Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-03-22
School Heads Study
Curriculum Chanqe
Would Overhaul
Promotion and
Test Standards
By JAMES G. DEANE

By JAMES G. DEANE
Washington public school OFF,
Gals today began studying a
proposal for a drastic overhaul
of the city's school curriculum
and promotion and marking
standards.
/ The Board of Education or
dered the study launched yeSter-
day after DR.. Rowland F. Kinks.
board member, proposed testing
all the city's 100000 pupils and
iregrouping them next Septem-
Der according to the test re-
suits, in order to separate the
bright from the dull
DR.. Kinks proposal parallelled
one made recently by Brig. Gen.
Thomas A. Lane, District En-
gineer Commissioner. The school
board member stopped short Of
a Lane proposal to denote lag
ging children. however. DR..
Kinks, instead, suggested assign
ing such pupils to remedial
classes.
Changes Proposed
DR.. Kinks put main stress on
setting up stricter promotion
and class-assignment rules. He
proposed:
Reviewing and clarifying
standards for each subject and
grade.
Adopting objective tests for all
children and a uniform basis for
evaluating the results.
Adopting universal promotion
standards.
Establishing alternative paths"
for study after sixth grade
either Cd academic or 90 nom
academic or manual.
Retesting all pupils in June
and regrouping next September,
including assignment to differ
ent buildings where necessary.
Assigning substandard students
to remedial classes
I DR.. Kinks told the board he
feels there is too wide an achieve
nent and ability spread among
pupils in many of the city's
classes, and that this could be
corrected by his proposals.
Hits Easy Promotion
I DR.. Kinks, who formerly
headed National University Law
School here, has been a critic
of what he has labeled easy pro-
motions in the school system.
He told his colleagues yester-
day he considers it unSound to
advance children who haven't
met standards of the next higher
grade. He also declared that the
school system needs to stress a
"hard core of fundamentals" in
its teaching. Similar principles
recently were enunciated by Gen,
Lane.
The board member. however,
said that rather than demoting
children who don't fall in the
grade pattern" as suggested to
an educators meeting two weeks
ago by Gen. Lane, the schools
should set up remedial classes
wherever possible. DR.. Kinks also
suggested special classes for
children who are social insists
in present school rooms. Gen,
Lane has proposed that such
children. where unmanageable.
be expelled from school.
Corning to Study Plan
DR.. Kinks told the board he
was not offering his proposals
as a mandate" School Supt.
Hobart M. Corning said he would
be glad to take them under study.
DR.. Corning also accepted a sug.
geStion by Col. West A. Hamil-
ton, another board member. for
some special board sessions to
consider the entire matter.
The school superintendent said
he would report back to the
board within four weeks.
DR.. Corning also disclosed he
lis planning to send the board a
special report prepared by an
18-member School Committee on
Gen. Lanes demotion proposal.
School officials already have
branded the demotion idea I'M
workable. but DR.. Corning said
he had asked Is field representa-
Itives-principals and teachers
from all school levels to COM
Iment on the subject.
He said this report probably
would be mailed to board mem
beers today.
UnfavorabIe Reaction
Board members indicated they
were unsympathetic to the de-
motion proposal. Member Rob-
.ert R. Faulkner referred to it
Iunfavorably, although he OBJ
served that he was also opposed
to mass promotions. DR.. Mar
.garet j. Butcher also spoke crit
Iically of the Lane suggestion.
School officials already have
taken some steps in the direction
proposed by DR.. Kinks. DR..
Corning told the board a plan
for a new track" high
school curriculum. disclosed by
The Star several months ago
when it was first proposed by
Assistant Supt. Carl F. Hansen,
will be presented for approval
shortly.
The four tracks" would be
laid out. specifically, for unusu-
ally bright pre-college students.
general college preparatory stu
dents, non-college-prep pupils
and those especially needing a
manual or job-training course.
respectively.
DR.. Kinks devoted special no
tice to socially maladiusted
youngsters, suggesting that
special school might be set up
for them. This brought a dis
closure from Assistant Supt,