A Further Study of Retardation in Illinois
- Author:
Gaylek,
Superintendent of Public Schools, Princeton, Illinois. This study was begun after the more general study of this subject last year by the Illinois Valley Superintendents’ and Principals’ Round Table, the results of which were published in the April number of the Psychological Clinic. It grew out of the criticism, more or less just, that the first investigation was too general in its nature and was wanting in exactness and detail. This paper gives the results of a personal and detailed study of two classes in the city schools of Princeton, Illinois. The grade books of the public schools are preserved complete from 1901-02 to the present. Before that year we have no complete records. The two classes studied are the primary class of 1901-02 and the primary class of 1902-03.
The general plan has been to study each and every pupil enrolled during these years and to trace his personal school history through the course to the close of the year 1908-09. A personal study was made of all pupils who still remained in the schools in 1908-09 with a view of finding out as exactly as possible the condition with regard to retardation and the cause ?f it. The tables given below, and the comments on them, are based upon this personal study of the records and of the children themselves.
If these children entered school in 1901 they should be in the eighth grade in 1908. If they entered in 1902 they should be in the seventh grade in 1908. By referring to the tables it “Will be seen that only a small number who were in the first grades in the different years given above and who have remained m school have been promoted regularly year by year and in 1908 were in the normal grade.
Table I. Grades 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total Boys 2 4 12 16 12 1 47 Girls 0 3 10 13 11 3 40 Total 2 7 22 29 23 4 87 Per cent 2.3 8 25 33.3 2G.4 4.6
Table I gives a summary of all children who entered in 1901 and who remained in our schools until the close of the school year 1908. If each had passed regularly year by year all would have been in the eighth grade in the year 1908-09. Instead of this we find them scattered all the way from the fourth grade to the ninth inclusive. Sixty pupils, or 68 per cent are somewhere below the eighth grade. Four pupils, or 4.6 per cent are in advance of that grade. Twenty-three, or 26.4 per cent are in the eighth grade.
Table II. Grades 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total Boys 1 7 9 7 1 0 25 Girls 0 4 14 G 1 0 25 Total 1 11 23 13 2 0 50 Per cent 2 22 46 2G 4 0
Table II gives the number of first grade pupils who entered school for the first time in the year 1902-03 and who remained in school until the close of the year 1908-09. If these children had been up to grade in 1908-09 all should have been in the seventh grade. As in the preceding year we find them scattered through several grades, in this case from the fourth to the eighth inclusive. Thirty-five pupils, or 70 per cent are below the normal grade, and 15, or 30 per cent are in the normal grade or ahead of it.
Table III.
Grades 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total Boys 2 G 13 10 5 0 36 Girls 0 3 7 10 4 1 25 Total 2 9 20 20 9 1 61 Per cent 3.2 14.7 32.8 32.8 14.7 1.6
Table III gives a summary of those pupils who entered in 1901, but who were retained in the first grade in 1902, and who continued in school until the close of the year 1908-09. All these children repeated the first year’s work during 1902-03. In 1908-09 they should have been in the eighth grade, but instead of this we find them scattered as given in Table III. Nine pupils, or 14 per cent, are up to grade in 1908-09. This means that in a few cases children when held back one year in the first grade regain the time lost in a later grade. In one case a child not only regained the lost time but gained an additional year. Twenty pupils, or 32.8 per cent, did not lose any more time after the first year but passed through regularly after that. Twenty pupils, or 32.8 per cent, lost an additional year, and 11 pupils, or 17.9 per cent, lost still more.
Table IV. Summary of the Two Classes. Number 4 years behind. Number 3 years behind. Number 2 years behind Number 1 year behind. Number up to Number ahead. Total. First Class 1901-02… Second Class 1902-03. Total 2 5 19 17 72 Total Per cent. 5.8 33 24.1 52 38.0 36 26.3 6 4.4 137
An examination of Table IV will show that of the 137 pupils who entered in 1901-02 and 1902-03, and who remained in school until the close of the year 1908-09, 42, or 30 per cent, were m the normal grade or ahead of it, and 95, or 69.3 per cent, were behind. Fifty-two, or 38 per cent, were one year behind; 33, or 24.1 per cent, were two years behind; 8, or 5.8 per cent, were three years behind, and 2, or .7 per cent, were four years behind. Of the total number of boys (72) 51, or 72.2 per cent, were behind. Of the total number of girls (65) 44, or 67.7 per cent, Were behind.
It is of vital importance to know just where in the course this retardation takes place and what is the cause of it. In this study it was found that an unusually large amount of it occurred m the first grade. Of the 95 pupils behind, 48 lost one year in the first grade, 29 lost two years, 9 lost three years, and 2 lost four years in that grade, a total of 88 children who were retarded m the primary grade. Eleven of these afterward gained a year’s work. Eighteen children were retarded at some place in the course later than the first grade. A number of children reported as retarded entered school some time during the last half year, and did not spend a whole year in school. Erom the records the number of these cases could not be accurately determined, but they could not possibly be over 50 per cent of the total number retarded one year. If we say 50 per cent of the pupils who lost one year were retarded because of entering the last half year we still have 64 children retarded in the first grade who have spent an entire year there, but who have failed to win promotion for some other cause. I understand that during these years it was the policy of the school to promote only the very bright childrens of the first grade at the close of the first year of school. In fact it was the exceptional child that won promotion. It was thought best to retain them longer and give them a more thorough foundation if they did not show excellent ability. This has been changed and is no longer the policy of the school.
Of the total number retarded a large majority are average pupils without physical defects, and of ordinary intelligence. The ones retarded three years or more are defectives or are wanting in mental ability. One of the boys that is four years behind has an adenoid growth and is otherwise defective. The other one is a colored boy and has the proverbial thick skull and low grade of intelligence. Of the eight who are three years behind, the five boys are of low grade of intelligence and are lacking in ability to do the work. They come from homes lacking in interest and helpfulness. One of the girls is affected with an adenoid growth, but the others from all appearances are normal. The children who are one or two years behind include some of the brightest pupils in the public schools, and I have been unable to find out why so many should be behind unless it is due to the mistaken notion that all children except the unusually bright ones should be kept two or more years in the first grade. P-” - V Table V.?La Salle Grades 3 4 5 6 Total First School 0 14 7 26 47 Second School 1 13 9 13 36 Total 1 27 16 39 83 Per cent 1.2 32.5 19.3 46.9 Through the kindness of J. B. McManus, Superintendent of the La Salle Public Schools, I am able to give here the results of a personal study by him of 83 pupils of the La Salle Schools. Table V gives a tabulated summary of this study. The children in these classes entered school for the first time in the autumn of 1903, and should be in the sixth grade in 1908-09 if not retarded; 39, or 46.9 per cent of the total number who remained in school until 1908-09 were in the sixth grade, and the remainder 44, or 53.1 per cent, were retarded one or more years. Sixteen, or 19.3 per cent, were retarded one year, 27, or 32.5 per cent, were retarded two years and only one was retarded three years. !No report was given as to where the retardation took place, or the cause of it.
Disclaimer
The historical material in this project falls into one of three categories for clearances and permissions:
Material currently under copyright, made available with a Creative Commons license chosen by the publisher.
Material that is in the public domain
Material identified by the Welcome Trust as an Orphan Work, made available with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
While we are in the process of adding metadata to the articles, please check the article at its original source for specific copyrights.