The following table shows how the number of failures are related to the time period required for graduation. The distribution in [Table VIII] shows a range from 1 to 25 failures per pupil, and a time period for graduation ranging from 3 to 6 years. It is evident from this distribution that the increase of time period for graduating is not commensurate with the number of failures for the individual. By far the largest number graduate in four years in spite of their numerous failures. Nearly 70 per cent of the failing graduates require four years or less for graduation. The number who finish in three years is greater than the number who require either five and one-half or six years. The median number of failures per pupil is 4. The pupils with fewer than 4 failures who take more than four years to graduate are not representative of any particular school in this composite, nor are those having 10 or more failures who take less than 5 years to graduate.
TABLE VIII
DISTRIBUTION OF PUPILS GRADUATING, ACCORDING TO THE TOTAL FAILURES EACH AND THE TIME TAKEN TO GRADUATE
| NO. OF | YEARS TO GRADUATE | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FAILURES | 3 | 31/2 | 4 | 41/2 | 5 | 51/2 | 6 | TOTALS |
| 0 Boys | 20 | 23 | 244 | 12 | 8 | . . | . . | 307 |
| Girls | 54 | 26 | 380 | 30 | 14 | . . | . . | 504 |
| 1 Boys | 2 | 10 | 59 | 7 | 2 | . . | . . | 80 |
| Girls | 5 | 8 | 83 | 13 | 5 | . . | . . | 114 |
| 2 Boys | 2 | 2 | 64 | 7 | 7 | 0 | . . | 82 |
| Girls | 2 | 3 | 88 | 11 | 8 | 1 | . . | 113 |
| 3 Boys | 0 | 6 | 27 | 5 | 4 | . . | . . | 42 |
| Girls | 1 | 1 | 53 | 6 | 3 | . . | . . | 64 |
| 4 Boys | 1 | 1 | 44 | 0 | 8 | 1 | . . | 55 |
| Girls | 4 | 6 | 57 | 8 | 4 | 1 | . . | 80 |
| 5 Boys | 0 | 1 | 41 | 2 | 3 | . . | . . | 47 |
| Girls | 1 | 2 | 26 | 7 | 5 | . . | . . | 41 |
| 6 Boys | . . | 0 | 29 | 6 | 3 | . . | 0 | 38 |
| Girls | . . | 1 | 29 | 3 | 8 | . . | 1 | 42 |
| 7 Boys | . . | 2 | 12 | 7 | 7 | . . | . . | 28 |
| Girls | . . | 1 | 13 | 4 | 5 | . . | . . | 23 |
| 8 Boys | . . | 0 | 17 | 7 | 8 | . . | 1 | 33 |
| Girls | . . | 1 | 16 | 9 | 7 | . . | 0 | 33 |
| 9 Boys | . . | 0 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Girls | . . | 1 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 26 |
| 10 Boys | . . | 1 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 0 | . . | 17 |
| Girls | . . | 1 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 1 | . . | 23 |
| 11-15 Boys | . . | 0 | 9 | 18 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 39 |
| Girls | . . | 1 | 11 | 25 | 14 | 1 | 4 | 56 |
| 16-20 Boys | . . | . . | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Girls | . . | . . | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11 |
| 21-25 Boys | . . | . . | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Girls | . . | . . | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
| Total Boys | 25 | 46 | 561 | 82 | 76 | 3 | 3 | 796 |
| Girls | 67 | 52 | 780 | 135 | 89 | 10 | 7 | 1140 |
In reading [Table VIII], we find that 20 boys and 54 girls who have no failures graduate in three years; 2 boys and 5 girls fail once and graduate in 3 years; 10 boys and 8 girls have one failure and graduate in 31/2 years, and so on. The median period is 4 years for those with no failures and it remains at 4 for all who have fewer than 9 failures; but the median time period is not above 5 years for the highest number of failures.
3. THE NUMBER OF FAILURES AND THE SEMESTER OF DROPPING OUT FOR THE NON-GRADUATES
The pages preceding this point have given evidence that the failing pupils are not mainly the ones who drop out early. But we may still ask whether the number of failures per individual tends to determine how early he will be eliminated? This question calls for the facts of the next table. In this table the semesters of dropping out are indicated at the top. The failures range as high as 25 per pupil, and it is evident that not all pupils have left school until the eleventh semester. The distribution includes the 1156 boys and the 1292 girls who failed and did not graduate; also the 694 boys and the 1063 girls who dropped out without failing. The wide distribution of these non-graduates both relative to the number of failures and to the time of dropping out, is forcibly brought to our attention by the table which follows.