Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-03-08
'Crisis in Schools


Congratulations on James
Deane'S first article on the crl-
sis in our public schools. 1t
looks as if (from a rough cal
cuIation of his figures less
than one-half of our District
school students have passing
grades. Over one-half are fail
ing. That is an awful indict-
ment of the public schools in
our Capital. 1t is a pretty sure
guess that such a shocking
failure quota exists in much OF
the Nation.
Certainly, a so per cent
quota of illiterates and semi
illiterates is not going to help
the prestige of our country.
Nor will it produce the scien-
fists we need; nor help our
delinquency crisis. If, however.
such conditions exist, it is well
that they be aired, and known.
Mr.. Deane's articles may we'll
lead to a much-needed inves-
tigation of the why's and
wherefores of the failure of
our public education system,
which should be a light to our
Nation instead of a shame.
One thing is plain: Our stu
dents in vast numbers cannot
properly read, write or spell.
They are, therefore, also fail
ing in all other subjects allied
to basic language skills. And
what subject is not? Mr..
Deane's articles will cause an
increasing number of alarmed
citizens to ask why.
Does the cause lie in need
for more teachers. classrooms
and buildings? Or indeed, does
it lie deeper. in the teaching
methods and curricula now en-
ployed? Has indignation been
factor? Hardly, for failure
conditions existed long before
indignation. These are some of
the questions thoughtful citi-
Zens are asking.
Edith Mirick.
I am pleased and favorably
impressed with the seemingly
authoritative series, Crisis in
the Schools"
Big classes, described in the
series. need not, necessarily,
make a complete mockery of
any attempt to maintain
standards" There is here the
assumption that prior stand
ards are endemic to the pres
ent school situation. This is
the root of our challenge" as
teachers. viz, since standards
are indigenous to the teaching
of the basic skills, we must
complement the two. Mockery
is for that teacher who fails
to revamp his standards to his
class size
John De Shazo,
English Department, Eastern
High School.
In Sundays Star, March 4,
there appeared a lengthy ar
ticle-complete with statistics
showing the scholastic stand
ing on certain subjects of many
children of the Junior and
senior high schools. 1t showed
how far behind hundreds of
children are in their schooling.
From the observation I have
made Of many children, in
GLIDING my Junior high daugh-
ter, it is my feeling that much
Of the fault lies in the methods
employed by teachers. And I
believe this can revert to the
training the teachers received
while they were students in
college.
While I wholly agree that
modern methods have their ad-
vantages in the advancement
of learning land for that mat
ter, in the advancement of
the world itself, don't agree
that the old-fashioned system
of teaching should have been
thrown out of the window. AS
examples, let me cite the old
method of using flash cards
in teaching spelling, reading
and arithmetic. and the old
Palmer method of teaching
penmanship. Flas h e d were
large pieces of cardboard on
which were written words or
numbers. The teacher held
these up to the children and
they recited from them. Every
pupil had to read, or they read
in unison. BY constant drilling,
the words and numbers were
impressed on their minds. In
Palmer penmanship, we had
booklets with words written in
large characters and the chill
dren had to trace these char
acters and then make facsim-
lies. There were photographs
showing the position of the
hand to the body, and how the
pencil was held between the
fingers. In our schools today,
children are not taught how to
| hold q pencil. but hold it
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