EXCHANGE EXCHANGE 1 u fine PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN THE ELEMENTARY GRADES By KRAMER JACOB HOKE SECOND ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS RICHMOND, VA. WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1916 PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN THE ELEMENTARY GRADES By KRAMER JACOB HOKE SECOND ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS RICHMOND, VA. Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Philosophy, Columbia University. WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1916 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted and profoundly grateful to Dr. George Drayton Strayer, of Columbia University, under whose general direction this investigation was made, for helpful criticisms and suggestions. To Dr. J. A. C. Chandler, Superintendent of Schools, Richmond, Virginia, I am obligated for valuable assistance in collecting these data and for the privilege of using the data concerning the mental ages of children. From Dr. John Cummings, of the United States Bureau of Statistics, and Dr. W. T. Bawden, of the United States Bureau of Education, I received helpful suggestions concerning the statistical tables. I express my thanks to Miss Sarah C. Brooks and Miss Minnie L. Davis, of the public schools of Richmond, Virginia, for assistance in reading the proof. K. J. H. 327801 CONTENTS Page. Chapter 1. Introduction 7 II. Progress of children in the elementary schools (white) 16 III. Progress of children in the elementary schools (negro) 25 IV. Acceleration and retardation by grades and ages 32 V. Absence and entrance age in relation to progress through school. . 44 VI. Application of mental tests for determining the placement of children 58 VII. Further application of mental tests for the placement of children and the results 85 5 THE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN THE ELEMENTARY GRADES. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. In recent years many students of education have been placing considerable emphasis on the study of scientific measurements applied to the achievements of school children with a view to putting edu- cational practice on a more scientific basis than in the past. Because of the lack of scientific information, many theories not justified by systematic observation have obtained currency. As a result, much of the time and energy of teachers and pupils has been spent to a great disadvantage; confusion has been produced, and the advancement of the teaching profession has at tunes been greatly retarded. Gradually a body of scientific knowledge concerning the actual accomplishment of school children is evolving. Administrators are being trained to realize the need of accurate and uniform records whereby the progress of children can be determined, not only in relation to other children in the city, but also to children in other cities. By this means standards or norms in educational practice will be set up whereby one school system can be compared with an- other as to the amount of elimination, retardation, and promotion; the percentage of children entering the high school from the elemen- tary school, and the like. Such information has also been used to determine the relative differences between sexes and nationalities for the purpose of planning courses of study, the organization of children into classes, and the determining of other educational policies. Administrators are further beginning to realize the necessity for defi- nite and objective standards for guidance in the expenditure of school finances. A superintendent of schools in one city should know how much he is spending to educate a child through the kindergarten, the elementary school, and the high school, as well as the amount spent for the same purposes by a superintendent of schools in another city. 8 /. * FL^CETYTENT PF CHILDREN IN ELEMENTARY GRADES. The application of scientific measurements to the achievement of school children is revealing waste and unbusinesslike methods in many school systems. Due consideration has not been given to the amount of time and energy spent in relation to achievement or, in business terms, the amount of money spent in relation to value received. A school system should meet the same requirements that any business corporation must meet. The output must be commensurate with expenditure. If school men are to secure and retain the support of the business men and the taxpayers, they must, in the future, dem- onstrate their ability to handle finances on a businesslike basis. In this connection the psychologist has played an important part in the establishment of general mentality tests and special subject tests for the purpose of determining the amount and kind of results, together with standards for guidance in educational practice. Tests that lend themselves most readily to practical uses in the public schools are the Binet-Simon tests and De Sanctis tests for general mentality, and the Courtis arithmetic tests, the Hillegas and Harvard- Newton language scales, the Thorndike, Ayres, and Freeman hand- writing scales, the Buckingham spelling scale, and the Thorndike drawing and reading scales as special subject tests. In this scientific movement two great goals have been kept in view. They are, first, the establishment of objective standards whereby the workers in educational practice can not only measure actual results of their time, energy, and methods, but will also have guideposts which will indicate clearly the different stages in the child's development; and, second, the prevention of waste through misplacement of children. Much progress has been made in the establishment of objective standards in the important subjects of the curriculum, but the place- ment of children by means of mental tests has not progressed so rapidly, due to the fact that the mental tests now available for prac- tical purposes do not give all the information needed. The Binet- Simon tests have been widely used to locate mentally defective and retarded children. Recently, however, children's mental ages deter- mined by the Binet-Simon tests, instead of their chronological ages, have been used as a standard to measure the amount of retarded, accelerated, and normal progress of children. Educational adminis- trators see the need of some accurate means for determining children's mental abilities or mental ages in order to place them properly in school. In order to show, then, that certain educational practices do result in waste of time, energy, and money, and can not be justified from a practical and businesslike viewpoint, and, further, that tests can be employed to prevent much of this waste and thereby secure a INTRODUCTION. 9 more businesslike administration, a study has been made in the city of Richmond, Va. Before proceeding to this study, information on the following topics is given in order to interpret better the data submitted: The school buildings, the rules and regulations whereby the system is adminis- tered, the teaching corps, the course of study and time allotment, the composition of the school enrollment, the grades and the ages for children in the kindergarten, the elementary school, and the high school, and the system of promotion. These facts will be discussed briefly in the order mentioned. This study has been made entirely in the city of Richmond, which, according to the census of 1910, has a population of 127,628, of whom 46,733 are Negroes. In November, 1914, Richmond adopted by a vote of the electorate the Virginia compulsory school-attendance law. This measure was put in operation September, 1915. The law states that every parent, guardian, or other person having charge or control of any child between the ages of 8 and 12 years shall be required to send such child to a public school of this Commonwealth for at least 12 weeks in each school year, at least 6 weeks of which shall be consecutive, unless the district school trustees of the district in which such parent, guardian, or other person resides excuse for cause such child, or unless such child be weak in body or mind, or can read and write, or is attending a private school, or lives more than 2 miles by the usually traveled route from the nearest public school or more than 1 mile from the line of an established public free-school wagon route. While this law is far from what is desired, it is a beginning that will result in better legislation in the near future. In the past the attendance that has been secured has depended almost entirely on the interest aroused by the principal, the teacher, and the parent. That the teaching force has been able to arouse the interest of the children and to hold them is indicated by the fact that 49 per cent of the school population in 1903 was enrolled and 39 per cent in attend- ance, while 65.5 per cent was enrolled in 1913 and 52 per cent in attendance. During recent years considerable effort has been made by the teaching force to learn the child's home conditions. If a child leaves school, the teacher immediately inquires the reason. If it is impossible to have this child return to the day school, an effort is made to have him enter the night school. The efficiency of the teaching force has also increased. Teachers have been constantly taking advantage of summer normal schools, professional reading courses, and, in some cases, more protracted courses at universities. This improvement is shown from the following data, which give the number of collegiate, normal, professional, special, first-grade, 10 PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN ELEMENTARY GRADES. 1913 15.3 13.1 1908 26.7 8.1 0.5 DHHH 3.7 8.2 13.3 29.6 0.2 72.1 7.4 Collegiate Normal Professional Special First Grade High School and high-school certificates in force in 1908 and in 1913, respectively, together with the proportion which each class of certificates constituted of the total numher of certificates in each of these grades: Teachers' certificates in 1908 and 1913. Character of certifi- cates. Teachers holding certificates of specified character. Number. Percentage. 1908 1913 1908 1913 Collee;iate 31 2 14 31 274 28 83 71 145 72 161 11 8.1 .5 3.7 8.2 72.1 7.4 15.3 13.1 26.7 13.3 29.6 2.0 Normal Professional.. Special First grade. . . High school Total 380 543 100.0 100.0 The relative value of these differ- ent certificates is indicated by the order in which they are mentioned. The collegiate and normal, as well as the professional, certificates represent the greatest amount of professional or scholastic training, while the high- school and the first-grade certificates represent the smallest amount of pro- fessional or scholastic training. The first three grades of certificates, and even the fourth (special) in some in- stances, are to be encouraged, while the last two grades of certificates are to be discouraged. It will be seen from the above figures that 79.5 per cent of all the certifi- cates in force in 1908 were either first-grade or high-school, the corre- sponding proportions for 1913 being only 31.6 per cent. This change in the character of the certificates in force from 1908 to 1913 is represented graphically in figure 1. The time allotment (which is shown in Tables 1 and 2 in terms of the INTRODUCTION. H percentages of the total time given to each subject per week from 1903 to 1913) indicates with fair accuracy the changes in the time schedule which controlled the teachers' instruction in the classroom during the past 10 years. The total number of minutes per week given to each grade is shown at the bottom of the tables. The distri- bution of this time by subjects in the several grades is given in per- centages. Therefore these figures indicate not only the distribution of the weekly time allotment by subjects in 1903 and in 1913, but also the changes which have taken place in this distribution in that time. Some of the changes in the time allotment that have taken place between 1903 and 1913 are significant. For example, 43.2 per cent of the total time available in the 1A grade was devoted in 1903 to reading and literature, while in 1913 the proportion given to reading and literature in this same grade was 29.9 per cent. In the 2A, 2B, 3 A, and 3B grades there was a much larger proportion of the total time given to reading and literature in 1913 than in 1903. Marked changes are found also in arithmetic, spelling, penmanship, and other subjects. In general, it would seem that the changes which have been made in the allotment of time to the different subjects indicate an effort to secure more intensive and rational teaching, as well as a distribution of time by subjects better suited to the capacities of the children in the several grades. 12 PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IK ELEMENTARY GRADES. e<) co o co N co co co t^- -OON < co t~ co M co co co r~ >ooc* 06 to oc^t oo' oo oo o3 CO O I> CO 1C CO OON ^ r4 oc c* oi oo co ci <* Co oo "3 eo co co N OOOOCOCON O N c4 ic ic c 06 TJ< o co co c co oo c co co co OOOO CON co ec "i co > COIN od ^ ^ CC iC >C C C5 coco oc M< c<> oo oo ic QO (N 05 CO 00 "5 <3i ^ eo in o "5 5 COCO 00 rf O COCT>OCOO"5 14 PLACEMENT OP CHILDREN IN ELEMENTARY GRADES. The composition of the school enrollment, so far as the presence of any foreign element is concerned, is homogeneous. In fact the number of children of foreign extraction is so small as to be prac- tically a negligible quantity, with the exception of one school. One factor, however, in the school population enrolled stands out promi- nently. The school enrollment is made up of the two races, white and colored, which are kept entirely separate. The enrollment for the session uf 1913-14 was as follows: Enrollment in the schools of Richmond in 1913-14- Boys. Girls. Total. White 6,318 6,915 13,233 2,850 3,839 6,689 Total 9,168 10, 754 19,922 It is seen that there are about half as many Negro children as white children enrolled. The organization of the Richmond school system provides for two years in the kindergarten, seven years in the elementary schools, and four years in the high school. The normal age J for children to enter the grades is at 7 years, but in the last few years a large number of children have been entering under 7 years, due to the fact that they have become too old for the kindergarten. This condition is being met by the introduction of connecting classes which meet the needs of the children who are too old for kindergarten and too young for the first grade. The system provides for semiannual promotion, so that the grades in the elementary schools run from 1A, IB, 2A, etc., to 7B. More- over, considerable attention has been given to the question of making the grading system elastic, so that children can be advanced at any tune through the year as their ability and progress demand. There has been a feeling on the part of many that children are being held back when their ability would enable them to advance. A desire to secure more scientific information on this problem than the regular school records supplied prompted the employment of a woman who could use the Binet-Simon tests in measuring children's mental abilities. This situation made possible much of the information which is used in this study. In order to make an application of tests to the results achieved by the children in the schools of the city of Richmond, it was deemed advisable to inquire into what has been actually happening to some of the children, at least, who have been in school a number of years ; i A recent legislative enactment reduces the entering age for children in the public schools of Virginia to 6 years. INTRODUCTION. 15 to ascertain what progress these children have made through the grades, where some of them have repeated and at what age, where others have dropped out and at what age. Therefore the plan which has been pursued in this study consists of, first, a study of the progress of a group of children, 627 white and 547 Negro, who were in the 1A grade seven years ago, September, 1906, through seven years the school life of a child who makes normal progress in order to show what is actually taking placr> in the history of the children who enter the Richmond school system; second, a study consisting of the progress of 897 white children who made up the enrollment of the 1A to the 5A grades, inclusive, in three schools, and of a group of 787 white children who were selected from the 1A to the 5A grades of 10 schools because they were a year or more over age chronologically for their grade or because they had made frequent repetitions. All of the children in the last two groups were tested with the Binet-Simon tests. From the data thus ob- tained it is evident (1) that many children are misplaced, (2) that mental tests can be employed to determine where they ought to be, and (3) that many of these children can succeed when differently placed, as will be shown in the following chapter. CHAPTER II. PROGRESS OF CHILDREN IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS (WHITE). During the past few years the information on the cumulative record cards in the cities where they have been in use for some time has supplied the material for several studies in educational admin- istration. By means of the information contained on these cards, the progress of children through the schools has been studied and conclusions drawn therefrom that serve as a basis for many changes in educational practice. It is to be regretted that more city school systems have not made an attempt to secure the helpful informa- tion which such records make possible. Of 31 southern cities to which an inquiry as to the use of the cumulative record cards was sent in March, 1913, only 14 reported their use. In nine cities the cards have been introduced since 1910, in one they were introduced in 1906, in another in 1907, while in only one city did the use of the cards date back as far as 1900. As the school system of the city of Richmond continued to grow and become more complex, the school officials saw the necessity for accurate information concerning the child's family and school history. Consequently a cumulative record card was introduced in Septem- ber, 1906. The following is a sample card duly filled: CUMULATIVE RECORD CARD. [FRONT.] T , HITE Jonn (Name in full. Write last name first.) RESIDENCE FEMALE } AGE.. DATE OF BIRTH 5/3/1899.. PLACE OF BIRTH, Rd., Va. CUARDIAH1 Mrs.H.H E.ClaySt J1Arj J (Name) (Residence) (Occupation) VACCINATED BY DR . . PASSED ON INSPECTION BY DR Sept 1906 ENTERED Central SCHOOL Sept 1906 TRANSFERRED |p OM | High SCHOOL Sept 1913 16 PKOGRESS IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS ( WHITE). CUMULATIVE RECORD CARD. [BACK.] 17 DATE Sep 19 06 Feb 19 07 ^ 07 Feb 19 08 "8 08 Feb 19 09 Sep 19 09 Feb 19 10 Sep 19 10 Feb 19 11 Sep 19 11 Feb 19 12 Sep 19 12 Feb 19 13 Sep 19 13 NO. GRADE LETTER 3 M r 1 ^ CO ^ PQ * CO O O CO CO 'P< O T-f N O* ,0 1 -d T* .r-C*-*(NOO05DMCOa) ; i-i %% m . -CO --I CO CO TH CO t^ rH * CO <}) CO Ci CO >-l < OCCQTHr-IOOC^QOT-ICeOi-lt>-'OC'-l(M <^ t-(C<>CO'^ 1 'ODt > - H 7534 16 3 34 PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN ELEMENTARY GRADES. RETARDATION (WHITE PUPILS ). con- It was shown in Chapter III that the unfinished group, which sis ted of 194 children, had made only 76.8 per cent of normal progress in seven years. Table 14 shows the grades and ages where this re- tardation took place, as well as the number of times certain indi- viduals were retarded. It is read as follows: Twenty-five boys and 24 girls were each retarded one term, and therefore made a total of 49 retardations; of this number the 1A grade received 6 from the boys and 2 from the girls; IB grade received 0; 2 A grade received 2 from the boys and 3 from the girls, etc., while age 7 received 2 retardations from the boys and from the girls; age 8 received 3 retardations from the boys and 2 retardations from the girls, etc. These 194 children made in the seven years in which they were in school 611 retardations. Number of retardations received at different ages. Ages. Retarda- tions. Per cent. Ages. Retarda- tions. Per cent. 7.. 23 3.7 12 83 13 6 g 69 11 3 13 95 15 5 9 91 14.9 14 66 10 8 10 92 15 1 15 12 2 o 11 79 12.9 16 1 2 Manifestly, then, in this group of children the chances for failure are almost as great at one age as at another between 8 years and 14 years. The chances for failure are slightly greater, however, at the ages of 9, 10, and 13 years. Number of retardations received in certain grades. Grades. Retarda- tion. Per cent. Grades. Retarda- tion. Per cent. 1A 77 12.6 4B... 47 7 7 IB 52 8.5 5A 43 7 2 A 55 9.2 5B 40 6 5 2B 65 10.7 6A 32 5 2 3A 60 9.8 6B 16 2 6 3B 53 8.7 7A 9 1 5 4A 59 9.7 7B 2 3 These percentages of retardation can not be taken to indicate the relative difficulty of the several grades to the child, especially after he has passed the 4A grade. The diminishing percentages for grades 4B to 7B, inclusive, are due principally to the fact that fewer chil- dren of this group have reached the grades from the 4B grade up than attained the grades below the 4B. Therefore there are fewer chances for retardations to occur in these grades. ACCELERATION AND RETARDATION. 35 However, since all but 7 of the 194 children in this group had passed through the 4A grade, the high percentage in the 1A grade indicates the difficulty which children have in the early years of their school life in adjusting themselves to school conditions. Moreover, some of this retardation in this grade is, no doubt, due to the fact that many of the children who are of very low mentality never get beyond it. That the children in the public schools of Richmond do encounter difficulty in the 1A grade and that the higher grades present as much and even more difficulty than the lower grades, especially since only a selected group reach these grades, is shown from the folio wing -table: TABLE 14 A . Percentages of promotion by grades from 1911 to 1914- Grades. Febru- ary, 1911. June. 1911. Febru- ary, 1912. June, 1912. Febru- ary, 1913. June, 1913. Febru- ary, 1914. June, 1914. 1A 78.7 79.4 71.7 80.6 73.8 76.8 81.4 80.5 IB 82.4 85.2 83.5 89.0 82.1 88.0 85.7 87.1 2A 82.5 83.0 85.1 80.8 81.9 82.9 85.8 83.3 2B 80.9 85.0 83.1 83.5 81.7 84.2 81.8 85.1 3A 80.4 75.4 79.8 80.1 82.0 81.0 81.4 82.8 3B 77.6 81.2 81.4 82.6 79.8 84.4 82.2 84.8 4A 73.9 79.0 81.6 79.5 81.3 80.1 77.8 80.3 4B 75.8 80.3 77.6 80.9 80.7 78.2 79.8 82.0 5A 75.9 81.5 75.5 77.8 75.7 76.5 78.1 77.9 SB 72.4 71.2 74.8 76.0 77.3 79.7 81.3 81.5 6A 74.3 74.1 74.3 73.4 78.6 77.7 80.5 82.1 6B 69.6 73.6 72.0 76.4 74.4 77.9 80.4 84.4 7A... 70.3 72.2 75.5 72.1 76.9 78.7 77.0 81.6 7B 77.8 80.2 81.1 86.4 84.8 88.0 86.5 88.8 From these percentages it seems that grades 1A and 4A to 7A, inclusive, are the most difficult, and grades IB to 3B, inclusive, and 7B are the least difficult. It is surprising that some of these children had repeated as many as 8 terms in 7 years and were still in school. From an analysis of the number of times the different individuals in this group repeated it is found that 49, or 25.3 per cent, 34, or 17.5 per cent, 33, or 17.0 per cent, 29, or 15.0 per cent, 26, or 13.4 per cent, 14, or 7.2 per cent, 7, or 3.6 per cent, 2, or 1.0 per cent, had repeated had repeated had repeated had repeated had repeated had repeated had repeated had repeated 1 term. 2 terms. 3 terms. 4 terms. 5 terms. 6 terms. 7 terms. 8 terms. The median number of terms of retardation for the boys is 2.9 and for the girls is 2.2. It is evident, then, that many of the children of the group who were still in school September, 1913, had remained there in spite of frequent failures to be promoted. Table 15 gives some information concerning the retardation made by the 285 children who had left school. These 285 children had made 873 retardations. 36 PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN ELEMENTARY GRADES. I ACCELERATION AND RETARDATION. Distribution of 873 retardations by ages. 37 Ages. Retarda- tions. Per cent. Ages. Retarda- tions. Per cent. 7.. 20 2 3 13 100 g 120 13 7 14 9 144 16 5 15 20 9 ^ 10 159 18 2 16 2 11 126 14 4 17 12 124 14 4 In this group of children it would seem that the ages 9, 10, 11, and 12 are the ages when a child's chances for failure are relatively high, since a very large proportion of the children of this group remained in school until they were 12 years old. (See Table 6.) The rapid falling off at 14 would indicate that children become discouraged and leave school for work, or are compelled to go to work as soon as they are old enough. In this group there is even greater variation of retardation than with the unfinished group. Some of these children made as high as 9 repetitions in 7 years. Of these 285 children 71, or 24.9 per cent, repeated 1 term. 66, or 23.1 per cent, repeated 2 terms. 41, or 14.4 per cent, repeated 3 terms. 47, or 16.5 per cent, repeated 4 terms. 28, or 9.8 per cent, repeated 5 terms. 14, or 4.9 per cent, repeated 6 terms. 11, or 3.9 per cent, repeated 7 terms. 5, or 1.8 per cent, repeated 8 terms. 2, or .7 per cent repeated 9 terms. The median number for the boys is 2.5, and for the girls 1.8. It would seem then that most of the children did not give up and leave school without an effort to regain the position which they had lost through failure to be promoted, or without trying at least to avoid another failure. The tendency to remain in school in spite of failure is stronger, however, with girls than with boys. Distribution of 873 retardations by grades. Grades. Retarda- tions. Per cent. Grades. Retarda- tions. Per cent. 1A 173 19.8 4A 71 8.1 IB 163 18 7 4B 41 4 7 2A... 113 12.9 5A 32 3.8 2B. 85 9.7 5B 23 2.6 3A... 93 10.6 6A 13 1.5 3B.. 63 7.2 6B 3 .4 In this group the retardations are most frequent in grades 1 A to 3A, inclusive. These high percentages of retardation in the lower grades and low percentages in the higher grades are caused by the fact that the children who are compelled to repeat become discouraged and leave school. Consequently, only a few children ever attain the higher grades. They are not in school to be retarded. 38 PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN ELEMENTARY GRADES. i 3 -4 (O t^- ^ O iecc> ft a CM i-l rH -^ rH O C^ 00 CO O> 00 O OO * 1C C< cSc^ 1 rH i-l r-l T-I OO t^ fO t~ O 'S' rH coco 0> rH rH rH N CO CM CO * 10 10 t^ t^ "5 '"I* rH 88 CO N w >o eo o co co o * co co ^ rH 88 t- tO J d ; ! to s PQ 1C s I 3 000 I s 1 <} -8< ec rH co c<) 10 o t^ es T-I CM eo Tf ss 1 PQ CO 50 Sc^ i } co rH rH ' CM *< CO OO tO "5 * tO * O CO C^S W CM rH rH CM rH CM CM tO CM O t^ rH iO CO O CM 8 ^ 32 pq CM rH -CMCO tO t- ^< CO !> rH O3 CO CM 38 < rHCM CO CM CM t^ O tD it} >O to CO rH 83 5 i E- I i l>. 1O rH tO CM tO O 00 O OO tO 00 lO ^ rH SS 1 i i S,^S S*2 SJ2 S,^3 S-^2 S.^2 S>i2 S,^ S,^9 o -^ o -^ o*? 0.^3 o -^ o-^ o -t3 o.3 o*r^ pqC3OOOOMOOOO pqb a :::!:::: I i E- rHC-lCO"*OCOt^0005 EH ACCELERATION AND RETARDATION. 39 RETARDATION (COLORED PUPILS.) That the Negro children do persist in their efforts to make progress and do stay in school in spite of the fact that they are compelled to repeat a grade from tune to time is shown from the data in Table 16, which give the retardation by grades and ages of the group of chil- dren numbering 116 that were still in school September, 1913. This group of children had in seven years made 487 retardations, which show the following distribution by ages: Distribution of 487 retardations by ages. Ages. Retarda- tions. Per cent. Ages. Retarda- tions. Per cent. 6 1 0.2 12 70 14.4 7 11 2.2 13 74 15 2 8 49 10.0 14 66 13.6 9 57 11.7 15 17 3 5 10 70 14.4 16 ... 2 .4 11 70 14.4 It is significant that the percentage of retardation gradually in- creases from 10 per cent at the age of 8 years to 15.2 per cent at the age of 13 years, and drops off to 13.6 per cent at the age of 14 years. The ages of 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 receive higher percentages of re- tardation than any other ages between 7 years and 14 years. The fact that this group of children shows its highest percentage of retardation at the age of 13 years indicates a strong effort on the part of these children to remain in school and to secure an' education in spite of failure. When these same 487 retardations made by the 116 children who were still in school September, 1913, are arranged by grades, the following distribution is obtained: Distribution of 487 retardations, by grades. Grades. Retarda- tions. Per cent. Grades. Retarda- tions. Per cent. 1A 47 9.6 4B 45 9.2 IB 60 12.3 5A 28 5.8 2A 37 7.6 5B 28 5.8 2B 47 9.7 6A... 23 4.7 3A 63 12.9 6B 8 1.6 3B 47 9.7 7A 4 .8 4A... . .. 48 9.9 7B , .. 2 .4 With the exception of the IB and 3 A grades, these retardations are evenly distributed from the 1A to the 4B grades, inclusive. Begin- ning with the 5A grade the percentage of retardation gradually decreases. When the fact that fewer children have reached these higher grades is taken into consideration, it would seem that one grade presents 40 PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN ELEMENTARY GRADES. about the same difficulty to the Negro child as another. This con elusion seems to be supported also by the percentages of promotion in the Negro schools during the past four years, as shown in the following table: TABLE 16 A. Percentages of promotion by grades from 1911 to 1914. Grades. Febru- ary, 1911. June, 1911. Febru- ary, 1912. June, 1912. Febru- ary, 1913. June, 1913. Febru- ary, 1914. June, 1914. 1A . 69.3 68.2 66.7 72.4 61.1 71.3 67.9 74.1 IB 65.9 78.6 67.2 75.7 71.3 77.0 74.6 80.6 2A 64.4 72.7 69.0 74.8 74.8 73.8 71.1 77.8 2B ..... . 69.7 72.6 70.3 75.1 66.7 75.0 72.5 76.1 3A 70.9 72.4 72.3 74.0 74.0 77.6 77.6 79.8 3B 68.5 69.6 70.4 72.7 65.6 71.0 76.3 80.1 4A 70.3 67.9 73.3 74.6 69.2 70.1 74.0 72.4 4B 73.0 68.5 73.6 74.0 72.2 75.8 80.0 78.6 5A 68.0 68.1 69.6 70.4 64.5 72.9 77.1 75.8 5B 68.0 68.3 70.4 71.4 73.4 69.0 73.4 74.5 6A 60.9 62.4 70.3 66.6 68.1 68.1 71.4 68.7 6B 70.8 70.4 73.7 73.3 70.0 79.8 76.4 73.0 7A 71.2 75.4 68.6 76.4 75.0 75.0 77.1 72.7 4B 67.7 66.2 75.0 81.4 71.4 76.1 82.1 74.5 - When an analysis is made of the number of repetitions by the individual children in this group, there is seen in the data below the same effort to make progress in spite of frequent failure. Of these 116 children 11, or 9. 5 per cent, had repeated 1 term. 16, or 13. 8 per cent, had repeated 2 terms. 18, or 15. 5 per cent, had repeated 3 terms. 21, or 18. 1 per cent, had repeated 4 terms. 18, or 15. 5 per cent, had repeated 5 terms. 14, or 12. 1 per cent, had repeated 6 terms. 13, or 11. 2 per cent, had repeated 7 terms. 4, or 3. 4 per cent, had repeated 8 terms. 1, or .9 per cent, had repeated 9 terms. The median number of repetitions for the boys is 4.2 terms and for the girls 3.2 terms, or 3.6 terms for the boys and girls together. Therefore, at least half of these 116 children have made as many as 3.6 terms or more of repetitions in 7 years. Furthermore, 80.9 per cjent of these 487 repetitions were in and below the 4B grade, although the age which received the highest percentage of repetition was 13 years, the age at which a child ought normally to be in the seventh year. ACCELERATION AND RETARDATION. 41 3Sss|s$ss8S53sss rHCO 5 CO . :M .H pprpJT] : : : *> 2 rn'S I *< rH Tf< 00 lO CO OO O CO 1C 1C 00 *< C t^ O CO rH 33 s CO ^- ^oocooooo^^eorHoeo rn oo t^ CO "5 TJ< O t>- rH 00 O5 CO CO N 00 t O5 ^ OO -^ N rH SSS " a *O ^ rH CO O5 CN lO O C^ O5 OO OO CO r ^C C^ rH S s * oot^-t^eoco -^ eoooorH eoosioco c* oor>- O5 rH CO -ti O Tfi OO CM CO t^ -f d 00 * CO CS CO rH S^ 00 CO 5 CO N OO CO "5 T1 CO CO rH Tfi Cq rH rH N rH S 1 1 ^ It ! ! ! ! *"* o t^ o> t- 1> co o oo eo cvj N I-H s 1 B eo rneoiC^coo^^coeorH^NooeoN rHIM C? i j 1-1 I ~ l '~' rt * S CO^rH^0005rH^ ;2;t .C<,COC ^ S3 Oi * rH Tt< rH CO rH 05 rH 00 05 05 CO (N J> CO ^ U5* HS j c s B i B I B 1 BO B 1 B 1 B 1 O BO g j g c 1 1 42 PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN ELEMENTARY GRADES. The same information concerning retardation is shown for the group of children who dropped out prior to September, 1913, as was shown for those who were still in school at that time. Table 17 gives the ages and grades where this retardation took place. The 305 children who had dropped out of school had made 957 retardations, which show the following distribution by ages: Distribution of 957 retardations, by ages. Ages. Retarda- tions. Per cent. Ages. Retarda- tions. Per cent. 7 17 1.7 13 122 12.8 g 74 7.7 14 91 9.5 9 133 13.9 15 35 3.7 10 158 16.5 16 9 .9 11 167 17.5 17 3 .3 12 148 15.5 Here again the retardations are found extending over a number of years, but there is a piling up at the ages of 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13. The ages of 10, 11, and 12, however, receive the largest amount of this retardation. Distribution of 957 retardations, by grades. Grades. Retarda- tions. Per cent. Grades. Retarda- tions. Per cent. 1A .. 175 18.3 4A... 64 6.7 IB 180 18.8 4B 37 3.8 2A 147 15.4 5A 20 2 1 2B 118 12.3 5B . .. 11 1.2 3A 117 12.2 6A 2 2 3B 83 8.7 6B.. . 3 .3 Evidently there are a great many children who repeat frequently and never get above the 3A grade. Failure to progress and leaving school at an early age are evidently the causes of the high percent- ages of retardation in grades lA to 3 A and of the low percentages of retardation in grades 3B to 6B. It would seem, too, that there is a direct connection between the large number of repetitions in grades lA, IB, 2 A, 2B, and 3 A and the large number of repetitions at the ages of 9, 10, 11, and 12 years. Of these 305 children who had repeated terms before they dropped out 75, or 26.4 per cent, had repeated 1 term. 62, or 20.3 per cent, had repeated 2 terms. 61, or 20.0 per cent, had repeated 3 terms. 37, or 12.1 per cent, had repeated 4 terms. 22, or 7.2 per cent, had repeated 5 terms. 28, or 9.2 per cent, had repeated 6 terms. 12, or 4.0 per cent, had repeated 7 terms. 7, or 2.3 per cent, had repeated 8 terms. 1, or 0.3 per cent, had repeated 9 terms. ACCELERATION AND RETARDATION. 43 The median number of terms repeated by the boys is 2.3 terms and for the girls 2.2 terms, or 2.2 terms for the boys and girls together. Furthermore, this group of children does not show such a strong effort to progress in school as the group which was still in school September, 1913. The highest percentage of retardation comes earlier at the age of 11, instead of 13, and 77 per cent of these repetitions are in or below the 3A grade. SUMMARY. The following points seem worthy of note : 1. The small number of white children who skipped grades is insufficient to indi- cate any age or grade at which children are accelerated. 2. The ages at which retardation is relatively high are 9, 10, 11, and 12 for the white children, and 10, 11, 12, and 13 for the Negro children. 3. In general, the higher grades present as much retardation as the lower grades. Exception is found, however, in the 1A grade. 4. In general, the median number of repetitions made by the white children is two terms, and by the Negro children it is from two to four terms. CHAPTER V. ABSENCE AND ENTRANCE AGE IN RELATION TO PROGRESS THROUGH SCHOOL. ABSENCE AND PROGRESS THROUGH SCHOOL. One of the complaints heard most frequently from teachers in school systems where there has been no compulsory school law is that absence is one of the chief factors in causing poor progress on the part of the school children. This complaint has frequently been heard in Richmond. Since there was no authority by which chil- dren could be compelled to attend and parents compelled to do then* part to keep their children in school, the question of absence has been so serious that much of the time and the energy of the teacher and school administrator have been taken up with it. Teachers were obliged to do a great deal of visiting. Report blanks of various kinds and other devices had to be used to secure the cooperation of the parents, but, in spite of all these precautions, attendance has not been what it should be, and failure, due to absence, has been more pronounced. The present section comprises an attempt to ascertain the extent to which absence has caused children to fail of promotion. The method of procedure consisted of scoring from the record cards the number of days absent in each term, or four and a half months, which every one of the 627 white children and the 547 Negro children who were in the 1A grade in September, 1906, made during the time they were in school. Units of 10 days were used, which gave the fol- lowing classification: to 9 days absent, 10 to 19 days absent, 20 to 29 days absent, 30 to 39 days absent, 40 to 49 days absent, and 50 and more days absent. There are, on an average, 90 days to a school term. The data regarding attendance are tabulated separately for the following groups: The accelerated, the normal, the dropped retarded and nonretarded, and the unfinished group. ACCELERATED GROUP (WHITE). In order to secure an understanding as to the extent to which irregular attendance affects progress, it is necessary to inquire hi to the amount of absence of those children who had made no failure. It is found that the four boys and two girls who were accelerated had been present 52 terms and 26 terms, respectively, during the time they were in the elementary schools, and that these terms show the following distribution with reference to days absent: 44 ABSENCE FROM SCHOOL AND PROGRESS. 45 Terms in which specified number of absences occurred Accelerated group. Days absent. Boys. Girls. Total. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Oto9.... 48 2 1 1 92.4 3.8 1.9 1.9 23 2 1 88.5 7.7 3.8 71 4 1 1 92.2 5.2 1.3 1.3 G 10 to 19 20 to 29 30 to 39 40 to 49 60 or more. Total 52 100.0 26 100.0 77 100.0 From this it is seen that 92.4 per cent of the terms of attendance made by the boys and 88.5 per cent of the terms of attendance made by the girls showed less than 10 days absent. Only a small percentage of the accelerated children were absent more than 10 days in one term. It should be noted, however, that one boy and one girl each show one term in which they were absent as many as 30 days or more and one boy (probably the same boy) shows one term in which he was absent between 20 and 29 days. Such cases are, however, exceptional rather than normal and occur in connection with the exceptional children. NORMAL GROUP ( WHITE). The 20 boys and 30 girls composing the group of children who made normal progress show a total attendance of 280 terms and 420 terms, respectively, in the seven years they were in school. These terms show the following distribution with reference to days absent : Terms in which specified number of absences occurred Normal group. Days absent. Boys. Girls. Total. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Number. Percent. Oto9 254 25 1 90.7 8.9 .4 .0 .0 .0 399 20 1 95.0 4.8 .2 .0 .0 653 45 2 93.3 6.4 .3 .0 .0 .0 10 to 19 20to29 . . . .. 30 to 39 40 to 49 50 or more Total 280 100.0 420 100.0 710 100.0 In this group of children, 90.7 per cent of the terms made by the boys and 95 per cent of the terms made by the girls show an absence of less than 10 days to a term. Only a small percentage of the normal children are absent more than 10 days to a term. It would seem, then, that a very large majority of the children who have been doing the work of the elementary grades in normal or less than normal time have been absent less than 10 days hi one term, or 90 days of school work. 46 PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN ELEMENTARY GRADES. DROPPED GROUP NONRETARDED ( WHITE). There were 377 children who dropped out of school before the expiration of seven years. Of this number, 48 boys and 44 girls had made no repetition. An examination of the progress made by these children shows that the boys had been in school 151 terms and the girls had been in school 176 terms. The days absent during these terms are as follows: Terms in which specified number of absences occurred Dropped group Nonretarded. Days absent. Boys. Girls. Total. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. to9 116 27 7 1 76.8 17.9 4.6 .7 .0 .0 134 32 7 3 76.1 18.2 4.0 1.7 .0 .0 250 59 14 4 76.4 18.0 4.4 1.2 .0 .0 10 to 19 20 to 29 30 to 39.... 40 to 49 50 or more Total 151 100.0 176 100.0 327 100.0 In this group of children, 76.8 per cent of the terms made by the boys and 76.1 per cent of the terms made by the girls show an absence of less than 10 days, while as many as 17.9 per cent of the terms made by the boys and 18.2 per cent of the terms made by the girls show an absence of 10 to 19 days. It would seem then that a great many of these children, while not absent in any one term long enough to cause failure, were, nevertheless, more or less irregular in attendance. DROPPED GROUP RETARDED ( WHITE). Of the 377 children who dropped out of school, 150 boys and 135 girls were retarded. The total attendance of these 150 boys during the tune they were in school was 1,418 terms. During 493 of these terms, these boys failed on the work of their grade, and during the remaining 925 terms they were promoted on the work of their grade. When these terms are distributed in relation to days absent, following data are secured: Terms in which specified number of absences occurred Dropped group Retarded. LQ6. g Days absent. Terms without promotions. Terms with pro- motions. Total. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Oto9 288 87 34 9 7 68 58.5 17.6 7.0 1.8 1.4 13.7 733 154 29 8 1 79.3 16.6 3.1 .9 .1 1,021 241 63 17 8 68 72.0 10tol9 20 to 29 30 to 39 40 to 49 50 or more Total 493 100.0 925 100.0 1,418 100.0 ABSENCE FROM SCHOOL AND PROGRESS. 47 By this comparison it is seen that during 79.3 per cent of the 925 terms when these boys were promoted on the work of their grade they were absent less than 10 days, and during 16.6 per cent of these same terms they were absent from 10 to 19 days. These percentages of attendance are better than those made by the nonretarded dropped group. But during the terms (493) when these boys failed on the work of the grade their attendance was not nearly so good only 58.5 per cent of these terms showed less than 10 days absent and 17.6 per cent of these terms showed an absence of 10 to 19 days. The small percentage of terms with less than 10 days absent when promotions did not take place would seem to indicate that an absence of more than 10 days in one term, or 90 'days, as a usual thing, has tended to increase a child's chances for failure. The 135 girls of this group show a total attendance of 1,220 terms while they were in school. During 412 of these terms these girls failed to be promoted, and during the remaining 808 terms they were promoted on the work of their grade. When these terms are distributed according to the number of days absent the following data are secured: Terms in which specified number of absences occurred Dropped group Retarded. Days absent. Terms without promotions. Terms with pro- motions. Total. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. to 9 221 79 32 19 3 58 53.6 19.2 7.8 4.6 .7 14.1 600 157 34 17 74.3 19.4 4.2 2.1 .0 .0 821 236 66 36 3 58 67.3 19.3 5.4 3.0 .2 4.8 10 to 19 20 to 29 30 to 39 40 to 49 50 or more Total 412 100.0 808 100.0 1,220 100.0 The girls show practically the same tendency as the boys. During 74.3 per cent of the 808 terms in which these girls were promoted they were absent less than 10 days, and during 19.4 per cent of these terms they were absent from 10 to 19 days; but during the 412 terms in which they were not promoted on the work of their grade their attendance was lower onliy 53.6 per cent of these terms show less than 10 days absent, and 19.2 per cent show from 10 to 19 days absent. UNFINISHED GROUP (WHITE). Out of 627 children 194 were still in school in September, 1913. Of this number, 98 boys had spent 331 terms in which they failed to be promoted and 1,103 terms in which they were promoted to another grade, and the 96 girls had spent 276 terms in which they failed to be promoted and 1,141 terms in which they were promoted to another 48 PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN ELEMENTARY GRADES. grade in the seven years they were in school. By distributing these terms in relation to days absent the following comparison is obtained. Terms in which specified number of absences occurred Unfinished group of boys. Days absent. Terras without promotions. Terms with pro- motions. Total. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Oto9 240 40 19 4 28 72.5 12.2 5.7 1.2 .0 8.4 997 96 7 2 1 90.4 8.7 .6 .2 .1 .0 1.237 136 26 6 1 28 86 3 9 5 1 8 4 1 1 9 10 to 19 20 to 29 30 to 39 40 to 49 50 or more - .- Total 331 100.0 1,103 100.0 1,434 100.0 Terms in which specified number of absences occurred Unfinished group of girls. Days absent. Terms without promotions. Terms with pro- motions. Total. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Oto9 179 50 14 2 31 64.9 18.1 5.1 .7 .0 11.2 1,007 121 10 3 88.2 10.6 .9 .3 .0 .0 1,186 171 24 5 31 83.6 12.1 1.7 .4 .0 2.2 10 to 19 20 to 29 30 to 39 40 to 49 50 or more Total 276 100.0 1,141 100.0 1,417 100.0 During 90.4 per cent of the 1,103 terms in which these 98 boys were promoted to another grade they were absent less than 10 days, and during 8.7 per cent of these same terms they were absent from 10 to 19 days to a term; but during 72.5 per cent of the 331 terms in which these boys failed to be promoted they were absent less than 10 days, and during 12.2 per cent of these same terms they were absent from 10 to 19 days to a term. Likewise the 96 girls show 88.2 per cent of the terms in which they were promoted with less than 10 days absent and 10.6 per cent of these same terms with 10 to 19 days absent to a term. During 64.9 per cent of the terms in which these same girls failed to be promoted they were absent less than 10 days, and during 18.1 per cent of these terms they were absent from 10 to 19 days to a term. I ABSENCE FROM SCHOOL AND PROGRESS. 88 888 88 49 2 o ft o . 88 888 88 IN rH I 0' 'r-i 00- W O5 CO CO eooo 06 CN t^ cd i>: OO W Oi ?H CO O IS is 7534 16 4 50 PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN ELEMENTARY GRADES. That the number of days absent is closely related to retardation is further shown in Table 18, where the percentage of terms showing less than 10 days absent in the accelerated, the normal, the unfinished, and dropped nonretarded groups is much greater than is the percentage of terms with less than 10 days absent which were made by children of the unfinished and dropped groups while they were repeating grades. For example, the 150 boys who dropped out were in school 925 terms in which they were promoted to another grade. In 79.3 per cent of these terms the boys of this group were absent less than. 10 days. These same boys were in school 493 terms in which they failed to be promoted. In 58.5 per cent of these terms they were absent less than 10 days to a term. The same is true of the unfinished group of 98 boys, who show that 90.4 per cent of the terms in which they were promoted fall under 10 days absent, while only 72.5 per cent of the terms in which the same children failed to be promoted are under 10 days absent. It would seem, then, that absence has been a direct cause of much of the retardation made by the boys and girls who have repeated before they dropped out of school, and also of the retardation made by the boys and girls who were still in school in September, 1913. RETARDATION OF NEGRO CHILDREN. In estimating the retardation made by the negro children the same method is employed that was used in estimating the retardation made by the white children. It would naturally be expected to find more absence among these children, on account of economic reasons, ill health, etc. In many cases, however, the excellent record of attend- ance made by these children is significant. NORMAL GROUP (NEGRO). Out of 547 children, 17 had made normal progress. Of these 17 children there were 3 boys and 14 girls who had been in school 52 terms and 196 terms, respectively. By distributing these terms in relation to days absent the following data are secured: Terms in which specified number of absences occurred Normal group. Days absent. Boys. Girls. Total. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Oto9 51 1 98.07 1.93 .00 .00 .00 .00 188 7 1 95.9 3.6 .5 .0 .0 .0 239 8 1 96.4 3.2 .4 .0 .0 .0 10 to 19 20 to 29 30 to 39 40 to 49 50 or more Total 52 100.0 196 100.0 248 100.0 ABSENCE FROM SCHOOL AND PROGRESS. 51 During 95.9 per cent of the 196 terms made by the girls and 98 per cent of the 52 terms made by the boys, there was an absence of less than 10 days to a term. Manifestly, then, the negro children who completed the work of the elementary grades in normal time were very regular in attendance. DROPPED NONRETARDED (NEGRO). Of the 414 children who had dropped out, 109 had made no repeti- tions. The 46 boys and 63 girls comprising this group were in school 128 terms and 176 terms, respectively, which show the follow- ing distribution in relation to days absent. Terms in which specified number of absences occurred Dropped group Nonretarded. Days absent. Boys. Girls. Total. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Oto9 115 11 2 89.9 8.6 1.5 .0 .0 .0 165 10 1 93.8 5.7 .5 .0 .0 .0 280 21 3 92.0 7.0 1.0 .0 .0 .0 10 to 19 20 to 29 30 to 39 40 to 49 50 or more Total 128 100.0 176 100.0 304 100.0 Therefore 93.8 per cent of the terms made by the girls and 89.9 per cent of the terms made by the boys show an absence of less than 10 days to a term, while only 5.7 per cent of the terms made by the girls and 8.6 per cent of the terms made by the boys show an ab- sence of 10 to 19 days to a term. It would seem, then, that poor at- tendance was not a strong factor in influencing these children to leave school. DROPPED RETARDED (NEGRO.) Of the 414 children who dropped out, 305 showed failure of promo- tion at some time or another. In this number there were 172 boys who had been in school 541 terms in which they were not promoted and 742 terms in which they were promoted to another grade; and there were 133 girls who had been in school 407 terms in which they were not promoted and 683 terms in which they were promoted. By distributing these terms in relation to days absent the following data are secured. 52 PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN ELEMENTARY GRADES. Terms in which specified number of absences occurred Dropped group of boys Retarded. Days absent. Terms without promotions. Terms with promotions. Total. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. to 9 ... 429 37 10 1 64 79.5 6.7 1.8 .2 .0 11.8 703 37 2 94.8 4.9 .3 .0 .0 .0 1,132 74 12 1 64 88.3 5.8 .9 .1 .0 4.9 10 to 19 20 to 29 30 to 39 40 to 49 50 or more Total 541 100.0 742 100.0 1,283 100.0 Terms in which specified number of absences occurred Dropped group of girls Retarded. Days absent. Terms without promotions. Terms with promotions. Total. Number. Percent. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. to 9 322 30 4 1 1 49 79.1 7.3 1.0 .3 .3 12.0 648 33 2 94.9 4.8 .3 .0 .0 .0 970 63 6 1 1 49 89.0 5.8 .5 .1 .1 4.5 10 to 19 20 to 29 30 to 39 40 to 49 50 or more Total 407 100.0 683 100.0 1,090 100.0 These 172 boys show that they were absent less than 10 days to a term in 94.8 per cent of the total number of terms (742) in which they were promoted and in 79.5 of the total number of terms (541) in which they were not promoted on the work of their grade. Likewise the girls show that they were absent less than 10 days to a term in 94.9 per cent of the terms in which they were promoted and in 79.1 per cent of the terms in which they were not promoted on the work of their grade. UNFINISHED GROUP (NEGRO). There were 116 children in school September, 1913, out of the 547 who were in the 1A grade September, 1906. Of this number, there were 53 boys who had been in school 244 terms in which they were not promoted and 540 terms in which they were promoted, and there were 63 girls who had been in school 243 terms in which they were not promoted and 669 terms in which they were promoted on the work of their grade. These terms are distributed in relation to days absent as follows : ABSENCE FROM SCHOOL AND PROGRESS. 53 Terms in which specified number of absences occurred Unfinished group of boys. Days absent. Terms without promotions. Terms with promotions. Total. Number. Percent. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Oto9 227 5 1 10 93.0 2.1 .4 .4 .0 4.1 532 7 1 98.5 . 1-3 .2 .0 .0 .0 759 12 2 1 10 96.9 1.5 .3 .4 .0 1.2 10 to 19 20 to 29 30 to 39 40 to 49 50 or more Total 244 100.0 540 100.0 784 100.0 Terms in which specified number of absences occurred Unfinished group of girls. Days absent. Terms without promotions. Terms with promotions. Total. Number. Percent. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Oto9 222 11 1 9 91.4 4.5 .4 .0 .0 3.7 664 4 1 99.3 .6 .1 .0 .0 .0 886 15 2 9 97.2 1.6 .2 .0 .0 1.0 10 to 19 20 to 29 30 to 39... 40 to 49 50 or more Total 243 100.0 669 100.0 912 100.0 These children show better attendance than those that dropped out. During the total number of terms in which these boys were promoted they were absent less than 10 days to a term in 98.5 per cent of the terms and from 10 to 19 days to a term in 1.3 per cent of the terms; during the total number of terms in which they were not promoted they were absent less than 10 days to a term in 93 per cent of the terms and from 10 to 19 days to a term in 2.1 per cent of the terms. Likewise the girls show that during the total number of terms in which they were promoted they were absent less than 10 days to a term in 99.3 per cent of the terms and from 10 to 19 days to a term in less than 1 per cent (0.6 per cent) of the terms; but during the total number of terms in which they were not pro- moted they were absent less than 10 days to a term in 91.4 per cent of the terms and from 10 to 19 days to a term in 4.5 per cent of the terms. 54 Percentage of terms with specified number of days absent. hi LACE1V 1 [ENI 49 .h O ' OP CHILDREN IN 1 11 1 11 1 | 88 8 || 50 and more days. 1 o t^ co cq I r-l 00 * 40-49 days. X o ro i ^ I j i >> 1 CO g o i . CO : : ' i n * S ScS ^ S i PQ O3 O-* OO Cvl rH to ^r^ 2s -tt< -OC< TH I> iO Number of children. a A O S SS @ || 1 w s?s s gg ! o 1 * -g : l * !^ o 40 ta-t- 3 +3 ! cs S O a a "g8 **J 'o cc-Ss cr T3 ra-P M ct -lill's-S'yiii ^ aj.23 fe QJ p,g a^ ft 3||e ^g-e-g^ ^ .S'43 1 228 S P ft ft ~' H S > ELEMENTARY GRADES. ABSENCE FROM SCHOOL AND PROGRESS. 55 Table 19 shows how a very large majority of the children who were absent less than 10 days to a term were the ones who made normal progress. It shows also that during the terms in which they were not promoted they were absent more than 10 days to a term in a very great many cases. From these results there can be no question about the fact that much of the retardation occurring in this group of children might have been prevented if they had been in school. Their absence is connected directly with their failure. ENTRANCE AGES AND PROGRESS THROUGH SCHOOL. Where there has been no compulsory school law, it is quite evi- dent that the age at which children entered school will vary more than where they have been required to enter at a certain age. Since there has been considerable retardation in this group of children, it seems worth while to inquire the age at which they have entered school and to inquire further as to whether late entrance goes along with retardation. 56 PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN ELEMENTARY GRADES. 3 a' o 1C -rfi 00 CO Tf (N 3 & & OOO (M lO * (M 1 f a 3 o 1 ** (H | b i c* I o 1-1 rH r-\ & pa CO CO CO i-H ^H s^og 5^"= 5 SRO Tf OiO CO t-H CO 2 s^og S2S SRO s-a oo CO s^og s~a 8 'irt ? SRO t^ooco 1 siog ^S3 J SRO CO COt- coco^ co EH s^tog g^S g C ri i 3 D 3 Dropped-retarded Dropped-nonretarded Unfinished and finished j ABSENCE FROM SCHOOL AND PROGRESS. 57 Tables 20 and 21 give the information for the white and colored children separated into dropped-retarded, dropped-nonretarded, and unfinished and finished groups. The tables are read as follows: On Table 20 there are 150 boys and 135 girls who had repeated grades before they dropped out. Of this number 12 boys and 13 girls entered at 6 years, 81 boys and 74 girls entered at 7 years, 28 boys and 33 girls entered at 8 years, etc. The median age at which the beys entered was 6.8 years, and the median age at which the girls entered was 6.7 years. From the information on these tables it seems that, considered as groups, the children who dropped out of school show a wider range in the age of entrance to school than do the children who finished in normal or in less than normal time or who were still in school. This difference is sufficiently large to warrant the conclusion that late entrance to school increases the probability of dropping out before the completion of the work of the elementary schools. In summarizing the results of this inquiry into the effect which a child's attendance and the age at which he enters school have had on his progress through school the following points should be noticed : 1. Children in the white schools showed an absence of less than 10 days in 76 per cent to 92 per cent of the terms in which they were promoted. During the terms in which they were not promoted they showed an absence of less than 10 days in only 58 per cent to 72 per cent of the terms. 2. Children in the Negro schools showed an absence of less than 10 days in 89 per cent to 98 per cent of the terms in which they were promoted. During the terms in which they were not promoted they showed an absence of less than 10 days in only 79 per cent to 93 per cent of the terms. 3. The children who dropped out of school include a very large majority of those who entered school late. In general the- chances for normal progress favor those who entered about 7 years of age the normal entrance age. Such, then, is the progress which the children in the Richmond public schools have been making in the past seven years, supposing the results to be practically the same from year to year. The infor- mation in the previous chapters represents the output which the Richmond public school system as a business concern has been yielding. If the application of scientific measurements is made to these con- ditions, what results will such measurements show? Can tests be employed to show that many of these children who were compelled to repeat a grade or more could have done more advanced work if they had been given a chance? The answer to such problems will be the aim of the chapters which follow. CHAPTER VI. APPLICATION OF MENTAL TESTS IN DETERMINING THE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN. In the former chapters it was shown that absence was connected not only with failure of children to be promoted, but also with their dropping out. It was further shown, however, that the children who remained in school and who had repeated at some time or another in the grades had done so in spite of the fact that progress had been against them. Their tendency to remain in school would indicate that their desire to get on is strong enough to give the school system a basis for successful operation with these children. If children do persist in the grades in spite of the fact that they are compelled to repeat a grade from time to time, the question is forced upon us, Does not the subject matter have something to do with the poor progress of these children ? It is customary for teachers and school officials in the grading and promotion of children to be guided by age and achievement in the sub- ject matter of the grade. The basis for the selection of this material is too often from the adult's standpoint; consequently the question can be raised as to whether this standard which the school sets up is not wrong. Does it take into consideration the wide range of individual differences ? Does it offer activities broad enough to meet the varying needs of the children who enter the public schools ? Are there many children in the public schools held back when they have the mentality to advance? It would seem, then, that inquiry into this particular problem would be pertinent. In the second place the standard chron- ological age set by the different public-school systems does not tell very much. Individual differences in mentality are so great that the average age of a grade is of little value. Consequently a more scientific means of determining the placement of a child when he enters the public schools seems necessary, if we are to value properly the abilities of children. In recent years a wider use has been made of various tests to deter- mine general mentality. Among the most important ones used are the Binet-Simon tests, the De Sanctis tests, the Opposite tests, the Association tests, and the like. The test that seems to lend itself most successfully to practical purposes is the Binet-Simon test, which has been used from time to time for administrative purposes, such 58 MENTAL TESTS FOE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN. 59 as the detection of low-grade mentality in the public schools in order that such children may be removed from the regular class and placed in special classes. There can be no question about the fact that, while this test has its defects, it is probably the most serviceable test for ad- ministrative procedure in use at the present time. More extended use of this test and others is being made by permanent psychological departments in the larger city school systems. Psychologists are employing this test in the hands of skillful examiners to determine the mentality of children entering the public schools, and thereby to determine their placement in the grades. In the past the tendency has been to measure a child's ability by his chronological age. For example, a boy 10 years old might be found in the 2B grade when, as a matter of fact, he ought to be in the 4A or 4B grade. There are many such children who are held back on the supposition that they are unable to do the work in a more advanced grade, and yet actual experience has proved that when many of these children are given a trial in a more advanced grade they can do as well as the children who have been regularly promoted. The material for this study has been taken from the cumulative record cards of 743 white children who made up the total enrollment of grades 1A to 5A, inclusive, in three schools in September, 1913. With the exception of one school, it can be said that a very large majority of these children come from the average home, so that the group which has been selected for study can in no way be called a selected group. The plan has been to study the actual progress made by these children during the time they have been in school. After this infor- mation had been secured, it was compared with the results from the Binet-Simon tests that had been used to test the mentality of these children. The information concerning the progress of these children as it was found on the cumulative record cards is presented first. 60 PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN ELEMENTARY GRADES. l-H "* TH t> * I>-O 00 00 o ~! -i-iooooo S3 MENTAL TESTS FOR PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN. 65 Table 24 shows the extent to which these 444 children of the total number, 743, had repeated and the grades in which the repetition occurred; also what percentage the number of children who had repeated in each grade was of the total number in these grades. This table is read as follows : The 18 boys and 10 girls in the 1A grade who had repeated have made, since they entered school, 34 repetitions, all of which were of course in the lA grade. The 26 boys and 15 girls in the 3B grade who had repeated have made 105 repetitions since they entered school. Of these 105 repetitions, 25 were in the lA grade, 22 were in the IB grade, 23 were hi the 2 A gra.de, 10 were in the 2B grade, 19 were in the 3A grade, and 6 were in the 3B grade. These repetitions occur most frequently in the lA, IB, and 2A grades. It is seen, then, that these 444 children made 988 repetitions, or an average of 2.2 repeti- tions per child. Therefore 59.9 per cent of the total enrollment in grades lA to 5A of three schools show an average repetition of 2.2 terms. These data are significant also in showing that children do persist in school in spite of the fact that they are compelled to repeat again and again. With the exception of the lA grade, which presents an abnormal situation, the highest percentage of repetition is kept up from the 2A grade through the 5A grade. It is seen, further, that the children in the higher grades do not make all their repetitions in the first two or three grades, but that these repetitions continue as long as these children remain in school. By way of summary, then, it is found in connection with these 743 children that, in relation to terms in school, 1.3 per cent had made more than normal progress, 38.8 per cent had made normal progress^ and 59.9 per cent had made less than normal progress. The prevailing custom among superintendents and other adminis- trative officers has been to classify children on the basis of their chrono- logical ages as follows: Those who are younger than the age set for their grade are called under age or accelerated; those who are of the same age as the age set for their grade are called normal; and those who are older than the age set for their grade are called over age or retarded. The percentage of over-age children has been used as indicative of the amount of retardation in a school system. If all children entered at the same age, the percentage of over-age children would represent the amount of retardation. But, since there has been no compulsory school law in the city of Richmond, all children have not entered at the same age, nor have they progressed at the same rate. Consequently a child who entered at 9 years, when the regular age is 7 years, might have made two grades in one year and would therefore be accelerated for the time he has been in school and would 7534 16 5 66 PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN ELEMENTARY GRADES. also very likely have more than normal ability, but he would still be a year over age and therefore retarded, if the total number of years over age meant total retardation. Therefore, since the percentage of children who are too old for their grade, according to the standard set by the Richmond school system, has been used to indicate the progress of children through the grades, the next step is to ascertain what percentage of these 743 children are above the grades in which they are working. MENTAL TESTS FOR PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN, 67 68 PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN ELEMENTARY GRADES. MENTAL TESTS FOB PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN, 69 & H i CO - i C? , rH .rHrHTh . M rH C4 CO O5 f~ O O O * rH 00 -fi co CO CO O 00 CO H If rM 0, corn I ; s~ T3 a P 1 C r- I** Ot^NMCO 82 O ^ jC.rH.NOOrHO.aOOCOCOrH S5r^ I SS 7-7J 7j-8 8-i 8J-9 ^ ..'..!'. . . . . r-r- 0010 rH d * I 1 COO3COCO COcOtOCO COCOCOCO COCOCOCO COCO &3 ^3 &3 &3 &3 &3 o 3 o 3 o 3 pqoMowopHCswopHO BOM^BCS | 1 O 1 5 Total Over age. num- Total 1 HN 1 4J s!>5> is. tip. O PQ O PQ O PQ O PQ O PQ O : : ; ; . . : :^ N 3 H 1 PQ O PQ f *S' p ts 005 3-d *! P -4?i O 1C pq : : : : : : N :^ ; rtTH>H : : 05 O -CO P* IM > t-l C< r-H TH TH pq rH CO CO O 1-H CO 1-H -COl-lC TH H . 8 HN pq TH co t^ c c< co ic c f_l 1-1 pq 00 i H pq o 1 O . ;rHrH ^ ;rHO ......... o EH pq S 3* 3 OJ o $ o c EH 3 # pq a Chronologic i g ^^^0-THTH TH TH TH TH _o -S o S o 3 o 3 3 5 ^-S ^,-S ^5 ^ *^ H!^ Hf)^ HN*^ HMO OTHTHlNe^COCO-*-* MENTAL TESTS FOR PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN. 77 The results of this test used to examine these 743 children, are given in Tables 28, 29, and 30 in terms of mental and chronological ages. The units used for scoring the chronological ages are half years; the units used for scoring the mental ages are slightly different. For example, children are divided into groups as follows: 7 years to 7 2 years, which would include all those children who are 7 years men- tally, 7 1 years mentally, and 7 2 years mentally; the next unit is 7 3 to 7 4 . It is seen, then, that one unit contains three-fifths, while the next contains only two-fifths. This was the best simple classification into half years which the Binet-Simon tests offered. The total percent- ages, however, are in whole-year units instead of half-year units, as it was thought the results hi such percentages would be of more service for comparison. The totals for the accelerated group were not put into percentages on account of the small number of individuals. By combining the totals of the three groups of children those who are accelerated, those who have repeated, and those who have not repeated the following percentages are secured: At age, 39.2 percent; over age, 19.6 per cent; under age, 41.2 per cent. By a comparison of the percentages of the children who are of normal age, under age or accelerated, and over age or retarded, according to their chronological ages, with the percentages of the same children who are at age, over age, and under age, according to their mental ages, the following data are secured : Chronological ages Normal, 48 per cent; accelerated, 16 per cent; retarded, 36 per cent. Mental ages At age, 39.2 per cent; over age, 19.6 per cent; under age, 41.2 per cent. From an analysis of these data it is seen that the percentage of children who are of normal age chronologically is larger than the percentage of children testing at age mentally. Furthermore, 16 per cent of these children are under age or accelerated on the chrono- logical-age basis, while in relation to their mental ages, 19.6 per cent are over age or capable of doing more advanced work; likewise, 36 per cent of these children are over age or retarded on the chrono- logical-age basis, while in relation to their mental ages, 41.2 per cent are under age. Manifestly, then, if the Binet-Simon test is a reliable criterion, a large number of these children are misplaced on the chronological-age basis. Some are capable of doing more advanced work and are not placed high enough, while there are others who can not do the work where they are placed. They ought to be in special classes. If these 743 children are divided according to normal, precocious, retarded, and deficient mentality, the following classification is secured : Precocious, 1.7 per cent; normal, 8 1.8 per cent; retarded, 13.7 per cent; mentally deficient, 2.8 per cent. 78 PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN ELEMENTARY GRADES. By comparing the percentages of children at age, over age, and under age mentally who have repeated or not repeated a grade, it is seen, too, that the group which has repeated is the one which has received the higher percentage of children under age, and the group which has not repeated received the higher percentage of children over age. This comparison is as follows: Percentage of repeaters andnonrepeaters, according to age. Per cent over age. Per cent under age. Per cent at age. Repeats ers. Nonre- peaters. Repeat- ers. Nonre- peaters. Repeat- ers. Nonre- peaters. Total 57.2 16.6 7.7 37.7 35.1 45.7 1 year 32.4 14.2 6.3 2.7 1 4 13.1 2.8 .7 7.5 .2 33.2 4.5 2 years 3 years ... 4 years 5 years 6 years . 7 years 2 It is seen from these percentages that 57.2 per cent of those who repeated are under age as opposed to 16.6 per cent under age for the nonrepeaters, and that 7.7 per cent of the repeaters are over age as opposed to 37.7 per cent over age for the nonrepeaters. The differ- ence between the percentages of children at age for the two groups is not so large. These facts describe the conditions in this group of children with reference to their mental ages in terms of under-age, over-age, and at-age mentality, or in terms of precocious, normal, retarded, and deficient mentality; and with reference to their chronological ages in terms of normal, accelerated, and retarded progress. Therefore a very large percentage of the children who are mentally over age have not repeated, and a very large percentage of children who are mentally under age have repeated at some time or another. MENTAL TESTS FOR PLACEMENT OP CHILDREN. 79 nder age. , r-IIN t > _^_ l-HrH T-I C^N coco t<-^ >o 1 80 PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN ELEMENTARY GRADES. 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