The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1913-02-06
Model School Solves
Problem In New System
FAULTS OF OLD GRADE SYSTEM
NOW LARGELY CORRECTED
az GROUP PLAN AND,
... INDIVIDUAL ATTEN.
! TON

That an unique system of education
Is meeting with satisfaction in the
Model school of the Normal school is
seen from a recent article written by
Supervisor A. P. Hollis and published
in 1.-THE Oracle" While the grade
system had merits which brought
about its universal introduction, dis
corning educators have found it open
to certain criticisms, which Mr.. Hills
describes as follows: ....
investigations of grade marks
show that the children at the ex.
tremes of the scale, in any one grade.
frequently vary more widely than
pupils in different grades; also that
when study periods of pupils are fol.
lowed up they are found to be largely
waste periods, due to the wholesale
way in which assignments are made,
and the seeming inpossibility of fore
casting the difficulties due to special
characteristics of several pupils.
More serious still is the showing
made in retardation-the number of
children who are repeaters being en-
tirely too arge for efficient system.
1t has been found that cases of tru-
tirely too large for an efficient system.
ancy and of leaving school perman-
entity are largely drawn from the re-
peater element in the public school
system. Undoubtedly more pupils
could be promoted year by year if
a closer adaptation of the work, both
in graduation and kind of subject mat.
ter could be made Many efforts
have been made to modify the rig.
idity of the grade system and to break
up what has been aptly called the
Lock Step" in education. The Unit.
ed States Bureau of Education has
recently published a bulletin which
Classics large number of these ex-
periments, such as the Pueblo sys-
tenn under DR.. Search; the Batavia
system under Kennedy; the special
class system under Wilmer, etc."
Problem Received Early Attention
This problem says Prof. Hollis,
"early received the attention of that
department of the State Normal
school at Valley City, which deals
with the actual teaching of children
in classes. The Model school as the
training department of the Normal
school is called, has a very large
teaching force upon which to draw for
purpose of individual instruction. The
teaching force is largely in excess Of
that Of any that public schools
could hope to have. because Of the
large number Of seniors who are
teaching classes Of children as part
OF their training. Taking advantage
OF this large supply Of teachers, the
Model school has worked out a sys.
tenn OF developing individual child
Ten that puts It in a class by itself.
This system may be classified under
four heads: Q) The Group system
within the grade system; (2) Pro.
motion by subjects instead of by
grades; (3) Special teachers for ex.
ceptional children; (4) Guided e1ec-
ton Of work for exceptional child
rem.
The Group system classifes the
children in each grade according to
ability, SO that in one room of two
grades there will be four or five dit.
ferent divisions or groups, and in
some cases six; these groups thus
being between seven and nine weeks
apart in difficulty OF work. In the
Model school a group will sometimes
consist OF but three children, but US.
ually eight or ten. This means that
under a system where promotion Is
frequent, and when 1t may occur at
any time during the term, pupils will
not have to make very large iump
in passing from one group to another
The promotion by subjects means
that the children in the Model school
do not have to wait to pass in all sub
Jects before they are allowed to pass
from one division into the next. but
a child who is very bright in arith.
metic will be promoted into the arith.
metic class in higher group, while
ne may be taking the rest Of his stud.
les with a lower group and this may
apply to history, geography, reading
or any school studies. Under this sys.
TEN the child's total intellectual status
is not put at the mercy of his weakest
mental attainment.
Flexible System is Wonderful Stimulus
I'VE have found this flexible system
of promotion to be wonderful stimu-
luz to children to make up their de.
fc;ency and to do good work every
day, since they know in very confash.
ion that their promotion does not de-
pend on final examinations nearly as