of children reported for each of the five principal reasons in each of the four years. From year to year the problem in the various schools shifts somewhat, and since the visiting teachers' work is not prescribed beforehand, but follows along lines indicated by the children's needs, it will be noted that the reasons for which cases are reported to her show varying proportions. Formerly, the children who were referred to the visiting teachers for reasons other than difficulties in scholarship, conduct, attendance and lateness were listed under the general head, "advice and information needed." In the last two years more definitive terms were employed, and an effort was made to analyze carefully the statements sent in by the principal or teachers and to check them under the topics in general use.f For purposes of comparison over the four-year period it was neces- sary to group roughly under "other reasons" all cases reported for ill-health, adverse home conditions and all reasons not other- wise listed. In Part II a detailed enumeration was presented of all the reasons for which cases were reported in 1913-14. * See Part II, page 20. t See Part II, Table I, page 22. 72 O t^O 1^ 'i- ON ^^ f<) ^ foq t^ o q q u K ^ \o »o ^ no' NO i-^ • H -rf ;^ O 1—4 1 Q W -t Oil 6 W VO Tl- 1-^ >-4 rt NO o lO rj- w hH in NO Ct CL, <- •* ^ « On w Pi iz; w Q qvfcvo r^ ^ H ON HH hH > , OvO ON 00 00 o NO HH o t^ rovo t^ fO OO On H ;z; u m ( -H e Born Born ;n Born o cn 0) 03 U < ( ( X > RN ents Nativ :nt Native ents Foreig CQ > < z. Pi o "o u e 1< < E Bo hPar Pare hPar O C o c o P- -M X ca H o CD 73 Those listed in 1914-15 under the general term "Other Reasons" were actually reported for the following causes : Ill-health 223 Adverse Home Conditions 291 Supplementary Activity Needed, or Needing Encouragement and Sympathy or Special Advice 16 Desirous of Further Education or Trade Training 1 1 Child Labor 3 Seeking Employment I Admission to School I Total 571 Furthermore, in 1911-12 lateness was included under irregular attendance, which naturally raises the percentage for that year under that topic. Aside from such exceptions, it will be noted that the proportions for the four years are very similar, showing apparently the permanency of the problems confronting the visiting teacher. CONDITIONS FOUND In Tables XVIII, XIX, and XX an effort has been made to show numerically the extent of environmental causes that are shaping the lives of the children under the visiting teachers' care. In the report for 1911-12 there were no data on this topic and in 1912-13 and in 1914-15 the nativity of parents and of children was not noted except in the case of the obviously foreign born, so that the percentage of unknown cases in those years, as shown in Table XVIII, would probably increase somewhat the native born group. As the table stands, there seems to be a slight de- crease in the native born children of American parentage, and a similar increase in those of foreign parentage. The variations other than these are not significant. The question of nationality, length of residence in the United States and ability to speak the language have not been taken into consideration in this enumeration, and no very detailed con- clusions can be drawn concerning the problem without these im- portant factors. Statistics regarding the nativity of the entire school population would also form the basis for a very valuable comparison, but such figures are not at present available. In Table XIX there is another general topic, "other condi- 74 65 i-< 00 •-< q >^ tj- • >/> lo 01 00 d d , lO ■*« CD ■* to On 4 lO *— < NH 0\ ON ir> t^ M CO M o NO 1 . Ov t-~ N 00 00 On lO •«i- >-« J ■5*- NO ■'J-fO HH u o\ t-H 1 to Z d lO N O ID •* On NO ^H r^ CO On id "-i 00 M ►J O NO -^cs ON O K U IS) ^ On q N r>.ND q O ub N d\ lood 00 , ^0 >o '-' Ti-CN H o< Oh hH 1 M , P» NO On O On >- NO o GO «N !l- N X On 1 Q < ON (OO) NO « \0 t^ o' to ID -4 -o \< 5! nJ >. rt *»H H >< .-e U X! n Mentally deficient Physically deficient Tendency to immoralit Needing friendship or supplementary activi Overage Maladjusted in school c n O < t E 3 o > H O c o 75 tions," which was inserted to cover classifications which have been revised from year to year. Certain children have been found to require activities which the school does not provide, others need encouragement and sympathy or special care or ad- vice because of individual peculiarity. All such cases are grouped together in this table, but even then the numbers for 1913-14 and 1914-15 are hardly comparable, because the basis for classi- fications was slightly different. Various factors contribute to the slight variations found in the percentages on other topics. If a visiting teacher is able to provide, through her volunteer helpers, original and varied activities for the children under her care, the teachers tend to ask her aid for those pupils who seem especially in need of such activity. If the visitor is working in a girls' school where she is given cases largely from the upper grades, she is almost sure to have many children reported to her who are timid or discouraged or who need special guidance and advice along the thorny paths of adolescence. Table XX compares the conditions found in the home and in the neighborhood for the four years. The same explanation of variation of percentages that was given above applies to the figures in Table XX. In 1911-12 and 1912-13, economic stress was noted wherever it was found to exist. In the two later years, the term was used only when poverty was, in the opinion of the visiting teachers, an important factor in the difficulty for which the child was reported to her. However, in 1914-15, un- employment was acute and the question of want among school children was so pressing that it assumed alarming proportions. This condition is reflected in the topic thus cited and also in the proportion of cases for 1914-15 receiving financial relief through the efforts of the visiting teacher.* The reason for the apparent diversity between the different years under the heading adverse neighborhood conditions was the same. The lines between this topic and the others in Table XX were more closely drawn in 1913-14, and cases were checked only when it w£is considered that the fundamental cause of the difficulty lay in conditions of the neighborhood. It happened that in two school neighborhoods there were, in 1914-15, unusual gang activities which reacted at once on the less stable pupils and brought them under the care of the visiting teacher. The problem of the school is and should be the problem of its visiting * See Table XXIII. 76 o < H CO O H Q O u Q O O X o OQ X o w Q < W O X! W J CQ < OS 1 ON ^ so '+>-^ • d OssO 0» so 00 o 1-4 h-l ^ 1^ ds "f • 6 :2 »OsD "* so OS CO OS I 0^ CM ^ CO CO f< • 6 lO lO rO SO to OS 1 l-H ^5 q o q 6 2 00 rO lO " so O lOsO rO »o >-* l-H Q O O X fii O CQ IB O l-H W Z <: a s o O H D "/^ O U Economic stress Lack of family cooperation Adverse neighborhood conditions U3 OJ ■Si ct! U O u, OJ E 3 15 f2 > X J2 o c a; lO OS I If) < w >^ w ►J o o E U LO w H Q oi |3 u til CO H W < H Pi O w < O H U < X W CQ < »-H OS 1 OS ^ rooo »0 ■I to • d 2 Th 1- Ti- to ■* so w to so 00 o OS 1 to ».H OS ^ "?^ q MP* « • • o 2 ON OS so M OS to 1 0) HH OS t— 1 ^ M rt- to • d 2 SO OS to fS) ON KH 1 Ov £^ 9 9 q oo' \h >-'' d 2 C» vO lO Os lO N lO C H r 3 H H <; i h Change in class Change of school Change in attitude or other modifi- cations * 0) tn n U o ii H o a 0) c/3 77 teachers so far as it concerns the interests of the children who are pupils there. ACTION TAKEN AND TREATMENT SECURED Table XXI shows the type of cooperation given by the school under three heads. In Part II, under Tables XIII and XIV, this cooperation is enumerated in more detail. It is interesting to note that many more changes were made in the school treatment of children in the last years than ever before. This indicates a better understanding of the work and an in- creased willingness on the part of the teachers and principals to adapt school requirements to the needs of the children as far as possible. Table XXII shows the extent to which the home cooperated in the effort to correct the maladjustment in the life of the child. In 1911-12 this was briefly stated as active cooperation, se- cured in 566 cases, or 49 per cent. The figures for the following years are very similar, the difference in the physical care being accounted for by the special work described in the appendix. Table XXIII shows the kinds of activities provided for or treatment secured through cooperating social agencies. It was impossible to include the figures for 1911-12 in the table, because they were not reckoned on a percentage basis. A conservative estimate of the number of cases in which cooperation by outside agencies was given in that year would be 727; in 1912-13 there were 1181, in 1913-14 there were 907, and in 1914-15 there were 1431. The percentages for the three years are very similar, but there will be noted an increase in the number of children receiving opportunity for study and also that more were placed in clubs and classes. This seems to indicate that the educational features of the work are gaining in emphasis. OUTCOME Table XXIV shows the disposition of the cases made at the end of the year. At the end of each term, and sometimes during the year, the children pass a definite boundary line and begin afresh. They may win promotion or graduation, they may go on to trade- training or high school, or, on the other hand, the removal of their families may take them out of town entirely or to another 78 1 ^ Q^ r4 lo -f "^ d f,) „ W HH HH 6 C -t-0) r^ O o \c in »o i-i ro M h-i w 1-1 00 o 1 &5 ID f^ rO up q 00 d a> c^ c\ M I c < S -4 J -H a > Added care for physical condi- tion Added care for mental condition Added care for moral condition Change in home surroundings Change in attitude and other modification * CD H U U u o < Q H O X o o Q u7 H^ < H Q 2 < < ;?; o X3 ;; < o 1 -M i_^ <1) ►— 1 o X 4> K"-! C/0 W CQ ^ Tf M O "-I N pO rO ro CJ> fO "0 C> cJ 00 r< ►- M CN o< ir> H^ Ov ►—1 1 H- 1 o HH ■+ ON-' (Ot^fS O \o 6 IC On •* t^ '-' ■* Ov 00 2 (N 11 01 to O o 1-H "- rO O 00 On'O N d r^ rJ oJ CO '^ t4 . &5 N ►-, M cs >-" rt- t-i ON H- 1 1 Ov h-l d 2 00 00 M om-i m t^ vO 00 ^ w H- 0) COO (S 1-1 1-1 1-1 0) 1-1 ON &5 q q q « "^ - 1-1 ON •* »r> NO o 04 CJ 00 •r)- O^ " On ON 2 ej H. 1-. 1- ts 1-1 CO >N u — Q "a * tn '-o H o ■4-1 u o o >- U -J ^ n 0) e 3 O § O < C/l .-1^ --^ ij 2 i; e C ^ S S -§ 3 § g Ji at — X O.S 03 D. O > X (U O c 0) CO 79 city school. Sometimes the visiting teacher has helped in mark- ing this boundary line or has made it possible for the child to take the last difficult steps, and sometimes the changes come in the natural course of events. There is also a summing up at the end of the year, as shown in Part II, Table XVI,* and an attempt to indicate cases which show improvement in school work and those which seem to be permanently adjusted. In 1913-14 and in 1914-15 cases checked under "adjusted" were not noted under "improvement," so that the figures are not fairly comparable. The visiting teachers are growing more and more conservative in regard to recording cases of school difficulty as adjusted. They are drawing the lines between improved and adjusted more closely and are more inclined to indicate the degree of adjustment than to report it as final. They are also tending to keep children under supervision from year to year either as regular or as special cases. However, the large percentage of the cases reported for adverse home conditions and for ill-health brought a new factor into the question of adjustment. Often the aid obtained for a family or extra diet secured for the school child adjusted the difficulty for which the service of the visiting teacher had been enlisted and further follow-up work was given over to the agency working directly with the family. The visiting teachers' share in the attempt of the schools to deal with the problem of economic stress was an emergent action which does not affect their general policy. In cases of difficulty in scholarship or of maladjustment to school conditions, much longer supervision is needed and the assurance of a lasting ad- justment is deferred till a long acquaintance with the child has proved its permanence. In 1911-12 the heading "Improvement" was subdivided into "Improvement in Scholarship," "Improvement in Conduct" and "Improvement in Attendance," so that each case improved may frequently be counted three times. Improvement in scholarship showed the lowest figure, and that heading alone has been used in Table XXIV. The variations in the other per- centages are either insignificant or have obvious causes. Probably the increase in the number of graduates is due to the fact that many children remain under the care of the visitor till they leave school. One visitor had over thirty charges in the graduating class, most of whom she had known more than a year. * Page 62. 8o NO lo ONoq 'i- i-H rf r>. cc O 00 t4 tJ-oo cJ no lO rO d no Ot lO lO rO •^ ID M ON T •—• ON 1— 1 00 On t^ O O «n r^OO rO lO CS NO ON d O-^ONCOI^iOrO OnOI^ 00 1 ^ Tj- lO lO 1-1 o o^ Pi CMOOOO M Tj-IOCSNO ^ On w 1 K rO H OS H-t d 2; ON>-'VOOt^>-iOO>-i>-iO NO g " "H rtcioom lONO On r-- . PJ ■rj- (N tr> ^ On W CD < u U &5 rO t>. OnnO in On <^ N uO M r^'4' . K CO ■<3- HH HI mm H ON fc T O n W ON o m >-> torn looo o iono NO o o O O '^CN O OnnO t~~ O O • ON 2 NO N w '-' t^oo • rO u H p o ^ o q q q q q q q q q O^i OnO coroi-< d rOON iOnO . O -i vO Th 12: ON 1 « l-H < On hi • 00 r^ ONOO rOOO OnnO 00 m t->. H o NOcOf<0r<3rD'-0 ■ ^ Z " o »-H H C U t > X D J O V-. O HI X C D •oiS 1^ U u o u <-> 1_ > Vt-i o < ^ < 2 S o lu j^jzt/i-a OCtiaJaJdc-i-S S-CC 1- cu hJ O H H U J U. ►S Q a. u e 3 "(3 -H o < H > J3 o c 0) c/3 8i It is quite obvious that with added experience and as the work becomes better known in the schools, the proportion of unsuitable cases should become smaller, as is shown in the table. In almost no other work does the human element enter more largely, and that fact makes the compiling of statistics dealing with anything but the gross enumeration a difficult task. The details which represent opinions held by the visiting teachers or the interpreta- tion of facts expressed by them, will necessarily be less stable than such an enumeration, but the general balance of the figures for the different years seems to indicate that such opinion or interpreta- tion rests on a basis of fact. APPENDIX PHYSICAL NEEDS OF CHILDREN IN ONE VISITING TEACHER'S SCHOOL The following table shows the results of a study by Miss Ruth S. True, one of the visiting teachers, of the physical needs of a small group of children re- ported to her for physical or mental inferiority. The school was in a very neglected district and the visitor had been im- pressed with the great need for physical care in almost all the children sent to her, whether because of ill-health or for retardation, irregularity or mental sluggishness. The work was undertaken as a supplementary study and the figures are here presented in a separate table because it was felt that it would unduly swell the number of physical defective children, if they were added to the tables in the body of the report. It is only reasonable to suppose, however, that in almost any district such a study would reveal many more physical defects than the present method brings to light, especially at the opposite ends of the scale — the obscure cardiac and pulmonary diseases, on the one hand, and the minor digestive ills, on the other. No. of children examined 62 Condition: General : Good 1 1 Fair 13 Anemic, under-developed or under-nourished 38 Rachitic * 4 Lungs: Under observation for T. B. 3 Bronchitis 9 Pneumonia i Heart : Chronic disease 3 Anemic murmur 2 Rapid action ' I Throat: Enlarged tonsils, adenoids, or both needing opera- ation _ 23 Enlarged tonsils, no operation advised 9 Enlarged glands 5 Teeth: Defective 53 Eyes: Examination for vision advised 17 Marked inflammation needing treatment I Already fitted with glasses 4 * The rachitic children of this group were also classified under other head- ings. 82 83 Ears: Defective hearing 2 Defective drums 4 Hardened wax 9 Digestion: Constipation or intestinal fermentation or both 33 Spine: Postural curvature 13 Muscular weakness — marked 4 Feet: Flat 15 Weak arches 5 Other defects: Prolapsed stomach i Deviated septum 4 Nose ulcer 2 External sores from teeth condition i Speech defect I Enlarged turbinates I Broken or displaced nasal bones 2 Discharging ears I Acne I Dermatitis 2 Treatment of Children in Group Medical 49 Placed in Fresh-Air Class 13 Sent to Convalescent Home 5 Throat operation 13 Eyes tested 13 Glasses given 12 Treated i Ears cleaned out 4 Examined and treated 2 Placed in special exercise class I Ground gripper shoes given 2 Nose examination I Hospital care I Teeth treated 15 It will be noted that 38 out of 62 children reported were found to be anemic, under-developed or under-nourished, that almost 100 per cent had defective teeth, and 33, or 50 per cent, had more or less serious digestive difficulties. The treatment given these children is also recorded here, as was not done in Part ni. No record was made there of children whose defects were marked corrected or under treatment. The following cases illustrate the need of the specialized medical work which takes into consideration symptoms other than the strictly physical manifes- tation: "A boy of eight was sent to me a year ago from the fresh-air class as a pos- sible mental defective. He had spent two terms in lA and two in a iB grade and was being forced on to 2A, though much below standard. He was a slender little fellow, with a long pale face and very nervous movements. He had never been strong from the time when he had spent the first year and a half of his existence in a hospital and had, only by expert care, been pulled through marasmus and bloody dysentery. He is the kind who dislikes the street, and he was placed in the yard with his sisters because the other fellows ' picked at him,' trying to make him fight, and he was not able physically to hold his own. In the fall we placed him in the fresh-air class and he was one of the children to 84 be examined in November. The only Board of Health examination had been given two years previous and had marked him normal. On the first day he was seen he was running a high temperature and we entered him at once in St. Mary's hospital, where he went through a siege of pneumonia. We were advised, also, to have his tonsils removed and his teeth treated. This was done before he left the hospital. He had been eating a great deal between meals, especially sweets. All that his mother could induce him to take for breakfast was bread and tea or sometimes a glass of milk. He would not eat eggs or soup or cocoa. After coming home we got the mother to institute a new regimen. She cut down on the eating between meals and instituted a breakfast of eggs and cereals. This spring she reported that since he came from the hospital Hugh would eat anything that she gave to him. ' He found there he could do it when he had to.' Also, Mrs. Peters found out that it paid. And she has changed his sleeping room from an inner bedroom with no windows to an outer living room with two windows opening on the yard. In January he was given glasses for very defective vision. Some tonic and treatment for a short time for constipation complete his physical history. He has gained five pounds in weight. He has, during the year, gotten through the essentials of 2A and 2B work, with an average marking of B. As is natural with this type of child, he lacks concentration and his effort comes in spurts. His teacher considers him quite capable to go ahead to the 3A work. The record from him is more than creditable. The changes efifected in his home promise to be permanent and to include two other children as well." "Sarah J. was examined in March, 1913. She was a child who had been absent about one-third of the time after entering P. S. 84 from the parochial school in September, 191 1. As a consequence, she had never seen the school doctor. It was found that she had incipient tuberculosis. This diagnosis was not certain without a sputum test, and in all probability would not have been disclosed in the school examination. She was gotten at once to the day camp at Vanderbilt Clinic. This year she was sent from there to Stony Wold and came home in splendid condition. Her sister was sent to the fresh-air class and also gained decidedly." PUBLIC EDUCATION ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK The Public Education Association was founded in 1895 to study the problems of public education, investigate the condition of the common and corporate schools, stimulate public interest in the schools and propose from tiriie to time such changes in organization, management or educational methods as might seem necessary or desirable. Its efforts are confined to the welfare of the New York City public schools, but it seeks to shape these efforts in accord with the best educational theory and experience of the country. OFFICERS Charles P. Howland, President Joseph R. Swan, Vice-President Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer, Honorary Vice-President W. K. Brice, Treasurer Howard W. Nudd, Director EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Mrs. Miriam Sutro Price, Clmirman Leonard P. Ayres Miss C. R. Lowell W. K. Brice J. K. Paulding Clyde Furst George D. Strayer Mrs. E. C. Henderson Mrs. Joseph R. Swan Charles P. Howland Miss E. S. Williai^s TRUSTEES Chester Aldrich Mrs. George mIcAneny Frederick W. Allen Frank M. McMurry W. K. Brice Ogden L. Mills Charles G. Burlingham Mrs. Miriam Sutro Price Joseph P. Cotton, Jr. Mrs. F. Louis Slade Mrs. Arthur M. Dodge Willard D. Straight Mrs. Learned Hand Percy S. Straus Mrs. E. C. Henderson Charles H. Strong Charles P. Howland Joseph R. Swan Miss C. R. Lowell Mrs. Charles L. Tiffany Miss Helen Wise The work of the Association is carried out through a trained stafif and a number of standing and special committees. The results of this work are presented to the members and to the public through reports, bulletins, leaflets, public conferences and discussion in the daily press. Every citizen should be informed about the conditions and progress of the public scliools and take an intelligent and effective part in furthering their welfare. If you are not a member you are invited to join the Association. PUBLICATIONS OF THE PUBLIC EDUCATION ASSOCIATION In, ■ ' — ^-^ftc of the work from year to year, -the Associatioh uas:. p^iLUohea t.x^ folloving bulletins and^ special reports; Bulletins: No. I. Organization and Program. ^ *No. 2. The Permanent Census Board — Howard W. Nudd. ' No. • ^. Conferences. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY BERKELEY Return to desk from which borrowed. This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 3V\AY52B?X .0 >- 7 RECEIVED JUt Oo CIRCULATION DEFT LD 21-95m-ll,'50(2877slG)476 •■* -iv-W y :f