Smyrna times., 1924-04-16

alton.
Mental Level Sufficient Explanation
The mental level of students may be
a sufficient explanation for failures.
The distribution of individuals with
respect to general intelligence ap-
proaches normal distribution. The
same may be divided into five differ
ent grades or groups. The middle
group including approximately 5O3t,
the superior 22%e, the inferior 22ft,
the very superior SO, and the very
inferior 39t.
Every student in our schools finds
his place among one of these groups.
There is as much difference in the de-
gree of inborn intelligence among our
students as there is in their ability to
throw a ball or lift a weight. Again
to illustrate my point, if you start Is
students on a mile foot race, by the
time the winner breaks the cord,
chances are, the other IA will be scat
tered at different points along the
track. What is true in a physical
sense is likewise true mentally. The
ability to master school work is not
common to all students. Some, as
stated above, reach their limitations at
the third or fourth grades. Others
persist until the eigth grade, and
about seven or eight percent complete
the high school course. But the fact
that student has completed the work
OF the 9Th grade, is no guarantee that
he will be able successfully to COM
plete the work of the 18th grade and
graduate from high school; and l has
ten to add that not all high school
graduates are of college calibre. When
a student enrOlls in college he is leap
ing across the greatest gap in his ed
ucatiOnal career and needless to say
many fall short and are lost. Only
students having scholastic records in
high school of good or excellent
should attempt college work We all
have our limitation. A student may
graduate from college and hold a
Bachelor of Arts degree, but the high
er degrees of Master of Arts, and
Doctor of Philosophy are beyond him.
1t is simply the survival of the fttest
(mentally; the "weeding-out" pro-
cess or the process of elimination
which is at work in all walks of life.
If the University of Delaware did
not fail a certain percentage of its
students, especially in its freshmen
class, it would be most unusual and
one would be inclined to question its
educational status. The higher the
standing of an institution of learning,
the greater the number of failures.
This is especially true where students
are admitted on certificates in lieu of
entrance examinations. In many of
our professional schools the number
of failures run as high as 25&l to 300
in the freshmen year. Teachers in
public schools and professors in col
leges cannot be expected to do that
which the Creator in his wisdom saw
fit not to do. "There shall be hewers
of wood and drawers of water"
Granted that student has the abil-
ity to do college work, irregular at
tendance is one of our chief causes
for failure. Students and parents do
not seem to appreciate the fact that
for every recitation missed a CORES
ponding unit of instruction is lost by
the student. What is true in high
school is likewise true in college
(cuts). Poor attendance invariably in
vites disaster. A student cannot at
tend social functions and cut his class
es the next day without paying the
penalty.