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 COPYRIGHT DEPOSrr. 
 
The Junior High School 
 
 Its Feasibility in the 
 Catholic Educational System 
 
 Dissertation 
 
 Submitted to the Faculty of Philosophy of 
 
 the Catholic University of America 
 
 in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the 
 
 DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. JOSEPH E. HAMILL 
 Diocese of Indianapolis 
 
 Washington, D. C, 1922 
 
The Junior High School 
 
 Its Feasibility in the 
 Catholic Educational System 
 
 Dissertation 
 
 Submitted to the Faculty of Philosophy of 
 
 the Catholic University of America 
 
 in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the 
 
 DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. JOSEPH E. HAMILL 
 Diocese of Indianapolis 
 
 Washington, D. C, 1922 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The widespread and thorough consideration given to 
 every phase of the junior high school during the past 
 thirty years is evidence of its importance. The most 
 eminent educators of the country have studied the move- 
 ment and written on it. Practically every educational 
 association in the country has devoted much time to it 
 in its annual meeting. Boards of Education, superin- 
 tendents of school systems, the members of various 
 teacher organizations have become interested in it. A 
 rather extensive junior high school literature has devel- 
 oped and attempts have been made by a large number 
 of school systems to reorganize in conformity with the 
 theory. 
 
 There are many different viewpoints from which this 
 institution can be treated. The iDsychological aspect 
 presents many unsolved problems. Many philosophical 
 •questions in respect to the junior high school remain to 
 be settled. The advantages and disadvantages have not 
 been fully measured. Numerous administrative prob- 
 lems, such as securing or preparing qualified teachers, 
 determining methods of teaching, reorganizing the cur- 
 riculum, deciding the length of the recitation period, of 
 the school day and of the school year, etc., etc., must be 
 further studied and much experimentation done before 
 a solution of the difficulties involved can l)e reached. 
 
 The discussions of Catholic educators have been 
 confined for the most part to a general examination of 
 the theory, to some particular defects of the traditional 
 system, e. g., retardation, elimination and reorganiza- 
 tion of the elementary curriculum. No attempt has been 
 made to introduce the junior high school into the Catholic 
 system. The yjurpose of this dissertation is to offer a 
 general plan whereby this institution might be made a 
 
part of the Catholic system. With this end in view an 
 outline of the history of the movement is presented in 
 the first chapter. Its aims are discussed in the second. 
 In the third various views concerning the meaning of 
 the term, junior high school, are considered. Some of 
 the results obtained in junior high schools in the State 
 system are presented in the fourth. In the fifth and last 
 chapter the purposes of the junior high school are briefly 
 discussed in relation to the aims of Catholic education 
 and a plan suggested for its establishment in the Catholic 
 system. 
 
 The plan suggested is not expected to settle finally 
 this immensely important and intricate question, but is 
 offered with the hope that it may serve as a practical 
 basis for working out the details of a Catholic junior 
 high school. 
 
 The writer is pleased to acknowledge his indebted- 
 ness to all the professors of the University whose courses 
 he followed during his three years residence ; in particu- 
 lar he feels indebted to Very Reverend Doctor McCor- 
 mick under whose direction his major work was pursued. 
 Acknowledgment is made to the writers whose works 
 were used, especially to Doctors Thomas H. Briggs, 
 Calvin 0. Davis and Aubrey Augustus Douglass. To 
 the Right Reverend Joseph Chartrand, D.D., Bishop of 
 Indianapolis, the writer is particularly grateful for the 
 permission accorded him to spend three years in graduate 
 study at the Catholic University of America. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 Origin of the Junior High School Movement 
 
 The three decades between 1830 and 1860 approxi- ^ 
 mately represent the period of strui^;i;'le for i-cco.u'iiition 
 on the part of the graded system of elementary schools. 
 During this period, through the efforts of Horace Mann 
 in Massachusetts, Henry Barnard in Connecticut, John 
 D. Pierce in Michigan, and Calvin E. Stowe in Ohio, the 
 educational forces of the country were gradually con- 
 certed into a movement to organize the elementary 
 schools on a graded basis. During the early part of this 
 period the progress was slow, but by 1860 ''nearly every 
 city and town of any consequence in the country, as well 
 as many populous rural communities, had its own system 
 of elementary schools organized on a graded basis with 
 a definite course of study, embracing definite time limits, 
 the whole sanctioned and protected by legislative enact^ 
 ment."^ 
 
 In less than ten years after the advocates of the 
 graded system of elementary schools had won recogni- 
 tion for their views, a discussion was started by Harris, 
 superintendent of the St. Louis public schools, on its 
 disadvantages as it was then established. In his annual 
 reports issued between 1868 and 1875, Harris endeavored 
 to show that annual promotions with a common standard 
 for all children failed to provide for their different 
 capacities, temperaments, tastes and mental and physi- 
 cal endo^\Tnents. The responsibility for this failure, 
 according to Harris, rests upon the supporters of the 
 graded school who attempted to provide a system of 
 education for the average child, which child does not 
 exist. He contended that the system must be so modified 
 that it would deal justly, both with the child above the 
 
 1. Bunker, Frank Forest, Beorganization of the Fuhlic School System. 
 Bulletin, 1916, No. 8, U. S. Bureau of Education, page 34. 
 
2 The Junior li'ujh ScJiooJ 
 
 average and with the chikl below the average. As a 
 constrnctivo suggestion, he advanced his theory of fre- 
 quent classification and frequent promotion whereby, as 
 he believed, each child could find his level and not be 
 retarded by the superiority of some children or by the 
 inferiority of other children. The intent of Harris was to 
 provide an arrangement whereby, while children were 
 being educated in groups — an economic necessity as well 
 as a social advantage — their individual differences would 
 receive the proper consideration.^ 
 
 The scholarly treatment of the disadvantages of the 
 graded system l^y Harris and his clear and logical ex- 
 planation of his theory to remove these disadvantages 
 attracted the attention of a large number of eminent 
 educators throughout the country. While many of these 
 educators found sufficient reason in the arguments of 
 Harris to agree with his view^s, others did not hesitate 
 to disclose what they considered the shortcomings of the 
 plan and some even strenuously opposed its adoption. It 
 is noteworthy, however, that practically all the educators 
 of the country, who expressed opinions on the theory of 
 the St. Louis superintendent, acknowledged the existence 
 of the disadvantages he had pointed out, even though all 
 could not agree with his views relative to the remedy. 
 This general concession is very clearly stated in the 
 paper of Hon. E. E. White, of Ohio, read at the Conven- 
 tion of the N. E. A. held in Detroit in 1874. Speaking 
 in favor of the St. Louis plan of frequent classification 
 and frequent promotion, White declared : ''It is believed 
 by many experienced superintendents and other intelli- 
 gent observers that the universal experience of graded 
 schools condemns the prevalent ])ractice of promoting 
 children but once a year with a year's interval between 
 the classes."-^ 
 
 2. Beport of the United States Commissioner of Education, 1898 to 
 1899. Vol. I, page 304. 
 
 3. Ibid. p. 304. 
 
Its Feasibilitu in the Catholic Educational System 3 
 
 As a result of this general acknowledgment of 
 certain deficiencies in the promotional plans of the ele- 
 mentary schools, a great many different methods of solv- 
 ing the problem were advanced. A rather accurate sum- 
 mation of the methods proposed may be found in the 
 attempt of Dr. Philbeck in 1885 to harmonize these vary- 
 ing views. After reviewing the problems of promotion 
 and giving due consideration to prevalent practice, he 
 set forth the following conclusions: 
 
 1 — For the lower grades, annual promotion is not 
 sufficiently frequent. 
 
 2 — The quarterly promotion is perhaps too frequent, 
 especially if carried through all the grammar school 
 grades, necessitating quarterly graduation from the 
 grammar school and quarterly admission to the high 
 school. 
 
 3 — Better than either of these extremes is the plan 
 of semi-annual promotions in the lower grades and an- 
 nual in the upper. 
 
 4 — It should be understood that a division (that is, 
 the body of pupils in one room under one teacher) may 
 be composed of pupils belonging to two diiferent grades 
 or classes, if the just classification requires such an 
 arrangement. 
 
 5 — Promotions should be made both by classes and 
 individually. 
 
 6 — In determining the qualification of the pupil for 
 promotion, his mental capacity, physical condition and 
 age sliould he taken into account, as well as his scholastic 
 attainments ; the examiner should ask himself, is this 
 pupil capable of doing the work of the next class without 
 injury to himself? 
 
 7 — Promotion should not be made on the l)asis of a 
 predetermined percentage of examination results. Pro- 
 
4 The Junior High School 
 
 motion from class to class should be made hy the 
 principal. 
 
 8 — Promotion of primary scholars, comprising 
 pupils from five to eight or eight and a half years of 
 age, should not be made to depend on the result of a 
 written examination.^ These conclusions of Philbeck, 
 however, did not settle the question. 
 
 Many other plans of frequent promotion by which 
 it was hoped to prevent the retardation of the more 
 gifted children and not to overwork the less gifted were 
 devised a little later and introduced into school systems 
 in different parts of the country. In Batavia, New York, 
 a plan was introduced by which one-half of the teacher's 
 time might be free from class work, and might be devoted 
 to helping the pupils in their studies. When the number 
 ■ of pupils in one class exceeded fifty, an assistant teacher 
 was provided for the class so that recitation work and 
 assisting pupils in their study could go on simultaneously. 
 This plan has been in use for the past twenty years in this 
 city and has proven its value in decreasing retardation 
 and non-promotion. But it has been criticised on the 
 grounds that it tends toward producing average results 
 and thus fails to provide for the more gifted children.-^ 
 
 In Pueblo, Colorado, a plan somewhat similar to the 
 Batavia plan was worked out. In Pueblo, however, the 
 classes were small. Each class was divided into five 
 smaller groups of about the same size, and each of these 
 smaller groups progressed at different rates of speed. 
 The primary aim of this plan is to provide for the needs 
 of the individual pupil. It was arranged that children 
 could pass from one group to another as their progress 
 warranted. The ease with which pupils were transferred 
 from one division to another under this plan practically 
 eliminated non-^jromotion.^ 
 
 4. Circular of Information, No. 1, 1885, U. S. Bureau of Education. 
 
 5. Cubbory, Ellwood P., Puhlic School Administration, pp. 301-302. 
 Houfthton Mifflin Co., New York. 
 
 G. Ibid. p. 302. 
 
Its Feasihility in the Catholic Educational System 5 
 
 The new Cambridge plan is another effort to over- 
 come the problem of retardation and non-promotion. In 
 this plan two elementary courses were arranged, one 
 consisting of six years, the other of eight. The children 
 who were able to finish the elementary school in six years 
 were given an opportunity to do so, while those* who 
 needed eight years were permitted to proceed at a rate 
 compatible with their ability. There must be some fail- 
 ures in this plan for it is hardly probable that all children 
 will be able to proceed as rapidly as the eight year course 
 demands. Provision was made for this contingency to 
 some extent by dividing each class into three groups. 
 Due to this arrangement the child that fails is obliged 
 to repeat only one-third of a year and not an entire year.^ 
 This plan has been widely used in large school systems, 
 but is obviously unsuited to small systems. 
 
 Similar plans were worked out in Portland, North 
 Denver, Elizabethto^\^l, Baltimore, and in several other 
 places. The underlying principle is to prevent the re- 
 tardation of the brightest children and to provide for the 
 differences of children. Each of these plans, in the opin- 
 ion of authorities, has some excellent features and has 
 produced excellent results where introduced, but no one 
 of them proved to be entirely satisfactory .<? 
 
 The period (1860-1890) that marked the attempts to 
 remedy the defects of the elementary school may, gen- 
 erally speaking, be said to embrace the same years that 
 witnessed the struggle for existence of the high school. 
 Before 1860 there were few such institutions, although 
 the high school movement had begun as early as 1821 
 with the establishment of the English classical high 
 school of Boston. The number of these schools estab- 
 lished between 1860 and 1890 has been variously esti- 
 mated by a numlier of writers. However, there seems 
 to be no satisfactory data prior to 1890, when the com- 
 
 7. Ibid. pp. 304-305. 
 
 8. Ibid. pp. 305-308. 
 
6 The Junior High School 
 
 missioiicr of education began to give some figures.^ But 
 it was not nntil well on into the last half of the nineteenth 
 century that the right of the State to establish high 
 schools and to support tliem from the public treasury was 
 recognized.^^ These high schools at first, however, 
 varied so greatly in regard to time allotment for com- 
 pleting their courses that in 1888 the National Educa- 
 tional Association adopted a formal resolution demand- 
 ing that the high school period be made uniformly four 
 years.^^ From that time on to the present, high schools 
 have multiplied very rapidly in all parts of the country. 
 In 1890 there were 1657^^ high schools in the whole 
 country. In 1916 this number had increased to 14,206.^'^ 
 During this time special attention was given to the 
 problem of satisfying the demands of those who were 
 and those who were not preparing for college. 
 
 During approximately the same period (1860-1890) 
 that has been designated as the period of development 
 of the elementary school and the period of struggle for 
 existence of the high school, the president and faculty 
 of Harvard University began another very interesting 
 and important investigation in the field of higher educa- 
 tion. In his report for the scholastic year, 1872-1873, 
 President Eliot called attention to the steadily increas- 
 ing age at which students enter college. He stated, in 
 this report, that ^'the average age of admission has grad- 
 ually risen until it is now a little over 18 years, and the 
 college faculty, thinking that age to be high enough, do 
 not wish to require for admission anything more than a 
 
 9. Inglis, Alexander, "Principles of Secondary Education, p. 194. 
 Houghton Mifflin Co., New York. 
 
 10. Johnston, Charles H., and others, "High School Education," p. 
 G4. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. 
 
 11. Proceedings, N. E. A., 1888, pp. 403-404. 
 
 12. Estimate of Dexter, Edwin G., "A History of Education in the 
 United States," p. 173. New York, 1904. 
 
 13. Ecport of the U. S. Commissioner of Education, 1917, Vol. II, 
 p. 543. 
 
Its Fcasihilitij in the Catholic Educational System 7 
 
 boy of eighteen of fair capacity and industry may rea- 
 sonably be expected to have learned. "^^ 
 
 Again in 1885-1886, President Eliot noted that the 
 average age of admission to college had increased to such 
 an extent that ' ' abont two-fifths of the freshmen are over 
 nineteen at entrance. "^^ This situation determined the 
 faculty to seek for a remedy whereby the average age of 
 entrance to college might be reduced to eighteen years. 
 Four different proposals were made by the Harvard 
 faculty as possible solutions of this particular problem. 
 The first three of these proposals were confined chiefly 
 to suggested changes within the college itself.^^ The 
 fourth proposal was a call to those responsible for ele- 
 mentary and secondar}^ education to seek some means of 
 saving time in their respective fields. This last plan, 
 for remedying the specific problem of decreasing the 
 average age at which students enter college, was placed 
 before the educational w^orld by President Eliot in 1888 
 in that famous address which is commonly considered the 
 beginning of the movement to investigate the entire 
 school sj^stem of this country with a view to reorganizing 
 the three great divisions of education according to their 
 natural functions and their true relationships. 
 
 In this address President Eliot declared: ''The 
 average age of admission to Harvard College has been 
 rising for sixty years past, and has now reached the 
 extravagant limit of eighteen years and ten months." 
 This condition, he believed, w^as so unreasonable that he 
 further declared : "Some remedy is urgently demanded." 
 Then, after pointing out the arguments in favor of short- 
 ening and enriching the school program. President Eliot 
 suggested the following means to accomplish .the neces- 
 sary reform : 
 
 14. Harvard Reports, 1872-1873, p. 10. 
 
 15. Harvard Reports, 1885-1886, p. 7. 
 
 16. Bunker, Frank Forest, op. cit., p. 44. 
 
8 The Junior High School 
 
 1 — Better teachers must be secured. This can be 
 done by providing a more secure tenure of office and by 
 increasing the proportion of male teachers in the schools. 
 
 2 — More substantial and more interesting programs 
 must be provided. 
 
 3 — The time allotted to elementary education must 
 be shortened. 
 
 -The erroneous notion of teachers that it is nec- 
 essary for the child to master one thing before he goes 
 to another and the undue caution of parents on the other 
 hand to prevent overpressure must be removed. 
 
 5 — The school hours, which have been decidedly 
 shortened during the past two generations, must be 
 lengthened.^^ 
 
 This paper of President Eliot was widely read and 
 discussed by college and university professors and edu- 
 cators throughout the country.^^ His emphasis of the 
 importance of the problem and a realization that the 
 existence of many deficiencies in the several divisions of 
 the educational system had been acknowledged for a long 
 time, caused the leading educators of the country to turn 
 their attention to a consideration of the entire range of 
 the school system in order to determine what should be 
 done. 
 
 In 1892, the National Educational Association ap- 
 pointed a committee of ten to investigate the secondary 
 schools of the country. Owing to the close relationship 
 of these schools to the elementary schools on the one side 
 and to the colleges on the other, this investigation neces- 
 sarily involved the study of many problems that affect 
 the whole educational system. The recommendation of 
 this committee that directly affected the elementary 
 
 17. Address in full in Proceedings of the Department of Superinten- 
 dence of the National Educational Association, 1888, pp. 101-118. 
 
 18. Bunker, Frank F., op. cit., p. 47. 
 
Its Feasihilitij in the Catholic Educational System 9 
 
 schools and the high schools was the following: "In the 
 opinion of the committee, several subjects now reserved 
 for the high school, such as algebra, geometry, natural 
 science and foreign languages should be begun earlier 
 than now; or as an alternative, the secondary school 
 period should be made to begin two years earlier than at 
 present, leaving six years instead of eight for the elemen- 
 tary school period. "^'^ 
 
 This report, wiiich received considerable attention 
 in all parts of the country, and which w^as discussed 
 quite generally in educational publications l)y well-knoAvn 
 writers, was proba])ly responsible for the appointment in 
 the same year of the committee of fifteen on elementary 
 education by the department of superintendence of the 
 National Educational Association. This committee for- 
 mulated a series of questions which w^ere sent to repre- 
 sentative school men and women in all sections of the 
 country. The report of the committee was based to a 
 great extent upon the replies to these questions and for 
 this reason, the opinion expressed by the committee may 
 be considered fairly representative of the general senti- 
 ment of the country. In view of the answers received to 
 the direct qustion: "Should the elementary course be 
 eight years and the secondary course four years, as at 
 present? Or should the elementary course be six years 
 and the secondary course six years ?""'^ The committee 
 reported: "Your committee is agreed that the time de- 
 voted, to elementary school work should not be reduced 
 from eight years, but they have recommended, as herein- 
 before stated, that in the seventh and eighth years a 
 modified form of algebra be introduced in place of ad- 
 vanced arithmetic and that in the eighth year English 
 grammar yield place to Latin. This makes, in their 
 opinion, a proper transition to the studies of the secon- 
 dary school and is calculated to assist the pupil materially 
 
 19. Beport of the Committee of Ten, p. 45. 
 
 20. Report of the Committee of Fifteen on Elementary Education, 
 p. 10. 
 
10 The Junior High School 
 
 in liis preparation for that work. Hitherto the change 
 from the work of the elementary school has been too 
 abrupt. "^^ On the question of differentiated courses and 
 departmental teaching, the members of the committee 
 did not agree/^ 
 
 The next study made under the auspices of the Na- 
 tional Educational Association was in charge of a com- 
 mittee on college entrance requirements. The findings 
 of this committee were presented to the department of 
 secondary education of the N. E. A. at the meeting of the 
 Association held in Los Angeles in 1899. In this report 
 it was strongly recommended : *^That the last two grades 
 that now precede the high school should be incorporated 
 in it. "^'^ One reason given for this view was that the 
 work required in the high school was in the judgment of 
 the committee more than could be done in the period of 
 time allotted to it. Ijn addition to this argument from 
 authority, the committee held that the child reaches a 
 natural turning point in his life at the end of the sixth 
 grade rather than at the end of the ninth ; that this new 
 arrangement of time would permit other changes which 
 would provide for an easy transition from the elemen- 
 tary to the secondary school; that this arrangement 
 would tend to lessen elimination, and finally that it would 
 provide a better articulated system of education.^^ 
 X The second period of the discussion of the problem 
 
 raised by President Eliot was devoted to the considera- 
 tion of practical ways and means of bringing about this 
 dosired reorganization of the school system. This period 
 extended approximately from 1900 to 1912.^^ During the 
 first four years practically every phase of the question 
 of reorganization received consideration and nearly all 
 of the present-day arguments for and against a reorgan- 
 
 21. Ibid. p. 95. 
 
 22. Ibid. p. 196. 
 
 23. Beport of the Committee on College Entrance Becjuirements. p. 2?,. 
 
 24. Ibid. p. 30, et soq. 
 
 25. Bunker, Frank F., op. cit., p. 73. 
 
Its Feasihilitij in the Catholic Educational System 11 
 
 ization of both the elementary and the high school may 
 be found in the literature dealing with the question/^ 
 The tendency to shorten the time allotted to elementary 
 education gradually grew very much stronger from 1900 
 to 1910 and in 1914, Kingsley stated that the old plan of 
 devoting eight years to elementary and four years to 
 secondary education was rapidly becoming obsolete/" 
 
 The National Educational Association continued its 
 investigation during this second period through the Na- 
 tional Council of Education and the Department of 
 Secondary Education. The progress of the movement 
 was also aided by the studies of the University of 
 Chicago and its affiliated schools under the leadership 
 of President Harper, as well as by the work of the New 
 York and Brooklyn Teachers' Association. Furthermore, 
 the contributions of Professor Dewey, of Superintendent 
 Greenwood, of Kansas City, and the paper of Dr. Little 
 '* Should the Course of Study be Equally Divided Be- 
 tween the Elementary School and the Secondary 
 School!" together Avith the work of President Baker, 
 Drs. Hanus, Snedden and Prichett, and many other edu- 
 cators and educational associations, laid the foundation 
 for the practical experiments which were to be made 
 during the third period of this movement. 
 
 During these first two decades, however, effort was 
 not confined entirely to theoretical discussion. Besides 
 the frequent promotion plans adopted at Batavia, Cam- 
 bridge, Pueblo and elsewhere, a number of other attempts 
 were made by superintendents in different parts of the 
 country to improve conditions in the schools under their 
 direction. There was a general tendency in those places 
 where nine years had been given to elementary educa- 
 tion to reduce the time to eight and in the South where 
 the high school course was quite generally limited to 
 
 26. Douglass, Aubrey A., TJie Junior High School, p. 11. Fifteenth 
 Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part III. 
 Public School Publishing Co., Bloomington, 111. 
 
 27. Proceedings of the N. E. A. 1914, pp. 483-488. 
 
12 The Junior High School 
 
 three years, there was a noticeable tendency to add a 
 year and thus conform to common practice. Then too, 
 plans were devised in a number of cities to make their 
 systems of promotion so flexible that some children might 
 complete the elementary course in a shorter time and 
 certain other children might be given more time than 
 was generally required/^ 
 
 Out of all the discussion and experiment, therefore, 
 of the first two periods of this movement came a rather 
 definite opinion that the best solution of the problem lay 
 in lengthening the time devoted to secondary education 
 and shortening the time commonly given to elementary 
 school work, and a number of cities at a comparatively 
 early date began to reconstruct their school systems in 
 accordance with this new theory. In these attempts at 
 reorganization, the junior high school was born because, 
 in almost every instance where an attempt was made to 
 improve the existing system, are found one or more of 
 the features that are now quite commonly accepted as 
 characteristics of this institution. 
 
 In Richmond, Indiana, since 1896, the seventh and 
 eighth grades have been housed in a separate building 
 centrally located where the work is carried on depart- 
 mentally. Then, too, different courses of study have been 
 offered ^'a Latin course, a German course, and one in 
 which the study of English predominates. "-•'' In June, 
 1898, a six-year high school course of study was adopted 
 for the six upper grades in Saginaw, Michigan ; between 
 1896 and 1910, seventeen other cities are mentioned by 
 (Bunker as having similarly reorganized, illustrating the 
 tendency to depart from the 8-4 plan.-^^ /Douglass, how- 
 ever, contends that from the standpoint of the present 
 conception of the Junior High School, the pioneers are 
 Columbus, Ohio (1909); Berkeley, California (1910); 
 
 28. Bunker, op. cit., p. 76. 
 
 29. Mott, T. A., Correlation of high school and grammar school work. 
 Proceedings, N. E. A., 1901, p. 277. 
 
 30. Bunker, op. cit., pp. 79 to 87. 
 
 J 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 13 
 
 Concord, N. H. (1910), and Los Angelcn, California 
 1911)/^ Inglis agrees with Douglass. In this connec- 
 tion he states: "While numerous attempts had been 
 made previously in different parts of the country to re- 
 organize the work of the late grades of the elementary, 
 the real beginning of the present junior high school or 
 intermediate school movement is probably to be found 
 in the reorganization of the school systems in Columbus, 
 Ohio (1908); Berkeley, California (1910); Concord, 
 New Hampshire (1910), and Los Angeles, California 
 (1911)."^^ 
 
 From 1910 up to the outbreak of the World War, the 
 number of places that reorganized their educational sys- 
 tems in whole or in part increased from year to year. 
 The progress of the movement was interrupted during 
 the period of the war, but now there are evident signs 
 of the resumption of the work of establishing junior high 
 schools, especially in the larger cities. 
 
 To show the rapid progress of the junior high school 
 movement, its advocates have compiled a number of 
 statistical tables, a few of which are reproduced here. 
 None of these tables pretends to be mathematically exact, 
 nor is it claimed that every school listed is a full-fledged 
 junior high school. Assuming that every city or town 
 which claims to have a junior high school really has one, 
 or at least has made some effort to readjust its school 
 system in accord with this theory, it seems clear that the 
 new movement has been very widely accepted in a rather 
 short space of time. 
 
 The following table is taken from Douglass.-''^ It 
 shows the years of organization of 159 junior high 
 schools : 
 
 31. Douglass, op. cit., jip. 25 and 26s 
 
 32. Inglis, Alexander, Frinciples of Secondary Education, p. 292. 
 Houghton Mifflin Co., New York. 
 
 33. Douglass, A., op. cit., p. 25. 
 
14 
 
 The Junior High School 
 
 is:)6 
 
 '98 
 
 '9<) 1900 
 
 '02 
 
 '04 
 
 '07 
 
 '08 
 
 '09 
 
 '10 
 
 '11 
 
 '12 
 
 '13 
 
 '14 
 
 '15 
 
 '16 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 1 1 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 14 
 
 31 
 
 41 
 
 36 
 
 13 
 
 Beiiiiett-^^ gives a list of the junior high schools in 
 existence in 1916. ' ' Reports show them distributed among 
 the States as follows": 
 
 Indiana 24 
 
 Minnesota 24 
 
 North Dakota ... 20 
 Pennsylvania ... 16 
 
 California 15 
 
 Kansas 13 
 
 New York 13 
 
 Illinois 9 
 
 Massachusetts ... 8 
 
 Michigan 8 
 
 Oregon 7 
 
 Idaho 6 
 
 Nebraska 6 
 
 New Jersey 6 
 
 Ohio 5 
 
 OkUihoma 5 
 
 Tennessee 5 
 
 Texas 5 
 
 Colorado 4 
 
 Missouri 4 
 
 Montana 4 
 
 South Dakota ... 4 
 
 Utah 4 
 
 Virginia 4 
 
 Wyoming 4 
 
 Washington 3 
 
 Iowa 3 
 
 Connecticut 2 
 
 Kentucky 2 
 
 Maine 2 
 
 Vermont 2 
 
 Alabama 1 
 
 Arizona 1 
 
 Arkansas 1 
 
 Florida 1 
 
 Georgia 1 
 
 New Hampshire . 1 
 Rhode Island ... 1 
 
 According to the above table, there were 254 junior 
 high schools in existence in 1916, and these were distrib- 
 uted throughout 38 States. The following year, Briggs 
 found that there were 791 schools of this type in the 
 United States and one or more was established in each 
 of the 48 States. The distribution of these 791 junior 
 high schools among tlie different States is shown in table 
 No. VII, p. 61, in Briggs' work on the junior high school. 
 Assuming that these two tabulations are equally ac- 
 curate, it seems reasonable to conclude that the changes 
 in so far, at least, as the extent of the movement is con- 
 cerned, are taking place so rapidly that any calculation 
 of the number of junior high schools in existence will 
 be quite unreliable after the lapse of one year. For tlic 
 
 34. Bcnnott, G. Voniou, TIic Junior Tligh ScJiool, p. .'i9. Bultin^ore, 
 Warwick aud York, 1919. 
 
Beiggs' Table (1917) 
 
 Indiana 46 
 
 California 51 
 
 Its Feasibiliti) in the Catholic Educational System L3 
 
 sake of illustration, a few of the more notable changes 
 shown in the two lists are set down in the following two 
 columns : 
 
 Bennett's Table (1916) 
 
 Indiana 24 
 
 California 15 
 
 Massachusetts Si Massachusetts 79 
 
 New York 13 i New York 47 
 
 Iowa 3 j Iowa 40 
 
 Illinois 9 Illinois 29 
 
 Ohio 5 Ohio 34 
 
 Utah 4 Utah 31 
 
 Oklahoma 5 Oklahoma 25 
 
 Missouri 4 | Missouri 21 
 
 Probably the latest attempt that has been made to 
 list the junior high schools in this country is found in 
 ''The Junior High Clearing House" for April, 1920. 
 Here these schools are enumerated according to the size 
 of the city or town in which they are located. The fol- 
 lowing table is compiled from the data contained in this 
 list: 
 
 Table 
 
 Population 
 
 No. of Schools 
 
 100,000 or more 
 
 81 
 
 30,000 - 100,000 
 
 91 
 
 10,000- 30,000 
 
 88 
 
 5,000- 10,000 
 
 101 
 
 The total according to this reckoning is 361. It must 
 be noted, however, that only places of 5,000 or more 
 inhabitants are mentioned. According to this same pub- 
 lication: "There are upwards of 2,000 schools in the 
 United States which have junior high schools in name 
 or in fact."-^^ 
 
 35. The Junior Cloariug- liouse, Vol. 1, March to April, 1921, No. 8, 
 p. 4. 
 
16 The Junior High School 
 
 The number of variations in the attempts made to 
 determine the extent of this movement is very large and 
 clearly shows that there is as yet no common acceptation 
 of the meaning of the term ''Junior High School." This 
 is the condition at the present time. It seems to indicate 
 quite clearly that attention just now is centered upon 
 testing the workahility of every proposal suggested. The 
 underlying principles of the theory are generally ac- 
 cepted. The many plans devised to translate these prin- 
 ciples into practice are being tested in the laboratory 
 of the school room. The junior high school is still in the 
 developmental stage. Nevertheless the experimeiits that 
 have already been made are sufficient to suggest that the 
 junior high school in some form will soon be an integral 
 part of the school sj^stem in this country. 
 
Its Feasihility in the Catholic Educational System 17 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 The Purposes of the Junior High School 
 
 The criticisms that have been hurled at the school 
 system in our country during the past thirty years leave 
 no doubt that there exists a wide-spread dissatisfaction 
 with the waste in education and with the results obtained 
 under the conventional type of school organization. The 
 literature of this period is filled Avith complaints from 
 men in all walks of life that our educational system is 
 not efficient, that it is not economical. The practical 
 efforts made to secure better methods of grading and 
 greater flexibility in promotion; the introduction of de- 
 partmental teaching and modified forms of election in 
 the upper grades of the elementary school ; the attempts 
 to enrich the curriculum ; and the introduction of manual 
 training in the seventh and eighth grades are further 
 evidence of the general conviction that the existing sys- 
 tem was far from perfect. 
 
 This general dissatisfaction was naturally followed 
 by a strong demand for remedies. In an attempt to meet 
 this demand, the educators of the country started a move- 
 ment for complete reorganization of our educational 
 system — elementary, secondary and higher. The result 
 of the theoretic discussion and experimentation, occa- 
 sioned by this movement, will be, it is hoped, an educa- 
 tional system in which the divisicjiis will be determined, 
 not by any arbitrary method, but by their natural func- 
 tions and their natural relationship. 
 
 The three-fold division of the educative process, ele- 
 mentary, secondary and higher, has been accepted from 
 very early times, but every attempt to determine the 
 boundary lines of each division has been unsatisfactory. 
 An exact definition of elementary education, of secon- 
 dary education, and of higher education is indispensable 
 
18 The Junior High School 
 
 for satisfactory reorganization. A clear distinction be- 
 tween elementary and secondary education is particularly 
 important for the phase of the movement with which the 
 junior high school is concerned. Hence, it will be nec- 
 essary to point out the bases upon which this distinction 
 is made in order to define the purposes of the junior high 
 school. 
 
 One basis, commonly used in the past, is the chrono- 
 logical age of the student. The failure of this criterion is 
 clearly seen in the actual age-grade distribution of chil- 
 dren in the United States. Ingiis^ found that children 
 twelve and thirteen yeai's of age are found in every grade 
 f I'om the first in the elementary school to the second year 
 in higli school; children of fourteen, from the first year in 
 school to the third year in high school ; and in all grades 
 he found some pupils fifteen, sixteen and seventeen years 
 old. 
 
 In a similar way, it has been shown that distinction 
 based on social factors, though of considerable impor- 
 tance in other countries, until quite recently at least, is 
 insignificant in this country. Neither does the distinction 
 based upon studies conform to present day theory, 
 although as late as 1912, the Federal Bureau formulated 
 this definition of a secondary or high school student: 
 ''Secondary student (or high school student) should be 
 taken as meaning a student who has completed an ele- 
 mentary school course of at least seven years in length 
 (ordinarily eight) or its equivalent, and has pursued 
 within the last year two recognized high school studies ; 
 e. g., Latin, French, Algebra, Geometry, Physical Geog- 
 raphy, Physics or General History."^ 
 
 The psychological and physiological development of 
 the children is another basis for a distinction. It has 
 been more frequently and persistently defended as the 
 
 1. Prini-iples of Sccondarij Educatiov, j). 5. Houghton Mifflin Co., 
 N. Y. 
 
 L\ Bulletin U. S. Bureau of Educ-ation, No. 22, p. 5 (1912). 
 
Its Feasihilitij in the Catholic Educational System 19 
 
 true basis for the distinction than any other one factor. 
 Examination of chiklren in school, however, has revealed 
 the fact that the majority of children in the elementary 
 school are immature and the majority in the high school 
 are mature. And these investigations have further 
 demonstrated that the pupils of the last two grades of 
 the elementary school and the first of the high school are 
 so mixed that a distinction between elementary and 
 secondary education based upon the stage of development 
 of the children is impossible at this most important 
 point.-? Moreover, Inglis found that the children in the 
 first six grades are nearly all immature and those in the 
 last three grades of the high school are nearly all ma- 
 ture.^ This would leave a group of children approxi- 
 mately twelve to fifteen years of age who might be classed 
 as intermediate pupils, i. e., neither elementary nor 
 secondary, but between the two. Only in general are 
 these last two statements true for Crampton,^ also 
 Douglass, has shown from figures that physiological and 
 chronological age do not coincide.^ Hence, physiological 
 and psychological development, although very important 
 factors, do not otf er a sufficient basis upon which to make 
 the distinction. 
 
 These bases of distinction are the principal ones that 
 have been advocated. But no one of them has been gen- 
 erally accepted. Now, in order to establish a uniform 
 •basis of distinction, and one which seems to conform to 
 scientific educational theory, the advocates of the junior 
 high school idea have adopted tentatively a definition of 
 elementary education and secondary education. Elemen- 
 tary education, according to them, is that portion of the 
 educative process which is proper for childhood and con- 
 
 3. Iiiolis^ op. cit., pp. 61-62. 
 
 4. Ibid. p. 262. 
 
 5. Crampton, C. W., Anatomical or phy.<iiological age versus chrovo- 
 logical age. Pedagogical Seminary, Vol. 15, pp. 230-237. 
 
 6. Douglass, The Junior High School, Fifteenth vearhook, Nat. Soc. 
 for the Study of Ed. Part III, pp. 39-44. 
 
20 The Junior High School 
 
 sists in the acquisition of the tools of education together 
 with those habits, attitudes, facts and ideals that are 
 necessary for social solidarity. Secondary education is 
 that portion of the educative process which is proper to 
 the adolescent period and consists in providing for the 
 ditferent capacities, aptitudes and interests of the indi- 
 vidual. ; 
 
 These same authorities further contend that it is 
 not just a matter of establishing a boundary line betw^een 
 elementary and secondary education, but that the organ- 
 ization within these divisions is not functioning as it 
 should in the lives of the students. It is very evident 
 that modern life has become so complex through the com- 
 paratively recent industrial, economic and social changes 
 that a larger and ever-increasing number of burdens are 
 being placed upon the school. The function of the school 
 of today, therefore, is quite different from what it was 
 a few decades ago. The conditions of living have become 
 so much more complex, so much more intricate, that the 
 home has been obliged to delegate to the school many 
 features of the child's education which, in times past, 
 were provided for very satisfactorily in the home by the 
 father and mother. Hence it seems quite reasonable that 
 the school, which supplied the educational needs of the 
 children who lived under conditions of comparative sim- 
 plicity in the past, is entirely inadequate to satisfy the 
 demands of the children of the present day. f To assist 
 then in providing a more efficient and more economical 
 system of education, to establish a more reasonable 
 boundary line between elementary and secondary educa- 
 tion, and at the same time to meet the increasing demands 
 of modern life on the school, the junior high school 
 movement was inaugurated. It is but one link in the 
 chain of innovations which are attempting a complete 
 readjustment of the entire educational system of the 
 country. 
 
Its Fcasihility in the Catholic Educational Siji^tem 21 
 
 Generally speaking, it is the purpose of the jmiior 
 high school to remedy the defects of the conventional 
 type of organization in the elementary and secondary 
 schools. For this reason it is deemed necessary to out- 
 line the defects of the existing system. 
 
 The first defect, from a chronological point of view, 
 to receive serious consideration was the waste of time 
 in the eight-four plan of organization. The most com- 
 mon argument to substantiate the reality of this defect 
 rests upon the results of a number of comparative studies 
 of educational systems Avhich have demonstrated that 
 secondary education is begun at a later period in the 
 child's life in this country than in any other country. 
 The German youth begins his secondary education at the 
 age of nine or ten ; the French youth at the age of ten or 
 eleven ; while in the United States boys and girls usually 
 do not enter high school until they have reached the age 
 of fourteen or fifteen. The opinions of prominent edu- 
 cators add weight to this argument. Claxton believes 
 "a careful study of schools in various parts of the coun- 
 try will reveal the fact that children now mark time to a 
 large extent through the seventh and eighth grades.^ 
 Koos^ goes even further than Claxton and says : ' ' There 
 is: ample evidence that eight years is more than should 
 be devoted to equipping a normal child with such com- 
 mand of these tools (of education) as he will need to 
 make possible his larger functional education." The 
 report^ of the .(Committee on Economy of Time in Educa- 
 tion declared: "six yeai's is sufficient for the normal 
 child." i This report of the committee is based upon the 
 replies ~'of a large number of educators thronghout the 
 country to a questionnaire. These answers indicate that 
 five-sixths of those who responded believe there is waste 
 
 7. Claxton, P. P., Junior High Cloariug House, Vol. I, No. 2, p. 14. 
 April, 1920. 
 
 8. The Junior Tligh School, pp. 31-32. 
 
 9. Eeport of the Committee on Economy of Time in Education, p. 65. 
 U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin No. 38, 1913. 
 
'22 The Junior Jlifjh l^^choo! 
 
 of time ill the elementary schools and two-thirds of them 
 think the time should be shortened. It seems, therefore, 
 to be generally admitted that too much time is given to 
 elementary education in the present system. 
 
 This rather general c<mviction that time was being 
 wasted in the schools occasioned a nnmber of investi- 
 gations to determine the causes of this waste so that 
 proper remedies might be applied. A number of studies 
 of the content of the different subjects of the curriculum, 
 such as Charters and Miller^^ made of the errors in 
 English common to children in the elementary school, 
 Ayers'^^ study showing the large number of words unnec- 
 essary taught ill spelling, and Wilson 's^^ finding of much 
 non-essential matter in arithmetic, furnish evidence that 
 considerable time is spent in teaching non-essential por- 
 tions of the various subjects. 
 
 Another cause of waste of time in the elementary 
 school is found in the many reviews and in the undue 
 amount of drill work with wdiich the curriculum is 
 crowded. The frequency of these reviews and the unnec- 
 essary amount of drill work, it is claimed, will be evident 
 to any one who takes the time to examine a number of 
 elementary school courses.^'^ On this topic Hill^^ dis- 
 covered that in 169 representative courses of study 40 
 per cent of the work assigned for the seventh and eighth 
 grades is review. Hill concludes that ''to argue that this 
 amount of review is needed in these grades is a sad com- 
 mentary on the work of the lower grades." 
 
 10. Charters, W. W. and Miller, E., '*A Course of Study in Grammar 
 Based upon the Grammatical Errors of School Children of Kansas City, 
 Missouri." Bulletin of the University of Missouri, Vol. XVI, No. 2. 
 
 11. Ayers, Leonard P., "Measurement of Ability in Spelling." Rus- 
 sel Sago Foundation. 
 
 12. Wilson, G. M., "/( Survey of the Social and Business Use of 
 Arithmetic." Sixteenth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study 
 of Education, Part II, Chapter VIII. 
 
 13. Cf. Article of Carohni II oof or in Elementary School Journal, Vol. 
 XIX, pp. 545-54. 
 
 14. State Normal School, Springfield, Missouri, Bulletin for October, 
 1915. 
 
Its Feasihilitjj in the Catholic Educational System 23 
 
 Other causes are mentioned in the answers received 
 by the Committee on Economy of Time in Education.^-^ 
 The following" appear to be typical: time is wasted 
 through "odds and ends, fads and frills generally." 
 "Among the causes (of waste of time) are: poor teach- 
 ing, poor text-books, needless multiplication of the sub- 
 jects taught, lack of continuity in its grades, such that 
 new personalities and new methods, as the pupils 
 advance, result in undoing what has already been done 
 and producing confusion rather than progress." There 
 is "waste in the elementary school, on account of the lack 
 of great, strong, enthusiastic teachers." Finally it is 
 reported that "one of the greatest sources of waste is 
 due to lack of medical inspection of school children." 
 
 While no one of the arguments brought forth to 
 prove that there is a waste of time in the elementary 
 schools would be sufficient to settle the question finally, 
 still when the weight of the accumulative argument is 
 considered, the advocates of reorganization believe, little 
 doubt can remain that waste of time is a real defect of 
 the present plan of elementary school organization in this 
 country. 
 
 One of the specific purposes then of the junior high 
 school is to remedy this outstanding defect. It proposes 
 to save one or even two years of time. Difiterent plans 
 have been suggested for the accomplishment of this task. 
 One plan would combine grades six, seven, eight and 
 nine in a way to permit the work of these four grades 
 to be done in three years, in the ordinary elementary 
 school. Upon the completion of the course in the elemen- 
 tary school the child enters the regular tenth grade of the 
 high school. Another plan that has been looked upon 
 with considerable favor is one in which grades seven, 
 eight, nine and ten are combined and the matter of these 
 
 15. Eeport of the Committee, p. 65. 
 
26 The Junior High School 
 
 between the best and the worst in a large nnmljer of 
 mental tests given to thousands of individuals may bo 
 seen in any of the works on mental measurements. In 
 view of the results of these mental tests, Starch-^ says: 
 "The investigation of this problem in recent years has 
 l)rought out the fact that the differences among humaii 
 beings are very much greater than has commonly been 
 thought. If Ave measure a group of pupils in a given 
 class or grade, we find that on the average the best pupil 
 is able to do from two to twenty-five times as much as 
 the poorest pupil, or is able to do the same task from 
 two to twenty-five times as well as the poorest pupil." 
 
 It is equally true that children differ in the keenness 
 of their powers of sensation; there are differences due 
 to experiences encountered before they entered school, 
 to peculiar advantages or disadvantages of home life, 
 to physical and mental defects; and, finally, children 
 differ in their capacities, tastes and interests. 
 
 That these individual differences of children must be 
 recognized and, as far as possible, be provided for by 
 the school seems to be obvious. To some extent, these 
 differences must receive consideration in the elementary 
 school, and, as is well known, attempts have been made 
 to provide for them through frequent promotional plans, 
 the establishment of special classes, by individualizing 
 the recitation, and by making assignments in the light 
 of individual needs. 
 
 These devices are insufficient for the seventh and 
 eighth grades of the elementary school, it is claimed by 
 the advocates of the junior high school. Something more 
 is needed along the line of differentiation for children of 
 these ages, something which the traditional school is not 
 able to provide. Briggs does not hesitate to say that 
 "even the beginning of differentiation is impossible in 
 
 21. Educational Psychology, pp. 28 and 29, New York. Macmillau Co., 
 ]019. 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 27 
 
 the usual elementary school. "^^ By gathering together 
 large numbers of children of approximately the same 
 stage of development into one school building it will be 
 possible to form classes m which the pupils will be of 
 about the same ability. 'This method of organization 
 provides the necessary conditions for departmental 
 teaching; it makes possible some election of studies; then 
 too a much enriched and enlarged program of studies 
 can be offered in the junior high school ; supervised study 
 is cared for ; especially qualified teachers are employed ; 
 there is room for vocational training and vocational 
 guidance. It is by means of these features of its organ- 
 ization that the junior high school is expected to make at 
 least a nearer approach than the traditional school to 
 giving every child the kind of education demanded by 
 his peculiar needs. 
 
 Before the differences in children can be properly 
 provided for they must be known. Granted that there 
 are differences in seventh and eighth grade pupils suffi- 
 ciently important to demand special recognition by the 
 school, it surely follows that the school must provide 
 for their discovery. Not even the better elementary 
 eight year elementary schools, it is claimed, can ade- 
 quately perform this function. On the other hand the 
 junior high school, through the features just enumer- 
 ated, so its defenders say, wdll achieve this purpose. 
 
 Recent studies have pointed out another condition 
 which is considered a defect in the elementary school. 
 Children were supposed to have completed the elemen- 
 tary course of study at the end of their eighth year 
 in school, but statistics show that this is far from 
 being the case. In the public schools in the State of 
 Michigan, it was found that the proportion of those 
 under-age, normal-age, and over-age in 227 cities and 
 
 22. Op. cit., p. 171. 
 
28 The Junior High School 
 
 toTvns \\itli au enrollment of 223,000 pupils was as 
 follows :~-^ 
 
 Under Age Normal Age Over Age 
 
 2 vears 1 vear 1 vr. 2 vrs. 3 vrs. 
 
 '.2 6.3 69.5 li.5 6.0 3.5 
 
 These figures illustrate the fact that children in large 
 numbers, who should be in high school, are still lingering 
 on in one grade or another of the elementary school.^^ 
 "While it must be remembered that many causes of re- 
 tardation are beyond the control of the school, as sick- 
 ness, late entrance, certain physical defects, and less than 
 average mental endowments, it is generally conceded 
 that, due to the traditional type of organization, many 
 children are permitted to remain in the same grade for 
 two, three, and even four years without appreciable 
 benefit. 
 
 The junior high school, it is believed, will be a strong 
 means of preventing retardation when the causes of this 
 evil are such as can be controlled. For instance, this 
 form of organization will relieve the congested conditions 
 by removing the seventh and eighth grades from the 
 elementary school and the ninth grade from the high 
 school: it will make possible the classification of pupils 
 in homogeneous groups; it will provide differentiated 
 courses of study. Furthermore, it is claimed that better 
 teaching will result from the junior high school plan 
 and this, of itself, must contribute no small share toward 
 the reduction of retardation. Poor teaching is recog- 
 nized as one of the leading causes of retardation in the 
 ordinary school. Xot only will the retardation of seventh 
 and eighth grade pupils be lessened, but the conditions 
 in the lower grades are also expected to be remedied to 
 some extent through the establishment of junior high 
 schools. 
 
 23. Berrv. A Study of Retardation, Acceleration, Elimination and 
 Repetition in the PuhUc Elementary Schools of Michipon. Ann Arbor. 
 Micli.. 1916. 
 
 C-i. Inglis, op. cit.. pp. 5-7. 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 29 
 
 Closely related to retardation is another condition 
 commonly considered a defect of tlie conventional plan 
 of elementary school organization. The large number of 
 children who leave school before they have completed 
 even the elementary course and the still greater number 
 that never enters high school are generally accepted as 
 evidence that the organization and the method of proce- 
 dure in our schools are wrong. Under any school sys- 
 tem, there will necessarily be a certain amount of elimina- 
 tion, due to such uncontrollable factors as death, 
 economic conditions, change of residence, and^ other 
 similar causes, but such factors alone are insufficient to 
 explain the amount of elimination, found in the schools 
 of the United States. The general condition of the 
 schools of the country relative to elimination may be seen 
 in the diagram designed for bulletin No. 24 (1920), U. S. 
 Bureau of Education. This graph shows the per cent 
 of children of each age from 5 to 20 years enrolled in the 
 public schools of 80 cities in 1918. The conditions in 
 these 80 cities are probably typical of conditions in city 
 school systems of the country.^^ 
 
 25. Statistics of City School Systems. Bulletin 1920, No. 24, p. 94, 
 U. S. Bureau of Education. 
 
30 
 
 The Junior High School 
 
 /ess 
 
 S 9 
 
 to II iz t3 f4 If (6 /7 '9 fJ 20 & 
 
 nja 
 
 Eifiyyiaied ioeKcef^ta<^ e. of chi/dt^e/i of 
 
 each cige enfol/ed itifhe public schools of- 
 SOcitlei tn 19/8. 
 
Its Feasihility in the Catholic Educational System 31 
 
 Among the causes of elimination for which the school 
 is believed to he accountable, are unnecessary retarda- 
 tion, failure to provide for individual differences, ineffi- 
 cient enforcement of. attendance laws, and .(the lack of 
 proper articulation between the elementary and the 
 secondary schools. The changed conditions to which the 
 pupil must adjust himself on entering high school are 
 so numerous and abrupt that scarcely tifty per cent of 
 the pupils are able to meet them^^ Every one recognizes 
 that the methods of teaching in the high school must 
 differ from those in the elementary school. Departmental 
 teaching is generally accepted as a necessity; so too is 
 some form of election of courses or subjects ; the subject- 
 matter itself is almost entirely new; different buildings 
 must be used; the form of discipline must change; in a 
 word a completely new environment must be entered. 
 Every one of these adjustments, it is true, must be made, 
 but that they must all be made at one time is not so 
 certain. The very fact that, under the existing plan of 
 school organization, the cliild is required to make so 
 many new adjustments abruptly is believed to be the 
 cause of no small amount of unjustifiable elimination. 
 
 As indicated before, the features of the junior high 
 school are not of such a nature that a particular feature 
 or combination of features is designed to accomplish 
 one purpose without having any bearing on other pur- 
 poses of the institution. There is necessarily an over- 
 lapping. By the very fact that the junior high school 
 provides ways and means for the prevention of retarda- 
 tion, it tends to reduce elimination, for retardation is 
 recognized as a cause of elimination. In like manner 
 provision for individual differences must have a whole- 
 some effect on elimination. To provide a remedy for 
 this particular defect, however, is one of the chief aims 
 of this institution, especially in grades seven, eight and 
 nine, where the bulk of elimination takes place. The 
 
 26. Inglis, op. cit., p. 128. 
 
32 The Junior High School 
 
 special measure for the accomplishment of this purpose 
 is commonly spoken of as "bridging the gap'- between 
 the elementary and secondary schools. It consists in 
 making possible a gradual transition from one division 
 of the school to the other through the introduction of 
 partial departmental teaching, methods of teaching 
 especially adapted to the adolescent, and such a reorgan- 
 ization of the curriculum as will avoid the necessity, on 
 the part of the child, of beginning a large numl)er of new 
 subjects at the same time. 
 
 In addition to the purposes treated, which seem to 
 have received the widest consideration, a number of 
 others are mentioned by different writers on the subject. 
 The junior high school is intended to relieve the con- 
 gested conditions of the schools ; to utilize old high school 
 buildings that have been replaced by new ones and are 
 too good to be torn down; to atfect financial economy; 
 to provide for better teaching; to hasten needed reform 
 in both the elementary and high schools ; to offer the 
 necessary conditions for supervised study, explorational 
 guidance, pre-vocatioiial work at an earlier age; to make 
 easier desired reforms ; to separate, for educational pur- 
 poses, the adolescents from younger and older children ; 
 to encourage initiative ; to provide for the gradual change 
 from dependence on others to dependence on self; and to 
 provide for the separation of the sexes.^^ 
 
 Briefly, then, the purpose of the junior high school 
 is to remedy tJie defects of the traditional scliool and to 
 provide for the peculiar needs of adolescents. This 
 implies that the junior high school will effect a saving o'' 
 time ; that it will offer the means of providing the neces- 
 sary amount of differentiation for children from 12 to 
 15 years of age; that it will close the so-called gap that 
 exists between the elementary and high schools ; that it 
 will necessitate a complete reorganization of the curricu- 
 lum; that it will afford equal opportunity to all children 
 
 '27. Koos, op. cit., pp. 18-19. 
 
Its Feasibilitjj in the Cathvlic Educational System 33 
 
 for an education; and finally that all children who are 
 compelled to leave school at the end of the junior high 
 school course will have been prepared as well as they 
 could be for their future lives. In a word the junior 
 high school is expected to bring about such changes in 
 the school system as will enable every child to receive 
 the best education his circumstances will permit, wdth 
 the least possible outlay of time, money and energy. Even 
 the most enthusiastic supporters of the junior high 
 school, of course, do not claim that it is a sure cure for 
 all educational ills ; but they do claim the theory to be so 
 far superior to the theory undGrl3dng the common prac- 
 tice of today that the results which may reasonably be 
 expected from the junior high school are more than 
 sufficient to warrant its introduction. 
 
34 The Junior High School 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 What Is the Junior High School? 
 
 The junior high school, as was indicated in the two 
 preceding* chapters, is the outgrowth of a rather general 
 dissatisfaction with the organization of our educational 
 system. When the fact became known that this system 
 was not functioning satisfactorily, educators began an 
 investigation to determine the reasons for this failure. 
 These investigations revealed many defects in the entire 
 educational organization, but attention was gradually 
 focussed on the last two grades of the elementary and 
 the first grade of the high schools. From an analysis of 
 the weaknesses discovered at these points, a conviction 
 was formed that a complete reorganization of elementary 
 and secondary education was necessary. The efforts to 
 work out a plan by which this reorganization might be 
 accomplished and the apparent defects removed, brought 
 forth an entirely new institution — the junior high school. 
 The purpose of this chapter is an attempt to answer the 
 question — what is a junior high school! 
 
 At the present time there does not exist a generally 
 accepted or uniform definition of this new institution. 
 There are two kinds of definitions, however, which are 
 available. One may be designated the theoretical, be- 
 cause it is based almost entirely on the opinions of 
 specialists in this field ; the other may be called the prac- 
 tical definition because it is based largely on conditions 
 actually found in those institutions that are known as 
 junior high schools. Neither ^f these definitions is en- 
 tirely satisfactory. They do, however, reveal the fact 
 that the conceptions of this new institution are as yet 
 both varied and incomplete. 
 
 Many definitions of the junior high school have been 
 formulated by individuals interested in the reorganiza- 
 
Its Feasihility in the Catholic Educational System 35 
 
 tion movement. These necessarily reflect the personal 
 opinions of their authors, and the particular educational 
 philosophy and psychology upon which they are based. 
 Some of them are based on the purposes of the institu- 
 tion; others on the results that are expected to be ob- 
 tained ; one formulates his definition from the point of 
 view of administration, another from the point of view 
 of organization and so on. All of these expressions are 
 valuable since they reveal the many features which must 
 be considered before an adequate definition can be con- 
 structed. 
 
 A general definition, negative in character, is given 
 by Horn,^ superintendent of schools in Houston, Texas. 
 ''The junior high school is not an elementary school, 
 neither is it a high school, neither is it a sort of mixture 
 of the two in equal proportions. If it is in reality an 
 institution worthy of its place in our educational economy, 
 it is an institution which is neither an elementary school 
 nor a high school, but a provision for the needs of those 
 children for which neither of the older institutions made 
 suitable provision. It partakes to some extent of the 
 nature of each, but is essentially different in character. ' ' 
 
 A rather detailed and careful attempt to describe 
 another conception of the junior high school is made by 
 Lewis.^ He considers the following elements essential to 
 a real junior high school : 
 
 1— The entrance requirements for the junior high 
 school should provide for the admission of three different 
 groups of children; (a) those of fourteen to twenty-one 
 years of age and of uncertain or low educational attain- 
 ments; and (b) many ambitious children who have left 
 school but desire to return for more education. 
 
 2_Seven bases of pupil classification should be 
 used: (a) maturity; (b) ability to learn and to do; 
 
 1. The Junior High School in Houston, Texas, Elementary School 
 Journal, October, 1915, p. 92. rr- 7 c. j 7 TT«i 
 
 2. Lewis, E. E., Standards of Measuring Junior High Schools, Uni- 
 versity of Iowa, Extension Bulletin, No. 25 (1916). 
 
36 ' The Junior High School 
 
 (c) probal)le future scliooliiig; (d) natural capacity and 
 interest; (e) command of the English language; (f) 
 marked physical and mental abnormalities; and (g) sex. 
 
 3 — It should preferably include grades 7-9. 
 
 4 — Promotion should be semi-annual and by subject. 
 
 5 — Every junior high school should maintain at 
 least two courses — a general pre-vocational course, 
 largely free from the so-called high school subjects, and 
 open to children who will probably not enter the high 
 school ; and a literary or high school preparatory course 
 for those intending to enter the senior high school. 
 
 6 — Instruction should be departmentalized. 
 
 7 — All teachers should be graduates of a four-year 
 high school, or its equivalent. In addition they should 
 be graduates of a standard normal school, with at least 
 one year of practice teaching experience ; or they should 
 have at least two years of college work with preparation 
 in the branches to be taught, and with practice teaching 
 experience. Furthermore, all teachers should be re- 
 quired to have had two years of distinctively successful 
 teaching experience, preferably in the grades, and should 
 show some evidence of professional interest, training 
 and study before being employed to teach in the junior 
 high schools. 
 
 8 — A systematic scheme for educational, vocational 
 and personal guidance should be provided. 
 
 9 — Some method of supervised-study should be pro- 
 vided. 
 
 The definition of Johnston is worthy of consideration 
 because he was an authority on reorganization."^ He says 
 the junior high school ''is a name we have come to asso- 
 ciate with new ideas of promotion, new methods of pre- 
 venting elimination, new devices for moving selected 
 groups through subject-matter at different rates, higher 
 
 3. Johnston. Chas. 11., The Junior Iliph School, Educational Admin- 
 istration and Supervision, Vol. II, No. 7, Sept. 1916, p. 424. 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 37 
 
 compulsory school age, new and thorough analysis 
 (social, economic, psychological) of pupil populations, 
 enrichecl courses, varied ,and partially differentiated 
 curriculum offerings, scientifically directed study prac- 
 tice, new schemes for all sorts of educational guidance 
 (educational in narrow sense, and also moral, tempera- 
 mental and vocational), new psychological characteriza- 
 tions of types in approaching the paramount school prob- 
 lem of individual differences, new school year, new 
 school day, new kind of class exercise, new kinds ot 
 laboratory and library equipment and utilization, and 
 new kinds of intimate community service." 
 
 Of the definitions made by individuals, perhaps no 
 one has received more wide-spread attention than that of 
 Brio-gs.^ According to him the junior high school is ''an 
 organization of grades 7 and 8, or 7 to 9, to provide by 
 various means for individual differences, especially by 
 an earlier introduction of pre-vocational work and ot 
 subjects usually taught in the high school." ^ Briggs 
 seems to think the basic purpose of this institution is to 
 provide for individual differences and that its other pur- 
 poses are inherent in this one. The purposes of the 
 junior high school are, it is true, so closely interrelated 
 that it would be difficult to realize one of them without, 
 in some degree, realizing all. Likewise this institution, 
 if it is to be unified, must, it would seem, be based on 
 one fundamental idea and developed in accordance with 
 this idea. Briggs seems to have set forth a definition 
 that would make possible such an institution. 
 
 A good example of a definition, the formation of 
 which was concurred in by a number of individuals, is the 
 one adopted by the North Central Association m 1918 
 It includes a statement of aims. "The junior high school 
 shall normally include the seventh, eighth and ninth 
 years of public school work. The junior high school 
 
 4. Hcport of U. S. Commiiisioncr of FAlucatwn, 1914. Vol. I, p. 137. 
 
38 The Junior High School 
 
 organization and administration shall realize the follow- 
 ing aims and purposes : 
 
 1 — To continue through its instructional program 
 the aims of public education in a democracy ; 
 
 2 — To reduce to a minimum the elimination of pupils 
 by offering types of work best suited to their interests, 
 needs and capacities ; 
 
 3 — To give the pupil an opportunity under system- 
 atical educational guidance to discover his dominant in- 
 terests, capacities and limitations with reference to his 
 future vocational activities, or the continuance of his 
 education in higher schools. 
 
 4 — To economize time through such organization and 
 administration of subjects and courses, both for those 
 who will continue their education in higher schools and 
 for those who wall enter immediately into life's activities. 
 
 Bennett,-^ too, has formulated a definition which is 
 supposed to include all the features that are commonly 
 included in the term, junior high school ; 
 
 1 — It is a separate educational institution with a 
 distinct organization and corps of officers and teachers; 
 
 2 — It embraces the seventh, eighth and ninth grades 
 and sometimes the tenth; 
 
 3 — It has a curriculum in the seventh and eighth 
 grades enriched by the presence of several high school 
 subjects and by the broadening, culturizing or vocation- 
 alizing of the so-called common branches ; 
 
 4 — It promotes by subjects, even in the seventh and 
 eighth grades; 
 
 5 — It permits and encourages a differentiation of 
 courses for the different pupils. 
 
 There are two other methods of defining the junior 
 high school ; the first is to gather all published definitions, 
 
 5. Bennett, G. Vernon, The Junior High School, p. 1. Warwick and 
 York, Baltimore, IHU). 
 
Its Feasibilitu in the Catholic Educational System 39 
 
 take the items common to them and include these in the 
 definition ; the second is to collate all the elements found 
 in individual definitions and submit them to a number of 
 people who have made a special study of this institution, 
 with a request for an opinion on each. An attempt was 
 made by Brigg's to formulate a definition of the junior 
 high school in both of these ways. 
 
 The first attempt^ consisted in gathering together 
 forty-four items listed under these heads: organization 
 purposes, individual differences, methods of teaching, 
 subject-matter and guidance. A list of these items was 
 sent to four classes of educators, professors of education, 
 State departments of education, city superintendents and 
 principals of junior high schools, wdth a request that 
 each item be marked essential, highly desirable tho not 
 essential or undesirable. Eeplies were received from 
 sixteen professors, eight representatives of State de- 
 partments of education, nineteen city superintendents and 
 eighteen principals of junior high schools — sixty-one 
 judges representing twenty-five States. This effort to 
 formulate a definition of the junior high school from the 
 composite opinions of a reasonably large number of 
 competent opinions is probably the best attempt that has 
 been made. The answers of the judges in this case seem 
 to emphasize the truth that the junior high school is still 
 in the developmental stage, as well as the fact that no one 
 form of this organization is adaptable to the peculiar 
 local conditions of every place. 
 
 The results of this questionnaire are presented in a 
 compact tabular form indicating the percentage of the 
 total number of judges approving each item as essential, 
 or desirable, and also the percentage of each class of 
 judges Avho consider each item essential, desirable or 
 undesirable. The following table is intended to show the 
 items which' are considered essential by a majority of 
 
 G. Brigos, Thos. H.. What is a Junior High School, Ed. Adrn. mid 
 
 Supcrv. A^ol'. V, No. 7, Sept. 1919, pp. 28.-5-301. 
 
40 
 
 The Junior High School 
 
 all the judges, and also the percentage of each group of 
 judges that believed these items essential characteristics 
 of the junior high school : 
 
 Column 1 — All judges. 
 
 Column 4 — C i t y Superinten- 
 
 Column 2 — Professors of Edu- 
 
 dents. 
 
 cation. 
 
 Column 5 — Principals of Jun- 
 
 Column 3 — State Departments 
 
 ior High Schools. 
 
 of Education, 
 
 
 Columns 
 
 Items 1 
 
 Distinct educational unit. . . 54.1 
 Separated in organization 
 
 from the elementary grades 62.3 
 Suitable for all pupils ap- 
 proximately 12-16 years of 
 
 age 72.1 
 
 To retain pupils longer in 
 
 school 72.1 
 
 To provide curricula of a vo- 
 cational character for pu- 
 pils who will assuredly 
 
 leave school early 59.0 
 
 To provide a more gradual 
 
 transition to higher schools 78.7 
 To accelerate in varying de- 
 grees all pupils who will 
 
 continue in school 67,2 
 
 To explore pupils' interests. 80.3 
 To explore pupils' aptitudes. 83.6 
 To explore pupils' capacities 80.3 
 To explore for the pupil by 
 means of material in itself 
 worth while possibilities in 
 the major academic sub- 
 jects 59.0 
 
 2 
 
 o. 
 
 9. 
 10. 
 11. 
 
 50.0 62.5 52.6 55.6 
 
 62.5 50.0 52.6 77.8 
 
 93.7 50.0 68.4 66.7 
 
 62.5 75.0 73.7 77.8 
 
 25.0 50.0 73.7 77.8 
 
 75.0 75.0 84.2 77.8 
 
 68.8 75.0 73.7 55.6 
 87.5 75.0 78.9 77.8 
 87.5 87.5 78.9 83.3 
 
 81.9 75.0 78.9 83.3 
 
 62.5 50.0 52.6 66.7 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 41 
 
 Columns 
 
 Items 1 
 
 12. Providing for individual dif- 
 
 ferences : 
 
 a) by differentiated curricula 77.0 75.0 62.5 73.7 88.9 
 
 b) gradually increasing in 
 
 ^ differentiation 73.8 81.3 50.0 73.7 77.8 
 
 13. Methods: 
 
 a) between those of the ele- 
 
 mentary school and those 
 
 of the high school 72.1 68.8 87.5 84.2 55.6 
 
 b) including many projects.. 59.0 56.3 87.5 52.6 55.6 
 c ) encouraging initiation on 
 
 the part of pupils 75.4 68.8 75.0 84.2 72.2 
 
 14. Using promotion by subject. 73.8 81.9 75.0 68.4 72.2 
 
 15. Curricula, enriched beyond 
 
 those commonly found for 
 
 pupils 12-16 years of age.. 85.3 87.5 87.5 73.7 94.4 
 
 16. Curricula, flexible to suit in- 
 
 dividual needs 83.6 81.9 100.0 73.7 88.9 
 
 17. Reorganizing courses of studj'" 
 
 so as to eliminate material 
 justified for the most part: 
 a) only by traditional prac- 
 tice 80.0 75.0 87.5 73.7 88.9 
 
 18. b) only by the logical organ- 
 
 ization of subject-matter 70.5 68.8 87.5 78.9 55.6 
 
 19. Immediate needs 50.8 43.8 75.0 42.0 61.7 
 
 20. Providing systematic guid- 
 
 ance for each individual 
 
 pupil:— educational 65.6 75.0 50.0 63.2 66.7 
 
 21. personal 68.9 75.0 62.5 68.4 66.7 
 
 22. vocational 57.4 62.5 37.5 57.9 61.7 
 
 23. Emphasizing extra - curricu- 
 
 lum activities of various 
 
 kinds 50.8 50.0 62.5 52.6 44.4 
 
42 The Junior High School 
 
 Columns 
 
 Items 
 
 24. Granting an increased 
 amount of opportunity to 
 pupils for participation in 
 the social administration of 
 the school 52.4 37.5 75.0 57.9 50.0 
 
 Briggs' second attempt was to formulate a definition 
 by examining a number of individual definitions and tak- 
 ing the features common to them as the basis of a defini- 
 tion. This collation of a number of definitions is valuable 
 in that it shows the many items that have to be considered 
 as possible elements of the junior high school, and at 
 the same time, what items have been used most frequently 
 by individuals in attempting to define this new institu- 
 tion. The same arrangement of items used in his at- 
 tempt to answer the question — "What is a junior higli 
 school" — is adopted in this second study. Sixty-eight 
 authors of definitions were consulted and the results pre- 
 sented in a table indicating the items found in tlie defini- 
 tion of each author. In a second table the writer sets 
 down the percentage of the sixty-eight authors who ap- 
 prove each item and for the sake of comparison, he also 
 presents the percentage of the judges who approved these 
 items in September, 1919. This study shows that only 
 two items are mentioned by more than fifty per cent of 
 the authors consulted as elements of the junior high 
 school ; provision for individual differences is mentioned 
 by 64.7 per cent and departmental teaching by 51.5 per 
 cent. 
 
 It must be remembered that many of these definitions 
 were formulated with a specific purpose in view, and cn^i 
 hardly be taken as expressing the complete opinion on 
 the junior high school of their authors. This fact must 
 be taken into consideration too when the results of this 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational Systen} 43 
 
 attempt to form a composite definition are compared witli 
 Briggs' earlier attempt to realize the same purpose. In 
 the first instance, the men who acted as judges were pre- 
 sented with a long list of items and requested to pass 
 judgment on each item as a feature of the junior high 
 school. In this second effort to arrive at common view 
 regarding the meaning of the term junior high school, 
 each item that had been presented to the judges in the 
 former case is sought in definitions set down in limited 
 space and including only such elements as were consid- 
 ered essential from one or two points of view. Hence 
 it is scarcely true to say that these definitions are, in all 
 cases, full expressions of their author's answer to the 
 question — ''What is a junior high school!" For the 
 sake of permitting a comparison between the results 
 obtained in the two above-mentioned Avays, the following 
 table made by Briggs^ is reproduced here. 
 
 Table II 
 
 Showing the percentage of 68 individuals who include 
 each item in a definition of the junior high school : 
 
 Provisions for individual differences 64.7 
 
 Departmental teachings 51.5 
 
 Retention in school 48.5 
 
 Differentiated curricula 41.2 
 
 Combination of grades 7-8-9 41.2 
 
 Enriched curricula 39.7 
 
 Promotion by subject 39.7 
 
 Gradual transition 36.8 
 
 Economy of time 29.4 
 
 Homogeneous grouping 23.4 
 
 Exploration of interests, aptitudes and capacities 22.1 
 
 Supervised study 20.6 
 
 Vitalized instruction 20.6 
 
 7. A Composite Definition of the Junior High School, Bi'iggs, Thos. H., 
 Ed. Adm. and Superv. Vol. VI, No. 4, April, 1920, pp. 181-186. 
 
44 The Junior High School 
 
 Provision for adolescence 20.6 
 
 Segregation (Distinct Educational unit) 19.2 
 
 Flexible curricula 16.2 
 
 Provisions for social interests 16.2 
 
 Prevocational training 14.7 
 
 Reorganization of subject-matter 10.3 
 
 Meets community needs 10.3 
 
 Elimination of undesirable subject-matter 7.4 
 
 Educational guidance 7.4 
 
 Vocational guidance 7.4 
 
 Vocational or trade training 7.4 
 
 Encourage initiative 5.9 
 
 These two studies are the chief, if not the only ones, 
 that have been made to determine the common accepta- 
 tion of the term junior high school. The evidence pre- 
 sented in tables I and II seems to vindicate the rather 
 general view that the junior high school cannot be defined 
 dogmatically at the present time. In fact it is not an 
 easy task to determine theoretically just what features 
 should be included in a description of a typical junior 
 high school. 
 
 The second type of definition, designated as the 
 practical, is formulated by examining those schools in 
 various cities and towais throughout the country and 
 gathering together the features that are more or less 
 common to all. In order to form some notion as to wdiat 
 features of the theoretical plan have been accepted in 
 practice a mimber of junior high schools have been exam- 
 ined relative to methods of housing, manner of grouping- 
 grades, curriculums adopted, and so forth. 
 
 Three methods of housing junior high school pupils 
 are generally in use ; the first is to gather them all into 
 separate buildings; the second is to house them in the 
 same luiilding with the senior high school students; and 
 the third is to provide for them in the elementary school 
 building. Briggs, Douglass and Davis have gathered 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 45 
 
 statistics on the different methods in use in different 
 places. In these three reports six hundred and eighty- 
 five junior high schools were examined. Davis' figures 
 are based on questionnaire returns from two hundred 
 and seventy-two such schools found in seventeen differ- 
 ent states; Douglass' study of 178 schools is the source 
 of his computation ; and Briggs received information 
 from 317 schools. It is not intended to leave the impres- 
 sion that each of these studies w^as concerned with 
 different schools, for there is little doubt that the same 
 school was examined by the three in many instances. 
 
 Douglass found that of 178 schools 45 are housed 
 alone, 59 with the senior high school, 63 with the elemen- 
 tary school, two in annexes to the senior high school, and 
 in nine systems, some of the junior high schools are 
 housed alone and the remainder with other grades.""^ 
 The report received by Briggs from 317 schools shows 
 "88 are in buildings of their own, some of these being 
 old high school buildings, and others elementary school 
 buildings more or less remodeled for the purpose. Ninety 
 junior high schools are housed with the elementary 
 grades, while 83 are in the same building as the senior 
 high school. There are some places where the junior 
 high school pupils are housed with both the elementary 
 and the high school. In a few^ cases, all the children are 
 housed in the same building and in three instances, junior 
 high schools are conducted in the same building that is 
 used for the training of teachers." In the North Central 
 Association territory, Davis found that there are 293 
 junior high schools, but of this number only 168 are 
 Iniown by this name ; 46 are called departmental schools ; 
 12, six-year high schools; 67, other names, and 45 are 
 still folloAving the eight-four plan. Of the 293 that are 
 listed as junior high schools, even though some are known 
 by other names, 138 are housed in the senior high school 
 
 8. Douglass, A. A., The Junior High School, Fifteenth Yearbook of the 
 National Society for the Study of Education, Part III, p. 92. 
 
44 The Junior High School 
 
 Provision for adolescence 20.6 
 
 Segregation (Distinct Educational unit) 19.2 
 
 Flexible curricula 16.2 
 
 Provisions for social interests 16.2 
 
 Prevocational training 14.7 
 
 Reorganization of subject-matter 10.3 
 
 Meets community needs 10.3 
 
 Elimination of undesirable subject-matter 7.4 
 
 Educational guidance 7.4 
 
 Vocational guidance 7.4 
 
 Vocational or trade training 7.4 
 
 Encourage initiative 5.9 
 
 These two studies are the chief, if not the only ones, 
 that have been made to determine the common accepta- 
 tion of the term junior high school. The evidence pre- 
 sented in tables I and II seems to vindicate the rather 
 general view that the junior high school cannot be defined 
 dogmatically at the present time. In fact it is not an 
 easy task to determine theoretically just what features 
 should be included in a description of a typical junior 
 high school. 
 
 The second type of definition, designated as the 
 practical, is formulated by examining those schools in 
 various cities and towns throughout the country and 
 gathering together the features that are more or less 
 common to all. In order to form some notion as to what 
 features of the theoretical plan have been accepted in 
 practice a number of junior high schools have been exam- 
 ined relative to methods of housing, manner of grouping 
 grades, curriculums adopted, and so forth. 
 
 Three methods of housing junior high school pupils 
 are generally in use; the first is to gather them all into 
 separate buildings; the second is to house them in the 
 same building with the senior high school students; and 
 the third is to provide for them in the elementary scliool 
 building. Briggs, Douglass and Davis have gathered 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 45 
 
 statistics on the different methods in use in different 
 places. In these three reports six hundred and eighty- 
 five junior high schools were examined. Davis' figures 
 are based on questionnaire returns from two hundred 
 and seventy-two such schools found in seventeen differ- 
 ent states; Douglass' study of 178 schools is the source 
 of his computation; and Briggs received information 
 from 317 schools. It is not intended to leave the impres- 
 sion that each of these studies was concerned with 
 different schools, for there is little doubt that the same 
 school was examined by the three in many instances. 
 
 Douglass found that of 178 schools 45 are housed 
 alone, 59 with the senior high school, 63 with the elemen- 
 tary school, two in annexes to the senior high school, and 
 in nine systems, some of the junior high schools are 
 housed alone and the remainder with other grades."'^ 
 The report received by Briggs from 317 schools show^s 
 **88 are in buildings of their own, some of these being 
 old high school buildings, and others elementary school 
 buildings more or less remodeled for the purpose. Ninety 
 junior high schools are housed Avitli the elementary 
 grades, while 83 are in the same building as the senior 
 high school. There are some places where the junior 
 high school pupils are housed with both the elementary 
 and the high school. In a few cases, all the children are 
 housed in the same building and in three instances, junior 
 high schools are conducted in the same building that is 
 used for the training of teachers." In the North Central 
 Association territory, Davis found that there are 293 
 junior high schools, but of this number only 168 are 
 tnoAvn by this name ; 46 are called departmental schools ; 
 12, six-year high schools; 67, other names, and 45 are 
 still following the eight-four plan. Of the 293 that are 
 listed as junior high schools, even though some are known 
 by other names, 138 are housed in the senior high school 
 
 8. Douglass, A. A., The Junior High School, Fifteenth Yearbook of the 
 National Society for the Study of Education, Part III, p. 92. 
 
46 The Junior High School 
 
 building ; 85 in the same building as the elementary school 
 pupils; 49 in buildings of their own, and 105 are "segre- 
 gated in buildings. "^'^ No mention is made of the manner 
 in which the other six systems provide housing for their 
 pupils. 
 
 In the following table the variations in methods of 
 housing junior high school pupils, as reported by these 
 three writers can be clearly seen : 
 
 Table III 
 
 Housed in Briggs Douglass Davis 
 
 Separate buildings 88 45 49 
 
 Senior high building: 83 59 138 
 
 Elementary school building 90 63 85 
 
 Segregated part of building . . 105 
 
 Elem. and senior high building.... 53 
 
 Building for training teachers 3 
 
 Annexes to senior high building 2 
 
 317 169 377 
 
 The second feature of the junior high schools to he 
 considered is the manner of grouping the grades. The 
 most common plan of grouping grades in the United 
 States has l)een to give eight years to elementary and 
 four years to high school work. In some parts of the 
 country until quite recently it Avas the practice to devote 
 nine years to elementary education and four to secon- 
 dary. In the South only seven years were given to 
 elementary education, followed liy a four-year high 
 school course. The actual conditions as they existed in 
 1911 respecting the number of years embraced in each 
 division are reported by Bunker from a canvass of 669 
 cities having a population of 8,000 or more, "489 have a 
 course of eiu'ht vears element arv and four vears secon- 
 
 9. Davis, C. O., The Junior nigh School in the North Central Associa- 
 tion Territory, School Review, 26; May, 1918, p. ?>26. 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 47 
 
 dary; 48 have a course of seven years elementary and 
 four years secondary ; 86 have one of nine years elemen- 
 tary (not including the kindergarten) and four years 
 secondary; seven have the usual eight years elementary 
 but offer only three years in the high school; four have 
 a course of eight years elementary and five years secon- 
 dary; three have organized on the basi^ of seven years 
 elementary and five years secondary; eight are repre- 
 sented in the plan calling for six years elementary and 
 four years secondary, seven years elementary and three 
 years secondary, nine years elementary and three years 
 secondary, and twenty-four have made or are making 
 significant departures from the foregoing types. "^^ 
 
 The departure from types referred to by Bunker is 
 the result of the reorganization movement. The tendency 
 seems to be to shorten the time allotted to elementary 
 education in the past and to devote the time thus gained 
 to secondary education. It is through the junior high 
 school that this intention is expected to be realized, but 
 just what form of grade grouping will be most service- 
 able and at the same time feasible is still a question of 
 dispute. Statistical evidence now available indicates that 
 practice is by no means uniform. 
 
 There are eleven different groupings of grades in 
 existing school systems claiming to have junior high 
 schools. These plans of grouping grades are the fol- 
 lowing : 5-7 ; 5-8 ; 6-7 ; 6-8 ; 7-8 ; 7-9 ; 6-6 ; 8 ; 9 ; 8-9 ; 7-10. By 
 far the most common plans are the 7-8 and the 7-9. It 
 may be well to note here that theory tends to favor the 
 two plans most frequently found in practice. 
 
 The table below shows the findings of three different 
 investigations relative to the grouping of grades in junior 
 hio"h schools : 
 
 10. Bunker, F. F., op. cit., p. 75. 
 
48 The Junior High School 
 
 Table IV 
 
 Number of Systems 
 Briggs^ Douglass^ Davis^ 
 
 Grades Included 
 
 
 5-7 
 
 00 
 
 5-8 
 
 00 
 
 6-7 
 
 00 
 
 6-8 
 
 3 
 
 6-6 
 
 00 
 
 7-8 
 
 71 
 
 7-9 
 
 174 
 
 7-10 
 
 00 
 
 8 
 
 6 
 
 8-9 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 8-10 
 
 1 
 
 Others 
 
 00 
 
 1 
 
 00 
 
 1 
 
 00 
 
 1 
 
 00 
 
 11 
 
 22 
 
 10 
 
 (7-12) 18 
 
 77 
 
 133 
 
 64 
 
 89 
 
 7 
 
 00 
 
 3 
 
 11 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 00 
 
 00 
 
 00 
 
 00 
 
 00 
 
 00 
 
 11 
 
 267 184 
 
 1. Briggs, T. H., The Junior High School, p. 94, Houghton Mifflin, 
 New York. 
 
 2. Douglass, The Junior High School Fifteenth Year-Book N. S. for 
 Study of Ed. Part III, p. 88, 1919. 
 
 3. Davis, C. O., Junior High School in the North Cent. Assn. Territory. 
 School Review 26; 326, May, 1918. 
 
 Brig-gs^^ remarks "The number of grades in the 
 junior high school is still widely variable, tho the ten- 
 dency is strongly toward a combination of the seventh, 
 eighth and ninth." According to Douglass existing 
 building facilities and other local conditions are impor- 
 tant factors ill determining the present grouping of 
 grades in the junior high school. He notes further th;r 
 of twenty-two other places which have expressed an 
 intention of reorganizing their systems, tho 7-9 plan of 
 grouping grades will be adopted by sixteen and that in 
 
 ]1. Hid. p. 93. 
 
Its Feasihility in the Catholic Educational System 49 
 
 many instances the existing 7-8 arrangement must be 
 looked upon as a stage of development rather than a fixed 
 and final grouping of grades. This author seems further- 
 more to believe the grouping of grades must depend to 
 a large extent upon the environment in which the junior 
 high school is located, and in this matter Douglass' view 
 is shared by quite a few others. Davis' study is perhaps 
 the most exact of the three for the information contained 
 in it was taken from obligatory reports of all the accred- 
 ited schools in the North Central Association. It is true 
 this study was limited to a certain section of the country, 
 but this section — including seventeen states — seems to be 
 sufficiently large to justify the inference that conditions 
 found there are typical of the junior high schools 
 throughout the country. 
 
 The reorganization of the curriculum is one of the 
 most important features of the junior high school and 
 must necessarily form an essential part of a definition of 
 this institution. In practice, however, comparatively 
 little has been done in this respect. Johnston, who had 
 visited a large number of junior high schools, found ''in 
 all cases the principal, proudly conscious of the distinc- 
 tiveness of his new institution, his teachers, pupils, 
 building, etc., but Avhen inquiries were made concerning 
 the internal adjustments the answer generally was: 'we 
 haven't got that far yet,' 'we plan to take that up next 
 year,' 'we have no reorganization of this sort in pros- 
 pect.' "^^ Briggs writes: "One cannot examine the cur- 
 ricula and courses of study without concluding that so 
 far they have made only a beginning at accomplishing 
 desired ends."^-^ 
 
 In the midst of all this variety, however, it seems 
 possible to reduce the different curriculums offered to 
 three main classes, namely, the one curriculum type, the 
 many curriculum type and the type in which certain 
 
 12. Johnson, C. H. Ed. Adin. and Super. Vol. I, p. 411. 
 
 13. Op. cit.. p. loo. 
 
50 The Junior High School 
 
 subjects are required of all pupils and certain other 
 subjects are elective. But no classification will be en- 
 tirely satisfactory on account of unavoidable overlap- 
 ping. A large number of variations are found in schools 
 that would be classified under any one of the three large 
 divisions; for instance, the junior high school at Santa 
 Fe, New Mexico, has one curriculum with rather a large 
 number of subjects, but pupils in the seventh and eighth 
 grades have no choice, while in the ninth grade, English 
 and algel)ra are the only required subjects and eight 
 other subjects are offered as electives. Another school 
 lielonging to the one curriculum class but differing con- 
 siderably from the Santa Fe school, is in Springfield, 
 Illinois. In this school there are only seven required 
 subjects in the seventh and eighth grades and a choice 
 can be made by the pupil between German and indus- 
 trial work. In the ninth grade, besides English and 
 algebra, music and drawing are required and six subjects 
 are electives. ^-^ 
 
 Many differences are also found in the many type 
 curriculum. The range is from two curriculums to five 
 and in each the offerings of subjects admit, and in prac- 
 tice actually show considerable variation. The number 
 of curriculums offered must necessarily depend upon the 
 number of pupils in one school and their classification. 
 In large systems it may be advantageous and feasible to 
 provide a wide range of sul)jects distributed through 
 the three, four, or five curriculums. Lewis thinks, ''a 
 school not maintaining at least two courses should not 
 be entitled to the name junior high school. "^^ 
 
 The junior high school in Los Angeles has this type 
 of curriculum: Three courses are offered, a so-called 
 general course, a commercial course and a vocational 
 course. In the first year of the general course, nine 
 
 14. Douglass, A. A., Fifteenth Yearhoolc, National Boeicty for the 
 Study of Education, Fort III, 1919, pp. 120-145. 
 
 15. Lewis, Ervin E., Standards for Measuring Junior High Schools, 
 TTiuv. of Iowa Extention Bulletin. Bulletin No. 25, Nov. 15, ioiH. 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 51 
 
 subjects are required and one elective is to be chosen 
 from six other subjects. In the second year, seven sub- 
 jects must be taken and two elections are permitted from 
 a choice of eight. In the third year only three subjects 
 are required and two electives from an offering of eleven, 
 which are the same as the electives for the first and 
 second year with the addition of three other subjects, 
 and then one other elective must be chosen from four 
 subjects in a special group. The commercial and voca- 
 tional courses are made up of the same subjects as the 
 general course, with a different arrangement of required 
 and elective subjects. 
 
 Cincinnati junior high school offers two courses — 
 the industrial arts course and the commercial course. 
 No election of subjects is permitted in any year of either 
 course. Detroit off'ers an English course, a commercial 
 course and an industrial course. Dulutli, Minnesota, 
 has one curriculum for the seventh and eighth grades 
 but in the ninth there are four different courses. Many 
 other combinations are in use in various places, but the 
 arrangement, as noted in several places, seems to be 
 sufficient to illustrate the great variety of practice in 
 the number and kind of curriculums offered in different 
 junior high schools.^^ 
 
 To illustrate the third type — one curriculum with 
 constants and variables — the following table, entitled 
 ''Sequential and Time Allotment," is reproduced from 
 a bulletin issued ])y the Board of Education of Cleve- 
 land, Ohio, under the title — "Program of Studies and 
 Curriculum Organization for 1920-1921." In reference 
 to this curriculum the following points are noted : 
 
 1) The curriculum is the single type constant and 
 with variables. It is difficult, the Board thinks, to justify 
 differentiated curriculums in the junior high school. 
 
 2) The work is uniform in the 7B grade. The ex- 
 ploration of interests and ability during this semester is 
 
 IG. Bennett, op. cit., pp. 195-207, and Dongla??!, op. cit., pp. 121-1 'U. 
 
52 
 
 llic Junior High School 
 
 provided tliroiigli the organization and arrangement of 
 snbject-niatter, and the variety of courses of study, wliile 
 at the same time the uniformity in requirements guar- 
 antees to the pupil certain common experiences, thus 
 meeting one of the outstanding purposes of the school. 
 
 3) Specific and adequate attention is given through 
 a system of advice and guidance to the choice of elective 
 studies. 
 
 4) Pupils may, by choosing their electives with 
 care, prepare for specific curriculums to be entered in 
 the senior high school or, in like manner, for their life's 
 work, if they must leave school at the end of the ninth 
 grade. 
 
 5) The single curriculum extending through the 
 ninth grade permits pupils to postpone the period of 
 intensive specialization until they reach the tenth or the 
 first vear of the senior high school.^^ 
 
 Table IV 
 
 7B Periods 
 
 Bequired Per Week 
 
 English 10 
 
 Mathematics 5 
 
 Geography 5 
 
 History and Social ProMems. 4 
 
 Physical Education 2 
 
 Hygiene 1 
 
 Music 1 
 
 Art 2 
 
 Shoi3 and Drawing 4 
 
 Home Economies 4 
 
 SB 
 Eeqiiircd 
 
 Phiglish 
 
 Mathematics 
 
 Social Science . . . . 
 Physical Education 
 
 Hygiene 
 
 Music 
 
 Art 
 
 Vocations 
 
 Shop and Diawing 
 
 Periods 
 Per Weeh 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 Periods 
 Per Weelc 
 5 
 
 7A 
 Bequired 
 
 English 
 
 Mathematics 5 
 
 Geography 5 
 
 History and Social Pbs 4 
 
 Physical Education 2 
 
 Hygiene 1 
 
 Music 1 
 
 Art 2 
 
 Shop and Drawing 4 
 
 Home Economics 4 
 
 Electives (5 or 6 Periods) 
 
 English 5 
 
 Latin 5 
 
 French 5 
 
 Spanish 5 
 
 Commercial 5 
 
 Shop and Drawing 6 
 
 Home Economics 6 
 
 S.l 
 
 Bequirrel 
 
 Eiio-]ish 5 
 
 17. Program of Studies and Curriculum Organization, Cleveland 
 Juvior Iliqh Schools, Bulletin, Cleveland Board of Education, April, 1921, 
 p. 3. 
 
Its Feasihilitij in the CathoJic Educational System 53 
 
 Home Economics 4 
 
 Electives (5 or G periods) 
 
 English •'5 
 
 Latin 5 
 
 French 5 
 
 Spanish 5 
 
 Commercial i5 
 
 Shop and Drawing 6 
 
 Home Economics (3 
 
 9B Periodic 
 
 Bequired Per Weelc 
 
 English 5 
 
 Mathematics 5 
 
 Music 2 
 
 Physical Education 2 
 
 Electives 
 
 Social Science 5 
 
 Latin 5 
 
 French 5 
 
 Spanish 5 
 
 General Science 5 
 
 Applied Art 6-10 
 
 Shop and Drawing 10-lG 
 
 Home EconomiL's 10 
 
 Penmanship 10 
 
 Mathematics 
 
 Social Science 
 
 Physical Education 
 
 Hygiene 
 
 Music 
 
 Art 
 
 Vocations 
 
 Shop and Drawing 
 
 Home Economics 
 
 Electives (5 or 6 Periods) 
 
 English 
 
 Latin 
 
 French 
 
 Spanish 
 
 Commercial 
 
 Shop and Drawing 
 
 Home Economics 
 
 9A 
 Bequired 
 
 English 5 
 
 Mathematics 5 
 
 Music 2 
 
 Physical Education 2 
 
 Electives 
 
 Social Science 5 
 
 Latin 5 
 
 French 5 
 
 Spanish 5 
 
 General Science 5 
 
 Applied Art 6-10 
 
 Shop and Drawing 10-16 
 
 Home Economics 10 
 
 Bookkeeping 10 
 
 These reports indicate quite clearly that the junior 
 high school curriculum is still in the experimental stage. 
 No one plan is in sufficiently common use to he termed 
 typical. The only indication from practice is a general 
 recognition of the necessity for reorganizing the cur- 
 riculum, hut just what form this reorganization will 
 eventually take is yet to be determined. 
 
 It is generally conceded that one of the most impor- 
 tant, if not the most important, questions relating to the 
 junior high school is the provision of properly qualified 
 teachers. The difficulty of ohtainhig teachers who are 
 capable of meeting the conditions demanded by this new 
 institution is one of the objections offered by those who 
 oppose the adoption of the junior high school idea. 
 
54 The Junior High School 
 
 The accurately measurable qualifications of teachers 
 are the number of years devoted to academic studies, 
 professional trainin<>: and actual teaching. The opinions 
 of authorities on this question seem to agree that the 
 ideal teacher for the junior high school is one who has 
 completed a college course, given at least a year to pro- 
 fessional stud}^ and has had successful teaching experi- 
 ence in the grades. Everyone realizes the impossibility 
 of supplying all junior high schools at the present time 
 with teachers having these qualifications, so it is not 
 surprising to find considerable difference in qualifica- 
 tions of the teachers now engaged in junior high school 
 work. 
 
 A number of letters were received by Douglass from 
 superintendents in various parts of the country regard- 
 ing the qualifications of the teachers employed in their 
 junior high schools. In Fresno, California, "the teachers 
 have been selected from the elementary schools on the 
 basis of their special fitness for departmental teaching." 
 No other qualifications than those demanded in the ele- 
 mentary schools are required for teaching in the junior 
 school. In Quincy, Illinois, "the qualifications for junior 
 high school teachers are the same as for the senior high 
 school teachers." It is not stated that all teachers ac- 
 tually employed in the junior high are thus qualified. In 
 Clinton, Iowa, a distinction is made between the qualifica- 
 tions of teachers for the ninth grade and the seventh and 
 eighth grades ; the ninth grade teachers must be college 
 graduates and must have had some professional train- 
 ing. In Chanute, Kansas, college graduates and high 
 school graduates who have had normal training and 
 considerable experience are the teachers in the junior 
 high school. The superintendent states "the standard 
 qualifications of the junior high school teachers with us 
 are determined by the price we can pay." The replies of 
 most of the superintendents seem to indicate their ideal 
 rather than the qualifications actually possessed by those 
 
Its Feasibilitij in the Catholic Educational System 55 
 
 who are teaching in the junior high. "That they are not 
 fully met by the teachers actually employed is easily 
 explicable. Teachers in junior high schools probably 
 conform to ideal standards quite as closely as do teachers 
 in any other types of institutions."^^ 
 
 There are such other features of the junior high 
 school as entrance requirements, methods of teaching, 
 which involve the consideration of the many teacher 
 plan as opposed to the single teacher plan, supervised 
 study, length of recitation periods, length of school day 
 and year, arrangement of departments and equipment, 
 that wdll, when more definitely worked out, help to deter- 
 mine what are the essential features of the junior higli 
 school. Some form of departmental teaching is probably 
 found in more junior high schools than any other element 
 that is considered a mark of this institution. It is foun;! 
 also that in practically one-half of the 250 junior high 
 schools reporting, the methods of teaching are more 
 closely related to those used in the elementary school 
 than to those used in the high school, while in the other 
 half the very opposite is reported.^'^ Investigation has 
 shown that supervised study has been introduced in many 
 junior high schools, but wide variation in arrangement 
 of details still exists. This is especially true in regard 
 to the allotment of time. The most common single prac- 
 tice is the provision of a fifty to sixty minute period 
 about equally divided in the academic sul)jects between 
 recitation and directed study. "^'^ 
 
 In answer to his question — "Upon what do you make 
 entrance to the junior high school depend!" Douglass^'^ 
 found sixty-eight require promotion, completion or satis- 
 factory completion of the preceding grade; four accept 
 
 18. Brings, The Junior Jligh School, p. 218. 
 
 19. Ibid. p. 203. 
 
 20. Koos, L. v., The Junior High School, p. 154, Harcourt, Brace & 
 Co., New York, 1921. 
 
 21. Fifteenth YearbooJc, N. S, for the Study of Education, Part~lTl, 
 p. 48. 
 
dG The Junior High Scliool 
 
 the recommendation of the teacher or principal; four 
 consider the pupil's ability to do the work of the junior 
 high school; one makes no special requirements and 
 eighteen others mention size, age, maturity and unsuit- 
 ableness of the elementary school. The total number of 
 schools in which all these variations are found is ninety- 
 four. 
 
 Promotion by subject, special equipment and other 
 features mentioned seem to be necessary to the junior 
 high school from a theoretical point of view, but, as in 
 the case of entrance requirements and methods of study, 
 a large amount of experimentation will have to be done 
 before the details of these factors can be determined. 
 
 These data clearly show that neither in theory nor 
 in practice has any one generally accepted idea of what 
 constitutes a junior high school been found. There are 
 however a sufficient number of common characteristics 
 in all these definitions to indicate that this concept is 
 gradually taking on a definite shape. 
 
Its FeasibUiti/ in the Catholic Educational System 57 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Results 
 
 Just as the existing school sj^stem is condemned on 
 the grounds that it has failed to produce the results 
 rightly expected of the school, so too must the new insti- 
 tution be ultimately measured by its results. Although 
 measurement of results in education is obviously a com- 
 plicated problem and must remain so imtil universally 
 accepted standards of measurement are evolved, some 
 few things can be rather definitely measured with the 
 means at hands. LThus it is possible to determine the 
 extent of elimination in a school system, the amount of 
 retardation, and the regularity of attendancej And from 
 the conclusions thus reached the relative success or failure 
 of the particular type of school can, to some extent, be 
 measured. The advocates of the junior high school plan 
 of organization have made numerous attempts to prove 
 its value from results obtained. Some of the factual 
 evidence offered in support of its claims seem to be of 
 sufficient value to deserve presentation and consideration. 
 
 In regard to the "holding power" of the junior high 
 school, a number of statistics have been gathered and 
 arranged by investigators to show that children are re- 
 tained in school for a longer period of time under the new 
 type of organization than under the traditional type. 
 It is a truism to assert that there is an undue amount of 
 elimination in the schools of this country, moreover, 
 statistics clearly show that elimination is greatest be- 
 tween the ninth and tenth, the eighth and ninth, and the 
 seventh and eighth grades.^ These are the grades with 
 Avhich the junior high school is particularly concerned. 
 For this reason attention in this treatise may well be 
 
 1. Ino-lis. A., Principles of Secondary Education, p. 128. Houshton 
 MifTlir. Co., N. Y. 
 
58 The Junior High School 
 
 focused upon them, tlio the need of reform or improve- 
 ment in grades above and below is recognized. 
 
 The U. S. Commissioner of Education in his report 
 for 1914 quotes the statements of a number of junior 
 high school principals as evidence of the holding power 
 of the institution. The following appear to be typical, 
 "Principal W. B. Clark of the McKinley Intermediate 
 School, Berkeley, furnishes data showing that since the 
 establishment of the school 94.73 per cent of the pupils 
 completing the eighth grade have entered the ninth, 
 and 95,29 per cent of these completing the ninth 
 grade have entered the tenth. Principal Preston of 
 tlie Franklin Intermediate School, Berkeley, reports 
 that of the last seven classes completing the eighth 
 grade under the old organization 40.53 per cent en- 
 tered the high school, and that of the first six classes 
 completing the eighth grade of the intermediate school 
 there entered the ninth grade of the same school 65.53 
 per cent, not counting those who were transferred from 
 other buildings. Principal Paul C. Stetson states that 
 86 per cent of the pupils in the eighth grade in the Grand 
 Ea])ids junior high school last year entered the senior 
 high school, as compared with 76 per cerit of the eighth 
 grades in the grammar schools of the city. In Evansville, 
 Indiana, according the Principal Ernest P. Wiles, only 
 56 per cent of the pupils completing the eighth grade in 
 1912 entered the high school as against 84 per cent last 
 year of the pupils in the junior higli school."^ 
 
 The answers to the questionnaire used in the study 
 for the report just quoted are summarized as follows: 
 "of the number of principals of junior high schools re- 
 porting, 107 declare that the organization does retain 
 pupils in school better than the older plan, and two say 
 that it does not. To the three who say frankly that they 
 
 2. Report of the U. S. Commissioner of Education, 1914, Vol. 1, pp. 
 14.3 and 144. 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 59 
 
 do not know what the effect is, should probably be added 
 all those who fail to answer the question."^ 
 
 In presenting- a number of statistical tables bearing 
 on the reduction of elimination under the junior high 
 school plan of organization Douglass says :^ A number 
 of considerations, however, make any conclusion unsatis- 
 factory. In the first place, most enrolment figures are 
 lacking in many returns. Second, the increase in popula- 
 tion, with many other factors contributing to increase 
 enrolment, makes it difficult to arrive at a fair conclusion 
 as to what extent the junior high school has been oper- 
 ative in increasing attendance. Third, each community 
 doubtless presents its own peculiar problems, and it 
 is manifestly unfair to group together for this comparison 
 schools recently reorganized and those that have been 
 operating a longer time." 
 
 Although the superintendents from whom Douglass 
 secured the figures used in his tables were reticent in 
 saying the junior high school has reduced elimination. 
 He believes that the data furnished at least indicate these 
 conclusions : 
 
 1 — Increased enrolment in grades seven, eight and 
 nine is due in part, at least, to the junior high school. The 
 same is true of grades ten, eleven and twelve. 
 
 2 — The percentage of students held in the junior 
 high school grades is somewhat greater than under the 
 old plan. This is also true of the senior high school. 
 
 3 — The percentage of boys held in the last six grades 
 is greater under the reorganized system. 
 
 4 — Even yet the percentage of pupils eliminated at 
 the end of the seventh and eighth grades is entirely too 
 large. Here pupil mortality is probably greater than 
 those interested in the junior high school are aware. 
 
 3. Ihid. p. 142. 
 
 4. Op. cit., p. 102. 
 
60 The Junior High School 
 
 Mangun/ superintendent of schools of Macomb, 
 Illinois, has endeavored to show in presenting the results 
 of two years of experience with the 6-6 plan of organiza- 
 tion the ''holding power" of the new system. He 
 attempted to prove that the increased enrolment in the 
 Macomb schools is not merely a part of the general 
 movement to increase high school enrolment through the 
 country, but the direct result of the reorganized system. 
 For this comparison he takes the increased enrolment 
 of the State of Illinois as typical of the whole country. 
 Figures furnished by Mangun, in the form of a table, show^ 
 that the percentage of pupils retained in the schools of 
 Macomb is larger than the percentage for the entire 
 State. From this comparison it is "unmistakably plain 
 that the Macomb increases have been considerably in 
 excess of the general increases throughout the country."^ 
 
 Stetson made a study for the express purpose of 
 determining the "holding power" of the junior high 
 school. The data presented by this writer shows a 
 marked increase in the percentage of pupils entering the 
 ninth grade in the schools of Grand Eapids after the 
 junior high school had been established. The average 
 percentage of pupils retained in the ninth grade for the 
 four years between 1907 and 1911, had been, according 
 to figures of Stetson, 66.4 whereas, during the following 
 four years under the new plan of organization the average 
 perceiitage was 87.0, an increase of 20.6 per cent. Inter- 
 preting the table in w^hich he presents his findings. Stet- 
 son states: "This table shows conclusively that previous 
 to the intermediate type of organization the percentage 
 of students who remained in the ninth grade was steadily 
 on the decline and that a smaller percentage was held 
 
 5. Manguii, Vernon L., Some Junior Tlifih School Facts Drown from 
 Two Years of the 6-G Plan at Macomh, III. Elementary School Journal 
 18; 598-617, April, 1918. 
 
 6. Ibid. p. 612. 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 61 
 
 over. It also shows that as soon as the junior high 
 schools were organized the percentage in the ninth grade 
 increased steadily. "~ 
 
 Probably the best investigation of the junior high 
 school from the point of view of retaining children in 
 school is that conducted by Childs.-^ Childs states his 
 conclusion in these words : " In general, it is not apparent 
 that these junior high school data justify the claim, 
 commonly made, that junior high schools retain a higher 
 per cent of pupils than do schools in the non-junior type 
 in the grammar and high school grades. The data do 
 seem to justify the stated aims of some advocates of 
 reorganization, viz., that the junior type school makes a 
 superior appeal to boys as compared w^ith the traditional 
 organization."^ 
 
 The amount of evidence that has been amassed to 
 demonstrate the holding power of the junior high school 
 is immense. It consists chiefly in the presentation of 
 comparative statistics and the opinions of superinten- 
 dents or principals of junior high scbools in different 
 places. In most instances the principals seem to consider 
 the new institution superior to the old in its power to 
 retain children in school. Some frankl}^ stated, they did 
 not know; others, they had no records upon wdiich they 
 could base a judgment ; while others simply did not answer 
 the question at all.^^ It is worthy of note, however, that 
 less than half (44,7) of the principals of junior high 
 schools in the North Central Association territory believe 
 this type of schools improves retention. ^^ 
 
 7. Stetson, Paul C, Statistical Study of the Junior Tliph School from 
 the Point of View of Enrolment. School Review, pp. 233-245, April, 1918. 
 
 8. Childs, H. G., An Investigation of Certain Phases of the Heorgani- 
 sation Movement in the Grammar Grades of Indiana Public Schools. 
 
 9. Ibid. p. 179. 
 
 10. Note: For figures and opinions see Briggs, op. cit., pp. 304-311 
 and Douglass, op. cit., pp. 102-109. 
 
 11. Davis, C. O., Junior Tligh Schools in the North Central Association 
 Territory. School Review, May, 1918. 
 
62 The Junior High School 
 
 It is certainly true that more children have remained 
 in school for a longer period of late years than formerly, 
 but when an explanation of this fact is sought it is not 
 so certain that the junior high school alone must be 
 credited for this improved condition. As noted above, 
 Douglass attributes the improvement to a number of 
 causes. And Koos^^ remarks: ''When we examine the 
 factual evidence mustered in support of the junior high 
 school aiming to show the large extent to which this 
 function of retaining pupils is already being performed, 
 we find much material, but very little that can endure the 
 light of careful thought." 
 
 Closely related to the question discussed is the prob- 
 lem of retardation. There are not as many figures avail- 
 able, however, on this problem as there are on that of 
 elimination. In a number of instances children have 
 been promoted to the junior high school who have not 
 successfully completed the work of the elementary school ; 
 and in many cases tliis method of procedure has been 
 justified by the good results that followed. An illustra- 
 tion is found in the report of Hilligas on the junior high 
 schools of Vermont. He says : "In a number of cases we 
 have been bold enough to promote stupid boys and girls 
 from as low as the fifth grade directly in the junior high 
 school. Results have been most satisfactory. In one of 
 the large junior high schools considerable groups of such 
 retarded and incompetent boys and girls were thus pro- 
 moted. At the beginning of the second year new teachers 
 in the school were un.able to select the students thus ad- 
 vanced. "^-^ 
 
 Douglass^^ endeavored to collect data that would 
 throw some light on the effect of the new institution on 
 
 12. Koos, L. v., r/c Junior High School, p. 22, Iliucourt, Brace and 
 Coro-rir.-. Nny,. York, ]!>21. 
 
 13. Ilillino-as, Milo B., Teachers College 'Record, Vol. 19, p. 343, Sept., 
 1918. 
 
 14. Op. cit., pp. 110-113. 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 63 
 
 the retardation of pupils. The figures furnished by some 
 schools indicate that retardation was lessened, while in 
 a few instances it was shown to have increased. Less 
 than half of those to whom the questionnaire was sent 
 answered the question on retardation, and a number 
 frankly stated that they were unable to say what the effect 
 had been. In view of the replies received Douglass con- 
 cludes "The chief point brought out is that the junior 
 high school is not a sure cure for this problem; but, on 
 the contrary, the greatest care is needed to protect the 
 young pupil from a departmentalized school where re- 
 quirements in "high school" subjects are too high, or 
 where subject-matter is otherwise poorly presented and 
 where the individual is lost sight of. If these obstacles 
 are overcome, we have reason to believe retardation will 
 be reduced." 
 
 Mangun^^ presents two table's designed to prove that 
 retardation was lessened after the introduction of the 
 new institution. He, however, does not give any account 
 of the ways and means by which this improvement was 
 secured. A reproduction of these tables appears to be 
 the shortest and best way to present his argument. 
 
 Table I 
 
 No. of Pupils Percentage 
 Underage 126 12.3 
 
 Normal 235 22.9 
 
 Overage 665 64.8 
 
 1,026 100.00 
 
 This table is a summary of the age grade situation 
 September, 1915. It shows that the ratio of retarded 
 pupils to accelerated pupils is somewhat more than 5-1. 
 The following table, No. II, shows the situation in June, 
 1917, as compared with the situation of September, 1915. 
 
 15. Op. cit., p. 610. 
 
64 
 
 
 The Junior High School 
 
 
 
 Table 
 
 II 
 
 
 
 Per cent 
 
 Per cent 
 
 Per cent of 
 
 
 1915 
 
 1917 
 
 Improvement 
 
 Underage 
 
 12.3 
 
 25.85 
 
 13.55 
 
 Normal 
 
 22.9 
 
 23.10 
 
 0.2 
 
 Overage 
 
 64.8 
 
 51.05 
 
 13.75 
 
 Here the ratio of retarded pupils to accelerated 
 pupils is 2-1 instead of 5-1. Mangnn attributes this im- 
 provement to reorganization, and he furthermore believes 
 that in time this unsatisfactory condition can be entirely 
 removed by providing more completely for individual 
 differences in pupils by offering varied types of courses. 
 
 A problem more difficult than either of these just 
 mentioned is to determine whether or not the junior high 
 school has actually produced better scholarship than the 
 school it is intended to supersede. The method generally 
 used is to compare the standings of a group of pupils 
 who have attended a junior high school with the stand- 
 ings of a group which has not. Attempts have been made 
 in this manner to determine as accurately as possible 
 whether there is miy advantage on the side of the junior 
 high school when its results are measured in terms of 
 academic accomplishments. The difficulty lies in the 
 fact, mentioned before, that no generally accepted stand- 
 ards of measurement are at hand by means of which the 
 abilities of each group can be determined for the com- 
 parison. That tlie marks given by teachers are unreliable 
 is well known, but these, for the most part, are the only 
 means available upon which a comparison can be made. 
 Opinions of those who have had experience in schools of 
 both types have received some consideration in endeavor- 
 ing to reach conclusions in this matter. These opinions, 
 too, it seems reasonable to suppose, are based to a great 
 extent upon the rating given a pupil by his teacher. Com- 
 parison of the two groups has also been based upon the 
 
Its Feasihilitij in the Catholic Educational Sijfitem 65 
 
 results of uniform examinations taken by these students 
 toward the end of their course in the senior high school. 
 
 A rather careful examination of the results of the 
 junior high school organization in English and mathe- 
 matics was made by Stetson.^^ In this study one-half 
 of the records examined were those of students who had 
 attended the junior high school and the other half of 
 those who had completed their elementary education in 
 the traditional school. Each student's report represents 
 a study of seven years of his public school life, beginning 
 with the sixth grade. Up to this grade all of the 404 
 students had the same kind of school training. Further- 
 more, in the selection of the students for this comparison 
 care was taken to make sure that they were comparable. 
 The results of the comparison show: "The difference in 
 form of organization to have had little influence on their 
 scholastic work in English. "^^ The average median for 
 the junior high school group in English was 85.63 per cent, 
 and for the non-junior group it was 84.34 per cent, a 
 difference of only 1.3 per cent. It is hardly probable 
 that any one would attempt to construct an argument for 
 the new institution on such a slight difference. 
 
 The median achievement of the two groups in mathe- 
 m-atics shows about the same result, except that the small 
 advantage in this subject Avas found to be in favor of the 
 non-junior group. As far as this study is concerned 
 there appears to be no ground for an argument in behalf 
 of the junior high school from the point of view of pro- 
 ficiency in mathematics. It is plain, however, that in both 
 English and mathematics the work in the junior high 
 school is as well done as it is in the ordinary elementary 
 school; but it is equally apparent that students are no 
 better prepared for advanced work in one school than in 
 the other. 
 
 16. Statistical Study of the ScJwlastie Eecords of 404 Junior and 
 Non-Junior High School' Students. School Review, 25: 617-630, Nov., 1917. 
 
 17. Stetson, op. cit., p. 623. 
 
66 The Ju7iior High School 
 
 Stetson declares: "In view of the foregoing, one is 
 forced to the conclusion that the increased cost of the 
 intermediate school in Grand Rapids from the point of 
 view of instruction does not find its justification in better 
 scholastic work in the senior high school." 
 
 This one instance is not sufficient to furnish a basis 
 for any general conclusion regarding the scholarship of 
 pupils educated in the junior high schools. Besides it is 
 claimed that the reorganization in Grand Rapids, during 
 the period examined, had not made any change in the 
 curriculum. AVith the exception of the fact that Latin 
 and German were offered as electives it remained the 
 same as the curriculum of the regular elementary school.^-^ 
 Furthermore Stetson would justify the junior high school 
 in Grand Rapids on the basis of the "intangible results" 
 obtained through such features as departmental teach- 
 ing, supervised study, grouping of pupils for social activi- 
 ties and many others. 
 
 Practically the same conclusion was reached by 
 Davis in his study of the reports of two hundred and 
 seventy-one pupils who had graduated from the Grand 
 Rapids high school. This study was similar to that of 
 Stetson in this that approximately one -half of the records 
 examined were those of pupils who had been prepared 
 in the junior high school, wliile the other half was of 
 students who had received their education in the ordinary 
 elementary school. Although there is no marked differ- 
 ence between the two groups that could be attributed to 
 their preparation, the fact that Davis found the slight 
 difference in English to be in favor of the non-junior 
 group seems worthy of note. 
 
 In some instances high school impils who have 
 attended a junior liigli school were found to have received 
 higher marks in high school. For exami^le in Cuba, New 
 York, the average mark, 73,2 in the ninth grade rose to 
 
 18. School Survey of Grand Bapids, p. 215. 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 67 
 
 84.8 in the high school.^^ In other places the induction 
 of the new organization was followed by very unsatis- 
 factory results. In Los Angeles, for instance, it was 
 found necessary after trial to demote a number junior 
 high school graduates into lower grades. Of those who 
 were permitted to remain only 22 per cent received marks 
 as high as in their preparatory school.^^ Further evi- 
 dence is furnished in opinions of superintendents and 
 teachers to indicate the uncertainty, to say the least, of 
 the junior high schools' success in producing better 
 scholarship than the conventional type of school. In the 
 study of Briggs just referred to, high school teachers 
 were practically agreed in thinking that the children from 
 the junior high schools who continued their electives 
 were not adequately prepared. On the other hand Foster, 
 superintendent of schools, Danville, N. Y., states: ''That 
 the junior high school has not interfered with the work 
 in the three E's is shown by the fact that the percentage 
 of students who have passed the Regents' preliminary 
 examinations in the past two years is larger than during 
 the preceding three years. The work done in the first 
 year senior high school is of a higher character than it 
 was before the inauguration of our junior liigh school 
 department. "^^ 
 
 Another argument for the contention that the junior 
 high school secures a higher degree of scholarship is 
 based on the assumption that scholastic proficiency can be 
 measured by the length of school life. But even if this 
 assumption is granted, it still remains true that the 
 amount of credit due the junior high school for this con- 
 dition will be the same as is due it for the retention of 
 children in school. Now it is generally recognized that 
 
 19. Ed. Adm. and Buver., Vol. II, p. 458. 
 
 20. Brigj>-.s, Thos. H., A Study of Coviparative Eesnlts in Intermediate 
 and Elementary Schools of Los Anqeles. Journal of Ed. Rosearch. Novem- 
 ber, 1920. ' 
 
 21. Quoted from Briggs, The Junior High School, pp. 311-12. 
 
68 The Junior High School 
 
 a number of factors other than reorganization have con- 
 tributed to the stay of children in school, and furthermore 
 it is also generally recognized that no means exists at the 
 present time by which it would be possible to measure 
 how far reorganization is responsible for this condition. 
 Neither is it then possible to determine to what extent the 
 junior high school has contributed to increased scholar- 
 shij} from the point of view of lengthening the school life 
 of pupils. 
 
 Uniform examinations have proved scarcely any more 
 favorable to the junior high school than the other means 
 used to prove its superiority in obtaining better scholar- 
 ship. This method of discovering the effect of the junior 
 high school organization on scholarship was tried in New 
 York City. In June, 1917, uniform examinations in 
 Algebra, Commercial Arithmetic, Latin, French, Spanish, 
 and German were given to a number pupils in junior 
 high schools and to a number of pupils in the senior high 
 schools. The result showed that 31 per cent of the junior 
 pupils passed in algebra, as compared with 69.5 per cent 
 high school pupils ; in commercial arithmetic 34.5 to 54.8 ; 
 in Latin 45.9 to 63.6 ; in French 57.6 to 94.9 ; in Spanish 
 18.5 to 60.8 ; in German 60.8 to 56.5. Commenting on these 
 results, Tildsley says: ''It seems to me that this failure 
 to do good w^ork is due in large part to the attempt to 
 conduct the intermediate schools as a money-saving 
 scheme, and to the fact that teachers are doing this work 
 who are not equipped for it, and to the further fact that 
 the work has not been supervised by the principals and 
 heads of departments with the thoroughness and ability 
 with which this supervision is done in the high schools. "^^ 
 
 Passing to another claim of the junior high school, 
 the economy of time, it is maintained by the advocates of 
 this institution that the junior high school will save 
 pupils about one year in securing an education. Statis- 
 
 22. Brport of the Superintendent of Schools of New Torlc, 1917, p. 
 124. 
 
Its Feasibility 17% the Catholic Educational System 69 
 
 tical evidence to demonstrate this claim is very meagre. 
 In his study of the Los Angeles junior high schools, 
 Briggs^-^ found some evidence that a little time was saved 
 by intermediate school graduates. The more gifted and 
 industrious pupils were able to obtain enough high school 
 credits to save one-half year. No one pupil of those 
 studied was able to save more than one semester. As a 
 group not even a half year was saved. Stetson found 
 that time was saved in Grand Rapids' junior high school, 
 through promoting pupils b}'^ subjects. This feature of 
 junior high schools prevents a child from repeating two 
 or three subjects when he failed only in one, thus leaving 
 time for some new work. This is considered economy of; 
 time.^^ Mangun, in the article referred to above, men-: 
 tions that economy of time was secured by promoting 
 over-age pupils to the junior high where they were 
 enabled "to work to their full capacity in a congenial 
 atmosphere;" through the plan of promoting by subject; 
 and by granting high school credits to pupils for work 
 done in high school subjects in the eighth grade. 
 
 In some places one of the direct purposes of reor- 
 ganization was to enable children to save time. At 
 Solvay, N. Y., for instance all pupils who do not change 
 their courses after they have begun high school work 
 complete it in five years. Unless a much larger number 
 of the pupils of Solvay continue the studies elected in 
 the lower high school than were found to persevere in 
 their first choice at Los Angeles, very few wdll be able 
 to avail themselves of the opportunity to bring their 
 high school course to completion in five years.-'^ A 
 method of reorganization whereby pupils who completed 
 the six years high school would have done the work 
 
 23. A Study of Comparative Eesults in Intermediate and Elementary 
 Schools of Los Angeles, Journal of Educational Research, Nov., 1920. 
 
 24. Stetson, Paul C, Statistical Study of the Scholastic Becords of 
 404 Junior and Non-junior Iligh School Studc7its. School Review, pp. 017- 
 36, November, 1917. 
 
 25. Briggs, The Junior nigh School, pp. 814-17. 
 
70 The Junior High School 
 
 assigned to the first year of college was adopted at East 
 Chicago, Indiana. According to Koos,-^ many school 
 systems have saved time by "Boldly cutting down the 
 twelve year period to eleven for the normal pupils." 
 
 In studying the junior high school from the point of 
 view of results a number of other accomplishments are 
 mentioned as evidence of the success of the new plan of 
 organization. The fact that no system which has been 
 reorgaiiized along the lines of junior high school theory 
 has returned to the conventional plan nor has any desire 
 to return been expressed by those in charge of these 
 systems is considered evidence that reorganization has 
 proven satisfactory. It is reported^'' that the junior high 
 plan has served better to adjust the w^ork of the school 
 to the children. This seems to justify the claim of pro- 
 viding for individual differences. Another good result 
 attributed to reorganization by the same superintendent 
 is a reduction of congestion in the primary grades. A 
 few principals and teachers whose views w^ere obtained 
 regarding results of reorganization reported: "a more 
 favorable attitude on the part of pupils, probably more 
 favorable than ordinarily obtains, toward further 
 schooling;" "a marked improvement in discipline in the 
 elementary school after the removal of the seventh and 
 eighth grades;" "better opportunity is given the adoles- 
 cent to develop and express his individuality." The 
 very common adoption of departmental teaching in the 
 junior high school is frequently presented as evidence 
 that the results which are expected to follow departmen- 
 talization have actually been obtained in virtue of the 
 new institution. Through this plan of teaching oppor- 
 tunity is provided for students to come into contact with 
 many teacher^, some of whom are men. Furthermore 
 
 26. The Junior High School, p. 29. 
 
 27. Mangun, Vernon L., Soyne Junior High School Facts Drawn from 
 Two Years of the 6-6 Plan at Macomb, III. Elem. School Jour., pp. 598-617, 
 April, 1918. 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 71 
 
 these teachers are specialists, who are qualified to give 
 the pupil an outlook upon their particular field not pos- 
 sible in the one teacher plan. Opinions vary so much 
 regarding junior high school costs that the mention by a 
 few of a financial saving as a result of reorganization is 
 not looked upon as a thing to be expected of the junior 
 high school in general. Besides reducing elimination 
 and increasing the number of pupils who, after com- 
 pleting the eighth grade, still remain in school, the junior 
 high school, according to Weets, has brought about ''a 
 much saner distribution of high school pupils." 
 
 Table I^^ 
 
 Distribution 
 
 Under old plan J. H. S. plan 
 
 Courses per cent per cent 
 
 College preparatory 66 33 
 
 Commercial 27 33 
 
 Industrial and Household arts 7 34 
 
 It may be added that the junior high school has 
 given some secondary education to pupils who w^ould not 
 have entered the high school. Moreover, through election 
 of subjects it has perhaps convinced those who did not 
 continue their choice in the high school of their inapti- 
 tude for such work. 
 
 Two letters w^hich are considered typical of many 
 received by Briggs^'^ from junior high school principals 
 in widely scattered areas of the country may be quoted as 
 reflecting the sentiments of those in charge of these insti- 
 tutions relative to results. The first of these letters 
 states: "Our work as now carried on is more interest- 
 ing to the pupils, and therefore we are holding them in 
 school longer. My belief that the work is. more inter- 
 
 28. Weet, Herbert S., Proceedings N. E. A. 1916, pp. 1036-42. 
 
 29. Briggs, The Junior Iligh School, p. 320. 
 
72 The Junior High School 
 
 esting is supported by the statement of the pupils. In 
 answer to the question whether they prefer the new 
 plan and why, 90 per cent expressed a preference for the 
 junior high school, 40 per cent giving as their reason the 
 advantage of promotion by subject. Tw^o other reasons 
 which stood out were the opportunities for election of 
 subjects and the fact that the work is more pleasant when 
 there is a change of teachers from period to period. Not 
 one of us, faculty or board of education would consider 
 for a moment going back to the old plan." (Ellenville, 
 New York.) 
 
 The second letter is as follows : ' ' The change to the 
 junior high plan has had a wonderful effect. The intro- 
 duction of new subjects and a revision of the content of 
 the old with a modification in methods of teaching have 
 greatly stimulated the children's interest in school work. 
 There has been greater harmonj^ between pupils and 
 teachers, and a more friendly spirit has been clearly 
 evident. Both have been happy in their work and much 
 pleased w^itli the new arrangement. The discipline has 
 been easier, and undesirable tension has been approach- 
 ing the minimum rapidly. The pupils go about their 
 work in much more business-like v.'ay and are more 
 thoughtful and dependable. They have learned to make 
 a better use of their study periods, and the lessons are 
 better prepared. With this has come an increased power 
 of initiative. The result has been gratifying. I have 
 taken pains to question both my corps of teachers and 
 the pupils concerning this new arrangement and I find 
 the answers practically unanimous in its favor. No 
 teacher wishes to go back into the regular grade work, 
 and the pupils express themselves as much pleased at the 
 change. "'^^ 
 
 From the foregoing it seems safe to conclude that 
 it is not possible, at the present time, to gather data on 
 
 30. Chelsea, Mass. 
 
Its Feasihility in the Catholic Educational System 73 
 
 the different results which could be designated typical. 
 This conclusion is strengthened by the willingness of the 
 supporters of the theory themselves to admit that such 
 evidence as has been mustered together relative to the 
 results obtained in existing junior high schools is not 
 entirely satisfactory or conclusive. But they object to 
 the method of determining the value of the theory, 
 namely, by comparing the results procured in so-called 
 junior high schools with those of the conventional school. 
 This objection rests on the claim that very few, if any, 
 real junior high schools exist.^^ Besides, it is main- 
 tained this institution has not been in existence long 
 enough to have permitted many details to be worked 
 out, which experience and experiment alone can evolve. 
 Then, too, many present obstacles, such as lack of quali- 
 fied teachers, proper equipment, and satisfactory build- 
 ing accommodations, must be removed; many superin- 
 tendents and principals must be given a clear idea of 
 the aim in view, of the true spirit of the movement, and 
 of the necessity of a definite policy w^hen planning the 
 the establishment of a junior high school. 
 
 This objection is not aimed at the above-mentioned 
 criterion of judging theories, but at the attempt to judge 
 this particular theory by results obtained in institutions 
 that do not include all the requirements of the theory. 
 In other words the final test of the junior high school 
 must be the results gained in a school in which all the 
 essential features are provided and in which they are 
 administered in a manner designed to achieve the de- 
 sired results. 
 
 The supporters of the junior high school theory, 
 while admitting the institution is still in the develop- 
 mental stage, are convinced that the thoroughgoing 
 junior high school, once it is established, will produce 
 expected results. For they no longer entertain any doubt 
 
 31. Koos, L. v., op. cit., p. 26. 
 
74 The Ju7iior High School 
 
 relative to the soundness of the theory or its workability. 
 It is taken for granted by many that the theory has been 
 generally accepted by the educators of the country. 
 According to Ballon, superintendent of schools, District 
 of Columbia, there is no longer any serious discussion 
 of this question. The educational profession of the 
 country has accepted the junior high school plan. And 
 Briggs-^^ declares: "The arguments for a reorganiza- 
 tion of secondary education so as to provide some form 
 of junior higli school are now generally accepted as 
 sound. The broad discussion and debate at teachers' 
 meetings and in educational magazines a few years ago 
 have given place to questions concerning the means of 
 securing the best reorganization of the school system 
 both as a whole and in its details." 
 
 The statistical data and opinions of superintendents, 
 principals and teachers cited in this chapter at least 
 indicate that particular junior high schools have pro- 
 duced better results than the traditional school. This 
 augurs w^ell for the new institution, especially when it 
 is remembered that none of these schools has been com- 
 pletely reorganized according to the junior high school 
 theory. When the concensus of opinion of many eminent 
 educators is considered in connection with actual results 
 indicative of the possibilities of a fully developed junior 
 high scliool, the result is a strong argument in favor of 
 thorough reorganization. 
 
 32. The Junior nigh School, p. 322 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 75 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE JUNIOR HIGH 'SCHOOL IN THE CATHOLIC 
 SCHOOL SYSTEM 
 
 The movement to add a new institution to the 
 existing ones in the educational system in this country — : 
 an institution which shall find its place between the 
 elementary school and the high school — has already 
 passed through the stages of academic discussion and 
 that of the consideration of working plans. It is now a 
 fact. Although this institution has not yet taken final 
 fornij the laborious task has begun of working out, detail 
 by detail, its specific purposes and the means by which 
 these purposes are to be accomplished. The junior high 
 school has been adopted and is now on trial. While its 
 advocates are convinced that the junior high school 
 theory is both sound and workable, the future alone can 
 settle this question. The purpose of this chapter is to 
 discuss the feasibility of the junior high school in the 
 Catholic school system. 
 
 Whether education beyond the grades should be pro- 
 vided for all children is no longer an open question. The 
 recent enactment of compulsory education laws, requiring 
 children to attend school, either full or part time, up to 
 their sixteenth year and in some instances until the 
 eighteenth year, together with the change in public 
 opinion regarding secondary education for the masses 
 have practically settled this matter. "It is no longer a 
 question of whether or not children should be given a 
 high school education, but rather a question of where 
 they should receive it."^ The trend of Catholic educa- 
 tional discussion in the annual reports of the Catholic 
 
 1. Flood, Rev. John E., The Catholic Educational Eeview, Vol. XX, 
 No. 2, p. 60, Feb. 1922. 
 
76 The Junior High School 
 
 Educational Association, and the efforts put forth in the 
 past few years to establish Catholic high schools indicate 
 quite clearly that the Church intends to provide hor chil- 
 dren with the advantages of a secondary education with- 
 out exposing them to the manifold dangers to faith that 
 exist in non-catholic high schools. 
 
 If all children are to receive a secondary education, 
 or at least be given the opportunity to receive a high 
 school training, it is evident that the school must provide 
 the different courses which the various classes of chil- 
 dren need. A high school that offers nothing more than 
 the college preparatory course may be willing to accept 
 any child who desires to enter it, but it is not offering 
 equal opportunity to all. In other words the same 
 opportunity is not equal opportunity. The high school 
 must take into consideration the future life work of the 
 child and assist him in so far as it is possible to prepare 
 for the particular field of activity in wliicli he expects to 
 earn his livelihood, contribute his share to society, and 
 work out his salvation. The high school of today then 
 has a twofold purpose, namely, to prepare for college 
 those children, who will have the opportunity to continue 
 their education and to qualify the others to take their 
 place in the world. The problem is to determine the kind 
 of school organization that will best serve this purpose. 
 
 There are two leading views today relative to the 
 school and the accomplishment of its purposes. The one 
 maintains the necessity of a complete reorganization, an 
 entirely new arrangement of our educational forces ; the 
 other iiolds that the existing system of organization if 
 properly administered is well able to satisfy all demands 
 that may reasonably be made on the school. The weight 
 of authority, and reason, if some fundamental assump- 
 tions are accepted, seem to favor the first opinion. 
 Furthermore practice appears to be gradually conform- 
 ing to the proposed ])lan of reorganization, in so far at 
 least as the State schools are concerned. There are one 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 77 
 
 or more junior liigli schools in every State in the United 
 States, but as far as could be ascertained no Catholic 
 system has introduced the new organization. 
 
 The problem that confronts Catholic educators in 
 regard to the junior high school seems to be: Should 
 this institution be adopted in the Catholic system and is 
 its adoj^tion feasible? The first question to be solved 
 is : Are the purposes, which the junior high school is 
 expected to realize, desirable from a Catholic point of 
 view and are they such as the school may reasonably be 
 expected to accomplish! Should investigation show these 
 purposes to be desirable and their realization a proper 
 function of the school, it still remains to be determined 
 whether the junior high school is capable of accomplish- 
 ing them; whether it is the most economical plan of 
 organization; and whether it is the best plan! The 
 second question to present itself is: Is the junior high 
 school feasible in the Catholic system involves a num- 
 ber of important administrative considerations. 
 
 The ends to be attained by the junior high school are 
 without doubt very desirable. But it is not so certain 
 that the school should be held responsible for the realiza- 
 tion of all these purposes. There are other agencies 
 which must bear a share in the work of guiding the child 
 to the perfection of manhood. As noted elsewhere, how- 
 ever, the responsibilities of the school have necessarily 
 been increased through the great industrial, economical 
 and social changes of comparatively recent years. 
 
 Most educators, however, consider the aims of the 
 junior high school to fall properly within the scope of 
 the school's work. 
 
 Apart from this aspect of the question it is certainly 
 the most natural thing in the world to seek a remedy for 
 any recognized defect in the school. The accumulative 
 argument set forth to prove the existence of a number 
 of defects in the present plan of school organization 
 
78 The Junior High School 
 
 loaves no doubt that some repair work must be done or 
 some new i)arts must be procured to replace those that 
 no longer respond to apparent needs. 
 
 Under the existing- plan of organization more time 
 is consumed than ought to be necessary for the results 
 obtained. Catholic educators seem to be fairly agreed in 
 admitting this defect of the eight-four plan. Indeed, 
 some leading Catholic educators believe that elementary 
 education can be completed in six years. ''With better 
 teaching" says Bishop McDevitt, "with proper condi- 
 tions in our schools, smaller classes, and a longer school 
 term, the work that is now done in eight years, and done 
 sometimes badly, can be done well in six years. Two 
 years of school life can thus be saved for higher 
 studies."^ Brother John Waldron, treating of doing the 
 work proper to the elementary school in six years, writes : 
 "In many dioceses and especially where there is excel- 
 lent and effective supervision, it can; but, frankly said, 
 in some schools it cannot be done, as long as certain 
 obstacles are there to impede the work. "-^ At the con- 
 vention of the Catholic Educational Association held in 
 New Orleans in 1913, Msgr. Howard strongly defended 
 a six year elementary course in a paper entitled, "The 
 Problem of the Curriculum." And in 1919 the same 
 matter was discussed by Fr. Henry S. Spaulding, S. J. 
 He believes absolutely in a six year elementary school. 
 He declared that: "AVhile the printed records of their 
 opinions and discussions may not be many, I wish to 
 state that Catholic educators have for the last thirty 
 years or more been decrying this jumble of educational 
 methods."-^ 
 
 2. Cited from Burns, J. A., Catholic Education, p. 80. Longmans, 
 Green and Company, Now York, 1917. 
 
 3. Waldron, Bro. Jolin, " IJow many grades slio^ild there he in the 
 elementary school?" Ann. Report Catholic Educational Association, 1910, 
 Vol. VII, p. 290. 
 
 4. "Eeadjustment of the Time Element in Education." Ann. Report, 
 C. E. A. 1919, p. 82. 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 79 
 
 Granting that too mucli time is given to elementary 
 education, what then is the remedy! Now it must be 
 remembered that the centre of attack has been the seventh 
 and eighth grades of the elementary school. However, 
 theoretical discussion will never determine the amount 
 of time necessary for the acquisition of an elementary 
 education. Indeed it is not possible for all children to 
 attain the same standard in the same number of years. 
 For practical purposes it seems essential to adopt, at 
 least tentatively, some definite standard of elementary 
 school requirements. Several such attempts have been 
 made.'^ When some standard shall have been accepted, 
 actual trial alone will or can determine the amount of 
 time the normal child will require for its attainment. In 
 so far as this one question of saving time is concerned, 
 it is difficult to see the necessity of an entirely new insti- 
 tution. 
 
 The causes of this prodigal expenditure of time are 
 attributed to poor teaching, poor text-books, and the 
 presence in the curriculum of a large amount of non- 
 essential matters. The proper remedy for any defect is 
 to remove its cause or causes. In this instance, better 
 preparation of teachers, provision of text-books that are 
 designed according to the best known methods, and a 
 careful study of the content of the curriculum with the 
 view of eliminating all non-essential subjects or partic- 
 ular portions of subjects appear to be the logical method 
 of procedure. So, too, the so-called "fads and frills" and 
 ''odds and ends" can surely be dropped without the 
 establishment of an entirely new institution. Merely to 
 cut off two grades from the eight years now given to 
 elementary education and to transfer the children to a 
 
 5. Lirttle, E. W., Should the Twelve Year Course of Study be Equally 
 Divided Between the Elementary School and the Secondary Scliool? Pro- 
 ceedings, N. E. A., 1905, pp. 428-36. Also Cleveland Eeport on the Six 
 Year Course of Study, Proceedings, N. E. A., 1908, pp. 627-28. And 
 Howard, Rt. Rev. Francis W., "The Problem of the Curriculum." Ann. 
 Report C. E. A., Vol. X, pp. l?,2-47, 1913. 
 
80 The Junior High School 
 
 new institution styled the junior high school would prob- 
 ably result ill a condition similar to the One caused by 
 tacking a four year high school course on to an eight 
 year elementary course. The reorganization of the 
 elementary school must take place before, or at least 
 simultaneously with earlier entrance into high school 
 work. 
 
 If we assume the soundness of the psychological 
 grounds upon Avhicli it is claimed that differentiation of 
 work must begin at the end of the sixth year in school or 
 at about the twelfth year of the child's life, some other 
 form of organization than Ave now have seems to be ne- 
 cessary; for, as Briggs states, "even the beginning of 
 differentiation is impossible in the usual elementary 
 school."^ While it is beyond the scope of this treatise 
 to consider the psychological aspect of the question, it 
 may be noted that the adolescent period of life begins 
 earlier for girls than for boys, and that it is not reached 
 by all individuals of the same sex at the same age. The 
 demand for differentiation in w^ork at the age of twelve 
 based on the psychology of adolescence does not rest on 
 a certain argument. There are other arguments, how- 
 ever, that urge differentiation at the end of the sixth 
 school year. 
 
 The unduly large number of children who leave 
 school at the end of the sixth, seventh and eighth grades 
 is believed to be owing, in no small measure, to lack of 
 provision on the part of the school to meet the particular 
 needs of these children. Even the few who expect to con- 
 tinue their education through high school and college are 
 detained unnecessarily long in elementary work. On 
 the other hand, the children destined to enter upon their 
 life's vocation at the close of their elementary school 
 course find nothing in the present seventh and eighth^ 
 grades that appeals to them as essential or even advan- 
 tageous. This at least indicates the urgency of provid- 
 
 G. Tlie Junior Jligh School, p. 17. 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 81 
 
 ing offerings in the seventh and eighth grades that will 
 meet the needs of such children. When both children 
 and their parents are convinced that the school is pre- 
 pared properly to care for their natural abilities, inter- 
 ests and capacities, and that the school will, in the long 
 run, do them more good than immediate entrance into 
 some haphazardly chosen occupation, far more children, 
 no doubt, will give more time to education. But the mere 
 retention of children in school is not in itself an asset. 
 There is danger that anxiety to prolong the school-life 
 of all children wdll, under the guise of a false doctrine 
 of interest, result in catering to the caprices and whims 
 of some of them to such an extent as unwittingly to en- 
 courage loose, lazy habits of work, and at the same time 
 to develop unstable, wavering, superficial characters. 
 Unless the child profits by his stay in school, he is better 
 off at work. There are many children undoubtedly 
 engaged in occupations of one kind or another wdio would 
 have been of greater benefit both to themselves and to 
 society had they received a better education, or rather 
 had the school provided the kind of education their 
 individual needs demanded. 
 
 Another fact seems to support the contention that 
 differentiation should begin earlier. The large amount 
 of retardation is certainly due in part to lack of proper 
 regard for the individual differences in children. It is 
 a waste of time, money and energy to have children 
 repeat work for which they are evidently not qualified. 
 Then, too, different courses will be a powerful aid in 
 discovering different capacities, tastes, interests and 
 abilities, and enabling pupils to make a more reasonable 
 choice of a vocation and of a preparatory high school 
 course. No scale of measurement has yet been invented 
 by which the amount of retardation obviated by the 
 junior high school can be determined. Nevertheless the 
 conviction is strong in the minds of many educators that 
 it merits some credit for improvement in this respect. 
 
82 The Junior High School 
 
 Nor will the school be able to discover the different ca- 
 pacities of the child to an extent that will result in infal- 
 lible guidance toward the correct vocation. But surely 
 it will be far better able to direct the child, after testing 
 his abilities, than such agencies as the street, child com- 
 panions, and advertisements in newspapers and maga- 
 zines. No one will deny the desirability of differentiated 
 Avork in so far as it will contribute to the reduction of 
 elimination and retardation and in so far as it will con- 
 tribute to better preparation of children for their life's 
 work. 
 
 While statistics are not available to show the exact 
 amount of retardation and elimination in our Catholic 
 schools, the similarity of our sj^stem with that of the 
 State would naturally lead us to expect the existence of 
 both these defects. Dr. McCormick, wdio examined the 
 statistics available in 1911, said: "It would appear 
 from the data we possess for our Catholic school system, 
 that both classes of children (retarded and eliminated) 
 are with us to an alarming extent."' In addition to the 
 defects just mentioned, retardation and elimination, it 
 must also be recognized that there is no more provision 
 for individual differences in our Catholic schools than 
 in the usual eight-four plan. 
 
 The junior high school will undoubtedly provide 
 conditions for better teaching. Under this plan large 
 numbers of children of approximately the same age are 
 gathered together in the same building, and this fact 
 permits a classification as homogeneous as possible. 
 Evidently the nearer alike the children of each class are 
 in capacity, ability and acquired experience, the easier 
 the task of the teacher in furthering their education. 
 With a group of this type any teacher should obtain 
 l)etter results than are possible in the ordinary eight 
 grade elementary school. Better conditions for teaching. 
 
 7. A7in. Beport C. E. A., Vol. VIII, p. ;!28 (1911). 
 
Its Feasihilitjj in the Catholic Educational System 83 
 
 all other tliing\< being equal, and a higher degree of 
 scholarship on the part of the pupils will certainly result 
 from better teaching. 
 
 Some remedy for the crowded conditions of our 
 schools is an urgent necessity. It is most unreasonable 
 to expect any teacher to do justice to every individual 
 in a class of 100, or 80, or even 70 children.^ Such a 
 condition is not only an evil in itself, but a contributory 
 cause to other evils of the schools; retardation, poor 
 scholarship, and untimely elimination. There can be no 
 doubt that congestion is an evil, and the purpose to 
 remedy it most worthy of consideration and action. The 
 junior high school, an entirely new institution, may not 
 be the only cure for this particular malady of the elemen- 
 tary school, but it is one cure. 
 
 Besides relieving congestion, the segregation of chil- 
 dren in the adolescent period of life is intended to provide 
 conditions in which discipline, suited to their peculiar 
 needs, may be more easily maintained. This aim in itself 
 is undoubtedly good, for the child can hardly come to a 
 proper appreciation of personal responsibility unless he 
 is gradually made to rely upon himself. Now the diffi- 
 culty of obtaining even ''Passable behavior on the part 
 of boys and girls in the upper grades of our eight-year 
 elementary schools ... is a matter of common knowl- 
 edge. The struggle is often so arduous that there is 
 evidence that sometimes the primary consideration in 
 selecting teachers for and assigning them to these grades 
 is the ability to police, rather than to instruct."'^ On the 
 other hand, "it can hardly be denied that in this field 
 (providing for the transition from total dependence upon 
 the teacher to dependence on self) the junior high school 
 is achieving one of its most marked successes. "-^^ Fur- 
 thermore conditions of discipline are not only bettered 
 
 8. Note: The existence of such conditions in our schools is reported 
 in a letter from the superior of one of the large teaching communities. 
 
 9. Kooa, L. v., The Junior High School, pp. 72-73. 
 
 10. Briggs, T. H., The Junior High School, p. 247. 
 
84 The Junior High School 
 
 for the adolescents, but marked improvement has also 
 resulted in the elementary schools from which the seventh 
 and eighth grades had been removed. 
 
 While we do not believe the discipline in onr Catholic 
 schools is snch a difficult problem even in the seventh and 
 eighth grades, there probably is reason to question the 
 desirabilit}^ of maintaining the kind of discipline suitable 
 to childhood in these grades. None of us, it is true, ever 
 become entirely independent of authority, still there is a 
 difference between the dependence on authority on the 
 part of the child and that of the adult. From childhood 
 to manhood, there should be a gradual decrease in this 
 dependence and a gradual increase of self-reliance. 
 Whether this transition can be accomplished under our 
 present form of organization is a question. In the past, 
 it seems safe to say, it has not been accomplished. On 
 the other hand, if the results experienced in State junior 
 high schools are indicative of what may be expected of 
 Catholic junior high schools, there is reason to believe 
 that much may be hoped for in respect of proper disci- 
 pline by establishing them in the Catholic system. 
 
 The necessity of vocational education at an earlier 
 age is another problem that has received considerable 
 attention in connection with the junior high school. The 
 term, vocational education, is taken in its generic sense 
 and includes trade training, vocational guidance, pre- 
 vocational training and avocational training. There are 
 a few instances in which trade training might reasonably 
 be defended in the junior high school, but these instances 
 are the exception rather than the rule. Besides the 
 danger of arrested development in too early specializa- 
 tion, it seems impractical to provide the large amount 
 of equipment, space and special teachers necessary for 
 training in particular trades, in view of the very small 
 number of pupils that would take up each trade.^^ 
 
 11. Lutz, R. R., Wage Earning and Education, CleTcland Foundation 
 Survey. 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 85 
 
 Adverting to the fact that in a junior high- school of 
 1,000 boys and girls, there would probably be only five 
 boys who are likely to become compositors, Lutz says, 
 "The expense for equipment, for the space it occupies, 
 and for instruction renders special training for such 
 small classes impracticable."^^ Vocational guidance, 
 general pre-vocational education and some sort of train- 
 ing that will assist the pupil in the proper use of leisure 
 time are generally accepted as proper functions of the 
 junior high school. Catholic educators we believe, might 
 well subscribe to these purposes as desirable if not 
 entirely necessary functions of the school. It is true 
 that at the age of twelve the average pupil has very 
 restricted ideas regarding his future and a very incom- 
 plete conception of the different vocations.^'-^ If he has 
 made a choice — and this would seem to be true of chil- 
 dren even two or three years older — he is usually unable 
 to give any intelligent reason for the choice made. 
 Nevertheless, at the age of twelve children might well 
 be instructed regarding the necessity of choosing a future 
 occupation and given such knowledge and help as will 
 serve them in making a choice when the proper time 
 arrives. 
 
 There are a number of other purposes commonly 
 ascribed to the new plan of organization, but examina- 
 tion of the literature on the subject shows clearly that 
 none of them receives the frequent consideration of those 
 already mentioned. Since all these less frequently men- 
 tioned aims are to be realized through the same features 
 as the more commonly mentioned aims, w^e shall pass on 
 to a consideration of these features. In this respect the 
 most frequently mentioned and certainly the most com- 
 mon factor in practice, is departmental teaching. Many 
 arguments have been offered in support of this method of 
 teacliing in the grades which, properly,, belong to the 
 
 12. Op. cit., pp. 48-49. 
 
 13. Lewis, Erviii E., Worlc, Wages and Schooling of 800 Iowa Boys. 
 
86 The Junior High School 
 
 junior high school. A numl)er of the identical arguments 
 have been advanced in opposition to it. For instance, it 
 is claimed that departmental teaching will result in in- 
 creased interest and consequently in better work on the 
 l)art of the pupils, while others maintain the result AVJl! 
 be confusion of the pupils. The chief danger of depart- 
 mental teaching in grades seven and eight is that the 
 individual will not receive the personal attention he 
 needs. Observations made in a number of schools in 
 which this method prevails indicate a tendency to lose 
 track of the individual. Furthermore the demand for a 
 system of personal advisers is a mark of the weakness 
 of departmentalization. Then, too, if the change from 
 the one teacher plan to the many teacher plan at the end 
 of the eighth grade is too abrupt and consequently bad, 
 what is to be thought of such a change at the end of 
 the sixth grade 1 There are no data or, at least, not suffi- 
 cient data as to results that permit an accurate measure- 
 ment of the value of departmentalization. While some 
 form of partial departmental teaching seems imperative 
 in a fully equipped junior high school, we believe full 
 departmentalization is a mistake. The formation of the 
 child's character requires that he receive considerable 
 personal attention at the age of twelve or thirteen. It 
 seems quite possible to work out a plan of partial depart- 
 mental teaching for seventh and eighth grade pupils in 
 which every class will be responsible to one teacher and 
 one teacher responsible for every child in his or her class. 
 
 Promotion by subject is a feature of the junior high 
 school calculated especially to reduce both retardation 
 and elimination. It is a means of giving the pupil credit 
 for work done in each subject and of avoiding the neces- 
 sity of repeating work creditably finished on account of 
 failure in one or two branches. There may be some 
 difficulty in certain instances in arranging the program 
 of studies, especially wiiere the number of pupils in the 
 same grade is small, but the advantages promised by this 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 87 
 
 plan of promoting seem to warrant its adoption. The 
 practice of promoting by subject, though not yet univer- 
 sal, is rather common in junior high schools.^^ 
 
 Systematic supervision of the pupil's study will 
 serve the very important purpose of teaching him how 
 to study and at the same time will prevent no little waste 
 of time. Moreover, it will aid the teacher greatly in 
 recognizing individual differences in the pupils. There 
 is no apparent reason to differ with the gradually in- 
 creasing tendency to favor this mode of classroom proce- 
 dure. It is considered most desirable. Details in prac- 
 tice show a wide variation, especially in regard to the 
 amount of time that should be given to supervised study. 
 But here again final settlement of details must wait upon 
 the findings of experience and careful experimentation. 
 
 The most important feature of the junior high school 
 relative to the realization of its purposes is the large 
 number of pupils of approximately the same school 
 standing that are gathered together in one building. 
 Differentiated courses — the means of discovering indi- 
 vidual differences as well as providing for them — seem 
 to be impracticable, to say the least, in the ordinary ele- 
 mentary school w^here there are comparatively few chil- 
 dren in the seventh and eighth grades. Furthermore 
 large numbers are essential for homogeneous classifica- 
 tioii — the chief means of providing for better teaching 
 and consequently better scholarship. Moreover economy 
 of administration depends on the full use of the school 
 equipment and of the time of special teachers. The 
 expense of providing for the simplest kinds of manual 
 training would seem to be prohibitive in a school in which 
 there are only fifty or sixty boys in the seventh and eighth 
 grades. The same is true of the equipment necessary 
 for the teaching of domestic science. In a word a large 
 body of pupils is the very foundation of the junior high 
 school. 
 
 14. Briggs, T. H., The Junior High School, p. 154. 
 
88 The Junior High School 
 
 The purposes of the junior high school are such, we 
 believe, as will receive the approval of all Catholic edu- 
 cators. There may be room to question some of the 
 means by which the junior high school is attempting to 
 achieve these purposes. Some may not admit that all 
 these purposes belong properly to the school, while others 
 may still be convinced that all of them can be attained 
 in the traditional plan of organization, if it is properly 
 administered. It is, however, beyond the scope of this 
 treatise to enter further into the theoretical discussion. 
 Suffice it to say that the junior high school plan has 
 been widely accepted as the best means of attaining the 
 purposes generally accepted as proper aims of the school 
 of a democracy. And even though it is impossible to 
 show that the results obtained liy schools of this type 
 already in existence are all that was expected, still there 
 is a certain general satisfaction with this institution and 
 evident signs that it is being adopted by more and more 
 systems. 
 
 It is beyond assumption to say that the junior high 
 school can be introduced in the Catholic system, if the 
 proper authorities, our bishops, pastors and educational 
 leaders decide that it will improve the quality of Catholic 
 education. In the past the church has never failed to 
 give her children an education that properly prepared 
 them for the social, economic and political conditions of 
 their time. So today we have no doubt the church will 
 meet all the conditions necessary to give her children 
 the kind of education that is essential to prepare them 
 for the present peculiar conditions of life. There are 
 however a number of obstacles in the way of introducing 
 the junior high school into the Catholic school system. 
 These, however, cannot fail to yield to the united efforts 
 of our devoted clergy, self-sacrificing religious men and 
 women, and ever faithful laity. 
 
 Before setting forth what is believed to be a work- 
 able plan for the introduction of the junior high school 
 
Its Feasihilitij in the Catholic Educational System 89 
 
 into the Catholic system, it is deemed necessary to state 
 what the writer believes to be the essential features of 
 this new institution. It must be noted that certain local 
 conditions will make a large numl)er of modifications 
 imperative. The rural junior high school will necessarily 
 differ in some respects from the junior high school in the 
 town, or small city. In the large cities this institution 
 will provide opportunities not possible in smaller com- 
 munities. And even in large cities the different local 
 conditions will probably call for some variations in 
 organization. For these reasons it is proposed to offer 
 only a general outline of the features of this school. 
 
 The junior high school is a separate division of the 
 educational system functionally related to the elemen- 
 tary school on the one hand and to the high school on the 
 other, to provide properly for the peculiar needs of adol- 
 escent children. The purposes of this school require 
 some differentiation of work, promotion by subject, 
 supervised study, especially prepared text-books, and 
 some form of partial departmentalization. These fea- 
 tures in turn demand a building suitably constructed and 
 properly equipped; a large student body, which should 
 include children of the seventh, eighth and ninth grades, 
 and in some instances the tenth; an efficient principal 
 and a qualified staff of teachers. 
 
 Assuming then the necessity of reorganization in 
 the Catholic school system and that the junior higli 
 school plan is the best available, we suggest the following 
 plan for its establishment : 
 
 Any plan by which this institution is to be estab- 
 lished in the Catholic system must provide for a school 
 unit larger than the parish. This requirement can be 
 met by uniting two, three or more parishes, as conditions 
 demand, into a junior high school unit of administra- 
 tion. This will not interfere in the least with the parish 
 elementary school. It will of course reduce the number 
 of grades and consequently the number of children in 
 
90 The Junior High School 
 
 these schools, but tliis should be an advantage in view 
 of the crowded conditions. When the size of the district 
 has been determined by the number of Catholic children 
 in a given territory, the school should be located as cen- 
 trally as circumstances will allow — in such a way if pos- 
 sible that no child will have more than two miles to travel 
 to school. This distance is a little greater than Spaul- 
 ding's^^ standard for the maximum distance for pupils 
 to travel, but it is believed that Catholic parents and 
 children, too, will readily recognize the difficulties of 
 providing schools of this type in a small area, especially 
 if the Catholics are few, and that they will readily make 
 the little sacrifice demanded in the interests of religious 
 education. The chief consideration in the formation of 
 these districts is to obtain an attendance of from 400 
 to 600 pupils. Opinions differ on this question, it is true, 
 and practice varies still more. Nevertheless it seems 
 many advantages of this form of organization must l)e 
 missed if the number is smaller, while on the other hand, 
 if it is larger the work of the principal, the unifying agent 
 of the school, can hardly be properly attended to. 
 
 The grounds should be ample for the amount of out- 
 door work to be done and for proper recreation. Different 
 estim.ates have been made relative to the amount of 
 ground necessary, but finally local possibilities must 
 determine this matter. The building of course must 
 conform to standard requirements in the matter of 
 light, heat, ventilation, floor space per pupil, fire protec- 
 tion, etc., etc. But in addition to these standard require- 
 ments, the junior high school building should have a 
 kitchen for domestic science work, a work room for 
 manual training, a gymnasium and swimming pool, an 
 auditorium for social affairs, and, in cases where it is 
 
 15. Superiuteiideiit Spauldiii"- thinks that a distance not exceeding one 
 mile is desirable for children of junior high school age, and that the maxi- 
 mum distance should not exceed one and one-half miles. Cited from 
 Briggs, T. II., The Junior High School, p. 271. 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 91 
 
 not in the immediate vicinity of a church, a chapel. The 
 same space might readily be used as chapel and audi- 
 torium, provided the building is constructed with this 
 intention in mind. 
 
 The problem of obtaining teachers for junior high 
 schools has been and still is a most important consider- 
 ation. In the Catholic system the teachers now occupied 
 with seventh and eighth grade work would be the most 
 available. The experience these teachers have had, sup- 
 plemented with a special course on tlie junior high school, 
 including a general treatment of its purposes, the means 
 by v/hich they are expected to be accomplished, the 
 psychology of adolescence, and junior high school 
 methods, would furnish our schools mth teachers at 
 least equal to those in the State junior high school, pro- 
 vided, of course, they have had adequate academic 
 training. This arrangement would not call for more 
 teachers. In some instances, as a consequence of equal- 
 izing the number of pupils in each class, consolidation 
 might result in a saving of teachers. The chief difficulty 
 in this respect seems to be the securing of male teachers 
 for junior high schools in our system. The shortage of 
 religious in practically all the teaching brotherhoods is 
 only too well known. The discussions and suggestions in 
 the meetings of the Catholic Educational Association on 
 ways and means of fostering vocations for the teaching 
 orders leave no doubt that many more teachers are 
 needed even under present conditions.^^ There can be no 
 doubt that sufficient vocations to the religious life exist, 
 for "God, assuredly, in His unfailing providence, lias 
 marked for the grace of vocation those w^ho are to serve 
 
 16. Proceedings C. E. A. 1920, p. 217, "The Need of Beligious Vo- 
 eations for the Teaching Orders. Hayes, D. D., Rev. Ralph L., Ibid. p. 485. 
 Vocations for the Beligious Life. A Sister of Holy Cross, Notre Dame, 
 Ind. Ihid. 1921, p. 301. On Vocations to the Teaching Brotherhoods. 
 Sauer. Brother George N., S. M. 
 
92 The Junior High School 
 
 llim as His clioseii instruments."-^" It remains for all 
 responsible for the direction of the young to make use of 
 all the means suggested by those who have carefully 
 studied the question of vocations to the teaching orders 
 and then we may be sure there will be no shortage of 
 teachers for our scliools. "It lies with us," continues 
 the Pastoral Letter, "to recognize tliese vessels of elec- 
 tion and to set them apart, that tliey may be duly 
 fashioned and tempered for the uses of their calling." 
 All "who have the care of souls," parents and teachers, 
 are "charged" by the bishops "to note the signs of 
 vocation, to encourage young men and women who mani- 
 fest the requisite dispositions, and to guide them with 
 prudent advice. "^"^ 
 
 Then, too, the difficulty of securing men teachers 
 may be overcome to some extent by enlisting the services 
 of some of our young priests. We believe there are many 
 who would find delight in school work; some, given the 
 opportunity for professional training, would make excel- 
 lent principals of either junior or senior high schools; 
 others might j^refer classroom work. Almost all assistant 
 priests or curates could find a few hours during the week 
 that could be devoted to the school with great profit to 
 themselves as well as to the cause of Catholic education. 
 If this future work in the school were kept in mind by 
 those who are responsible for the preparation of candi- 
 dates for the priesthood both in the minor and major 
 seminaries, at the end of his course the newly ordained 
 would certainly be well prepared academically for 
 teaching. And it should not be impossible to devise a 
 plan, should our bishops deem it advisable, whereby all 
 priests who are to engage in school work would be per- 
 mitted to spend one year, at least, at the Catholic Uni- 
 
 17. Pa^storal Letter of the Archbishops and Biahopfi assemhled in 
 Conference, September, 1919, p. 28. The N. C. W. C, Washington, D. C, 
 1920. 
 
 18. Ibid. pp. 28-29. 
 
Its Feasibilitij in the Catholic Educational System 93 
 
 versify where, we believe, a course offering the necessary 
 professional training would be gladly given by the uni- 
 versity authorities. 
 
 In the standard junior high school, each grade will 
 be divided into three, four or even five classes, composed 
 of pupils as nearly equal as possible. The same sub- 
 jects should be required in each class, but the course 
 should be limited in such a way regarding time as to 
 permit some elective subjects. These electives, it is be- 
 lieved, should be arranged in groups on the basis of the 
 possible future occupations of the children. The child's 
 elementary school record, his own desires, the wishes of 
 his parents, and the opinion of his former teachers may 
 be made the basis for determining the elective course he 
 is to follow. Since this choice cannot be more than ten- 
 tative, it should be possible for any child to change at the 
 end of each semester. This arrangement will serve the 
 two-fold purpose of testing each child's capacity for a 
 particular vocation and of giving him a general view of 
 the many different occupations in which men are engaged. 
 In each course actual experience, as far as possible, 
 should be added to the verbal instruction on the require- 
 ments for the particular vocation. 
 
 The chief considerations in the formation of the 
 curriculum of the junior high school are to determine the 
 subjects that will be taught and which shall be required 
 or elective. The value of a subject in achieving the 
 ultimate and proximate ends of education dei^ends prin- 
 cipally upon the matter treated and the method of pre- 
 senting it. The subjects that are of general necessity for 
 social integration and welfare, for individual culture, and 
 for continued training in the fundamental processes 
 should be obligatory. In addition to the required sub- 
 jects different groups of electives will provide general 
 basic courses leading to a professional, an industrial, an 
 agricultural, or a commercial career. A domestic instead 
 of an industrial arts course should be offered for girls. 
 
94 The Junior High School 
 
 Furthermore a number of extra-curricular or social ac- 
 tivities will be a great benefit to all pupils. 
 
 The detailed planning of time schedules and the 
 assignment of work to the teachers will require careful 
 study and considerable experimentation. In general one 
 teacher may be expected to handle the courses in 
 Religion, English, and the social studies in the seventh 
 and eighth grades. This teacher should be known as the 
 class teacher and should be made responsible for each 
 pupil of his class in all phases of the pupil's school life. 
 Mathematics, industrial arts, domestic science, general 
 science and the languages, though required subjects, are 
 of such a nature that they will demand special teachers. 
 The elective courses will necessarily require more special- 
 ized work and hence special teachers. This plan will 
 provide better, it is believed, for the symmetrical devel- 
 opment of the child than the one teacher for every sub- 
 ject plan. It will also make better provision for proper 
 correlation of work, and at the same time avoid the 
 danger of too early specialization. At the same time 
 the child by coming into contact with different teachers 
 in his elected course will be gradually introduced to the 
 departmental method. Furthermore the fact that some 
 of the studies found in the elective courses are properly 
 secondary school subjects will serve to bridge the so- 
 called gap between the present elementary school and 
 the high school. The pupils wiio have passed through a 
 junior high school of this type will be prepared to enter 
 upon the work of the senior high school with as much 
 ease as they pass from one grade to another in the lower 
 schools. This condition should prove to be a remedy for 
 the undue pupil mortality at the end of the first high 
 school year. 
 
 It is unnecessary^ to treat of the spirit that should 
 guide the religious teacher or the motives that should 
 bring foi-tli whole-hearted interest in his w^ork. All our 
 teachers have received ample preparation in this respect. 
 
Its Feasihilitij in the Catholic Educational System 95 
 
 Bound by sacred vows freely taken to obey their 
 superiors,' they readily appreciate the necessity of ac- 
 cepting and cooperating with the plans laid down by the 
 principal under the instruction of the diocesan superin- 
 tendent. Since their motives in entering a teaching order 
 are the highest that can actuate a teacher, viz., the love 
 of God and the spiritual and temporal welfare of chil- 
 dren, they seek no earthly reward but look forward to 
 that eternal reward promised by Him Who knows all 
 things. We may therefore reasonably expect that every 
 such teacher will give the very best that is in him. 
 
 The administration of all junior high schools should 
 be in the hands of the diocesan school board. The execu- 
 tive officer of the board, the diocesan superhitendent, 
 should have the same direction of these schools as he has 
 of the elementary and senior central high schools. And 
 the position of the pastor relative to the parochial school 
 might be filled by a committee composed of all pastors 
 whose parishes have been consolidated into a junior high 
 school unit of administration. The management of the 
 school and the entire work of supervision should be left 
 in the hands of the principal, who, it is understood, will 
 work in harmony with and under the direction of the 
 diocesan superintendent. The principal should be free 
 to devote his entire time to supervision and administra- 
 tion and not be hampered in the exercise of these duties 
 by any obligation of teaching. This of course may not 
 always be possible in practice but it is ideal and should 
 be aimed at in all instances. 
 
 There are assuredly many obstacles which must be 
 removed before this or any other junior high school plan 
 can become a reality in the Catholic school system. The 
 chief difficulties seem to be the location of the building, 
 obtaining the necessary finances, and the securing of 
 qualified teachers. The internal arrangement of the 
 school, determining the courses of study, selecting text- 
 books, arranging a time schedule and many other details, 
 
96 The Junior High School 
 
 thoiigli by no means an easy task, may well be left to the 
 knowledge and good judgment of the superintendent and 
 his advisers. These matters can always be changed when 
 more definite knowledge is obtained through experimen- 
 tation and experience. 
 
 The most serious obstacle will be securing a site for 
 the building that Avill permit a sufficiently large number 
 of children to attend the school without having to travel 
 too great a distance. In some places this difficulty may 
 necessitate a special plan and even a sacrifice of some 
 advantages of the organization. But as noted above in 
 most instances, it seems safe to say. Catholic parents 
 will readily realize that the inconvenience of distance 
 is not to be compared to the advantages their children 
 will receive in getting a sound religious training at the 
 same time that their other educational needs are cared 
 for in a much better manner than is possible Vv"ithout 
 consolidation of our educational forces. 
 
 It is generally conceded that the cost of the junior 
 high school will be greater than the cost of the elementary 
 school. This does not mean the attaimnent of the same 
 educational proficiency will cost more under the new 
 plan. In fact it has been demonstrated that under the 
 junior high school plan of organization a training in 
 every way comparable with that obtainable under the 
 eight-four system can be secured at less expense.^^ The 
 purpose of the junior high school is to provide a better 
 education. This obviously will entail a greater expendi^- 
 ture of money. If our schools are to survive, Catholic 
 children must be given in addition to their religious 
 training as good a preparation for their lives here below 
 as they can obtain in the State schools. Our Catholic 
 people upon whom the financial burden of the school 
 must finally rest have never failed to support every 
 worthy cause in the past and there is no reason to doubt 
 that now and in the future they will Avillingly supply the 
 
 19. Briggs, T. H., "The Junior High School," p. 84. 
 
Its Feasihility in the Catholic Educational System 97 
 
 necessary money to provide their cliilcheu witli tlio kind 
 of education demanded by present social conditions. Be- 
 sides it has been shown that by providing their own 
 schools, our people have actually been obliged to spend 
 less money than would be the case if all our children 
 were educated in the State schools. This of course is 
 due to the self-sacrificing spirit of our devoted religious 
 teachers whose salaries are far loss, sometimes only 
 about 1/6 as much as teachers in State schools receive. 
 While this new type of school will necessitate an in- 
 creased expenditure, there is no doubt that our people, 
 once convinced their children will benefit in proportion 
 to the outlay, will supply the funds for it. 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 Reorganization of the State school system in' accor- 
 dance with the junior high school theory is taking place 
 rapidly in all parts of the country. "It is not improbable 
 that five years may see its inclusion in the majority of 
 the schools of the country. Prof. Davis, of Ann Arbor, 
 has investigated the junior high schools in the North 
 Central Association territory, 1917-18, and has found that 
 about one-fourth (2,931) of the accredited schools of the 
 region contained this form of organization, and that 
 about one-sixteenth (72) had been organized in 1917. 
 The year 1918, Prof. Davis believes, will show an even 
 greater increase. It is believed that the growth in the 
 region for which he reports is typical of the whole coun- 
 ti^y "^0 From conversation with the superintendent of 
 schools, and the principal of the junior high school of 
 the District of Columbia; a teacher in the junior high 
 school in Holyoke, Massachusetts ; and through communi- 
 cation with a member of the board of education in Racine, 
 Wisconsin, the writer is informed that in these and other 
 
 20. Eeport of the U. S. Commissioner of Education for the Year 
 Ending June 30, 1918, p. 41. 
 
98 The Junior High School 
 
 places pkuis are crystallizing for the constructiori of one 
 or more buildings especially adapted to junior high 
 school purposes. It seems safe to conclude iii view of 
 these conditions that the junior high school plan of or- 
 ganization is destined in time to supplant the system 
 now in use. 
 
 In the past the organization of our schools closely 
 resembled the organization, of the secular schools, and 
 this condition was not always a matter of choice. In 
 spite of the fact that many Catholic authorities long ago 
 thought the eight-four plan unsound, "yet tliey decided 
 to submit to the force of circumstances and adopt a plan 
 that was in harmony with the public educational sys- 
 tem. "-^'^ In pointing out the similarity between our 
 schools and the public schools. Dr. Howard remarks, "The 
 eighth^ grade elementary system has been generally 
 adopted in this country, and our parish schools have from 
 necessity conformed with it."^'^ There is no reason to 
 question, we believe, that our schools must conform in a 
 general way at least with the State schools. Now that 
 the State schools have begun to work out a plan of re- 
 organization which substantiallv harmonizes with the 
 views of many Catholic educators relative to sound peda- 
 gogical principles and that the Church has undertaken to 
 provide secondary education for all her children, the 
 time seems opportune for a reorganization of our schools 
 on these same principles. 
 
 21. Spaulding, S. J., Rov. H. S., Beadjufttment of the Time Elonent in 
 Edumtion, C. E. A. Proceedings, 1919, p. 83. 
 
 22. C. E. A. Proceedings, 1913, p. 137. 
 
Its Feasibilitij in the Catholic Educational System 90 
 
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100 The Junior High School 
 
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Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 101 
 
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 (Junior High School Number), contains: 
 
 l—"The Junior High School." Johnston, C. H., 
 
 pp. 413-24. 
 2 — "Reorganization of Education for Children 
 From 12-14 Years of Age." Snedden, 
 David, pp. 425-32. 
 3 — "Rochester's Junior High Schools: A Step 
 in. Establishing the Six-Three-Three Organ- 
 ization." Weet, Herbert S., pp. 433-47. 
 4 — "The Training of Teachers for Intermediate 
 
 Schools." Stacy, C. R., pp. 448-55. 
 
 5 — "The Six and Six Plan of Organization for 
 
 the Small School." Park, F.R., pp. 456-60. 
 
 6 — "The Course in Mathematics in the Junior 
 
 School." Taylor, E. H., pp. 461-65. 
 
 High School Teachers' Association of New York, "The 
 
 Junior High School." Bulletin, Jan.. 1916., No. 59. 
 
 Hood, W. R., "Junior and Senior High Schools." Report 
 
102 The Junior High School 
 
 of the U. S. Commissioner of Education, 1912, Vol. I, 
 pp. 153-56. 
 
 Horn, P. W., "The Junior High School." Ohio Educa- 
 tional Monthly, March, 1919, pp. 94-96. 
 
 Judd, Chas. H., ''The Junior High School Grows in 
 Favor." Report of the U. S. Commissioner of Edu- 
 cation, 1913, Vol. I, pp. 72-74. 
 
 "The Junior High School." School Review, 
 
 A])ril, 1916, pp. 249-60. 
 
 Kai'idel, I. L,, "The. Junior High School in European 
 Systems." Educational Review, Nov., 1919, pp. 
 303-27. 
 
 Koos, L. v., "The Junior High School." Harcourt, 
 Brace & Co., N. Y., 1921. 
 
 "The Peculiar Functions of the Junior High 
 
 Schools: Their Relative Importance." School Re- 
 view, Nov., 1920, pp. 673-81. 
 
 Mangum, Vernon L., "Some Junior High School Facts 
 Drawn from Two Years of the Six-and-Six Plan at 
 Macomh, III." Elementary School Journal, April, 
 1918, pp. 598-617. 
 
 Rorem, S. 0., "What is a Junior High School?" Junior 
 High Clearing House (Sioux City, Iowa), March, 
 1920, pp. 11-14. 
 
 Smith, AV. A., "Junior High School Practices in Sixty- 
 four Cities." Educational Administration & Super- 
 vision, March, 1920, pp. 139-49. 
 
 Stetson, Paul C, "Statistical Study of the Scholastic 
 Records of 404 Junior and Non-Junior High School 
 Students." School Review, Nov., 1917, pp. 617-36. 
 
 Stetson, Paul C, "A Statistical Study of the Junior High 
 School from the Point of View of Enrollment." 
 School Review, April, 1918, pp. 233-45. 
 
 Wescott, Ralph "Wells, "A Junior High School Cate- 
 chism." Journal of Education, Nov., 27th, 1919, pp. 
 535-37. 
 
Its FcasihUiti) in the Catholic Educational System 10;J 
 
 Special Features 
 
 Baker, James H., '' Report of the Committee of tJie 
 National Council of Education on Economy of Time 
 in Education." U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin, 
 1913, No. 38. 
 
 Brigg^^, T. H., "A Study of Comparative Results in Inter- 
 mediate and Elementary Schools of Los Angeles." 
 Journal of Educational Research, Nov., 1920, pp. 
 
 Dunney, Joseph A., "Departmental Instruction in the 
 Intermediate." Catholic Educational Association, 
 Proceedings of the 17th Annual Meeting, New York, 
 1920, pp. 296-312. 
 
 Edgerton, A. H., ''Experimental Work in Junior High 
 School Industrial Arts." Industrial Arts Magazine, 
 July, 1919, pp. 251-55. 
 
 Faulkner, R. P., "Retardation: Its Significance and 
 Requirements." Educational Review, Sept., 1909, 
 pp. 122-31. 
 
 Finch, C. E., "Junior High School Study Tests." School 
 Review, March, 1920, pp. 220-26. 
 
 Fitzgerald, W. J., "Differentiation in the Curriculum of 
 the Grammar Grades: Viewpoint of the Junior 
 High School." Catholic Educational Association 
 Pioceedings, 16th Ann. Meeting, St. Louis, 1919, pp. 
 100-114. 
 
 Hines, H. C, "Supervised Study in the Junior High 
 School." School and Society, Nov. 3, 1917, pp. 518-22. 
 
 Kirkpati'ick, Lee, "Factors WhicJi Control Curriculum 
 Making in the Junior High School." Southern 
 School Journal, Jan., 1921, pp. 9-12. 
 
 Lewis, Ervin E., "The Curriculum of the Junior High 
 School." Midland Schools, Nov., 1918, pp. 91-92. 
 
 Mackie. Ransom A.. "Education During Adolescence." 
 ETP. Button & Co., N. Y., 1920. 
 
 McCormick, P. J., "Retardation- and Elimination of 
 Pupils in Our Schools." Catholic Educational 
 
104 The Junior Iligh School 
 
 Association, Proceedings of the 8tli Ann. Meeting, 
 Chicago, 1911, pp. 326-36. 
 
 McGuire, J. W., '* Prcvocatiunal Training." Catholic 
 Educational Association. Proceedings of the 14th 
 Ann. Meeting, Buffalo, 1917, pp. 239-51. 
 
 Stetson, Paul C, "'The Curriculum of the Jwvior High 
 School." Vocational Association of the Middle West. 
 Proceedings, 1916, j)p. 130-35. 
 
 Schuetz, Brother John, "Entrance Requirements for the 
 Junior High School." Catholic Educational Associ- 
 ation, Proceedings of the 16tli Ann. Meeting, St. 
 Louis, 1919, pp. 362-72. 
 
 Wetzel, W. A. "The Vocational Try-out in the Junior 
 High School." National Association of Secondary 
 School Principals. Third Year-Book. Published by 
 the Association, 1920, pp. 37-43. 
 
 Whitney, Frank P., "Choosing a Vocation in Junior High 
 School." Education, Oct., 1919, pp. 120-25. 
 
 Yeske, L. A. "Helping Pupils to Discover Their Apti- 
 tudes." Catholic Educational Association, Proceed- 
 ings of the 12th Ann. Meeting, St. Paul, 1915, pp. 
 302-12. 
 
 In Particular Places 
 
 Bunker, F. Forest, "A Plan for the Reorganization of 
 the Schools at Berkeley" (Cal.). Sierra Educational 
 News, Dec, 1909, pp. 13-19. 
 
 Detroit, Michigan, "Handbook of the Detroit Junior High 
 Schools." Board of Education, 1916-17. 
 
 "EvansviUe Junior High School, The." Educator- 
 Journal, Dec, 1911, p. 219. 
 
 Glass, J. M., "Results of the First Year's Work at 
 Washington Junior High School, Rochester, N. Y." 
 New York State University Convocation, Proceed- 
 ings, 1916, pp. 105-24. 
 
 Gould, Arthur, "The Intermediate Schools of Los 
 
Its Feasihility in the Catholic Educational System 105 
 
 Angeles." School Review, June, 1920, pp. 419-35. 
 Hines, L. N., ''The ' Six-and-Six' Plan in the Public 
 
 Schools of CrawfordsviUe, Indiana." American 
 
 School Board Journal, Feb., 1912, p. 14. 
 Horn, P. W., "The Junior High School in Houston, 
 
 Texas." Elementary School Journal, Oct., 1915, pp. 
 
 91-95. 
 Lyman, R L., "The Ben Blewett Junior High School of 
 
 St. Louis." School Review, Jan., 1920, pp. 97-111. 
 Lyman, R. L., "The Washington Junior High School, 
 
 Rochester, N. Y." School Review, March, 1920, pp. 
 
 178-204. 
 Simmonds, F. W., "Six-Year High School in Lewiston, 
 
 Idaho." Educational Administration and Supervi- 
 sion, May, 1921, pp. 291-97. 
 
 Miscellaneous 
 
 Albert, Brother, "Content of the Elementary School 
 Curriculum." Proceedings Catholic Educational 
 Association, 12th Ann. Meeting, St. Paul, 1915, pp. 
 233-43. 
 
 Baldwin, Brother, "Causes Which Demand Vocational 
 Training in the United States." Proceedings 
 Catholic Educational Association, 14th Ann. Meet- 
 ing, Buffalo, N. Y., 1917, pp. 376-86. 
 
 Baldwin. B. T., "Physical Grou'tJ) and School Progress." 
 U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin, 1914, No. 10. 
 
 Bunker, F. F., "Reorganization of the Public School 
 System." U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin, 1916, 
 No. 8. Bibliography. 
 
 Burns, J. A., "The Condition of Catholic Secondary 
 Education in the United States." Proceedings 
 Catholic Educational Association, 12th Ann. Meeting, 
 St. Paul, 1915, pp. 377-440. 
 
 Crathorne, A. R., "Change of Mind Between High School 
 and College as to Life Work." Educational Admin- 
 
106 The Junior High School 
 
 istratioii and supervision, May-June, 1920, pp. 274-84. 
 
 Ei, J. C, ''Difficulties Encowntered hy Religious Super- 
 iors in the Professional Training of Their Teachers." 
 Proceedings Catholic Educational Association, lOtli, 
 Ann. Meeting, 1913, pp. 362-379. 
 
 Howard, F. W., ''The Problem of the Curriculum." 
 Proceedings Catholic Educational Association, 10th 
 Ann. Meeting, New Orleans, 1913, pp. 132-47. 
 
 Horsa, Bede, ''The Need of Male Teachers in Our Parish^ 
 Schools." Proceedings Catholic Educational Associ- 
 ation, 10th Ann. Meeting, New Orleans, 1913, pp. 
 281-89. 
 
 Meredith, A. B., "Principles Which are to he Used as 
 Guides in Classifying and Promoting Children." 
 High School Quarterly, April, 1919, pp. 136-41. 
 
 McGolrick, Edward J., "Our School Buildings and Their 
 Maintenance." Proceedings Catholic Educational 
 Association, 17th Ann. Meeting, New York, 1920, 
 pp. 202-10. 
 
 McKenna, J. D. A., "Child Study." Proceedings Catholic 
 Educational Association, 10th Ann. Meeting, New 
 Orleans, 1913, pp. 403-12. 
 
 McLaughlin, Myles. "Factors in P re-vocational Train- 
 ing." Proceedings Catholic Educational Associa- 
 tion, 12th Arm. Meeting. St. Paul, 1915. pr). .312-320. 
 
 Ryan, John J. "Vocational Education in a Democratic 
 Society." Catholic World, August, 1919, pp. 613-21. 
 
 Ryan, John J., "The Priest's Adaptability for School 
 Work." Proceedings Catholic Educational Associ- 
 ation, 10th Ann. Meeting, New Orleans, 1913, pp. 
 297-304. 
 
 Shields, Thos. E., "Some Relations Betioeen the Catholic 
 School System, and the Pnhlic School System " 
 Proceedings Catholic Educational Association, 13th 
 Ann. Meeting, Baltimore, 1916, pp. 51-62. 
 
Its Feasibility in the Catholic Educational System 107 
 
 Snedclen, D., "Fundamental Distinctions Between Liberal 
 and Vocational Edticatiou." Proceedings National 
 Educational Association, 1914, pp. 150-61. Bagley's 
 views are given on pages 161-70. 
 
 Thompson, F. W., "Equalising Educational Oppor- 
 tunity." Educational Administration and Super- 
 vision, Sept., 1915, pp. 453-64. 
 
 U. S. Commissioner of Education, "Classification and 
 Promotion of Pupils." Annual Report, 1898-99. Vol. 
 I., pp. 302-56. 
 
w 
 
 VITA 
 
 Joseph Earl Hamill was born in Indianapolis, Indi- 
 ana, on January 3, 1886. He received his elementary 
 education from the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in St. 
 Patrick's school in his native city. In September, 1900, 
 he entered St. Meinrad's preparatory seminary at St. 
 Mcinrad, Indiana. After completing the classical course 
 he was admitted into the major seminary, wdiere he 
 studied his Philosophy and Theology. On June 5, 1909, 
 he was ordained to the priesthood. Having served as 
 assistant priest for three years he was placed in charge 
 of a parish. In the year 1919, he entered the Catholic 
 University of America. The principal courses pursued 
 in his graduate work were in education. He followed the 
 courses in School Administration and Supervision and in 
 the History of Education under Very Reverend Doctor 
 McCormick; the course in the Philosophy of Education 
 under the late Very Reverend Doctor Shields ; the course 
 in the Psychology of Education under Father McVay; 
 and the course in General Methods under Reverend 
 Doctor Johnson. The courses of Rt. Reverend Monsignor 
 Pace in the Philosophy of the Mind and in Genetic 
 Psycholop-y were taken as first minor and the course of 
 Reverend Doctor Kerby in General Sociolog>^ was taken 
 as second minor. In addition he attended the lectures 
 of Doctor Parker in Biology; those of Reverend Doctor 
 Moore in General Psychology: and those of Doctor Brock- 
 bank in Experimental Educational Psychology.