The New era-leader. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1911-1912, 1911-06-23

both of the above problems.

botn OIL tne aboVe pr0bleHiS.
II would be difficult to find high
school teacher anywhere, believe,
who would want to admit pupil into
the high school who could not solve
these two problems correctly.
Let US consider the foregoing ques-
tion of whether the examination was
too hard from another view point.
A pupil OF acreage mental capacity,
taught by an average teacher, with
ordinary outside -of-school environment
should he prepared to enter the high
school at the age of fourteen, that is,
if the pupil enters school at the age of
six years and attends regularly for
nine months each school year.
Five of the rs who passed the ex-
animation this year are only l3 years
old, Ia are fourteen years old, and
only six are more than fourteen years
old. Only four of those who passed
have been in the sth grade more than
ole year (9months).
In view of these facts we cannot do
otherwise than to conclude that the
examination was fair test for
average 8th grade pupils. Where,
then, is. the cause of SO many failures!
1t may be thought by some that the
examination papers were not marked
correctly. We urgently invite any
one who entertains. this thought te
come to- the office any time during the
next twelve months, and feel conf
dent that he can be convinced that the
markings are not only correct and i'm
partial, but liberal.
There are only two other places IL
look for the causes of these failure.
and these are the quality of the schoo
work and the ouside-of- school environ
men, and in many cases, perhaps, boti
of these are to blame.
1t may be the teac hers who taugh
these 100 pupils in the sixth grade wh'
is to blame for their failures, or j
may be their teachers in the seventh
grade, or it may be their teachers il
the eight grade. However, it |,
usually the ssght grade teacher W no i
blamed for it all. and often it is tn
sixth and seventh grade teachers win
are mostly to blame. No matter hov
component an eight grade teacher
may be, she cannot prepare pupils fo
passing the eight grade examination
! in one year, unless those pupils hav
some preparation for eight grade worl
when they begii the eight grade work
1t freq. emily occurs that pupils at
tempt to do eight grade work who
ought to be in the sixth grade.
If the out-side-of school environn en-
of 100 pupils has not been conduciv
to good school work, their parent
must share some of the blame TO
their failures. Pupils whose evening
are spent in reading trashy novels an
detective stories arely do good wor
in school. And pupils who habituall
attend parties. shows. etc. on schoe
evenings generally fail to make goo
in school. Even If the parties, show
and other amusements have an eleya
ing influence. and they usually do not
they take their thoughts away from
school work and hinder their progres
| in school.
If 1O9 bright boys and girls of thi
county have to spend two years in dc
ing the school work that should b
done in one year, Ice years of tn
best part of their lives have bee
worse than wasted, and if the cause o
this waste 0 human lives can be dis
covreed, it certainly should be re
moved.
j. v. Murphy.
County Superintendent.