Seven Years with Unusually Gifted Pupils
- Author:
Eeedeeick E. Downes, Pd.D.,
Superintendent of Schools, Harrisburg, Pa.
The Ilarrisburg public school system continues to hold to the old nine-year elementary course. It has under consideration changing to an eight-year course, primarily for the sake of uniformity and as an aid in compiling statistical and other reports and records, which as a rule take the universality of an eight-year elementary course for granted. I am not sure whether we shall allow these superficial considerations eventually to outweigh higher ones or not.
For a number of years the average age of high school graduation in Harrisburg has been less than eighteen and one-half years,, which is practically the same as in other cities of the country. This would seem to indicate that with a flexible system of grading and promotion, the more extensive elementary course is after all not a matter of much consequence, so far as actual time saving is concerned. Furthermore it may be taken for granted that as a general rule the longer the course is, the smaller will be the percentage of retardation and the greater the percentage of cases of rapid advancement, and the shorter the course is, the greater will be the percentage of retardation and the smaller the percentage of cases of rapid advancement.
A nine-year course below the high school presents at least one important advantage, namely, encouragement for the slow pupil. The pupil of below average ability, as a rule, requires at least nine years, and frequently longer, to complete the standard eight-year course of study. This means that many must fail of promotion at one time or another, become discouraged, and drop out before reaching the high school. It would be difficult to estimate the indirect consequences of Birmingham’s (Alabama) 65 per cent of retardation, or Kansas City’s (Missouri) more than 50 per cent, both of these cities maintaining seven-year elementary courses. A slow pupil who passes through a nine-year course without failing to be promoted, is in a far better mental attitude toward school work and the world generally than is the pupil who passes through a shorter course and who fails one or more times along the way.
In this particular educational period, when so much is being written and said of the slow or backward pupil, and wlien a greater attempt than ever before is being made by the school to take the slow pupil into the reckoning, it would seem proper to consider the advisability of offering a course of sufficient length to be covered by majority of his kind without the discouragement of failure, or at least to call a halt to persistent agitation to shorten still further the curriculum.
It is not my purpose here, however, to discuss the length of the school curriculum, all that has been said having been thrown in by way of preface. The burden of this article will be to show how Harrisburg, with a nine-year elementary course, has been able for a number of years to send out high school graduates of the same age as those of other cities having an eight-year or even a seven-year course.
About seven years ago it was casually discovered that as our course of study was then arranged, many pupils of the second grade and many of the sixth grade were able to complete the work prescribed for these years in considerably less than the allotted time. Teachers could not keep their pupils busy with the work of the grade. The brightest pupils of the second grade were found to be able, without unusual effort, to do the number work of the third grade, and, after a quick mastery of the additional phonetic symbols, to be able to read in the third reader as readily as in the second. In the sixth grade, much of the work of the first halfyear in the advanced textbooks in arithmetic, geography, etc., being substantially a review of the work already covered in the elementary texts of previous years, it was found that the more gifted pupils were covering the course without apparent interest or serious application. The average pupil had plenty to do, but those of above average ability had much unused time at their disposal.
Accordingly, it was suggested that where the number of bright pupils warranted, teachers might divide their classes into fast and slow sections and allow the pupils of the fast sections to proceed as rapidly as their abilities permitted, due consideration being given to health. In many instances, where there were not enough exceptional pupils to form a section of reasonable size, teachers were encouraged to give such pupils individual attention, both during and after school hours, to prescribe advanced home study, and to enlist the interest of parents in the project of time saving for the pupil. Often intensive group teaching was resorted to during the recess period or for a half-hour or so after school. As a result of this effort, hundreds of pupils during that year and succeeding years were enabled to skip grades. As many as three hundred and fifty were thus advanced in a single year. Doubtless many of them would not now be in the high school had it not been for this saving of time. Furthermore we find that as a rule these pupils are among the best students of the high school. !Not only are they able to do the work successfully and to keep pace with the average student, but in the majority of cases they show the same mental superiority, in spite of the fact that they have lost a year of grade drill, in the higher school as they did in the lower.
But our course of study having been revised, thereby closing up to some extent the “gaps” of opportunity during the particular years referred to, the plan above explained has practically been abandoned. The principal objection to it is the added drain which it entails upon the vitality of the teacher. Though many teachers are willing to do the work, it is nevertheless hardly right to expect them to do it. Taking a small group of pupils away from the regular class and preparing them during extra periods in and out of school hours for a higher grade is no easy task, and sooner or later if continued year after year, is likely to have an injurious effect upon the health and efficiency of the teacher. I have in mind instances of such deleterious effects. Nor can the plan be said to be entirely fair to the large majority of pupils who are entitled to the teacher’s full time and attention and her best mental and physical vigor.
In September, 1910, with the sanction of the School Board, exceptionally gifted pupils were provided for by the opening of special schools exclusively devoted to their instruction. These schools, or classes, were organized in buildings located as nearly as possible in the geographical centres of the districts from which the pupils were drawn. Two schools of this kind were maintained during the year 1910-1911, and three were opened in the fall of 1911, and are in operation at the present time. Those organized this year are of a single grade. The pupils expect to cover the work of the eighth and ninth grades during the year and enter the high school in September next.
By the special school plan pupils may be as uniformly graded as if they were in the regular schools. Moreover, the work of the teacher is much less irksome than in schools having groups of both bright and slow pupils. It is fair to all the pupils of the room. The unusually bright pupils of a geographical district are selected with the aid of official records, and, after parental permission has been obtained, they are assigned to the special school for double work. Some pupils have rather long distances to walk to school and a few carry their noon lunches with them; but all seem willing to endure this slight inconvenience rather than suffer the loss of a year. Our special rooms at present have an average enrolment of about thirty, and while this number is probably somewhat too large to insure the most satisfactory results, all the pupils are doing good work and all will probably succeed in their undertaking. Our special rooms last year averaged thirtyfive pupils. At the close of the last school year one of the “special school” teachers submitted a written report of the work of the year. This report was not intended for publication, but I take the liberty of reproducing a portion of it verbatim, in order that some idea of ths work and success of the school from the teacher’s own viewpoint may be obtained. “It is gratifying to note some things accomplished which are necessary elements in every good school or system of education. “First, attendance?A glance at the general report for the year submitted to the superintendent before the examination, will show a larger number of pupils present each day than I ever before had the pleasure of reporting. The majority had less than ten days’ absence. Most of the absence was necessary, being occasioned by religious holidays of the Hebrews or by sickness. “Secondly, scholarship?The percentages reported were obtained by averaging the class and test marks to find the class standing of each pupil at the end of each month. At the close of the year these resulted in twelve boys and thirteen girls attaining a grade ranging from ninety to ninety-seven per cent. The remainder of the class were all above eighty per cent. “All seemed to appreciate the advantage of eliminating a year from the grade work. This was sufficient incentive to encourage repeated efforts to secure excellence and to remove even the semblance of drudgery.
“Thirdly, discipline?A busy school lacks the opportunity of being either mischievous or troublesome. It was the most orderly school I have ever taught.”
The pupils of the school above reported are now in the first year of the high school. The work of the first term (one-half year) has just been completed and the results recorded. A few comparisons are both interesting and gratifying.
Those entering the high school from the above reported room numbered thirty-two pupils. Of this number, eight, or 25 per cent of the class, attained an average standing in all studies during their first half-year in the high school of between 90 and 100 per cent; and twenty-three, or 72 per cent of the class, attained an average standing of between 80 and 90 per cent. Only one general average fell below 80 per cent.
It is interesting to compare the above records with those of one of the regular classes. I have selected for this purpose a class of somewhat above average ability, as indicated by the fact that not a single member failed to pass examinations for admission to the high school. Each member of this class spent two years in doing the same work that the special class did in one. Furthermore, as a consequence of this extra time spent, their average age was considerably greater than the average age of the special class. Thirty of this particular class decided to enter the high school. Of this number six, or 20 per cent of the class, attained an average standing during their first half-year in the high school of between 90 and 100 per cent; seventeen, or 57 per cent of the class, attained an average standing of between 80 and 90 per cent; and seven attained an average standing of less than 70 per cent. From this it will be seen that the pupils of the special school are thus far holding their own in the high school. Their superior ability has more than made up for the regular pupils’ additional year of drill in preparation?more than counterbalanced greater maturity of age. After all, this is no more than might have been expected. The wonder of it?the pity of it?is that we did not see it long ago. We would not think of a strong horse and a weak horse as a good working team, or a fast horse and a slow one as a good racing team. No more can we hitch school children together and have them do their best work, without consideration of their fitness to be matched.
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.