New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-12-13

examining thpN fnt examinations, ana ~ tta
| hnnslinH them N the iva highest CRATES ~ The
aihmNaf departments bv Tho hlah piesaUfa
induced h, severe preparation rnr entrance lnla
| the Normal College While soma at his con-
pllsinns may he toe rigldiY drawn, his Views on
the general question Ut oyarprossure ut study
are iadioioui, conservative aud timely,
Commissioner DEVICES idea of substituting sis
for live ~ tho Requisite ago for onloling the
primary departments imprcsses Us IN n most
practical suggestion. Oyerprcssure Of study is
one of the logical results of oycrpressure of
attendance with. the population Of the city
Increasing rs rapidly rs Mt present, it Is lmpos-
sbo to prevent Overcrowlng in the schools
and its attendant evils. With every class room
filed, and applicants thrOnging for admission,
officials, principals and teachers are sirGining
every effort to push the children along from one
grade to another 50 as TO make more room in the
lower classes. Examinations are more fire.
quent, and promotions occur two or three times
n year; and not only by these competitive tests,
but often by means OF certificates, medals and
various other devices, scholars are kept under
constant nervous strain. Commissioner Deyoe
quotes a friends description .of school teaching
in New York as a mad scramble from Q o'clock
to or to have the scholars give tho same
answer to examiners. The remark contains
more truth than satire and what does this
undue anxiety for obtaining uniform answers to
the questions OF examiners indicate Il is the
pressing necessity that is everywhere felt in the
public schools Of forcing children along step
by step as rapidly as possible in order to di-
minish the pressure of oyercrowding in the lower
gra les and especially in the primary depart
ment. If children between five and six were
excluded altogether, it would afford immediate
relief from the evils Of Overcrowdng. aud with
n reduced attendance there would be fewer
temptations in the direction Of oyerworb and
ovcrpressurc of study.
This, to be sure, is not the chief question
which the Commissioner is discussing. II is
point which he hcsitatcs ~ discuss. 1t is cram
ming in the two highest grades of the grammar
departments, and also the high pressure Of
study in the Normal School, which hc considers
50 dclctcrious in its effects upon the health of
the young. lie contends that even with the
revised course Of study the scholars in the two
highest classes who are preparing for entrance
examinations to the Normal School are sys-
tematically oycrworlcd; and he maintains that |
some measure of relief must be afforded, either |
by reduction Of the standard of admission 10 |
the latter institution, or by raising the requisite |
age from fourteen to fifteen, or by providing in |
the grammar schools for a portion of the |
instruction now given 70 the freshman class in |
the Normal School. The last cxpcdcnt seems |
to rs the most practical. But it cannot be
attempted SO long rs the pressure of ovorclovd- |
ing is felt rs alplescnt from thevcry bottom Of |
the school system That must be relieved mt |
the bottom, If anywhere, and there by excluding |
children under six years