The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-02-28

school methods was published as a
communication in The Minneapolis
Journal. 1t could be read with profit
by every person interested in school
work and that means all who are
sending children to the public schools
The communication is as follows:
To the editor of The Journal:
A word to the Minneapolitans Gin
terested in educational Matters who
were a unit in an Endorsement Of The
Journal calling for restoration of the
three Re" in the public schools.
Does any sane man believe that "bus-
mess houses are compelled to buy ma
chimes to do the work in arithmetic
that human beings ought to be doing
because of the inefficiency of the
schools in teaching addition? Was the
invention Of the typewriter made nee
essary because of the inability Of the
schools to get results in writing? Does
the use of interest tables in the bank
of your business man" prove the in
capacity Of his clerk in computing in
terest? Are coin wrappers evidence
that his clerk cannot count, and ma
chine changers that he cannot make
change? Wouldn't it be queer logic
that would make the thousand and one
mechanical achievements of today a
result Of public school inefficiency?
And why, o why, isn't your business
man. more specific in discussing frills
n fads? Why not make a. canvass of
your business men n list the "frills'
for us? In the course Of study for the
1913 per cent who never enter high
school, (by the way; the figures are
grossly misleading) what would your
business man leave out? IF he were
called upon to recommend special work
of a vocational nature, what subjects
would he sacrifice to make room for it?
Or does he realize how very full the
present day school is?
i know of nothing that affords such
a splendid drill for the intellect as a
thorough course in mental or inteilec-
tual arithmetic. 1t teaches a child to
think.-to think quickly-to think cor
rectly. When a child has learned to
think thus, there is hope for his con
tinued future growth"
Thus your indorser. Such broad
general statements are quite likely to
be inaccurate, and this has but little
basis in modern pedagogy. Your lead
ing business mans" argument depends
upon the old dogma Of formal disci-
pine. 1t assumes that mental power
gained in N sphere OF activity Is
equally available in all related activ-
ities-a fad, by the way, Of the days
when he went to school, and now pass
ing, as Cleveland used to say, Into
i%nnocuous desuetude." This argument
reasoning faculties do not appear until
late in the life Of the elementary pupil,
Much Of the so-called intellectual or
mental arithmetic Of the old days o n
sisted merely Of a mechanical adapta-
ton Of the conditions Of a problem tc
a formal type. The writer not only
recalls many months Of wearisome
profitless study on the old-fashioneo
mental arithmetic; but suffers a twinge
of conscience as he thinks Of the agony
he has inflicted upon his pupils in JUS
this sort Of senseless mental gymnas.
tics.
Restore Three RS" is your head.
line. Why don't o and the Mime.
apolitan business men realize thai
these precious ~legacies of your school
days and mine are taught better today
thar ever before? Witness the report
of the commissioner Of education (1911
10y. Let me quote from it:
Regardless of whether the enrich
ment Of the curriculum has been Who'll
ly beneficial or not, the trouble with
this retrospective Three RS argument
is, as DR.. Gregory says, that it ism
So" Those who use it do not seem tc
realize that the question Of quality OF
results by the old and the new schools
is not a question Of ~guesswork, but
one that has been answered by plain
comparisons of fact. The Springfield
tests Of a few years ago demonstrated
that despite the enrichment of the cur
riculum the three RS are better taught
today than they were fifty IT sixty
years ago. In view of the tendency tc
revive the Three RS argument, il
seems worth while to recall briefly
what they revealed. ~
In 1890 there were discovered in the
attic of the high school building al
Springfield, Mass, several old sets Of
examination questions that had beer
written in the fall of 1916. They on
sisted Of printed questions in geogra
ply and arithmetic, with answers
written on the printed sheets. an6
written tests in spelling and penman.
ship. Two of these. tests were later
(1905) given to 245 ninth grade pupils
in the Springfield schools. and the re.
suits were carefully compared with the
results OF the tests Of 1886. The fol
lowing is the comparison:
Spelling 1886 1905
Number Of pupils who took
the test S6 "a
Average per cen correct -. 4o.6 ST.!
Arithmetic 1886 1901
IN uIlIOSA - PoIato toOh = 6 t..
the test 70 "a;
Average per cent correct 49,. 29.4 65.E
OF the class OF 1916, only Is of the
IS pupils stood as high In spelling a.
70 per cent. the present passing mark
in most schools. Three pupils had ne
words spelled correctly; nine had onl,
one right; while "a, or more than one.
fourth Of the entire class, m~isspelleC
IL or more words.
Comparisons Of the geography ane
penmanship were even naorec onclusiv,
evidence Of the superiority of the pu'
pills Of 1905 over those Of 1846.
Commenting on these results, DR.
Gregory says: ''"The system Of today II
UNNECESSARILY ahead Of the school sys.
TEN Of the past. Whatever may b,
said against the enrichment of tn,
the contention that the essentials. SO
called, have suffered in comparison
with the past, falls fiat.
In view OF this favorable judgment
does it seem to you that the remedy
the panacea, the sine qua non is tn,
restoration OF the three RS? We d,
not contend that these are taught al
we'll as they should be, Peradventur
"frills" and "fads' have retarded thei
progress. But there is something al
most 1udicrous in the attitude OF thos
who constantly bark back to a COLDER
past, OF, view with grave concern" TIL
degenracy of the modern school.
One critic, quoted a few weeks ag,
in The Journal, gravely declares 9TH
wrong kind OF education is at tn
bottom OF the country's troubles. It 4
not the tariff. the currency bill, labor
immigration or other causes that ar
mainly responsible. We are educatin
people to consume and waste and no
to produce, and there lis the trouble.