The Yale expositor., 1921-01-27
SOME FACTORS IN
SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
Supt. Greenman Presents First OF
A Series of Three Articles
To Our Readers

It is not an uncommon thing to
find in our schools a large per
cent of the pupils above the nor
NAL age of the grades they are in.
Concerning this condition there
has been much discussion and
more than one school evil can un-
hesitatingly be attributed to this
'retardation," as the lack of ad-
justment between the ages and
grades of children in school
came to be termed.
This "retardation" does not APP
ply to the exceptional or sub-nor-
NAL child only, but rather to a
large class, from 5 to rs per cent
of all the children in the schools,
according to local conditions, who
are older than they should be for
the grades they are in. The above
condition means that many pupils
are repeating their grades.
How many pupils in our schools
fail to make normal progress
from grade to grade. and why do
they fail How many children
drop out of school before finishing
the eight grades ? What are the
facts and what are the remedies ?
have been investigating this
subject in our own schools for the
past two months. This week | wish
to submit the facts brought out
by the Investigations for your
consideration. Next week | will
submit the causes, and the follow
ing week the remedies. This is
done to show how the parents
may cooperate to raise tha eff
cheney Of our schools.
The investigation shows that
pupils are reta, jed all trc way
from one 20 five years in Yale
schools AMI that york has teen re-
peated this many times or less,
according to the age at which the
child enters school. The average
number of beginners is 26. If all
pupils progressed normally and
none repeated we would have in
the eight grades 8 26, or 208 pu-
pills. But instead we have 253 pu-
pills. This means that do are re-
peaters, which is about 81 per
cent.
The efficiency of a school is
made up of two factors, the rela-
tion of the number of pupils fin
ishing the eighth year of work to
the average number of beginners,
and the relation of the number of
pupils we would have in the
grades if all progressed normally,
to the number of pupils we ac-
tually have.
At the time this data was gath
cred we had "a in the eighth
grade, which with the number of
beginners (26) gives us the frac-
tion 24-26ths. Since there would
be 208 pupils in the grades if all
progressed normally, and we have
253, we have the other factor,
208-253rds. Thus the efficiency of
the school is 24-26ths x 2O8-253rds
which equals rs per cent approx
mately. A perfectly running
school is considered one having
81 to 80 per cent. This is due to
the fact that some pupils are re-
moved by death, while some with
physical or mental defects cannot
progress normally. Hence we have
a margin of II to Is percent with
which to increase the efficiency of
Yale schools.
The average cost of repeater
in the United States at the pres
ent time is about $50. Since we
have do repeaters the cost would
be $50 as or S2,700 on this bas-
is. But in town of this size the
cost would be less, it would be
the cost of one teacher, as it is
evident that 45 pupils would mean
an extra room and an extra teach
Ter. If the suggestions which are
submitted in the next two issues
are carried through, and they
may be with the cooperation of
parents, it will mean in the course
of three or four years the saving
to this district of the cost Of one
teacher each year. which is sane
method of reducing taxes.
The factor of changing popula-
tion was considered in gathering
this data. While we make no pre-
tention Of exactness i'm this data
because of its nature, it is near
enough for practical purposes
when extending overea period of
years, as it does, and applying to
a group as large as we have here.
Respectfully submitted,
A. T. GREENMAN, Supt.