The grading of the material used in instruction in particular subjects has also been recognized as a problem of the first importance. One of the most thoroughly studied subjects is spelling. Ayres[38] took the thousand words which several investigations had shown to be the most commonly used in ordinary life and tried them out on the pupils of eighty-four cities. As a result of those trials he is able to state that a certain list of words will be spelled with a given percentage of error by pupils of the third grade and with a less percentage of error by pupils of the fourth, fifth, and higher grades. Thus the material of instruction in spelling is graded, not by arbitrarily selecting what the teacher thinks will be appropriate, but by trying out the actual ability of pupils in eighty-four cities.
Problems of Grouping in High School
Thus far the problem of grouping has been discussed from the point of view of the elementary school. The problems of the high school are different in detail, but no less impressive. In the first place, the failures in high-school subjects show the same lack of systematic ordering of the curriculum that was observed in the elementary records cited above. For example, from the survey of the Denver high schools we may borrow a series of percentages showing the failures in various subjects in the five high schools.
TABLE VI. PERCENTAGES OF FAILURES IN THE CHIEF SUBJECTS OF INSTRUCTION IN THE FIVE HIGH SCHOOLS OF DENVER IN JUNE, 1915[39]
| East High School | North High School | South High School | West High School | Manual High School | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English I | 23 | 15 | 11 | 9 | 31 |
| English II | 14 | 16 | 10 | 11 | 23 |
| English III | 16 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 20 |
| English IV | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 13 |
| Mathematics I | 23 | 24 | 26 | 28 | 50 |
| Mathematics II | 17 | 21 | 28 | 20 | 19 |
| Commercial arithmetic | 46 | 16 | 33 | — | — |
| Elementary science | 13 | 9 | 14 | 21 | 7 |
| Botany | 21 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 24 |
| Physics | 10 | 15 | 18 | 17 | 34 |
| Chemistry | 0 | 4 | 14 | 6 | 20 |
| Physiography | 11 | 15 | 12 | — | — |
| History | |||||
| Ancient | 12 | 17 | 11 | 10 | 15 |
| English | 12 | 17 | 7 | 5 | — |
| Medieval and modern | 12 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 13 |
| American | — | 7 | — | — | — |
| Latin I | 22 | 16 | 10 | 29 | 40 |
| Latin II | 14 | 20 | 14 | 11 | 18 |
| German I | 20 | 15 | 24 | 5 | 19 |
| German II | 19 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Table VI is worthy of careful study. Let us compare English I and II, which are required of all students, with Mathematics I and II, which are also required. In almost every case the percentage of failures in mathematics is greater. This goes to show either that the grading in mathematics is more exacting or that the students are less well qualified to carry the courses. The exception to the rule that mathematics shows more failures than English, which appears in the second year of the Manual High School, suggests that possibly the students in that school see the importance of mathematics as a professional course. The difficulty with this explanation is the enormous mortality in that school in the first-year course in mathematics. Perhaps the pupils who are likely to fail are dropped during the first year.
While the failures in mathematics are uniformly higher than in English, the policy of the different schools is strikingly different. In the East High School the two subjects are about alike, while in the West High School the failures in mathematics are relatively very high.
Such contrasts become more impressive if we draw the records in Latin into consideration. In the West High School, Latin in the first year is like mathematics, while in the South High School it is like English. Elementary science also shows wide divergences in practice.
A number of startling facts appear if the table is made a subject of careful study. What these facts mean is not difficult to set forth. The subjects now included in the curriculum of the high school are only imperfectly adjusted to the abilities of the students. The community has a right to question instruction which results in failure on the part of one student out of four. It certainly must be aroused at the lack of coördination between schools within a single system which show differences as marked as those exhibited in Table VI.
Other problems in the grading of high-school students and the subject-matter in which they are given instruction grow out of the laxity which has crept into the administration of the elective system. Thus, if we consider certain subjects which are open to students of different classes, such as the first course in Spanish or French or the course in ancient history, we find that senior students are allowed to enter the same class as freshmen because the organization of separate divisions would be too expensive. The result is either a reduction of the requirement in class work to the level of the more immature student or undue effort to bring the lower student to a reasonable understanding of the subject.