New-York tribune., 1922-11-22
Teachers Do Pupils, work

of c9urEe, they don't get passing
marks7 How are they grsduated9' |
asked.
Teachers Dc Pupils Work
ain q large number Of instances"
the teacher confided, ''they are not
graduated, but are merely eliminated.
Ii teacher happens to be squeamisb
about marks, / have heard where the
children are drilled in advance on the
questions they are TO be examined on
to assure their getting good marks
just for appearances. ] have heard,
too, of teachers actually doing the
work for the pupils, such as drawing,
penmanship, and SO forth, for the same
reason. This is what is called among
teachers fixing the tests. 1t is quite
common and accepted practice when
conditions grow as bad as they are at
present.
"As a matter of fact, the teachers
frequently have little conferences
among themselves and decide just how
many pupils each will keep back and
each will promote, SO that they viii
have about the same average. Its a
delusion all around The teachers give
meaningless promotion averages to the
principal, the principal passes the sop
on to the district superintendent the
district superintendent passes 1t on TO
the Superintendent of Schools, and go
on, and they are worked up INTO an
sorts of elaborate tables and al kinds
OF profound conclusions and theories
drawn therefrom.
"But it's all worthless, for every
teacher who is honest with herself will
tell YOU that out of a class of forty,
fifteen to twenty children are unpre-
pared to continue with the work OF
their grade or so on to the next class,
and vet all are promoted except two or
three or four.
But for this situation the teachers
refuse TO take the blame. 1t is not we
who have brought about this situation
of overcrowding. 1t is not we who
have introduced the schemes OF part
time, iouble-sessioDs and the other
multitudinous arrangements for squeez-
ing all the children into buildings and
rooms too few and small 1t is not we
who are willing to handle classes of
forty-five and fifty pupils at a time
pupils who come from illiterate homes
and need the utmost individual atten-
ton. We are not superhuman, and
think the principals realize the facts.
do they know that the children are
being sent out of the elementary
schools with only n fifth and sixth
grade education? Oh, they must
know. They must know that out of
every 10000 children graduating from
the elementary schools who enter the
high schools, 5000 drop out during the
first year, mainly because of their un-
fitness to continue with high school
studies. You have seen how VIC have
cut everything to the bone and make
every effort to see that the child gets
at least thorough drumming in the
fundamental courses. They never get
a look at the scenery" which was the
way in which she characterized music,
physical education and other such
courses.
Parents Illiterate, Too
"And the pity of it all is" she con
tinued, that the parents of most of
these children are for the greater part
illiterate and don't know whether they
are progressing or not. They have
probably made great sacrifices to keep
the chilo at school and the annual
promotion is the only sign by which
they can judge whether the child is
progressing"
"And what is the promotion average
Of this school?" I asked
"Why, it's around ninety. It's one OF
the good ones," she said with q smile.