The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-10-21
OUR AWFUL SYSTEM OF
 EDUCATION
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(CCnt1nued rom Ha2e One.)
 By common agreement, con tinued Dr. Ayres, Lawmakers and publicists have come to hold that the education furnished by our common may safely be allowed the future citi- zens of this democracy. When then we discover that half our our chill dren are not receiving this amount of education, the problem presented is a grave one.
 'tLet us consider what this really the men and women who must soon take up the burden of citizenship are woefu1ly il1-prepared. Think for moment of the studies which the pupil who drops out in the fifth grade fails to get L He has but a slight knowledge of geography: he has had guage; he has had study of civics; his Knowledge of the history of his country is limited to stories about some of it's great men. The subjects which he fails to get are precisely those subjects which are designed to fit him for citizenship.
 During the past two years there have been conducted several labor ious and costly Investigations to dis cover why we have so many back ward children in our schools and what the remedies are. Among the Causes which these Investigations have brought to light may be mentioned the compulsory attendance law which provides that a child shall attend school for seven years-from the age of seven to fourteen-whereas our school courses are either, eight or is the fact that our courses of study have unconsciously been fitted to the needs of the bright rather than the average child. This is proved by the fact that in the country a whole children who are making slow pro gress in school are ten times as mum erous those who are making rapid progress. The course of study does not fit the average child.
 Another cause is irregular attend ance and here the parents are more responsible than the schools. In few American cities are as many as three fourths of the school children actual fourths of the time. Another cause is the fact that our school courses are better fitted to the abilities of our girls than they are to those of our boys. Almost everywhere throughout the country as we'll throughout the State of Connecticut there are more CTS among the boys, and more of them fall out of school without grad uating. The girls progress faster and fail less often and more of them com
 Another cause is physical defec- tiVeness. About one-sixth of the chill count of ill health. Children with bad teeth take half a year longer to get through the elementary schools than do those with good teeth. Chil- dren with adenotds take a year and tenth longer than do those without adenoids.'
 Dr. -Ayres .i1lustrated his talk by a large number of graphic charts show ing conditions in Connecticut cities. One of these showed the per cent. of beginning R pupils @ who continue in the different cities as follows: An sonia, 60; New Haven, 53; Meriden, 52; Hartford, 51; Torrington, 4s; Danbury, 49; Naugatuck, 46; Water bury. 40; Bridgeport, 25.
 The percentage of over-age or back ward children in the different cities was shown to be as follows: Meriden, IT; WaIlingford, IS; Bristol, 20; Tor rington, 21;, Ansonia, 23; Naugatuck, 27; Middletown, 27; New Haven; 27; Waterbury, 2S; Danbury. 32; Bridge port, 49.
 According to pr. Ayres the solu- tion for the problem in this situation present conditions; secondly, in CO., operation between school authorities, teachers and parents; and thirdly, in keeping track of each individual pupil from the time he enters school to the day that he graduates.
 We may talk of economy in school ''of school reforms and educational progress, but the point I want to make is that the truest and greatest economy will only come when we take care of the tagging half who now clog the educational machinery. The most important school reform consists in seeing to IL not that children S1I Tn our schools a specified number of years, but in making sure that they profit by their stay. The truest edu- cational progress will be made when we evolve a truly democratic aim in education-an aim that shall reach the needs of every child and the whole of every child-an aim that shall be as much concerned about the l progress of every child it is about his presence, and as much concern ed l about his health as it is about his head.''