Since the same teachers, the same schools, and the same administrative
policy were involved for the different entrance-age groups, the
prognostic value of the factor of age at entrance will seem to be
unimpaired, whether it operates independently as a gauge of rank in
mental ability, or conjointly with and indicative of the varying
influence on these pupils of other concomitant factors, such as the
difference of economic demands, the difference of social interests, the
difference in permanence of conflicting habits of the individual, or
the difference in effectiveness of the school's appeal as adapted for
the several ages. One may contend, and with some success, that the high
school regime is better adjusted to the younger pupils, with the
consequent result that they are more successful in its requirements.
The distractions of more numerous social interests may actually
accompany the later years of school age. In reference to the social
distractions of girls, Margaret Slattery says,[23] "This mania for
'going' seizes many of our girls just when they need rest and natural
pleasures, the great out-of-doors, and early hours of retiring." But
surely such distractions are not peculiar to the girls alone. The
economic needs that arise at the age of sixteen and later are often
considered to constitute a pressing factor regarding the continuance in
school. But VanDenburg[22] was convinced by the investigation, in New
York City, of 420 rentals for the families of pupils that "on the whole
the economic status of these pupils seems to be only a slight factor in
their continuance in school.
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