Chapter 2

HOW EXTENSIVE ARE THE FAILURES OF THE HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS?

1. A DISTRIBUTION OF ALL ENTRANTS IN REFERENCE TO FAILURE

With no purpose of making this a comparative study of schools, the separate units or schools indicated in Chapter I will from this point be combined into a composite and treated as a single group. It becomes possible, with the complete and tabulated facts pertaining to a group of pupils, after their high school period has ended, to get a comprehensive survey of their school records and to answer such questions as: (1) What part of the total number of boys or of girls have school failures? (2) To what extent are the non-failing pupils the ones who succeed in graduating? (3) To what extent do the failing pupils withdraw early? The following tabulation will show how two of these questions are answered for the 6,141 pupils here reported on.

ALL ALL ENTRANTS FAILING GRADUATES FAILING

Totals 6,141 3,573 (58.2%) 1,936 1,125 (58.1%) Boys 2,646 1,645 (62.1%) 796 489 (61.4%) Girls 3,495 1,928 (55.1%) 1,140 639 (55.8%)

From this distribution we readily compute that the percentage of pupils who fail is 58.2 per cent (boys--62.1, girls--55.1). But this statement is itself inadequate. It does not take into account the 808 pupils who received no grades and had no chance to be classed as failing, but who were in most cases in school long enough to receive marks, and a portion of whom were either eliminated earlier or deterred from examinations by the expectation of failing. It seems entirely safe to estimate that no less than 60 per cent of this non-credited number should[5] be treated as of the failing group[6] of pupils. Then the percentage of pupils to be classed as failing in school subjects becomes 66 per cent (boys--69.6, girls--63.4).

In considering the second inquiry above, we find from the preceding distribution of pupils that 58.1 per cent (boys--61.4, girls--55.8) of all pupils that graduate have failed in one or more subjects one or more times. This percentage varies from 34 per cent to 73 per cent by schools, but in only two instances does the percentage fall below 50 per cent, and in one of these two it is almost 50 per cent.

We may now ask, when do the failing and the non-failing non-graduates drop out of school? Of the total number of non-graduates (4,205), there are 2,448 who drop out after failing one or more times, and 1,757 who drop out without failing. The cumulative percentages of the non-graduates in reference to dropping out are here given.

CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGES OF THE FAILING NON-GRADUATES AS THEY ARE LOST BY SEMESTERS

LOST BY END OF SEMESTER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Per Cent 14.1 33.9 46.4 64.9 72.9 85.2 91.9 97.6 99.1

CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGES OF NON-FAILING NON-GRADUATES AS THEY ARE LOST BY SEMESTERS

LOST BY END OF SEMESTER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Per Cent 61.1 78.0 85.9 92.1 94.5 98.4 99.5 .. ..

Briefly stated, the above percentages assert that more than three fourths of those who neither fail nor graduate have left school by the end of the first year, while only 33.9 per cent of those non-graduates who fail have left so early. More than 50 per cent of the failing non-graduates continue in school to near the end of the second year. By that time about 90 per cent of the non-failing non-graduates have been lost from school. By a combination of the above groups we get the percentages of all non-graduates lost by successive semesters.

CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGES OF ALL NON-GRADUATES LOST BY SUCCESSIVE SEMESTERS

LOST BY END OF SEMESTER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Per Cent 33.7 53.4 62.6 76.2 81.9 90.7 94.0 98.6

These percentages of non-graduates indicate that more than 50 per cent of those who do not graduate are gone by the end of the first year, but that there are a few who continue beyond four years without graduating.

2. THE LATER DISTRIBUTION OF PUPILS BY SEMESTERS

Consideration is here given to the number of the total entrants remaining in school for each successive semester, and then to the accompanying percentages of failure for each group. The following figures show the rapid decline in numbers.

THE PERSISTENCE OF PUPILS IN SCHOOL, BY SEMESTERS

END OF SEMESTER 1 2 3 4 5 6 Graduate

6,141 (Total) 4,723 3,893 3,508 2,935 2,697 2,234 1,936

Percentages 76.9 63.4 57.1 47.8 43.9 36.4 31.5

As was pointed out in Section 3 of Chapter I, the above group does not include any increment to its own numbers by means of transfer from other classes or schools. We find, accompanying this reduction in the number of pupils, which shows more than 50 per cent gone by the end of the second year in school, that there is no corresponding reduction in the percentage of pupils failing each semester on the basis of the number of those in school for that semester.

PERCENTAGE OF PUPILS FAILING OF THE PUPILS IN SCHOOL FOR THAT PERIOD

Semesters 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Per Cent 34.2 37.3 38.5 40.2 38.2 37.1 30.0 24.0

There is no difficulty in grasping the simple and definite significance of these figures, for they tell us that the percentage of pupils failing increases for the first four semesters, slightly declines for two semesters, with a greater decline for two more semesters. These percentages of failures are based on the number of pupils enrolled at the beginning of the semester, and are accordingly lower than the facts would really warrant since that number is in each case considerably reduced by the end of the same semester.

3. THE DISTRIBUTION OF FAILURES

That the failures are widely distributed by semesters, by ages, and for both boys and girls, is shown in Table I.

TABLE I

THE DISTRIBUTION OF FAILURES ACCORDING TO THE AGE AND THE SEMESTER OF THEIR OCCURRENCE[A]

SEMES- AGES UNDISTRIB- TERS 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 UTED TOTALS

1 B. 0 20 321 650 575 167 34 16 2 .. .. 10 1795 G. 1 19 356 813 611 236 67 3 0 .. .. 13 2119 3914 2 B. .. 2 95 423 534 256 57 27 4 .. .. 5 1403 G. .. 6 99 483 589 280 91 5 0 .. .. 7 1560 2963 3 B. .. 0 17 267 443 363 96 22 5 0 .. 2 1215 G. .. 1 28 318 548 317 99 15 0 2 .. 1 1329 2544 4 B. .. .. 5 101 437 403 169 32 7 2 .. 5 1161 G. .. .. 4 102 475 425 160 39 6 2 .. 6 1219 2380 5 B. .. .. 1 19 195 377 214 61 13 3 .. 6 889 G. .. .. 0 15 277 438 212 60 15 0 .. 3 1020 1909 6 B. .. .. .. 4 70 322 326 99 33 3 .. 6 863 G. .. .. .. 9 117 407 349 78 33 4 .. 3 1000 1863 7 B. .. .. 1 0 17 155 227 106 16 4 1 4 531 G. .. .. 0 2 14 200 299 127 38 0 0 3 683 1214 8 B. .. .. .. .. 0 42 173 109 49 2 .. 5 380 G. .. .. .. .. 2 58 244 140 49 10 .. 3 506 886 9 B. .. .. .. .. .. 0 31 32 18 1 .. .. 82 G. .. .. .. .. .. 4 39 67 31 5 .. .. 146 228 10 B. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 16 9 3 0 .. 29 G. .. .. .. .. .. .. 3 13 10 3 1 .. 30 59 Summary B. 0 22 440 1464 2271 2085 1328 520 156 18 1 43 8348 G. 1 26 487 1742 2633 2365 1563 547 182 26 1 39 9612 17,960

[Footnote A: The expression of the above facts in terms of percentages for each age group was found to be difficult, since failures and not pupils are designated. But the total failures for each age group are expressed (on p. 36) as percentages of the entire number of subjects taken by these pupils for the semesters in which they failed. Such percentages increase as the ages rise. A similar statement of the percentages of failure by semesters will be found on p. 41.]

Table I reads: the boys had 20 failures and the girls had 19 failures in the first semester and at the age of thirteen; in the second semester, at the age of thirteen, the boys had 2 failures and the girls 6. For each semester, the first line represents boys, the second line girls. There is a total of 17,960 failures listed in this table. In addition to this number there are 1,947 uncompleted grades for the failing non-graduates. The semesters were frequently completed by such pupils but the records were left incomplete. Their previous records and their prospects of further partial or complete failure seem to justify an estimate of 55 per cent (1,070) of these uncompleted grades as either tentative or actual but unrecorded failures. Therefore we virtually have 1,070 other failures belonging to these pupils which are not included in Table I. Accordingly, since the number can only be estimated, the fact that they are not incorporated in that table suggests that the information which it discloses is something less than a full statement of the school failures for these pupils. In the distribution of the totals for ages, the mode appears plainly at 16, but with an evident skewness toward the upper ages. The failures for the years 16, 17, and 18, when added together, form 68.1 per cent of the total failures. If those for 15 years are also included, the result is 86 per cent of the total. Of the total failures, 65.7 per cent are found in the first two years (11,801 out of the total of 17,960). But the really striking fact is that 34.3 per cent of the failures occur after the end of the first two years, after 52.2 per cent of the pupils are gone, and with other hundreds leaving in each succeeding semester before even the end of the eighth. In Table II we have similar facts for the pupils who graduate.

TABLE II

THE DISTRIBUTION OF FAILURES ACCORDING TO THE AGES AND THE SEMESTERS OF THEIR OCCURRENCE FOR THE GRADUATING PUPILS

AGES SEMESTERS 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 TOTALS

1 B. 0 66 84 60 5 2 3 .. .. .. 220 G. 4 68 123 68 23 4 0 .. .. .. 290 510 2 B. 0 30 95 96 41 3 2 .. .. .. 267 G. 1 25 119 121 30 11 2 .. .. .. 309 576 3 B. 0 6 108 98 71 22 1 3 .. .. 309 G. 1 15 101 158 78 20 5 0 .. .. 378 687 4 B. .. 4 54 157 107 36 6 0 .. .. 364 G. .. 1 45 186 143 51 7 2 .. .. 435 799 5 B. .. 1 10 82 142 82 17 4 3 .. 341 G. .. 0 9 145 187 88 22 9 0 .. 460 801 6 B. .. .. 4 34 158 139 32 9 2 .. 378 G. .. .. 2 70 235 178 40 13 1 .. 539 917 7 B. .. 1 0 10 115 140 65 4 4 1 340 G. .. 0 2 7 130 187 69 19 0 0 414 754 8 B. .. .. .. 0 31 122 65 25 2 .. 245 G. .. .. .. 2 45 150 95 37 2 .. 331 576 9 B. .. .. .. .. 0 24 23 13 1 .. 61 G. .. .. .. .. 4 32 40 24 0 .. 100 161 10 B. .. .. .. .. .. 1 11 5 3 .. 20 G. .. .. .. .. .. 3 12 6 1 .. 22 42 Summary B. .. 108 355 537 670 571 225 63 15 1 2545 G. 6 109 401 757 875 724 292 110 4 0 3278 5823

[Footnote: In the facts which are involved and in the manner of reading them, this table is similar to Table I. The mode of the distribution of totals for the ages is at 17 in this table. Further reference will be made to both Tables I and II in later chapters of this study. (See pages 36, 37, 41, 42).]

A further analysis of the failures is here made in reference to the number of pupils and the number of failures each.

TABLE III

A DISTRIBUTION OF FAILING PUPILS ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF FAILURES PER PUPIL, IN EACH SEMESTER

NO. OF SEMESTERS TOTALS FAILURES 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 B. 459 430 375 352 271 221 157 113 22 11 2411 G. 561 535 428 421 328 261 167 123 35 9 2868 --------------------------- 32.5% 5279

2 B. 271 242 211 206 149 144 79 68 19 4 1393 G. 271 253 238 204 177 142 127 84 17 6 1519 --------------------------- 34.9% 2912

3 B. 144 106 81 73 59 60 45 27 6 2 603 G. 207 103 81 75 75 83 52 38 20 3 737 --------------------------- 35% 1340

4 B. 83 39 33 30 27 32 10 10 1 1 266 G. 95 50 38 35 27 39 19 19 3 0 325 --------------------------- 31.8% 591

5 B. 6 3 5 8 7 8 7 2 0 .. 46 G. 3 2 6 5 1 10 6 5 1 .. 39 --------------------------- 55.3% 85

6 B. .. .. 3 3 0 1 1 .. .. .. 8 G. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. --------------------------- 25% 8

Tot. B. 963 820 708 672 513 466 299 220 48 18 4727 G. 1137 943 791 740 608 535 371 269 76 18 5488 10,215

Table III tells us that 459 boys and 561 girls have one failure each in the first semester of their high school work; 271 boys and the same number of girls have two failures in the first semester, and so on, for the ten semesters and for as many as six failures per pupil. The failures represented by these pupils give a total of 17,960. A distribution of the total failures per pupil, and the facts relative thereto, will be considered in Chapter IV of this study.

The above distribution of Table III is repeated here in Table IV, so far as it relates to the failing graduates only.

TABLE IV

A DISTRIBUTION OF THE FAILING PUPILS WHO GRADUATE, ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF FAILURES PER PUPIL IN EACH SEMESTER

NO. OF SEMESTERS TOTALS FAILURES 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 B. 110 131 137 150 162 139 120 118 19 11 1097 G. 136 142 181 200 197 180 121 89 20 3 1269 ---------------------------- 50% 2366

2 B. 34 49 61 69 61 75 47 28 15 3 442 G. 49 64 63 86 81 73 81 62 10 5 574 ---------------------------- 53.2% 1016

3 B. 10 10 14 18 12 17 27 17 4 1 130 G. 16 9 14 13 27 43 30 20 16 3 191 ---------------------------- 67.6% 321

4 B. 3 2 2 3 4 8 6 5 0 .. 33 G. 2 3 6 6 5 16 9 12 3 .. 62 ---------------------------- 71.6% 95

5 B. .. .. 0 2 1 0 3 0 .. .. 6 G. .. .. 1 0 0 4 1 2 .. .. 8 ---------------------------- 78.6% 14

6 B. .. .. .. .. .. 1 1 .. .. .. 2 G. .. .. .. .. 0 0 .. .. .. 0 ---------------------------- 100% 2

Tot. B. 157 192 214 237 240 240 204 163 48 15 1710 G. 203 218 265 305 310 316 242 185 49 11 2104 3814

This table reads similarly to Table III. There is not the element of continuous dropping out to be considered, as in Table III, until after the sixth semester is passed, for no pupils graduate in less than three years. The failures represented in this table number 5,823. This same distribution will be the subject of further comment later on. It discloses some facts that Table III tends to conceal, for instance, that the greater number of graduating pupils who have 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 failures in a semester are found after the end of the second year.

4. DISTRIBUTION OF THE FAILURES IN REFERENCE TO THE SUBJECTS IN WHICH THEY OCCUR

The following tabulation of failures will show how they were shared by both boys and girls in each of the school subjects which provided the failures here listed.

NUMBER OF FAILURES DISTRIBUTED BY SCHOOL SUBJECTS

Total Math. Eng. Latin Ger. Fr. Hist. Sci. Bus. Span. or Subj's. Greek

B. 8348 2015 1555 1523 917 473 571 850 424 20 G. 9612 2300 1424 1833 812 588 1036 1013 593 13 Per Cent of Total 24.1 16.5 18.7 9.6 5.9 8.9 10.3 5.6 .2

The abbreviated headings above will be self-explanatory by reference to section 3 of Chapter I. The first line of numbers gives the failures for the boys, the second line for the girls. Mathematics has 24.1 per cent of all the failures for all the pupils. Latin claims 18.7 per cent and English 16.5 per cent of all the failures. These three subjects make a total of nearly 60 per cent of the failures for the nine subject groups appearing here. But still this is only a partial statement of the facts as they are, since the total enrollment by subjects is an independent matter and far from being equally divided among all the subjects concerned. The subject enrollment may sometimes be relatively high and the percentage of failure for that subject correspondingly lower than for a subject with the same number of failures but a smaller enrollment. This fact becomes quite apparent from the following percentages taken in comparison with the ones just preceding:

PERCENTAGES ENROLLED IN EACH SUBJECT OF THE SUM TOTAL OF THE SUBJECT ENROLLMENTS FOR ALL PUPILS AND ALL SEMESTERS

Math. Eng. Latin Ger. Fr. Hist. Sci. Bus. Span. or Subj's. Greek

17.3 24.0 11.9 8.5 6.8 10.2 12.5 8.3 .5

We note that the percentages for mathematics and English, which represent their portions of the grand total of subject enrollments, are virtually the reverse of the percentages which designate the amount of total failures produced by the same two subjects. That means that the percentage of the total failures produced by mathematics is really greater than was at first apparent, while the percentages of failures for English is not so great relatively as the statement of the total failures above would alone indicate. In a similar manner, we note that Latin has 18.7 per cent of all the failures, but its portion of the total enrollment for all subjects is only 11.9 per cent. If the failures in this subject were in proportion to the enrollment, its percentage of the failures would be reduced by 6.8 per cent. On the other hand, if the failures for English were in the same proportion to the total as is its subject enrollment, it would claim 7.5 per cent more of all the failures. In the same sense, French, history, science, and the business subjects have a smaller proportion of all the failures than of all the subject enrollments.

The comparison of failures by subjects may be continued still further by computing the percentage of failures in each subject as based on the number enrolled in that subject. Such percentages are here presented for each subject.

PERCENTAGE OF THE NUMBER TAKING THE SUBJECT WHO FAIL IN THAT SUBJECT

Latin Math. Ger. Fr. Hist. Sci. Eng. Bus. Span. or Subj's. Greek

18.7 16.0 13.5 11.6 10.4 9.8 8.2 8.0 4.1

It becomes evident at once that the largest percentage of failures, based on the pupils taking the subject, is in Latin, although we have already found that mathematics has the greatest percentage of all the failures recorded (p. 19). But here mathematics follows Latin, with German coming next in order as ranked by its high percentage of failure for those enrolled in the subject. History has the median percentage for the failures as listed for the nine subjects above.

The failures as reported by subjects for other schools and other pupils will provide a comparison which may indicate something of the relative standing of this group of schools in reference to failures. The failures are presented below for thirteen high schools in New Jersey, involving 24,895 grades, as reported by D.C. Bliss[7] in 1917. As the schools were reported singly, the median percentage of failure for each subject is used here for our purpose. But Mr. Bliss' figures are computed from the promotion sheets for June, 1915, and include none of those who had dropped out. In this sense they are not comparable to the percentages of failure as presented in this study. Yet with the one exception of Latin these median percentages are higher. The percentages as presented below for St. Paul[8] are in each case based on the total number taking the subject for a single semester, and include about 4,000 pupils, in all the classes, in the four high schools of the city.[B]

[Footnote B: It is a significant fact, and one worthy of note here, that the report for St. Paul is apparently the only one of the surveys which also states the number taking each subject, as well as the percentages of failure. Percentages alone do not tell the whole story, and they do not promote the further utilization of the facts to discover other relationships.]

The facts presented for St. Louis[9] are for one school only, with 2,089 pupils, as recorded for the first half of the year 1915-16. All foreign languages as reported for this school are grouped together. History is the only subject that has a percentage of failure lower than that of the corresponding subjects for our eight schools. The figures for both St. Paul and St. Louis are based on the grades for all classes in school, but for only a single semester. One cannot avoid feeling that a statement of facts for so limited a period may or may not be dependable and representative for all periods. The percentages for Paterson[10] are reported for about 4,000 pupils, in all classes, for two successive semesters, and are based on the number examined. For Denver,[11] the records are reported for 4,120 pupils, and cover a two-year period. The percentages for Butte[12] are based on the records for 3,110 pupils, for one school semester. The figures reported by Rounds and Kingsbury[13] are for only two subjects, but for forty-six widely separated high schools, whose enrollment for these two subjects was 57,680.

PERCENTAGES OF FAILURE BY SUBJECTS--QUOTED FOR OTHER SCHOOLS

Math. Latin Ger. Fren. Eng. Hist. Sci. Bus. Subj's.

13 N.J. H.S.'s. 20.0 18.0 16.0 .. 14.0 11.0 .. 11.5 St. Paul 21.8 13.6 14.3 17.0 10.0 10.9 7.3 11.7 St. Louis 18.0 [-------16------] 13.0 7.0 19.0 .. Paterson 23.1 21.6 23.4 .. 12.2 13.9 18.3 8.5 Denver 24.0 21.0 12.0 .. 11.7 11.0 17.0 11.0 Butte 18.6 25.0 24.0 32.6 5.4 7.0 13.0 8.4 R and K 24.7 .. .. .. 18.5 .. .. .. Our 8 H.S.'s 16.0 18.7 13.5 11.6 8.2 10.4 9.8 8.0

In some schools the reports were not available for all subjects. It is not at all probable, so far as information could be obtained, that the failures of the drop-out pupils for any of the schools were included in the percentages as reported above, or that the percentages are based on the total number in the given subjects, with the exception of one school. Moreover, it is certain for at least some of the schools that neither the failures of the drop-outs nor the pupils who were in the class for less than a whole semester were considered in the percentages above. So far, however, as these comparisons may be justified, the suggestion made in Chapter I that the schools included in this study are doubtless a superior group with respect to failures appears to be strengthened by the comparisons made above.

It becomes more apparent, as we attempt to offer a statement of failures as taken from the various reports, that they are not truly comparable. The bases of such percentages are not at all uniform. The basis used most frequently is the number enrolled at the end of the period rather than the total number enrolled for any class, for which the school has had to provide, and which should most reasonably form the basis of the percentage of failure. Furthermore, the failures for pupils who drop out are not usually counted. Yet, in most of the reports, the situation is not clearly indicated for either of the facts referred to. Still more difficult is the task of securing a general statement of failures by subjects, since the percentages are most frequently reported separately for each class, in each subject, and for different buildings, but with the number of pupils stated for neither the failures nor the enrollment. The St. Paul report[8] is an exception in this regard.

To present the full situation it is indeed necessary to know the failures for particular teachers, subjects, and buildings, but it is also frequently necessary to be able to make a comparison of results for different systems. Consequently, in order to use the varied reports for the attempted comparison above, the plan was pursued of averaging the percentages as stated for the different classes, semesters, and years of a subject, in each school separately, and then selecting the median school thus determined as the one best representing the city or the system. This method was employed to modify the reports, and to secure the percentages as stated above for Denver, Paterson, and Butte. Any plan of averaging the percentages for the four years of English, or similarly for any other subject, may actually tend to misstate the facts, when the percentages or the numbers represented are not very nearly equal. But, in an incidental way, the difficulty serves to emphasize the inadequacy and the incomparability in the reporting of failures as found in the various studies, as well as to warn us of the hopelessness of reaching any conclusions apart from a knowledge of the procedure employed in securing the data.

The basis is also provided for some interesting comparisons by isolating from the general distribution of failures by school subjects (p. 19) the same facts for the failing graduates. That gives the following distribution.

THE FAILURES BY SCHOOL SUBJECTS FOR GRADUATES ONLY

Total Math. Eng. Latin Ger. Fr. Hist. Sci. Bus. Span. or Subj's. Greek

5803 B. 660 403 521 241 191 180 251 91 7 6334 G. 782 347 673 257 240 410 394 162 12 Per Cent of Totals 24.8 12.9 20.5 8.5 7.4 10.1 11. 4.3 .3

SIMILAR PERCENTAGES FOR THE NON-GRADUATES

As above 23.6 18.3 17.7 10.1 5.3 8.4 10. 6.3 .1

It is a noteworthy fact that the percentages of failure (based on the total failures for the graduates) run higher in mathematics, Latin, history, French, and science for the graduates than for the whole composite number (page 19). The non-graduates have a correspondingly lower percentage of failure in these subjects, as is indicated above. The school influences in respect to the failures of the non-graduates differ from those of the graduates chiefly in the fact that the failures of the former tend to occur to a greater extent in the earlier years of these subjects, since so many of the non-graduates are in the school for only those earlier years; while the failures of the graduates range more widely and have a tendency to predominate in the upper years of the subject, as will be further emphasized in the later pages of this report (see also Table IV).

5. DISTRIBUTION OF PUPILS DROPPING OUT--SEMESTERS--AGES

Table V presents the facts concerning the time and the age at which the failing pupils drop out of school. Table VI furnishes the corresponding facts for the non-failing drop-outs.

TABLE V

DISTRIBUTION OF THE FAILING NON-GRADUATES, SHOWING THE SEMESTER AND THE AGE AT THE TIME OF DROPPING OUT

AGES UNDIS- SEMESTERS 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 TRIB. TOTALS

1 B. 1 40 49 50 18 0 1 1 .. .. 1 160 G. 3 40 65 47 23 4 0 0 .. .. 3 185 345 2 B. .. 9 56 88 56 22 6 2 .. .. 3 242 G. .. 6 72 119 61 24 3 0 .. .. 6 291 533 3 B. .. 4 30 40 23 10 7 .. .. .. 0 114 G. .. 3 35 51 32 13 7 .. .. .. 1 142 256 4 B. .. 1 16 66 86 34 16 2 .. .. 3 224 G. .. 1 19 60 70 59 18 3 .. .. 0 230 454 5 B. .. .. 2 12 36 21 8 4 .. .. 3 86 G. .. .. 4 17 48 28 9 3 .. .. 1 110 196 6 B. .. .. 1 6 48 52 38 10 .. .. 1 156 G. .. .. 1 11 52 49 26 5 .. .. 2 146 302 7 B. .. .. .. 2 12 35 21 7 0 .. 1 78 G. .. .. .. 2 15 21 15 4 1 .. 0 59 137 8 B. .. .. .. 0 10 23 19 19 2 0 2 75 G. .. .. .. 2 10 31 29 10 4 2 3 91 166 9 B. .. .. .. .. 1 4 4 2 .. 1 1 13 G. .. .. .. .. 1 6 12 4 .. 0 0 23 36 10 B. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 3 3 1 .. 8 G. .. .. .. .. .. .. 4 3 3 1 .. 11 19 11 B. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 0 0 0 .. 0 G. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 2 1 1 .. 4 4 Tot. B. 1 54 154 264 290 201 120 50 6 2 14 1156 G. 3 50 196 309 312 235 123 34 9 4 16 1292 2448

Table V reads: In the first semester 1 boy and 3 girls drop out at age 13; 40 boys and 40 girls drop out at the age of 14; 49 boys and 65 girls, at the age of 15. In this table, as elsewhere, age 15 means from 14½ to 15½, and so on. Any drop-out, as for the second semester, means either during or at the end of that semester.

TABLE VI

DISTRIBUTION OF THE NON-FAILING NON-GRADUATES, SHOWING THE SEMESTER AND THE AGE AT THE TIME OF DROPPING OUT

AGES SEMESTER 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 TOTALS

1 B. 17 118 141 106 39 3 4 1 1 430 G. 11 159 235 160 51 19 4 4 0 643 1073 2 B. 0 7 49 50 18 7 3 0 .. 134 G. 1 1 59 42 31 10 7 2 .. 163 297 3 B. .. .. 7 16 11 5 1 0 .. 40 G. .. .. 14 22 33 15 3 2 .. 89 129 4 B. .. .. 5 13 11 10 1 0 1 41 G. .. .. 7 20 31 16 2 1 1 78 119 5 B. .. .. 1 2 9 1 2 0 .. 15 G. .. .. 0 3 10 9 4 1 .. 27 42 6 B. .. .. 1 4 14 3 2 0 .. 24 G. .. .. 0 5 17 13 7 3 .. 45 69 7 B. .. .. .. 0 2 2 2 1 .. 7 G. .. .. .. 1 2 7 1 1 .. 12 19 8 B. .. .. .. .. .. 1 1 1 .. 3 G. .. .. .. .. .. 3 1 1 .. 5 8 9 B. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 0 .. 0 G. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 .. 1 1 Tot. B. 17 125 204 191 104 32 16 3 2 694 G. 12 170 315 253 175 92 29 16 1 1063 1757

Table VI reads similarly to Table V. The distribution of the age totals for the pupils dropping out gives us medians which, for both boys and girls, fall within the 17-year group for the failing pupils, but within the 16-year group for the non-failing pupils. For Table V the mode of the distribution is at 17, but for Table VI it is at 15. The percentages of dropping out for each age group are given below. First, all the pupils of Tables V and VI are grouped together for this purpose, then the boys and the girls for Tables V and VI are considered separately to facilitate the comparison of facts.

PERCENTAGES IN EACH AGE GROUP OF THE TOTAL NUMBER DROPPING OUT

Ages 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Per Cent 0.8 9.5 20.7 24.2 21.0 13.3 6.8 2.4 1.2

It is readily seen from the above percentages that, as would be expected, the drop-outs are most frequent for the very ages which are most common in the high school. There is no special accumulation of drop-outs for either the earlier or the later ages. But, if in any semester we consider the drop-outs for each age as a percentage of the total pupils represented for that age, the facts are more fully revealed, as is indicated below for certain semesters.

PERCENTAGES OF DROP-OUTS FOR EACH AGE, ON THE TOTALS FOR SUCH AGE IN THE FIRST, SECOND AND FOURTH SEMESTERS

AGES 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Semester 1 6.8 18.2 23.1 32.6 38.3 35.0 40.0 40.0 .. Semester 2 4.0 8.1 14.8 18.3 22.2 30.0 40.0 33.0 .. Semester 4 0 9.0 11.8 12.5 16.5 24.6 35.2 50.0 ..

If these semesters may be taken as indicative of all, an almost steady increase will be expected in the percentages of drop-outs as the ages of the pupils rise. It follows, then, that the older ages have the higher percentages of drop-outs when this basis of the computation is employed. We may, however, make some helpful comparisons of the ages of drop-outs for boys and for girls by merely using the percentages of total drop-outs for the purpose.

PERCENTAGES OF FAILING DROP-OUTS IN EACH AGE GROUP, FOR BOYS AND GIRLS SEPARATELY

AGES 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Boys 0 4.6 12.5 22.8 25.1 17.4 10.3 4.3 1.9 Girls .2 3.8 15.1 23.9 24.1 19.0 9.5 2.6 2.2

Here it appears that, of all the boys and girls who fail before dropping out, the school loses at the age of 14, for example, 4.6 per cent for the boys and 3.8 per cent for the girls. As a matter of mere convenience, the percentages for age 21 are made to include also the undistributed pupils in Table V.

PERCENTAGES OF THE NON-FAILING DROP-OUTS IN EACH AGE GROUP, FOR BOYS AND GIRLS SEPARATELY

AGES 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Boys 2.4 18.0 29.4 27.1 15.0 4.4 2.3 0.7 Girls 1.1 16.0 29.6 23.8 16.4 8.6 2.7 1.6

These percentages are computed from the age totals in Table VI, just as the ones preceding are computed from Table V. It seems worthy of note here that close to 50 per cent of the non-failing drop-outs occur under 16 years of age, for both the boys and the girls; but that the number of the failing pupils who drop out does not reach 20 per cent for the boys or the girls in these same years. It is likewise remarkable in these distributions that the percentages for boys and for girls show such slight differences in either of the two groupings.

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER II

If to the recorded failures the virtual but unrecorded ones are added, the percentage of failing pupils is 66 per cent. This percentage is higher for the boys than for the girls by a difference of 6 per cent.

Of the graduating pupils, 58.1 per cent fail one or more times.

Of the non-failing non-graduates 78 per cent are lost from school by the end of their first year. But the failing non-graduates have not lost such a percentage before the end of the third year.

The percentage of pupils failing increases for the first four semesters, and lowers but little for two more semesters. One third to one half of the pupils fail in each semester to seventh.

In the distribution of failures by ages and semesters, 86 per cent are found from ages 15 to 18 inclusive. Thirty-four per cent of the failures occur after the end of the second year, when 52.2 per cent of the pupils have been lost and others are leaving continuously.

Mathematics, Latin, and English head the list in the percentages of total failures, and together provide nearly 60 per cent of the failures; but English has a large subject-enrollment to balance its count in failures.

Mathematics, Latin, and German fail the highest percentages on the number of pupils taking the subjects.

In several subjects the percentages of failure based on the total failures are higher for the graduates than for the non-graduates.

For the pupils dropping out without failure the median age is at 16, with the mode at 15. For the failing drop-outs both the median and the mode are at the age of 17. Nearly 50 per cent of the non-failing drop-outs occur under age 16, but not 20 per cent of the failing non-graduates are gone by that age. The percentage of drop-outs is higher for older pupils.

REFERENCES:

5. Kelley, T.L. "A Study of High School and University Grades, with Reference to Their Intercorrelation and the Causes of Elimination," _Journal of Educational Psychology_, 6:365.

6. Johnson, G.R. "Qualitative Elimination in High School," _School Review_, 18:680.

7. Bliss, D.C. "High School Failures," _Educational Administration and Supervision_, Vol. 3.

8. Strayer, G.D., Coffman, L.D., Prosser, C.A. _Report of a Survey of the School System of St. Paul, Minnesota_.

9. Meredith, A.B. _Survey of the St. Louis Public Schools_, 1917, Vol. III, p. 51.

10. _Annual Report of the Board of Education, Paterson, New Jersey_, 1915.

11. Bobbitt, J.F. _Report of the School Survey of Denver_, 1916.

12. Strayer, G.D. _A Survey of the Public Schools of Butte_, 1914.

13. Rounds, C.R., Kingsbury, H.B. "Do Too Many Students Fail?" _School Review_, 21:585.