Surely one finds in the preceding pages rather slight grounds to
warrant the almost unqualified faith in repetition such as the school
practice exhibits (Table X), or in the importance of the particular
subjects so repeated. There may be evidence in this faith and practice
of what Snedden[43] calls the "undue importance attached to the
historic instruments of secondary education ... now taught mainly
because of the ease with which they can be presented ... and which may
have had little distinguishable bearing on the future achievement of
those young people so gifted by nature as to render it probable that
they should later become leaders." But such instruments will not lack
direct bearing on the productions of failures for pupils whose
interests and needs are but remotely served by such subjects.
A recent ruling in the department of secondary education,[44] in New
York City, denies high school pupils permission "to repeat the same
grade and type of work for the third consecutive time" after failing a
second time. And further it is prescribed that "students who have failed
twice in any given grade of a foreign language should be dropped from
all classes in that language." Our findings in this study will seem to
verify the wisdom of these rulings. Another ruling that "students who
have failed successfully four prepared subjects should not be permitted
to elect more than four in the succeeding term," or if they "have
passed four subjects and failed in one," should be permitted to take
five only provisionally, seems to judge the individual's capacities
pretty much in terms of failure.
Pages:
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120