The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1922-03-08
SCHOOL MOVIES TRUE ECONOMY


"Economize through rovies' is the
slogan which the schools OF the coun
try over are adopting, according to
Clyde A. Mann, educational statisti
clan. who declares that classroom use
of films and other visual aids will re-
duce the problem of reporters" by
fully so per cent. Boys and girls who
have the advantage of visual supple
ments to the textbook learn their les
sons better and retain them longer.
"Thirty-five million dollars q year
could be saved to the taxpayers OF this
country through the nationwide use
of visual education in our public
schools" asserts Mr.. Mann, producing
definite figures in support OF this
statement.
According to the 1921 eeusus report,
over 2o,00o,o00 children attend school.
IT is conservatively estimated that at
least 10 per cent fail to achieve promo
ton each year. These 100000 repeat
ers mean an added expense of SO oo0,-
600 annually In schools where it has
been possible TO measure the efficacy
of visual education in concrete results
and in definite figures it has beeen
proved that the annual failures have
been cut from 10 per cent TO ) per
cent. Eliminate per cent of the fail
ures by improved methods Of teaching,
and you effect a saving of at least
SIS. 00o, 000"
In making these statements Mr..
Mann refers to the carefully planned
films produced ly educators with a
first hand knowledge OF everyday
classroom problems. Motion pictures
like the geography, astronomy, physics
and nature study films distributed by
the Society of Visual Education and
similar educational organizations, are
the only type of film which should find
place in classroom during school hours, |
according to this authority.
Further evidence on this subject !
comes from Dr. ]. Paul Goode, profes-
sor of geography at the University of
Chicago. who emphasizes the essen
tial economy of motion pictures in the
schoolroom.
1T viii pay school boards to invest
in the proved methods of visual in
struction. This has been demonstrated
In repeated instances. but one case
win serve by way of illustration. The
public schools of Racine, Wis, had q
good record in efficiency. They COM
pared well with the schools of other
cities of similar size the country over.
Their record Of pupils failing at theI
end OF the season was Iow--only one in
ten. of the pupils below the high
school. A ten per cent failure was to be /
expected. But when these schools
adopted a well defined system of visual
fse.. f.fi To DO
crease. Rooms began to make a record /
OF no failures at all during the year.
Later the Russell Sage Foundationl
made a wide study of failures and
promotion and the Racine schools
were recorded as showing an average
of only per cent of failure. This sur
vey also brought out the fact that in
the schools where the new system of
visual education was not used the rec
ord still stood at 10 per cent.
Cutting the failures from 10 to . !
per cent gave promotions TO ESQ pupils !
who. without the improved instruction.
would be ranked as failures and re-
quired to repeat the course. To have
had $50 pupils repeating the course
would have called for six or eight ex-
ira teachers and extra rooms. On the
basis of the average cost of a years
schooling, this promotion of go pu-
pills was saving to the taxpayers Of
Racine OF between $4,000 and $4,000
In the year.
"ThinlI OF what the saving to the
whole country will be when visual ed
ucation in all its phases has been more
fully worked out in all the schoolsii
1t is worthy the best brains and the
most serious effort OF all OF us.