What portion of each entering-age group has no failures? This question and the answer presented below direct our attention to the superiority of the pupils of the earlier entering ages. That these groups of earlier ages of entrance are comprised of pupils selected for their capabilities is shown by the successive decrease in the percentages of the non-failing as the ages of their entrance increases, up to age 18.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE PUPILS WHO DO NOT FAIL,
FOR EACH ENTERING-AGE-GROUP
| AGES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 1061 B | 11 | 102 | 320 | 309 | 186 | 56 | 9 | 4 | 4 |
| 1575 G | 3 | 133 | 522 | 545 | 256 | 73 | 29 | 7 | 6 |
| % of | |||||||||
| Entrants | 58.0 | 50.0 | 43.4 | 40.0 | 39.8 | 37.7 | 55.0 | ||
Here is definite evidence that the pupils of the earlier entering ages are less likely to fail in any of their school subjects than are the older ones. Those entering at ages 12 or 13 escape school failures altogether for 50 per cent or more of their numbers. Those entering at age 14 are somewhat less successful but still seem superior to those of later entrance ages. It is encouraging, then, that these three ages of entrance include nearly 40 per cent of the 6,141 pupils. There is, of course, nothing in this situation to justify any deduction of the sort that pupils entering at the age of 17 would have been more successful had they been sent to high school earlier, except that had they been able to enter high school earlier they would have represented a different selection of ability by that fact alone. There is also a sort of selection operative for the pupils entering at ages 18, 19, or 20, which tends to account at least partly for the rise in the percentage of the non-failing for these years. It is safe to believe that for the most part only the more able, ambitious, and purposeful individuals are likely to display the energy required or to discern the need of their entering high school when they have reached the age of 18 or later. The appeal of school athletics will in this case seem very inadequate to explain their entrance so late, since the girls predominate so strongly for these years. Then it may be contended further that the added maturity and experience of those later entrants may partly compensate for a lack of native ability, if such be the case, and thereby result in a relatively high percentage of non-failing pupils for this group.
It is readily conceded that the avoidance of failure in school work serves as only one criterion for gauging the pupils' accomplishment. It is accordingly important to inquire how the different age-groups of school entrants compare with reference to the persistence and ability which is represented by school graduation. A truly striking array of percentages follows in reference to the question of how many of the entering pupils in each age-group do graduate.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE PUPILS GRADUATING FOR EACH ENTERING-AGE GROUP
| AGES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 796 B | 14 | 115 | 290 | 253 | 99 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 1140 G | 5 | 151 | 465 | 363 | 121 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| % of Entrants | 79.1 | 56.6 | 38.8 | 29.9 | 20.0 | 13.4 | 9.1 | 10.0 | 13.3 |
These percentages bear convincing testimony in support of the previous evidence that the pupils of the earlier entering years are highly selected in ability. Of all the high school entrants they are the 'most fit,' the least likely to fail, and the most certain to graduate. The percentage of pupils graduating who entered at the age of 12 is approximately four times that of pupils who entered at the age of 16. Thirteen is more than four times as fruitful of graduates as age 17; fourteen bears a similar relationship to age 18; and the percentage for fifteen is three times that for age 19, as is apparent from the above figures. The fact that the decline of these percentages ceases at age 19 is probably due to the greater maturity of such later entrants.
When we make inquiry as to what portion of the graduates in each of the above groups 'goes through' in four years or less, we get the series of percentages indicated below.