Western Carolina Democrat and French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1913-1915, 1915-03-04
REPORT OF RETARDATION
AND ELIMINATION OF PUPILS.
Flat Rock school Reports on III Eff
fects Of Mona Attendance at School.
Some Interesting Statistics.

Most of our children enter the first
grade at six or seven years. Some Of
/ them are promoted from year to year
and reach the seventh grade at tlfr-
teen years of age; others fail of pro-
motion and find themselves not in the
seventh grade at fourteen but in the
fifth or sixth. This we call retarda-
| ton.
The evil effects of this are readily
seen when we think of boy studying
and reciting Withthe kids, as he COM
monty terms it, while on the play:
ground he is with the more advances
pupils This gets him out of sorts
and discourages him; and the final
outcome is not hard to ina CINE. At
the first opportunity he leaves school
with just the bare mechanics of read
ing and an incomplete knowledge of
! the four fundamental operations of
arithmetic
have endeavored to find the causes
flor this as they are here and then
seek remedy or whatever remedies
seem applicable. But before we seek
q remedy let US examine the causes
that would lead to such an outcome
as already mentioned
The number Of repeaters by grades
were found to be as follows:
First grade II boys and girls.
Second grade, 8 boys and girls.
Third grade, 2 boys and girls.
Fourth grade, boys and girl
Fifth grade. I boy and girls.
Sixth grade. 5 boys and girl
Seventh grade, 2 boys and 0 girls.
Eighth grade. 0 boys and 0 girls.
Ninth grade, boys and 0 girls.
Total % boys, II girls.
Total of all 40 or 20 per cent of all.
"a per cent of all boys and Is per cent
OF all girls.
The average attendance of these re-
peaters was for the first grade boys Sc
days or 81 per cent of the time, girls
81 days or 81 per cent of time.
Second grade boys, 72 days or As per
cent of the time, girls lit days or 73
per cent of time.
Third grade boys 54 days or SO per
cent of the time, girls SO days or 81
per cent of time.
Fourth grade boys 80 days or 20 per
cent of the time, girls 100 days or 62
per cent of time.
Fifth grade boys 80 days or 81 per
cent of the time, girls 90 days or 90
per cent of time.
Sixth grade boys and girls, so days
or SO per cent of the time.
Seventh grade boys and girls, so
days or 80 per cent of the time.
Eighth grade boys and girls. 20 days
or 43 per cent of the time,
It was found that the retaxdation
was greatest in the first and sixth
grades; there being about so per cent
/ Of the first grade retarded and 55 per
cent of the sixth grade. All other
grades ranged from this to nothing.
1t is seen that in no case has a re-
Epeater attended as much as Is per
cent of the time, which means that
they were trying to do the impossible
work less than Is per cent of the
time and get the required Is per cent
of pay. But how much of this non-at-
J tendance was the school, the teacher
and the home responsible. Certainly
the schools were not responsible un-
less it could be in the course Of study
!. for the schools are better equipped
than the average home from which it
draws its pupils. Granting that the
teachers are responsible for part OF
. this, and it cannot be greater than 25
per cent there is IS per cent unac.
counted for: and feel that the par
ents are responsible to that extent
This is borne out by the fact that ?
large number of parents take their
children out of school in early spring
and put them supposedly at work
when in reality one man working ten
days could do as much as they do in
the two or three months they are out
OF school.
And to come to the final outcome OF
this retariation, we hnd the real buE
sad end-the elimination, which we
find greatest in the sixth and seventh
grades. At present four or 8 per CEN
of all repeaters have dropped out and
that number will very probably be
doubled before the end Of the year.
r. A. REED, Principal.
L