The Cordova daily times. [volume] (Cordova, Alaska) 1914-1947, 1918-05-31
BOYS AND GIRLS
To BE-. FITTED
FOR BUSINESS


boy, which in American business of I
ten is a prologue to the little trag-
edy of firing" a boy, can be made
an operation based on record rather
than chance if the business will co.
operate with the schools, according
to Sherwin Cody, an exponent Of stan
dardized measurement of pupil eff
cheney.
Mr.. Cody is managing director of
the National Associated Schools of
Scientific Business, with headquar-
ters in Chicago.
He is now in New York, conducting
a test of 5000 high school students
whose records in the fundamentals
of education will be submitted to
some of the worlds greatest and
many other minor corporations, as
prospective employers. He is work
ing, he said, with other educati0nal-
lists, government officials and lead.
ers of commerce and industry. TO
erect bridge between the schools
and business which will do away with
the present haphazard method OF en-
ploying girls and boys for office posi-
tons.
business men have accused the
schools Of inefficient teachings Of the
fundamentals" said Mr. Cody 81 am
convinced from the most careful in
vestigatiOn that the fault lies in the
Indifferent attitude of tn pupils, which
reflects the cOntemptuOus attitude OF
business men. If business men
would mobilize the full psychological
force of employment behind the dif.
fcrent schools through recognition Of
standardized school records in eff
cheney employment lists, not only
would they get a fair chance for an
intelligent selection of the best ma
tcrial coming from the schools, but
the jobs would in effect bocom" val
liable prizes that would stimulate"
pupils to work as they ought to work,
for their own and for their coutry's
sake"
Mr.. Cody urged employers of office
help to hire girls and boys for begin
ners' positions, not by mere appear
ance. but by appearance plus school
records of mental alertness and abil-
ity and accuracy in the fundamentals:
Grammar, spelling, punctuation, pen
manship, and arithmetic. He predict
ed that office efficiency can be reVO-
lutioniZed if business men will rec
ogniZe records of school work as they
do records of previous employment.
Mr. Cody expressed a hope that the
missing link between schools and bus
mess may be welded at a conference
of commercial educators, employers
and school superintendent to be held
in New York next November.
Under present conditions, said Mr..
Cody. there is no way Of measuring
the ability of applicants for general
clerical positions, as there is for stem
ographers. typists and bOokkeepCrs.
/ Employers hire them and take a
chance" with resultant lowering of
office efficiency and encouragement of
some young people who are forced to
go through three or four failures be-
fore they find employment in which
they fit
The plan advocated by the Asso-
ciated Schools calls for a listing, by
number rather than by name. of pu-
pills about to leave schools for en-
ployment. Opposite the key number
is stated the pationality of the pupils
ings in the fundamental studies. The
business man may select from the list
the required number of boys or girls
whose recorded qualifications appeal
to him and interview them. Thus he
has brought before him for employ
ment only applicants who are fairly
likely to meet his needs
The test of the New York high
school students for employment rec
ords is being conducted by the schoo
officials. Upon completion the record
is furnished employers desiring it b!
the New York State Clearing House
for Employment Bureaus which co
ordinates the efforts of all nOn-charg
ing employment agencies in Greater
New York.
Examinations we're taken early this
year by LOO boys and girls gradual
ing from the eighth grade in one of
the city's school districts. Their rec
Ords were submitted to 300 employers
of office workers, nearly all of whom
testified to the practical value of the
plan. This approval prompted un