The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1920-10-09
THE ADVSABlLITY, OF. ORGANIC
ING SPECIAL CLASSES IN
OUR INSTITUTIONS.

OUR INSTITUTIONS.
In a paper recently prepared, Sister
Katherine of st. Scholastica College,
Duluth, writes on the need of special
classes for backward pupils. She
says in part:
Recognition of the existence of diff
ferent grades of mental aptitude is
as old as history. We find reference
to the fool in sacred writ, not really
in the sense of an imbecile but connot-
ing the man who lacked judgment and
practical common sense. Similar ref
erences are found in the writings of
Clement of Alexandria and others of
the Fathers of the Church, both
Greek and Latin. So general was the
acceptance of a hierarchy of mental
ability that Plato, in his scheme for
the organization of an ideal society,
as outlined in his Republic, proposes
that the special aptitude of each in
dividual be determined early in life,
and that each person be then educated
or trained in proportion to his natu-
raj capability. His hierarchy, as we
may recall, consisted roughly of three
tiers. On the lowest level the arti-
sans and shopkeepers and those whose
end in life was the acquisition of
gain; on the second level were the
soldiers; on the third and highest
plane, the selected individuals who
had minds adapted to the contempla-
ton of ideals, as Plato termed them,
or what we might term abstract un-
iversal ideas. These were the philo-
sophers and these were the persons
who alone were Judged capable of
governing society, making laws, ETC.
We, as teachers, have long been
concious of the fact that in our class.
es, in our institutions, and in our
parish schools there were very well
marked groups, corresponding in the
main to Plato's hierarchy. There is
present in every classroom the re-
tarded pupils, technically called dull
lards and morons; the average OF
normal pupils, constituting about one
half of healthy class; the accele
rated pupils, those individuals who
could go faster if allowed, but who
are compelled to lockstep with a
| system. Some of us have conscien
tiously spent our time and energies
| trying to teach the submerged por
ton; others have taught the middle
group because it was largest and be
cause it represented the mean fol
the class; others have taught the up
per group because results were more
speedily and more easily obtained
1t is very easy to see that there must
be great loss of the pupils time anG
the teachers energy in any arrange
ment, however ideal, where the units
were so diversified
The results of tests given to more
than one hundred thousand children
and to more than one and one-hal1
million men in our national army
seem to indicate that in an unseIect
ed group about one-third are below
normal intelligence. These would
include on the lowest level imbeciles
who have an intelligence quotient be
low fifty, high and low grade moron.
! and billiards. The lowest grade O.
/ morons and imbeciles would not bt
found in any classroom, let us hope
where normal children are taught
/ Since unfortunately the number o
persons in the imbecile group is yer.
small, we have approximately thirt.
| per cent of a normal, unsolicited
group of children in the dull, border
line, or rather definitely feeble-mindet
group. These are the children con
stituting the special class which il
the topic of this paper. Before tax
| ing UP this subject let us recall tina
above this lower third is a midcl,
/ third, ranging in intelligence from
ninety-five to one hundred five. 7,
this normal third belong the averag,
man and woman whom we meet, tn
Co in the army rating, the &c plus
and, perhaps, 'B minus" in on
schools. The highest group intellee
tually is composed of persons with al
intelligence quotient varying from on
| hundred six to one hudred sevent
and over. These constitute the "su
perior folk" Intellectually. The mum
Der of persons so far as tested wit
an intelligence quotient above on
hundred forty is about one in tw
thousand. We find that mankind dis
tributes itself mentally in accordanc
with the normal curve of probability