The Ungraded Class in Graded Schools
Another type of experiment is seen in the so-called ungraded class. In many large schools a room is set apart under an especially skillful teacher where pupils who are for any reason out of joint with the curriculum may receive personal attention. Many of these ungraded rooms are so conducted that bright pupils, through a little personal help, are prepared to skip a grade and thus advance more rapidly than the ordinary pupil. Backward children, especially those who are backward in only a single subject, are helped enough to restore them to their classes. Where it is found that pupils are subnormal and permanently unable to keep in line with others of like age, the ungraded class may become a special class. The teacher is then given authority to take all liberty with the subject-matter of instruction and fit it to the needs of the pupils. Sometimes in such special classes reading is practically abandoned and time is devoted to various forms of handwork.