The Washington herald., 1922-03-22

counted failure and was required
to take the work over. He reen-
tered school where he began the
year before and dragged his weary
spirit through a repetition of the
successes and failures Of his first
years experience.
The appalling percentage Of re-
tardatiOn in the first grade. about
one pupil in four being counted out
at the end of the year as a failure,
has aroused the thinking educator
to the lack of efficiency in this
method Of early education.
Attention has at last been turned
from methods of teaching TO the
child himself. TO ascertain why he
fails and in what way he differs
from his class mates who have
passed on TO a higher grade and
have left him stranded. II is pro,
posed TO take simple measurement
of his mental ability. usually by
some modification OF the Biuet
scale. and then to adapt the course
of study and the methods OF teach
ing to his particular type of COM
potency.
A similar plan is tried in most
cities. The children in the first
grade by means OF group test are
classified tentatively into three di-
visions. y. Y and L. The y group
is made up of the brightest child
rem and the u the dulIest. The pres
ent course of study is well adapted
to the middle, the Y group. 4 rich
er course is developed for the y
group. and minimum essentials only
required of the group. with more
time for the concrete presentation
of subject matter.
The child with the unusually good
endowment has suffered quite as
much in our public school system as
the child who is retarded. The
very bright child will learn 10 read
and write, willy-nilly. given the
least opportunity and there is nc
power that can stop him. His
measure of competency should be
ascertained and he should be given
stimuli in his public school course
which shall train his superior
ability.
As the mental test becomes more
and more accepted as a basis for
grading child in primary classes
the question arises. what can be
done in the way of instruction "a
meet the varying needs OF these
pupils? Here is a most interesting
opportunity for investigation and
experiment for those who are at
tempting to fit the school To the
child. 1t calls for a co-operatiye
program for the teacher and the
psychologist TO work out together
The child has been placed tenta-
lively at least in a general type
group. bright, or medium. or dull
as the case may be. He has Ger
tain liabilities and certain assets
The teacher has a record OF his
failures and his attachments in GER
tain psychological processes and
can inform herself as to his mental
equipment. Shall she continue "a
use the same methods for all her
children regardless OF their indi-
vidual competency. or shall she
adapt certain specific methods TO
specific abilities so that a chiId's
power In one direction may rein
force and overcome his weakness.
in another? This is an almost
unexplored field in elementary edu-
cation and bids fair to become one
of the greatest movements in its
history.
DIR. Wilmer discovered in his at
tempts to teach backward children
to read that the child with the
short memory span does not learn
to read by the word method. Lists
OF words to be learned from day TO
day by a pure act OF memory prove
too great a tax for these children
and only when they have gained
the power to Rnalyze word
Theoretically. do they begin to ac-
quire a reading vocabulary.
In the case OF the Einaesthetic
method Of teaching reading lately
reported from the University OF
California, the act OF writing the
word seemed to clear away the
difficulty for the non-reading pupils
The ability TO use phonetic analysis
was wholly lacking. we are told in
the case OF these children. and they
were able to function a word only
after they had written II. Here 10
would seem Is a case where the in
ability to use the ear was overcome
by a special emphasis on the use
Of the eye and hand.
Cannot primary teachers where
the intelligence tests are used as
a basis for placement in the grades
begin to study this question from
the scientific standpoint and TO. help
the psychologist TO formulate spe-
cific methods for specific abilities?
FLORENCE c. FOX.