Retardation in the Elementary Schools of Philadelphia
- Author:
Byron A. Phillips, Ph.D.,
Philadelphia. (Concluded.) The Foreign Element.
Tlie foreign element raises the retardation above the average for the city, but not to as great an extent as the negro element. In studying this phase of the problem, such detailed statistics as obtained for the colored pupils were not available. We have secured, however, a list of the schools in Districts 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 10 with over 25 per cent of foreign pupils. Districts 8 and 9 have no schools with over 25 per cent foreign. By foreign is here meant those whose home conditions are characterized by foreign customs and speech.
Note must be taken not only of the rate of retardation of the school, but of the number of pupils and the grades in the schools, as the retardation in schools with grades 1 to 4 only, no matter what the conditions are, will be less than in fully graded schools. This is true to a less extent of schools which contain grades 1 to 4 only. The table on page 108 shows the retardation of schools with over 25 per cent foreign pupils for six of the districts. Firom this table we see that the schools with 25 per cent or more of foreign pupils range in retardation from 40 per cent upward. In some schools the percentage of foreign pupils rises to 100 per cent, but in no school does the retardation equal that of the colored children. Jn schools with only 25 per cent foreign, other causes may reduce retardation.
It is curious to note the relatively small percentage of retardation in some of the schools of District 6 with 80 per cent and 90 per cent foreign, besides a considerable colored element: Mifflin School, 90 per cent foreign, with 32.3 per cent retarded Paxson ” 80 ” ” ” 36.6 Warner ” 80 ” ” ” 37.6 ” ” Penn ” 80 ” ” ” 36.6 Webster ” 40 ” ” ” 32.3 These schools contain grades 1 to 4 only, but may be compared with schools of the same grades in Districts 2 and 3, where the retardation is 40 to 50 per cent.
TABLE VIII. RETARDATION IN SCHOOLS WITH OVER 25 PER CENT FOREIGN PUPILS Schools District I. Point Breeze. Boon’s Dam. District II. Read Tasker Close Baugh Vare Calhoun Foy Sharswood… Taggart District III. Hay Nebinger Stockdale…. Washington.. Wharton Burk Fletcher Florence Mt. Vernon. . Meredith Ralston* Randall District V. Binney Forten Wharton District VI. Mifflin Paxson Warner Wyoming…. Hancock Lynd Penn Webster District X. Longfellow… McClellan ? Bridesburg… Martin * Grades l-2.only. Divisions 0 10 11 14 0 0 17 0 0 10 0 0 13 0 0 0 14 0 0 0 14 3 0 0 0 0 18 10 8 0 0 6 0 5 8 4 I 1 0 18 0 15 S 0 14 0 7 0 9 1 12 0 21 0 7 0 19 2 19 0 12 0 7 1 22 4 25 0 18 1 21 2 17 3 12 0 17 1 8 1 16 2 10 1 10 4 28 3 17 2 21 4 13 2 5 1 17 2 13 2 12 3 10 1 13 2 18 2 10 1 7 0 6 11 20 15 24 18 24 12 21 24 21 19 22 8 26 38 19 23 20 26 18 9 18 25 17 31 19 25 15 24 29 23 15 11 21 20 16 15 Number Retardation 250 556 931 735 1256 841 1133 607 967 1120 976 984 994 352 1138 1759 890 1095 964 1273 870 457 749 1123 618 1426 821 1008 639 927 1256 984 619 475 946 846 711 693 40.3 49.1 44.2 46.4 46.1 40.9 41.1 44.5 43.1 47.5 45.1 51.3 54.8 55.2 53.9 38.2 45.9 44.7 56.0 48.6 39.5 33.5 46.4 42.5 48.4 45.5 32.3 36.6 37.6 44.1 47.4 44.3 36.6 32.3 40.2 32.8 37.0 51.1 Attendance 92.0 88.6 91.2 89.5 88.8 93.0 90.2 89.0 91.1 88.1 83.2 91.9 92.9 84.6 83.5 92.1 93.0 89.4 88.5 92.9 94.8 92.6 87.5 91.8 90.4 88.5 90.2 82.4 86.0 89.9 89.4 88.8 87.3 87.1 89.0 89.5 88.7 92.7
Summary: (1) The Lome conditions of the sociological units are an important factor in retardation. (2) The negro element is out of accord with the educational system, and is an important factor in retardation. (3) The same thing is true of the foreign element, to a less extent (4) Supervision may reduce retardation by a more liberal interpretation of the course of study.
Retardation in the Schools.
“When comparing the retardation of different districts, it is desirable to know whether the retardation in each district is uniform throughout or whether the average is raised or lowered by certain schools. In the table on page 110 the schools in each district are arranged in groups according to their percentage of retardation, e. g., there are four schools in District 1 with between 35 and 40 per cent of retardation, four schools with between 40 and 45 per cent, and so on.
The first thing to note is the high percentage of retardation in the colored schools, the next is the comparatively low retardation of schools with grades 1 and 2, or 1 to 4, only. The retardation in Districts 2, 5, 7 and 8 is more uniform than in the other districts.
The schools in Districts 2, 3, 4 and 5 are much larger than those of Districts 9 and 10. In the former districts there are fewer fully graded schools, while in the latter group, especially District 10, the fully graded schools predominate. This is due, of course, to rural conditions. In these schools there seem to be conditions favorable to greater understanding of the individual needs of the child, owing probably to the fact that many of the schools are small and have few pupils in each grade. In the larger schools of the congested districts the lockstep of the curriculum must be preserved, even where individual instruction is most needed. This has the effect of augmenting the amount of retardation. Deficiency in certain branches, notably arithmetic and spelling, often is the cause of a pupil’s failure to advance. Individual attention is not to be had, and the pupil’s entire education must be neglected while he is making futile efforts to reach a fixed standard in these branches. Promotions should be made according to individual need, not by a fixed rule for the average child. A course of study must be liberally interpreted in the
TABLE IX. SCHOOLS IN EACH DISTRICT CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO PERCENTAGE OF RETARDATION.
District. 1-4 1 1-4 1 ? Totals. 19 1-2 1 19 -1 1 18 1-4 1 25 S P 1 19 1-2 1-4 2 1-6 1 19 1-4 4 10 20 10 1-4 2 1 6 12 4 I Totals 12 24 31 58 39 40 12 23 34 33 229
1-2 = grades 1-2 only. i_4 =gradcs 1-4 only. 1-6= grades 1?0 only. c= colored schools. S P =Practice school of School of Pedagogy. classroom. In every class are found the bright pupils, the average pupils, and the slow pupils. If the amount of detail required were varied to suit the ability of these three kinds of children, much retardation would be avoided. This is only another example of what may be accomplished by supervision.
Acceleration.
In previous studies of retardation little attention has been given either to pupils of normal age for their grades, or to accelerated pupils. The following table summarizes the retardation, normal progress, and acceleration for the ten districts. TABLE X. PERCENTAGES OF RETARDED, NORMAL, AND ACCELERATED PUPILS BY DISTRICTS ARRANGED IN ORDER OF AMOUNT OF RETARDATION. The percentage of pupils making normal progress ranges only between 28.5 per cent in District 3, and 32.3 per cent in District 6, an average of 30.5 per ceut. This is practically the same for boys as for girls, the former being 30.2 per cent, the latter 30.6 per cent. Acceleration has a wider range, from 24.5 per cent in District 3 to 35.4 per cent in District 10. The girls are more accelerated than the boys, and are less retarded, but the percentage of girls making normal progress is about the same. Studying the separate schools in each district, it is found that the normal-progress pupils range only between 28 and 33 per cent. This holds good for the schools in Districts 3 and 4 where retardation is greatest, as well as for Districts 7 and 10 where it is least. The acceleration in the schools of the different districts varies considerably, and we may say that the acceleration varies approximately inversely as the retardation, while normal progress remains approximately a constant. The following table summarizes the retardation, normal progress and acceleration for the city.
TABLE XI. Retardation Normal Acceleration Boys 41.7 30.2 28.1 Girls 39.2 30.6 30.2 Both 40.3 30.5 29.2 A study of the districts by grades shows that the normal remains approximately at 31 per cent for grades 8, 6, 3, 2 and 1, but falls off in grades 5 and 4, where the retardation is greatest, to 26.2 per cent and 25.9 per cent respectively. It rises in grade 7 to 36.2 per cent. The acceleration bears a more direct relation to the retardation, the grade with a high retardation rate having a low acceleration rate and vice versa. The lowest acceleration is in grades 5 and 4, which have 19.1 per cent and 20.4 per cent respectively. The highest acceleration, 49.1 per cent, is in the first grade, due, of course, to early entrance. The eighth grade has the next highest percentage, 35.1 per cent. The following table gives the summary by grades for the city.
TABLE XII. SUMMARY OF RETARDATION, NORMAL PROGRESS, AND ACCELERATION FOR THE CITY. 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Totals 31.2 35.5 48.1 55.3 56.2 50.5 39.1 20.1 41.7 33.0 36.1 30.1 25.5 25.1 29.5 33.0 31.8 30.2 35.8 28.4 31.3 35.9 21.8 47.1 19.2 54.1 18.7 20.0 27.9 48.1 51.2 45.5 34.6 18.5 28.1 39.2 34.2 36.2 30.5 26.8 26.7 30.8 32.7 31.3 30.6 34.5 27.9 22.4 19.1 22.1 23.7 32.7 50.2 30.2 31.3 35.7 47.6 54.7 53.7 48.0 36.9 19.3 40.3 33.6 36.2 30.3 26.2 25.9 30.1 32.8 31.6 30.5 35.1 28.1 22.1 19.1 20.4 21.9 30.3 49.1 29.2
A further analysis of retardation and acceleration shows that the retardation extends through four years while the acceleration extends through only two years.
TABLE XIII. RETARDATION AND ACCELERATION BY YEARS FOR THE TEN DISTRICTS. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 10 Totals BOYS RETARDED 31.1 30.6 29.1 28.3 28.4 32.9 31.6 29.8 30.3 31.1 30.2 21.7 22.8 21.1 22.5 21.6 19.1 18.8 21.8 20.5 20.1 21.0 12.1 13.5 14.8 13.2 13.7 10.2 10.9 5.3 6.5 7.6 6.6 6.8 4.3 4.8 11.7] 4.6 10.5 4.6 10.3j 4.0 12.1 5.5 + 2.6 3.0 4.7 3.6 3.9 2.0 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.3 2.6 ACCELERATED 24.7 21.3 20.7 23.4 23.2 28.7 28.6 27.5 28.6 30.1 25.7 2.3 2.4 2.0 2.3 2.2 2.6 3.0 2.5 3.6 2.8 2.6 GIRLS 30.5 31.6 27.9 29.4 30.1 31.7 30.7 30.7 31.7 31.5 30.6 RETARDED 22.2 23.6 21.2 21.9 21.4 20.2 19.2 20.9 20.6 18.1 21.0 12.0 11.9 13.0 13.1 12.6 10.2 9.7 9.9 9.3 8.6 11.0 5.1 5.3 7.0 6.0 6.5 4.5 3.8 4.5 3.4 2.7 4.8 2.4 2.6 4.4 3.0 2.5 2.2 1.3 1.3 1.0 1.0 2.2 ACCELERATED 25.6 23.3 24.2 24.4 24.0 28.6 31.0 29.7 30.7 34.4 27.5 2.1 2.4 2.1 1.9 2.8 2.4 4.0 2.6 3.0 3.3 2.6 + 30.8 31.1 28.5 28.9 29.2 32.3 31.2 30.2 31.0 31.3 30.5 BOTH RETARDED ACCELERATED 21.9 23.0 21.0 22.2 21.6 20.0 18.9 21.4 20.6 19.1 21.0 12.0 12.7 13.9 13.1 13.2 10.4 10.3 10.8 9.9 .9.5 11.6 >> o ? >> + * >? + 5.2 2.5 25.1 2.2 0 5.9 2.8 22.0 2.4 0 7.3 4.6 22.4 2.1 0 6.3 3.3 23.8 2.1 0 6.6 3.2 23.5 2.4 0 4.5 2.1 28.0 2.5 0 4.3 1.6 29.8 3.5 0 4.5 1.6 28.6 2.5 0 4.0 1.4 29.7 3.3 0 3.4 1.2 32.2 3.0 0 5.1 2.4 26.6 2.6
In all districts together there are approximately 20 per cent retarded one year, 10 per cent retarded two years, 5 per cent retarded three years, and 3 per cent in Districts 1 to 6 and 1.5 per cent in Districts 7 to 10 retarded four years. The difference in acceleration is very marked. The acceleration for one year ranges from 22.0 per cent in District 2 to 32.2 per cent in District 10, but for two years it ranges only from 2.1 per cent in Districts 3 and 4 to 3.5 per cent in District 7.
Retardation for one year is the same for both boys and girls, 21.0 per cent, but retardation for two, three and four years is higher for boys than for girls. The following table gives a summary for the city:
TABLE XIV. Retarded Normal Accelerated 1 yr. 2 yrs. 3 yrs. 4 yrs. 1 yr. 2 yrs. Boys 21.0 12.1 5.5 2.6 30.2 25.7 2.6 Girls 21.0 11.0 4.8 2.2 30.6 27.5 2.6 Both 21.0 11.6 5.1 2.4 30.5 26.6 2.6 The most interesting fact in this study is brought out by a comparison of the normal and accelerated pupils for the years 1908, 1909 and 1910. These tables have been compiled in the same manner as those for the retardation for the same years for boys, girls and both, for the ten districts.
TABLE XV. NORMAL PROGRESS BY DISTRICTS FOR 1908, 1909 AND 1910. 1 2 3 4 5 G 7 8 9 10 Totals 1908 BOYS GIRLS BOTH 29.5 29.1 26.G 27.1 26.8 29.5 29.2 30.5 30.0 28.8 30.6 30.4 28.0 29.6 30.5 30.8 31.0 31.0 31.1 30.3 30.1 1909 BOYS GIRLS BOTH 31.1 29.8 30.6 27.3 29.1 28.3 28.3 28.4 28.7 ! 32.9 30.1 31.6 30.1 29.8 30.7 30.3 30.5 31.1 29.6 30.2 30.5 31.6 27.9 29.4 30.1 31.7 30.7 30.7 31.7 31.5 30.6 30.8 31.1 28.5 28.9 29.2 32.3 31.2 30.2 31.0 31.3 30.5 1910 BOYS GIRLS BOTH 31.4 30.9 27.6 29.7 29.5 30.6 30.2 29.7 30.1 31.2 30.1 30.8 31.3 28.2 30.9 29.2 31.0 29.4 30.8 31.8 31.3 30.5 31.1 31.2 27.9 30.3 29.4 30.8 29.8 30.3 30.9 31.2 30.3 RETARDATION IN PHILADELPHIA. 115 TABLE XVI. ACCELERATION BY DISTRICTS FOR 1908, 1909 AND 1910. 1 2 3 4 5 G 7 8 9 10 Totals 1908 BOYS GIRLS BOTH 23.9 23.6 22.7 24.0 29.5 30.0 27.8 31.2 32.0 27.2 26.3 24.1 25.8 23.8 29.8 33.5 31.8 33.0 37.2 29.5 25.1 23.9 24.2 23.9 29.7 31.7 29.8 32.1 34.5 28.4 1909 BOYS GIRLS BOTH 27.0 23.5 22.8 25.7 25.5 29.9 31.6 30.1 32.2 33.0 28.1 27.8 25.2 26.3 26.2 26.6 31.0 35.1 32.4 33.8 37.9 30.2 27.4 24.4 24.5 26.0 26.1 30.5 33.3 31.3 33.0 35.4 29.2 1910 BOIb CJIKi S BOTH 27.3 24.3 23.9 27.2 27.9 33.6 35.1 32.2 33.7 32.6 29.7 28.6 25.8 25.9 28.6 28.8 33.3 37.7 34.5 35.4 38.0 31.5 28.0 24.9 24.9 27.8 28.3 33.5 36.4 33.4 34.5 35.3 30.6
As tlie retardation for the years 1908, 1909 and 1910 has decreased from 42.4 per cent to 40.3 per cent and then to 38.8 per cent, we should expect to find an increase in the amount of normal progress, but such is not the case. It is true there is a slight increase for 1909, but 1910 shows a very slight falling off. The acceleration, on the other hand, shows a corresponding regular increase for boys as well as girls, averaging 28.4 per cent for 1908, 29.2 per cent for 1909, and 30.6 per cent for 1910. From this it would seem that retardation is being increased as a result of supervision, which is pushing up pupils all along the line. This has been the true state of affairs, and furthermore, provision has been made in the system for the more rapid advancement of brighter pupils by means of the so-called “incidental promotion”. The tendency thus shown to decrease the inflexibility of the curriculum is an undoubted sign of progress. The relation of retarded, normal, and accelerated pupils for the years 1908, 1909 and 1910, may be graphically represented in the table on page 116.
Summary: (1) There is a considerable percentage of pupils accelerated, as well as of those retarded; 28.1 per cent of the boys are accelerated to 41.7 per cent retarded; 30.2 per cent girls accelerated to 39.2 per cent retarded; while 29.2 per cent of all pupils are accelerated to 40.3 retarded. (2) The percentage of pupils making normal progress appears to remain a constant for boys and girls at about 30 per cent.
(3) While retardation lias decreased during the past three years, the amount of normal progress has remained approximately the same, and acceleration has increased. This is to be accounted for by the effect of supervision in encouraging promotions all along the line.
Relation of Retardation to Number of Pupils per Teacher. The overcrowded condition of some Philadelphia schools suggests that this condition may have an important bearing upon the relative amount of retardation in the overcrowded districts. For a study of this aspect of the problem there should be available the number of pupils in each class in each school, with the promoTABLE XVII. GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF RETARDATION, NORMAL PROGRESS AND ACCELERATION.
Per cent. 1908 1909 1910 R R= Retardation. N N= Normal Progress. A A = Acceleration. tion record of each class. This information not being accessible, the following study has been based upon the number of pupils in the primary grades (one to four) of each school and the number of primary teachers in the same school, and upon the number of pupils in the grammar grades (five to eight) with the corresponding number of grammar teachers in each school. There is an advantage in this division, as it is in the primary grades that overcrowding chiefly occurs and elimination is at the minimum. A study of the separate schools of the districts fails to reveal any constant relation between the number of pupils per teacher and the percentage of retardation. If the results of the investigation of the separate schools are summarized by districts, it is seen that Districts 1 and 2 show five pupils per teacher more in the primary than in the grammar grades, with 5 per cent greater retardation in the latter than in the former. District 3 shows 41.8 pupils per teacher in the grammar grades to 47.8 in the primary, with 49.1 per cent of retardation in the former to 46.4 per cent in the latter. District 4 shows 41.0 pupils- per teacher in the grammar, to 44.4 in the primary, with 52.4 per cent of retardation in the former to 41.2 per cent in the latter. District 5 has 40.9 pupils per teacher in the grammar to 44.5 in the primary, with 52.1 per cent of retardation in the former to 41.8 per cent in the latter. The greatest divergence between grammar and primary retardation, with the least difference in number of pupils per teacher in grammar and primary grades is in District G, with 40.2 pupils per teacher in the grammar and 43.4 in the primary, with a grammar retardation of 45.4 per cent as against 32.6 per cent in the primary. District 7 shows 43.6 pupils per teacher in the grammar, 44.5 in the primary, with 40.2 per cent of retardation in the former and 33.2 per cent in the latter. In District 8 there are 42.4 pupils per teacher in the grammar, to 45.5 in the primary, with a retardation of 44.3 per cent in the former and 36.5 per cent in the latter. District 9 has 42.4 pupils per teacher in the grammar and 46.7 in the primary, with a retardation of 43.1 per cent in the former to 33.9 per cent in the latter. District 10 has 42.4 pupils per teacher in the grammar to 43.8 in the primary, with a retardation of 37.1 per cent in the former to 32.2 per cent in the primary.
Here again there seems to be no relation between district retardation and the number of pupils per teacher in the district. It appears that the primary grades may have more pupils per teacher than the grammar grades, and still do equally if not more efficient work as measured by the criterion of retardation. This may be due to the higher requirements in the grammar grades. The controlling factor, as shown by the study of individual schools, seems to be the teacher. A good teacher with a large class will get better results than a poor teacher with a small one. Elimination.
If all children remained in school until they had completed the course as prescribed for the elementary grades, the comparative amount of retardation between cities and the districts of the same city would roughly measure the efficiency of the system. At the age of fourteen years, working certificates may be obtained, and elimination begins. A district with a low percentage of retardation may have a high rate of elimination, the rate of retardation appearing low because of the fact that many pupils drop out, who, if they remained, would raise the retardation rate. The reverse may also be true, namely, a district with a high rate of retardation may have a comparatively low elimination rate. In calculating elimination the method employed by Ayres has been used.
In the following table the percentage of elimination has been computed for boys, girls and both for the ten districts:
TABLE XVIII.
A. RETARDATION VS. ELIMINATION OF THE TEN B. THE SAME ARRANGED DISTRICTS. ? IN ORDER OF AMOUNT OF RETARDATION. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Boys Girls 41.9 j 66.0 45.9 ! 74.2 48.1 46.0 46.1 37.2 36.8 40.1 37.5 35.9 Totals 41.7 80.2 62.9 56.4 58.8 74.4 56.2 63.2 59.9 65.6 41.7 43.2 45.8 44.4 43.3 37.3 34.2 36.9 34.5 30.6 39.2 56.5 73.4 Both 41.8 44.5 78.7 I 47.0 53.0 59.6 48.6 69.4 51.5 65.0 56.6 61.7 45.1 44.7 37.2 35.5 38.5 36.0 33.3 40.3 | 3 61.2 73.8 79.4 57.9 58.0 53.6 72.0 53.8 64.1 58.3 63.3 Both 3 4 5 2 1 8 6 9 7 10 Totals 47.0 45.1 44.7 79.4 57.9 58.0 44.5 | 73.8 41.8 38.5 37.2 36.0 35.5 33.3 40.3 61.2 53.8 53.6 64.1 72.0 58.3 63.3
It will be noted that the rate of elimination for girls is less than that for bovs, being 61.7 per cent for the former with 39.2 per cent of retardation, and 65.6 per cent for the latter with 41.7 per cent of retardation. The elimination rate for both is 63.3 per cent as against 40.3 per cent of retardation.
In table XVIII B the districts have been arranged according to the amount of retardation with the corresponding elimination. District 3 has the highest rate of retardation and also of elimination. Districts 4, 5 and 2 vary little in retardation, but Districts 4 and 5 have mnch lower rates of elimination than District 2. District 1 has a medium retardation rate, and likewise a medium elimination. District 8 has a retardation which is higher by 2 per cent than that of District 9, but its elimination rate is lower by 11 per cent. District 6 has a rather low rate of retardation, and the lowest elimination. District 7 with a retardation of only 35.5 per cent has an elimination of 72.0 per cent. This great elimination accounts for a mill district with poor social conditions having such a low rate of retardation. District 10 has the lowest retardation rate, 33.3 per cent, and also a low elimination rate, 58.3 per cent. District 6 has a retardation of 37.2 per cent with an elimination of 53.6 per cent. The retardation and elimination rates of Districts 6 and 10 taken together tend to approximate each other, but the social conditions are very different in the two districts. It would seem from what has already been said of District 6 that the adverse conditions had, in a measure, been overcome by supervision. The elimination is low because the retardation is low. It is failure to advance that raises the elimination, as may be seen by the dropping out of large numbers of pupils after the semi-annual promotions.
District 7, with a retardation of 35.5 per cent and an elimination of 72.0 per cent, seems to contradict the statement just made, but it must be remembered that District 7 is a factory district where it is customary for the children to go to work as soon as they are fourteen years old. It seems that foreign parents are more anxious that their children should remain in school, when this is possible, if they are making progress. Sum mary :
(1) The retardation rate is often misleading in making comparisons where the elimination rate is not known. (2) The less retardation, if we except abnormal conditions (large proportions of foreign or negro population, factory districts, and in general very low social conditions), the less elimination Ave find.
(3) Supervision may, by decreasing retardation, also lower the elimination rate.
Retardation by Districts According to the Falkner Method. In a recent article by Falkner1 in The Psychological Clinic, the common method of calculating retardation has been objected to as being cumbersome and not giving the true amount of retardation, because it fails to recognize elimination, which begins at fourteen years of age. It is suggested that retardation be calculated on a basis of the number of thirteen-year-old pupils who have not reached a certain grade, in other words that retardation be calculated at its maximum. The following table compares the retardation of the ten districts as calculated by the two methods.
TABLE XIX. RETARDATION BY FALKNER METHOD AND REGULAR METHOD. A. IN ORDER OF DISTRICTS. B. IN ORDER OF AMOUNT OF RETARDATION. District 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Falkner Method 69.3 73.2 76.1 68.9 70.3 62.0 67.3 66.8 65.6 57.6 Regular Method 41.8 44.5 47.0 45.1 44.7 37.2 35.5 38.5 36.0 33.6 District 3 2 5 1 4 7 8 9 6 10 Falkner Method 76.1 73.0 70.3 69.3 68.9 67.3 66.8 65.6 62.0 57.6 District 3 4 5 2 1 8 9 6 7 10 Regular Method 47.0 45.1 44.7 44.5 41.8 38.5 36.0 37.2 35.5 33.3
It will be noted that the maximum retardation by the Falkner method is 76.1 per cent in District 3, as against 47.0 per cent in the same district by the regular method, and that the minimum is 57.6 per cent in District 10 as against 33.3 per cent in the same district. Most of the other districts change order in amount of retardation when the Falkner method is used. District 1 is one point out; District 2, two points out; District 4 is three points out; District 5 remains the same. District 6 is one point out; District 7, three points; Districts 8 and 0, each one point out. The falling of District 4 from second place by the regular method 1 Falkner, R. P. The Fundamental Expression of Retardation. The Psychological Clinic, Vol. IV, No. 8, Jan., 1911, p. 213. to fifth place by the Falkner method is due to the comparatively low rate of elimination, 57.9 per cent. District 7 changes from ninth place by the regular method to sixth place by the Falkner method on account of its high rate of elimination, 72 per cent. The Falkner method evidently gives a much truer measure of an educational system if the elimination rate is not known, than does the regular method. On the other hand, it fails to take into consideration the entire number of pupils enrolled. It is valuable as a supplementary method to check up results, and will often make the retardation statistics clearer and uncover facts that otherwise might pass unnoticed.
Summing up the results of this investigation we note that to the pedagogical and psychological factors already recognized as contributing to retardation, we must add a third, the sociological factor.
From the psychological point of view, we see the need of conditions which will make possible the giving of more attention to individual pupils, not only in their school work, but in deciding whether it is for the best interests of the pupil to be promoted or left down, irrespective of the requirements for the average. From the sociological point of view, we see the need of a flexible course of study. The enrolment of the schools is made up of various sociological units, which with their varying home conditions, must be carefully scrutinized before a fixed course of study is laid down for all. In the case of the negro, it seems that the curriculum at present is entirely unfitted to his capabilities. Apparently, the solution of this problem is to be found only in organizing colored schools with a special curriculum. Supervision, we have seen, may reduce the retardation to a small extent by making wholesale promotions. This, however, is an attempt to remove the effect without eradicating the cause. On the other hand, by recognizing the psychological and sociological factors in the problem and making adequate provision for them, supervision may reduce the amount of retardation to a minimum.
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