A smaller proportion of the total number of children of foreign-born fathers are in the higher grades of the public schools than of the children of native-born white fathers, as the following table shows:
| PER CENT OF PUPILS OF SPECIFIED NATIVITY IN THE SPECIFIED GRADES | ||
|---|---|---|
| Grade | Native-born White Father | Foreign-born Father |
| Kindergarten | 4.3 | 4.4 |
| Primary grades | 52.1 | 57.6 |
| Grammar grades | 34.5 | 33.3 |
| High school | 9.1 | 4.7 |
| Total | 100.0 | 100.0 |
The Slovaks, south Italians, and Magyars have the largest percentages in the kindergartens, and the Portuguese, Lithuanians, Slovaks, south Italians, and Polish the largest percentages in the primary grades. In the high schools, the Canadians, other than French, the Scotch, the native-born white, the Welsh, Germans, Hebrews, and English stand highest. This is due to two main facts,—the longer residence of these latter races in the United States, and their greater desire for a high education for their children, coupled with a greater ability to give it to them. Especially in the case of the kindergartens are the newer immigrating races very eager to have their young children looked after so that the mother can be free to work, or otherwise occupy herself.
Another interesting set of figures is that referring to the amount of retardation among the pupils of different nativities. By “retardation” is meant that a pupil is above the “normal” age for the grade in which he is. In this respect the children of foreign-born fathers of the newer immigration are decidedly inferior to those of the older immigration. The latter, in fact, are on the whole superior to the children of native-born white fathers. Of the total number of children of foreign-born fathers for whom this information was secured, 77.2 per cent were born in the United States, and 28.8 per cent were born abroad. There is a considerably larger proportion of retardation for those children eight years of age or over who were born abroad than among those born in the United States. The proportion retarded increases as the age at the time of arrival in the United States advances. The proportion of retardation is greater among those children whose fathers cannot speak English than among those who can, and greater among those whose fathers have not taken out naturalization papers than among those who have.
When we turn to the institutions of higher learning, we find a comparatively small number of foreign-born students, as might be expected.[[241]] The percentages for a total of 32,887 students are as follows:
| Nativity of Student | Per Cent of Total |
|---|---|
| Native-born white of native father | 64.0 |
| Native-born of foreign father | 25.3 |
| Foreign-born | 10.2 |
The Hebrews stand foremost among the foreign-born.
Of the 221,159 pupils included in the parochial school investigation, 36.5 per cent are children of native-born fathers (36.3 per cent of native-born white fathers), and 63.5 per cent of foreign-born fathers. Children of foreign-born Irish fathers number 26.9 per cent of the total number of pupils, foreign-born German fathers, 9.7 per cent, Polish, 7.1 per cent, and Italian, 7 per cent. In the twenty-four cities in which information was secured for both public and parochial schools, there were 1,322,053 pupils in the public schools, and 221,159 pupils in the parochial schools. In Philadelphia nearly one fourth of the pupils were in parochial schools.
Information was also secured for teachers in the kindergartens and elementary grades of the public schools in thirty cities, including 49,067 individuals. Of these, 49.8 per cent were native-born of native white fathers, and 42.8 per cent native-born of foreign fathers, and 5.8 per cent foreign-born. Of the foreign-born, only six races were represented by as many as one hundred teachers each, viz. Hebrew, English, Irish, German, Canadian (other than French), and Scotch.