SCHOOL HISTORY
First year. A has always attended private schools. He started school at the age of 5 years, in Philadelphia. Here he was placed in the kindergarten, though the question was raised by teachers as to the greater advisability of placement in the first grade. After a few months in this school the family moved to New York, where A entered an excellent private school at the age of not quite 6 years. By this time he had developed many numerical processes by himself. On one occasion the mother went to speak to the teacher regarding the advisability of teaching such advanced processes to so young a child at school, and the teacher replied in great surprise that she had been on the point of asking the parents not to teach so young a child these matters.
Second year. In the autumn of 1920, A entered a private school which he attended for several years. It was here that he was considered to be a school problem. It was recognized that he was ready scholastically for a grade much beyond his age and size. As a compromise he was placed in the second grade. Soon the teacher of the second grade advised that he be considered for the third grade, as he did not "fit" into second-grade work. Thereupon he was brought to Teachers College for educational guidance. The report stated that A stood far ahead of the other second-grade children in reading and arithmetic but that he was "poor in carrying out projects," and did not seem interested in the activities of the second grade.
After mental examination of A, revealing an intelligence level of 12 years 2 months, it was explained that there had never been worked out an established appropriate procedure for variants of such rare occurrence. The advice given was to place A in the third grade; for although his Mental Age was then more than 12 years (his physical age at this time was 6 years 6 months), many of the 8-year-olds in this school would approximate A's mental capacity, since the median IQ of the pupils there was about 120. A was accordingly placed in the third grade, where he had the good fortune to meet a teacher of extraordinary knowledge and ability. At the end of that year he was promoted to the fourth grade.
Third year. In the autumn of 1921 A was in the fourth grade, with the same teacher he had had in the third grade. Outside of school hours he took special work in sports and games with a group of young boys. At the end of that year he was promoted to the fifth grade, and placed in a special fifth-grade group which had been formed of the brightest children of this status in the school. During this time a special effort was made to develop A in social activities and to interest him in group projects, with the result that "he became much more a member of the group." Nevertheless, he still liked to "lie down on his back and look up at the ceiling," instead of joining common projects. "His mind often seems to be miles away."
Fourth year. In the autumn of 1922 A was in the fifth grade, composed of the special group referred to above, with classmates about two years older than himself, whose IQ's ranged above 140. At the end of that year he was promoted to the sixth grade, at age 9 years. He seemed happy and contented during his fourth year in school but displayed many characteristics which might well try the patience of any but a very wise teacher. The tendency to become absorbed in his own line of thought continued, giving an impression at times of indifference, absent-mindedness, and non-coöperation. Also, he was "slow to take advice." He decided, for instance, not to learn French, as he was "not interested in it." He persisted in this attitude until it was clearly explained to him that people who go to college must know French, whereupon he applied himself and learned the language. The relative difficulty in handwriting, shopwork, and other manual tasks which such a child experiences in comparison with older classmates is also a problem for the teacher.
Fifth Year. In the autumn of 1923 A entered the sixth grade. He was at this time 9 years old.
JUDGMENTS OF TEACHERS
Teachers' judgments of A show the usual disagreements and errors. His superior intelligence has been recognized to some extent by nearly all. One teacher, however, has felt his superiority to be merely for reading and arithmetic. Several teachers have judged A to be inferior in respect to manual dexterity and motor coördination, forgetting that their comparison was based always on older children, A's classmates. Only one teacher bore this fallacy of judgment in mind in reporting her estimates. For instance, one of the supervisors who had observed A, reported that he was below the average child of his age in penmanship. A was then 6 years old. This supervisor seemed not to recall that the average child of that age has no penmanship whatever. Direct quotation from teachers' estimates will best show how A has been appraised.
He was quite a desirable pupil, and we should have been glad to keep him. From the headmaster of the school A first entered.