New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-09-05
Private Schools for Children
of Unusual Intelligence
Educator Contradicts Theory That They Are for
Backward Youths; Develop
High Mentality y
By Frank s. Hackete

@e0oWoSEeF N1VeT0At6 country ocHo0S
- Riverdols-on-Hudson, N. Y.
No single educational institution is
less generally understood probably
than the private school. Because Of
a. current misconceptions, due perhaps
20 the less representative schools OF
This type. as well as to lack of ex-
PLANTATION of the real service rendered
the idea is abroad that any school not
public is q haven OF refuge for those
children who, roughly speaking, "do
not get along" in public school.
If this phrase do not get along
hs accepted IS including those who
really do not fit in public schools as
at present constituted, those whose
capabilities are not fully exercised, the
term is one of honor, and the private
school is glad to welcome it as desig-
mating the majority of those who come
knocking at its doors. If, however
the expression be held to embrace
progress in the public school, or who
by some strange notion consider them
selves Of different clay, and so do not
mix, the good private school by its
very makeup denies this characterize
ton. The fact is that the educational
standards of the worthy private school
are far higher than those of the aver
age public school. They have to be
or the parents would not pay addi-
tionally for grade of training which
their children might obtain in public
schools supported by taxes Of which
these very families meet their full
share.
Those who "do not get along" in
the usual public school are not just
the slow, the retarded, the subnormal
the detectives or the indolent. Segre.
CATION, special classes. and special
schools in a large public system such
as that of New York have gradually
under pressure of non-public leader
ship, such as the Sage Foundation, be-
gum to care for these unfortunates
and to spare the normal children who
previously have suffered through this
association. In smaller towns and viii
lagos. however. such separation is
scarcely known, and this educational
crime continues to be perpetrated, to
what detriment to our normal children
and to our civilization no one may
even guess.
Many Retarded by "Lock Step SYSTEM
Embraced actually in the "do not get
along" characterization are many, how
ever, Of the very flower Of our boys
and girls-those real students to whom
complicated social, economic and politi-
cal problems Of the immediate future.
. refer to that great number who, far
above the average Of intelligence, are
kept within what has patty been termed
sthe lock-step" of regular graduation
and promotion class by class; or who
suffer utter loss Of individuality
through being submerged in units Of
from fifty to seventy, the size Of many
city classes under one teacher for one
short term of about four months.
Until the factory plan Of education
Is abandoned, whereby Economies" are
effected by herding our precious chill
dren into enormous buildings, some
even for 5000, with huge classes, the
whole under one principal whose per
sonality should but cannot affect the
individual lives Of his pupils, and
under as few teachers as possible, each
Of whom should but cannot know well
SRsfy John and Jane in the class, these
children Of superior intelligence will
not receive the opportunity they de-
serve. The educational authority Is
ves to be found who will present
favorable case for the factory system
Of training as applied to human boys
an0 RlE!S.' Not onS Due a@i'Sis 'A0
callousness and the short-sightedness
Of o public which seeks to save in taxes
by q cutting down of chances for our
children to be taught as individuals in
q group small enough Tor this object
and yet large enough for the Zest, the
socialisation and the spur OF competl-
ton.
while this fundamental wrong con-
Ginues the private school, standing as
almost the one chance for intellectu-
ally superior children, will go on rem
dering great public service. BE it
said again in fairness that in very
few large cities, such as New York
attempts like the Speyer School, start
ed under private auspices and now alb
sorbed as special school into the
public system, are being made to cor
rect these conditions for the benefit
Of superior minds, but progress is dis
eouYagingly slow, and meanwhile in
valuable young lives are being rem
dered ineffective. In smaller towns,
where classes are not large, and teach
ers can deal with pupils as individuals,
the public school situation is much
more encouraging.
= All this is far from just an express
sion Of what every teacher and admin
istrator feels; it Is now scientifically
Gently have been made in the actual
measurement Of intelligence than in
any other branch Of applied psychol-
ogy. The teacher, praise be, is no
longer obliged to proceed by empress
saons" about q pupil, which at best are
but the sum of uneven observation,
training and experience. It is to-day
possible TO know with reasonable ac-
curacy what kind of a brain any one
has. Tests Of hundreds Of thousands
OF school children are being made all
over this country, the results tabu-
lated, and averages Of intellectual
power detarmined.> Facts already gath
cred show that through failure to give
individual care to the thousands above
the average Of ability there is an
enormous loss Of progress, both indi-
vfdual and social.
Deaermine Grade Of Mentality
These measurements Of intelligence
are not tests Of knowledge, like old
fashioned examinations. The new tests
determine rather the grade Of ones
thinking ability. For the sake Of
simple nomenclature, they identify
brain power in terms OF age. At
eleven. for example, che average boy
OF girl ought, according to the form
Of these tests, to be able to think out
in. given time q problem which re-
.Quises @ certain grade OF reasoning
This. test includes not just arithmetic,
reading and writing, but common
sense. One problem, for instance, is
30, ask o boy how he would go about
&HdfH@ q baseball which had heen