Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-10-28
STATE SCHOO[SPUT
NEAR HEAD OF LIST
Finegan System Produces Vast
Improvement In Efficiency
In Three Years
FIGURES ARE MADE PUBLIC


! rcnnsy'vania rated MS twcmty-hrst
among the States iK the matter ~
education IN 1918. hna made such
| rapid strides in the last three ycnrs
that II now stands well up III the cdu'
| cnticnal list.
The eaim IN three years has been
| more than 81 pcr cent. The result IN
that this state now hns rating
cducntionally which IL higher than TINT
given California. the state which
ranked second In the list In 1918.
Az tho States greatest progress lns
been made since the adoption OF the
present educational system---in force
a gain Of ~ per cent was nadc--it
is evident that had the present system
been put In force sooner the State
! would have ranked in 1913 among
! tho first instead Of twenty. first.
The compilation which gives to
PENNSYLVANIA the new rating was made
in the approved manner. following the
somr principles and on the same basis
AZ that Of the Russell Sage .Founda.
tion. made by Dr. Leonard +. Ayres
, In 191S.
This advance Is taken by educators
! throughout the country as n complete
vr,licn:on VI the system established
ty r. Thomas L. Finegan. State Sup.
crin,cndcnt Of Education. and bnckfd by
the State Legislator" through the
session, Of 1921.
The method Of computing the rank.
ing of the State in education Is com.
MEX and long. The figures Of attend.
anrc and expenditures are balanced and
compared with the state census OF
children Of school age. From this
balancing Is obtained n number which
Is termed the index figure for the
State.
The index figure which gave Mon.
tuna the leadership Of the country in
1915 WIS placed by the Sage Founda.
ton at 75.79. The index figure OF
lcnnsyIvaniu in the same year was
57.G5.
Tie Pennsylvania index figure today
il 1J.:3.: or but forty six one hunlreths
Of per cent behind the index figure
which led tho country three years ago.
That new index figure has been COM
piled from figures Of the State Depart
men Of Education for educational at
tendance and expenditures for the year
1901. The compilation Of that figure
and tho correctness Of the new index
number has been checked and pro-
nounccd correct by Dr.. Ralph q. Hur-
lin. director of tho department of sta.
tistics Of the Russell Sage Foundation.
DIR. Huriin. in going over the figures
used said he had found the method
employed In making these calculations
correct and In accordance with the
method employed by DR.. Ayers who
made the calculations in 1918.
DR.. Finegan Is Pleased
DR.. Thomas l.. Fincgan was ex.
trcnely pleased when shown the figures
representing tho gain in education In
the State,
II am grntifed to i.arn.' he said.
that tho EVENING PUBLIC LEDGER
has hal the enterprise to have these
calculations made and that the results
found show such advancement in the
educational progress Of the State. The
full force Of the Stat" program in cdu-
cation is not reflected in these igures.
the present administration and do not
show the progress achieved under the
legislation Of 1927 including the Ed
monds law. which did not become cffrc-
tive until the school year 1921 ~.
"Whic we have reason for cncOur.
ascmcnt in the results which these com.
mutations show. We must keep in mind
that other States nave mad" progress
nuL that these figures do not yet plncc
Pennsylvania at the head Of tn" last,
where she belongs and the position she
must attain.
ATTENDANCE Laws Risidly Enforced
One of the most important actions
taken by tn" State authorities. and the
one which has received great criticism
has been the rigid enforcement of tn"
attendance laws aS laid down by tho
state.
Soon after tho reorganization of the
State Department DIR. Finegan an.
nounced that school appropriations
would hr withheld from school districts
that did NOT enforce the attendance
laws. The Stute Department Of A.
tcndanc" then went into every district
nf the State to supervise tho rigid en-
forremcnr. Tn" action brought great
criticism on DIR. Fincgnr. especially
when h" withheld th" appropriations in
several eases. Th" result. however. II
population attending school daily In
1918 was 1G02 while for the year 1921
it reached 1907.
In lik" manner the average daily at.
tendance OF tho school population Of
1.SOA.O1N children jump" to l.345. =
30. giving m index figure G3. G3. In
1918 ih" index i;r.r" for the same item
was but 10
This gain IN "dncation does net nv
any pos>.bi itv mean that today this
State rank. highest or next to highest
in education. Other States have mnde
vast Improvements Hnd when the fig
urps for their advancement are com .
puted. which il is said Will soon be done
l. L..