Evening journal., 1909-06-21

practically no children before the end
of the course. They carry them
through to the eighth grade.
In the average American city the /
tendency is to carry all children 10 the |
sixth grade. half OF them to the eighth /
and one in ten through the high /
school. Wilmington Cwhite) ranks in |
thirteenth place in respect to the
magnetic powers Of her schools. Here
the first grade in which children be- |
gin to leave in large numbers is the
seventh. The colored schools of VIII
mington rank in sixtieth place. They
begin to lose their pupils in the nth
grade.
Retention Through the High School.
In the matter OF pupils who continue
to and through the high school there
is even greater variability among the
different cities than in respect to the
continuation through the grammar
grades. The best record is made by
Newton, Mass, where for every hum
dred children who start in the first
grade Of the primary school, thirty
eight continue through the high school
No other city makes nearly so good a
record. Camden, New York, Phila-
delphia and some other cities only
carry three pupils through. Among
the ffty-one cities studied Wilmington
ranks number %. This city carries
70 per cent. Of all her children through
the entire course.
Rates Of Progress.
The fact that the schools in differ
ent cities have in them large numbers
lof backward pupils means that\ many
of the children are not making normal
progress through the grades. In the
standard system normal progress
means making eight grades in eight
years. Among the thirty-one cities
studied I'm the Russell Sage Inquiry in
mo case is this record attained. Aurora
Illinois, where the children progress at
an average rate of eight grades In SIG
years. makes the best record. and Erie,
Penn. where the rate Is l2.4 years TO
complete eight grades, makes the worst
lone. Wilmington (white) stands IN the
eth place among the thirty-one cities
with an average rote OF progress record
of eight grades in years
Repeaters.
Educators are more and more be-
, ginning to look upon the pupil who re-
! peats grade as trustworthy barom-
eter of school efficiency. The child
who has to go over the same grade
/ and remain in the same class year
) after year because he or she can not
? keep up I'm studies with other children
of the same age Is technically termed
e a repeater. In the schools of ntty-iiVe
p American cities studied there are two
! million school children. During the
. past school year Is per cent or nearly
/ Z a third Of a million did not pass and
s are taking their grades over again
2 It costs nearly ninety million dolal
T a wear to run these ffty-fve school
. lsystems. About fourteen million dol
! liars of this sum Is spent ON the waste
+ full process of repetition. In Somer-
= vile. Mass only 6.5 per cent. Of the
n children have to 60 through the grades
Z more than once. Camden. New Jersey
n sends 80 per cent. OF her children
q through the grades twice cities which
e spend large proportions OF their school
{; funds upon educating repeaters ha' Z
h inefficient school systems Among
n dftv-nve cities studied Wilmington
ranks in gath place with IA per cent.
Of her children in the repeating class
% II costs this city near S255.000 veal
Il for her schools. OF this sum about
n ss7 900 is annually spent for educating
y repeaters.
e Schools Better Fitted For Girls Thar
> For Boys.
Y II has long been known that more
u girls than boys go 10 high school and
s more girls than boys stay to graduate
The Russell Sage Investigation has
n shown for the first time that in our ele
Il lmentary schools as well. girls fare mucl
n better than do their brothers. In othe
70 words the schools are better fitted fo
II girls than for boys This is true il
z wilmington as elsewhere. In the aver
age city I'm this country there are i
q per cent. more retarded boys thai
h girls. 1s per cent more boy than cir
Il repeaters. and ~ per cent. more girl
e than boys complete the elementari
- school course. Whether or not this g
l. a result of the much discussed "femin
n ization" of our schools caused by tn
great preponderance of woman teach
ers is a mooted question What ha
= been definitely shown IS that on
10 schools are better fitted TO girls thar
n To boys
Il Are Conditions Improving.
s. The question of tendency is not les
d interesting than that of conditions.
e. our schools are not so good as the.
d ought to be or poorer than we though
e they were il is important to know
- WHETHER lutN are on lue upWdIu ~
J. downward path. TIL records Of eft,
% cities have been studied 10 find on
IS what change has been taking place il
-e the last twelve years in the proportion
Is of pupils reaching the upper grades
n Taking the group as a whole a gradua
ie but steady improvement is noticeable
'e OF the fifty cities studied, condition
Is in thirty-five are improving. while il
ir the other fifteen the contrary is tn
l. case. The city of Wilmington is il
70 the former class. Here the record
OF the past twelve years show dis
= tinct inward trend