Evening star., 1923-11-13
BAttD|}1URGESS NEW:
|. ATTENDANCE Tt !! ! BILL
School Head Asks Advice of
Council of Social Agencies
in Seeking Law.

Need OF an adequate compulsory
/ school attendance' law and school
! census here. was 80 stressed by Dr.
. Frank w. Ballou, superintendent of
E; schools, in an address before the
: Council OF Social Agencies. which met
yesterday afternoon in the oak room
at the Raleigh Hotel
, DR.. Ballou said he wanted the ad-
. vice Of the council as to whether. in
; framing another bill, provision should
be made for bringing offenders before
the Juvenile Court, or. the Board OF
:; education. -
! He expressed the opinion that to
/ require the board OF education to
e handle such cases would place a re-
: sponsibility upon the board which IL
ought not TO have. The board stands
, production at the next session of
! Congress of the. bin for compulsory
school attendance and d school cen
sns, with any proper moo ifications
mat may DC suggested by local
aSencies. 60. -! !s'
Calls Present Law Inadequate.
! The present school attendance law,
the superintendent declared. is mad
equate, it being possible for "A child
70 be absent three out of five days
a week without being liable TO its
: causes. " hich, OF course. is very
Newbold Ncyes who preside ed, told
DR.. Rallou that the council Mould
make study of the Situa tion within
Il few weeks and give him the BEN
ent of it's deliberations.
. PROVISION for an increased medical
stan IN the schools is not to be. made
in the budget-''at least that is nv
snspicion. pr Bailou said. The stan
"a aA 80 ~ =,
declaring that this year the school
system will examine inteusiyely the
mental and physical condition of
pupils in at least one division, with
q. he hope that the school system ul-
tilnstely Will have the staff to, carry
on an enlarged ptogram.
At This point Miss Jessie La Sale,
supervising principal of the second
division. who is conducting tests in
educational measurement and re-
search among the CHILDREN OF that di-
vision. was introduced 10 the council.
She gave its members an interesting
half hour, in the course OF which she
explained the work III mental nreas-
iurements which she is doing. and
Which she hopes TO extend to the en-
tire school SYSTEM, -.
The need of differentiated curricu-
1lum. 50 that children of different
mental ages and types may have the
proper training, was pointed out by
Miss LA Sale. who said that colored
people OF Washington already had
Contributed $1,000 toward her work.
VIII Retcach Children.
, One-tenth of the cost of education
Is going to reteach children what
they could not get the first time, Miss
La Sale said Her work is differ
Gntiating among children so as TO
help them.
Il am not trying to pick out stupid
children she said. Being different
isn't necessarily being inferior. ! want
TO make that my slogan.
our schools today are built on the
plan of handling abstract ideas. Now,
some children cannot handle abstract
ideas. but they can handle things"
Miss La Sale showed by example
some of the moro elementary tests
which she is giving the pupils, and
said that the children enjoy the work
some of the local schools a dlffefen-
the mental development of pupils in
the same classes.
! Her aim is to put children together
in more homogeneous groups: SO that
all the children will enjoy their work.
doing that which they can. no group
holding back the other by inability to
grasp abstract ideas, or no, group SO
far ahead of the other that 1t shames
the latter.
Miss La Sale made il plain that
while she did.uot he lieve In holding
up the ability to earn living as the
sole aim OF education, she did feel
that education that turns a pupil out
SO that earning a living Is one OF the
things he cannot do is failure.
DR.. Ra!iou. acknowledgement fol-