c. The Grades in Repeated Subjects and in the New Work,
for the Same Semester and the Same Pupils
If it is granted that the teachers of the repeaters are equally good as compared with the others, then the previous familiarity with the work that is being repeated might be expected to serve as an advantage in its favor when compared with the new and advanced work in other subjects. But the grades for the new and advanced work as presented below, and the grades for the repeated subjects as presented earlier in this chapter ([section 1]), deny the validity of such an assumption and give us a different version of the facts.
THE GRADES SECURED IN NEW WORK, AT SAME TIME AND BY SAME PUPILS
AS THE GRADES SECURED IN THE REPEATED SUBJECTS
| Total | A | B | C | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11,029 Boys | 256 | 2225 | 5543 | 3005 |
| 11,941 Girls | 198 | 2064 | 6604 | 3075 |
| Per Cent of Total | 1.9 | 18.6 | 53.1 | 26.4 |
The facts not only show a lower percentage (by 6.9 per cent) of unsuccessful grades in the new work, but they also show a higher percentage of A's, of B's, and of C's than for the repeated subjects. There is definite suggestion here that often the particular subject of failure may be more responsible and more at fault than the particular pupil. Certainly uniformity and an arbitrary routine of tasks ignore the individual differences of interests and abilities. But by their greater and their repeated failures in the same deficient subjects (see [p. 66]) these pupils seem to have reasserted stoutly the facts ignored. They have been asked to repeat and repeat again subjects which they have already indicated their unfitness to handle successfully. This pursuance of an unsuccessful method is not good procedure in the business world. The doctor does not employ such methods.
d. The Number and Results of Identical Repetitions
It has become apparent before this that some pupils fail several times and in identical subjects because of their unsuccessful repetitions after each failure. Final success might at times justify multiplied repetitions, but in such instances it becomes increasingly important that the repetition should eventually end in success after the subject has been repeated two, three or four times. If such is not the result, then the method is at best a misdirection of energy; or still worse it is an irreparable error, expensive to the individual and the school alike, which only serves to accentuate the inequalities and perversions of opportunity imposed by an arbitrary requirement of the same subjects, the same methods, and the same scheme of education for all pupils alike, regardless of their capacities and interests. In using the term identical it is intended to designate just one unit of the course, as English I, or Latin II. The following table will disclose the facts as to the success resulting from each number of such successive and identical repetitions per pupil.
TABLE X
THE NUMBERS AND RESULTS OF REPEATED REPETITIONS,
FOR IDENTICAL SUBJECTS
| NO. OF | Grades | No | Per Cent | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| REPET. | A | B | C | D | Grade | Totals | Failing |
| 1 Boys | 62 | 532 | 1727 | 880 | 216 | 3117 | |
| Girls | 80 | 702 | 2329 | 1180 | 342 | 4633 | 32.5 |
| 2 Boys | 1 | 15 | 106 | 77 | 3 | 202 | |
| Girls | 3 | 17 | 154 | 89 | 2 | 265 | 36.6 |
| 3 Boys | . . | 0 | 26 | 33 | 0 | 59 | |
| Girls | . . | 5 | 19 | 36 | 3 | 63 | 59.0 |
| 4 Boys | . . | . . | 4 | 11 | . . | 15 | |
| Girls | . . | . . | 8 | 25 | . . | 33 | 75.0 |
| 5 Boys | . . | . . | . . | 2 | . . | 2 | |
| Girls | . . | . . | . . | 5 | . . | 5 | 100.0 |
| 6 Boys | . . | . . | . . | 0 | . . | 0 | |
| Girls | . . | . . | . . | 2 | . . | 2 | 100.0 |
| Tot. Boys | 63 | 547 | 1863 | 1003 | 219 | 3695 | |
| Girls | 83 | 724 | 2510 | 1337 | 347 | 5001 | |