There are two ways in which the degree of instruction may be tested. There is what we may call the casual method, which consists in putting the first questions that come into the mind; and there is the systematic method, which consists in putting questions arranged in advance, whose difficulty is known, and for which we have a scale (p. 54), which shows the average number of errors to be expected from normal children of each age. The latter method takes no longer than the former, and is even easier, because it makes no demand on the imagination. Moreover, we consider it quite indispensable for fixing in an objective manner the degree of instruction of the defectives on the day of their admission to the special school. It is very important that this degree of instruction should be definitely known, because it will be necessary to refer to it every time one wants to find out to what extent the child is profiting by the special instruction. We shall return to this point in our concluding chapter.
It has seemed to us that the test of instruction might bear upon three exercises, which are easily marked—reading, arithmetic, and spelling. Here is a very simple table of tests (p. 54), of which we have made much use. It has been arranged with the help of M. Vaney. The table is suited to the elementary and to the intermediate course, and that is sufficient for examining defectives, since none of them are found in the senior division. It is scarcely necessary to say that this table of tests is the outcome of careful experiment. We have established for each age the average acquirements of all the children of that age whatever their place in school. One might quite as well have taken into account only the results given by typical children in the class proper to their age, but on reflection we rejected this proceeding as arbitrary, because it is affected by the difficulty of the curriculum, which is constructed a priori, whilst the average furnished by all the children of a given age is less artificial and is an adequate expression of the reality. Let us remark in passing that these two methods of calculation do not lead to equivalent results. The average furnished by the typical children is higher than that furnished by all the children, for, as we have shown above, more children are backward than in advance. Lastly, the time of year when the tests are made is not a matter of indifference. For spelling and arithmetic the time chosen was the end of February—that is, the middle of the session. For reading we are obliged to make use of results a little more advanced, for they were furnished later, namely, in June.
SCALE SHOWING KNOWLEDGE ACQUIRED BY PUPILS OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.
| Age of Children on October 1. | Course. | Grade of Reading. | Arithmetic. | Number of Mistakes in Dictation | Spelling (Dictation). | ||
| Phrases 1, 2, 3, 4. | Phrases 1, 2, 3. | Phrases 1, 2. | |||||
| Years. | |||||||
| 6 to 7 | Preparatory | Sub-syllabic to syllabic | From 19 apples take away 6 (Answer 13) | 119 | 62 | 28 | Phrase 1. Émile est un petit garçon bien sage, il écoute son papa et sa maman, il va à l'école. |
| 7 to 8 | Elementary (first year) | Hesitating | Subtract 8 pence from 59 pence. (Answer 51) | 119 | 62 | 30 | Phrase 2. J'ai une tête, deux bras, deux jambes, une bouche, vingt dents, une langue, dix doigts. |
| 8 to 9 | Elementary (second year) | Hesitating-fluent | A box contains 604 oranges. If 58 are sold, how many will be left? (Answer, 546) | 78 | 47 | 19 | Phrase 3. Le soleil brille déjà de ses plus gais rayons. Les hommes partent en chantant. Les bergers sont heureux de la belle journée qui se prépare, ils suivent au pâturage le grand troupeau des vaches pesantes. |
| 9 to 10 | Intermediate (first year) | Fluent | To make a dress, 7 yards of stuff are required. How many dresses can be made with 89 yards, and how much will be left over? (Answer, 12 dresses and 5 yards left) | 42 | 25 | 4 | Phrase 4. Le garçon de ferme, de son pas lourd, entrait dans la grange, encore obscure, ou nous réposions. Les bœufs mugissaient tout bas. Dans la cour le coq, les poules, le chien, allaient et venaient. |
| 10 to 11 | Intermediate (second year) | Fluent-expressive | A workman makes 250 shillings in February. He spends 195 shillings. How much does he save per day, February having 28 days? (Answer, 1s. 11-½d.) | 11 | 4 | 1 | |
Let us now explain the details of the exercises shown on our table.
Reading.—The proceeding we adopt consists essentially in distinguishing five grades of reading:
1. Sub-Syllabic.—The child reads in syllables, but very slowly and with many mistakes.
2. Syllabic.—This consists in stopping at every syllable, but reading these pretty correctly. Thus the child reads "The—sol—di—er—car—ries—a—big—gun."
3. Hesitating.—There are stops as in (2), but they are less frequent. The child reads by words or groups of words—e.g., "The soldier carries—a big gun."