[Table VI] reads similarly to [Table V]. The distribution of the age totals for the pupils dropping out gives us medians which, for both boys and girls, fall within the 17-year group for the failing pupils, but within the 16-year group for the non-failing pupils. For [Table V] the mode of the distribution is at 17, but for [Table VI] it is at 15. The percentages of dropping out for each age group are given below. First, all the pupils of Tables [V] and [VI] are grouped together for this purpose, then the boys and the girls for Tables [V] and [VI] are considered separately to facilitate the comparison of facts.
PERCENTAGES IN EACH AGE GROUP OF THE TOTAL NUMBER DROPPING OUT
| Ages | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per Cent | 0.8 | 9.5 | 20.7 | 24.2 | 21.0 | 13.3 | 6.8 | 2.4 | 1.2 |
It is readily seen from the above percentages that, as would be expected, the drop-outs are most frequent for the very ages which are most common in the high school. There is no special accumulation of drop-outs for either the earlier or the later ages. But, if in any semester we consider the drop-outs for each age as a percentage of the total pupils represented for that age, the facts are more fully revealed, as is indicated below for certain semesters.
PERCENTAGES OF DROP-OUTS FOR EACH AGE, ON THE TOTALS FOR SUCH AGE
IN THE FIRST, SECOND AND FOURTH SEMESTERS
| AGES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | |
| Semester 1 | 6.8 | 18.2 | 23.1 | 32.6 | 38.3 | 35.0 | 40.0 | 40.0 | . . |
| Semester 2 | 4.0 | 8.1 | 14.8 | 18.3 | 22.2 | 30.0 | 40.0 | 33.0 | . . |
| Semester 4 | 0 | 9.0 | 11.8 | 12.5 | 16.5 | 24.6 | 35.2 | 50.0 | . . |
If these semesters may be taken as indicative of all, an almost steady increase will be expected in the percentages of drop-outs as the ages of the pupils rise. It follows, then, that the older ages have the higher percentages of drop-outs when this basis of the computation is employed. We may, however, make some helpful comparisons of the ages of drop-outs for boys and for girls by merely using the percentages of total drop-outs for the purpose.
PERCENTAGES OF FAILING DROP-OUTS IN EACH AGE GROUP,
FOR BOYS AND GIRLS SEPARATELY
| AGES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | |
| Boys | 0 | 4.6 | 12.5 | 22.8 | 25.1 | 17.4 | 10.3 | 4.3 | 1.9 |
| Girls | .2 | 3.8 | 15.1 | 23.9 | 24.1 | 19.0 | 9.5 | 2.6 | 2.2 |
Here it appears that, of all the boys and girls who fail before dropping out, the school loses at the age of 14, for example, 4.6 per cent for the boys and 3.8 per cent for the girls. As a matter of mere convenience, the percentages for age 21 are made to include also the undistributed pupils in [Table V].