Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-10-21
A SHORT CUT TO EDUCATION.
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.
Especial Correspondence of The Argus.

Washington, ID. C., Oct. 19-ltS all wrong.
The antique system whereby we struggled
through eight or nine years of reading, writ
ing and arithmetic, and then were suddenly
landed in high school TO tackle such mystic
rious subjects as Latin, science and algebra, is
all wrong Educators now advocate a sort OF
shock absorber known junior high school.
A junior high school, in case you haven [
kept up with the styles in education, takes the
place of seventh and eighth grades and hrst
year high school. The pupil is promoted from
the sixth grade into the Junior high school,
where he continues some of the old grammar
school studies, and at the same time is grad
uaIly and painlessly introduced to high school
subjects and high school methods of teaching.
Graduates from the junior high school enter
the second year OF a regular high school. The
need for a transition school Of this sort may
seem a trivial matter, but experiments have
proved it's practical value as a means of keep
ing the growing boy and girl in school, and
now the number of junior high schools in the
country is increasing by hundreds every year.
According to a report by Commissioner of
Education Claxton, only one out of every 16
children who enter the first grade of our pub
lie schools progresses far enough to obtain a
high school diploma. To elabOrate-4.O66,09l
children entered first grade in 1906. In 1913
the class reached eighth grade with an enroll
ment of I 24409S. The next year, when these
same children entered high school the class had
shrunk to 100000 and OF these only 80 per
cent graduated in 191S-245.000 high school
x
The big drop comes between the eighth
grade and high school and during high school
years the enrolment steadily falls. The rea-
son for this. it is stated, is not so often that
the pupil is needed at home or has to leave
school to work, as that he is kept at elemen-
tary studies too long and does not take enough
interest in school TO enter high school or else
that he enters high school but never gels ad-
justed to the standards there
He leaves the eighth grade where he is
called Harry and treated accordingly, and en-
tiers the classical and altogether different at
mosphere of high school to be called Mr..
Smith. Instead of having one ever-watchful
teacher to keep him the job, he now has
from two TO eight. none of whom take any
special interest i'll Mr.. Smith aside from his
conduct in one particular class room. The
greater amount of freedom given is not al
ways used wisely, and the Students sense of
responsibility is not always sufficiently de
veloped for him 10 work alone. AS a result
he falls behind in his work. becomes discour-
aged, and sooner or later quits school for good.
Il is in cases of this sort that the junior
high school scores. Instead Of being counted
in with the children" until he is Is or IA.
Harry Smith is sent to junior high school at
II or 10. Instead OF having one teacher, he
has two, or possibly three, but one is his par
ticular guardian and is definitely accountable
for him. AS his interest in geography, Ameri-
can history, and grammar are rapidly waning
on account of too long familiarity with such
subjects, some of these are dropped and he is
given a chance to take up foreign language,
typewriting or manual training.
The vocational work is an important branch
of the course In Vermont. where junior high
schools are established by state law, every
effort is made to adapt such work to the 10
cality and to make it of practical value. In
one school the boys manifested special interest
and the boys established stations in their
homes and in the school, In orchard com
munty tree pruning and culture were stressed
and the boys were urged TO apply their school
instruction TO the trees on their home land.
Girls in some of these Vermont schools
utilized their lessons in cooking by taking
charge OF the school lunches. both preparation
and service; while at sewing class they killed
two birds with one stone by use of the family
mending as material for the lessons
The maxim that education should prepare
for citizenship was practically applied by one
principal who took his entire school to the
town meeting. I'VE occupied seats in-the gal
lery,' he reported, and the order was SPLEEN
did. The moderator called the attention Of
the voters to the school and suggested that
they follow its example"
A resume of even few of the junior high
school systems now in force in this country
shows a great variety of subjects taught. The
junior high school is planned on a more f1exi-
BILE order than the regular high school ans
everywhere the aim is to fit the pupil for life
in the community. At the same time. the
courses are so arranged that a prospective
college student can take the work required for
college entrance. Promotion is made by sub
jects, in high school. that pupils falling
in part of the work ordinarily repeat only
those subjects.
The junior high school idea has been under
consideration for about twenty years The or
iEinal purpose in shortening the years of pub
lie schooling was to lower the age OF college
entrance. The plea that on an average
students entered college at IS years after
which they must cover seven or eight years
of college and university work in order to en-
ter a profession The result. according 10
President Eliot of Harvard was that the aver
age college graduate who fits himself well for
any one OF the learned professions INCLUDING
teaching. hardly begin 10 support himself
before he is % years old