Evening star., 1954-06-07

part Of the present century. The
chronic fiunkers had dropped out
by then. and more would with
draw before graduation. The
function Of the high schools was
preparation for college or to pro-
vide the traditional classical edu-
cation for those not going to col
lege but wanting to go as far in
that direction as possible. Voca-
tional education had begun, but
it was chiefly encountered in the
city schools.
Hard to Quit Now.
Now it Is hard to drop out.
Those who formerly did so when
lack Of interest or capacity made
it impossible to do the work, are
kept in school now. I'VE pro-
vide housing for them during
school hours. We do q baby
sitting job"
The schools have done more
than that. They try to interest
them and to make their school
years profitable in other than
social directions. One result has
been such courses as general
mathematics" actually arith-
matte. which some pupils substi-
tute for algebra and there Is also
general science" In which the
trend is to teach about science
instead Of teaching the sciences
themselves.
This is what critics refer to as
watering down the curriculum.
1t is. Is 1t justified? At least
part Of the answer to that ques-
ton may be found in state
ment in the Harvard Commit
tees report, General Education
in a Free Society,"" The commit
tee said, Probably little more
than half the pupils enrolled in
the ninth grade can derive gen.
uine profit from substantial in
struction in algebra or can be
expected to master demonstra-
tive geometry"
Small Proportion Fall.
The assertion that nowadays
nobody fails" is almost If not
quite literally true. Some do
fail, but the figures show how
small a proportion it is.
In Montgomery County, Md,
in 1888 the number not promoted
in the white elementary schools
was TIL, or 81 per cent. In 1852
this percentage had fallen to 1.8.
In Prince Georges County the
non-promotions were 1872 per
cent in 1888 and only "a per
cent in 1852. Last year this was
down to 1.9 per cent in the
grades one through six.
In Arlington County, Va, in
1921 the number not promoted
was 533, or 20 per cent. Last
year only 3 per cent was ''re-
tained," to use the current
nomenclature. The figures cover
both the elementary and high
schools.
Back in 1921 the big hurdle
in the Arlington schools was the
first grade. About three out Of 10
children had to repeat that
grade while last year it was only
three of 100. Last year the big
hurdle appeared to be the 10th
grade, the first year of high
school. Failures in that grade
went to Is per cent.
Figures on d. C. Schools.
Although there is a general
belief there is no automatic
promotion in the Washington
schools the figures do not bear
this out. In 1929-3O the per cent
of elementary school pupils re-
tanned was 1879 for the first
semester and 14.2 for the second
semester. In 1939-'40 these
figures were down to 8.3 per
cent for the first semester and
90 for the second,
In 1949-'50 the per centages
were % and 3.9. Last year, for
the whole year, the per centage
was 4.3.
These figures cover both white
and colored schools.
In answer to the critic who
says child should be forced to
do the work over and over and
over again until he passes, school
people say this may mean keep
ing children in the primary
grades until they outgrow the
furniture and until the boys
sprout whiSkers. There are also
StatementS-heard less frequent
ly now than formerly-that If a
child does not keep up with his
age group he will develop dam
aging feelings of Illustration.
There are also these state
mentS: Some children are late
learners and the child not ready
for reading in the first grade
may start to read glibly in the