New-York tribune., 1922-11-22

the mutiny which would follow the il
It's "Joke," Teacher Says
1t was ore of the most striking and
significant things / observed in my
survey, illustrating in the most pow
erful manner the breakdown in disci-
plins resulting from the congestion in
| the schools. The difficulties of in
struction under such conditions are
obvious
"what is one to do?" the teacher
asked distractedly. Foreign children
are not hard to teach if they are
thoroughly grounded in the early
stages, ! have forty or more in this
class and ! cal illustrate what their
mental caliber is only by telling you
that here they are in the seventh year
and in another year are supposed to
be graduated into high school, and yet
have TO teach them third-year arith-
metic
"of course" she went on, "we try
to cover the curriculum and give them
seventhyear work, but it's laugh . A
few PICK IN some Of the advanced stud
ies--such as interest, commission, busi-
ness forms, cubic measurements, metric
| system and so on, the regular work
for this grade-but the majority still
are learning to do simple addition and
subtraction.
"And as for grammar and English,
| ask them some questions" she sug
gested. was told that the children
receive their first teaching In gram
mar in the fourth or fifth grade and
that this study is enlarged from year
to year until graduation. / asked
boy what syntax meant. He replied:
"a tax on Gin" The teacher said that
slthouCh the children are supposed to
be instructed in grammar in the lower
grades, it was folly under present con
ditions TO attempt to adhere to the
curriculum and that each teacher be-
gins all over again.
$50 that. although pupil is sup
posed to be ready to enter high school
and take up foreign languages after
eight years Of elementary schooling, he
has received only the mcrest smatter-
ing of English grammar" l asked.
That's true" she answered.
"But see from examination papers
that pupils in the sixth B are asked
genuine questions in grammar said.
Here the teacher asks
"'Name the part Of speech of each
underlined word in the following sem
tence: "My" sister "and'' have much"
enjoyed the book ION" American" ""his-
tory" which" "you" sent" me "yes-
terdnv."
"fWrite e sentence containing an sd
iective phrase and SO on. And this is
the sixth B."
Its Nothing but Camoufiage
The teacher laughed That's all
camoufage," she said "They go
through the forms, hut it doesn't mean
anyth ing. We give them examinations
in grammar according to the curricu-
lum, and they fail, but we promote
| have a prOYnNte
certain number. After all, we are not
miracle workers We DO the best we
can with the material that is turned
over. TO u.s.
was then shown arithmetic ques--
tions given this class, which included
such problems as What is the cost Of
1G0 neckties at 37i2 cents each = END
3 per CEN Of coo" and "How many
dozen in three and a half gross 7"
There were more difficult problems
among them. such as "a e9S times
12 1917 equals1" and "S.759 divided
by 1614-15 equals 2" Many Of these
problems are fourth and fifth year work.
The average mark Of the class for this
test was AZ out Of possible 100. The
teacher thought it was good, under the
circumstances.
This school at i17th Street and First
Avenue, has 1000 pupils, with 1900 on
part time--or thirty classes of the forty
seven. The classes average forty-hve
to fifty scholars each. iamming the
rooms to the window sills. The pupils
derive very little benefit from the in
. dividual coaching by teachers, was
! told, because there is no auditorium or
gymnasium where the teachers mag
4 gather with their charges. They meet
in the hallways, on stairs. or in any
ether mock or corner they may find
- but, with the noise Of ever-changing
Z classes filing the air, little headway,
4 was informed, is made,
q | entered the room of an eighth
q grade class. These pupils are supposed
u to be graduated at the end Of next
term. Some of the children were six
s teen years cid.
"They can do history fairly WELL
the teacher said, "but other subjects
--she threw up her hands.
4 Fail I'm Third-Grade Arithmetic
She showed me some arithmetic test!
Of this class Here We are in tht
eighth grade, mind you, the last year
in the school, teaching these children
third and fourth grade arithmetic, ane
they're failing in the simplest prob
lens. These children should be study
ng the elements of algebra"
1 The first problem was an addition @;
six groups of figures. Thirteen out oi
twenty-eight handed in wrong an
wers. Here was q problem in simple
ubtraction: "2.o6o,0 900 minus S,654.'
N is tn rd,year work. A student gives
4 021 ,345 as the answer,
Another student can't divide 14l4-
2 by s,o7s. One student says thai
% per cent Of II Is ls. another says
4 is SEQ and still another gives GOO.
In this problem, "2.41s 11-13 times
~" nineteen pupils could not give
,rrect answers out of class of Ihir.
eight. 1t is fourth-grade work. In
double operation OF addition and sub
traction, such as taking the differences
Of two numbers from the sum of tws
| numbers, twenty-six out Of thirty-eight
could not give correct answers.
mere handful turned in correct an.
swers to examples in complex frac.
ticns and equations, more nearly ap.
preaching the work Of the grade Sew.
Eenty-hve per cent of the questions In
the Test were below the grade. yet ths
average mark for the class was 81
per cent.
In many other subjects, was told
) the mental status of the class was on