LB)




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FIG. 1.-Radiograph records: No. 0519, record of eleven-year-old boy; No. 0815,
record of fifteen-year-old boy.
(Reprinted from Reavis' Pupil Adjustment by special permission of D. C. Heath & Co. All rights reserved.)




ABILITY GROUPING
IN THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
BY
HEBER HINDS RYAN
PRINCIPAL OF THE UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL AND ASSOCIATE
PROFESSOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
AND
PHILIPINE CRECELIUS
ADMINISTRATOR OF THE SEVENTH GRADE
BLEWETT INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
JAMES M. GLASS
NEW YORK


HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY




COPYRIGHT, 1927, BY
HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY, INC.
SET UP AND ELECTBROTYPED BY T. MOREY & SON
PRINTED IN THE U. S. A.




',
PREFACE
It is the desire of the authors to offer in this book the
results of eight years of experience, study, and experimentation in ability grouping. They feel that the outstanding sociological ideal of modern education is that of
equality of educational opportunity; that equality of educational opportunity is to be distinguished from identity
of educational opportunity; that this distinction is to be
perceived through the comparative study of the persons
who are to receive the education; and that the desired
equality is to be realized through deliberate, differentiated
modification of the educational environment upon the
basis of the individual differences thus discovered.
That ability grouping may be used to facilitate educational differentiation seems to be established; that if mismanaged it may operate to give rise to more trouble
than profit seems possible. Interchange of experience and
thought is necessary to perfect a technique in the use
of the device. This book is intended as a step in that
direction.
Acknowledgments are due those who have read parts
or all of the manuscript: Miss Lucy Mills, Dr. Clifford
Woody, Dr. Francis D. Curtis.
Perhaps the greatest debt is to the teachers of Blewett
Intermediate School, with whose aid this plan has been
iii




iv                   PREFACE
developed, and who by faithful and intelligent service in
the classroom have revealed the possibilities of the grouped
school.
HEBER HINDS RYAN
PHILIPINE CRECELIUS
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN,
February 1, 1927.




INTRODUCTION


The authors of this book have interpreted the administrative procedure of Ability Grouping in terms of
its educational philosophy and have evaluated its outcomes in terms of pupil training. This interpretation and
evaluation raise the ability classification of pupils to the
same high plane, granted by consensus of opinion, to
curriculum construction and classroom methodology as
primary means of realizing the aims of education. Moreover, in the light of the authors' comprehensive viewpoint, ability grouping becomes a prerequisite condition
to the full functioning of curriculum and classroom organization and administration.
A discussion of Ability Grouping would naturally
imply tested plans for classifying pupils by abilities.
The following chapters fully meet this expectation.
In this respect the book provides a sound technique for
this forward step in scientific school administration. However, the authors so far exceed casual expectations by
their discussion of the basic reasons for ability grouping
and of its educational significance that this book becomes
at the same time a forward step in the philosophy of
education.
Too frequently ability is given a connotation in respect
only to general intelligence. More broadly defined ability
is a general term for the power or personal equipment to
v




vi


INTRODUCTION


achieve. Power is the resultant of many forces,-intelligence, inheritance, environment, maturity, education,
and experience.
Consequently, ability grouping should denote the organization of a pupil-body into groups of approximately
equal powers to achieve. It should be based upon an
evaluation of all factors, whether native, environmental,
or acquired, which together aggregate individual differences. Dependence upon intelligence tests as a sole basis
'  of grouping disregards among other factors a second chief
determinant, not so much of potential but of present
actual power to achieve, viz., the degree of maturity, or
the stage of adolescent growth toward mature powers.
To group pupils by ability, therefore, demands consistent analysis both of endowment and physiological development, and also of environment, training, past achievement, and other conditions which influence native ability
and acquired power to use it. The authors have taken
1 this consistent and sane point of view in their discussion.
The book is in part the outgrowth of their cooperative
experience at Blewett Intermediate School, St. Louis,
which, largely under their direction, has for recent years
based the classification of pupils not only upon intelligence
quotients but also upon what may analogously be termed
physiological quotients. As a product partly of their
joint experience at Blewett the authors here set forth
tested procedures for ability grouping founded upon a
comprehensive and scientific diagnosis of all factors contributing to pupil achievement and progress.




INTRODUCTION


VIi


The secondary school is or should be primarily concerned with the stages of initial and progressive maturity
of its adolescent pupils. The psychology of adolescence
must become basic to secondary school life if the latter is
to become a true cross section of living. The secondary
school so conceived will have the one virtue among many
more of clarifying the relative values of subject matter
and psychology in determining administrative and instructional practices.
The stage of pubescence and subsequent adolescence
is, therefore, a matter of vital concern in the grouping of
pupils. Particularly is this true in the Junior High
School, where such wide variation exists in preadolescent
and early adolescent development. The discussion of the
following pages is predicated upon the psychology of
adolescence and in this respect also the authors have contributed to the philosophy of secondary education. Furthermore, the book consistently evaluates conditions
other than native intelligence, maturity, and adolescent
psychology, as criteria for ability grouping.
The problem of acceleration and enrichment has been
too frequently approached from the viewpoint of alternative or mutually exclusive methods of administration.
The authors have avoided the horns of this dilemma by
presenting practicable methods of securing simultaneously
the recognized advantages of both methods.
This book marks a departure from the succession of
general professional books upon the Junior High School
movement in secondary education. Its value is enhanced




viii              INTRODUCTION
by its concentration upon one phase of research in the
administrative practices of secondary schools. It is to
be hoped that its value may be further enhanced by blazing the trail for other books of similar type into the rich
and largely unexplored fields.of specific problems peculiar
to the present wide extension of secondary education to
include six years of our public school system.
JAMES M. GLASS,
Professor of Secondary Education,
Rollins College,
Winter Park, Florida.




CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION.......   V
CHAPTER
I. THE INEVITABLENESS OF ABILITY GROUPING..   1
Characterization of grouping as an administrative device; citizenship as an aim of education; the
present crisis; grouping and the retention of pupils
in school.
II. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES.....   12
Early recognition; the influence of scientific research; changing conceptions of adolescent psychology.
VIII. THE HISTORY OF GROUPING.....   19
The cycle: individual instruction, large groups,
small groups, homogeneous groups, individual instruction; advantages; disadvantages; plans:
Elizabeth, Cambridge, Portland, Double Tillage,
North Denver, Santa Barbara, Large School,
Pueblo, Baltimore, Newton, Batavia, San Francisco, Winnetka, Dalton; gifted children.
IV. CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN WHICH ARE SIGNIFICANT FROM THE STANDPOINT OF GROUPING 31
Common conceptions of maturity; types of maturity; the six "ages"; significance of each "age"
for grouping; methods of estimating each.
V. SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT CHILDREN..   51
Teachers; standardized tests; parents; school
physician; school nurse.
VI. WHAT Do INTELLIGENCE TESTS TELL US?..   67
Origin and development; manner in which received by the profession and the layman; causes
of confusion; intelligence and school achievement;
ix




X


CONTENTS


CHAPTER                                            PAGE
intelligence and social and athletic prominence;
resum6; need for new term.
VII. DATA TO BE SECURED AS A BASIS FOR GROUPING.  86
List of items; mental, chronological, social
ages; IQ, height, weight, dentition, reading rate
and comprehension, arithmetic fundamentals,
rank in class, health; method of obtaining and
recording data; diagnosis chart.
VIII. GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF DATA... 105
The diagnosis chart; profiles; necessity of planning; suggested plan.
IX. SUGGESTED GROUP ORGANIZATION.... 116
Review of previous suggestions; bases for grouping; procedure; the A group; the segregated C
groups; the Top B; comparison of A and Top B
groups; mixed C's; B groups; special groups.
X. PROCEDURE IN FORMATION OF GROUPS... 133
The A group: selection of candidates, standards
of past performance, physical, social, and pedagogical standards, final selection; the Top B group;
the C groups; the Middle B groups; the special
groups; the tentative nature of grouping.
j XI. ACCELERATION VERSUS ENRICHMENT... 146
The thesis; "Acceleration and enrichment for
pupils of superior intellectual endowment take
place at the same time"; arguments in favor of
acceleration; against acceleration; in favor of enrichment; gleanings from periodical literature;
examples of differentiation showing both acceleration and enrichment.
XII. DIFFERENTIATION IN CONTENT, METHOD, AND APPROACH......165
Plans of differentiation: quantitative, qualitative; need for qualitative differentiation; principles for differentiation.




CONTENTS                        xi
CHAPTER                                            PAGE
XIII. IN OPERATION...... 182
Suggestions for adapting the plan to smaller
schools; arguments for and against grouping; necessary precautions and helpful attitudes.
APPENDIX........ 203
Bibliography
INDEX.......... 219








FIGURES AND TABLES
PAGE
1. RADIOGRAPHS OF HANDS AND WRISTS..   Frontispiece
2. IQ DISTRIBUTIONS OF ENTERING CLASSES...   87
3. DENTAL CHART.                                 90
4. DIAGNOSIS CHART, FIRST STAGE..... 112
5. DIAGNOSIS CHART, SECOND STAGE....113
6. DIAGNOSIS CHART, COMPLETE.....114
7. DIAGNOSIS CHART, SUPERIOR A..... 115
8. DIAGNOSIS CHART, TYPICAL A....118
9. DIAGNOSIS CHART, Top B.                     121
10. DIAGNOSIS CHART, SEGREGATED C.... 124
11. IQ DISTRIBUTION OF SEVENTH-GRADE CLASS.. 130
12. COMPARISON OF SCHOLARSHIP RECORDS OF THREE A
GROUPS.....183


I. ORDER IN WHICH PERMANENT TEETH ERUPT    
II. AVERAGE HEIGHTS FOR BOYS OF AGES SIX TO NINETEEN, INCLUSIVE....
III. AVERAGE HEIGHTS FOR GIRLS OF AGES SIX TO EIGHTEEN, INCLUSIVE...
IV. AVERAGE WEIGHTS FOR BOYS OF AGES SIX TO NINETEEN, INCLUSIVE....
V. AVERAGE WEIGHTS FOR GIRLS OF AGES SIX TO EIGHTEEN, INCLUSIVE.......


91
92
93
94
95


xiii
X11l








ABILITY GROUPING
CHAPTER I
THE INEVITABLENESS OF ABILITY GROUPING
Ability grouping in the junior high school is to be defined as the classification of the pupils of the school into
groups which, within reasonable limits, are homogeneous
in ability to perform the kind of task which confronts
those pupils in the classroom. It is not a social segregation.
It is not a caste stratification. It is not an attempt to
point out those who are worth while and those who are
not. It is not a move to separate the leaders from the
followers. It is not an outgrowth of a philosophy of determinism in education. It is not a suggestion that good
schools do not pay. Indeed, the best thing for the reader
to do at this point is to turn out of doors all imaginary
fears and horrors which inertia, doubt, speculation, or
propaganda may have contrived to associate with the
idea of grouping, and to assume an innocuous or even benevolent materialization of the practice for the purposes
of this book.
Ability grouping, in its simplest aspect, is a refinement of
grading. The same principle and purpose which, within
the memory of persons now living, led to the grading of
1




2


ABILITY GROUPING


the public schools of this country now point to ability
grouping as the next logical step. It is a move in the
direction of economy of effort. It takes account of the
fact that learning involves activity on the part of the
learner; that the ability to engage in self-activity of such
a kind and in such a way as to profit by the instruction
of the moment varies greatly with individuals; that the
efficiency of the instruction is conditioned by many things
which are a part of neither subject matter nor instruction; that, if forty individuals are to be instructed by
the same teacher, it is economy to make sure that whatever
that teacher does is intelligible to the whole forty. The
administrator who is satisfied with grading alone is assuming that successful experience in eight grades of
school work will cause an adequate homogeneity among the
pupils of the ninth grade. This assumption seems not to
be justified by a survey of the facts. Ability grouping
seeks a more adequate homogeneity.
The "ability" which is the proper basis of grouping\
is not synonymous with the rating afforded by any test. 
It is rather the sum total of the child's equipment for dealing with the problems which constitute the established
task of the school. Tests do not define that ability;
they do afford a means of studying it and even estimating
it. If ability be conceived to include all factors which reside within the child-temperament, health, character, the
fruits of experience-the closest index to his ability is
his very performance; and even this requires interpretation to account for factors which are purely external.




THE INEVITABLENESS OF ABILITY GROUPING 3
No one test or type of test can be expected to accomplish
the revelation of ability; wherever it is desired to know
in advance how a child will measure up to the coming
task it will be well to take into consideration any evidence which is valid, reliable, and subject to standardization.
As an administrative measure, ability grouping must
find its justification in increased efficiency in instruction unaccompanied by seriously objectionable by-products. The aid which grouping gives to educational research will not justify it in general practice; neither will
the increase in the roster of visitors to the grouped school.
Considerations which savor of fad, fancy, or fashion can
make no contribution to the question. Unless, after
grouping, the work will be better done, the school a better
school, the children better children, then ability grouping
must be regarded as so much administrative gymnastics,
or gesture, or experimentation, and put away with vertical
handwriting and sloyd.
Until recently secondary education has concerned itself very little with "the masses." In this country the
original purpose of the secondary school was to provide
selected youths with the training prerequisite for theological study. Hence from the first it has looked with
some complacency upon the fact that relatively few entered its doors, and still fewer survived its courses. So
long as preparation for college and especially for professional study was regarded as the function of the school,
and so long as the supply of high school graduates con



4


ABILITY GROUPING


tinued adequate for this purpose, there was no cause for
alarm.
Within a generation, however, the matter has taken on
a new complexion. The high school has come to be regarded as the people's college. Wealth has increased to a
point where literally millions of parents in this country can
afford to have their adolescent children out of remunerative
employment. These parents have, for the most part, a desire that the children make use of these critical years as
an opportunity for schooling. The social and other extracurricular activities of the high schools have been developed in such a way as to make the school a much pleasanter place to be in than it once was. College or no
college, classics or no classics, standards or no standards,
the children are there, and their parents are the source of
the financial maintenance of the schools.
One very important economic fact has a bearing here
that is easily overlooked. With the invention of machinery and the growth of great corporations, there comes
the necessity for workers of higher and higher levels of
training. Unskilled labor is in little demand; there is a
continual call for the type of help that knows something,
that has social graces arising from extended social experience. The high school as a place for general training and
as a social practice-ground takes on new significance.
The practice of citizenship in this country is conducive
to pessimism. There is abroad in the land the feeling that
laws are passed to govern the act of persons other than
oneself; that one's personal disapproval of a law is suffi



THE INEVITABLENESS OF ABILITY GROUPING 5
cient justification of its nullification for purposes of one's
own conduct. Millions of people who find in their own
achievements cause for proud head held high hesitate not
an instant at rank treachery to their fellows through disregard of the law of the land.
It has been said that we have too many laws. It may
be true that we have more laws than we know what to
do with. It is certainly true that we have more laws than
any reasonable number of officials can enforce. Coupled
with this is the fact that the common citizen has less
time than ever to aid in the enforcement of law. Most
people are too busy in the attempt to secure for themselves and their dependents a share of the comforts, conveniences, and luxuries that the age has produced, to concern themselves with what they regard as the business of
the regularly appointed officers. Thus it turns out that
the lawbreaker finds more laws to break and less difficulty
in breaking them.
The sympathy of the public is with the lawbreaker, as
expressed in the details of court procedure and in the attitude of the people in general after the culprit is brought to
trial. This attitude is due in part, no doubt, to the realization that man is prone to error and to the feeling that
circumstances alter cases. The legal bias in favor of the
criminal reflects the swing of the pendulum from the despotic and arbitrary prosecutions and punishments carried
on by the autocratic governments of an earlier day.
Whatever the causes, it is the view of many who are familiar with the law and its administration that the crim



6


ABILITY GROUPING


inal is petted and pampered and protected to a degree
which makes the punishment of crime relatively rare.
There are numerous restrictions placed upon the prosecution which are not placed upon the defense; the slightest technical error may cause a mistrial. Microscopic
points are debated with such meticulous care that the
layman wonders whether the fact of guilt or innocence is
really in question.
Organized crime has reached such astounding proportions in American cities as to cause the formation of commissions and associations whose business it is to carry on
careful study of the prosecution of crime. These organizations follow each crime from the time it is reported to
its final disposition, summarize the findings, use publicity to obtain honest and energetic action on the part
of the police and the courts, and in countless ways bolster
up our faltering internal public defense.
Typical of these is the Missouri Association for Criminal Justice, organized in October, 1924. It began its
work April 1, 1925. It devoted itself chiefly to the study
of the administration of justice in the major crimes, especially homicide, burglary, and robbery. It selected
for study divisions of the state which were regarded as
representative, so that the findings are thought to represent fairly the situation in the state as a whole.
The reports submitted from time to time by the Operating Director, Mr. A. V. Lashly, are startling, to say the
least. Of 149 cases of murder and manslaughter reported
in one city in the year ending October 1, 1924, only 25




THE INEVITABLENESS OF ABILITY GROUPING          7
were punished, or about one out of six. Of 2701 burglaries in the same city and the same period, 107 were
punished, or about one out of twenty-five. Similarly,
of 2075 robberies, 85 were punished (1/24), of 4277 larcenies, 94 were punished (1/46), and so on. Thus crime
would seem to be safer than legitimate merchandising, so
far as the chances of success are concerned.
Organized crime has become so rich and so powerful
as to be able to laugh at justice. Some of the most cunning of the country's legal talent is aligned with the
"gangs." Witnesses for any purpose can be furnished
on a day's notice. Expense is no consideration. Devices
which the state may not use in defense of itself are a part
of gang tactics-murder, bribery, intimidation, preparation of "framed" testimony, and so on.
The upshot of it all is that if any perceptible fraction
of the citizenry sets out to disregard the law of the land,
or to take advantage of its technicalities for illicit purposes, the remaining major fraction can hope for little
success in preventing it. More police and more courts
are, after all, only measures which serve to mop up the
floor; what we must hope to do is to turn off the tap.
So long as there is a steady supply of men and women
who set themselves against the state, the problem will
but grow. We must manage somehow to make such a
difference in people while they are children that they will
not take to that sort of thing. For such training we must
turn to the schools; there is no other organized force
which aims primarily at citizenship and at the same time




8               ABILITY GROUPING
represents the state. Whether the kind of training we
now offer will accomplish this result is now the question;
if it will not, one must be found which will; the point is
that we are forced to rely upon the schools.
It is conservative to say that adolescence is a most
critical period from the standpoint of the development
of citizenship habits. It is a period which the majority
of children spend somewhere other than at school. So
long as the latter is true we shall be seriously handicapped
in our efforts to improve citizenship. To keep children in
school until they are sixteen or eighteen years of age means
that for most children a new organization and a new content must be devised. Sustained effort without success
is not characteristic of human nature. Where there is a
limited amount of time and energy, it is right that such be
expended against something that yields. Children will
not stay in school when continued failure is their lot.
Material and methods must be found which will favor
success.
If secondary education is to be extended to include a
majority, the educational world will have to develop a new
conception of human worth-a conception partaking of
the nature of that now held by the workaday world. The
fact that the community pays the realtor twenty thousand
dollars a year and the college professor four thousand
shouldi strike us as a rather broad hint that society in general places a value upon academic intelligence which is
somewhat different from our own estimate. We shall
need to broaden our sense of values.




THE INEVITABLENESS OF ABILITY GROUPING          9
Once the academic mind has definitely conceded the
right of the nonacademic mind to education, the door is
open and the time is ripe for the study of ways and means.
One important principle that is emerging is that individuals show not only quantitative differences in ability
to learn, but also qualitative and categorical differences
as well. Thus some will learn on a "strictly mental
plane,"' others in a "symbolical way," still others "in
the realm of the real." This calls for different kinds of
school experience for different kinds of mind-different
subject matter, different amounts, different methods,
different motives.
Where there is heterogeneous grouping, there is one
factor which constantly favors the elimination of pupils
from school. No matter how many get discouraged and
drop out, there always remains a conspicuous tail-ender
who soon is marked for the next sacrifice to "standards."
He is continually so far behind the best in the class that
it is easy to think of him as an exception. But in a homogeneous group any member has a chance to excel
occasionally at something; this occasional moment of
basking in the sunlight of success and fame serves to
encourage the child and to suggest to his teachers and
his mates the existence of his potentialities for human
service.
Since the grouping of pupils is for efficiency in instruction, all the factors which go to make up capacity


1 Stormzand, Martin J., Progressive Methods of Teaching, Houghton Mifflin Company, pp. 144-145.




10


ABILITY GROUPING


for learning should be included in the basis of grouping,
in so far as that is possible. All phases of human development have their effect upon the individual's readiness to
learn; the attempt should be made to work as many as
possible into the formula. The careful physician takes
account of every little fact that may serve as symptom or
evidence. We cannot afford to be less careful or less
thorough.
In the chapters which follow it will appear that the
authors are offering a plan of grouping based upon general maturity. Mere "brightness" is not to be the sole
basis of classification. The homogeneity sought is to be
deep and broad. The measure of the child's maturity
will be obtained through an analysis of his development into component phases. It will be found possible
to estimate the degree of each of these kinds of development by comparing the child with his fellows, and to set
up a vivid analytical portrait of the pupil himself. When
this portrait is made graphic through the use of a "diagnosis chart," and when all the charts of an incoming
class of seventh-grade pupils are assembled into a pack,
we are ready to make our classification with some assurance that those who fall into one section will be able to
understand each other and work together.
SUMMARY
Ability grouping, then, is a means to economy and
efficiency in the peculiar business of the school. It is
especially a means of retaining pupils in school through




THE INEVITABLENESS OF ABILITY GROUPING       11
the critical period of adolescence, and of keeping them
in harmony with the school, thereby giving the school
a much-needed opportunity to promote citizenship. Our
plan of grouping is to be based upon a comprehensive view
of the whole question of development and maturity.




CHAPTER II


INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
Moder educational theory accepts the belief that individuals differ in countless ways, and postulates that
educational practice must take these differences into
account in its attempt to develop the individual to his
maximum capacity. Neither of these ideas is new. A
peep into the past will convince us that the recognition
of differences among individuals is almost as old as educational practice, and that plans to adjust educational
offerings to the differences that existed, or were supposed to exist, date back as far. Our present concep.
tions of the psychology of adolescence are founded upon
the facts of individual differences and grew out of their'
recognition. An examination of the beliefs or theories
regarding the ways in which human beings differ will
reveal that these conceptions have changed from time to
time, and are still changing as methods of scientific
measurement and research become more refined.
Prior to the Present Century.
The Greek philosophers were keenly aware of the
existence of individual differences. Plutarch, Euripides,
and Plato referred to the phenomenon from time to time.
In Plato's discussions of it there was no note of regret;
12




INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES


13


he seemed to regard this human characteristic as an
asset and to wish to capitalize it for the benefit of mankind. The humanists, in their emphasis upon the harmonious development of mind, body, and spirit, and the
Jesuits, seeking leaders for church and state, included
individual differences in their respective formulae.  Rousseau in his discourse On the Origin of the Inequality of Man
based social differences on three factors: environment,
the rise of private property, and differences in talent.
Then there were Binet and Galton and Cattell, each in
his own way a forerunner of twentieth-century thought
on this subject.
To-day.
There is neither space nor occasion here to summarize
the more recent literature dealing with individual differences. Suffice it to say that, while it is true that the
doctrine of innate differences has been under fire, it is
also true that most of the educational progress of the
past quarter-century has been based on an acceptance of
the theory.
Grouping and Adolescence.
It is undeniable that the phenomena of adolescence
have a fundamental significance for grouping in the
junior high school. This significance is derived mainly
from two facts; first, during adolescence individual differences increase remarkably in extent and obviousness;
second, at the time of entering junior high school, most




14             ABILITY GROUPING
pupils are pre-adolescent, and at the time of leaving the
junior high school most pupils are adolescent; that is,
the junior high school is peculiarly a school of early
adolescents. A brief discussion of the educational implications of this period of development will be in order.
The Psychology of Adolescence.
The scientific measurement of specific differences has
brought about notable changes in our conceptions of
adolescent psychology. Adolescence has always been recognized as a period of change. Even savage and barbaric peoples recognized theJ onset of puberty as one
of the most important milestones to be passed on the
journey of life. Feasting, tattooing, initiation ceremonies,
periods of isolation, feats of endurance, and tests of courage were some of the practices indulged in to show that the
youth had left his childhood behind him and was entering
adulthood. The Romans permitted the wearing of the
toga when a boy was fourteen years of age. The church
has long recognized the beginning of the adolescent
period as the time when the growing child reaches his
most impressionistic stage, and has set the fourteenth
year as the time for religious confirmation. In the days of
chivalry, the youth became a page in early adolescence,
then a squire, and at the end of the adolescent period was
eligible for knighthood. In the field of education we
recognize that there is a period when the growing pupil
is neither child nor man. Sometimes he is wholly the one,
then entirely the other; and, to complicate the situation




INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES                15
still further, he is sometimes both at once. This is, of
course, the adolescent period, whose boundaries cannot
be fixed definitely in terms of years, nor defined specifically so that every case is included. Here is the very
point that marks the difference between our present
conceptions of adolescence and earlier theories.
According to the older view, adolescence came on suddenly, overnight, as it were. The period was looked upon
as a time of "storm and stress" which arrived so unexpectedly that the growing youth became a mystery to
himself as well as to those about him. It was thought,
too, that new instincts developed at this time which hitherto had not been present, and that there was a sudden
sharpening of all of the senses. Rousseau spoke of the
period of adolescence as a "new birth" and a time when
the reason was to be developed. The so-called culture
epoch theory found many advocates, and is still regarded
as a plausible explanation for the different stages of development through which an individual progresses.
According to this theory the individual passes through
successive stages paralleling those through which the
human race has risen from savagery to civilization. One
writer ' lists the stages of civilization as prehistoric, patriarchal, tribal, feudal with absolute monarchy, revolutionary with constitutional monarchy, and republic
or self-governing. He says that the stages of individual
development that parallel these are infancy, childhood,
1 Pringle, Ralph W., Adolescence and High School Problems, D. C.
Heath and Company.




16             ABILITY GROUPING
pre-adolescence, early adolescence, middle adolescence,
and late adolescence.
As additional investigations have been made in this
field and more reliable data have been secured on the
measurement of individual differences, we have been
forced to change our conceptions regarding the adolescent
period. The onset of puberty has been found to vary
from ten years of age to eighteen, the average age for
boys being fourteen years and for girls from one to two
years earlier. The age for the beginning of mutation for
boys varies all the way from twelve to sixteen years of
age. Equally great variations have been found in height,
weight, rate of growth of various body parts, variety and
intensity of interests, and so on. In the light of the evidence that has been accumulated it is no longer possible
to entertain the saltatory view of adolescence, nor can
adolescence be looked upon as a stage of development
that has definite boundaries separating it from other
periods of life. It is recognized as a gradual growth
which is accompanied by marked physical changes and
which follows the physiological maturing of the sex functions. There is no evidence to support the idea that
the senses become sharpened in this period. The differences of this kind that have been observed are probably
due to the keener interests and the broader point of
view resulting from the experience and the training the
individual has received. Nor can we believe that new
instincts appear. Undoubtedly they have always been
present, even the sex instincts, but have not been fully




INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES


17


developed until this time, and are therefore regarded as
new. In short, our present conception of adolescence is
a sane one that looks upon the period as one of gradual
growth during which great physical changes occur and
individual differences become more pronounced. This
conception in no degree lessens the importance of the
adolescent period, though it does remove the ideas of
mystery and peculiarity which have been so long interwoven with theories of adolescent psychology.
Here again we are struck with the idea that any kind
of difference between children may have some significance
when it comes to grouping. In grouping we are seeking
similarities. It should be borne in mind, however, that
here, as always, similarity is relative; it is to be defined
as an adequately small degree of divergence. Hence
if we are here trying to establish groups of children who
differ from each other within the group as little as possible, it behooves us to notice, at least, all kinds of dif-,
ferences. Undoubtedly, with the specific job of the
school in mind, we shall regard some kinds of differences
as less important than others; some we may wish to disregard altogether. But if any are to be left out, let the
omission be deliberate rather than by oversight.
SUMMARY
In this chapter it has been pointed out that the recognition of individual differences is not new, and some
illustrations have been given to substantiate the statement. The development of the psychology of adolescence




18              ABILITY GROUPING
has been briefly discussed in this connection, and an
attempt has been made to show how some of the earlier
conceptions have been modified as a result of later scientific measurements of individual differences. A detailed
discussion of adolescent characteristics has not been
thought necessary, the chief purpose of this chapter
being to show what bearing the fact of individual differences and the psychology of adolescence have upon
the problem of ability grouping.




CHAPTER III


THE HISTORY OF GROUPING
Grouping is a device for providing instructional oppor~
tunities for large numbers of pupils at the same time. It
differs from individual instruction in that it is more highly
organized, readily deteriorates into a purely routine affair,
and frequently loses sight altogether of the individual in
the group. It provides for mass instruction, from which
aspect it may be looked upon as economical; it provides
for individual education, from which aspect it may sometimes be regarded as wasteful of time, effort, and money.
Educational aims and objectives must be considered in
any attempt to evaluate the relative merits of group and
individual instruction. The educational pendulum has
swung from individual to group education on a large
scale and is now apparently coming to rest, temporarily
at least, somewhere between these two extremes.
Beginnings of Group Instruction.
When the Brethren of the Christian Schools in 1684 established their institutions for elementary education they
resorted to a method of class instruction as contrasted
with the highly individualized instruction of the period.
They were attempting to do for elementary education
what the Jesuits had accomplished in the secondary field,
but were forced to do it at smaller cost and with larger
19




20


ABILITY GROUPING


numbers of pupils. Necessity, the mother of invention,
probably suggested group instruction and recitation as
measures of economy. Necessity also produced better
grading to provide various levels of work.
A century later Bell and Lancaster, impelled by the
same pragmatic and economical motives, conducted schools
in England in which pupils were educated in large groups.
They perfected a monitorial system that made it possible
for a single teacher to have as many as a thousand pupils
under his control at one time. The system was very simple: a lad was chosen to act as monitor in charge of several
others; he was taught a portion of the lesson, and in
turn instructed those under him exactly as he had been
taught. The idea itself was not new, though its application to large groups was a distinctly novel feature. Indeed,
in early Spartan history, there were Milliren (monitors)
and Iren (super monitors) whose duty it was to instruct
the younger pupils in those knowledges and skills that
they had themselves acquired but recently. Early in the
seventeenth century John Brinsley described a monitorial system in his Ludus Litterarius, or the Grammar Schools;
and in about 1790, a monitorial school was established in
Paris by Chevalier Paulet.
Bell's first use of the monitorial method of instruction
was in an orphan asylum; he later applied it to other English schools. Lancaster used a similar method quite extensively in England and later in the United States. Keen
rivalry between the two men developed a bitter animosity
between their adherents, each side claiming that the honor




THE HISTORY OF GROUPING


21


of having originated the system belonged to its own leader.
The adherents of the Church-of-England supported Bell,
whereas the Dissenters aligned themselves with Lancaster.
What the facts in the case were, it is difficult to say at this
remote day, but Lancaster's name has become definitely
associated with the method. In 1805 he introduced it into
New York, whence it spread to other sections of the
country; it enjoyed great popularity for more than twenty
years.
In the light of classroom methods of the present time the
Lancastrian system seems a rigid, formal procedure. We
sympathize with the luckless youngsters who had to stand
in rows to have information drilled into them by monitors
who knew little more than they themselves. The discipline was necessarily extremely rigid, the instruction was
superficial, and the content was a list of facts to be memorized. Despite these defects the system served a splendid
purpose, for it familiarized the public with the idea of mass
education. As soon as the public learned the lesson that
schools could be organized to provide instruction for
large numbers of pupils, the Lancastrian system disappeared and better methods of dealing with pupils in groups
were devised. To the Lancastrian system, too, modern education owes the ideas of better discipline and more effective organization in the schools.
Advantages.
Grouping is a device that makes for economy in the cost
of education. From the very beginning it has been prac



22


ABILITY GROUPING


ticed for that purpose. Incidentally, it has other valuesvalues so important that, probably, group education of
some kind will always have to be depended upon for the
development of such ideals and attitudes as are apparently lost sight of in purely individual instruction. There
is, for example, the growth of group consciousness, a
thing which can be produced only through living in a
group. That this is of importance in our modern social
order is even more evident to-day than it was in the time
when the statement that "it is not well for man to live
alone" was first made. Any experienced teacher can
call to mind cases of social maladjustment due to a purely
individualistic type of education. Another value that
might be named is the stimulation toward creativeness
that individuals receive within a group. This manifests
itself in the writing of original poems, plays, or stories; the
making of a toy or mechanical device requiring a bit of inventive genius; the demonstration of scientific phenomena,
and so on. Such performances require, for their inception and successful completion, not only stimulation within
the group but also admiration and applause. In a few of
the plans for individual instruction which are reported
later in this chapter attempts to provide for these and
other social factors include instruction in debating, public speaking, and dramatics, as well as the preparation of
frequent school assembly programs. Another valuable
by-product of group instruction is cooperation, with all
it implies in the way of unselfishness, willingness to work
for a common good, respect for the rights and personal



THE HISTORY OF GROUPING             23
ities of others, and realization of the interdependence of
human beings. Nor should we neglect to mention certain purely mechanical advantages of grouping: better
organization, more systematic grading of instruction, the
opportunity for more interesting, vital teaching.
Disadvantages.
The weaknesses of group instruction are few, but serious, for they involve the neglect of the individual in favor
of the group. The conscientious teacher instructs his
pupils on the level of the majority of the class. He then
feels in duty bound to bring the weaker members to the
same plane, during which time the bright and average
pupils are playing or loafing. The indifferent teacher
frequently teaches on a higher level and ignores the submerged third, the latter returning the compliment by
paying little attention to what is going on in the recitation period. As more light is thrown upon the matter of
individual differences, it becomes more apparent that
careful grouping is imperative. We know now that it is
a great waste of time and effort for all pupils to spend the
same time in the acquisition of the tool subjects; some learn
far more readily than do others. We know, too, that
there is such a thing as "overlearning" of skill subjects,
which may be expensive as well as undesirable.
Grouping Plans.
The first step to avoid needless repetition on the part
of bright pupils was made in St. Louis in 1870 by Dr. W. T.




24             ABILITY GROUPING
Harris, Superintendent of Schools. He suggested grading
the entire school on the basis of quarter-year intervals to
facilitate special promotions. This scheme "held bright
pupils to the work of which they were capable and kept
them from acquiring habits of laziness."' Dr. Harris'
plan was a big step forward in mass education, for it recognized the needs of the gifted as well as those of average and inferior pupils and made for them definite provisions of a sort.
Since that time, schemes for the improvement of group
instruction have been devised with a view to overcoming
the objectionable features of the earlier methods. The
number of such plans is legion. Those that have enjoyed a
degree of prominence or that have in them an element of
uniqueness are commented upon here.
The Elizabeth Plan was inaugurated in Elizabeth, New
Jersey, in 1887 by W. J. Shearer, Superintendent of
Schools. Three or four sections were organized in each
grade, grouping together pupils of the same attainments.
Each section within a grade did as much work as it could;
individual pupils within a section were freely promoted
to the next higher section whenever they had demonstrated their ability to take on more work.
The Cambridge Plan, sometimes called the Double Track
Plan, enjoyed widespread popularity and became the foundation upon which several other later schemes were built.
It was introduced in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1891.
In grades four to nine, inclusive, two parallel courses
1 Proceedings, St. Louis Board of Education, 1872.




THE HISTORY OF GROUPING


25


were arranged, one for four and the other for six years.
Provision was made for coaching and for transfer from one
track to the other at certain predetermined points.
Promotions were made three times a year. Under this
plan a bright pupil could advance rapidly through the
grades. The plan was modified in 1910 to include all of
the elementary grades. The first seven years were divided
into three grades each, the eighth year into two
grades; the parallel course which covered the same
ground in six years was divided into seventeen grades.
Several modifications of the Cambridge Plan appeared
later, notably the Le Mars Plan, the Portland Plan, and
the Odebolt Plan.
The Portland Plan was similar to the Cambridge Plan,
but readjustments were made only every year and a half.
The Double Tillage Plan was in operation in Woburn,
Massachusetts, from 1894 to 1903. Under this plan it was
possible for a bright pupil to do two years' work in one.
Each year was divided into two parts; in the first half,
the work of the grade was covered; in the second, it was
repeated in greater detail. The bright pupils were excused from the repetition and permitted to go on to the
new work of the next grade, in this way doing double
work.
The North Denver Plan was probably the earliest serious attempt to provide enrichment courses for bright
pupils. It was inaugurated in 1895 by J. H. Van Sickle,
then Superintendent of the North Side Schools of Denver,
Colorado. Bright pupils were offered additional sub



26


ABILITY GROUPING


jects to be pursued during their free time in school.
Saving of time was not considered important, for enrichment was the principal aim.
In 1898 the idea of flexible promotion took a firm hold;
since that time promotion by subject has been advocated
to prevent needless repetition and to permit of rapid
progress in those subjects in which a pupil excels. Flexible promotion and curriculum differentiation beyond the
sixth grade came in together.
The Santa Barbara Plan provided three parallel courses
for the first six years, each course having its own amount
of work. This was really a grouping scheme in which the
groups were homogeneous on the basis of ability to do the
work of the grade. Thus a successful pupil in an A class
might be promoted to the next higher C class, and so on.
The Large School Plan or Group System was a homogeneous grouping scheme that was used in the larger
cities. In many of the places where this was in
operation the pupils were grouped on a mental age basis;
in others, past achievement was the criterion for selection.
The Pueblo Plan, introduced in 1901, by P. W. Search,
in the Colorado city from which it takes its name, was a
form of individual instruction. Each pupil proceeded at
his own rate, which meant that a class was broken up
into a number of units. The efforts of the teacher were
directed toward bringing forward the slow or dull pupil.
Two causes for the failure of the scheme may be mentioned: the cost was prohibitive, and emphasis was laid
too strongly upon boosting the backward.




THE HISTORY OF GROUPING


27


The Baltimore Plan in 1902 provided a central school for
gifted pupils. The idea has been widely copied in the
so-called "Preparatory Center Plan" school. Gifted
children were sent to a centrally located school where
they received a greatly enriched course in grades seven to
ten and were permitted to do the four years' work in
three.
The Newton (Massachusetts) Plan was used from 1904 to
1914. Its two distinctive features were the placing of
unassigned teachers in large rooms to which pupils in
need of special assistance could go for help, and the abolition of grade lines as barriers to advancement. In operation the plan tended to be of more help to dull than to
bright pupils. Dr. F. E. Spaulding was the inaugurator
of this movement
The Batavia Plan provided for additional help for slow
pupils through the expedient of placing an additional
teacher in rooms having more than fifty pupils each.
The San Francisco Plan was introduced by Frederic
Burk in 1913. This proved to be a refinement of the
Pueblo Plan. Instead of allowing each pupil to go at his
own rate, however, the subject matter was organized
into small units to fit the respective capacities of small
groups within a class.
The Winnetka (Illinois) Plan is a further refinement of
the same idea. Carleton Washburne has devised a system of achievement units which makes it possible for a
pupil to cover the ground rapidly without danger of superficiality. Standardized tests enable the pupil to measure




28


ABILITY GROUPING


his own progress. The plan includes definite provision
for systematic socialization to overcome the common
objection to individual instruction.
The Dalton (Massachusetts) Plan, which was introduced by Helen Parkhurst in 1919, has become one of the
best known and most widely copied systems of individual
instruction of the many that have been devised. The
idea originated with Miss Parkhurst when she was working
with crippled boys, where instruction was necessarily
of an individual nature. The five main features of the
plan are a monthly assignment, freedom of study, freedom
of progress, individual instruction, and group creativeness. The work for the entire year is planned in advance,
but the pupil may take an examination at the end of each
month if he has finished a unit. The teacher's functions
are also five in number: to preserve an atmosphere conducive to study; to explain the details of the assignment;
to give information about the equipment when necessary;
to give suggestions about methods of work; and to explain
the problem in full whenever this has become absolutely
necessary.
The work outlined above fills the forenoon. In the
second half of the day a variety of group work is planned
to provide for social growth and the development of
group consciousness.
The plan has not been wholly successful in the, state in
which it originated because it could not be tried out fully,
certain modifications being insisted upon by the state
inspector of schools.  Systematic drill and afternoon




THE HISTORY OF GROUPING


29


recitations were two concessions that had to be made.
Despite this fact the plan has certain undoubted advantages that make its adherents unwilling to find
flaws in it. There are no failures, no disciplinary problems,
and no squandering of time, to be charged against the
Dalton Plan.
Gifted Children.
It is probably fair to say that individual instruction
is designed to accomplish in heterogeneous groups freedom from the lockstep which ability grouping, on the
other hand, is to convert into teamwork; and that the
predominant motive in many plans of individual instruction has to do with the emancipation of the intellectually superior child. About this latter theme has developed a rich chapter of educational experiment and
research. The reader will find pleasure in Terman's
Genetic Studies of Genius 1 and Leta S. Hollingworth's
Gifted Children, Their Nature and Nurture.2
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
Instruction was originally an individual affair and
remained so for centuries because education was available only for the favored few.
Group instruction was devised as a matter of economy
and resulted in extension of educational advantages to the
masses of the people.
1 Terman, L. M., Stanford University Press.
2 The Macmillan Company.




30


ABILITY GROUPING


Group instruction lost sight of the individual for it
aimed at a middle level which was below the possibilities
of the bright child and often far beyond the reach of the
dull one.
Individual instruction again became popular through
attempts to provide educational opportunities for all
children.
Experimental education may ultimately prove that
individual instruction is necessary and economical in the
development of some of the tool subjects, whereas group
instruction will have to be depended upon to develop
approved ideals and attitudes toward social problems.
A number of grouping plans have been listed in chronological order of appearance. These may be classified as
follows:
1. A plan providing short units, to facilitate "skipping":
The St. Louis Plan.
2. A plan providing deliberately for the slower pupils to
repeat work: The Double Tillage Plan.
3. A plan providing for extra teacher help-coaching:
The Batavia Plan.
4. Plans providing ability grouping for enrichment: The
North Denver and Baltimore Plans.
5. Multiple Track Plans: The Elizabeth, Cambridge, Le
Mars, Portland, Odebolt, Santa Barbara, and "Large
School" Plans.
6. Plans providing loose grouping for purposes of enrichment: The Pueblo, Newton, San Francisco, Winnetka, and Dalton Plans.




CHAPTER IV


CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN WHICH
ARE SIGNIFICANT FROM        THE
STANDPOINT OF GROUPING
If our school is to be organized into groups which are
relatively homogeneous in ability to do school work, we
are at once confronted by the problem of devising an
effective and workable means of estimating this school
ability. We must avoid the error which some have made
of assuming that such ability is identical with the rating
given by this test or that. We must be willing to go to
some pains in our search for the needed device. Our
estimate of a child's school ability will be a synthetic one.
We must take into consideration all types of information
which are really significant, and we must take care not to
be led astray by data which are striking but of no importance. In estimating a child's academic fitness we have
need of two types of information about him: information
as to the stage which he has now reached; and information
as to his capacity for development.
Conceptions of Maturity.
School and society have until recently paid but little
attention to the matter of capacity; but, for centuries,
stage of development has played an important part in
31




32


ABILITY GROUPING


social convention. It has long been recognized that certain human powers sooner or later reach a point where
they are "mature." This point of maturity is often dignified with a legal or social status, rights, and privileges.
In her efforts to treat her citizens alike, society sets up a
standard in years of age to define the point. For instance, society has age standards for:
Entering school              Theater admission
Exemption from compulsory    Employment at hard labor
school attendance          Responsibility for crime
Free railway travel          Sexual consent
Half-fare privilege          Right of franchise
Military enlistment          Retirement from service
The more or less arbitrary definition of maturity in
terms of number of years expired since birth has been
considered fair for all persons, and, so long as the chief
consideration is that of equality of political right, it seems
to serve. But when the individual is regarded as an
asset whose possibilities should be developed, for the benefit of society as well as for his own, there is a new face
on the situation. There must be a degree of dispatch and
economy which is consistent with the optimum realization
of those possibilities. From the standpoint of the individual it matters not a great deal that all may vote at
twenty-one in spite of the fact that some are better able to
vote intelligently at sixteen than some others will ever be.
Voting is a political right. On the other hand, when schools
become aware of individual differences between children




SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN 33
there comes a demand for a different attitude toward the
question of maturity and for a standard other than elapsed
time.
Types of Maturity.
For definite recognition of various types of maturity
in growing children and careful analysis of general maturity into composite elements we are probably most indebted to Herbert Woodrow and Bird T. Baldwin. The
former in his work on Brightness and Dullness in Children,l and the latter in his studies in connection with the
Bureau of Child Welfare of the State of Iowa,2 have defined six ages as follows:
Chronological Age, or time elapsed since birth.
Mental Age, indicating stage of mental development.
Pedagogical Age, indicating stage of development of
school abilities.
Anatomical Age, indicating stage of bodily development.
Social Age, indicating stage of social development.
Moral, or Religious Age, indicating stage of moral or religious development.
Mental Age.
For a long time people have been vaguely conscious of
differences in mental age which are not explainable on
the grounds of differences in time-age. Attempts to com1J. B. Lippincott Company.
2 "Physical Growth and School Progress," U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin No. 10, pp. 1-157, 1914.-"The Physical Growth
of Children from Birth to Maturity," University of Iowa Studies
in Child Welfare Vol. I., No. 1, 1921.




34


ABILITY GROUPING


pare children in mental age usually wound up in comparison of their school attainments. But with the efforts
of Binet and others to set some numerical estimate upon
the mental powers of the feeble-minded there began the
mental testing movement which is too well known to
teachers to call for review here. Suffice it to say that we
are now able to distinguish, with a fair degree of accuracy,
levels of a type of mental attainment which is but little
a function of school training and largely a function of innate qualities. This mental level increases with the passage of time during the childhood of the individual. It
apparently becomes constant at a time-age which undoubtedly varies with the individual and averages about
thirteen or fourteen for American children. By formulating a set of graduated mental tests and administering
them to a large number of persons of all chronological
ages, it has been possible to set up standards of mental
age; to determine, for instance, that children of timeage thirteen years make, on the average, a score of seventy-two on the set in question. So any person who
scores seventy-two on this set is said to have a mental
age of thirteen, whether he has lived thirteen years, or
six, or sixteen. Similarly standards for other mental
ages are derived.
The mental tests have come in for many and various
criticisms. They are said by some to confuse intelligence
with information, since their use involves reference to
information. Intelligence is not synonymous with information; neither is heat synonymous with mercury.




SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN 35
Temperature can be measured, however, through the
action of heat upon a column of mercury; and intelligence
may be measured through the action of mental power upon
problems. Since information is a product of intelligence
and a tool of mental power it will play its part in any test
of intelligence. That the present tests contain crudities
and inaccuracies goes without saying; in that respect
they are much akin to other human inventions.
The significance of mental age for ability grouping need
not be argued. It indicates roughly the level of difficulty
and complexity of situations with which the child may
hope to deal successfully. When related to chronological
age it gives the intelligence quotient, which prophesies
roughly how much more or less intelligent than his fellows the individual will eventually be.
Anatomical Age.
Individual differences in rate of functional and structural development of the physical body have long been
considered significant from the standpoint of health and
general fitness. Parents are interested in growth, in
height and weight, in the time of appearance of teeth,+
in the time of attainment of full height, in the time of
reaching puberty. Abnormalities in rate of development
are studied with active interest. Height in relation to
age is thought of as prophetic of the individual's eventual status as a large or small person.
There are three angles from which the physical development of children may be studied:




36


ABILITY GROUPING


(a) Does the child seem to be developing into a large
or a small adult?
(b) What is his status with regard to the development
of physiological function?
(c) What is his status with regard to structural development?
In these days the first is of least importance. Men no
longer survive or perish on the basis of size and muscular strength; indeed, personal happiness and personal
efficiency seem to depend little upon size. That physical
superiority has its social advantages, particularly during
youth, cannot be denied; but, as the years go on, the individual finds less and less in the immediate reactions of
his associates and in the anthropometric records of successful people to interest him in the matter of his own
size and shape.
Physiological Age.
State of functional development, or "physiological age,"
is believed to be a factor in school success. C. Ward
Crampton1 has made a strong plea for the consideration
and thoughtful study of pubescence. He finds post-pubescents stronger physically and mentally than pre-pubescents, and expresses the opinion that pubescence should
be made the basis of distinction in matters of grading.
1 "Anatomical or Physiological Age vs. Chronological Age," Ped.
Sem., Vol. XV, p. 230-237.-"The Influence of Physiological Age
upon Scholarship," Psychological Clinic, Vol. I, pp. 115-120."Physiological Age-A Fundamental Principle," American Physical
Education Review, Vol. XIII, pp. 141-154, 214-227, 268-283, 345 -358.




SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN 37
He finds no direct relationship between scholarship
and height, weight, or strength, but finds all these
characteristics related to pubescence. He notes also a
direct relationship between pubescence and rate of growth.
These conclusions are noteworthy because of the author's
earnestness and because of his one-time opportunity
in the role of physical director to study large numbers of New York high school boys. It is obvious that
pubescence has a social importance in school life and in
grouping for school work. Foster1 has described an experiment in which 295 boys in a New York City high
school were grouped according to puberal maturity and
height. It was found that the failure among those
grouped boys was from 7 to 11 per cent. less than
in a control section of ungrouped boys. Foster has expressed the opinion that this grouping created a more
agreeable situation for the boys. He notes a close relationship between size and pubescence in that tall
children usually mature early. It is probable that the
chief importance of functional development from the
standpoint of school work is to be found in its social implications.
Methods of Studying Anatomical Age.
For purposes of grouping, our chief interest in physical development will be specifically in structural maturity.
1 Foster, Wilfred L., "Physiological Age as a Basis for the Classification of Pupils Entering High School. The Relation of Pubescence to Height," Psychological Clinic, Vol. LV, pp. 329-358.




38


ABILITY GROUPING


When it comes to standing up under a task, a vital question is whether the general foundation, framework, and
superstructure are sufficiently matured. The categorical
contrast between mental age and anatomical age should
be noted here. Mental age, as now studied, is quantitative; it is really mental stature. Anatomical age is proportional; it considers present amounts as related to
eventual outcome. The question in mental age measurements is, "How great is the mental power of this individual in terms of average mental power?" The question
in anatomical age measurement is, "How far along is
this body in its natural change from the smallness and
softness of babyhood to the full size, resisting quality,
and tone of adult estate?"
Among the obtainable physical data to which schoolmen have had recourse at one time or another in their
efforts to determine anatomical maturity are the following:
Pubescence and attendant physiological changes.
Elementary physical measurements.
Height, weight, chest girth, vital capacity, etc.
Dentition, eruption of permanent teeth.
Carpal area.
Inspection of radiographs of the wrist.
Measurement of ossification area of carpal radiographs.
Comparison of diameters of ossification areas of carpal radiographs with width of wrist.
Comparison of total ossification area with area of
carpal quadrilateral.




SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN 39
Radiographs.
By all odds the most interesting method of studying anatomical age is the last named. The hand and arm
of the child are placed in a certain position upon a horizontal sensitized plate, the latter duly protected from daylight, and a photograph is made with the X ray from
directly above. The picture shows the shadows of the
carpal bones. If the subject be an adult there will be
eight of these shadows, pretty well filling the wrist
section. If it be an infant, there will be no shadows.
The number and area of these shadows are an indication of the skeletal development of the subject, since
the ossification of these members is normally continuous
throughout childhood and youth. (See Fig. 1.) Two almost identical plans of expressing this degree of ossification
are presented by Gates 1 and Carter.2 The work of the latter is summarized by Freeman and Carter.3 Both men followed Baldwin's plan of measuring the shadows, or ossification area, with the planimeter, an instrument for rapid
mechanical measurement of area. These areas were totaled. For comparison, an arbitrary carpal quadrilatGates, Arthur I., "The Nature and Educational Significance of
Physical Status and of Mental, Physiological, Social, and Emotional
Maturity," Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. XV, pp. 329-358.
2 Carter, T. M., A Study of Radiographs of the Bones of the Wrist
as a Means of Determining Anatomical Age, Doctor's Dissertation,
University of Chicago, Department of Education.
'Freeman, F. N., and Carter, T. M., "A New Measure of the
Development of the Carpal Bones and its Relation to Physical and
Mental Development." Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. XV,
pp. 257-270.




40             ABILITY GROUPING
eral was defined by selecting four standard points in the
wrist and connecting them in a perimetric manner by
straight lines. The quadrilaterals of the two investigators are not identically constructed, but are similar in
the general, nongeometric sense of the word and are
much alike in area. Each used the outside distal corners
of the ulna and radius as two of the vertices. Carter
studied the right hand, Gates both hands. Each used
meticulous care in securing uniform position of the hand
and arm in the making of the photographs. Both assumed that the carpal quadrilateral is representative of
the entire skeleton in matter of size. The total of the
areas of the carpal bones was divided by the area of the
"carpal quadrilateral" to give a fractional index of ossification, or " ossification ratio." Thus, in so far as carpal
ossification indicates general anatomical development, we
have a numerical expression for anatomical maturity,
which by the use of norms can be converted into anatomical age.
At this point the school principal brings forth a sigh,
reflecting that for some time to come X ray machines
are not for the most of us. We must turn to a simpler
plan of estimating anatomical age. We can well take
with us, however, some of the conclusions these investigators have reached. Gates feels that maturity is not
unitary, but of a specialized nature; that there are many
kinds of maturity; that there are even many kinds of
physical maturity. He argues that classification for
school purposes should be done on the basis of many




SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN 41
data of many kinds. Carter finds some correlation between height and ossification ratio, but little between
ossification ratio and mentality.
Dentition.
The phenomenon of progressive dentition yields one
basis of estimating physical development. The permanent teeth erupt in a certain order and at certain intervals.
The average chronological age at which each appears is
of course known to the medical world. These items,
listed together, form a scale from which any child's "dentition age" may be determined by the examiner. The
investigations of Beik,l Bean,2 Davenport,3 Spier,4 and
Lowell and Woodrow 5 indicate for dentition a degree of
reliability as an index of anatomical development.
Height.
Height is the least reliable of measures of this type of
maturity, because of personal, family, racial, and geo1 Beik, Arthur, "Physiological Age and School Entrance," Ped.
Sem., Vol. XX, pp. 277-321.
2Bean, R. B., "The Eruption of the Teeth as a Physiological
Standard for Testing Development," Ped. Sem., Vol. XXI, pp. 596 -614.
3 Davenport, C. B., Body Build and Its Inheritance, Publication
No. 329, Carnegie Institution of Washington, D. C.
4 Spier, Leslie, "The Growth of Boys, Dentition and Stature,"
Am. Anthro., Vol. XX, New Series, pp. 37-48.
5 Lowell, Frances, and Woodrow, Herbert, "Some Data on Anatomical Age and Its Relation to Intelligence," Ped. Sem., Vol. XIX,
pp. 1-15.




42


ABILITY GROUPING


graphical variations. However, Baldwin    and Carter 
find that tall children mature more rapidly than short
children. Then, too, the social importance of height
should not be overlooked, especially in selecting pupils
for acceleration. An undersized child is at a disadvantage
as an accelerate. If most of his classmates are much
larger as well as older than he, they are somewhat less
likely to receive him on an equal social basis. It is safe
to conclude that height may be used as supplementary
evidence.
Pedagogical Age.
The simplest index of pedagogical age is the school
grade which the individual has reached. This of course
is often subject to caprice and other causes of inaccuracy
outside the child himself. A more refined and a more reliable estimate is found in the results of standardized
tests of school lore. By the use of age norms for such performance tests "reading age," "spelling age," and so on,
can be determined for the individual. Two useful indications are afforded by pedagogical age: the extent to
which the pupil has made efficient use of his time and
opportunities in his previous schooling; and the extent to
which he is prepared to undertake advanced schooling.
His success in future mathematics will depend somewhat upon his present arithmetical fundamentals. All
his study will be conditioned more and more, as time goes
1 The Physical Growth of Children from Birth to Maturity.
2 A Study of Radiographs of the Bones of the Wrist as a Means of
Determining Anatomical Age.




SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN          43
on, upon his reading ability. Such facts are of paramount
importance in deciding upon the group with which the
child is to be expected to travel.
Social Age.
The importance of social age as a factor in schooling is
impressed upon the minds of all administrative officers
by parents who bring pleas for special promotion or
special placement of their children. In one case, the
child is so much older than the others of the class that she
is unhappy in her relations with them. Another child is
so large that he is ashamed to continue in the class with
his smaller mates. A forehanded parent does not wish
his child "pushed through" for fear that he will be a misfit
in college. Perhaps school people have been slow to realize the very important fact that school work is essentially
a social proceeding-at least from the viewpoint of the
pupil. All the elements of social life are there-people,
friendships, common problems, common adversities, common joys, common likes and dislikes, common objectives, and common procedures. It is manifest that whatever condition will help make the class a closer-knit
community may be utilized to promote schooling. Social
homogeneity seems to be one of the conditions favorable
to good school work.
Almack 1 reports an interesting investigation of the
relation of mental likeness to social compatibility. Three
1 Almack, J. C., "The Influence of Intelligence on the Selection
of Associates," School and Society, Vol. XVI, pp. 529-530.




44


ABILITY GROUPING


hundred eighty-seven children in grades four to seven,
inclusive, in San Josh, California, were questioned; each
was asked to write three names:
The name of a boy he would invite to a party.
The name of a girl he would invite to a party.
The name of a person whom he would select to help
him in his work.
For each of these three kinds of choice, Almack finds
correlations of from.5 to.6 in mental age of chooser and
chosen. He concludes that children are disposed to
choose their associates from their own mental level. It
is rather significant for our purposes that the highest
correlation found is that between chooser and person
chosen to help with work.
Worcester,1 in an article entitled "Does Like Like
Like?" gives an account of the administering of the
Army Alpha test to seventy-four married couples in four
years at the Kansas State Fair Eugenics Institute. The
resulting scores, though distributed over a wide range,
showed a correlation of.66 between the intelligence scores
of husbands and wives. It is conducive to optimism to
read that husbands and wives characteristically agree
upon something; and it strengthens our argument that
social homogeneity and homogeneity of learning ability
have much in common.
There is much in popular tradition, as well as in the
testimony of teachers, to indicate that the acquisition of
1 Worcester, D. A., School and Society, Vol. XVIII, p. 655.




SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN 45
school lore on the part of a given child depends as much
upon the help of the other children as upon the help of the
teacher. Children are said to "learn from each other."
True as this is in matters of intellectual wisdom, it is even
more strikingly true in matters of conduct. The effectiveness of the rules of the school and of the laws of the
community and country is dependent upon their social
interpretation by individuals through action and by word
of mouth. The intention of the lawmaker and the behavior of the citizenry often exhibit a contrast which is an
interesting study in sociology. One's attitude toward a
given law is more or less influenced by the attitudes of
one's associates and the extent to which they are able to
offer a plausible interpretation and justification.
Learning, then, is deeply concerned with social considerations. For purposes of grouping, it will be worth while
to know as accurately as possible the stage of social development at which the child has arrived. For convenience we may undertake to express this level in terms
of "age" by comparing him with the typical child of this
or that chronological age.
Moral Age.
Moral or religious age the writers are frankly omitting
from the list of data for consideration. There we should
be treading upon preserves so inaccurately defined and so
involved in emotional considerations as to make them of
little practical value for our purposes. It is our hope to
base our grouping on data as little as possible subject to




46


ABILITY GROUPING


caprice and other emotional influences. Morality seems
to be variously conceived and defined. At this writing a
considerable fraction of the citizenry of America impute
no moral turpitude to the deliberate violation of one of the
amendments to the Constitution of the United States.
It is obviously beyond the province and power of the
authors of this book to set up a definition of morality;
hence this unashamed flank maneuver.
Questions of personal and social behavior do undoubtedly play a tremendous part in success in school work.
Cases are common in which the individual has all the intellectual equipment for outstanding success but fails
because of character deficiencies. Conceding the importance of this element, we shall have to depend, for its
inclusion in the formula, upon the fact that it has already
expressed itself in the pupil's past performance. We can
gauge it indirectly through his past success in school work,
as shown by his school record and his skills.
Chronological Age.
In scanning the foregoing, it becomes apparent that the
old criterion for fitness, chronological age, now drops into
the background. In itself it tells but little; it does tell
how much time the individual has had for the development
of fitness; and, when this element is considered in connection with level attained, a further item of information
emerges in the form of rate of development. Thus we shall
need to consider not only mental age but the quotient of
mental age by time-age, i. e., the "intelligence quotient."




SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN 47
This IQ indicates a comparison of the child's rate of mental development with that of children in general, and
forecasts roughly the level which the child will eventually reach at mental maturity. Thus if, twelve years
after birth, a child has attained a mental age of fourteen,
he has developed mentally 7/6 as rapidly as the typical
child; as an adult he will probably be about 7/6 as intelligent as the average. The significance of this quotient for
grouping is obvious. Similar quotients can be worked
out for school achievement, anatomical development,
and social characteristics.
Health.
The child's school performance is unquestionably conditioned by his health. There have been many conspicuous historical examples of social or scholarly success in
spite of poor health, as pointed out in a later chapter.
But the successful experience of school departments of
hygiene in improving scholarship through health measures
has established the principle of "sound mind in sound
body" for the guidance of school administrators. Especially at the junior high school age is it true that questions of health are of paramount importance. Then when
we remind ourselves that grouping is our objective, and
that upon a child's placement in the grouping scheme
will depend the severity of the tasks assigned, we sense the
necessity of including state of health as a factor in our
plan. The most direct answer to such a question is of
course medical diagnosis. Weight in relation to height is




'48


ABILITY GROUPING


an index of nutrition, and as such is significant of the individual's health. For a given height a minimum of
physical mass is necessary to sustain the individual
properly. Estimates of this minimum vary; but it is
quite possible to set up rough standards in terms of
weight-height index.
School Record.
Certainly the most comprehensive basis of prediction
of a child's future performance is the record of his past
performance. The tasks which confront him in the junior
high school constitute a sequel to those with which he has
been struggling. His degree of success in the past is both
a measure of the completeness of his preparation for future
work and an indication of his own efficiency as a student.
The search for a single numerical index of quality of
past school work often leads us to an average mark for the
last year of work, or for the last two years, or for the last
four. This is unsatisfactory when pupils from several
elementary schools meet in the junior high school. There
are differences between schools in standards and systems
of marking and a consequent lack of assurance that a mark
of 90 per cent. from one school is comparable to the 90
per cent. from another. The authors have come to have
faith in the pupil's "rank in class" for this purpose.
This rank is assigned through a composite judgment
participated in by all members of the elementary school
corps who are in a position to know the pupil's most recent work. A fraction, composed of the pupil's rank as




SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN 49
numerator and class enrollment as denominator, is definite and expressive. This, of course, requires subjective
correction to allow for differences between classes. These
differences may be roughly gauged from the testimony of
the teachers and from the average performances of the
several classes in the achievement tests.
There is a caution to be noted here. The prognostic
value of elementary school performance is limited somewhat by an essential difference in kind between the elementary school content and that of the junior high
school. The acquisition of skills has made up a great part
of the elementary school course. Drill and simple associations have been the order of the day. In the junior
high school the application of skills and facts to the solution of problems begins to fill up the program. More
complex mental processes are called for. There is relatively less premium upon industry and practice and more
upon native capacity for abstract thought. This change
in emphasis explains some of the cases in which a conscientious and hardworking child, to the great disappointment of his parents, drops from the leadership of the
elementary school class to the middle of the junior high
school class.
SUMMARY
We are interested, then, in the following information
with regard to the children to be classified:
Chronological Age
Mental Age




50             ABILITY GROUPING
Intelligence Quotient
Pedagogical Age
Anatomical Age
Social Age
Height
Weight
General Condition of Health
Rank in Class
In conclusion, there are two supplementary points:
1. Whatever special information the junior high school
desires, it should receive and keep handy all information
which the elementary school has deemed it worth while
to record and pass on; often this is in ready, convenient
form on a cumulative record card. 2. Let us avoid looking upon all the above kinds of information as secondary
indications of mental power. Each has its own value and
is helpful in its own way. Mental power is but one factor
in school success. Other kinds of fitness have their own
respective bearings upon the question.




CHAPTER V


SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT CHILDREN
Having selected certain of children's characteristics to
be considered in forming homogeneous groups, we now
undertake to find ways and means of informing ourselves
about them.
TEACHERS
The "schoolma'am" is quite accustomed to being
called upon to give testimony for purposes of prognosis.
The high school or college has wanted to know about
Cuthbert's capacity for further academics. The prospective employer has inquired whether he is bright, industrious, honest, reliable, courteous, and what not. The parent has sought anxiously to learn how Junior is "getting
along." In all such inquiries there is involved a question of future action with respect to the child.
Inaccuracies in Subjective Opinion.
More often than not the conscientious teacher has
been at loss to know how to answer. Until recently most
of our methods of judging children's mental and social
traits and acts have been subjective in nature. In a subjective opinion which has grown out of a relationship
such as the schoolroom affords, emotional attitudes are a
51




52             ABILITY GROUPING
factor. The teacher has, in the half year's work and
development of the class, an undertaking and a responsibility of which she is keenly aware. Its success depends
greatly upon the voluntary cooperation of the pupils.
The extent to which pressure must be applied to obtain
cooperation in the case of a given child identifies him as
a pleasant or an unpleasant item in the teacher's day and
thus helps to determine her opinion of him. This criterion
would be more reliable if the meekest and most submissive
were always the brightest and the most worth while to
society. There is very little in history, however, to indicate that the most easily controllable are the cream of
the race.
The contrast between our civilization and that of the
cave man suggests our great debt to the type of ancestor
who was characteristically "unsatisfied" with the status
quo and who felt that the inevitable existed only for
those who bowed to the inevitable. Of course the individual who possessed this trait without the accessories was a malcontent and a menace; but the man who
had this "unsatisfaction" coupled with love of mankind,
courage, constructive imagination, and this pedagogically inconvenient habit of resistance to pressure, is the
kind whose rebellion against drudgery has produced machinery and whose rebellion against dirt and disease has
produced modern sanitation. Customarily he has a tough
time of it. The very society which he serves often abuses
him, inventing contemptuous names for him, and then,
having stoned him to death, dusts off its hands and




SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT CHILDREN 53
steps over his corpse into the new order whose barriers
he has broken down. If suppression could have been
accomplished through syllogistic reasoning and plausible
rhetoric, through ridicule and ostracism, through incantation, scriptural quotation, and invocation of divine wrath
-the printing press, the railroad, the telegraph, the
airplane, and hundreds of similar blessings would have died
a-borning.
Social cooperation, so long as it is not interpreted to
mean social uniformity, is a sine qua non of progress.
School children must cooperate with teachers, for the
sake of both the school of to-day and the society of tomorrow; but, until schools are much better than they
are now in their appeal to the legitimate interests of children and in their other methods of securing pupil co6peration, degree of rapport cannot safely be interpreted as
prophetic of degree of dynamic good citizenship. Thus our
pedagogical perspective is often enough warped to create
the necessity for impersonal checks on our opinions of
children.
Generally speaking, the most desirable pupil trait,
from the viewpoint of the teacher, is faithfulness in the
doing of the tasks assigned. No element of behavior can
brighten the day for us more than that. A pupil's omissions in this direction may be the result of antisocial attitude, dislike of the teacher, stubbornness, laziness, yielding
to more compelling interests, good or bad, ill health, bad
companions, unfavorable home environment, honest skepticism as to the value of the thing offered by the school,




54              ABILITY GROUPING
lack of ability to learn, and so on. The odds are much
against the teacher in her efforts to decide by subjective
methods as to which of these possible factors, singly or in
combination, are responsible for the pupil's shortcomings.
That it is possible for the teacher greatly to improve
in ability to analyze performance subjectively, and to
estimate such factors as intelligence, is quite probable.
Buchanan 1 and Varner2 have reported experimental
studies in this direction; each of these men has demonstrated to his own satisfaction that the ability can be improved through directed practice and indeed can be developed to a point where intelligence tests can be dispensed
with in a pinch.
Teachers' Use of Standardized Tests.
When standardized tests first came into the schools
they were received with some hostility by the classroom teacher. She was inclined to look upon them as
discounting her judgment and her function. Some argument was indulged in to show that a forty-minute test,
composed by some individual who had never seen the
children under consideration, could not possibly have the
diagnostic value of an estimate made by a skillful teacher
upon the basis of extended observations. Much of this
attitude was brought about by the fact that the tests
first appeared in the hands of supervisory officers and thus
1Buchanan, W. D., "Improvement in Teachers' Estimate of
Intelligence," Elementary School Journal, Vol. XXIII, pp. 542-546."
2 Varner, G. F., "Improvement in Rating Intelligence of Pupils,"
Journal of Educational Research, Vol. VIII, pp. 220-232.




SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT CHILDREN 55
suggested sinister portent. Now that the standardized
test has come to be definitely an instrument of the teacher
this feeling is rapidly disappearing. The thermometer
and compound microscope are no menace to any physician except one who cannot or will not learn to use them.
The modern teacher neither fears nor hates the standardized test, but simply drafts it to supplement, not displace, her subjective opinions. Thus an estimate emanating from a teacher who is properly equipped with these
devices is something to be relied upon.
Estimate of Social Age.
For gauging some kinds of development, as, for instance,
social maturity, there is little of an objective sort for the
teacher to rely upon. Here is a field which has afforded the
tester little exercise. We can but ask the teacher to attempt to express in some numerical way the youngster's
level of attainment as she sees it, offering her meanwhile
some relatively hazy criteria by way of feeble assistance.
Social age is indicated by the chronological age of the
child's companions, by the kind of game which he chooses
to play, by the kind of amusement he seeks, by his
bearing, by his interest in the other sex, by his understanding of complex social situations, by his leadership. It is
safe to say that the most fruitful and reliable observations
of children of junior high school age, for this purpose, are
those made outside the classroom; otherwise the child's
relation to his fellows is confused with relation to his
teacher.




56               ABILITY   GROUPING
Leadership.
Leadership illustrates this fact very well. Leadership
in classroom work is one thing; it is but little more than
academic ability. Leadership on playground and street
is another thing; what comes out of books has little to do
with it. In attempting to find the leaders in a given school
it makes a great difference whether one inquires of the
faculty or of the pupils. Bennett and Jones 1 report that,
of a class of 29 high school boys, all of IQ 110 or more,
were rated as leaders by their teachers. Sangren 2 states
that among 165 high school students, when their social
qualities were estimated by their teachers, the correlation
between intelligence and social qualities was.77, and the
correlation between scholarship and social qualities was.92. Contrast these results with those obtained by
Ruth Nutting 3 through observation of the election of
captains and assistant captains by girls' gymnasium
classes and through analysis of the written reasons assigned by the girls for their votes. The five most common
of these reasons were obedience, honesty, fair play, capability, and ability to control teams. When these girls,
on another day, each indicated in writing the two girls
best liked, this choice differed from that for captain or
1 Bennett, H. S., and Jones, B. R., "Leadership in Relation to
Intelligence," School Review, Vol. XXI, pp. 125-128.
2Sangren, Paul V., "Social Rating of Best and Poorest High
School Students," Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. XIII,
p. 209.
3 Nutting, Ruth, "Some Characteristics of Leadership," School
and Society, Vol. XVIII, pp. 387-390.




SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT CHILDREN 57
assistant captain in 64 per cent of the cases. Two girls
chosen as captain got no votes on popularity. The leaders chosen were slightly above the median in intelligence,
slightly below in scholarship, well above in popularity,
and well above in chronological age. Similar results of a
study of Caldwell's are quoted.
It is probably safe to venture that when leadership is
estimated by teachers in an impromptu manner the results will be greatly colored by the academic virtues of the
children; and that this is not the case when the estimate
is made by the children. It is of course the children's
point of view that we want. On the other hand, it has
been the observation of the authors that, on the basis of
criteria such as those suggested in a previous paragraph, it
is possible for teachers to develop the ability to judge this
genuine leadership consistently. Leadership in the classroom is dependent upon academic ability; leadership in
the debating club is dependent upon debating ability,
which may be akin to academic ability; but the leadership that is significant for social maturity is less specialized than either of these. It smacks more of political
and social popularity, of strength of character, of determination, of.general social sense.
Social Sense.
An interesting experiment which throws some light on
this question is described by Georgina Gates.' A set of
1 "Experimental Study of the Growth of Social Perception,"
Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. XIII, p. 449.




58


ABILITY GROUPING


six pictures of a young woman was used, each registering
by facial expression of one of the following emotions:
Mirth            Contempt        Sorrow
Anger            Fear            Surprise
These pictures were exhibited to a large number of children and adults of all ages, who were asked to identify the
facial expressions. The results indicated a consistent
correlation of "success in judging facial expression"
with chronological age, with no significant sex differences.
It would seem then that devices of this kind might come
sooner or later to be used for estimating social age.
A set of similar tests have been administered from time
to time at George Washington University. An account of
their administration appeared in many city newspapers,
Dec. 12, 1926. The results seem to show the existence of
social intelligence as distinct from abstract intelligence.
The case of one pupil is cited who stood at the top of the
list in tests of abstract intelligence and near the bottom in
tests of social intelligence.
STANDARDIZED TESTS
Two kinds of standardized tests are helpful in grouping:
tests of general native capacity, or "intelligence," which
are discussed in a later chapter; and tests of performance
or achievement in school work. A third kind make their
chief contribution to educational and vocational guidance-tests of aptitudes and of character traits. These
include tests of foreign language ability, mathematical
ability, musical ability, mechanical aptitude, and will



SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT CHILDREN 59
temperament tests. Since our grouping is to be made for
general purposes these estimates of specialized abilities
and traits would render us little service.
Testing and Statistical Method.
Achievement testing is of course as old as teaching itself; it is principally the scientific determination and use of
norms that have had to wait upon the introduction of
statistical method into educational practice. If this injection of mathematics into the profession has launched us
into a metamorphosis of the kind by which alchemy developed into chemistry, and astrology into astronomy,
there are indeed better days ahead. It is already true that
thousands of teachers are able to administer a standardized test in such a way as to get reliable results, and
are able to summarize and interpret the results in intelligible fashion. Thus the relative success of teaching at
any point can be estimated, and thus the individual's
pedagogic preparedness for such a task as junior high
school work can be measured by impersonal standards.
For instance, as in the case of the Stone Reading Test,
a story of two or three thousand words may be placed before large numbers of children and a careful note made of
the rate at which each child reads and of his success in
answering questions on the content. The resulting data
on rate and comprehension can be summarized in such a
way as to afford standards for all the grades and ages
within the effective range of the test. If the test be scientifically constructed-the content suited to the children




60


ABILITY GROUPING


to be examined, and free from technical or other special
references which might give some children accidental advantage, etc.-the test, with its norms, makes it possible
to find a child's level of development in reading rate and
comprehension. The only serious discount upon the value
of such a test arises from the possibility of its improper use.
It is said that a man is beyond recovery who cheats himself on his own golf score; but the teacher who shades the
conditions of a standardized test certainly belongs in the
same club. It is unquestionably true that the proper
handling of these tests calls for a modicum of previous
organized training as well as a desire to get as close to the
truth as possible.
In short, the opinion of any teacher, whatever its merits
when arrived at in a purely subjective manner, takes on
new reliability when there is worked into it the information
afforded by standardized tests.
PARENTS
In these days it is usually true that one or both of a
child's parents have been led by their intense interest in
his welfare to keep some sort of record of his development.
Where there are several children in the family the latest
arrivals often get less attention from the historian than did
the first; yet Terman, Proctor, and other investigators who
have interested themselves in children's personal records
have been able to get much information which impressed
them as being authentic and at the same time significantchildhood illnesses, early interests, age at learning to sit




SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT CHILDREN 61
up, to walk, to talk, to read. For case study the parent
is a valuable source of data.
Since our plan of grouping is based upon relative
scores-scores that are virtually a comparison of one
child with his fellows, expressed in terms of age-the parent cannot be thought of as a source of primary data. In
the main there are two reasons: most parents have not had
intimate experience with enough children to afford an
adequately broad field for comparison; and parental
perspective makes it well-nigh impossible to weigh the
achievements and virtues of one's own against those of
other children. Love is blind-parental love as well as
conjugal love; and, it may be added, when it comes to
virtues love is creative.
In Case Study.
Cases arise in grouping where a child seems to belong
to one of two groups as much as to the other. The profile
(see page 107) may not indicate positively how the pupil
should be classified. In such a dilemma the parent can
often supply an additional bit of evidence or even make
the decision. Happily, parents are beginning to realize
that, in the placing of children in grade or group, the
optimum advancement is not identical with the maximum
advancement. A principal, after completing the grouping
of an incoming class, was reproached by the father of one
of the children, an intimate friend, for having placed the
child in a "slow" group. The father felt that he had a
right to better treatment at the hands of his friend. The




62


ABILITY GROUPING


principal asked the father to imagine himself saying to his
physician, "Bill, why did you diagnose my boy's case as
whooping cough? It seems to me, in view of our long
friendship, that you might have made it bronchitis, or
even a slight cold!"
The principal's responsibility is, from one point of view,
a public trust, and he cannot do for his friends officially
what he cannot for others. Even if he should try to favor
his friend, that favoritism, to be beneficial, would have to
take the form of greater care in getting the child in the
right group-that is, the group to which the evidence
points him. The child could be harmed as easily by placement in too strong a group as by placement in one that is
too weak. A principal's solicitude for his friend's son
might be expressed through a complete retesting, for the
sake of accuracy, and a searching scrutiny of all the data.
An arbitrary transfer to a stronger group would not be a
friendly act. As parents come to realize this and to have
faith in the school's ability to diagnose, the advice of
parents in pupil placement will have more and more value.
THE SCHOOL PHYSICIAN AND NURSE
Moder school systems, large and small, now maintain
departments of hygiene, or so organize their departments
of physical education as to include this function. Some
systems conduct a physical examination of every child
each year. Others keep a lookout especially for communicable disease, making general physical examinations only
when special need for such is indicated. Under any plan,




SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT CHILDREN 63
the school should provide for obtaining certain information
that only a qualified physician and a well-trained nurse can
give.
Anthropometric Data.
The height and weight can be obtained easily and
rapidly if reliable and accurate apparatus is used and if
there is uniform procedure in taking the data. Shoes and
coats should be removed. The same part of the day should
be used for all, preferably the forenoon. Care should be
taken that the heights are correct to the quarter-inch and
weights to the quarter-pound. Where the nurse finds a
history of recent condition of health which would probably
affect weight, a note should be made of the fact and a
later reading taken.
Dentition.
The dentition age can be estimated quite accurately
by the physician. No unit smaller than the year should be
used. The authors at one time, as an experiment, had
forty children assigned dentition age by each of two physicians working independently. The estimates agreed in
every case.
Health.
The importance of general health for grouping has been
set forth. (See Chapter IV.) While a superficial examination by the physician will serve reasonably well, it is
obvious that the more attention he can give each individual
child the more valuable as a guide will be the verdict.




64             ABILITY GROUPING
If he will take pains to familiarize himself with the pedagogical significance of the common physical defects of
children, his testimony will be all the more helpful. The
most plausible supposition as to the relative seriousness
of these various defects would be that impairment of one
of the primary pedagogical senses-sight or hearingwould most affect school work. There is much evidence,
however, to support the idea that these defects must
yield in importance to those which have to do with nutrition and respiration: affections of the teeth, tonsils,
glands; anaemia, adenoids, nervous diseases-and those
which distract attention: scabies, impetigo, pediculosis,
and other sources of physical discomfort. It has been
difficult to isolate and identify physiological causes of
school failure; to know, for instance, whether adenoids
cause dullness or whether both adenoids and dullness are
results of low physical tone.
Index of Nutrition.
The significance of the index of nutrition is affected by
individual differences in tendency toward slenderness or
stockiness in accordance with characteristic family, racial,
or geographical trait. Davenport 1 draws some very interesting conclusions with regard to "body build," as, for
instance, that persons of similar build tend to intermarry and to have offspring of similar build. His index of
body build-namely, weight divided by the square of


1 Davenport, C. B., "Body Build and Its Inheritance," Publication No. 329, Carnegie Institution of Washington.




SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT CHILDREN 65
the height-makes it possible to classify people as to
build. Index of nutrition requires for its proper interpretation a consideration of natural body build. The physician should be able to advise us how seriously to take
an abnormally high or low index of nutrition in a given
case.
Baldwin' has made use of a very large number of kinds
of anthropometric data and has related them somewhat
to other kinds of observable physiological facts. That
some day certain summarizations of these will be recognized as having definite bearing upon fitness for school
work is very probable. Their application to school problems, since they are complex and involved, will undoubtedly be through the medical staff and on the basis
of case study.
Need for School Physician and Nurse.
It is to be hoped that in the near future the function
of the school physician and nurse will be definitely enough
established, and their services commonly enough sought,
to make it worth while for the school of education and
the medical school to combine forces and set up a definite
line of training for this work. The doctors have long
since realized the effect of the mind upon health; we are
realizing the effect of health upon the mind. This interrelation calls for mutual understanding between the
professions, and an organized cooperation.
1 Baldwin, Bird T., The Physical Growth of Children from Birth to
Maturity, University of Iowa Studies in Child Welfare, No. 1.




66


ABILITY GROUPING


SUMMARY
Since the earliest days of teaching, the teacher has been
referred to as a source of information about children.
The emotional element renders her opinion subject to
inaccuracies, causing subservience to be mistaken for uprightness, and skepticism for laziness. When the teacher
makes use of the results of standardized tests, as a component of her opinion and a check upon it, her testimony
is much more accurate. The teacher's estimate of social
age is the best means of getting at that phase of the child's
development; this estimate should be based largely upon
activities outside the classroom.
Two kinds of standardized tests are of greatest value for
grouping: intelligence tests, and tests of school achievement. These must be scientifically made, standardized,
administered, and the results scientifically summarized.
Parents are helpful in grouping where there is occasion
for case study in which the child's personal history is
considered important.
The school physician and nurse are helpful in furnishing and interpreting data with regard to physical status.
There is need of the specialist school physician and nurse.




CHAPTER VI


WHAT DO INTELLIGENCE TESTS TELL US?
The great majority of all ability grouping plans have
as their most prominent feature the results of intelligence
tests. Some schemes have been based on intelligence
scores alone. It will be of interest to attempt here an
evaluation of these tests in terms of the real meaning of
their results, in so far as we are able to judge this
meaning.
THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLIGENCE TESTS
While some efforts in the direction of intelligence testing were made near the end of the nineteenth century, the
real beginning came perhaps with the appearance of
Binet's assembly of thirty tests in 1905. This was revised from time to time by Binet in collaboration with
Simon, a physician. It is interesting to note that these
tests grew out of an acute need for a device for the positive and ready recognition of feeble-mindedness. When
their usefulness for dealing with normal persons became apparent there came further revisions, the best
known of which, probably, is the Stanford Revision,
worked out by Terman at Leland Stanford University.
All these are of the type described as "individual"
67




68


ABILITY GROUPING


tests, requiring administration by an examiner to one
child at a time.
During the World War there developed a need for a
means of finding men of certain levels of ability for
assignment to important military duties. The large numbers of men to be examined and the necessity for quick
action gave rise to the group intelligence test, patterned
somewhat after the individual test but adapted to mass
administration. Two "Army Tests" were constructed, the
Alpha and the Beta, the former verbal and the latter of
such a nature that language had little to do with its use.
The latter was the forerunner of our tests for very young
children, which require little or no reading; and from the
former have developed our most common upper-grade
group tests.
It is important to note that the direction which the
test revision has most consistently taken is that of rejecting some exercises formerly thought to test intelligence
and now believed not to do so, and the substitution of
new kinds of exercises. This keeps pace with the analysis
and better definition of intelligence. For instance, tests
of rote memory and tests of ability in arithmetical fundamentals are no longer thought of as tests of intelligence.
THE RECEPTION ACCORDED THE TESTS
The Profession.
It cannot be said that the shock troops behind which
the intelligence tests have advanced to their present
strategic position in the educational field represent




WHAT DO INTELLIGENCE TESTS TELL US? 69
a full roll call of either those well known or those little
known in education in this country and in Europe. At
the outset little opposition was encountered; but as
the tests became widely used, and as the results of
their use inspired their authors and other psychologists
to make sweeping statements about their significance,
dissension arose in the ranks. Some of the claims
aroused bitter animosity. The testers were styled "determinists" and "fatalists" by their coworkers. They were
accused of discounting the value of education, of maintaining that the individual's intellectual, social, and vocational activities would carry themselves out through his
life regardless of his own efforts to plan or control them.
The accusers felt that the door to success of any sort
should be kept open to all who would earn an entrance by
well-directed effort. Against the testers' claim that intelligence is inherited was hurled the assertion that it is
for the most part the result of experience and training.
The existence of mental differences at age twelve, for
example, was generally conceded; but the contention was
made by some that, taken in time, any individual could
have attained mental superiority through proper training. During the first two or three years of the present
decade the internal quarrel reached its climax, since when
it has apparently dropped out of sight to give way to
rising fermentations of later vintage.
The discussion, having thus receded, has left some
persons, at various levels in the profession, dangling from
positions on the subject which they have publicly and




70


ABILITY GROUPING


emphatically assumed and from which they are somewhat at loss to find graceful exit. On the whole, however,
it has had the usual beneficial effect of intelligent cynicism;
it has set the conservative upon the enthusiast as a kind
of stabilizer. The enthusiast has been forced to watch
his step and to be sure of his assertions; thus year by year
we find a steadily saner view of the whole matter.
The Public.
The word "intelligence" is not a new one; people have
used it for centuries. In the popular mind it stands for a
broader, more dynamic, and less bookish concept than
that to which the tester has been prone to restrict it.
Thus, when it became noised about that the psychologists were ready to brand us as mental thirteen-year-olds
with no hope of redemption individually and none as a
race except through selective breeding, there was a journalistic uprising. The columnists, a little short on educational
psychology and on knowledge of the tests but acquainted
with the public, fired effective broadsides at the whole
movement and left the field strewn with psychologists
suffering from epithet-shock. Abuse, ridicule, humor, and
a priori reasoning were employed to make the movement
abhorrent to the public.
In spite of their tendency to substitute emotion and
emotional appeal for logic, and rhetoric for facts, these
criticisms have paid some dividends in caution and painstaking on the part of the makers and users of intelligence tests.




WHAT DO INTELLIGENCE TESTS TELL US? 71


CAUSES OF CONFUSION
Lack of Agreement on Definition of Intelligence.
Foremost among the causes of misunderstanding and
acrimony in debate was the fact that apparently no two
of the debaters were discussing the same thing. Psychology, groping about, had stumbled on something which
seemed to be consistent in its manifestations; but, for the
time being, its fundamental nature and general characteristics defied attempts at description. A common
word was seized to name it; and in telling the world
about it the explorer used this word. Thereupon any one
who was interested enough to pay attention to the announcement centered his discussion on the meaning
which "intelligence" had for him. The variety of concepts which thus became bases for discussion was one
cause of the hurly-burly. Every psychologist got the
fever, staked out a claim, and began prospecting. When he
struck pay dirt he scooped it up, nuggets, dirt, pebbles,
arrowheads, fossils and all, and hurried back to get
into the debate without waiting to pan the mixture
out. Each prospector arrived at the forum with his
own kind of mixture, so that for the time being there
was not enough common ground for constructive argument.
But panning of more kinds than one is going on, and we
are coming to a working analysis. We can at least isolate the various elements of the thing, name them somewhat crudely, and discuss their relation to each other.




72             ABILITY GROUPING
We can distinguish, among others, the following, which
of course are not mutually exclusive:
Ability to adjust conduct to circumstances or environment; ability to learn; power of association; power of
attention; ability to carry on abstract thinking; capacity
to appropriate truth; ability to profit by experience; experience; volition; intellectual honesty.
Thus a long list of the elements and combinations of
elements of intelligence manifestations could be made.
The question now is: what element or combination of
elements shall be made the standard concept, and what
shall it be called? More than one authority has deplored
the use of the old word and suggested a search for a
better.
Over-enthusiasm.
It is human nature to be always on the hunt for a panacea. We weary of the complexities of our r61e in the
drama of civilization and long for a single lamp to rub, or
button to touch, by way of instantaneous and singlestroke solution of our problems. Every profession has
been agog at times over some discovery or new idea which
for the moment promised everything-be this discovery
appendicitis, child study, baptism by immersion, efficiency
expert, ulcerated teeth, project method, Cou6 formula,
or endocrine glands.
It is not strange, then, that the pioneer testers got out
of bounds in estimating the significance of intelligence
tests, so that one of them thought that a person who




WHAT DO INTELLIGENCE TESTS TELL US? 73
scored low would have to resign himself to a life of following the lead of others; a second would use the tests to
determine a child's right to "education" as opposed to
"training"; a thir  d pleaded for an aristocracy of government, with franchise granted on the basis of intelligence
scores. The sifting process is showing that, powerful as
the intelligence test is, it reveals only a part of the list of
factors which go to make up human potentiality and
worth.
Fear.
An historical pronouncement which is part of the base
on which this government rests sets forth that all men are
created free and equal. For a century and a half the
American people have been engaged in the development
of a civil structure which is to be an interpretation of that
thesis. Many people have ordered their whole lives upon
the basis of the conviction that at birth the possibilities of
one normal individual are identical with those of another;
that the human will is able to confound both heredity and
environment, if need be, and triumph over them. Those
people experience a shock when the opinion is ventured
that one fundamental element of mental power is limited
by inheritance. From that opinion hysteria easily fabricates the specter of the aristocracy of an earlier and a
darker day. But that specter vanishes, as all phantoms do,
when the light is turned upon it; and if we can manage our
searchlight so as to get more light and less heat we shall
make out to lay that ghost.




74              ABILITY GROUPING
The Truth vs. the Pleasant Thought.
In the debates upon the intelligence tests many writers,
especially the laymen, have been guilty of failure to distinguish between truth as a thing indicated by the evidence
and truth erroneously defined as a thing which sits quietly
upon the emotional nature. One must not overlook the
fact that man and his wishes have to be adjusted to the
truth, not the truth to man. No man can claim to be a
true scientist until he can search out a thorny truth and
clasp it to his bosom. A man wants to feel, with regard to
his own son in his cradle, that that son is limited in any
future activity whatsoever by his own will alone; but it is
better in the long run to temper optimism with caution.
As a kind of painkiller, however, let us drink heavily of the
fact that there is no evidence that IQ alone determines
fame, financial success, social power, or capacity for
enjoyment.
INTELLIGENCE AND SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT
Quite early in the intelligence testing movement,
studies were made of the correlation between intelligence
scores and performance scores; the positive correlations
found, which usually averaged about.50, were at first
a source of great satisfaction to those who saw promise in
the new tests. A careful analysis of these studies, however, brings out some things that tend to minimize the
general value of the tests and at the same time emphasize
their value in certain directions. In the first place the
conviction has grown that this correlation coefficient




WHAT DO INTELLIGENCE TESTS TELL US? 75
of.50 is, relatively, not very high. Then certain kinds of
achievement were found to have a consistently low correlation with this intelligence, while others showed
a consistently high one. In arithmetic, fundamentals
showed a lower correlation than problem solving. Spelling showed a lower correlation that vocabulary, handwriting lower than reading comprehension. The more
linguistic the subject matter the higher the correlation.
A typical study of these relationships is described by
Feingold,1 who related the results of intelligence tests
to recitation marks, examination marks, and combinations of the two, in each of the ninth-grade subjects.
He found high correlations in the case of algebra, general science, history, and English, and low ones in domestic science, shop, mechanical drawing, Latin, French, and
bookkeeping. Domestic science, shop, and mechanical
drawing of course involve a large element of motor skill;
and Feingold explains the Latin and French results on the
grounds of the large amount of simple memory work which
is characteristic of beginning language courses; and bookkeeping on the grounds of penmanship, a motor skill.
Shewman 2 made a study of the high school marks of
about 250 high school seniors in relation to their IQ's.
He found a correlation of.495 between IQ and average
1 Feingold, G. A., "Correlation between Intelligence and Scholarship," School Review, Vol. XXXII, pp. 455-467.
2 Shewman, W. D., "Study of the Intelligence and Achievement
of the June, 1925, Graduating Class of the Grover Cleveland High
School of St. Louis," School Review, Vol. XXXIV, pp. 137-46, 219 -26.




76


ABILITY GROUPING


grade for four years' work in all subjects. The highest
was.70, in English, the lowest.186, in manual arts.
The mechanical aptitude tests devised by Stenquist have
been useful in the study of this type of ability and its
relation to general intelligence. The pictorial test, especially, being capable of mass administration, has afforded
correlation data in quantity. This is composed of pages
of pictures of mechanical devices, so arranged that each
device on the left half of the page has a complement on
the other half. Thus there is a hook on the left, and an
eye on the right; a brace on the left and a bit on the
right, and so on; these are so arranged that the pairing
is not indicated by position on the page. It is the subject's business to indicate the proper pairing. The result
of the test, properly interpreted, is a rough measure of a
type of mechanical information, and of interest in, experience with, and aptitude at mechanical affairs. Studies
made with these tests by Stenquist   and others show
approximately a zero correlation between intelligence and
mechanical aptitude.  In other words, the intelligence
tests are of no value in estimating mechanical aptitude.
Rudisill 2 in a study of physical and motor capacity as
related to intelligence, reports that for neither sex is there
any indication of correlation between intellectual status
and fineness of motor control. Thus the physical compo1 Stenquist, John L., "The Case for the Low IQ," Journal of
Educational Research, Vol. IV, pp. 241-54.
2Rudisill, E. S., "Correlation between Physical and Motor Capacity and Intelligence," School and Society, Vol. XVIII, p. 178.




WHAT DO INTELLIGENCE TESTS TELL US? 77
nent of capacity for motor skill would seem to depend
but little upon general intelligence.
The authors once tested an entire junior high school of
1500 pupils on knowledge of the working parts of the
automobile. Each pupil was given a sheet of foolscap and
a copy of a drawing representing a longitudinal section
of a motor car. On this drawing some twenty-two parts
were marked and numbered. The pupils were asked to
indicate by number either the name or function of each
part. The pupil's score was the number of parts correctly
identified. When these scores were related to the intelligence quotients it was obvious that, quite consistently,
high auto scores accompanied low IQ's, and vice versa. A
striking example is found in the fact that the group of
slowest low-seventh-grade boys outdid the group of
brightest high-ninth-grade boys. The greatest similarities
in scores, group with group, were found where the groups
were of about the same chronological age. The explanation which seems most plausible is that the brighter
boys are inclined, in their contacts with autos, to pay less
attention to the details of construction and operation;
they are apt at more abstract processes and hence inclined toward them. On the other hand the slow boy is
less at home in the world of ideas, and turns, for an outlet for curiosity and nervous energy, to things which
come to him at the moment by way of the senses. That
the bright boy could outstrip the slow one in studying the
motor car, both being set at it as a task, is suggested by
their relative successes in similar enterprises; but the




78              ABILITY GROUPING
brighter fellow is characteristically attentive to the more
rapidly moving abstract mental activities.
Thus we cannot assert that the intelligence tests measure
school ability unless we go on to qualify the statement.
These tests do predict general school success with some
reliability; they predict success in some kinds of school
work quite well, and in certain others not at all.
INTELLIGENCE AND SOCIAL AND ATHLETIC PROMINENCE
A junior high school teacher  undertook to relate intelligence to prominence in nonacademic activities.
She went to the teacher of mechanical drawing and asked
for the names of the six best pupil draftsmen. From the
shop teachers she obtained the names of the six best
workmen. Similar inquiries at proper sources elicited the
names of the best accompanists, the possessors of the best
singing voices, the most competent leaders in class activities, the best cooks, seamstresses, typists, athletes,
executives, ticket salesmen, etc. When the IQ distribution of these pupils was worked out, it proved to be
roughly a "normal" distribution; that is, the distribution
resulting from this type of selection was much like a
chance distribution. No one of these types of excellence
showed any tendency to cluster at any point in the scale;
in other words, IQ was apparently not a factor in the
selection. A child's chance to win fame in the kinds of
activities studied seemed not to be limited by his "general intelligence." Here again the explanation is sug1 Annabel Remnitz, now of Roosevelt High School, St. Louis.




WHAT DO INTELLIGENCE TESTS TELL US? 79
gested that the small part which abstract thinking plays
in these activities gives very little advantage to the
child who possesses it in a high degree.
It has been pointed out elsewhere (Chapter V) that
social leadership among children appears to be little related to general intelligence. Leaving out such factors as
personal appearance and natural charm, the popular person is the one whose doings and sayings are pleasing to
other persons. In general, one's social habits respond to
social pressure. A boy becomes pleasing in word and deed,
not so much through logical reasoning with regard to his
own actions, but through trial and error-through continual observation of the reactions of his fellows to his
own doings. The socially objectionable acts are eliminated and the socially acceptable habituated. It is obvious that the mental processes involved in this type of
adjustment are relatively simple and put little premium
upon high degree of ability in abstract thought.
The prominent athlete is usually not conspicuously well
fitted for academic pursuits. A typical college scene is
that in which a collegian bursts in upon a group of anxiously waiting mates with the news that Spike Hennessey,
by dint of assiduous coaching, has temporarily removed his
chronic "condition" in Math. 123 and will be eligible for
the big game. However much the power of abstract
thought may possibly help the athlete it is not a sine
qua non of prowess. Probably it does not rank in
importance with brawn or fleetness of foot or physical
courage.




80


ABILITY GROUPING


WHAT DO INTELLIGENCE TESTS TELL US?
Contemplation of the brief experience of the profession
with intelligence tests leaves one somewhat bewildered;
but one generalization does stand out: intelligence tests
measure with a significant degree of accuracy the capacity
of the individual for abstract thinking; or, more dynamically, they measure the capacity of the individual for successful participation in those human activities which
involve abstract thinking.  The more abstract thinking
involved in the activity, the greater the predictive value of
intelligence tests for it.
The most recent of these tests excel the earlier ones
principally by virtue of the elimination of sections which
sought to estimate ability to follow simple directions,
memory, arithmetic fundamentals, and other abilities
not closely related to this abstract-thought ability. Cancellation tests, much used at first, soon were found to have
little value. The same is true of rote memory tests, in
spite of the fact that memory is fundamental to all learning. Such elements, introduced in an effort to make a
truly comprehensive test, merely clouded the real objective. As time goes on, and as tests are revised, we focus
our microscope more and more directly upon this single
phase of intelligence.
IS INTELLIGENCE THE WORD?
As stated early in the chapter, the first stages of the
intelligence testing movement brought the psychologists
into the presence of this positive factor of human be



WHAT DO INTELLIGENCE TESTS TELL US? 81
havior-a factor relatively consistent in influence on
human achievement along academic lines and yet very
elusive of attempts at definition. They called it "intelligence" much in the same spirit and for the same reason
that Columbus called his discovery "India"; they were
looking for intelligence when they found this. From that
point the procedure has taken the usual scientific
route-refinement of definition and exploration into the
nature of the discovery. In the main there have been
four  questions  about  which  the   discussion  has
centered:
1. Is intelligence unitary or composite?
2. Is intelligence hereditary or acquired?
3. Does intelligence include information?
4. Does intelligence include character?
The farther one follows the discussion the more one is
drawn to the conclusion that the central question is
really one of terminology-that the disagreements on the
matter arise principally from the connotations of "intelligence" which were formed in the minds of the several debaters before the term was seized and impressed
into the service of educational psychology. Thorndike's
analysis  of intelligence into the abstract, social, and
mechanical types is convincing and helpful. Whether
this be the ultimate analysis or not, these three phases
are distinguishable; and experiment and study have
shown them to have a measure of independence of each
1 Thorndike, E. L., "Intelligence and its Uses,"Harper's Vol. 140:
pp. 227-235.




82


ABILITY GROUPING


other. The emotional appeals of Lippmann' and the
frankly partisan arguments of Bagley2 have brought
forth the admission that, whatever may have been inherited, the whole ability of an individual to deal with the
problem of the moment is dependent also upon a mass of
acquired factors.
The third of these questions, more than any other, perhaps, accentuates the contrast between the popular and
the psychological definitions of the term. The layman
rests the estimate of intelligence squarely upon the outcome of the attempt to solve the problem. The psychologist would introduce into the formula a correction intended to neutralize the effect of experience and training.
Manifestly, while the holder of the latter view might entertain the notion of the inheritance of intelligence, the
holder of the former could not.
The relation between intelligence and character has
been studied with lively interest in the light of the results of intelligence testing. Miss Downey 3 finds a considerable degree of independence, and explains some instances of lack of correlation between intelligence and
achievement on the grounds of the volitional factor.
Spearman4 distinguishes qualitative principles of in1Lippmann, Walter, numerous articles in The New Republic,
Vols. XXXII-XXXIV.
2 Bagley, William C., "Educational Determinism, or Democracy
and the IQ," School and Society, Vol. XV, pp. 373-84.
3 Downey, June E., "Rating for Intelligence and for Will-Temperament," School and Society, Vol. XII, pp. 292-4.
Spearman, C., The Nature of Intelligence and the Principles of
Cognition, Macmillan and Company.




WHAT DO INTELLIGENCE TESTS TELL US? 83
telligence, having to do with manner of thinking, and
quantitative, having to do with amount of nervous energy.
Certainly the whole question is clarified by the realization
that the capacity to do is only one of the factors which
determine performance. The intemperate prophecies of
intelligence test enthusiasts in the early stages of the
movement were doubtless occasioned largely by disregard of character factors. A round of intelligence tests
in any good-sized school will discover bright pupils who in
their school work have never given evidence of mental
superiority. Fear or indolence may lower the level of
performance; a man may be unable to think straight because his tendency to self-indulgence leads him to avoid
unwelcome conclusions; keen interest in other things may
cause neglect of the task at hand.
The psychologists have been cautious about offering
definitions of intelligence. Some have declined invitations to do so. Among the definitions which have been
ventured there is marked variation. In the main, one
definition differs from another on the basis of the number
of performance factors which the respective definers wish
to include under the term. Following are some arranged
roughly in order of inclusiveness:
1. Inhibitive capacity, analytical capacity, perseverance.-Thurstone.
2. Ability to adapt self to new situations.-Pintner.
3. The power of good responses from the point of view
of truth or fact.-Thorndike.




84


ABILITY GROUPING


4. Capacity for knowledge, and knowledge possessed.Henmon.
5. Capacity to learn, or profit by experience.-Dearborn.
6. Capacity to acquire capacity.-Woodrow.
7. Capacity for learning.-Bagley.
8. Capacity to learn.-Buckingham.
9. Native endowment which makes it possible for the
individual to become more or less intelligent on the
basis of this endowment.-Colvin.
10. Ability to carry on abstract thinking.-Terman.
11. Facility of pattern formation among ideas; facility in
the organization of thought.-Freeman.
12. Ability to see relations between items of experience.Ebbinghaus.
13. Power of fine discrimination.-Spearman.
14. Power of attention.-Binet.
The thought suggested by contemplation of such an
array is that there is less disagreement than dearth of
terms to denote the elements of achievement.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions seem to be justified by the
evidence:
1. "Intelligence," in the broader sense, is not unitary;
it is composed of many specific abilities. Abstract, social,
and mechanical types may be distinguished.
2. There is a fundamental element of intelligence which
may be called "power to carry on abstract thinking."
It can be measured with workable accuracy; it is lim



WHAT DO INTELLIGENCE TESTS TELL US? 85
ited by inheritance; its importance for success in a given
activity may be much or little, depending upon the nature
of the activity; it is definite enough to merit the invention of a term to denote it. "Brightness" is sometimes
used.
3. Capacity shares with character, experience, and
training the responsibility for level of achievement.
4. Intelligence tests, in their evolution, are getting away
from the type which seeks to measure composite ability
and toward the measurement of "ability to carry on abstract thinking."
5. Intelligence tests tell us, then, more consistently
than they do anything else, the pupil's "power to carry
on abstract thinking." They predict school success reasonably well for some subjects and very poorly for others,
depending upon the amount of abstract thinking involved in the respective subjects. Most school subjects
require abstract thought to a degree which invests intelligence tests with a real predictive value. In some
subjects abstract intelligence may be completely overshadowed in importance by character, experience, and
training.




CHAPTER VII


DATA TO BE SECURED AS A BASIS FOR
GROUPING
We have made up our minds, for the time being, as
to the phases of human development we wish to study
in connection with grouping and we have sought out
sources of information about children. We must now
decide just what specific information we wish to have.
One of the difficulties that confront us is the gathering of the data; another is the converting of the data into
such form as will facilitate interpretation. In this chapter
the essential items of a diagnosis chart will be defined,
the method of determining "ages" will be described, and
several ways of obtaining the data will be suggested.
LIST OF ITEMS
Items Described. Mental Age and IQ.
For each pupil a chart is made. (See Fig. 6, page 114.)
The items listed in section L, at the left, are arranged
in the same order as the corresponding columns in section R at the right. The first item called for is the date.
This should be the date of the intelligence test. Intelligence (item 2) is here recorded in terms of both raw
score and mental age. It is scarcely necessary to describe the way in which the mental age is obtained from
86




DATA AS A BASIS FOR GROUPING  8


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'60 65 70 7.560 85.90 95 /00 /05 110115Z120/5/3013514 014550 155 160 165
&choca D
8.~~~~~~ ~cases
4                                                       Median Q// 137






FIG. 2.-IQ distributions of classes entering the Junior High
School, September, 1924, from Elementary Schools A, B, C, and
D. Total number of cases, 292. Median IQ, 108, indicated by
heavy vertical line running through all four histograms.




88             ABILITY GROUPING
the raw score since practically all group intelligence tests
are accompanied by a scale for this purpose. The reader
may wonder why the chart calls for both mental age and
intelligence quotient. Each gives us its own measure of
the pupil's ability. The mental age shows the level of
mental development which he has reached. The IQ (intelligence quotient) which is recorded in the upper lefthand corner of the chart, indicates the rate of mental
growth. It is obtained by dividing the mental by the
chronological age. A glance at Fig. 2 will show the absurdity of expecting pupils to work profitably in the same
class when their IQ's vary as widely as these do. These
graphs represent the IQ distributions of classes sent to
the junior high school in one term by the contributing
elementary schools.
Time-Age.
The chronological age is the age of the pupil in years
and months on the date of the intelligence test. It is
necessary to use this date, rather than any other, in order
to make it possible to correct errors in finding the IQ.
Sometimes a pupil's accomplishment in the junior high
school is so at variance with his apparent ability to
perform, that it is desirable to determine the reason for
the discrepancy. It may be necessary to recheck the
chart for mechanical errors or even to administer a second
set of tests. Mistakes are frequently made in computing
the chronological age. Many of these are due to failure
to use the same method of counting the years and months




DATA AS A BASIS FOR GROUPING           89
in every case. It is suggested that the following simple
method be used:
Begin with the month following the one in which
the pupil's birthday falls; call that month "one"
and count the months up to and including the
month in which the test was given, then add the obtained number of months to the pupil's age in years.
For example, let us suppose that a boy was twelve
years old on the twenty-first of March and was
given an intelligence test on the fifth of the following September. To find his chronological age we
begin by calling April the first month, May the
second, June the third, July the fourth, August the
fifth, and September the sixth; then we add six
months to his twelve years, which makes him
twelve years and six months of age at the time that
he was tested. Of course, this is not his exact age;
but it is close enough to the exact figure for all practical purposes, and is far better than a more exact
method which is complicated and consequently subject to gross error. When several hundred charts are
to be made within a short time, it is important that
all mechanical processes be simplified as much as
possible in order to lighten the burden and reduce
the probability of error.
Anatomical Age.
The dentition age is one fairly reliable indication of
the stage of anatomical maturity at which the pupil has




90


ABILITY GROUPING


arrived. In Chapter IV other means of determining this
fact are suggested, notably the use of carpal radiographs, height and weight measurements, and blood
pressure tests; but for the present, at least, where large
groups of children are to be dealt with at a time, and funds
for this work are limited, the dentition age will be the
most practical and economical measure to use. While
Central Incisor._                   -      __7  Year
Outer Incisor_ _   _                 _ _    - t Year
Conine   _e._.                     /2  or/3t1 Year
Ftr5t Bicuspid_ __-_ f              -    _ __,/ats Year
Second Bicuspid_- \1. '    _   //I  Year
Second Mtolars&   a           We/ZI!  to /5th Year
Third tolar _._  ' — 7t                to 25-h Year
Third M/olar       A      x       /7t1h to 25 t' 'ear
Second Molars_            / R    -IZt -  to 15; t Year
Second Bicuspid   -__=               _-    nth Year
First Bicuspid-            -. /0t  Yeaor
Canrine    _        //    \\     Z      or /3J  Year
Outer Incisor    / / \"__8t                   ' Year
Central Incisor_   /J                 ___  7th Year
FIG. 3.-Names of permanent teeth, and ages at which they erupt.
the school physician and nurse are usually the persons to
whom this feature of the work is delegated, it may be
done with a reasonable degree of accuracy by any layman
who cares to take the trouble to learn how to do it. With a
little study and practice he can soon learn to recognize
the various kinds of teeth and to name them. After this
it becomes a matter of looking at a pupil's teeth, counting the molars, and judging the degree of development of
each group. The dentition age is determined by reference to Table I or Fig. 3.




DATA AS A BASIS FOR GROUPING            91
After the heights and weights have been obtained they,
in order to serve our purpose, must be expressed in terms
of age. A table of age norms for height and weight is required. In Tables II-V are given data from two accepted
sets of norms, by Baldwin and Wood and Clark, Sydenstricker, and Collins2 respectively. In the third column
of each of these tables is given an illustration of what the
junior high school principal may wish to do by way of
comparing his own pupils as a group with those studied
by the makers of the norms. These figures are derived
from the authors' study of a thousand seventh-grade
children in one junior high school.
The Baldwin-Wood tables are based on data from nearly
130,000 children in the eastern and north-central sections
of this country. The Clark-Sydenstricker-Collins tables
TABLE I
ORDER IN WHICH PERMANENT TEETH ERUPT
First molars.................. during 6th year
Central or inner incisors........  "  7th  "
Lateral or outer incisors.......  "  8th  "
First bicuspids or premolars.....  " 10th  "
Second bicuspids..............  "11th   "
Canines......................     12th  or 13th  year
Second molars................. "12th to 15th  "
Third molars or wisdom teeth...  " 17th to 25th  "
The lower teeth usually appear prior to the corresponding uppers.
Girls are usually about a half year in advance of boys.
1Baldwin, Bird T., and Wood, Thomas, A Classroom Weight
Record, published by U. S. Bureau of Education.
2 Clark, Sydenstricker, and Collins, Heights and Weights of School
Children, published by U. S. Health Service.




92


ABILITY GROUPING


are from more than 14,000 children in the southeastern
section. The reader will note striking differences which
are possibly due to typical regional characteristics.
The location of the school which is being grouped may
well determine the choice of the two.
TABLE II*
AVERAGE HEIGHTS FOR BOYS OF AGES SIX TO NINETEEN,
INCLUSIVE
Age    BW      CSC       RC
6     46     45.4
7     48     46.8
8     50     48.8
9     52     50.7
10     54     52.6     54.5
11     56     54.3     56.7
12     58     56.2     57.2
13     60     58.      61.
14     63     60.3     62.3
15     65     62.9     62.9
16     67     64.6
17     68
18     69
19     69
* BW =Baldwin-Wood.
CSC = Clark-Sydenstricker-Collins.
RC =Ryan-Crecelius.
The figures in the Baldwin-Wood column were obtained as folows: for the height norms were taken the heights given by Baldwin,
and Wood as average for "medium" children of the several ages;
for the weight norms were taken the respective weights given for
these heights at the various ages. Baldwin-Wood norms reproduced
by permission of the American Child Health Association; ClarkSydenstricker-Collins norms by permission of the United States
Public Health Service.




DATA AS A BASIS FOR GROUPING


93


TABLE III*
AVERAGE HEIGHTS FOR GIRLS OF AGES SIX TO EIGHTEEN,
INCLUSIVE


Age
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18


BW
45
47
50
52
54
56
58
60
62
63
64
64
64


CSC
44.8
46.6
48.5
50.5
52.5
54.5
57.
54.3
61.1
62.5
63.3


56.
58.
59.6
60.7
62.
63.


* BW = Baldwin-Wood.
CSC = Clark-Sydenstricker-Collins.
RC = Ryan-Crecelius.
The figures in the Baldwin-Wood column were obtained as follows: for the height norms were taken the heights given by Baldwin
and Wood as average for "medium" children of the several ages;
for the weight norms Were taken the respective weights given for
these heights at the various ages. Baldwin-Wood norms reproduced
by permission of the American Child Health Association; ClarkSydenstricker-Collins norms by permission of the United States
Public Health Service.




94


ABILITY GROUPING


TABLE IV *
FOR BOYS OF AGES SIX TO NINETEEN,
INCLUSIVE


AVERAGE WEIGHTS


Age    BW       CSC       RC
6     48     47.5
7     53      50.4
8     58      54.5
9     64      59.6
10     70      65.2     72.7
11     77      71.1     81.7
12     85     78.       81.
13     93      85.1     93.
14    108     95.4     110.2
15    120     108.4    107.9
16    134    116.7
17    141
18    149
19    152
* BW = Baldwin-Wood.
CSC = Clark-Sydenstricker-Collins.
RC = Ryan-Crecelius.
The figures in the Baldwin-Wood column were obtained as follows: for the height norms were taken the heights given by Baldwin
and Wood as average for "medium" children of the several ages;
for the weight norms were taken the respective weights given for
these heights at the various ages. Baldwin-Wood norms reproduced
by permission of the American Child Health Association; ClarkSydenstricker-Collins norms by permission of the United States
Public Health Service.




DATA AS A BASIS FOR GROUPING


95


TABLE V*
AVERAGE WEIGHTS FOR GIRLS OF AGES SIX TO EIGHTEEN,
INCLUSIVE


Age
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15


BW
45
50
57
64
70
78
86
97
109
116
120
122
123


CSC
45.5
48.3
52.4
58.
64.
70.3
79.7
89.7
99.4
107.6
113.6


RC
71.
81.2
87.
94.
104.2
106.


16
17
18


* BW    Baldwin-Wood.
CSC = Clark-Sydenstricker-Collins.
RC = Ryan-Crecelius.
The figures in the Baldwin-Wood column were obtained as follows: for the height norms were taken the heights given by Baldwin
and Wood as average for "medium" children of the several ages;
for the weight norms were taken the respective weights given for
these heights at the various ages. Baldwin-Wood norms reproduced
by permission of the American Child Health Association; ClarkSydenstricker-Collins norms by permission of the United States
Public Health Service.


Since our heights and weights are expressed in figures
involving quarter inches and quarter pounds, respectively, interpolation will be necessary to make the table




96             ABILITY GROUPING
serve. For instance, in the Baldwin-Wood table of heights
for boys, the difference between the heights for age ten
and age eleven is two inches, or eight quarter inches;
that is, each quarter-inch growth in height at this period
corresponds roughly to an eighth of a year or a month
and a half. Thus, if a boy is 543 inches tall his height
age may be said to be ten years and four and a half
months, or, in round numbers, ten years and five months.
In computing these ages the interpolation may be made
for each case or a complete table of interpolation may be
prepared. The latter is desirable where many persons
participate in the work.
Social Maturity.
The social age is a rating that must be furnished by the
teachers in the elementary school who have had the opportunity of observing the pupil in his social relations
over an extended period. At present no set rule can be
given for finding it. A fairly definite mode of procedure
may be offered together with the suggestion that a better
method be used if one can be found. Since the social
age rating is a subjective estimate based on personal
observation, the score will have a higher validity if it
represents a concensus of opinion rather than the conclusion reached by one individual who may be influenced
by his personal relations with the pupil in question. Two
or more teachers who have had the pupil under observation should be asked to help in this work, each working independently of the others.




DATA AS A BASIS FOR GROUPING            97
In Chapter V may be found a discussion of certain
factors that are of considerable importance as criteria for
social age. Following are some questions which, although
they by no means exhaust the subject, should be helpful:
How old are his chums and other playmates?
What kind of games does he like to play? Are they
the games of his own age or of older or younger children?
What kind of reading material does he choose?
Does he assume and discharge responsibility satisfactorily?
Is he a leader outside the classroom?
Does he become "rattled" in complex social situations?
Pedagogical Age.
The next three items on the chart, arithmetic fundamentals, reading rate, and comprehension, may be obtained by using a well standardized test in those subjects.
For many of the tests now on the market, age norms as
well as grade norms are given. During the past four
years the authors have used the Woody-McCall Test in
Mixed Fundamentals and the Monroe Test for Silent
Reading. To date there have been no age norms published for the arithmetic test, but a scale made by the
Division of Tests and Measurements of the St. Louis
Public Schools has been used by the authors to translate
scores into ages. The Monroe Test, which furnishes both
rate and comprehension scores in reading, is provided




98             ABILITY GROUPING
with a scale for converting these scores into age. A comprehensive test like the Stanford Achievement Test is excellent, though rather long. The authors have long felt
that a test for general reading power should be included
as a check on the test used, particularly when there is
a wide discrepancy between the rate age and the comprehension age of the individual. The Thorndike McCall Reading Scale, or any similar test composed of units
of progressive difficulty, would serve the purpose.
School Success.
The rank-in-class item that appears at the top of the card
(Fig. 6, p. 114) needs no explanation. It should be expressed as a fraction, the numerator representing the
pupil's rank and the denominator showing the number
of pupils in the class. Unless both items are given, a numerical rank has little meaning. A pupil ranking seven in
a class of fourteen, for example, has an average academic
performance to his credit. If he ranks seven in a class of
thirty-five, however, he is doing a distinctly superior type
of work.
Physical Tone.
The general health rating must be determined by the
school physician, who may report the pupil's physical
condition as E (excellent), G (good), F (fair), or P (poor).
This rating is written by the physician in the upper
right hand corner of the chart on the line marked
Health.




DATA AS A BASIS FOR GROUPING


99


Name of School.
In the same section of the card the name of the elementary school which the pupil attended should be recorded: this bit of information is frequently needed long
after the pupils have been placed in their respective groups
in the junior high school.
ADMINISTRATIVE PLAN OF OBTAINING AND RECORDING
DATA
This seems to be a formidable array of data to be gathered, involving the administering and scoring of numerous
tests and the enlisting of the services of school physician,
nurse, and many classroom teachers. Unless the work is
planned in such a way that the load may be distributed
among a number of interested persons, the task becomes
so heavy that the difficulties apparently outweigh the
benefits of ability grouping. Three methods of obtaining
and recording the data are described in this chapter.
The authors have used each of these methods. While
any one of the three will serve, the first is recommended.
The cooperation of the elementary school principals and
teachers was enlisted to get the testing done in the elementary schools. They were quite willing to assume the
burdens that accompanied the administering and scoring
of the tests and the recording of the results, for their interest in their own pupils made them wish to know as much
about them as possible. They agreed to give the intelligence examination and the arithmetic and reading tests,
and to furnish the usual data regarding health, denti-,
~'.a^ '




100            ABILITY GROUPING
tion age, and rank-in-class. They further agreed to record all the data on the diagnosis chart and to send the
charts back to the junior high school before the beginning
of the new term. In this way the charts could be completed immediately and the classification completed before
the pupils entered the new school. On p. 102 there is a
sample of the direction sheet which is sent to the elementary school with the blank diagnosis charts.
Under the second plan a visiting day was arranged for
all sixth-grade pupils who were about to enter the junior
high school. In order to avoid congestion and unnecessary confusion, each contributing elementary school was
assigned a different day upon which to visit. At some
time during the day, the visitors were called together in a
large classroom and there were given the intelligence
test. In another period they took arithmetic and reading
tests. The booklets were later scored by the faculty of the
junior high school, and the records held until the other
information was received from the elementary school. The
children were examined in the elementary schools by the
school physician and nurse, who recorded the dentition
age and general physical condition. After the pupils had
formally entered the junior high school, they were measured for height, and weighed. The elementary schools
sent lists which showed these items for each pupil: name,
chronological age, rank-in-class, dentition age, social age,
and physical condition. The work of recording the data
and making the chart for each pupil was done entirely
in the junior high school. The disadvantages of this




DATA AS A BASIS FOR GROUPING


101


method can be seen at a glance. In the first place, one
may question whether a child can do himself justice in a
general intelligence examination if it is given to him when
he finds himself in such an unusual setting. He is in a new
environment; he is surrounded by strangers, except for the
pupils in his own class. Because he is adventuring in a
new and a very different setting, he is having some of the
emotional experiences of an explorer in a strange land who
is outwardly courageous and elated but inwardly just a
bit lonely and forlorn. There is the possibility, of course,
that the examination may have been administered by an
expert in the junior high school, and that the scoring may
have been done more accurately by persons who did not
know any of the pupils. Another disadvantage of the plan
just described was that the data were obtained partly in
the junior high school when the pupils visited there, in
the elementary school, and finally in the junior high school
after the pupils had entered. This not only complicated
matters, but delayed the completion of the diagnosis
charts and the subsequent classification of the pupils.
Another method tried by the authors was one in which
all of the tests were given in the elementary schools.
Teachers, trained in the giving of tests, were sent from
the junior high school to administer the tests and to bring
them back to be scored by the junior high school faculty.
While this plan had the advantage of permitting the pupils to take their tests in familiar surroundings, it vastly
increased the importance of the tests in the estimation
of the pupils. The result was that some of the children be



102


ABILITY GROUPING


DIRECTIONS FOR RECORDING DATA ON DIAGNOSIS
CHARTS
Items to be entered at top of card
NAME...........Write last name first.
SEX............Print the letter M or F on line.
ADVISER......... Leave space blank.
SCHOOL.........Write the name of the elementary school.
HEALTH.........Use E, G, F, or P. This rating is obtained
from the family physician.
I. Q.............Divide mental age derived from intelligence
test by chronological age at time test was
taken.
TEST............Write name and form of intelligence test used.
RANK..........  Write a fraction to indicate the pupil's rank
in class and the number of pupils enrolled.
It is better to rank each class separately
than to rank two or three classes in the
same school as a unit.
Items to be entered in Section L
DATE...........Give year and month when intelligence test
was made.
INTELLIGENCE.... Give raw score and mental age in years and
months, e. g., 13:5.
CHRONOLOGICAL.... Give chronological age in years and months,
e. g., 14:2. This should be the age of pupil
at the time intelligence test was taken.
DENTITION.......Give dentition age in years and months, e. g.,
12:6.
HEIGH T.........Record height in inches and quarter inches.
WEIGHT.........Record weight in pounds and quarter pounds.
SOCIAL......... Give an approximate social age in years.
ARITH. FUND.....Record score made on arithmetic test.
READING DATE.... Record rate score made on reading test.
READING COMP...Record comprehension score on reading test.
No items are to be entered in Section R by the elementary school




DATA AS A BASIS FOR GROUPING           103
came exceedingly nervous over them. One idea that became prevalent among the children was that the test results would determine whether they were to be promoted
to the junior high school; another was that it was safer to
miss the tests than to make a poor showing; this idea
occasionally resulted in a pupil's remaining away from
school when the tests were to be given.
One of the strongest arguments that may be advanced
in favor of the first method of obtaining the data is that a
fine spirit of cooperation between the junior high and
elementary schools develops which makes possible a high
degree of articulation. The elementary teachers feel that
they have a voice in the placement of their pupils in the
junior high school; the junior high school teachers feel
that they need the advice and assistance of the elementary teachers in getting the new pupils established to
the best advantage. This is as it should be. Then,
too, the data are more reliable; the tests are administered to the pupils in familiar surroundings and under
normal conditions, while all other information is given
by teachers who have a keen personal interest in the
pupils.
SUMMARY
Many types of data are needed for the formation of
ability groups, since various kinds of maturity have bearing upon the pupil's ability to do the work that will be
required of him in the junior high school. Sex, height,
weight, IQ, and social age will indicate his inclinations
and interests and should be considered in the placement of




104            ABILITY GROUPING
the pupil. On the other hand, the physical development
as shown by the dentition age, relation of weight to
height, and state of general health, must influence the
schoolman in deciding upon the weight of the educational
burden an individual can profitably carry. Finally, the
educational status of the pupil when he enters the junior
high school is revealed by an inspection of such items as
the IQ, rank-in-class, arithmetic fundamentals, and reading rate and comprehension ages.
A variety of schemes for obtaining the data has been
used by the authors, but the plan recommended here involves the cooperation of the elementary and junior high
schools. Under this plan the elementary schools furnish
all of the information that is available about a pupil before he enters the junior high school, while the faculty of
the higher institution uses the data to make the necessary
diagnosis charts and to determine the classification of
each pupil, basing the decision wholly upon the data received from the elementary school.




CHAPTER VIII


GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF DATA
In Chapter VII the data to be used as a basis for
grouping have been described and a method of obtaining
them with the cooperation of the contributing schools
has been suggested. The next step will be to use the data
in the making of a profile chart for each individual
pupil. This chart will reveal almost at a glance the pupil's general characteristics, his individual peculiarities
in certain respects, and his past performance as compared
with the achievement of the other member of his group in
the elementary school.
The Diagnosis Chart.
A pictorial representation is really a necessity when
several different factors are to be taken into consideration in grouping pupils. A composite score that includes
a variety of different elements is not satisfactory because
it is a fixed value that disregards wholly the element of
flexibility which is so important in the measurement of
human beings. There is a significant interrelationship
between the various factors that have been measured for
the individual whose profile is about to be charted. It
cannot readily be converted into one numerical score
that will truly represent him in relation to his fellow be105




106


ABILITY GROUPING


ings of the same grade without destroying the individuality that is his alone. The diagnosis chart that is illustrated in Fig. 6 is a synthetic picture of an individual
pupil. True, it does not show eyes, ears, nose, wearing
apparel, and so on, but it does give a very good picture
of the pupil in terms of those phases of development that
are significant for purposes of grouping.
The diagnosis chart is arranged in two parts. (See
Fig. 6.) The items at the left, together with the information at the top of the card, are furnished by the
elementary school from which the pupil comes. The reduction of the items to ages is done in the junior high
school according to the method described in Chapter VII.  The ages are then recorded in the second
column in section L at the left.  The section at the
right (R) is arranged to permit the graphical representation of the data at the left. This part of the work is
done in the junior high school in accordance with a plan
described in detail in the second part of this chapter.
Two graphs are drawn: one representing the individual
pupil, the other showing certain norms by means of
which the pupil's performance is to be evaluated. In
the accompanying illustration the continuous line indicates the pupil's record, and the dotted line connects
the norms that form the background of the profile. For
practical reasons it is better to use two leads of different
colors, preferably black and red.
As indicated above, the stage that a child has reached
in any phase of development, as, for instance, social, is




GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF DATA 107
expressed numerically as "age." This age is represented
graphically by placing a dot at the proper level on the
social age column of the graph. For instance, if the social age is sixteen, the dot should be placed at the intersection of the social age column and the sixteen-year
horizontal line.
The Profiles.
In Fig. 6 the continuous line profile affords the following information: the pupil's mental age, shown on the
first vertical line from the left, is 14 years, 8 months; his
chronological age, shown on the second vertical line, is
10 years, 6 months; his dentition age, on the third line,
is 11 years; his height is 13 years, and so on.
The dotted profile in Fig. 6 is a basis for evaluating the
pupil's own profile. It is simply a broken line connecting
the various norm points. For instance, the indicated
norm for chronological, dentition, height, weight, and
social ages is 10 years, 6 months. The norm for mental
age is 12 years, 4 months; for arithmetic fundamentals is
14 years; for reading rate 13 years; and for comprehension 13 years, 6 months.
The norm recommended for mental age is the average mental age of the elementary school class from
which the pupil comes. For the next four items the norm
is the pupil's own chronological age.
Norms for arithmetic and reading ages may be obtained in either of two ways. One may use as the norm
simply the average performance of the elementary school




108            ABILITY GROUPING
class; or the standard for the middle-seventh grade may
be taken.
The class average is suggested as the norm for mental
age because it indicates the type of group with which
the child has been working, and, taken with the pupil's
own mental age, shows his position in the group. That
there are valid objections to this use of the average cannot be denied. The chief defense for it in the minds of
the authors is that in their experience the average has
served better than any other norm.
For dentition, height, weight, and social ages the proper
norm is the pupil's own chronological age, since the real
question here is whether development in these directions
has been as rapid as that of the typical child.
For school skills the average as a norm helps to indicate whether the pupil has been one of the leaders: the
middle-seventh grade standard as a norm makes it possible to determine whether he is a half year ahead in
these abilities. If he is to be a candidate for a fast-moving
group, it is essential that he have a margin of safety in
fundamental skills. Where local conditions bring about
an inequality of emphasis upon the various fundamental
skills, making the established standards unfair, the class
average is the next best basis for evaluating the individual pupil's performance. The authors have used
the class average with satisfactory results.
For the averages mentioned above it is advised that
the arithmetical mean rather than the median be used.
It will be found easier to compute in this case.




GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF DATA 109
It will be noted that ages using the same type of norm
are for convenience grouped together on the chart. The
mental and chronological age columns are placed side by
side, since the slope of the gradient connecting the two
indicates at a glance the relationship between them.
If the manner of use of the chart has been made clear,
we may next attack the problem of a workable scheme
for getting the charts made.
Planning Necessary.
The mechanical difficulties involved in converting a
large mass of data into an intelligible graphical representation are so great as to deter many a school administrator from undertaking a program of grouping, even
though he be thoroughly in accord with the philosophy
underlying it. The authors have experimented with a
variety of plans for making the graphs and have reached
the conclusion that the method here described can be
recommended for a number of reasons. It is a practical way of getting a troublesome task done, for the work
is so distributed that no one person, or small group of
persons, bears the brunt of it. It is economical of time
and effort because the work can be completed in the
time required for three faculty meetings. The plan calls
for the cooperation of the entire faculty, another factor
that makes it desirable. The pupils that are being organized into homogeneous groups will be taught later by
the teachers who have had a hand in the charting of
their profiles. Certain objections to ability grouping are




110


ABILITY GROUPING


disposed of when the method of grouping is well understood by those who will have to teach the pupils in A, B,
or C groups. Participation in the work creates an interest
in it on the part of the teachers that results in an understanding of the philosophy of grouping and manifests itself
ultimately in a finer skill in teaching pupils so grouped.
Suggested Plan.
For the purpose of making the discussion concrete, let
us assume an incoming class of 400 pupils from five contributing schools. The diagnosis charts containing the
data described in Chapter VIII have been sent to
the junior high school. The principal of the school appoints five members of his faculty who have had some
experience in statistical work, or, lacking this, are at
least accurate with figures, to act as chairmen in charge
of the work. Each chairman is given the responsibility
of completing the profile graphs for one of the contributing schools. The faculty is divided into five groups, each
group being assigned to a chairman. In a school of
1600 there would be a faculty of possibly forty-five members, or nine in each group. This means that each person will handle approximately twenty cards, on one-half
of which he will do the work himself, while on the other
half he will check the work that has been done by some
other member of the group.
First Meeting.
The principal must select his chairmen and provide all
necessary materials in advance of the faculty meeting at




GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF DATA 111
which he intends to begin the task of making the profile
charts. The chairmen should be provided with enough
copies of all the age norms that every member of his
committee may be supplied with a set. He will need
tables of age norms for converting these scores to ages:
height, weight, arithmetic fundamentals, reading rate,
and reading comprehension. As soon as the principal
has made the necessary announcements and the chairmen
have received their materials, the groups repair to separate rooms and the work begins. Each item should be
disposed of for all cards, before proceeding to the next
item. To eliminate mistakes as far as possible, it is
important that all of the work be carefully checked. As
soon as one set of age norms has been recorded, therefore, the cards should be redistributed and the norms
checked over carefully. Some may find it advantageous
to work in pairs. The next step will be to find the class
averages, where such are needed. This part of the work
will be an excellent exercise for children in mathematics
classes. Where an adding machine is available a saving
of time can be effected by its use. (See Fig. 4.)
Second Meeting.
When the committees meet for the second time, the
pupil's ages should be entered on the chart and his profile completed by a continuous line. Since the scores have
already been converted into ages at the first meeting, the
making of the individual graphs will not prove an onerous
task. When this has been done the work should again




112            ABILITY GROUPING
be carefully checked. Unless meticulous care is exercised in placing the dot for chronological age, the entire
dotted line graph, which is to be drawn later, will be
out of position. It may be correct in form, that is, every
point in proper relation to every other point, and yet
D/AoGNOJIS    CHART


Adviser
School
Heonlth:  E


Pupil: Bett      Stommn.  Sex:F


I   /3. T. st' Terrm
PRr,^ 7 — In- I-]^ 


Jte_-/ a-   0     ') 0a
Item 
Daote -laWa  _
Intelligence 85  __
Chronologicl -_6__
Dentitmon.-o 
ifeipht     60  _
YYer  t    /16
50Ci        _
Arith Fund. 2l5 zS/_
Readin. Rate I8/I 
Readln Comrpl 7p /77
Readin Poter_       
FIG. 4.-Stage of




n (B)
_.  _.  - _  -......... --      = = -===l --- 
1Q-  - -   - - - - - - - - - -,,...,~;_.....
_...._c _._
'8!...-.
/- l




chart at end of first committee meeting.


be worthless because it has been placed too high or too
low upon the chart. (See Fig. 5.)
Third Meeting.
At the third meeting of the committees the norm profile may be drawn. It should be remembered that chronological age is to be used as the norm for dentition, height,




GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF DATA            113
weight, and social ages. The same system of checking the
work should be followed as before. (See Fig. 6.)
In order to make the graphs as free from error as possible, the chairman should make one final recheck himself
when the charts have been completed. He can do this by
DIAGNOSIS     CHART
Ad vwser,School
Ppl-: Betty -Starm.  Sex ": F.ea th   E
\./3. Test: BTermoan           _ 
Ion7k-irn-ci o.s '4o...     -.i "  - n


I
j
j?
f
/1
t}


)te-ftloy 26 
Intel11ience 85/8:hronolo ical _   - _
Pentltion  _ I1:
ei Sht     60 13: 
yyeight    /L6/
Social It:
Qrtth, Fund. z251 I?eadrn. Rate 181 14_
aeodlnA Comp /7?6.
eadlhn Po-er


I   " _      ' r m:-" I A.  1 7  I II --
_   I. — __     — I
_ == ==......==.=.=.
_= _ ___/ 


FIG. 5.-Stage of chart at end of second committee meeting.
selecting every fifth card from the pack and going over it
carefully to see if he can find any mistakes. Should he
find no serious errors, it will be safe for him to assume that
the profiles are as nearly perfect as it is necessary for them
to be.
SUMMARY
In the first part of this chapter the diagnosis chart which
is used in the organization of ability groups is described;




114            ABILITY GROUPING
the rest of the chapter is devoted to a detailed description
of a plan for the making of the profiles with a minimum
expenditure of time and effort.
DiAGNOS0S    CHARPT'
Adviser


Pupl. Betty Sfamm. Sec: F,Health: E


10130     Test: Terman (B)


Rank-rn-class  %' o
0    V
Item       ^ 
Date-Moa'26_
nhtell ence 5518 
Chronological  6 
Dentition  _    _ o
ne h t     60/3.
'Weilht.   S6 tSO_ 
5ocial     _   0 = o
an' rund   25 Z  _.
eaqdif Rate 16I 44__
readia Cotm 17 76
J     Iedtind PoWre=r


iL
/7\ ' _,, e____
I1 i = I. I' = = 
-r=-= = =-===O_,-==    ==,,^.z.'z 'z -   - - 


FIG. 6.-Stage of chart at end of third committee meeting. Card
ready for use.


OUTLINE OF PLAN
1. Selection of chairmen.
2. Appointment of committees.
3. First meeting of committees.
a. Scores converted into ages.
b. Ages recorded.
c. Work checked.
4. Arithmetical means found.




GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF DATA 115
5. Second meeting of committees.
a. Pupil's age score in each item spotted on chart.
b. Continuous line graph drawn.
c. Work checked.
6. Third meeting of committees.
a. Dentition, height, weight, and social age norm
spotted on chart.
b. Norms for other items spotted on chart.
c. Dotted line graph drawn.
d. Work checked.
DIAGNOSIS5 CHART
Adviser


School


Pagib:geore Jily-j
f10 160. Test: Termnw
Rank-in-clas )Y1?


'ex


ex:N      flea lth   G


1
~1


item
)ate -MAly T6 -
Intelli.jefce 156 1/7,hronodiokcal - ia -
Pentitwon    -     - 
Neu.5 If9 - 
5Social         110
qtith. Fund 27 VJ1    -
ik odinA ice~
%gdin.r~ Comp 2 I VO __?eadiol. Povner_


~~~. C~~~~J
rw ~ ~ ~ ~ i 




FIG. 7.-Diagnosis chart of very superior A pupil.




CHAPTER IX


SUGGESTED GROUP ORGANIZATION
Before actually dividing the pupils into sections it is
vital that we have a definite conception of the groups
themselves-their characteristics as classes, and their
differences, group from group.
In preceding chapters it has been pointed out that the
development and general use of the intelligence tests have
carried the educational world through a cycle of moods.
First there was a decided skepticism with regard to the
validity of a forty-minute examination as a revealer of
mental capacity; next, an elation at the thought of the
acquisition of a measuring instrument so far-reaching and
so economical of the measurer's time and energy; and,
more recently, a depression because of the disconcerting
failure of children in general to attune their school performances to the intelligence-test prediction with any
great degree of consistency. In the period of elation some
schools classified the children within the grade according
to Index of Brightness, Mental Age, Intelligence Quotient,
or what not, ignoring other and more familiar data. Some
went so far as to regrade the entire elementary school on
the basis of intelligence scores, erasing the lines of performance promotion and transplanting children from the
116




SUGGESTED GROUP ORGANIZATION


117


fourth grade to the sixth and from the sixth to the fourth
with a sublime faith in the new-found instrument.
Recapitulation.
It is well, then, in approaching the problem of grouping,
not to confuse achievement level with capacity for school
work. It is well to keep firm hold on the fact that intelligence-test homogeneity is neither that of achievement
level already reached, nor that of probable eventual
achievement level. It is rather one of degree of power to
carry on abstract thinking, as pointed out in Chapter VI.
Hence it is prominently a homogeneity in mode of thought,
mode of dealing with problems, capacity for handling
problems in the abstract.
The importance of this kind of inter-resemblance among
the members of a class is evident. If the class is to work
as a class; if the explanations of the teacher are to be
suited to the manner of thought of all the children; if the.
classroom procedure is to be at once intelligible and
stimulating to all the pupils; then a fairly uniform capacity for abstract thought is a greater asset than uniformity in ability to add or spell or read. This mental
trait will determine the amount of concrete material
needed to make an idea clear, the extent to which general
rules may be used in preference to mere analogy, the
depths in grammar to which it is profitable to go. In
short, the IQ may be made the pivotal factor in
grouping.
On the other hand, the importance of other phases of




118            ABILITY GROUPING
maturity has been shown; all the various "ages" condition success in school. The effect of varying degrees of
development in these several directions becomes evident
when the work is planned in such a way as to induce every
pupil to extend himself to his limit. If, for instance, the
DIAGNOSIS CHART
Adviser
School
Pu pi: Tom Jones  5ex:M A   Health: E_.
I.Q /42 Test: Terman (B)__________




Rank-in-class 4"o
rh  0    o  I r!temu     9^ o 
Date-Moay?      _  -
Intellgence 3015.9
Chronoloilcal_ 11
Dentition    /1:6
1ieight    571/1:6
reitht     79 1:3  _
Social.    40
lRrith Fund  30t55
Reodine Rate 009<0
Readint Comp 17 76
Readin$ Poerr   _


1 --- — -     I-  - -.  - _ _6 --- _-  — _
===....===.: ___,,,=- _= =_,__=v___


FIG. 8.-Diagnosis chart of typical A pupil.
attempt is made to accelerate the pupils of a bright
group-to take them through three years' work in two
years, perhaps-the value of general maturity is seen.
A greater chronological age means a longer previous experience, a broader background upon which to interpret
the work of the hour. Pedagogical age shows especially
the level which the pupil has reached in the matter of




SUGGESTED GROUP ORGANIZATION            119
fundamental skills. In an accelerated program there is
little time to develop these; they must be adequate before such a program is begun. Anatomical age, indicating
as it does the degree of maturity which the physical body
has reached, is one index of the fitness of the pupil to
undertake the greater physical strain of the accelerated
program. The fact that, after all, the brain and, indeed,
the entire nervous system, are physical organs should
interest the administrator in questions of physical development. Social age bears upon the mooted question as
to whether the accelerate will be a misfit in the senior
high school. It has been the habit of those opposing
acceleration to assume that chronological age determines
the individual's status among his fellows. That analysis
of the growing child which focuses in turn upon these
several kinds of development, and invests social maturity
with a modicum of independence of time-age, bids the
teacher observe the social age directly rather than assume
it or deduce it from length of life to date.
Two items whose importance for grouping has been
pointed out are: rank in class, and condition of health.
The former, if skillfully estimated, is a thumb-nail sketch
of the child's recent academic history; it goes beyond
questions of capacity, training, environment, character,
health, luck, and circumstances of all sorts, and epitomizes
his actual performance by comparing him with his fellows. Health is another index of the fitness of the physique to undertake an extraordinary task. The anatomical
age referred to above is an index of the extent to which




120


ABILITY GROUPING


the physical machine has approached completion; state
of health is the degree of efficiency with which it does its
work and the state of repair in which its parts are found.
Bases for Grouping.
Grouping for school work, then, may well be based
largely upon the intelligence quotient, so long as the
pupils concerned are at about the same stage of academic
advancement. Degree of general maturity, past performance, and health must be considerations; and especially where acceleration is planned are all-round development and efficiency essentials. The members of a
group so formed will differ widely in fundamental skills,
in home environment, in character, in fund of information.
But these differences are more than compensated by a considerable degree of uniformity in capacity for abstract
thought, in modus operandi when confronted by school
problems.
The Procedure.
In order that in the following paragraphs definite
suggestions may be made as to the organization of pupils
into groups, the 400 pupils of Chapter VIII will be used
as a basis of discussion. They are equally divided as
to sex. It is assumed that the pupil-teacher ratio required by the administration of the school system calls
for a division of this incoming class into ten groups; and
that it is the policy of the school to send pupils through
the curriculum as rapidly as seems to be consistent with
their best interests.




SUGGESTED GROUP ORGANIZATION           121
The "A" Group.
It has been the experience of the authors that in a
group of this size thirty or forty pupils can be found who
are superior and generally mature. If such pupils are
hand-picked, according to a plan similar to that described
in a succeeding chapter, and grouped for instruction, a
D/AGNOSIS     CHART
Adviser
School
Pupil; John Simpson  Scx:MI.  t lIealth:/  G
\i.   29. Test: erman (i)
Poank-in class5  ll94        I: 


Dote-flay '26
Intell!ence.151 __
Chronolo icatl  1.8
Dentition  2_  o
ele i t     9    _._
Yei.ht   B88i5.z,
Social        zc2
rith. fund. 20114
Readinj Rote z9 / _ _
Peadin Comn /6 6.6
Readin Porrer __.._._. _._._..;i r.?if   -i  s 
_4   — WNJ   n"';; 5 9 1 1?r


-    -, —  -...
_ --- —-1 ---^. --- —--- --
/X
-8  - _
_ A __ __ _X...._/___..-    _  _ --- - -- - -- - -- - - --


I: 1 i: I


- —


FIG. 9.-Diagnosis chart of Top B pupil. Low rank and low arithmetical age exclude John from the A group.
definite and distinctive group-personality will impress itself upon the teachers who handle its various subjects.
The children seem "older"; if one can bring himself for
the moment to disregard matters of stature and pitch of
voice, he will get the impression of listening to a group of




122            ABILITY GROUPING
adults. The children are less volatile, better poised, more
deliberate in procedure; they make fewer mistakes.
This A group can do the work of the seventh, eighth, and
ninth grades in two years. The authors have observed
pupils who followed such a program and who, later
in the senior high school, not only held their places but
won highest honors in competition with pupils for whom no
deliberate acceleration had been provided.1 Such pupils
often earn better marks in the senior high school, where
homogeneous grouping is not practiced, than in the
junior high school. This is a result of their continuing in
the upper school the hot pace developed through the
competition within the A group.
Sometimes it is not possible to bring the membership of
this group up to the required average number, there not
being enough who reach the standards of admission. In
such a case it should be remembered that from the standpoint of cost of instruction it would not be unjust to the
others to keep this group at two-thirds of the average
membership of ten unaccelerated groups. These children remain in the school but two years, so that their
demands upon the time, and hence expenditures, of the
school are but two-thirds of the average.  The percapita cost of their instruction in the smaller group is
three-halves of the allowance per annum. But the number of years through which their expense to the school
continues is only two-thirds of the allowance; the total
cost therefore is no greater. On the other hand, if enough
1 See Chapter XIII.




SUGGESTED GROUP ORGANIZATION


123


pupils can be found of the sort who belong in such a group,
the membership can be brought to forty-five or even
fifty without impairing the efficiency of the instruction.
Segregated "C" Groups.
Turning our attention now to the other end of the
intelligence scale, we find children many of whom are
in early or even later adolescence. They are older chronologically than the other members of the incoming class,
and often socially quite mature. In a group of 400
there may be from 60 to 100 of this type. Their
school work to date has been the source of discomfort and perhaps despair to themselves and of anxiety
to their parents. Their school citizenship has not been of
the best. Not having found satisfaction in school work,
they incline in their contemplation of school practice to a
political frame of mind bordering on "Pink" or even
"Red." Their efforts to achieve fame along legitimate
lines having been handicapped by natural limitations,
they occasionally direct the limelight to their side of the
stage by means which experience has shown to be universally effective-by assuming the role of General
Nuisance, if the gentlemen of the military will pardon
the pun and the liberty.
Experience has shown the wisdom of segregating these
older, slower, physiologically more mature children as to
sex. To begin with, they have reached a point in life
where Nature bids them look upon each other and does
not fail to reward their attention. In case of weakness




124            ABILITY GROUPING
of character, immorality is more likely among this type
than among others of the junior high school. On any
level of character there is greatly increased tendency to
turn aside from the impersonal, less absorbing, and none
too lucid classroom matter. Then, a priori, the child of
DIA NO SIS    CHART.A dviser
School
Ppit: Ada Brorrn  Sex: F        Health. Ef.10 9Z.  Test. Termon ()
Rank-in-class  7  l. [  L.a l  f; I


(
f


0    0
ftem       V ).
gate- a 'z26
'ntellrence Z5 1O.0
1hronotoStl  _.__
Dentitton    2o
1(ei ht   61J/18  -
Me tht 1.9 _ 3
Social       IZ:=_
Qrith. Fund. 30 15 
eadin~ Rate 13 9.0
eaodin Comp 8 96
eaodin. Power.....,


e =  X -  Z -,
4c0. 9;i -G S?% fR --  o?!


*r  9~~~~~~~~~

-


FIG. 10.-Diagnosis chart of member of segregated C group.
Note extreme physical development, high arithmetical fundamentals
age, and very low reading age.
low IQ is, as a type, less appreciative than his brighter
classmate of the finer things which civilization has to
offer. The higher levels of literature, art, music, and
social relationship, to be reached through the maze of the
abstract, are dim, undiscernible, incomprehensible, or
even fictitious to the dull child. He is like his brighter




SUGGESTED GROUP ORGANIZATION


125


brother in his ceaseless search for satisfactions, but
differs from him in that his own horizon presents fewer
sources of enjoyment, especially of the better kind. It
is natural that he should be led more frequently and more
persistently in the direction of simple, natural, or even
fleshly tendencies. All in all, he faces a much more serious
problem of voluntary attention in the presence of the
opposite sex than does his more academic-minded fellow.
If the academic part of his school day be spent among
his own sex, the pull of the counter-attraction is reduced to
a minimum for that period; for in this, as in any kind of
thinking, his mental content is greatly dependent upon
current sensations. He is little able or inclined to dwell
upon things remote.
Sex differences in maturity operate here to create a lack
of homogeneity for school purposes. Physiologically and
socially the girls are about two years ahead of the boys.
They are better poised, and more self-possessed, and more
docile. There are marked differences in taste and inclination. The boys take to rough play, excitement, and
adventure; the girls are often domestically inclined,
sentimental, and altruistic, with a sincere liking for such
occupations as social service work.
All these considerations argue for segregation of pupils
of this slow type, sex from sex. The authors have found
that the inauguration of this plan is followed by reduction in school problems of social behavior. It is indeed
true, however, that these pupils must be constantly learning to live in a mixed society. The nonacademic activities




126


ABILITY GROUPING


of the school must be relied upon to furnish the opportunity for such lessons, and must be arranged with such
a purpose in view.
"Top B" Group.
In addition to these three groups there is a fourth
which is distinctive enough to deserve special mention.
After the children for the A group have been selected
from the upper end of the scale of intelligence, there remain a similar number of very bright youngsters; among
them may possibly be found the child who shows the highest IQ of all the 400; certainly many of the very
highest will not be chosen for the A group. While they
have the mental capacity to make them eligible, they
have been rejected because of immaturity in other directions. These naturally fall into a group which may be
called the Top B. They are keen, quick, immature in
many ways, and a trifle erratic. They will lead the A
group a merry chase when it comes to comprehending and
absorbing book knowledge.
There is much to argue that these Top B pupils could
do the academic work in two years almost as easily
as the A. Their social youthfulness, their instability,
their lack of poise, and the various phases of immaturity
which have excluded them from the A group make it
seem best for them to remain a half year longer in the
junior high school. In this way they may have continued
personal guidance and a longer period of time for natural
maturing before entering the senior high school.




SUGGESTED GROUP ORGANIZATION


127


Characteristics of "A" and "Top B" Groups.
From time to time the authors have placed such a
pair of A and Top B groups under the instruction of the
same set of teachers, in order to give opportunity for
comparison of the two types. Some comments from those
teachers 1 will be of interest here:
In behavior and achievement the two groups show marked
differences. The A group is characterized by more matured
habits. The pupils are quieter, more attentive, and more regular in their habits of study. The pupils in the B group are more
restless, more playful, and more impulsive. At first the pupils
in the A group gave little evidence of initiative or enthusiasm
in their reactions toward participation in either group or school
activities. The B group seemed ready to enter with spirit into
everything. It took some time to awaken the pupils in the A
group "from the even tenor of their way." Their auditorium
session settled that problem. That activity, in which they all
took part, brought out their resourcefulness and their initiative
and developed a fine group spirit.
You will remember that my first meeting with the A and B
groups took place after the group organization had been in operation a week. My impression at that first meeting was that
the pupils in the A group were older than the other pupils by a
year or more. This impression has not grown weaker after
seven weeks of contact with the children. Another impression
of the first day was that the B group would prove the more
troublesome but by far the more attractive of the two. Time has
shown the latter part of that opinion to be entirely groundless,
for, while my "babbling brooks" have not lost in attractiveness,
on better acquaintance the "still waters" of the other group
have shown quite as much of the quality. The pupils in the A
1 Ella Colfer, Alice Connors, Philipine Crecelius, Carrie MarkhamBlewett Intermediate School, St. Louis.




128


ABILITY GROUPING


group are bright and studious; the pupils in the B group are
bright but inattentive and superficial; the former are cautious;
the latter are heedless.
The A group shows a degree of maturity which is almost uncanny for children as young as these. At first I felt that this
classification was a mistake, for it kept the pupils from coming
into contact with the more playful, volatile youngsters and resulted in a group whose dignified bearing almost overawed me.
However, they have come to life recently. While they have
passed the stage where childish tricks and toys amuse them,
they get a great deal of fun out of a more intellectual type of
play. In science they arrive at the principle involved with
little difficulty and are able to apply it to other cases. The B
group, on the other hand, is not at all easy to teach. The children are lively, restless, and young.
I have found the A group to have a greater degree of poise and
dignity than the B group. The pupils in the B group seem to be
much more immature and rather inclined to be flighty. There
are, however, two notable exceptions in the latter class. I
have been able to cover more ground and to secure much better
and more lasting results with the A group than with the B
group. The pupils in the A group have grasped the geometry
much more readily, and they seem to enjoy all of the work
much more than the pupils in the B group. They are more reliable in the matter of bringing their tools to class. The pupils
in the B group frequently forget their compasses, rulers, etc.
There is one boy in the A group who does not measure up to
the standard set by the others.1
Mixed "C" Groups.
In a class of the number assumed for the purposes of
this chapter, it is recommended that two other C groups
1 Reprinted by permission from the School Review, Vol. XXIV, pp.
50-53.




SUGGESTED GROUP ORGANIZATION            129
be formed to proceed at the normal rate. These need
not be segregated as to sex.
"B" Groups.
We now have described six groups-an A, a Top B,
two segregated C's, and two mixed C's. There remain
about two-fifths of the incoming class, ranging in IQ
from about 100 to 114, inclusive. The range of mental
ability within this middle section is relatively small.
These children may be organized into four B groups on
the basis of IQ, an occasional exceptional case being
handled individually as described in a succeeding chapter.
In general these children are enough alike that significant errors in grouping are not probable; hence fine
discriminations among them upon a statistical basis are
not necessary. Subjective observation will be of greater
value for any needed differentiations.
Figure 11 indicates the IQ distribution of a seventhgrade class of 360 pupils. The group membership is
indicated by shading and hatching.
After classification is complete on the basis of the
plan suggested, the experienced teacher and the experienced administrator will feel that there is something lacking. The question will be raised as to whether
such a plan has exhausted the possibilities of grouping as
a step toward differentiation in instruction. It is the
belief of the authors that, in addition to the above, two
other small groups are needed, which, if formed, may
reduce the number of C groups by one; these may be




130            ABILITY GROUPING
known as the "Rapid Promotion" and the "Adjustment"
groups, respectively.
The "Rapid Promotion" group is for pupils who are
greatly over-age, and whose retardation is greater than
their natural handicaps would seem to explain. In these
50                   -M           A
so
CD ^
II Mied C
w u     ~o -_j I-    B   ~ Sefregoted C
30
70 7 80 85 9 95,S it /0o 10 /S O 225/t O 130 35 /40 15 /a.50 S  60 /65
FIG. 11.-IQ distribution of an actual seventh grade class of
360 pupils, showing primary grouping. Overlapping of B's and
C's caused by rank-in-class factor.
cases illness and unfavorable environment have often
been large factors.
In such a group these children may devote a large
part of their day to the intensive pursuit of the fundamental school skills and the bare abilities upon which later
school work depends. It is usually better that all this
work be done under the tutelage of one teacher, who,
when progress warrants, will recommend each pupil on
his own merits for placement in an advanced section of




SUGGESTED GROUP ORGANIZATION          131
the seventh, eighth, or even ninth grade. In this advanced grade the pupil may stumble more than he
would if he had come to it by the regular and longer
route; but we could not assume that he would ever
get there by such a route.  Indeed, the history of
elimination from school indicates that the chances are
overwhelmingly against persistence on the part of the
greatly retarded pupil. Rather than let things take their
regular course and have the pupil get little or nothing
from the school, it is better to get him into the maturer
classes and into the differentiated courses of the upper
years, and thus lay hold on his interests as tightly as
possible.
The "Adjustment Group" is for pupils of IQ eighty or
less, whose ability to learn by the abstract processes of the
schoolroom is lacking to an extent which makes special
treatment desirable. Where hypothetical arithmetic is
beyond these children, the arithmetic of things which
they can handle is comprehensible and will stick when
learned through handwork. The experience of the authors
has shown that after a year or two of such training some
ninth-grade subject can be found for each of these
children in which he can do average work-shop, cooking,
sewing, art drawing, mechanical drawing, typewriting,
printing, civics and vocations, shop mathematics, and
so on.
SUMMARY
Intelligence-test homogeneity is, from one point of
view, homogeneity in mode of learning.




132            ABILITY GROUPING
The intelligence quotient may well be the chief consideration in grouping for classroom work.
Other phases of maturity are important, as well as
health and past academic history, especially when some
groups are to be accelerated.
For an incoming class of 400 the following grouping
has been found by the authors to be practicable:
One A group, to do the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades
in two years.
Five B groups, to finish in two-and-a-half years.
Four C groups, to finish in three years.
The A group should be composed of children of high
IQ, generally mature, of excellent academic history,
and of fair or good health.
The two lower C groups should be composed of the
older, physiologically and socially more mature children of low IQ, and should be segregated as to sex.
The following diagram indicates the grouping:


Upper fifth       I
(approximately) 
Middle two-fifths
(approximately)
Lower two-fifths
(approximately)
"Rapid Promotion" I
"Adjustment" 


A       2 years
Top B 
B        I
B         2H years
B
B
C mixed
C mixed
C girls   3years
C boys
Recruited from C groups.
Individual progress.




CHAPTER X


PROCEDURE IN FORMATION OF GROUPS
We come now to the crux of the question. In Chapter IX
the framework of the grouping scheme was described
and group characteristics were recited.  Our problem at
this point resolves itself into one of recognizing the various group types as we survey the incoming class. Within
two weeks that class will swarm in; we must be ready
to distribute the members into the crannies of the organization in a manner consistent with their best interests
and with the demand for economy of time, money, and
effort. We have before us the statistical portraits of the
youngsters; with this picture gallery we shall make our
classification.
THE " A  GROUP
Candidates.
We first arrange our diagnosis charts in order of IQ,
since this characteristic is to be the predominant factor in
our scheme. Then, in setting out to find the A's, we take
off for inspection all the cards above IQ 114. Of a normally distributed incoming class of average IQ 100, from
20 per cent. to 25 per cent. will attain this level-that is,
from eighty to 100 of our assumed incoming class of 400.
We then proceed to eliminate those cards which show
133




134


ABILITY GROUPING


a dangerously low level in any of the characteristics
measured.
Standards of Past Performances.
Our first move should be to discard those whose past
performance foretells a probable failure to do the academic
work. The chances that future schoolroom success will
closely resemble that of the past are strong enough to
warrant setting a minimum of past achievement for this
purpose. Until many careful experiments have been
carried out, this minimum will necessarily be arbitrarily
determined. It has been the experience of the authors
that unless a pupil has outranked two-thirds of his elementary school class he is a bad risk for an A group in the
junior high school. Here again, certain rule-of-thumb
methods will have to be invoked to interpret such a standard in cases of strong or weak elementary school classes.
Outranking two-thirds of a bright class and attaining a
similar level in a slow class are, naturally, not equivalent
performances. Let us say, then, that all of the lower twothirds in "rank in class" will be eliminated; but let us
make the reservation that any cards which show consistently high levels in all but this one will be laid aside
for future investigation.
Physical Standards.
Among the cards remaining, there will be some belonging to pupils who, from the standpoint of sheer native
capacity and past performance, would seem to belong




PROCEDURE IN FORMATION OF GROUPS 135
to such a group as we are forming, but who, because of
lack of physical tone, should not attempt a supernormal
task. We must therefore throw out those cards upon
which the school physician's P (Poor) appears, and
those on which the weight age is two years lower than the
height age. One's first reaction to this suggestion is to
recall the notable cases of persons who suffered from
physical disabilities and handicaps and yet wrote their
names upon the pages of history through recognized
service to mankind in fields of learning-Steinmetz,
Lincoln, Marquette, Byron, and so on. But this whole
plan is distinctly not a measure to discover all the persons
who will be outstanding; it is a move toward homogeneity
of grouping for a definite and specific purpose. In this
age, as never before, the responsibility of the school for
the health of its charges is proclaimed. In considering
this health factor, the question is not whether the pupil
could succeed in keeping up with the group; it is rather
whether membership in this group would bring him out at
the highest possible level-physically as well as pedagogically. This particular kind of child, bright, but
physically below par, should not only be shielded from
what might harm him physically; he should be given a
course of action which will presumably favor his regaining ground already lost in that direction. Accordingly,
we should place him in a group where the work is well
within his mental powers, to allow for an emphasis in time
and effort upon physical improvement.
A survey of the candidates as to anatomical age is next.




136


ABILITY GROUPING


Probably the most reliable index we have is the dentition
age. Cards on which the dentition age is lower than the
chronological age should be eliminated from the pack.
Where this item is supported by a low height age we can
be fairly sure of our ground. The dilemma appears when
the dentition age is about normal and the height ages low.
Height is affected by inherited factors to an extent which
makes it only a rough and rather dubious index of anatomical age. The same is true of the weight-height index;
while this ratio for large numbers of children shows a definite relation to chronological age, its variation as the result of other factors invalidates its significance for our
purpose at this point. As educational research goes on and
more precise objective measures of physical development
are found, we shall be able to include children in our A
group who are now excluded for the sake of "playing safe."
Social Standards.
Let us now address ourselves to the oft expressed fear
that pupils accelerated in the elementary and junior high
schools will reach the senior high school at so tender an
age as to be misfits there. The parent is anxious for the
school to afford the child the opportunity for the exercise
and development of whatever qualities of leadership he
may have. Will he, during his high school period, be so
immature in appearance, habits, and philosophy that his
fellows will regard him as an infant and refuse to take him
seriously or receive him on their level? To begin with, we
are already considering the matter of bodily development,




PROCEDURE IN FORMATION OF GROUPS 137
as indicated in the previous paragraph. Then, in order
to avoid serious lack of social adjustment, we eliminate
those cards which indicate a social age lower than the
chronological age. Thus we can hope to avoid sending to
the senior high school youngsters who might offend the
teacher of trigonometry by dropping marbles and peg tops
from their pockets at critical moments in class room procedure.
Pedagogical Standards.
Pedagogical age we have attempted to judge by an
analysis of fundamental abilities, using as our barometer
measures of two of the famous "Three R's." It will
occur to some that handwriting might well be included,
being as fundamental to later work as either of the other
two. Without debating the latter point, there is no great
reason for not including all, except that penmanship is
more difficult and less accurate of measurement. Where
there are time and facilities it may easily be added to the
items suggested. Whether one or two or all are taken as
the index, it is reasonable to hold that in an accelerated
program in the junior high school there will be no time for
bringing fundamental skills up to normal; and, more than
that, such equipment will have to be above normal level
from the beginning, in order that the content of the
accelerated course may be accomplished. Therefore we
eliminate those cards which show reading rate, comprehension, or arithmetical fundamentals at a level lower than
that which is normal for the middle of the seventh grade.




138            ABILITY GROUPING
It seems safe to reason that if these skills are one-half
year above the norm at this point they will be, throughout the two-year accelerated course, adequate for the work
of the day. As indicated in Chapter VIII, the class
average may be used as a minimum here instead of the
middle-seventh standard.
The Group.
We now have remaining the cards of the pupils who presumably ought to make up the A group. At least the
presumption is so strong in their favor that we are justified in starting them out upon the intensified program of
acceleration and enrichment deemed appropriate to such
a group. As the work goes on and the teachers come to
know the children and their work, it is possible that some
of the class will be found unsuited to this program. Within
five or six weeks such discoveries are usually made, and
transfers can easily be effected.
How can one know that there are none excluded from
this group who really belong in it? One cannot know
positively; it is certainly true that a careful study should
be made of all cases in which the card shows many of the
qualifications for membership and only one or two deficiencies. There is always a possibility that one or more
of the tests do not properly reflect the pupil's status;
there may have been errors in the administration of the
test; one test is not a perfectly reliable measure. A physical disability may be a temporary one. Mistakes in
judgment and estimation may have occurred at any




PROCEDURE IN FORMATION OF GROUPS 139
point. In peculiar cases it would not be amiss to take
all the items anew; a retest can be made after the new
term has begun, and the results reviewed, before it is too
late for an easy transition from group to group. The
advice of the elementary school principal should be
sought with reference to striking cases. A pupil in another group may stand out in the work of the first few
weeks in such a way as to suggest that he is really one of
the A's; he should be carefully studied with that idea in
mind. A very short or a very slender boy may owe his
peculiarity not to physical immaturity or debility but
to racial, regional, or family characteristics. The possibilities of incorrect or misinterpreted evidence are strong
enough to make it advisable to use every means of study
for conspicuous cases.
After all, it behooves us to take care to see that if we
must make mistakes, they shall be on the safe side; we
had better overlook two or three or five likely candidates than to include one who cannot do the work. We
are learning more and more in this profession that failure
is most fatal to future optimism and future diligence.
It will not hurt a child to start in a B group and
later be transferred to an A; it is harmful in most
cases to place a child where he cannot keep up the pace,
and find it necessary later to "put him down."
THE  TOP B" GROUP
Our A group having been tentatively formed, we now
have remaining, in the pack of cards showing IQ 115




140


ABILITY GROUPING


or above, the cards of pupils who in most cases are in
every sense capable of excellent school work and are
somewhat fixed in the habit of so doing. These will
form the Top B group. If there are too many, the IQ
may well be made the basis of selection. As indicated elsewhere, these children are a peculiarly volatile
set, inclined to act quickly and rapidly and sometimes
inaccurately. They are in the habit of expecting to repeat many of their school processes in order to get them
right. Late entrants of high IQ may be placed in the
Top B group, to be carefully and constantly studied along
with the other members as possible candidates for the
A group.
THE "C"' GROUPS
Segregated Classes.
With two groups established, we turn our searchlight upon the other end of the scale of "intelligence"
and set about selecting our C pupils. Here the groups
should be considerably smaller. We must select twentyfive or thirty boys and as many girls to form two segregated classes. As indicated in Chapter IX, these should be
the ones who customarily grope about in an academic
twilight and who at the same time by reason of natural
and acquired characteristics are in a position to profit by
segregation. As a large group from which to select we
take those of IQ ninety-nine or below. From these we
take the conspicuous cases of social, anatomical, and
chronological maturity, adding less-marked cases until the




PROCEDURE IN FORMATION OF GROUPS 141
quota is reached. The selection obtained by this method
is similar enough to that which would be obtained on the
basis of IQ alone to reduce to a minimum the possibility
of academic incompatibility. As in all grouping, the
constituency of these classes must be subject to revision
by transfer in and out. Some, not at first included, will
later show by their conduct that segregation would be
beneficial.
Mixed Classes.
The pupils whose cards now remain in this lower half
of the IQ scale form the mixed C groups. If there are
enough for two or more groups the IQ may be made the
basis for the division. It is evident that the difference
between a child of IQ 100 and a child of IQ 99 is
small as compared with the probable error of testing.
Hence it would be ridiculous to draw a fine line at this
point on the basis of IQ alone and have those on one side
proceed at a three-year rate and those on the other at
the two-and-a-half-year rate. The distinction between
the upper C and the lower B groups must be made upon
consideration of all those items which indicate degree of
academic success-IQ, achievement ages, rank-in-class.
The proper interpretation of achievement age and rankin-class requires recognition of the fact that from now on
the emphasis upon mechanical skills and other fruits of
repetition and drill becomes less, and the call upon powers
of reflective thinking and problem solving increases. A
child of low IQ, who by dint of docility and industry has




142


ABILITY GROUPING


been able to make a good showing in the acquisition of
the fundamentals, will begin to find the sledding rougher
as problems begin to take a more prominent place in the
day's doings. The bright chap whose cynicism and stubbornness, or wider interests and impatience, have led him
to rebel against repetitions of familiar experiences and
generally to botch his elementary school job may find in
the challenge of a homogeneous group and the diet of
practical applications an inspiration to exertion. He may
cripple along until he brings his fundamentals up to a
serviceable level and thence hold his own. The placing
of each of such cases calls for the consideration of all the
available facts.
ADDITIONAL "B  GROUPS
Finally, of the whole pack there remain the cards
of pupils between IQ's 99 and 115, with a few additions
from above and below. These are grouped upon the basis
of IQ. If we may neglect the error of testing, these pupils
are so much alike in academic capacity that lack of homogeneity is not likely to result from any academic basis of
grouping. These are they whom we regard as "average" children for the junior high school. It is true that
they run above IQ 100, which is nominally the average
for humanity as a whole; but ordinarily in grades seven
to nine we do not have humanity as a whole; the elimination up to this point has brought about a selection which
places the average of the typical junior high group somewhat above IQ 100.




PROCEDURE IN FORMATION OF GROUPS 143


SPECIAL GROUPS
The selection of the two irregular groups, the "Rapid
Promotion" and the "Adjustment," takes place after
the new term has begun. The advisers and classroom
teachers of the new children should be on the lookout
for pupils whose traits correspond to those described in
the previous chapter as characteristic of proper members
of these classes.
THE TENTATIVE NATURE OF GROUPING
The groups as thus formed are characterized by certain types of homogeneity. Running through all of them
there is the thread of homogeneity of capacity for doing
the type of thing which fills the present-day school program. Here and there upon the scale other types of homogeneity are found, where, it is thought, such characteristics
are important. Errors of testing and interpretation are
certain; but the differences in performance expected of
the children are not so great that unfortunate results are
probable. Particularly when it is kept in mind that the
grouping is neither for all time nor even unalterably for
the child's stay in the school, will it be evident that an
original misplacement need not result tragically. If a
child's placement be always open to question, especially
during the earlier weeks of his membership in the school,
the possibility of harm is minimized. It is the firm belief
of the authors that the general scheme offers possibilities for instruction that can be obtained in no other way
under the existing economic restrictions.




144


ABILITY GROUPING


SUMMARY
1. Arrange the diagnosis charts (400) in order of IQ,
highest first.
2. To form the A group:
a. Take off cards of IQ 115 and above (from eighty
to 100 cards).
b. Eliminate from these all whose Rank-in-Class
is below the upper third.
c. Eliminate those marked P in health, and those
on which the weight age is two years below the
height age.
d. Eliminate those whose dentition age is lower than
the chronological age.
e. Eliminate those whose social age is lower than the
chronological age.
f. Eliminate those whose reading rate, comprehension, or arithmetical fundamentals are lower
than the standard for the middle of the seventh
grade.
g. Form tentative A group from remaining cards.
3. Form Top B group from cards eliminated in 2, above,
with additions from the next highest IQ's if needed.
4. Form segregated C groups from cards showing IQ
ninety-nine or lower.,Select conspicuous cases of
social, anatomical, and chronological maturity.
5. Form Mixed C groups from remainder of cards showing IQ ninty-nine or lower, with additions from
others of low IQ if needed.
6. Group remaining cards on basis of IQ. These are B's.




PROCEDURE IN FORMATION OF GROUPS 145
7. Select for the Rapid Promotion Group those conspicuously over-age pupils who have been retarded by
circumstances, lack of ability, or by both.'
8. Select for the Adjustment Group those of lowest IQ
whose school progress is extremely unsatisfactory.'
1 The operations called for in 7 and 8 must be postponed until
after the term has opened and the pupils are under daily observation.




CHAPTER XI


ACCELERATION VERSUS ENRICHMENT
The thesis of this chapter is that acceleration and enrichment for pupils of superior intellectual endowments
take place at the same time; that these are not mutually
exclusive practices. The entire discussion, acrimonious
and otherwise, that has been indulged in concerning this
subject has given excellent illustration of the power of
emotional reaction to retard the search for truth. Introducing this subject into a harmonious gathering of
schoolmen will produce an internal reaction that resembles
in many ways the effect obtained by applying a drop of
concentrated sulphuric acid to a lump of sugar. The
sweetness disappears, a great deal of swelling and puffing
takes place, and much heat is produced. Mention the
subject, and a bitter battle will be waged between those
who favor acceleration and those who feel that enrichment
alone can provide the proper educational diet for bright
pupils. An interesting aspect of the whole question is
that the layman, too, is willing to shoulder arms and get
into the fray. He generally directs his aim at the accelerators, sometimes with telling effect. On many school
questions the layman is noncommittal, but here seems to
be a matter upon which he speaks with firm conviction.
Let us look into both camps to see what the rival claims
146




ACCELERATION VERSUS ENRICHMENT 147
are, and to find out, if we can, what the terms enrichment
and acceleration mean to those who are claiming them as
their own.
ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF ACCELERATION
Time Saving.
"Economy of time is important for pupils of high IQ
from whose ranks will come a majority of the professional
people of the future." Professional preparation requires
from five to eight years of training beyond the secondary
school, not to mention the two or more probationary years
following the training period. Unless the work of the
earlier years has been condensed so that higher education
may begin sooner, many of the pupils who are the most
promising intellectually will be lost to the professions
through pressure of economic necessity. It has been said
that the time is not far distant when the professions will
be open only to the sons and daughters of the wealthy.
Working to Capacity.
"Dawdling over work that is too easy develops bad
mental habits." It has been found that pupils of high
IQ who are compelled to work along slowly with their
intellectual inferiors may actually do poorer work than
their less gifted brethren in the same class. An interesting study  of this problem suggests two things: first,
that bright pupils who have been accelerated do sub1Jones, Vernon A., and McCall, William A., "Application of
Two Techniques in Evaluating Some Policies of Dealing with Bright
Children," T. C. Record, Vol. XXVII, pp. 825-835.




148


ABILITY GROUPING


sequent work not only as well as those who have loafed
along at the usual gait, but better; second, that bright
pupils in segregated classes make greater progress than
equally bright ones in mixed, or nonsegregated classes.
Abundant evidence has been found to show that children
who are permitted to progress at their own best pace do
develop habits of industry and mental alertness.  C. H.
Sackett1 reported that one accelerated class did somewhat
better work after reaching the senior high school than an
unaccelerated group, of slightly higher ability, which entered at the same time from the same school.
ARGUMENTS AGAINST ACCELERATION: AN EVALUATION
Skipping.
" Accelerating a pupil by letting him 'skip' work is a bad
practice, for it leaves gaps in his education which he never
quite closes." Clearly, the assumption is that acceleration
cannot be accomplished without "skipping."
Superficiality.
"Rushing a pupil over the ground as rapidly as possible provides a shallow, incomplete type of education."
Undoubtedly much worth-while material and many desirable activities are likely to be omitted from a program of
education when economy of time becomes the chief consideration. Here, too, there is an assumption that is not
correct, per se. Does acceleration necessarily imply
1"A Study of Students Accelerated in Junior High School,"
Public School Messenger, Vol. XXIV, No. 1, p. 27. St. Louis Public
Schools.




ACCELERATION VERSUS ENRICHMENT          149
"rushing" a pupil over the work? A pupil of high IQ
who is permitted to cover the same ground in a shorter
period than would be possible for his less gifted brothers
is probably crowded no more than is a race horse that is
allowed to run a mile in less time than the majority of
horses would need.
Half-Learning.
"Not enough time can be given to reviews and drills
to enable a pupil to master a subject." In support of this
argument it has been said that many bright pupils who
graduate from high school do not know enough about the
mechanics of English to write a presentable letter, cannot
add a column of figures accurately, and are unacquainted
with the simplest facts of American history. That these
deficiencies are due to the pupil's having been rushed
through the work too rapidly has not been proved. Certain it is that many bright pupils have spent four years in
the study of a foreign language without having attained
a sufficient mastery to speak the language, to read it
easily, or even to translate it with accuracy. The criticism has been made, and with some measure of justice
we must admit, that the four-year commercial courses
are no more effective than the six-months business college
courses. Perhaps the trouble is more deep-seated than it
appears to be. Time is apparently not the only element
involved in the attainment of a degree of proficiency that
may be classed as mastery. Indeed, time may even prove
to be not the most important factor.




150


ABILITY GROUPING


Social Maladjustment.
"The young pupil in high school or college is a social
misfit." This is usually the first argument advanced
against acceleration and the one that is the most firmly
intrenched. There seems to be a disposition to argue from
one or two extreme cases-some misguided youth, for
instance, whose parents and teachers have crowded him
through school with the aid of private instruction, vacation schools, and what not, leaving him little time, and
less inclination, to develop normal social interests. Such a
pupil would be a misfit anywhere. Recent studies 1 have
shown that the social interests of intellectually gifted
pupils are usually in advance of their own chronological
age; or, to state it in another way, social maturity tends to
keep pace with intellectual development rather than with
chronological age. Alltucker2 found little evidence to
support the notion that pedagogically accelerated pupils
were misfits in the senior high school. In a study of 135
cases she found a few misfits. These she explained on the
grounds of personal peculiarities which could have been
discovered in advance and made the basis of exclusion
from the accelerated group. A study 3 reported in The
Triennial Report of Public Schools of Seattle, Washington,
1 Terman, L. M., Intelligence of School Children, Houghton Mifflin
Company, Hollingworth, Leta S., Gifted Children, Their Nature and
Nurture, The Macmillan Company.
2 Alltucker, Margaret, "Is the Pedagogically Accelerated Student
a Misfit in the Senior High School?" School Review, March, 1924,
p. 193.
' McIntosh, Elizabeth, "Are Underage Pupils Misfits in High
Schools?" Report of 1921-1924, p. 108.




ACCELERATION VERSUS ENRICHMENT          151
found no evidence that underage pupils are misfits in
high school. The study indicated that students of less
than average age at graduation from high school tended
to get better grades than did older pupils, and that they
participated in school activities at least as effectively. The
number of cases studied was small.
The plan which this book describes includes means of
estimating social development and of excluding from the
accelerated group the socially retarded.
Precocity.
"Acceleration results in unfortunate precocity." If
by precocity is meant abnormally rapid mental development, modern psychology denies that such a thing is possible. On the other hand, if the term implies priggishness,
or other offensive social attitudes, the answer is that these
must be avoided by training; they are not inevitable.
ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF ENRICHMENT
So much for acceleration. The arguments in favor of
enrichment are easier to find and more plausible, probably
because pedagogues are anxious to give children every
advantage in the way of education. There are no valid
objections to enrichment of the curriculum. From a number of arguments that have been advanced in favor of
enrichment these four are selected because they show the
type of reasoning that is met most frequently and is most
difficult to deal with. When one of these arguments is
presented to the schoolman who thinks that he favors




152            ABILITY GROUPING
acceleration, it strikes him as so plausible that he begins
at once to waver and to wonder whether enrichment is not
the proper course after all.
Added Subjects.
"An enriched curriculum introduces the pupil to many
new subjects for which he may otherwise never find
time." Some of the subjects that have been used for enrichment purposes are biography, banking, literature appreciation, typewriting, printing, aesthetic dancing, public speaking, extensive reading, music, Greek history, history of
civilization, writing of poetry, and the early study of a
foreign language.
Richer Program.
"A full rich experience would not be possible under an
accelerated program."  We find in this argument the
assumption that acceleration would be carried on at such
a rate of speed that there would be time for nothing beyond
the bare essentials in each of the subjects studied.
Time for Development of Fundamentals.
"It allows plenty of time for the development of the
fundamental subjects through a rich and varied program."
This appears to be an ideal objective.
Social Growth.
"It enables the pupil to develop social interests among
those of his own age." The fear of developing social
misfits arises regularly and is hard to allay, indeed.




ACCELERATION VERSUS ENRICHMENT 153


How Enrich?
Further arguments in favor of enrichment of the curriculum for gifted pupils need not be presented, for every
objection to acceleration may be translated into a plea for
enrichment. Just how the enrichment is to be accomplished is problematical. A study of the literature that
has appeared during the last five years will reveal that
there is little or no agreement as to the way in which the
curriculum is to be enriched. In general, two methods
are suggested: either a fuller, broader, more detailed development of the topics to be studied and the inclusion of
much related material; or the addition of subjects not
usually included in the curriculum for pupils of this age.
Some of the elective subjects that have been used for this
purpose are listed on page 154.
The first of these methods can be justified more readily
than the second. Its chief difficulty lies in the fact that
courses of study will need to be worked out in great detail
in order to include a sufficiently wide range of related
material to provide an enriched content. Occasionally
an enthusiastic teacher has succeeded in developing her
own subject to meet the needs of a gifted group, but she
is usually handicapped by the fact that she cannot enrich
a topic very much without reaching ahead and including
material that "belongs" in a more advanced grade. She
is further disturbed by not knowing, after she has finished
the course, whether she has succeeded in providing the
best offering for her gifted group; she finds that the same
plan cannot be used in exactly the same way a second time.




154


ABILITY GROUPING


On the other hand, when we speak of including additional subjects for enrichment purposes, we are faced with
a number of problems. What shall be our criteria for
selecting subjects to add? How shall we decide what
subjects have such intrinsic worth that we are justified
in compelling the gifted child to spend a full year in a
grade in order to include them? To what extent shall the
gifted pupil's aptitude for a subject be allowed to influence our determination to make him study it? Are we
justified in filling his spare moments with activities in
which he has little or no interest, in order that we may be
sure he will not cover the prescribed course in his other
subjects too rapidly?
The authors have purposely refrained thus far from
making any reference to the monetary value of acceleration, or to the cost of offering enrichment subjects to
gifted pupils. Although the cost of secondary education
has increased tremendously in the last decade, there is
little doubt that the public is still willing to finance a program whose educational worth can be proved. Our task
as educators is to show first that we know what we want,
and second, to prove that the results justify our selection.
An inspection of the plans used to provide for enrichment, acceleration, or both, will show that we are still far
from knowing what we want or how to get what we think
we want. The following list of schemes in operation at
the present time indicates the lack of agreement concerning the best method to be used in attaining the desired
goal: frequent promotions, grade skipping, Dalton, Burk,




ACCELERATION VERSUS ENRICHMENT 155
Winnetka, and other plans for individualizing instruction,
credit for quality, promotion on a strictly mental age
basis, early election of additional subjects, more work of
the conventional type, different methods of teaching, same
amount of work in less time, some form of homogeneous
grouping. A review of the educational literature on the
subject shows that though the concensus of opinion among
educators and laymen is in favor of enrichment of the
curriculum for pupils of high IQ, the common practice has
been to resort to some form of acceleration.
The Problem Restated.
Now let us return to our muttons! The burning question has become, "Shall John grow tall or strong? "-as
though he had to be the one or the other, but could not
possibly be both. Recent studies have revealed that
John, having arrived in the world with a predisposition
to tallness, may also be made strong through proper care
and necessary nourishment. Apparently there are two
desirable results to be sought in the education of gifted
children: as liberal, intensive, and extensive a type of
education as possible; and the shortening of the secondary
education period. The latter is necessary for many, in
order that they may complete their professional training,
if possible, before economic necessity forces them out of
school. One writer 1 has gone so far as to declare that the
time has arrived for the United States to provide econom1 Horn, John Louis, "Caring for Highly Endowed Pupils," School
Review, December, 1921, p. 776.




156            ABILITY GROUPING
ically for the parents of the intellectually gifted in order
that such pupils may be maintained in school.
In 1909, when Ayres published his study of retardation,
he started a movement which concentrated attention upon
the problem of adjusting the educational offerings to the
slow child and resulted in the development of a variety of
means for the improvement of content and methods to be
used with those at the lower end of the intellectual scale.
Educators have begun to realize that they have done little
for those at the upper end of the scale, who, on the basis of
mental age, are really the retarded pupils of the present
day; perhaps this problem will be attacked with the same
enthusiasm and vigor. The variety of plans in operation
to-day, designed to produce acceleration or enrichment,
shows that the educational world is beginning to recognize
the needs of gifted pupils and is attempting to meet them.
The next step will be to evaluate the findings reported
by several experimenters, and to draw a few tenable
conclusions from their results. To spare the reader the
tedious task of working over a mass of reference material,
a summary is given. In the Appendix may be found a list
of the articles summarized here. Only those findings that
appear in more than one of the studies reported are included in this list.
SUMMARY OF ARTICLES ON RECENT EXPERIMENTS IN PROVIDING FOR INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
1. There are outstanding differences between pupils
of high IQ and those of low IQ.




ACCELERATION VERSUS ENRICHMENT 157
2. The fact that pupils should be educated in at least
three classes, superior, average, and inferior, is generally recognized.
3. A number of different factors should be considered
in the classification of pupils; mental age, physical development, character, and social maturity are important.
4. Classification on a mental age basis produces better
social groups.
5. Lack of agreement as to the way in which enrichment is to be produced is evident.
6. The fear of acceleration is prominent.
7. The need for curricular adjustment to various mental
levels is being felt.
8. Acceleration is practically unavoidable for pupils of
high IQ.
9. Acceleration itself produces enrichment to some extent.
Since a certain amount of acceleration takes place automatically and brings about its own enrichment, it is
evident that we have worried long to find a solution for
a problem that may not exist. It is not a question, then,
of acceleration or enrichment, but one of curriculum adjustment on a scientific basis to meet the needs of groups
of various mental levels. This is an enormous task, for
it will mean multiple curricula designed to give to all
pupils those common knowledges, skills, attitudes, and
appreciations that are essential to successful membership in good social groups; and to develop in each individual his various talents and special abilities, to the




158            ABILITY GROUPING
end that the highest possible self-realization may ultimately be his.
EXAMPLES OF DIFFERENTIATION
In order to illustrate the main point of this chapter,
namely, that acceleration and enrichment take place at
the same time, the authors have selected concrete illustrations from their own experience with pupils who were
classified in accordance with the method described in
this book. The reader should bear in mind that the A
pupils were doing the three grades in two years and the
B's in two and a half; this means that the A's, for instance, not only accomplished an enriched program as
indicated below but did so in a shortened period of
schooling.
Seventh-Grade Science.
A certain amount of tree study is included in the
science work of the seventh grade. The trees are studied
as part of the immediate landscape and are, therefore,
to be examined as to shape, color, and other striking
characteristics.
The B or middle group observed the effect produced
by the arrangement of trees on the school grounds and
in the convent garden next door; learned to identify the
trees by their leaves, bark, general shape, arrangement
of branches, and so on; identified other trees near their
homes; discussed the pleasing effect of groups of trees in
several pictured landscapes that were shown them; re



ACCELERATION VERSUS ENRICHMENT           159
ported on the work of the city forester; made several
tree charts using collections of bark, leaves, flowers,
fruit; and finally made a tree map of the school grounds,
displaying a great deal of ingenuity in this part of the
work.
In the same time the C or lower group observed the
effect produced by the arrangement of trees on the school
grounds and in the convent garden; studied three different kinds of trees to learn to identify them; selected one
tree each near their own homes for detailed study; discussed the work of the city forester with the teacher; made
a chart showing a bit of the bark, some leaves, flowers,
fruit, or perhaps a penciled sketch of the chosen tree;
and finally made a map of the school grounds showing
the location of the trees that they were able to identify.
Some of the pupils became so enthusiastic over this
part of the work that they made maps of the school
garden and showed the location of those shrubs and flowers
that they recognized.
The A or upper group covered all of the ground outlined for the B group, but, in addition, gave reports on
such topics as these: birds as tree friends, birds as tree
enemies, the tent caterpillar, the bagworm, trees in famous
paintings, the work of the United States foresters, tree
products, different woods and how to recognize them, some
unusual trees, tree poems, protection of soil by forests,
prevention of floods by forests, modification of climate.
The method of instruction in A and C groups differed
materially, whereas that used with the B group was a




160            ABILITY GROUPING
combination of the two. The C's were interested in
specific trees rather than in trees in general; they liked
to see them, talk about them, make their collections,
and prepare their specimens. They needed specific directions for every step of the procedure, and really enjoyed
the work when it was done slowly and carefully enough
to enable them to understand what they were doing.
The A's, on the other hand, needed but to be started
out in the direction in which they were to go and be
checked up from time to time to avoid going too far afield.
For example, they became so interested in poems about
trees that they wanted to read or recite to the class every
poem of the kind that they could find. One of the pupils
thought that this would be a good time to find out something about tropical forests, a subject that was particularly interesting to him. Another pupil asked permission to bring in bagworm  cases for study.  He had
opened them for examination but could not interpret his
findings to his satisfaction without assistance. In the
case of the B groups the method had to be varied considerably, some groups showing a greater degree of interest in the subject than others.
In the work studied by the A groups will be found
material that appears later in the regular course. There
is, for example, the study of the bagworm, a topic assigned to the second semester for intensive study. The
work of forests in the conservation of soil, the modification of climate, and the prevention of floods are
topics generally studied a year later.




ACCELERATION VERSUS ENRICHMENT 161
Eighth-Grade Literature.
On a day when an unusually heavy snowstorm had
set the stage, the reading of "Snow-Bound" was begun
in three eighth-grade classes, purely for enjoyment. The
study recitation plan was used with the C group, and
much had to be read orally. Lines 180 to 212 and 477 to
557 were omitted because the limited interest span of the
class could not stand the break these lines made in the
"story." These pupils enjoyed comparing the pictures in
the poem with what they could see, from the schoolroom windows, of neighboring gardens, lawns, shrubs,
hedges, trees, roofs, and spires transformed by the snow
into forms of "a world unknown." They liked the life
scenes, sports, and stories of the poem, but were only
mildly interested in the characters. Perhaps the lad who
remarked as they finished the reading, "You wouldn't
think anybody could write so much just about snow," expressed fairly well the state of mind of the class as a
whole.
The B group read the poem silently, noting passages
of special aptness, beauty, or interest as they went along.
Passages that suggested what could be seen from the
classroom windows were read aloud; others that were
of unusual beauty were also read aloud. These pupils
felt keenly the charm of the New England farm life,
took a hand in the "nightly chores," and actually lived,
for the time being, with the family gathered round the
hearthstone. They were interested enough to look up
the meaning of the various references in the poem, and




162


ABILITY GROUPING


were pleased when they discovered with what art the
poet had chosen these references.
After the A group had finished the work accomplished
by the others, they had time left for a lengthier discussion
of the figurative and symbolic language of the poem and
of the literary and mythological references. They volunteered to write character sketches of the members of the
fireside group. They voted the mother the best character
in the poem, and the schoolmaster next in order. They
read or recited other poem-tributes to mothers. They
had a lively discussion of other schoolmasters, too.
Derrick Van Bummel and the schoolmaster in The
Deserted Village were compared; and one little girl insisted that the Griffin masquerading as schoolmaster in
The Griffin and the Minor Canon was worthy of consideration.
Vocabulary Building in the Seventh Grade.
This was an exercise in the enlargement of vocabulary,
given to two seventh-grade classes, one an A, the other a
C. The assignment was to find other words in addition
to "said" that might be used to make dialogue seem
natural. In two lesson periods the combined efforts of
the C pupils resulted in the ten words "asked," " replied," "cried," "called," "begged," "yelled," "exclaimed," "declared," "questioned," "inquired." In
the same amount of time the A group brought together a total of fifty-three verbs. In addition to this,
they wrote short dialogues in which they showed much glee




ACCELERATION VERSUS ENRICHMENT 163
and unusual discrimination in the use of such words as
"roared," "giggled," "stormed," "croaked," "sneered,"
"chuckled,"  "thundered,"  "drawled,"   growled,"
" snickered," "grumbled," and "ejaculated."
Home Reading in the Seventh Grade.
When the seventh-grade home reading list of eightysix books was given to a group of new seventh-grade
C pupils, they were asked to count the books that they
had already read. Nine reported having read one book
each. The pupils were expected to read and report upon
two books from the list each half year; and it required
much encouraging, reminding, checking up, and some
actual classroom supervision to get from this entire
group the term's requirement. When a new A group
made their report upon the same list, the lowest number
reported by any pupil was eleven books. One pupil reported twenty-eight, and the average number already
read by the entire group was fourteen books. These
pupils, then, had entered the seventh grade with that
part of their year's work in English not only already done,
but done "three timqs over."
If the intellectually superior are permitted to branch
out in every direction, upward as well as sideward, it
seems a foregone conclusion that all of the work ordinarily assigned to the junior high school grades will
have been covered in less than the allotted three years.
It is also self-evident that a large amount of related




164


ABILITY GROUPING


material will have been included to enrich the program.
Apparently we need worry no longer as to whether
bright pupils shall have an accelerated curriculum or an
enriched one, for they will have both regardless of the
position we take in the matter. When we are ready to
admit this fact, the time will be ripe for us to undertake
the enormous task of reorganizing the curriculum to
provide separate courses for each of these groups. These
courses would be parallel in some respects, but would
differ in the kind, extent, and amount of subject matter
to be studied in a given time, the methods of study to
be followed, the standards of attainment to be set, and
the time to be allotted to the subject in the curriculum.
SUMMARY
The recognition of the special needs of gifted pupils
has placed upon the schoolman the responsibility of providing adequately for them.
There has been much discussion of the relative merits
of acceleration and enrichment, with the concensus of
opinion favoring the latter; but the actual practice has
been to resort to some form of acceleration.
The problem is not whether acceleration or enrichment
shall be provided for gifted pupils, but how to plan a
curriculum which will give them a properly enriched program in less time.
Until adequate provision has been made for curriculum adaptation to various mental levels, acceleration
with concomitant enrichment is defensible.




CHAPTER XII


DIFFERENTIATION IN CONTENT,
METHOD, AND APPROACH
PLANS OF DIFFERENTIATION
This chapter is somewhat aside from the main purpose of the book. We have undertaken to deal with
the problem of grouping, not with the question of what
to do after grouping. The latter question, however,
is so prominent in the thinking of those who are interested in grouping that it seems wise to touch the subject here very briefly, even though quite inadequately.
Superintendent Corning's "After Testing, What?" suggests the need for another, "After Grouping, What?"
This chapter does not essay to answer such a question,
but rather to suggest that there is a field there for scientific investigation.
It is obvious that, if one sets out to change the curriculum in such a way as to adapt it to lower or higher
ability than that of the children for whom it was originally planned, there are, in the main, two ways in which
it can be done: one may increase or reduce the amount
1 Corning, H. M., After Testing-What? Scott, Foresman and
Company.
165




166


ABILITY GROUPING


of work to be done; or one may change the nature of the
work.
Quantitative.
Up to this time the great majority of the plans advanced for adapting instruction to individual differences in ability have been based on quantitative differentiation. The greatest single factor in the rising tide
of attention to this problem has been the growing conviction that we are not realizing fully upon the talents
of superior children. It is evident that, for a considerable
fraction of the children, the tasks put before the whole
group constitute no challenge whatever; these brighter
youngsters dally along with the pabulum offered, developing bad work habits and failing to get a development commensurate with their possibilities. To remedy
this, some administrators have set up plans by which the
superior children can get over the six grades of work
in five or four years, or eight grades in seven or six years;
in high school extra subjects may be taken, thus shortening
the time required for graduation. Thus some are younger
at high school graduation than others who are finishing the
seventh grade. Other administrators have been unwilling
to "push" the children through school, but instead have
increased the volume of work for the brighter children,
occupying their energies for six years with six grades of
work by means of a special quantitative definition of
"grade." From a comparison of these policies has arisen
"Acceleration vs. Enrichment" as a subject of debate.




DIFFERENTIATION


167


Qualitative.
Such limited practice as there has been along the line
of qualitative differentiation has arisen mainly from two
kinds of maladjustment phenomena: the stumblings of
subnormal children, and high school failures. In our
attempts to correct the former we have come, largely
through trial and error, to the plan of basing the schooling of subnormals upon handwork and similar activities.
To reduce the latter, lists of electives have been developed, with the intention that the pupil may avoid the
subject in which he does not find success and take up,
instead, one in which his peculiar abilities carry him
through.
NEED FOR QUALITATIVE DIFFERENTIATION
Minimum Essentials.
Most of the work of the junior high school is made up
of constants; that is, of instructional material which, it
is thought, all should get. At the same time, the junior
high school finds in its enrollment almost the entire range
of human mentality. The problem of making curricula in such a way as to get this material over to all the
pupils is tremendous. The problem is not solved by an
array of "minimum essentials," for, as has been pointed
out, any minimum is beyond someone's maximum. The
way out lies through the setting up of certain common
objectives rather than through the laying out of certain common materials. We shall have to decide what we
want to develop in the children in the way of tenden



168            ABILITY GROUPING
cies and abilities; and then, in the case of a given type
of child, find out as best we can what educational experiences will serve to produce these kinds of development. Instead of "required subjects" we shall one day
be thinking of desired knowledge, habits, ideals, and
appreciations; there is still much to be accomplished in
the direction of correcting our chronic and centuriesold educational myopia, which leads us to confuse "culture" with "means to culture." However Utopian that
may be, it is foolish to expect children of all abilities to
respond alike to the same educational experiences, vary
the quantity as you will.
Two things have operated to concentrate our attention upon quantitative considerations and to blind us to
the possibilities of qualitative differentiation. One is the
fact that children to whom the curriculum is ill adapted
often work out a kind of salvation through some sort of
quantitative variation; bright children take five years for
the elementary school instead of six; slow ones take seven
or eight; failing pupils in the high school take three
semesters to master the first year of Latin; perhaps they
finish senior high school in four years instead of three, or
do extra work in the summer school. In other words,
the most common solutions of maladjustment problems
have been in terms of amounts of work in relation to
amounts of time. The other thing which has kept us in
the quantitative rut is the fact that the common methods
of interpreting intelligence test data are numerical and
hence suggestive of quantity. At first blush an intelligence




DIFFERENTIATION


169


quotient of 130 suggests a 30 per cent. superiority over
the average; one might expect that a child of IQ 130
should be able to do 30 per cent. more addition exercises
in a given time than a child of IQ 100, or read 30 per
cent. faster. The fallacy is evident.
Accomplishment Ratios of Bright Children.
It has been rather disconcerting to find that bright
children usually do not live up to their respective mental
ages in the common skills of the elementary school,
while the slower pupils' performances are rather better
than their mental levels would predict; and that this
apparent discrepancy is not to be remedied through any
sort of normal procedure. This phenomenon has led
some educators to "view with alarm," and to declare it an
evidence of our failure to do the right thing by the superior
child. Some have felt that the properly ordered school
program is that which accomplishes an achievement
quotient of 100 for all pupils.
Some apparent fallacies protrude from such an assumption. Many elementary school skills involve movement
of hand and eye. Rapidity of movement and fineness of
muscular coordination play their part. These elements
are not shown to any great extent by the results of intelligence tests. The bright child cannot be expected to
display marked superiority in activities which depend
upon abilities of this kind. From what we know of him
we cannot assume that he has these abilities. Then,
even if we could in some way manage to bring the superior




170            ABILITY GROUPING
child to the point of excellence which we feel is called for
by his "intelligence," would the time have been economically used? Is it true that these skills are of such a nature
as to be worth more to him and to society than any other
development that might be achieved in the same time and
with the same effort? The superiority of this type of child
is in the direction of abstract thinking. His likeliest
opportunity to render a service and earn a corresponding
reward has more to do with the organization of thought
and less with mechanical or routine skills. Some acceptable proficiency in these skills he could attain; but beyond
that point the law of diminishing returns begins to operate, and precious time and energy are wasted that were
better applied in the direction of his real superiority.
Characteristic Mental Tendencies.
Perhaps it will not be amiss at this point to indulge in
some fanciful flights. Consider the respective thought
processes of Tom, Dick, and Harry.
Tom learns very early in life that reading is easy for
him; that reading is the key to thousands of vicarious
experiences; that through reading he can pass through
dozens of interesting experiences in an evening. Actually
to have those experiences in a material world, if possible
at all, would consume years of time. He finds that, aided
by his naturally keen imagination and by his ability
to hold in memory his previous experiences, to see their
relationships, to use those organized memories in constructing new situations, and to analyze and generalize,




DIFFERENTIATION


171


he can get almost as much satisfaction from the vicarious experience of the story as from an actual experience.
He has learned these facts with regard to his own capacity
for enjoyment; he is urged on by the very human tendency
to gravitate toward the occupation in which one achieves a
superior performance: thus he becomes an academician and
depends for success upon verbal or abstract intelligence.
Dick has some difficulty with his reading. He finds some
words atrociously long. The teacher makes some ridiculously finespun distinctions as, for instance, between
"affect" and "effect," or "there" and "their." After
he has laboriously acquired the habit of saying "Bill and
I," the teacher one day suddenly tells him that he should
have said "Bill and me." The whole thing befuddles
him. The situations in the stories get mixed up. The
characters don't stand out. They don't seem like real
people. They are drab, stilted folks, always eminently
correct or irredeemably villainous. He really likes people,
and they seem to like him. Real people are so much
more interesting. They have hair and teeth and eyes and
hands unmistakably more appealing than those portrayed
in the frontispiece of the book. He takes to observing
them, to seeking their company. He notices what they
like: he learns which of his own acts please them and
which annoy, what kind of arguments appeal to this person and that, what it is that people seek after most. He
becomes socially intelligent.
Harry has his friends, but wants his friendships to be
maintained on the basis of common interests; he has no




172


ABILITY GROUPING


patience with folks who maintain a hair-trigger relationship with you, always ready to get mad over something or
nothing. Now they're here and now they're there; you
never can tell what they are going to do. Books are a
beastly bore; the involved language used by the teacher,
and the other highbrows, seems to have been invented to
obscure ideas. The other night, after too hearty indulgence in heavily frosted cake, he was chased through the
grammar book, from cover to cover, by a flock of doublejointed conjunctions. Take a baseball, now; that's different. If you try often enough you can get so you can throw
a ball just about where you please; and you can get so
you can swing a bat with all desired effect if you just
keep at it. A hammer, or a saw, is just the same as a bat.
When you want it, it is there, and it does what you make
it. Even writing is not so bad. After a while you can
make the pencil behave, if you don't write too small.
There is some pleasure in seeing yourself improve as you
practice these things. Harry develops mechanical intelligence.
It is conceivable that the only thing which keeps Tom
from developing social intelligence is his absorption in the
more accessible personages of his reading. Perhaps the
only thing that prevents his becoming mechanically intelligent is his impatience with the idea of doing the same
thing over and over again to perfect some movement. At
any rate each gravitates toward that type of activity at
which he is successful and from which he gets the greatest enjoyment.




DIFFERENTIATION


173


Recapitulation.
If, for the sake of argument, we grant that the intelligence tests reveal quantitative differences in "general
intelligence," it will still hold that, practically, these
quantitative differences result in qualitative differences in
interests, specific abilities, and modes of thinking. Thus
differentiation in content, method, and approach is
"indicated," as the doctors put it.
PRINCIPLES FOR DIFFERENTIATION
The following fourteen principles are offered as a kind
of summary of a philosophy which is the product of extensive reading after those who have experimented with
differentiation. In the Appendix the reader will find
references to a number of interesting studies whch are
pertinent to this question. As yet there appear to be no
rigidly scientific studies on the subject; but the conclusions of the many independent experimenters and the
observations of the authors show significant points of
agreement to an extent which emboldens the authors to
set forth these principles. Slow pupils will be called C's,
bright pupils A's.
Principle 1.
A's Will Gain by Instruction of an Abstract Nature.
They can deal with problems in this way; through the
abstract we save much time and much entanglement with
material details. C's Will Gain by Instruction of a Concrete Nature. This is needed to make ideas clear and
explicit to them.




174


ABILITY GROUPING


To give a vivid conception of this contrast one needs to
read after both Judd and Dewey. The former has commented at length upon the importance of generalization in
learning and teaching. A statement or a problem becomes
more abstract as it becomes more general, and hence becomes more difficult for the pupil of low IQ. For instance,
if one had taught an algebra class how to factor the
difference of two squares he might assign the following
list of polynomials to be factored by this method:
a2 - b2
X2 -- y2
1- 9x6
X2 -y2- 2yz -z2
sin2x cos2y — 
m-n
m+n
The first two of these would not puzzle many of the class;
they could be factored by analogy, because of their resemblance to the simple binomials used in the development of the method. But as we proceed down the list
it is evident that the ability to see each polynomial as an
illustration of the principle taught will be more and more
dependent upon a complete generalization of the principle itself. Ordinarily pupils' independent advance through
this list of exercises will be in inverse ratio to their IQ's.
The better able a child to strip the idea of nonessentials,
the more probable his success in penetrating the disguise
of the particular exercise to see the application of the idea.




DIFFERENTIATION


175


Similarly in the following examples of oxidation each is
more general than the preceding one, and hence more
difficult for the slow child to see as an application of the
principle: the burning of a match, the burning of a gas
flame, the burning of coal in a furnace, the rusting of iron,
the weathering of a board, the explosion of gunpowder
under water.
Dewey, on the other hand, emphasized that phase of
the abstract which has to do with getting away from materials-from dependence upon concurrent sensations.
In a problem which involves the finding of the distance
across an impassable swamp, the surveyor is perhaps
compelled to proceed by using a right triangle. The
A's can reach a solution with the aid of nothing more
than a formula and perhaps a crude figure; the B's will
generally require a figure drawn to scale; the C's will
usually get nowhere until taken to the playground and
carried through the operation with an impassable swamp
marked out on the ground. Often they will put no faith
in the computation until it is checked by taping the computed distance.
A lesson in computing the interest on a promissory note
may often be made intelligible to C pupils by substituting
for the fictitious dates, amounts, persons, and so on,
items which seem real to them. The borrower may be the
child himself, the lender some well-known character of the
community who makes loans his business. The amount
should be within the comprehension of the pupil, the loan
negotiated for some definite purpose which would seem




176            ABILITY GROUPING
real to him. The dates should be made real by tying them
up with events which the pupil can remember. The slow
pupil seems to be given a great advantage by the realism
of the situation as thus set up.
Principle 2.
The A's Will Thrive on Comprehensive and General
Questions. Their ready transition from the general to
the particular, and vice versa, makes a general question
suggestive of all sorts of applications and thus sends them
exploring in all directions. The C's Need Definite and Detailed Questions. Some writers have gone so far as to say
that, while A's get much in the form of by-products, C's
get practically nothing incidentally.
Principle 3.
Assignments to A's May Take but Little of the Teacher's
Time. As indicated above, they may be made in general
terms. The A's will get the idea quickly and attack it on
their own initiative. For the C's the Assignment Must be
Detailed and Definite. It must be deliberately made, repeated, and explained; and a check-up is needed, finally,
to see that it is understood. The C cannot set up "hooks"
-related ideas-on which to hang the assignment.
Principle 4.
Analyzing and Outlining Will be of Great Assistance to
A's; such Procedure is more Likely to Confuse the C's. Outlining results in a complex structure with ramifications




DIFFERENTIATION                 177
and interrelations which befuddle a child whose range of
vision is narrow.
Principle 5.
The A's Will Take Readily to Reference Material. They
will use it with proficiency and pleasure. Books are their
world. They learn easily how to take advantage of their
knowledge of the organization of a book to find what they
want. C's Are not Apt in the Use of Reference Material.
References for them must be definite, short, succinct,
and to the point. C's, when sent to the library, find
themselves in a land of dim impressions and uncertain
footing.
Principle 6.
The A's Will Profit by Taking Notes. They will show intelligence as to what notes to take and what to do by way of
re-translating them into presentable material. The C's, if
they take Notes at all, Will Have to be Directed in Advance
as to Choice of Notes and Manner of Taking. The key
word or key sentence does not stand out to the eye or ear
of a child who makes little of complex interrelationships.
Principle 7.
In an Academic Study the A's will Work on their own
Responsibility; the C's will need Constant Supervision and
Guidance. In reading this principle one should not fail
to emphasize the "academic." There is much evidence




178            ABILITY GROUPING
to show that in enunciating a similar principle for social or
mechanical undertakings, one might have to interchange
the A's and C's. The principle as stated is due a place
here because of the fact that so much of school work is
"academic."
Principle 8.
A's Will Learn Readily by Generalization. C's Depend
more upon Rules Given Directly by the Teacher, upon Imitation, and upon Analogy.
Principle 9.
The A's, in Reaching Generalizations Through Observation
and Inductive Reasoning, will Need but few Primary Illustrations. Some have felt that to A's the principle might as
well be given directly, without taking time for developing
it. This seems a vicious idea. The A's will need training
in induction; they spring quickly to a generalization, but,
unless they are trained, this quickness will make for
inaccuracy and superficial thinking. They need grilling
and checking on the whole process. The C's will need many
Examples and much Explanation and Guidance in Order to
Reach the Generalization at All. The relation of generalization to abstract thinking has been pointed out.
Principle 10.
The A's Will Apply the Generalization as soon as they
Understand and Clarify it. The C's will have Difficulty in
Making Applications.




DIFFERENTIATION


179


Principle 11.
Drill Will Play a much more Prominent Part in the Training of C's than in that of A's. The A's will see many relationships connecting the thing now being learned with
things already known; these relationships will be their
best method of remembering. The C's, lacking this,
will need much drill to form association bonds and
stimulus response connections.
Principle 12.
The Teacher as Critic should Extend to the A's an Amiable
but stubborn Cynicism; to the C's Sympathetic Encouragement. The A pupil is so glib, so quick to pick up the
terminology of the book, so impatient with detail, that
unless the teacher is on guard she will allow him to get
by with hazy and indefinite statements, half-truths, and
plausible approximations. The teacher will have a tendency to assume from the pupil's skeleton discourse that
he knows the details and the essentials. A skeptical,
rather critical attitude will be helpful to him. On the
other hand, in the junior high school the slow pupil is often
possessed of some complexes which are the result of his
past experience in being chronically wrong on academic
questions. As he works in the schoolroom, defiance,
rebellion, hatred, fear, or despair may be ready to spring
upon him at the first faltering step. Sympathy, encouragement, friendliness are needed to keep him cheerfully
working at a task which is overshadowed as to importance in his own mind by dozens of others and




180             ABILITY GROUPING
which to him is associated more with defeat than with
victory.
Principle 13.
The A's will not take Kindly to Drill or to Repetition of
any Sort. They will have to be held to it where drill is
necessary. Their success in exploring the field of knowledge through reading leads them to ask a new experience
of each moment. The C's seem often Inclined to Stick to
Drill to the Exclusion of the More Intellectual Phases of the
Work. When they find an exercise in which their efforts
are crowned with success, they tend to keep at it for the
sake of the pleasurable reaction which success gives. It
is this fact that largely explains the existence of skilled
penmen, draftsmen, and artisans of all sorts among the
C's.
Principle 14.
The A's are usually better at Planning than they are of
Executing, the C's better at Executing than at Planning. The
former is explained by the impatience with details which
the A pupils show and by their occasional lack of social
sense; the latter by the fact that execution usually involves
the handling of materials and concrete situations.
SUMMARY
The purposes of this chapter have been to show: that
in the past the devices used to adapt instruction to
individual differences in capacity have been constructed




DIFFERENTIATION                 181
along quantitative lines; that practically, there is need for
qualitative differentiation to further the development of
all types of ability; that although little is known in a scientific way regarding the possibilities in this direction, certain
principles for qualitative differentiation do appear from
the evidence. Fourteen such principles are enunciated,
representing a digest of many reports of short studies
made here and there and described by the respective
investigators in periodical literature.




CHAPTER XIII


IN OPERATION
The authors have come to have a positive faith in this
complex basis for classification. This faith is derived in
part from extended observation and in part from a limited
amount of statistical evidence.   Figure 12 shows a comparison of the senior high school marks of three A groups.
Two of these groups were formed in the junior high school
upon a simple basis of classification, the third by the plan
described in this book. The superior performance of the
third group is suggestive.'
The authors have thought it helpful to offer detailed
and definite directions for the whole process of grouping, in order to give at least a concrete starting point for
adaptation to any given school. They have based these
directions upon an assumed school of the size with which
1 These three A groups left the Junior High School at the ends of
three successive half-years, having completed the three grades of
the Junior High School in two years each. A change in the grouping
plan had been made at such a time that Groups 1 and 2 had been
formed on the basis of IQ and rank-in-class alone, while Group 3
had been formed by the complex plan described in this book. Data
for later groups are not available. The lower percentage of failure,
higher mean mark, skewed distribution, and higher IQ-marks correlation of Group 3 are interesting and suggestive.
Gr. 1       Gr. 2      Gr. 3
Percentage of failure.......  12      14           4
Mean mark...............  77         78          82
Correlation, pupil's IQ and
pupil's mean mark.....02.28.45
182




IN OPERATION


183


65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100
enaior fligh    School Marks
FIG. 12.-Comparison of first semester
Senior High School marks of three successive A groups. See note on opposite
page for explanation.




184


ABILITY GROUPING


they are familiar and in which the whole plan was first
worked out. Such a school is somewhat larger than the
typical junior high school. Adaptation to a larger or
smaller school is a thing which the local faculty can best
do. Some suggestions in that direction will not be amiss.
It is recommended that, in a school of any size, all of
the data discussed in the plan be included in the survey of
the children's characteristics; these are of use especially
in the selection of the extreme groups. The saying,
"Knowledge is power," applies here. The more we know
about children the less we have to surmise, and the more
obvious is the proper handling of them.
It will be remembered that the school was assumed to
have an incoming class of 400 children, of whom ten
groups were to be made. (See page 120). From approximately the upper fifth in mental ability two groups
were to be formed: one a generally mature A group,
to follow a program which would cover the three years'
work of the junior high school in two years' time; the
other, perhaps as bright mentally as the A, but less
mature otherwise, a two-and-a-half-year group. From
approximately the lower two-fifths four groups were to be
formed: two slow groups segregated as to sex, and two
slow mixed, these to proceed at the normal rate. The remaining pupils were to be organized into four B groups.
Adaptation.
In an incoming class of 200, if the average intelligence
quotient is high-from 106 to 110-it may be possible to




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185


find twenty children whose characteristics place them in
the A classification as described in Chapter IX. Bearing
in mind that acceleration reduces the total cost of the
junior high school training of the pupils accelerated, it may
be argued that these twenty would well be grouped together and sent ahead at the two-year rate. On the other
hand, if the number of such genuine A pupils is thought
too small to warrant calling them a group, there may be
added enough to form a group of forty or forty-five to go at
the two-and-a-half-year rate. These additional twenty
or twenty-five should be recruited from the Top B's and
selected from the generally most mature. At the other
end of the mental scale may be two C groups, segregated
as to sex. The remainder of the class may form two or
three B groups.
In an incoming class of 100, four groups are desirable
if the per-capita allowance will stand it. These are: one
generally mature A group, to go at a two-and-a-half-year
rate; two segregated C's; and one B. Here the B's and
C's should both go at the three-year rate.
Classification Is Tentative.
It cannot be too strongly emphasized that no plan of
grouping gives a final classification. Changes are to be expected after the work of the term has begun. The pupil's
actual performance is subject to the influence of factors
which we are not now able to include in the formula.
Emotion, temperament, volition, and habits of all sorts
affect school success in a way which is hard to predict.




186            ABILITY GROUPING
The administrator must stand ready to correct the original group in the light of its actual operation.
In any situation, the most important principle for grouping is this: Have an educational program in mind, and
set up the grouping to facilitate that program. Enrichment is usually accomplished for bright children through
acceleration; but the emphasis that the local junior high
school faculty places on one or the other of these two plans
will have an important bearing upon the nature of the
grouping. Fundamental to any program is the fact that
education, from the standpoint of the educand, is essentially growth.
Democracy.
The idea of ability grouping is objectionable to some
because to them it seems to merit being termed "undemocratic." The use of this adjective sets up an appeal to all Americans which carries thought beyond the
realm of logic and entirely away from the point. Here
is a typical case where one meaning of a term seems to fit
a situation, and straightway all of the implications of the
term, used in any sense, are invoked as persuasive material. It is said by some to be un-American to think that
one person may be endowed by his Creator with an ability
superior to that which another has received, and to express that idea in the classification of children. It is
felt that we ought to hold fast to the thought that originally we are all "free and equal" in the fullest and most
general sense; that the breaking down of that equality as




IN OPERATION                 187
life goes on is a thing that might be avoided if we but
knew how to regulate circumstances.
Democracy is fundamentally a principle of government,
declaring that individuals are equals in matters of political
right. The term is often used to mean humility, sociability, and tolerance in the selection of associates.
That official is said to be "democratic" who mingles with
his subordinates in a social way. The word is sometimes
used to describe the policy of hunting for truth by taking
a majority vote; scientific tenets are sometimes declared
to be untrue because a majority do not subscribe to them.
Thus we have the anomaly of the official who is called
"democratic"-even though he be nothing short of despotic in his rule-because of his habits of going on picnics
with the underlings and of asking their opinions on scientific matters.
Democracy in education has to do with the opportunity offered the individual for self-improvement and
for preparation for service. Until recently we have felt
that this principle is satisfied by opening to all the youth
of the land a program of education which is the same for
all, in so far as minimum standards are concerned, and
which is but little differentiated otherwise.  In our
demand for equality of educational opportunity we have
been satisfied with identity of educational material and
environment. Of late, however, with the tremendous
revelations which mental tests are making, there has
come the conviction that educational opportunity cannot
be appraised without including in the formula not only




188


ABILITY GROUPING


the nature and quantity of the educational materials but
in addition the capacity, aptitudes, and interests of the
educand. To enroll two children of IQ's 85 and 125,
respectively, in the traditional classical course, with a
fixed minimum standard for passing mark, is like seating a
longshoreman and a bridge fiend side by side at salad, tea,
and crackers. The pabulum is indeed the same for both,
but no one with a normal notion of dietetics will contend
that each will get the nourishment to which he has a right.
Equality of educational opportunity will come when
each child's total educational environment is in proper
relation to all that is within him. We are struggling
into a consciousness of this principle and are expressing
it in elective subjects and elective curricula, technical
schools, "special schools," and what not. We need next
to realize the fact that, when it comes to standards, any
minimum is beyond the maximum of some individuals;
vastly more important than that a child should reach
his teacher's minimum is it that he should approach his
own maximum. If these differences in capacity are real,
and if these differences in achievement are inevitable, it
is the part of wisdom to face the fact and base our procedure upon it. It is no violation of the principles of
democracy to take account of truth, since democracy itself is fundamentally an expression of truth.
Snobbishness.
There is one attitude of mind which is inherently and
positively offensive to 99 per cent. of Americans; we




IN OPERATION


189


find it in individuals who conceive themselves to be
superior to those about them in some quality upon which
the world sets a value; such a conceit shortly becomes
evident through habitual acts of exclusiveness, disdain,
or ridicule. We call the attitude "snobbishness," and
hate the wearer. We find snobs among those who call
the Mayflower their Ark, among the wealthy, among the
erudite, among the famous, and among the infamous.
Man is prone to search out his own point of excellence
and spend much of his time proclaiming that kind of
excellence as the most desirable.
It is fair to say that if a school be grouped according
to excellence in any quality or ability a very real danger
will arise-that of snobbishness among those who find
themselves in the first rank. That danger is all the more
real when the basis of classification is synonymous with
the purpose for which the school is established-dominating the thought of the whole constituency. It is still
more imminent when the dominant group-the teachersare devoting their lives to the development of that type
of excellence in themselves and in their pupils. All
other values tend to be pushed back into obscurity. Try
as we may, consciously, to recognize and develop mechanical abilities, social abilities, financial abilities, and so
on, there is always in the back of our minds the tendency
to estimate human worth on the basis of success in schools
as we run them.
It is the belief of the authors that it is easily possible
to avoid the development of academic snobbishness in




190


ABILITY GROUPING


the junior high school. But before considering how this
may be done, let us suppose for the moment that snobbishness should persistently show its ugly head. If this
human weakness is a thing we hope to remove from society
as a whole, do not the school days constitute the most favorable time of all for placing self-esteem upon a sane basis?
From one point of view the school is intended to prepare
for life-to foresee coming problems and lay ambush for
them. To side-step snob-making situations is but to put
off the evil day to a time when it will be a more evil day.
The permanent cure for snobbishness lies in the realization of the varied nature and definite usefulness of all the
capacities which mankind exhibits. The man who is
chronically inflated over achievement in his own field is
simply unaware of humanity's mutual interdependence;
he needs experience in competition in a pursuit but little
related to his own. Where the range of activities in the
junior high school is as broad as it should be, the bright,
plausible.little fellows will have many an opportunity to
bow to their slower classmates. Athletics, pupil participation in government, cooperative projects, social functions,
practical arts, fine arts, music, mechanics, campaigns,
and drives give everybody his chance for a place in the
sun; for these activities the IQ seems to possess no magic
charm. Budding egotism yields but little to preaching,
to subterfuge, to circumlocution; it does succumb to the
defeats which come to any individual who partakes fully of
the competitive life of a well-regulated junior high school.
To prevent the development of snobbishness one other




IN OPERATION                 191
thing is quite essential: the teachers themselves must
avoid attitudes of either intolerance or pity toward the
slower children. The teacher who regards the slow child
as an encumbrance, and the teacher who regards him
as doomed to poverty, obscurity, or ostracism, must
be purged of these notions. As to the former, let him
realize that public schools are based on a philosophy
which prophesies good to the community from the education of the individual. The increment added to the
slow pupil's usefulness is a profit for the community,
just as in the case of the bright one. The pupil's right
to attend is not the concern of the teacher. The question
is not so much whether the pupil is fit for the school, as
whether the school is fit for the pupil-fit to do for him
what the community expects to be done. As to the teacher
who would teach the slow child because he feels sorry for
him, let him contemplate the conspicuous figures in community and national life whose wealth and power are unusual and whose academic attainments are little or nothing.
There is no evidence at all of a high correlation between IQ
and income or talent, or business ability, or political
acumen. There is every evidence that the doings of the
world are so broad and so varied that each individual who
is truly normal mentally-that is, not a victim of mental
disease-may hope for a full measure of usefulness and of
material reward. We shall need to assume that each child
who appears is worth training, and to put from our minds
all thought of his not belonging there or of his being a
charity case.




192            ABILITY GROUPING
Inspiration.
Some have expressed the fear that if the slower pupils
are grouped together they will lose the inspiration which
comes from seeing the fine performance of the brighter
pupils. There is no doubt that exhibition performances
do stimulate the onlookers and serve to broaden their
horizon. There is no reason why, in a grouped school,
exhibitions of fine work should not be held as often as
advisable. But, great as such an inspiration is, it cannot
be compared with the inspiration of one's own success.
In a heterogeneous group the slow pupil is always,
relatively, a failure. 'Words are taken out of his mouth
before he has time to say them. The best that he can do
in some types of school work is always poor. Added to
his own consciousness of inferiority are the urgingsperhaps desperate and impatient —of the teacher. The
situation takes on a "what's the use?" color. But when
the task and the group are so constituted that each child
has opportunities to succeed and excel, an element of
hope and of the joy of triumph is injected. It is probably not exaggerating to say that the publicly recognized attainment of a desired objective is under normal
conditions the most pleasant reward of labor and the
most powerful stimulus to further effort. This is the
explanation of the difficulty which school visitors sometimes have in distinguishing bright groups from slow
groups on the basis of spontaneity and vigor of action.
Where the slower pupils take hope from a situation
in which they are on a par with their fellows, the brighter




IN OPERATION


193


take on new enthusiasm and exhibit new energy, as a
result of the hot pace which is set in their group. Indolence, inaccuracy, slouchiness, indifference, and similar
traits, which are engendered in some children by a situation
in which they can succeed passably with little effort,
are avoided when the youngster extends himself to keep
up with his fast-moving fellows. The superficial learning which once sufficed must here give way to more
exhaustive study, if one's place in such a group is to be
maintained.
Group Standards.
The attitude of the teachers toward the extreme groups
is a matter which lies at the heart of the success of the
grouping idea. For a time the teacher of a bright group
will be inclined to give all of those pupils very high marks
and will feel that a failing mark for any of them would
be sacrilege. To avoid this the teacher needs to realize
that these selected youngsters will, in achievement, distribute themselves in a normal way. In any sort of
definite test of accomplishment the "normal curve" will
approximate the distribution of their scores as closely
as those of any other group-homogeneous or heterogeneous. The teacher can discover this for himself by
administering skill tests, true-false, best-answer, and
completion tests, in which the correction and marking
are subject to little personal bias. If this be true, then,
any tendency of the teacher's marks to bunch at the
high end of the curve indicates merely that the work and




194            ABILITY GROUPING
the tests placed before the children are not sufficiently
difficult to compel the best to extend themselves. When
the task and examination are properly set, and the teacher's conception of the grouping rectified, marking difficulties are not more serious than usual.
Similarly the performances of a slow group are often
misconceived by its teachers to be bunched at the low
end of the curve. Here again the thing needed is a series
of tests composed of many small units, so that a true
distribution of the responses of these pupils will be shown.
Such an investigation reveals the fact that the distribution is quite normal, the only difference being that the
standard is low. Thus when the teacher accommodates
her standards to the capacity of the group the problems
of marking are again normal.
The Passing Mark.
The Old Man of the Sea for most of us, in matters of
marking, is the fallacy of the "passing mark."  With
what glee do we announce to the admiring constituency
that we have raised the standard of the school by changing
the passing mark from 65 to 70! It is well that after
the shouting dies no layman demands to know what
"70" is! It is well that laymen generally do not know
that one teacher's 70 is certainly another's 40 and yet
another's 90. It is well that only the anointed know-as
the end of the year approaches and three members of
the ninth-grade class have failed to make the passing
mark and must languish in disgrace while the beribboned




IN OPERATION


195


survivors mount the graduation platform-that down in
the seventh grade are three or four youngsters who can
outstrip a third of the graduating class in any academic
pursuit whatever and yet must wade through two more
years of passing marks before we will graduate them!
The sooner we rid ourselves of the delusion of the passing
mark, the sooner can we truthfully say that we are aware
of the phenomenon of individual differences. We shall
have to come to the point where we can view without
turning a hair the passing, from the seventh grade
to the eighth, of pupils of widely divergent attainments.
Fundamentally, the decision as to a given pupil's passing or failing should rest upon the question as to where he
will profit most; the fact that there is as yet no perfect
formula for answering the question need not lead us to
repudiate the principle nor to say that no such formula can
be found. There can be but one underlying purpose to
guide the several acts of instruction-the optimum result from the standpoint of the individual as a member of
society. There is sometimes the fear that sympathy and
leniency toward the slow may lessen the struggles of the
strong; the feeling seems to be that the strong will do
only as much as the weak are forced to do. Is it characteristic of humanity to act in that fashion toward things
that are worth while? Such a fear is based on a false
philosophy of human industry. It is the nature of man to
work best with eyes forward upon a goal, not backward
upon a goad. If properly managed, the adoption of
r~LL  ~r~I JILL~l~~~ U   LUrIUV




196            ABILITY GROUPING
flexible standards will bring about more and better work
on the part of all types.
The Teacher and the Slow Group.
Some who have experimented with grouping have found
in the attitude of certain teachers a real aversion to working with slow classes. Here again, if all groups are expected to accomplish the same amount and quantity of
work in the same time, no teacher will willingly undertake
the instruction of C's. No one cares to struggle for the
impossible, and no one cares to stake his standing upon the
outcome of a hopeless effort. The discovery and adoption
of reasonable objectives for all types of groups will remove
most of this tendency to avoid the weaker classes. Furthermore, as the teacher comes to look upon the child of
IQ ninety as a normal human being, in every sense worth
while in spite of his weakness in the direction in which we
teachers excel, his tendencies, manner of thinking, aptitudes, attitudes, and emotional life begin to seem worthy
of study. Then as soon as one understands the C pupil,
he is as interesting a pedagogical subject as any other
child. Much of the aversion to this type of child, and
consequently much of his own unhappiness, comes from
our regarding him as a defective sample of the A type.
An imbecile is defective; a moron is defective; an insane
child is defective; a neurotic is defective; a consumptive is
defective; a paralytic is defective; a misanthrope is defective; but the mentally and physically healthy child of
IQ eighty-five or ninety is a normal child; he has his




IN OPERATION                197
own characteristics; they are not like those of school
teachers, but they are just as worthy of a place in the
human catalogue, just as worthy of study, and just as
worthy of appropriate school methods.
The emancipation of childhood began when the idea
got abroad that a child should no longer be looked upon
as a kind of spurious adult. It is interesting to follow
the evolution of the attitude of the adult world toward the
child. Originally he was thought of as an unexpected and
unexplainable misfortune; and in turn as a nuisance, as a
burden, as material for sacrificial ceremony, as something to try one's soul, as an asset to be exploited through
apprenticeship, as a counterfeit adult filled with evil
tendencies which must be driven out by harsh treatment, as a defective adult who must be disciplined by
hard and purposeless subject matter. Now it is to be
observed that many of the present generation of parents
do not measure the child in terms of the adult at all, but
accord him an identity and a status of his own; they decline to think of him as a vessel full of deficiencies; they
conceive him to be a bundle of possibilities, and defer as
much to the vagaries of childhood as to those of the adult.
It cannot be said that none of the aboriginal attitudes
toward children now exist anywhere, but they are on the
decline. While the school man or woman may miss some of
the instantaneous and cowering obedience to parental
command and perhaps covertly mourn the passing of this
thing so convenient to those who must deal with children,
yet one cannot deny the better understanding between




198


ABILITY GROUPING


parent and child, the generally better relationship so
obvious in a rapidly increasing number of the more intelligently managed families. To repeat, the child is now
thought of, not as a defective adult, but simply as a
child. His shortcomings by adult standards are at
present of no consequence; the important thing is his list
of possibilities.
Similarly we pedagogues must come to think of the lad
of IQ 90 as a product of God's handiwork just as truly
as if he could play our particular game as well as we can
ourselves. Let us forecast the day when we may stand before him and ask him to bring his particular game to our
assistance, be it money-making, political machination,
social maneuver, art, or what not. Then, our minds
having taken firm hold on the undeniable fact of his capacity for usefulness to humanity, let us search for that
capacity and seek to develop it; let us cease to sacrifice
him to standards, and, where sacrifice is inevitable,
sacrifice standards to him.
Marks and Standards.
It will have to be admitted that one of the unsolved
problems of ability groupingaccompanied by a plan of flexible standards is brought into relief when occasion arises
for a comparison of the "ninety" mark earned by the
bright pupil and the "ninety" earned by the slow pupil.
These marks are not equivalent, having been assigned for
different qualities of work. Each represents superior work
in the group in which it was earned. When the two chil



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199


dren concerned are thrown together, as they may be in
senior high school, in heterogeneous groups, one will outstrip the other, and the bright one will get better grades
than before and the slow one poorer. Parents will notice
the change, and disparaging remarks will be made regarding the standards and the powers of observation of
the junior high school faculty. In the minds of some there
is the thought that the slow pupil may even be in the
running for honors at graduation, although this fear is
unsupported by the history of ability grouping so far.
Three things may aid us toward a solution of this difficulty: the continuation of the grouping plan in the senior
high school in the required subjects, where numbers make
grouping possible; the lengthening of the list of electives
and the shortening of the list of required subjects in the
senior high school; and the education of the parents
of the community toward an understanding of the significance of the grouping scheme. The reluctance of many
senior high school principals to introduce grouping is not
shared by Principal Fred L. Cassidy of West Seattle
High School, Seattle, Washington, who, in an unpublished
report, shows that grouping in that school has been followed by a marked decrease in the number of failures, with
no loss of standards as judged by the college marks of its
graduates. Superintendent H. M. Corning  has found
ability grouping quite feasible and beneficial in senior
high school grades in Trinidad, Colorado. The technical
high school helps tremendously by giving many the
1 After Testing-What? Scott, Foresman and Company.




200


ABILITY GROUPING


opportunity to follow their aptitudes who would otherwise stumble along in the traditional subjects. Then
finally we shall have to face squarely the issue: Is the chief
function of the school a selective one-to show who can
make good marks and who cannot? Or is the chief function that of improving children, with the marking system
merely an auxiliary feature?
It is of course true that, when a group has been formed,
it is homogeneous only in a general and approximate
sense. Those who are strong in one subject may be weak
in another. It will not be true that all the pupils of the A
group excel all the pupils of the B group in all pursuits.
It is merely true that such a group displays a far greater
degree of homogeneity for purposes of instruction than do
children selected at random. In Chapter VII a fuller
discussion of this problem has been attempted.
Grouping and Citizenship.
There is, in the question of grouping, a social factor
which is often unnoticed. Without attempting here to go
into the philosophy of human behavior, it can be safely
asserted that the slow pupils of a heterogeneous group constantly exert a tremendous social pressure in the direction
of antisocial behavior and poor scholarship. They are
naturally the older pupils. They are rather unsuccessful
in the school's business. They do not understand the
restrictions which society puts upon their conduct. They
are but little in sympathy with the doings of the school.
Yet by reason of their greater age and greater success in




IN OPERATION                201
athletics, social affairs, pugilism, it is theirs to set the
fashion. When the younger, brighter children are freed
from this influence their greater tendency toward good
behavior and academic industry may have expression;
in the case of the slower pupils one may find an expert to
have charge of them and to teach them in painstaking
fashion the elements of political philosophy. Each group
will profit tremendously, in the development of social
attitudes, by the separation.
In short, when scrutinized carefully, all the dangers
and disadvantages of the plan appear simply as problems.
Who sets out into ability grouping embarks upon an
uncharted sea, but it is not recorded anywhere that an
uncharted sea is anything more than a challenge to the
human race. At one time or another everything that we
think of as modern lay beyond such a barrier-the printing press, the steam engine, the telephone, the automobile,
the radio, the airplane. In many of these cases thousands
cried out in fear and prophesied all sorts of calamities,
from degeneration to divine wrath; but it's a wonderful
world, nevertheless.








APPENDIX
Bibliography
CHAPTER I
1. Ashbaugh, E. J. "Homogeneous     and Non-Homogeneous
Grouping." Journal of Educational Research, Vol. IX,
pp. 241-245.
2. Ayres, Leonard P. Child Accounting in the Public Schools.
The Survey Committee of the Cleveland Foundation,
Cleveland, Ohio, 1915.
3. Briggs, Thomas H. Curriculum Problems. Macmillan, New
York, 1926. P. 45.
4. Comings, William R. "Are Mentality Tests on Right Lines?"
Educational Review, Vol. LXIV, pp. 392-394.
5. Engel, Anna M. "Characteristic and Significant Differences
Between X and Z Pupils in Detroit Public Schools." Elementary School Journal, Vol. XXIV, pp. 747-754.
6. Feingold, Gustave A. "The Sectioning of High School
Classes on the Basis of Intelligence," Educational Administration and Supervision, Vol. IX, p. 399-415.
7.... "Views of Teachers on Sectioning of High School
Classes on Basis of Intelligence." Educational Administration and Supervision, Vol. IX, pp. 467-486.
8. Freeman, Frank N. "Bases on Which Students Can be
Classified Effectively." School Review, Vol. XXIX, p. 735.
9....   "Sorting the Students."   Educational Review, Vol.
LXVIII, pp. 169-174.
10. Hargreaves, R. T. "Adequate Education for Twentieth
Century Democracy." School and Society, Vol. XXIV,
pp. 717-720.
11. Howerth, I. W. "Universal Education and the Increase of
Genius." Educational Review, Vol. LXIII, pp. 50-56.
12. Johnson, O. J. "Teachers' Estimates of the Qualities of
Gifted Pupils as Related to Classroom Activities." School
and Society, Vol. XVII, pp. 466-469.
203




204


APPENDIX


13. McCall, William. How to Measure in Education. Macmillan,
New York, 1922. Chapter II, pp. 62-66.
14. Martin, A. L., and Pechstein, L. A. "Educational Tests
for Retarded Children." Journal of Educational Research,
Vol. IX, pp. 403-410.
15. Pickell, F. G. "Ability Grouping of Junior High School
Pupils in Cleveland." Journal of Educational Research,
Vol. XI, pp. 244-253.
16. Quotation from New York Times. "Grading Human Beings."
School and Society, Vol. XXII, pp. 655-656.
17. Seashore, C. E. "Sectioning Classes on the Basis of Ability."
School and Society, Vol. XV, pp. 353-358.
18. Theisen, W. W. "Relative Progress of VII-B Groups Sectioned on the Basis of Ability." Journal of Educational
Research, Vol. V, pp. 295-305.
19. Thompson, Thomas M. "Intelligence Tests and Democracy
in Education." Educational Review, Vol. LXVII, pp. 5-11.
20. Townsend, Harvey G. "The Democratic Idea and the Education of Gifted Children." Twenty-Third Year Book of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part I, pp. 145-154.
21. Whipple, Guy M. "Some Features of the Education of
Gifted Children." School and Society, Vol. XII, pp. 175-179.
22. Whitney, Frank P. "Provision for Accelerant and Retarded
Children in Junior High School." School Review, Vol. XXVII,
pp. 695-705.
23. Willett, G. W. "A Suggestion for Meeting Individual Differences." School Review, Vol. XXVIII, pp. 576-584.
24. Woody, Clifford. "Measurement of the Effectiveness of
Differentiation of High School Pupils on the Basis of Army
Intelligence Tests."  Journal of Educational Research,
Vol. VII, pp. 397-409.
25.... "The Advantages of Ability Grouping."    Bulletin of
School of Education, Indiana University, Vol. I, No. 3,
pp. 38-60.
See also References 62, 109, 134, 201.
CHAPTER II
26. Barnes, Walter. "The New Education: An Interpretation."
Educational Review, Vol. LXIV, pp. 124-134.
27. Colvin, Stephen S. Introduction to High School Teaching.
Macmillan, New York, 1917.




APPENDIX


205


28. Cox, P. W. L. Curriculum Adjustment in the Secondary School.
Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1925. Pp. 102-103.
29. Cubberley, Ellwood P. The History of Education. Houghton
Mifflin, Boston, 1920.
30. Davidson, Thomas. Aristotle and the Ancient Educational
Ideals. Scribner's, New York, 1902.
31. Dvorak, August. "Recognition of Individual Differences in
the Junior High School."  School Review, Vol. XXX, pp.
679-685.
32. Galton, Francis.  Hereditary Genius. Macmillan, London,
1869; reissue, Macmillan, London, 1914.
33. Goddard, H. H. Human Effiiency and Levels of Intelligence.
Princeton University Press, 1920.
34. Hall, G. Stanley. Youth, Its Education, Regimen, and Hygiene.
Appleton, New York, 1904.
35. Inglis, A. Principles of Secondary Education.  Houghton
Mifflin, New York, 1918. Chapter II.
36. Johnston, C. H., Newlon, J. H., and Pickell, F. G. JuniorSenior High School Administration. Scribner's, New York,
1922. Pp. 116-136.
37. Judd, Charles H. "A Century of Applications of Psychology
to Education." Teachers College Record, Vol. XXVII,
pp. 771-781.
38. King, Irving. The High School Age.   Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis, 1914.
39. Lancaster, H. "The Psychology and Pedagogy of Adolescence." Pedagogical Seminary, Vol. V, p. 106.
40. Monroe, Paul.  Text-Book in the History of Education. Macmillan, New York, 1923.
41.... Source Book in History of Education, Greek and Roman
Period, Part I. Macmillan, New York, 1915.
42. Pechstein, L. A., and McGregor, A. L. The Psychology of the
Junior High School. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston,
1924.
43. Pringle, Ralph W. Adolescence and High School Problems.
Heath, New York, 1922.
44. Pyle, W. H. "A Psychological Study of Bright and Dull
Pupils." Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. VI, pp. 151 -156.
45. Rousseau, J. Emile. Appleton edition. Books I-III. New York,
1895.




206                     APPENDIX
46. Rowland, S. V. "Individual Differences Among Elementary
Grade Pupils as Evidenced by Group Intelligence Tests."
Eighth Annual Schoolmen's Week Proceedings, University
of Pennsylvania Bulletin, Vol. XXI, No. 37.
47. Sakaki, Yasusaburo. "Some Studies on So-Called 'Abnormally Intelligent' Pupils." Psychological Clinic, Vol. VI,
pp. 18-25.
48. Terman, L. M. Intelligence of School Children. Houghton
Mifflin, Boston, 1919. P. 90ff.
49. Thorndike, Edward L. "Magnitude and Rate of Alleged
Changes at Adolescence." Educational Review, Vol. LIV,
pp. 140-47.
50.... Educational Psychology, Briefer Course.   Teachers
College, Columbia University, New York, 1914. Chapter VIII.
51. Tracy, Frederick. The Psychology of Adolescence. Macmillan
New York, 1920.
52. Wallace, Edwin. Aristotle's Psychology (in Greek and English). The University Press, Cambridge, 1883.
53. Woodrow, Herbert. Brightness and Dullness in Children.
Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1919.
54. Woodward, William   H. Vittorino da Feltre. Cambridge
University Press, 1921.
See also References 3 and 137.
CHAPTER III
55. Alderman, L. R. "An Effort to Make the School Fit the
Needs of the Exceptional Child." Addresses and Proceedings of the National Education Association, Vol. LII, pp.
830-835.
56. Ayres, Leonard P. Laggards in Our Schools. Russell Sage
Foundation, New York, 1909.
57. Baldwin, Bird T. "Methods of Selecting Superior or Gifted
Children." Twenty-Third Year Book of the National Society
for the Study of Education, 1924. Chapter II.
58. Blewett, Ben. "The System of Grading Pupils in St. Louis."
Educational Review, Vol. VIII, pp. 387-389.
59. Burk, Frederic. "Individual Instruction versus the Lockstep System." The American City, Vol. XVIII, pp. 327-330.
60.... Burk, Caroline F. "Promotion of Bright and Slow
Children." Educational Review, Vol. XIX, pp. 296-302.




APPENDIX


207


61. Butler, John H. "Breaking the Shackles." Educational Review, Vol. XVII, pp. 26-28.
62. Clark, F. E.  "The Arlington Plan of Grouping    Pupils
According to Ability in the Arlington High School, Arlington, Mass." School Review, Vol. XXV, pp. 26-47.
63.... "Providing for Individual Differences by Grouping by
Abilities. Organization and Practical Working of the Plan."
Eighth Annual Schoolmen's Week Proceedings, University of
Pennsylvania Bulletin, Vol. XXI, No. 37, pp. 243-249.
64. Clement, John Addison. Curriculum Making in Secondary
Schools. Holt, New York, 1923.
65. Cox, P. W. L. "Providing for Individual Differences by
Means of Grouping by Ability." Ninth Annual Schoolmen's
Week Proceedings, University of Pennsylvania Bulletin,
Vol. XXIII, No. 1, pp. 233-244.
66. Coy, Genevieve Lenore. The Interests, Abilities, and Achievements of a Special Class for Gifted Children. Teachers College Contribution to Education, No. 131. Columbia University, New York, 1923.
67. Cubberley, Ellwood.  "Promotional Plans," Public School
Administration. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1916. Pp.
300-306.
68. French, W. C. "A Plan of Organization for Taking Care of
Bright Pupils." Elementary School Journal, Vol. XXIV,
pp. 103-108.
69. Harris, W. T. "Classification in Graded Schools." Report
of the United States Commissioner of Education for 1891-2,
Vol. I, pp. 601-636.
70.... National Education Association Report for 1872.
71.... "Class Intervals in Graded Schools."  Proceedings of
the National Educational Association, 1900. Pp. 332-340.
72. Hollingworth, Leta S. Gifted Children, Their Nature and
Nurture. Macmillan, New York, 1926.
73. Holmes, W. H. "Plans of Classification in the Public Schools."
Pedagogical Seminary, Vol. XVIII, pp. 475-522.
74.. "The St. Louis Plan."   Journal of Education, Vol.
LXXV, p. 380.
75. Jackman, E. D. "The Dalton Plan." School Review, Vol.
XXVIII, pp. 688-696.
76. Jahrling, Robert. "Educating Gifted Children in Hamburg."
Pedagogical Seminary, Vol. XXX, pp. 35-39.




208


APPENDIX


77. Johnson, F. W. "Credit for Courses in the University High
School." School Review, Vol. XXIII, pp. 715-718.
78. Jones, Olive M. Teaching Children to Study. The Group
System Applied. Macmillan, New York, 1909.
79. Kandel, I. L. Twenty-Five Years of American Education.
Macmillan, New York, 1924.
80. Kendall, C. N. "What Modifications in Organization Are
Necessary to Secure Suitable Recognition for Pupils of
Varying Ability, Particularly for the Ablest?" Addresses
and Proceedings of the National Education Association,
Vol. XLVI, pp. 147-155.
81. Miller, H. L., and Hargreaves, R. T. The Self-Directed School.
Scribner's, New York, 1925.
82. Neverman, P. F. "New Richmond Plan of Grade Promotion." American School Board Journal, Vol. LIV, p. 38.
83. Omans, A. C. "Provision for Ability Grouping in Junior
and Senior High Schools." American School Board Journal,
Vol. LXV, pp. 55-58, 138.
84. Parker, S. C. "Adapting Instruction to Differences in Capacity." Elementary School Journal, Vol. XXV, pp. 20-30.
85. Patterson, M. Rose. "A Preparatory Center in Baltimore."
Atlantic Educational Journal, Vol. XII, pp. 234-238.
86. Prince, J. T. "Classification and Promotion of Pupils."
School Administration, Syracuse, C.' W. Bardeen, Editor.
Pp. 124-133.
87. Race, Henrietta V. "A Study of a Class of Children of Superior Intelligence." Journal. of Educational Psychology,
Vol. IX, pp. 91-98.
88. Rathmann, C. G. "The Mannheim System of School Organization."  Educational Review, Vol. LIII, pp. 55-60.
89. Search, P. W. "Individual Teaching: The Pueblo Plan."
Educational Review, Vol. VII, pp. 154-170.
90. Shaer, I. "Special Classes for Bright Children in an English
Elementary School."  Journal of Educational Psychology,
Vol. IV, pp. 209-222.
91. Shapiro, A. A. "Resectioning Students According to Efficiency." Educational Review, Vol. LXIX, pp. 153-154.
92. Shearer, W. J. "The Elizabeth Plan of Grading." Addresses and Proceedings of the National Education Associaton, Vol. XXXVII, pp. 441-448.
93. Snedden, David. "Grading and    Promotion."   Monroe's




APPENDIX


209


Cyclopedia of Education, Macmillan, New York, 1912,
Vol. III, pp. 126-128.
94. Spain, C. L. "Grouping of Children by Abilities and Consequent Changes in School Procedure." Ninth Annual
Schoolmen's Week Proceedings, Vol. XXIII, pp. 257-263.
95....  "The Platoon School in Detroit." Journal of Educational Research, Vol. III, pp. 76-77.
96. Spaulding, F. E. "The Newton Educational Policy." Report of Superintendent, Annual Report of School Committee
in Newton, Massachusetts. Vol. LXXIV, pp. 15-22, 26.
97. Stoddard, A. J. "Individualized Instruction-Secondary
Schools." Education, VoL XLVI, pp. 397-404.
98. Van Sickle, J. H. "Grading and Promoting with reference to
the individual needs of pupils." Addresses and Proceedings of
the National Education Association, Vol. XXXVII, pp. 434 -441.
99.... "Provision for Gifted Children in Public Schools."
Addresses and Proceedings of the National Education Association, Vol. XLVIII, pp. 155-160.
100. Washburne, C. W. "Breaking the Lockstep in our Schools."
School and Society, Vol. VIII, pp. 391-402.
101.... "The Individual System in Winnetka."    Elementary
School Journal, Vol. XXI, pp. 52-68.
102.... "Should a School Keep a Child Back?"      Collier's,
Vol. LXXII, pp. 11-12.
103. Woods, Elizabeth L. "Provision for the Gifted Child."
Educational Administration and Supervision, Vol. III,
pp. 139-149.
See also Nineteenth Year-Book of the N. S. S. E., Part II;
Twenty-Third Year-Book of the N. S. S. E., Part I; and
References 41, 176, 177, 185, 187, 196, 124.
CHAPTER IV
104. Abernathy, Ethel M. "Correlation between Mental and
Psychological Growth." Journal of Applied Psychology,
October, 1925.
105. Almack, J. C. "The Influence of Intelligence on the Selection
of Associates." School and Society, Vol. XVI, pp. 529-530.
106. Baldwin, Bird T. The Physical Growth of Children from Birth
to Maturity. University of Iowa Studies in Child Welfare,
Vol. I, No. 1, 1921.




210


APPENDIX


107. Beik, Arthur. "Physiological Age and School Entrance."
Pedagogical Seminary, Vol. XX, pp. 277-321.
108. Bennett, H. S., and Jones, B. R. "Leadership in Relation to
Intelligence." School Review, Vol. XXXI, pp. 125-128.
109. Beu, F. A. "The Mental Ability of Athletes in Comparison
with Non-Athletes in High School." American School Board
Journal, Vol. LXXIII, p. 45.
110. Cleveland, Elizabeth.  "Some Further Studies of Gifted
Children."  Journal of Educational Research, Vol. IV, pp.
195-199.
111. Downey, June E. The Will Temperament and Its Testing.
World Book Company, Yonkers, N. Y., 1923.
112. Freeman, F. N. "Bases on Which Students Can Be Classified
Effectively." School Review, Vol. XXIX, pp. 734-745.
113.... and Carter, T. M. "A New Measure of the Development of the Carpal Bones and Its Relation to Physical and
Mental Development." Journal of Educational Psychology,
Vol. XV, pp. 257-270.
114.... "Types of High-School Students."       School Review,
Vol. XXVIII, pp. 383-387.
115. Greenberg, B. B. "Intelligence Tests as a Basis for Re-Classification." First Year Book of the Department of Elementary
School Principals. Washington, D. C., National Education Association, 1922. Pp. 55-58.
116. Johnson, Buford J. Mental Growth of Children in Relation to
Rate of Growth in Bodily Development. Dutton, New York,
1925.
117. Jones, Alice M. "An Analytic Study of 120 Superior Children." Psychological Clinic. Vol. XVI, pp. 19-76.
118. Nutting, L. Ruth. "Some Characteristics of Leadership."
School and Society, Vol. XVIII, pp. 387-390.
119. Prescott, D. A. The Determination of Anatomical Age in School
Children and Its Relation to Mental Development. Harvard
Monograph in Education, Series I, No. 5, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 1925.
120. Rugg, Harold O. "Is Rating of Human Character Practicable?"  Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. XII,
pp. 425-438, 485-501, and Vol. XIII, pp. 30-42.
121. Sandwick, R. L. "Correlation of Physical Health and Mental
Efficency." Journal of Educational Research, Vol. I, pp. 199 -203.




APPENDIX


211


122. Sangren, Paul V. "Social Rating of Best and Poorest High
School Students." Journal of Educational Psychology,
Vol. XIII, pp. 209-214.
123. Stenquist, J. L. "The Case for the Low IQ." Journal of
Educational Research, Vol. IV, pp. 241-254.
124. Terman, L. M. Genetic Studies of Genius. Vol. I: Mental
and Physical Traits of 1000 Gifted Children. Stanford
University Press, California, 1925.
125.... The Hygiene of the School Child. Houghton Mifflin,
Boston, 1914.
126. Worcester, D. A. "Does Like Like Like?" School and Society, Vol. XVIII, p. 655.
See also Twenty-Third Year Book of the N. S. S. E., Chapters VII, IX, X, XI, and References 44, 46, 47, 53, 65, 76,
135, 137, 197.
CHAPTER V
127. Buchanan, W. D. "Improvement in Teachers' Estimates
of Intelligence." Elementary School Journal, Vol. XXIII,
pp. 542-546.
128. Dublin, Louis I., and Gebhart, John C. Do Height and Weight
Tables Identify Undernourished Children? New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, 105 East
Twenty-Second St., New York, 1924.
129. Flinner, Ira A. "Rating Students on the Basis of Native
Capacity." Educational Administration and Supervision,
Vol. IX, pp. 87-98.
130. Gates, Georgina. "An Experimental Study of the Growth
of Social Perception." Journal of Educational Psychology,
Vol. XIV, pp. 449-461.
131. Gates, Arthur I., "The Nature and Educational Significance
of Physical Status and of Mental, Physiological, Social,
and Emotional Maturity." Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. XV, pp. 329-358.
132.... and La Salle. "A Study of Writing Ability and Its
Relation to other Abilities Based on Repeated Tests During
Periods of 20 Months." Journal of Educational Psychology,
Vol. XV, pp. 205-216.
133. Holt, M., and others. "Mental Age and School Attainment
of 1007 Retarded Children in Massachusetts." Journal of
Educational Psychology, Vol. XV, pp. 297-301.




212


APPENDIX


134. Proctor, W. M. "The Use of Psychological Tests in the
Educational Guidance of High School Pupils." Journal of
Educational Research, Vol. I, pp. 369-381.
135. Ruch, G. M. "Study of the Mental, Pedagogical, and Physical Development of the Junior Division of the University
High School, Eugene, Oregon."  University of Oregon Publications, 1920, Vol. I, No. 7.
136. Shideler, J. W. "A Correlation of Teachers' Grades and the
Scores of Intelligence Tests." School Review, Vol. XXIX,
pp. 733-734.
137. Terman, L. M. The Measurement of Intelligence. Houghton
Mifflin Company, Boston, 1916.
138. Torgerson, T. L., and Shuman, Irene. "Variability of Accomplishments of Pupils Having Same Mental Level."
Journal of Educational Research, Vol. X-XI, pp. 132-136.
139. Varner, G. F. "Can Teachers Select Bright and Dull Pupils?"
Journal of Educational Research, Vol. VI, pp. 126-132.
140....   "Improvement in Rating    Intelligence of Pupils."
Journal of Educational Research, Vol. VIII, pp. 220-232.
See also References 76, 94, 108, 115.
CHAPTER VI
141. Bagley, W. C.-Educational Determinism. "Democracy and
the IQ." School and Society, Vol. XV, pp. 373-384.
142. Bird, Verne A., and Pechstein, L. A. "General Intelligence,
Machine Shop Work, and Educational Guidance in the
Junior High School." School Review, Vol. XXIX, pp. 782-786.
143. Breed, F. S. "Shall We Classify Pupils By Intelligence
Tests?" School and Society, Vol. XV, pp. 406-409.
144..... and Breslich, E. R. "Intelligence Tests and the Classification of Pupils." School Review, Vol. XXX, pp. 210-226.
145. Cox, P. W. L. Curriculum Adjustment in the Secondary School,
Chapter VII. Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1925.
146. Coxe, Warren W. "The Problem of the Intelligence Test."
Educational Review, Vol. LXVII, pp. 73-77.
147. Feingold, Gustave A. "Correlation Between Intelligence and
Scholarship." School Review, Vol. XXXII, pp. 455-467.
148.... "Mental Analysis of High School Failures."  Educational Administration and Supervision, Vol. IX, pp. 24-38.
149. Freeman, F. N. "What Is Intelligence?"   School Review,
Vol. XXXIII, pp. 253-263.




APPENDIX                        213
150. Freeman, F. N. Mental Tests. Houghton Mifflin Company,
Boston, 1926.
151. Teagarden, Florence M. A Study of the Upper Limits of the
Development of Intelligence. Teachers College Contribution
to Education, No. 156, 1924, Teachers College Bureau of
Publications, Columbia University, New York.
152. Terman, L. M., et al. Intelligence Tests and School Reorganization. World Book Company, Yonkers, N. Y., 1922.
153. Thorndike, Edward L. "Abilities Involved in Algebraic
Computations and in Problem Solving." School and Society, Vol. XV, pp. 191-193.
154.... et al. "Intelligence and Its Measurement: A Symposium." Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. XII, pp.
123-147, 195-216, 271-275.
155. Trabue, M. R. "Some Pitfalls in the Administrative Use of
Intelligence Tests."  Journal of Educational Research,
Vol. VI, pp. 1-11.
156. Whipple, Guy M. "Educational Determinism." School and
Society, Vol. XV, pp. 599-602.
157.... and Davis, H. Problems in Mental Testing. Public
School Publishing Company, Bloomington, Ill., 1925.
See also References 31 (pp. 211, 212, 213), 115, 124, 134,
135, 137.
CHAPTER VII
158. Badanes, J. E. First Practical Steps in Selecting Gifted Children
in a Large City School. Continental Printing Company,
New York, 1921.
159. Beeson, Marvin F., and Tope, Richard E.  "Educational and
Accomplishment Quotients as an Aid in Classification of
Pupils." Journal of Educational Research, Vol. IX, pp.
281-292.
160. Blumenthal, F. "A New Method for Approximating the
Homogeneous Grouping of School Children." Educational
Administration and Supervision, Vol. X, pp. 321-329.
161. Brooks, F. D. "Sectioning Junior High School Pupils by
Tests and School Marks." Journal of Educational Research,
Vol. XII, pp. 359-369.
162. Clark T., Sydenstricker, E., and Collins, S. D. Heights and
Weights of School Children. Reprint No. 750 from Public
Health Reports published by Treasury Department, United
States Public Health Service, 1922. Pp. 1185-1207.




214


APPENDIX


163. Ditmars, Thomas. "Intelligence Tests as a Basis for Classification and Grading." Education, Vol. XL, pp. 33-39.
164. Glass, James M. "Classification of Pupils in Ability Groups."
School Review, Vol. XXVIII, pp. 495-508.
165. Ketner, Sarah P. "Grouping by Standardized Tests for
Instructional Purposes." Journal of Educational Research,
Vol. II, pp. 620-625.
166. Pintner, R., and Noble, Helen.  "Classification of School
Children According to Mental Age." Journal of Educational
Research, Vol. II, pp. 713-728.
CHAPTER VIII
167. Cleveland, Elizabeth. "Detroit's Experiment with Gifted
Children." School and Society, Vol. XII, pp. 179-183.
168. Glass, James M. "The Study-Coach or Opportunity Class
Organization."  Eighth Annual Schoolmen's Week Proceedings, University of Pennsylvania Bulletin, Philadelphia;
1921, Vol. XXI, No. 37.
169. Trummer, Mary C. "Instruction Adapted to Groups of Differing Ability." School Review, Vol. XXX, pp. 409-411.
170. Weatherly, Josephine. "Sex Differences-Biological or Acquired." Education, Vol. XLIII, pp. 257-271.
171. Zirkle, H. W. "Character and Results of Special Rooms as
Conducted in the Whittier School of Denver." Elementary
School Journal, Vol. XXI, pp. 189-197.
See also References 28 (page 110) and 188.
CHAPTER IX
172. Alltucker, Margaret.  "Is the Pedagogically Accelerated
Student a Misfit in the Senior High School?" School Review, Vol. XXXII, pp. 193-202.
173. Bixby, H. D. "Case for the Education of the Gifted."
Educational Review, Vol. LXVI, pp. 258-260.
174. Counts, G. S. "Social Purpose of Education for Gifted
Children." Educational Review, Vol. LXIV, pp. 233-244.
175. Deamer, Arthur. "An Experiment in Acceleration." Board
of Education, Fargo, N. D., 1919.
176. Downes, F. E. "Seven Years with Unusually Gifted Pupils."
Psychological Clinic, Vol. VI, pp. 13-17.
177. Freeman, F. N.  "Provision in the Elementary School for




APPENDIX


215


Superior Children." Elementary School Journal, Vol. XXI,
pp. 117-131.
178. Freeman, F. N. "The Treatment of the Gifted Child in the
Light of the Scientific Evidence." Elementary School Journal, Vol. XXIV, pp. 652-661.
179. Hollingworth, Leta S. "An Introduction to Biography for
Young Children who Test Above 150 IQ." Teachers College
Record, Vol. XXVI, pp. 277-287.
180. Horn, John Louis. "Caring for Highly Endowed Pupils."
School Review, Vol. XXIX, pp. 776-781.
181. Jones, Arthur J. "Age at Graduation from College and
Success in Life." School Review, Vol. XXXIII, pp. 184-190.
182.... "Who Is the Retarded Child?"      School and Society,
Vol. XI, pp. 241-246.
183. Jones, Vernon A., and McCall, Win. A. "Application of Two
Techniques in Evaluating Some Policies of Dealing with
Bright Children." Teachers College Record, Vol. XXVII,
pp. 825-835.
184. Laird, D. A. "Educating the Superior Child." Yale Review,
Vol. XI, pp. 546-555.
185. McDonald, R. A. F. Provision for the Exceptionally Gifted. Adjustment of School Organization to Various Population Groups.
Teachers College Contribution to Education, No. 75,
Teachers College Bureau of Publication. 1915. Pp. 90-101.
186. Pechstein, L. A. "Handling the Superior Child."  Educational Administration and Supervision, Vol. X, pp. 1-6.
187. Pyrtle, E. Ruth. "Supernormal Children-a Study." Journal
of Educational Method, Vol. I, pp. 273-275.
188. Ryan, H. H. "Grouping Pupils for Acceleration." Elementary School Journal, Vol. XXIV, pp. 50-53.
189. Rohan, B. J. "What to Do for the Bright Pupil." Journal
of Educational Method, Vol. IV, pp. 15-24.
190. Snedden, David. "Exceptional Children."  Monroe's Cyclopedia of Education. Macmillan, New York, 1911, Vol. II,
pp. 540-541.
191. Stedman, Lulu M. Education of Gifted Children. World
Book Company, Yonkers, New York, 1924.
192. Terman, L. M. "Discussion of Gifted Children Section."
Proceedings of the First Annual Conference on Educational
Research and Guidance, San Jos6 State Teachers College, Sacramento, California; State Printing Office, 1923. Pp. 41-43.




216


APPENDIX


193. Terman, L. M. "The Mental Hygiene of Exceptional Children." Pedagogical Seminary, Vol. XXII, pp. 529-537.
194. Town, Clara Harrison. "The Superior Child in our Schools."
Educational Review, Vol. LXV, pp. 17-21.
195. Ulrich, Flora. "A Year's Work in a 'Superior' Class."
Psychological Clinic, Vol. V, pp. 245-250.
196. Whipple, Guy   M. "Supernormal Children."     Monroe's
Cyclopedia of Education. Macmillan, New York, 1913, Vol. V,
pp. 464-468.
197. Zeigel, W. H. "Achievement of High School Honor Students
in the University of Missouri." School and Society, Vol.
XXV, pp. 82-84.
See also The Twenty-Third Year Book of the N. S. S. E., Part
VIII, Chapter XII, and References 12, 72, 87, 90, 100,
167, 207, 211, 214.
CHAPTER X
198. Alltucker, M. M. "What can the Secondary School do for
the Student of Low IQ?"    School Review, Vol. XXXI,
pp. 653-661.
199. Bush, Emma D. "An Experiment in Varying Methods of
Teaching Bright and Dull Sections of the Seventh Grade."
Journal of Educational Research, Vol. VIII, pp. 113-121.
200. Buswell, G. T. "The School Treatment of Mentally Exceptional Children." Elementary School Journal, Vol. XXIII,
pp. 683-93.
201. Chamberlain, E. "Differences in Ability which Demand
Changes in Subject-matter and Method." English Journal,
Vol. XIII, pp. 629-641.
202. Coming, Hobart M. After Testing-What? Scott, Foresman
and Company, Chicago, 1926.
203. Counts, George S. The Selective Character of American
Secondary Education.  Educational Monograph No. 19,
Department of Education, University of Chicago, 1922.
204. Courts, Bertha M. "The Adaptation of Subject Matter and
Methods to Grammar Grade Groups of Varying Ability."
Elementary School Journal, Vol. XXIV, pp. 773-779.
205. Franzen, Charles. "Intelligence Tests and School Reorganization." Subcommittee Report on Revision of Elementary
Education, N. E. A. Report for 1923.




APPENDIX


217


206. Goldstone, G. A. "Differentiation of Method in Teaching
Reading to Slow and Bright Pupils." Bulletin of High
Points in the Work of the High Schools of New York City,
1923, Vol. V, pp. 11-14.
207. Horn, Ernest. "The Curriculum for the Gifted: Some Principles and an Illustration." Twenty-Third Year Book of the
N. S. S. E., 1924, Chapter V, pp. 73-89.
208. Irwin, Elizabeth A., and Marks, Louis A. Fitting the School
to the Child. Macmillan, New York, 1924.
209. Kelley, T. L. "Again: Educational Determinism." Journal
of Educational Research, Vol. VIII, pp. 10-19.
210. Littwin, M. F. "English Star Classes at the Boys' High
School." Bulletin of High Points in the Work of the High
Schools of New York City, 1923, Vol. V, pp. 4-7.
211. Orata, P. T. Adaptation of Subject Matter to Individual Differences. Bureau of Education Bulletin No. 40, Teachers
College, Columbia University, New York, 1926.
212. Parker, F. W. The Individual and the Curriculum, an Experiment in Adaptation. Francis Parker School Studies in
Education, Chicago, 1920.
213. Rugg, Harold. "Curriculum for Gifted Children."  TwentyThird Year Book of the N. S. S. E., 1924, Part I, pp. 91 -121.
214. Seashore, C. A. "Gifted Student and Research." Science,
Vol. LVI, pp. 641-648.
215. Terman, L. M. "Possibilities and Limitations of Training."
Journal of Educational Research, Vol. X, pp. 335-343.
See also References 12, 48 (page 29), 64, 100, 103, 169, 176,
190, 196.
CHAPTER XI
216. Stormzand, Martin J. Progressive Methods of Teaching.
Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1925.
217. Thorndike, Edward L. Education for Initiative and Originality.
Teachers College Publication, Series 11, No. 4, Columbia
University, New York, 1919.
218. Van Alstyne, Dorothy. "A Study of Ten Gifted Children
whose School Progesss was Unsatisfactory." Journal of
Educational Research, Vol. VI, pp. 122-135.
219. Waite, John Barker. "Punishing One in Ten." The Atlantic
Monthly, Vol. CXXXIX, pp. 63-70.




218                    APPENDIX
220. Williams, Frankwood E. "The Need for Emotional Control
through Education."   Educational Review, Vol. LXV,
pp. 40-44.
221. Tilton, J. W. "The Relation Between Association and The
Higher Mental Processes."  Teachers College Record, Vol.
XXVIII, pp. 632-633.




INDEX


A, B, and C pupils, characteristic
differences in, 175 ff.
Ability, types of, 2
Ability grouping, advantages of,
2; arguments against, 186 ff.;
defined, 1; maturity basis for,
11; source of justification for,
3
Ability grouping and grading, 1
Ability grouping and democracy,
186
Ability grouping and snobbishness, 188
Abstract intelligence, example
of, 170
Acceleration, arguments in favor
of, 147; arguments opposing,
148
Accomplishment ratio and the
bright child, 169
Adaptation of classification plan
to schools of various sizes, 184
Adjustment group, need for, 131
Adolescence, a period of gradual
change, 17; early recognition
of, 14; educational implications of, 14; present conceptions of psychology of, 12;
saltatory theory of, 15
Adolescence and citizenship, 8,
11
Adolescence and grouping, 13, 17
Adolescence and individual differences, 13
Advantages of ability grouping,
2
Age, anatomical 35, 37, 41 89,
91, 119, 135; chronological, 32,
46, 88, 89, 118; dentition, 40,
63, 136; mental, 33, 34, 35, 86;
moral, 45; pedagogical, 42, 97;
physiological, 31, 36, 38; social, 43, 55, 58, 96, 119


A group, the, candidates for, 13;
characteristics of, 122; organization of, 121; selection completed, 138
Alltucker, Margaret, cited, 150
Almack, J. C., cited, 43
Anatomical age, 135; defined, 35;
discussed, 119; estimation of,
89; methods of studying, 37
Anatomical maturity and physical data, 38
Anthropometric data, 63
Attitudes of adults toward children, 197
Automobile test, 77
Ayres, L. P., referred to, 156
Bagley, W. C., cited, 82, 84
Baldwin, Bird T., cited, 33, 42,
65, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95; referred
to, 39
Bases for grouping, 120
Bean, R. B., cited, 41
Beik, Arthur, cited, 41
Bennett, H. S., cited, 56
B groups, candidates for, 142;
organization of, 129
Binet, Alfred, referred to, 13, 34,
67
Body build, index of, 64
Buchanan, W. D., cited, 54
Buckingham, B. R., referred to,
84
Burk, F., referred to, 27
Caldwell, 0., referred to, 57
Carpal quadrilateral defined, 40
Carter, T. M., cited, 39, 42
Cassidy, Fred L., cited, 199
Cattell, J. M., referred to, 13
C groups, candidates for mixed,
141; candidates for segregated,
140; organization of, 124, 125,
128; segregation discussed, 123


219




220


INDEX


Chronological age, item on diagnosis chart, 88, 118; legal significance of, 32; method of
estimating, 89; significance of,
for grouping, 46
Citizenship, present practices of,
4
Citizenship and adolescence, 8,
11
Citizenship as a school aim, 7
Clark-Sydenstricker-Collins,
cited, 91 ff.
Class averages, use of, 108
Classification (see grouping),
factors affecting, 185; tentative nature of, 185
Colfer, Ella, quoted, 127
Colvin, S. S., referred to, 84
Commissions to study prosecution of crime, 6
Connors, Alice, quoted, 127
Coring, H. M., cited, 165, 199
C pupils (over-age) boys and girls
compared, 125
Crampton, C. Ward, cited, 36
Crecelius, Philipine, quoted, 127
Criminal, protection of, 5
Culture epoch theory, 15
Curriculum adaptation to various mental levels, methods
of, 165
Curriculum adjustment, 157
Dalton plan, description of, 28
Data needed for grouping, 99,
103, 118, 119
Davenport, C. B., cited, 41, 64
Dearborn, W. F., referred to, 84
Democracy and educational opportunity, 187
Democracy, meaning of, 187
Dentition and anatomical maturity, 41
Dentition age, 136; method of
finding, 40; referred to, 63
Dewey, John, referred to, 174,
175
Diagnosis chart, as an aid in
grouping, 10; description of,
86, 105; method of making,
109 ff.; need for, 105


Differentiation, qualitative, examples of, 158 ff.; plans of,
165; principles for, 173 ff.
Downey, June E., cited 82
Drawing of profile graphs, 109
Ebbinghaus, H., referred to, 84
Educational objectives and the
curriculum, 167
Elementary school and junior
high school content contrasted, 49
Elimination, due to failure, 8;
in heterogeneous groups, 9
Enforcement of law and public
sentiment, 5
Enrichment of the curriculum,
additional subjects for, 152;
arguments in favor of, 151;
methods of producing, 153
Enrichment and the fundamental subjects, 152
Enrichment and social growth,
152
Failure, physiological causes of,
64
Failure and elimination, 8
Failure and grouping 139
Feingold, G. A., cited, 75
Flexible standards, 196
Foster, W. L., cited, 37
Freeman, F. N., cited, 39, 84
Galton, Francis, referred to, 13
Gates, A. I., cited, 39
Gates Georgina, cited, 57
Gifted children, instruction of,
29
Group instruction, advantages
of, 19, 21, 22; beginnings of,
19; Lancastrian plan, 20
Group standards, the normal
curve, 193
Group versus individual instruction, 19
Grouping and citizenship, 200
Grouping and snobbishness 190
Grouping plans, 23 ff.; Baltimore plan, 27; Batavia plan,
27; Cambridge plan, 24, 25;




INDEX


221


Dalton plan, 28; Double Tillage plan, 25; Double Track
plan, 24, 25; Elizabeth plan,
24; Large School or Group
System, 26; Newton plan, 27;
North Denver plan, 25; Portland plan, 25; Pueblo plan, 26;
San Francisco plan, 27; Santa
Barbara plan, 26; St. Louis
plan, 24; Winnetka plan, 27
Grouping, disadvantages of, 23;
method of procedure in, 120
ff.; tentative nature of, 143
Grouping scheme proposed, 132
Groups, selection of candidates
for, 133 ff.
Harris, W. T., quoted, 24
Health, factors affecting, 64; importance of, for the junior
high school, 47; item for the
diagnosis chart, 98, 119; referred to, 135
Health and grouping, 47
Height, effect of inherited factors
upon, 136; social importance
of, 42
Height and anatomical maturity, 41
Height-Weight item for diagnosis chart, 91, 135
Height-Weight tables, 92 ff.
Henmon, V. A. C., referred to, 84
High school and social training, 4
Hollingworth, Leta S., cited, 29
Homogeneity, and learning ability, 44; general, 200; social, 43;
types of, 143
Homogeneous grouping, advantages of, 9
Horn, J. L., cited, 155
Inaccuracies in subjective opinion, 51
Index of body build, 64
Index of nutrition, health as, 48;
significance of, for grouping,
64
Index of ossification, 40
Individual differences, adapting
instruction to, 166; early rec

ognition of, 12; effect of scientific measurement of, 18; significance of, for health, 35;
summary of experimental
studies in, 156
Individual differences and the
passing mark, 195
Intelligence, definitions of, 71,
83; elements of, 72; qualitative differences in, 173; quantitative differences in, 173;
three phases of, 81; types of,
illustrated, 172
Intelligence and abstract thinking, 80
Intelligence and character development, 82
Intelligence  and  mechanical
aptitude, 76
Intelligence and non-academic
activities, 78
Intelligence and physical and
motor capacity, 76
Intelligence and school achievement, 74
Intelligence and social leadership, 79
Intelligence not unitary, 84
Intelligence quotient, defined,
46, 47; predictive value of, 35
Intelligence test cycles, 116
Intelligence test homogeneity,
defined, 131; referred to, 117
Intelligence tests and democracy,
73
Intelligence tests and the profession, 68
Intelligence tests and the public,
70
Intelligence tests, changes in, 80;
measurement of school ability,
78; objections to use of, 68;
origin of, 67
IQ and chronological age, 46
IQ, discussed, 47; item on diagnosis chart, 88; significance of,
for grouping, 47, 117
Jones, B. R., cited, 56
Jones, Vernon A., cited, 147
Judd, C. H., referred to, 174




222


INDEX


Lancastrian plan of group instruction, contribution made
by 21
Lashiy, A. V., report of, 6
Leadership, factors in, 57; significance of, for grouping, 56
Leadership and intelligence, 56
Learning and social age, 45
Learning, planes of, 9
Lippmann, Walter, cited, 82
Lowell, Frances, cited, 41
McCall, W. A., cited, 147
McIntosh, Elizabeth, cited, 150
Markham, Carrie, quoted, 127
Marks and standards, 198
Marks, significance of, in ability
grouping, 194
Maturity, anatomical, 38, 39;
conceptions of, 31 general, 10,
120; physiological, 36; structural, 37; types of, 33; value of,
in grouping, 37
Maturity not unitary, 40
Maximum and minimum standards, 188
Mechanical intelligence, example
of, 172
Mental age, defined, 33; item on
diagnosis chart, 86; significance of, 35; standards of, 34
Mental characteristics of bright
and dull children compared,
170
Mental tests and information, 34
Missouri Association for Criminal Justice, work of, 6
Moral age referred to, 45
Norms, use of, with diagnosis
chart, 107
Nutrition, index of, 65
Nutting, Ruth, cited, 56
Organized crime, growth of, 6, 7
Organization of groups, plan for,
144
Ossification ratio or index of ossification, 40
Parents, as source of information, 61; attitude of, toward
grouping, 61


Parkhurst, Helen, referred to, 28
Passing mark, meaning of, 194
Past performance of pupils, significance of, for grouping, 134
Pedagogical age, defined, 42;
determination of, 97
Pedagogical standards, 137
Physical data and anatomical
maturity, 38
Physical development of children, 35
Physical standards, significance
of, for grouping, 134
Physician and nurse, need for,
62, 65
Physiological maturity, 31, 36
Physiological age defined, 36
Pintner, R., referred to, 83
Plan for making diagnosis chart,
outline of, 114
Pringle, Ralph W., cited, 15
Proctor, W. M., referred to, 60
Profile graphs, interpretation of,
107
Profiles, charting of, 109; described, 107
Puberity, variations in onset of,
16
Pubescence, social implications
of, 37
Pubescence and grading, 36
Pubescence and rate of growth,
37
Psychology of adolescence, 14 ff.
Radiographs and anatomical
maturity, 39
Rank in class, an indication of
school record, 48; item for
diagnosis  chart,  98,  119;
method of assigning, 48
Rapid Promotion group, organization of,130
Reliability of tests, 138
Remnitz, Annabel, referred to,
78
Responsibility of schools in law
enforcement, 7
Rousseau, J. J., referred to, 13,
Rudsill, E. S, cited, 7
Rudisill, E. S., cited, 76




INDEX '


223


Ryan-Crecelius, heights for boys,
92; heights for girls, 93;
weights for boys, 94; weights
for girls, 95
Sackett, C. H., cited, 148
Sangren, Paul V., cited, 56
School record, significance of,
for grouping, 48
Search, P. W., referred to, 26
Secondary education, effect of
economic factors on, 4; effect
of wealth on, 4; new conception of, 8
Secondary education and the
masses, 3
Secondary school, purpose of, 3
Sex differences, 125
Shearer, W. J., referred to, 24
Shewman, W. D., cited, 75
Simon, Dr. Th., referred to, 67
Slow pupil in mixed groups, 192
Social age, defined, 43; determination of, 96; discussed,
119; estimate of, 55; significance of, for grouping, 55;
suggestion for estimating, 58
Social cooperation, need for, 53
Social intelligence, example of,
171; tests for, 58
Social intelligence versus abstract intelligence, 58
Social maturity, 150
Social sense and leadership, 56
Social standards, 136
Spaulding, F. E., referred to, 27
Spearman, C., cited, 82, 84
Special groups, adjustment, 131,
143; rapid promotion, 130, 143
Spier, Leslie, cited, 41
Standardized tests, significance
of, for grouping, 54; teachers'
use of, 54; used in grouping, 58


Standards, maximum and minimum, 188; social, 136
Stenquist, J. L., cited, 76
Stormzand, Martin J., quoted, 9
Subjective analysis, improvement in, 54
Subjective opinion, inaccuracies
in, 51; reliability of, 60
Teachers as sources of information about pupils, 51; attitude
of, toward bright and dull
pupils, 191, 196
Teachers and standardized tests,
54
Terman, L. M., cited, 29, 150;
referred to, 60, 84
Testing and statistical method,
59
Tests of achievement, 59
Tests, reliability of, 138
Thorndike, E. L., cited, 81, 83
Thurstone, L. D., referred to, 83
Top B group, organization of,
126, 127; selection of candidates for, 139
Transfers from group to group,
139
Van Sickle, J. H., referred to, 25
Varner, G. F., cited, 54
Washburne, Carleton, referred
to, 27
Wealth, effect of, on secondary
education, 4
Weight... see Height
Winnetka plan, 27
Wood, Thomas, cited, 91 ff.
Woodrow, Herbert, cited, 33, 41;
referred to, 84
Worcester, D. A., cited, 44












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