St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-12-15
OUR GRADED SCHOOLS.
A Hastings Correspondent Takes
Issue With the Globe.

To the Editor of the Globe.
Several editorials have appeared dur
ing the past year in the columns of the
GLOBE relative to the vicious system
adopted i'll the grading of the city
schools in our state. Such criticism
cannot but have a wholesome effect in
lettering the conditions of our schools
and bringing about better under
standing between parents and boards of
education; but. to be just. the writer
should have better and clearer under
standing of the system that he criticises.
basedupon closer exami nation of the
system" The st. Paul teacher referred
to in the editorial in Sundays GLOBE
does not describe a condition existing
in the graded schools of Minnesota. nor
is 1t statement that every teacher in
any graded school can parallel" The
statement that, mo matter how bright
pupil may be in arithmetic, grammar
and other essential branches. SO long
as he cannot spell, he cannot be adj
vanced III the branches i'll which he is
proficient" II tue of any public school.
system, would proclaim its authors,
board Of education and teachers set of
lunatics. The statement is not true of
schools outside of st. Paul, and 1t may
very safely be said to be untrue of the
schools of your city. Your generaliZa-
tons on that hypothesis are too broad.
For the benefit of your readers who
are interested in this question, but have
not time for personal inspection and eX-
animation of the methods employed in
the grading of city schools, | will de-
scribe a system" with which am ia
miliar, prefacing the description with
the statement that all the cities of the
state use substantially the same meth
DDS in classifying and grading pupils.
The school year is composed of thirty
SIX weeks, divided into three periods of
twelve weeks each, making twenty
four periods of twelve weeks each to
complete the work OF the grammar
school. There are consequently twenty
four classes i'll the first eight grades,
and gap of only twelve weeks work
amount of work is assigned to each of
these twenty-four periods. So much
for 'the system" Now for its applica-
ton. If pupil. from sickness or other
causes, loses time, so as to drop behind
his class, he need not drop back
more than one-third school
year, or twelve weeks. On the
other hand, if pupil is older and more
mature, or brighter than his classmates,
the gap between his class and the one
ahead of him Is so small that by study
ing ahead OF his class in arithmetic.
grammar or the most essential branches
in his grade, he may close the gap, when
he is promoted to the class ahead of
him. 1t Is no uncommon occurrence in
all our graded schools for pupils to
do one and one-third, or even two
years work in one year. In st. Paul.
as in other cities, the above methods
are in practice, or the cities are working
up to them; only,as said above, there are
sixteen instead of twenty-four classes,
and the gaps between classes trifie
greater.
Relative to the per cent of the pupils
entering the public schools who COM
plete the work of the grammar school
and high schools respectively. evidently
the per cent in the larger cities is
smaller than in outside cities and towns:
but your writer for the GLOBE is long
way off in his guess.
| give the ratios In the school described
above for the year ending June l, 1898.
Sixty-twO pupils entered the first pri-
mary In September and April. Twenty
eight pupils completed the work of
grammar grade, or forty-five out of
every hundred that entered the primary
grade, instead Of 'less than one in a
hundred" as stated in editorial re-
ferred to. The same year eleven pupils
graduated from four-year high school
course, or eighteen out of every hun
dred that enter the primary grades in
our secondary cities graduate from a
twelve-year course, If the school de-
Scrlbed is an average one, which / be-
lieve it to be. Respectfully,
j. Ii. LEWIS,
Superintendent of City Schools.
Hastings, Mimi, Dec. 10, 1898.