(La ' O ■ STUDIES FROM THE HELEN S. TROUNSTINE FOUNDATION "VOLUME 1 FEBRUARY 15, 1918 NUMBER 1 RETARDATION IN CINCINNATI PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS By Helen S. Trounstine Founder and Late Director of the Juvenile Protective Association, Cincinnati Edited by Hornell Hart Research Fellow of the Helen S. Trounstine Foundation, Cincinnati, U. S. A. CINCINNATI, U. S. A. 71HE Helen S. Trounstine Foundation, built as a monument to the memory of Helen S. Trounstine, was incorporated in the State of Ohio, February g, 1917. The Foundation is supported by private contri- butions, and is administered by a self-perpetuating Board of Trustees. It is devoted to the investigation of social problems, particularly those presented within the city of Cincinnati. In pursuance of the purposes for which it was estab- lished, the Foundation issues publications at various times setting forth the results of investigations carried out under its head. It naturally assumes no responsi- bility for the contents of the papers which it sees fit to print. The publications of the Foundation may be ob- tained by addressing the Foundation at Room 806, Neave Building, Cincinnati, Ohio, U. S.A. Price of this paper, 50 cents. *3 o RETARDATION IN CINCINNATI PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS By Helen S. Trounstine Founder and Late Director of the Juvenile Protective Association, Cincinnati. Edited by Hornell Hart Research Fellow of the Helen S. Trounstine Foundation, Cincinnati, U. S. A. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Summary 3 Recommendations 4 Extent of retardation 5 Method of present study 8 Absence as a cause of failure 8 Inability to master studies 1 1 Poverty as a cause of retardation 13 Other home conditions 18 Feeble-mindedness as a cause of failure 19 Lack of adjustment of studies 23 Statistical Appendix 27 Index 43 Gift »ay 3 raw RETARDATION IN CINCINNATI PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS By Helen S. Trounstine Founder and Late Director of the Juvenile Protective Association, Cincinnati. Edited by Hornell Hart Research Fellow of the Helen S. Trounstine Foundation, Cincinnati, U. S. A. SUMMARY Cincinnati is taking the lead in several experiments looking toward a solution of the problem of retardation. (Pages 25-26.) Three out of every five children in the public schools fail at .least once before they leave school. One out of every five fails at least three times. In the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh grades, more than half of the children are retarded. (Pages 5-7.) The following conclusions are based on intensive study of 656 children who failed in ten Cincinnati schools in 1914-1915. (Page 8.) More than half of these children were absent three weeks or more during the school year. The average absence of the children who failed was 25 days, compared with an average absence of 5 days on the part of children who passed. (Pages 8-10.) Illness was said to be responsible for four-fifths of the absence, and home conditions for practically all the rest. (Page 11.) Physical defects are at least three times as common among children who failed as among children who passed. (Pages 11 -13.) Two-thirds of the children who failed in these schools came from families with incomes too small to purchase the necessities of wholesome living. (Page 14.) The majority of children who failed live in homes of three rooms or less. Not more than one child in four lives in a house with a bathtub. (Pages 17 and 33.) The mother of one child out of every five who failed was gainfully em- ployed. (Page 17.) A lack of outdoor recreation is apparent among these children. (Pages 18 and 34.) German or Italian is spoken in the homes of one-sixth of the children who failed. (Page 18.) About one-fifth of the children who failed had changed schools during the year, and this may have contributed to failure in some cases. (Page 18.) 4 Helen S. Trounstine Foundation About one-eighth of the children who failed were feeble-minded, and another eighth, though not feeble-minded, were decidedly dull. (Page 19.) Lack of enthusiasm and ambition, were important causes of failure. (Page 23.) Boys failed somewhat more frequently than girls. (Page 23.) Failures occur chiefly in abstract studies like grammar, history, arith- metic and geography, while concrete and practical studies like manual training and domestic science are more easily mastered. (Page 24.) Different schools have very different standards as to what quality of work should be required for passing. The figures indicate the probability that in some schools twice as many children are failed as would be held back under similar conditions in other schools. (Page 26.) RECOMMENDATIONS An essential requirement for the solution of the problem of retardation is early diagnosis of the causes of failure in every case. It is urged that every school child who fails to pass a grade should be tested mentally, examined physically and his environment studied to ascertain whether the family income is sufficient to insure healthful surroundings. Such study would not only aid tremendously in dealing with individual cases, but it would make possible sound generalizations as to fundamental remedies for the evil of retardation. The splendid work of the Vocation Bureau points in this direction. If the failure is due to absence, the causes for future absence should be eliminated. This would mean chiefly improvement of health conditions and adjustment of home situations which result in the detaining at home of school children. The health problem, if adequately met, would require the guaranteeing of certain minimum conditions as to housing, food, cloth- ing and so forth. This would necessitate the insuring of a certain minimum income for these families. Of the children who fail because they are mentally dull, quite a large proportion would unquestionably brighten up markedly if their families received enough income to rent a sunny, airy home, to purchase adequate food and to maintain a decent standard of living. The guaranteeing of this minimum standard is, obviously, no easy task. Charitable agencies have thus far touched only the edges of the problem. The proposition is an absolutely feasible one,- however, and will be mastered as soon as the public realizes the vital necessity for it. The large remaining fraction of dull children whose deficient mentality would be found upon examination to be unalterable, because due to inherent defects, would require other treatment. For such children a special cur- riculum should be prepared looking toward fitting them for happy lives of physical labor, rather than for painful and fruitless struggles after mental achievement. Promising experiments in this direction are already being- made in the Cincinnati Public Schools. Retardation in Cincinnati Public Elementary Schools 5 The seriousness of those failures which still persisted in spite of these measures, might be reduced by semi-annual instead of annual promotions, since a failure under that system would mean only one-half year's retardation. Careful comparative study and discussion of the requirements for pass- ing would help to increase the educational efficiency of the schools. Con- ferences should be arranged between principals of schools with large and with small percentages of failure, to work out a common basis of promotion. Departmentalization, along the lines of the Gary plan or otherwise, would help, since it makes it possible for a pupil who is backward in one or two subjects but normal in others, to repeat only the subjects difficult for him, continuing without retardation in the other branches which he has mastered satisfactorily. A number of Cincinnati schools already have departmentalization in some of the upper, grades. Home visiting by teachers might also serve to increase the interest of parents and improve some of the adverse home conditions contributing to retardation. The conclusions of the present study are based upon necessarily incom- plete and in some cases fragmentary data. The essential recommendation must therefore be for further study. The ideal approach to this problem would be the study of all of the children of a representative school or dis- trict, including those who passed as well as those who failed. Complete data as to the environment, health, mentality, family income, absence, and aptitude of all these children would put the conclusions of this study to the test, would demonstrate conclusively those which are sound, and would indicate needed amendments in those based on insufficient data. EXTENT OF RETARDATION More than 40 out of every 100 children in the Cincinnati public schools are one year or more behind the grade they should have reached if they had passed one grade each year since entering school. Of school children at the age of 14 in June, 1915, nearly two-thirds were behind normal grade. The extent of retardation among this average group of children about to be released from compulsory education was approximately as follows: TABLE 1 In normal grade One year retarded .... Two years retarded .. Three years retarded Four years retarded Five years retarded . Six years retarded .... Total Number 1,290 825 775 465 180 55 20 3,600 Per Cent of Total 35-8 22.9 21.3 12.9 5-0 i-5 .6 100.0 6 Helen S. Trounstine Foundation These data are based upon a table given in the Annual Report of Cin- cinnati Public Schools for 191 5, on page 356. The amount of retardation shown above is larger than that immediately indicated by the table quoted, for the following reason: The report follows the method customary in such classifications and considers as of "normal age for the grade" all pupils who have reached the grade which they should have reached if they had entered school at the age of either six or seven and had progressed normally. About three-fourths 1 of the children enter, however, at the age of six. Many of these fail once, dropping back among those who entered at the age of seven. For this reason about 4,900 pupils referred to in the table in the school report as of "normal age," are actually one year re- tarded. 2 The proportion of retarded children by grades is graphically shown by Graph I. The huge burden of backwardness which teachers and normal children have to carry appears from the black bulk in the several grades. 'This estimate is subject to correction. It is based on the returns for the children who failed. -Details as to the method of making this estimate will be found on page 28. Retardation in Cincinnati Public Elementary Schools RETARDATION IN CINCINNATI PUBLIC SCHOOLS JUNE, i 9 i 5 > ~ 1000 Children 1 Year or More Behind Grade. KEY 1000 Children at Normal Grade. w. 4k 1000 Children 1 Year or More Ahead of Grade. 7000 JJJJJ JJJ/S ;///;////; SSJJS ///// 77777 77777 12 3 4 5° / o Grades GRAPH I Areas above white lines are those retarded on assumption used in the school report. Based on data in Annual Report, Cincinnati Public Schools, 86, 356, (191s) 8 Helen S. Trounstine Foundation METHOD OF PRESENT STUDY The startling conditions which these figures reveal in our schools (con- ditions which, deplorable as they are, are typical of those in nearly every large city in America) demand investigation. The Juvenile Protective Association, under the leadership of Miss Helen Trounstine, determined to study the social facts connected with retardation in Cincinnati schools, with a view to ascertaining the causes and suggesting remedies for an intolerable condition. Ten schools 1 were selected for the investigation, and 656 pupils 2 who failed in June 1915, were intensively studied. The schools selected had a somewhat smaller percentage of failures than the average — 12.0 per cent as compared with 13.2 per cent for the city at large. It appears that the schools draw their pupils from decidedly poorer families than the average, for the chief truancy officer (whose title has since been changed to director of attendance) reports 3 that free shoes were given to 80 out of every 1,000 children attending these schools, as compared with only 43 per 1,000 in the city as a whole, and free stockings to 160 out of each 1,000 children as compared with 86 per 1,000 in the city at large. For individual schools, these figures would not be a reliable index of poverty, but for the ten taken together they do suggest poor economic conditions. For each of the 656 failed children who were studied a card similar to that shown on page 37 of the appendix, was filled out on the basis of school records, interviews with teachers and parents, visits to homes, physical measurements and special medical and mental examinations. The con- clusions stated in this report have been based upon the data thus secured. The original tabulation of the material was done by Ida A. Broyles, director, since Helen Trounstine's death, of the Juvenile Protective Asso- ciation, and by members of the staff of that organization. GENERAL ANALYSIS OF CAUSES OF FAILURE Retardation in school is usually due to failure, or failures, to pass grades. Failures may possibly be due to one or more of three general causes: absence from school, inability to master the studies assigned, or lack of an earnest desire to succeed in school work. If a child is present regularly, is able to master his work, and eager to do so, failure is well-nigh impossible. ABSENCE AS A CAUSE OF FAILURE The 656 children whose failures were made the subject of this study, were absent on the average 25 days during the school year of 1 914-15. The average absence during that year of all children in the ten schools studied was 8 days. 4 Children in these schools who passed their grades were absent only about 5 days each. Clearly, therefore, since those who failed ■12th Dist., 30th Dist., Dyer, Garfield, Guilford, Oyler, Peaslee, Rothenberg, Webster, Windsor. 2 The total number who failed at this time in these schools were 869, but only 656 could be located. 3 Annual Report, Cincinnati Public Schools, 86, 195, (1915) 4 Based on Annual Report, Cincinnati Public Schools, 86, 348, (191s) Retardation in Cincinnati Public Elementary Schools 9 averaged five times as much absence as those who passed, absence may have been an important factor in failures. Some of the children who failed were present very regularly. The amount of absence is shown in table 2. TABLE 2 Days Absent Number of Children Per Cent of Total None 1- 9 10-19 20 and over 37 153 92 244 7.0 29.1 17-5 46.4 TOTAL 526 1 00.0 In addition to these, 59 children entered late, and most of these were absent considerably after their entrance. For the other 71 children the facts as to absence are not recorded. Failure is not likely to be due purely to an absence of less than ten days. Thirty-six per cent of the children who failed were absent less than eleven days, and hence their failures were probably due chiefly to other causes. Absence of 20 days or over, on the other hand, would be certain to hamper a child's school work and would be likely to endanger promotion. Forty-six per cent of the children who failed were absent for such a period, and their failures may probably be charged in large part to their absence. The 18 per cent who were absent between 10 and 20 days may or may not have been seriously affected by such absence; probably it was at least a contributing factor. It seems safe to say that, in at least half of the cases of non-promotion, absence was one cause for the failure. The influence of absence on failure is represented diagramatically in Graph II. It should be noted that the teachers, in their statement of causes for the failure of these children, assign absence as a reason in only 15 per cent of the cases. Parents also mention it in 15 per cent of the cases. This assignment of reasons was probably warped by the teachers' entire reliance upon their memories in assigning causes for failure. In reviewing the year's work of 40 to 60 children it would be natural to remember such positive factors as failure to grasp an explanation, and to forget such negative factors as the absence which may have been the cause of the failure to understand. Certainly, a child absent over 20 days during the school year would be expected to find it difficult to grasp subjects which had been explained in his absence to the other children. IO Helen S. Trounstine Foundation ABSENCE AS A CAUSE OF FAILURE GRAPH II Children who failed divided according to amount of absence during school year. Retardation in Cincinnati Public Elementary Schools ii Four-fifths of the absences of the children studied were, according to the parents, due wholly or in part to sickness of the children absent. The detailed analysis is as follows: TABLE 3 Reasons for Absence (As Given by Parents) Number of Children Absent for Cause Given Per Cent of Total Children Illness 335 40 5 4 2 71.2 8.5 1.1 .8 •4 Illness and Home Conditions Illness and Truancy Illness and Change of School Illness and Weather Total Involving Illness 386 82.0 Home Conditions 59 9 8 9 12.5 i-9 i-7 1.9 Truancy Changed Schools Miscellaneous Facts not Obtainable 47i 139 47 100.0 Not Absent TOTAL 656. The fact that this table is based upon the reasons given by parents for their children's absence probably means a minimization of causes such as truancy which would reflect unfavorably upon the child or the parents. INARILITY TO MASTER STUDIES Lack of ability to understand the studies assigned may be due to in- herent mental inferiority (feeble-mindedness in its various degrees) or to a lack of adjustment of the studies to the child's aptitude; or it may be due to factors arising from unfavorable living conditions and their resulting physical defects. The latter of these elements is clearly related to sickness, as discussed in the preceding paragraphs. The physical handicaps of this group are vividly shown by a com- parison of the returns of the physical examination of those children who failed, with the returns of the physical examination of other school children. In the former group every child who could be reached was examined; in the latter group only those children were examined who had been absent for four days, or who were referred to the doctor because of apparent defects, or who came up in the course of the routine examinations of second and third grade children. One-fourth of all the children examined in the regular school routine were especially referred to the physician as de- fective; hence the proportion of defects in this group was unquestionably higher than in the general school membership. Furthermore, the obviously handicapped children who failed are presumed to have been previously examined and in most cases treated and cured. On the other hand it 12 Helen S. Trounstine Foundation should be remembered that the schools selected for the present study, were not up to the normal average in the economic status of their pupils. PHYSICAL DEFECTS PER THOUSAND CHILDREN WHO FAILED HIH COMPARED WITH GENERAL RUN OF CHILDREN EXAMINED L_l Defective Teeth 314 75 Tonsils and Adenoids 272 29 n Eye Defects 145 60 Anemia 64 5 D Enlarged Cervical Glands 57 ? Ear Defects 27 10 Q Lung Defects 14 Respiratory Tract 39 I I "Pretuberculous" 11 ' I Other Defects 103 193 I I GRAPH III Retardation in Cincinnati Public Elementary Schools 13 TABLE 4 PHYSICAL DEFECTS PER 1,000 CHILDREN EXAMINED Type of Defect Defective teeth . . . , Tonsils and adenoids Eye defects Anemia Enlarged Cervical Glands Ear defects Lung defects, (respiratory tract) "Pretuberculous" Other defects Total defects Children Who Failed 3H 272 145 64 57 27 H 11 103 1007 Children Examined in Course of School Routine 1 75 29 60 5 ? 10 39 1 193 412 Ratio of Defects Among Children Who Failed to Those in General Group 417 939 242 1280 270 28 1 100 53 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 214 : 100 If children who failed had been excluded from the general group, the ratio at the end of the last column of Table 4 would have been about 330 : 100. In spite of the fact that the general group of children examined in course of school routine contains an abnormally large number of physical defec- tives, the proportion of defects per 1,000 children examined is less than half as large in this general gfoup as among the children who failed. Anemia and pretuberculous conditions are more than ten times as frequent among the latter. Infected tonsils and adenoids have nearly ten times the normal frequency, while defective teeth, eyes and ears are from two to five times as frequent as the usual rate. Clearly, such physical handicaps as under- feeding and defective sight, hearing and breathing may be important causes of backwardness in learning. Physical defects lead back to home conditions. The striking promi- nence of anemia and underfeeding suggest poverty as a cause. This conclusion needs careful consideration when it is pointed out that measurement of these children indicated that they were practically normal in height and weight for their ages, judged by the standard of the accepted norms for school children. Details as to these measurements are given in the appendix (page 36). POVERTY AS A CAUSE FOR RETARDATION Illness and "home conditions" together were given as the causes of 92 per cent of the absences. "Home conditions" mean illness of other mem- bers, the need of help by the mother, or, in motherless families, by the other children, and so forth. Physical defects were extremely prevalent among the children who failed. Both illness and physical defects have poverty as one of their leading causes. One instance in proof of this state- 1 Annual Report Cincinnati Public Schools, 86, 304 (1915) 14 Helen S. Trounstine Foundation ment is the fact that a sickness census of Milwaukee, conducted in 1916, by the City Club of that city, found serious illness three times as frequent among the poor as among the well-to-do. The studies of infant mortality conducted by the Federal Children's Bureau found poverty as a leading cause of baby deaths. A study of tuberculosis in Cincinnati, conducted by the United States Public Health Service, pointed out the importance of poverty as a cause of this disease. This demonstrated connection be- tween poverty and sickness suggests that poverty may result in absence and physical defects, and hence in failures in school. The importance of this hypothesis justifies a further discussion of the point. The weekly family incomes of 450 of the families studied were ascer- tained. In order to measure the extent of poverty among these families, it is necessary to determine the amount upon which a family of a given size could maintain a minimum decent standard of living in 1914-1915. No such data are available for Cincinnati, but a careful study of this question which was made for Milwaukee has been corrected to allow for the difference in living costs between the two cities. The standard is a meager one, allowing for no extravagance, and not even permitting the renting of a house containing a bathtub. Table 5 shows, for the children who failed, the number of families who were below the poverty line on this basis: TABLE 5 Size of Family Weekly Cost of Living Per Family (1914) Number of Families Below Poverty Line Above Poverty Line Total 2 3 4 5 $11.00 12.30 14.00 16.00 8 24 53 69 6 28 58 32 14 52 in 101 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 18.00 20.40 22.75 25-15 27.50 64 41 24 16 10 6 2 19 12 4 83 53 28 16 10 6 2 All sizes 317 159 476 Per cent 66.6 33-4 100 Retardation in Cincinnati Public Elementary Schools 15 POVERTY OF FAMILIES OF CHILDREN WHO FAILED, CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO SIZE KEY < 1= 10 Families Above Poverty Line 10 Families Below Poverty Line 58 3Z ze 19 a 6 ¥ SjESl EJ mi m CD R3 G3 Id « 1 ^_ ' - 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Number of Persons per Family GRAPH IV 16 Helen S. Trounstine Foundation The gross inadequacy of these family incomes is further indicated by a comparison with the incomes of 414 families having working children as reported by Helen T. Woolley/ Director of the Vocation Bureau in the Cincinnati Schools as shown in Table 6. TABLE 6 MEDIAN PER CAPITA INCOMES Size of Families with Families of Children Difference Family Working Children Who Failed 2 $5-50 $4.50 $1.00 3 5.20 4.18 1.02 4 5-25 3-56 1.69 5 4-38 2.76 1.62 6 3-77 2-43 1-34 7 3-14 2.09 1.05 8 3-53 1.81 1.72 9 2.50 2.06 •44 10 1.96 1.65 •3i 11 2.25 1.36 .89 Average fo-75 $2.64 $1.11 The families whose children failed, had, according to this comparison, about 30 per cent less income per capita than these certainly not wealthy families who had taken their children out of school to put them to work. In order to measure accurately the effect of poverty in producing absence we should have data as to the amount of absence among all poor children in these schools (including those who passed) and comparative figures as to the amount of absence among all children living above the poverty line in these schools (including those who passed). Unfortunately, data are at present available as to family incomes only among the children who failed. If we could assume that not more than one-third of the families of all the children in the ten schools studied had incomes too small to maintain a decent standard of living, we might estimate quite accurately from the data at hand the relative amount of absence among the poor and the well- to-do. Under the assumption named, absence would be proved to be twice as prevalent among the poor as among the fairly well-to-do. By the same process it would appear that physical defects were from two to three times as frequent among children below the poverty line as among those above it. Such conclusions would correspond with what might be expected from other indications contained in these data. The tenfold excess of anemia among those who failed (chiefly poor children) points toward insufficient and improper food and housing as a link between inadequate inccmes and disease. In the Annual Report Cincinnati Public Schools 86, 181 (1915) Retardation in Cincinnati Public Elementary Schools 17 The poor are unable to pay sufficient rent to secure decent dwellings. Of the families studied, 45 per cent paid less than $10 rent per month, and 75 per cent paid less than $15. This means overcrowding and inade- quate sanitary arrangements. Very few, if any, houses with baths rent for less than $15; hence not more than one family in four of the group studied has a bathtub. Overcrowding is an inevitable result of insufficient rent. Four-fifths of all the families live in four rooms or less, while 62 per cent live in three rooms or less. Of the families living in two or three rooms, more than half have five or more members. These facts give a somewhat ironic twist to the statement made by 89 per cent of the parents that their children have an opportunity for quiet study at home. Imagine "quiet study" in a two room house inhabited by five, six, seven or more people. Yet 104 such homes were reported, out of 638 from whom data were secured. The excess of physical defects among these children may be due in considerable part to inability of the parents to pay for the services of dentists, oculists and other specialists, and their unwillingnesses to accept charitable medical aid. Logical as seems the conclusion that poverty is closely related to sick- ness, absence, physical defects and failure, it must be remembered that the data herein quoted are not conclusive in this respect, because no data were collected as to family incomes of children who passed, and the schools studied include probably a disproportionate number of schools located in those parts of the river valley section of the city where the worst poverty is found. In the absence of complete data, however, the only way to settle the question of the extent of poverty among school children and its effect on retardation would be to make a more- thorough investigation of the subject. OTHER BEARINGS OF POVERTY Whether or not poverty results in sickness which causes absence and in physical defects which hamper the child fatally in his studies, it does involve other elements which tend toward failure in school. A frequent concomitant of poverty is fatherlessness. Of the 648 chil- dren giving information 89, or 14.7 per cent, had widowed mothers. For Cincinnati as a whole, it is estimated' that 9 per cent of families having parents between the ages of 25 and 44 years have widowed mothers. On this basis, the percentage of widowhood is a third higher among the families of children who failed than among average families. The propor- tion of families without mothers is 4.6 per cent as compared to the 3.0 per cent average for the entire city. Even more striking is the proportion of mothers at work. Out of 632 families giving information, 142 had mothers at work, or 22 per cent. The normal percentage of married women gainfully occupied, in the United 1 Thirteenth Census of the United States, III, 400, (1910) 1 8 Helen S. Trounstine Foundation States according to census reports' is 5 or 6 per cent. Employed widows would bring the total of gainfully occupied mothers to 12 or 15 per cent. A study of poor families made by the Immigration Commission" in 1909 in eight typical cities showed less than 18 per cent of the mothers as contributing to the family income. The fact that this group of families shows decidedly more than the proportion of working mothers found even in the abnormal group of families studied in that report is not only a striking additional evidence of the poverty of these families but is an in- dication of probable lack of adequate home training of these children. All of the above factors would probably be much less prominent as causes of failure in schools where better economic conditions prevailed. OTHER HOME CONDITIONS These might also be factors in decreasing the brightness of the child. Loss of sleep does not seem to have been such a factor, if the returns are trustworthy. Early bedtimes are reported as the rule. The majority of first and second grade children who failed went to bed at or before 8, while 96 per cent were in bed by nine. Third and fourth graders stayed up a little later, but 95 per cent of them retired at or before nine. Even of the fifth to eighth graders 76 per cent were in bed by nine and 97 per cent by ten. Nor was the sleeping time cut short by unseemly early rising. Two- thirds of the children rose after seven, while only 6.5 per cent rose before 5:30. Nine hours or more of sleep were thus assured to the great majority of the children. A lack of outdoor recreation seems apparent. Only one-third of the children are recorded as having habitual open-air recreation. Less than one-sixth record parks and playgrounds as places of amusement. Strik- ingly, nearly half of the children for whom recreation was recorded men- tioned home play as their form of pleasure. Moving pictures cannot, it seems, be blamed for failures at school. Only one child out of twenty mentioned the movies as a form of recreation. Employment outside of school is not an important factor in failures if parents' reports were frank. Only one-sixth of the children were reported as so employed. The great majority of these carried papers, or were helping at home. The use of a foreign language exclusively at home would handicap children severely. English was not spoken at all in the homes of 9.4 per cent of the children, and was spoken with other languages in 7.0 per cent of the homes. German was used in more than half of the homes where no English was spoken, and Italian in nearly one-third. Change from one school to another may have contributed to failures, though the data are not conclusive. Of the children who failed for whom the facts are reported, 22 per cent had such a change during the year. In 1 Twelfth Census of the United States: Occupations, page CCXIII (1900) 2 Report of the Immigration Commission of 1909: Immigrants in Cities, 1, 139, (1911 ) Retardation in Cincinnati Public Elementary Schools 19 these ten schools the number of children enrolled 1 during the year was 25 per cent larger than the number remaining at the end of the year. This would suggest that the amount of transfer from school to school among the children who failed was not abnormal. Thus far in the consideration of stupidity as a cause of failure, environ- mental factors only have been considered. The hereditary element re- mains to be dealt with. FEEBLE-MINDEDNESS AS A CAUSE FOR FAILURE To ascertain the extent of feeble-mindedness among the children who failed, tests 2 were made by Helen T. Woolley, Director of the Vocation Bureau of the Cincinnati Schools, upon those under 11 years of age who had failed twice or of tener, and upon those of 11 years or over who had failed three times .or more. One hundred and sixty-nine such children were recorded in the study. Of these, only 79 could be located at the time the mental tests were made. The results of the psychological exam- inations were as follows : TABLE 7 Normal minds Inferior (not feeble-minded). Borderline Defective Examined Not Located. Total., Number 12 32 13 22 79 90 169 Per Cent 15 4i 16 28 A definite inherent defect of mind may probably be assigned to children in the borderline group, and certainly to the defectives. WHAT OF THE CHILDREN NOT TESTED? It seems fair to assume that the 90 other children who had failed as often as the group studied, but who could not be located for mental examina- tion, were as much retarded as the group which was studied. This would mean that, out of all of the children who failed, 47 or 7.2 per cent," were defective, and 28, or 4.3 per cent, borderline— a total of 11.5 per cent with probably inherent mental defects. In addition to these, however, many of the young children who failed for the first time in 191 5, unquestionably were feeble-minded, although not sufficiently retarded to be examined in this group. It is estimated 3 from the age groupings of Cincinnati public school children in 191 5, that 2,300 of the 14 year olds had failed at least once. Of t hese, 700, or 304 per 1 Annual Report, Cincinnati Public Schools, 85, opposite page 348 U9I5) 2 Details as to the methods of these tests will be found on pages 38 ff. of this study. 3 On page 5 of this study. 20 Helen S. Trounstine Foundation cent, had failed three times or more, and hence would be properly com- parable to the group whose mentality was studied by Helen T. Woolley. If 44 per cent of these were defectives or borderline cases, as was true in the group tested, it would mean that between 8.5 and 13.5 per cent of all of the children who fail at all in these schools are definitely feeble-minded, while 12.6 per cent more, though not feeble-minded, have "inferior" minds, giv- ing a total of 26 per cent of the retarded children who would be classed as mentally below par. This figure is, of course, only an estimate based on a rather small number of instances, and must be considered as merely approximate. The importance of mental dullness in causing retardation is indicated diagramatically in Graph v. APPROXIMATE DISTRIBUTION ACCORDING TO MENTALITY OF CHILDREN WHO FAILED GRAPH V By comparison, it should be noted that teachers mention "mental" causes as being a factor in 30 per cent of the failures, while parents mention it as a cause in only 15 per cent of the cases. Retardation in Cincinnati Public Elementary Schaols 21 Mental dullness and absence overlap as causes of failure. Of those classed as mentally deficient, 36 per cent were absent 20 days or more. This should be compared with the 50 per cent of normally bright children who failed who were absent for 20 days or more. The average amount of absence of the mentally deficient was 21 days, while the average for normal children who failed (excluding these dull children) was about 28 days. This is due to the fact that normal children are less likely to fail than dull children, and that when bright children do fail, absence or some other cause is likely to be involved. OVERLAP OF ABSENCE AND DULLNESS AS CAUSES OF FAILURE GRAPH VI The cross-hatched sector represents the 9 per cent, of the children who failed who were both dull and absent over 20 days, and whose failure may therefore have been due to either or both of these causes. The connection between feeble-mindedness and poverty is worth in- vestigating. Of the 54 children found to be "inferior," "borderline" or "defective," whose family incomes are known, 37, or 68.5 per cent, were 22 Helen S. Trounstine Foundation below the poverty line. Of the 18 "defective" whose incomes were known, 12, or 67 per cent, were poor. If we assume that all feeble-minded children become retarded, and if we assume that not over half of all families of children in these schools were poor, the returns indicate that the proportion of mentally deficient children was twice as great among the families with insufficient incomes as among other families. The data are too meager to be conclusive on this point. If the hypoth- esis that feeble-minded ness and poverty, among retarded children, are correlated, is accepted, it raises a fundamental point. If feeble-mindedness is hereditary, as it probably is in a large proportion of cases, it would not seem safe to assume that it is chiefly a direct result of poverty. The hereditary nature of feeble-mindedness makes it quite probable that the feeble-minded children had parents of low mentality. Stupid men earn low wages and stupid women spend money unwisely. Hence it seems likely that feeble-mindedness is more a cause of poverty than a result of it. This conclusion would give color to a theory that a large proportion of these children who fail may be of decadent stock which may be defective mentally and physically, weak in resistance to disease, incompetent econom- ically and generally deficient. A striking fact in this connection is that 35 per cent of the families of the children who failed were treated during the year September, 1914 to September, 1915, by the Social Agencies re- porting to the confidential exchange of the Council of Social Agencies/ This old problem of which of two correlated conditions is cause and which is effect cannot be settled finally in this case. If the degeneracy theory should hold good here, however, it could not excuse the present situation. Even among the mentally defective, overcrowded housing, deficient food and insufficient medical care certainly augment any natural tendency toward disease. Moreover, the feeble-minded form only a small minority of the children who fail. The two factors of absence and mental dullness, even when their over- lapping is allowed for, account for at least 65 per cent of the failures. Other factors must be sought to explain the remaining 35 per cent. The causes for inability to master studies, other than mental deficiency, are more difficult to measure. Physical defects appear to be by far the most important. Of the 439 children examined, 257, or 58.5 per cent, had recorded physical defects. Many of these physically defective children were, however, among those whose failure has already been ascribed to absence or mental dullness. When these are omitted, less than 20 per cent of the whole number of children who failed remain who could have been held back solely because of physical defects. No means of measuring the importance of such defects in causing failure is however available. Teachers refer to physical reasons as contributing to 17 per cent of failures; parents ascribe them as causes in 26 per cent of the cases. These estimates, however, are not based on any scientific study of individual children. 1 For details see page 33 of this study. Retardation in Cincinnati Public Elementary Schools 23 The complication of causes for failure thus far discussed may be sum- marized as follows: Of every 100 children who failed, as covered in this study, approximately 50 were absent for a total of over three weeks each. Of these, 9 were mentally dull, and about 30 had physical defects. In addition to the above, 17 were mentally dull but were absent less than three weeks. Of these 10 or n had physical defects. In addition to the above, about 20 had physical defects, but were not absent for three weeks nor mentally dull. Further complicating factors, less susceptible to accurate measurement, were absence of the mother at work, death of the father or mother, lack of outdoor recreation and use of a foreign language at home. These factors all affect failure either through absence of the child from his studies, or through inability to master them. Even if a child were present constantly, however, and were quite normal in intelligence, he might fail because of lack of interest in his work, or because of a perverse disposition. How far was the children's own lack of eagerness to learn an important cause of failure? The reports as to which studies the children were poor in (taken from, interviews with the parents) show less than one-fifth of the children as'being poor in .effort and a still smaller proportion poor in conduct, while more than half are reported as poor in other subjects. The teachers, who might be expected to remember troublesome children, estimate conduct as a factor in about 2 per cent of the failures, truancy O.7 per cent and disposition and habits 9.2 per cent. Faulty attitude to- ward the school is blamed by the teachers as a cause in nearly one-sixth of the failures, but this difficulty, like failure to master studies, is as likely to be the fault of the school as of the child, and will be discussed in the next section. A serious fact is that one-third of the children for whom the question is answered are reported as not ambitious. Four-fifths of the parents are reported as ambitious for the children. Lack of enthusiasm on the part of the child must therefore be entered as a significant cause of failure, though wilful misbehavior is rarer than might be expected. It is probably because of a greater lack of interest in school work that failure was about one-fifth more prevalent among boys than among girls in the ten schools studied. LACK OF ADJUSTMENT OF STUDIES The ability of a scholar to master his studies may be represented as the ratio between the mental capacity of the child, and the suitability of the studies to his intelligence. A precocious child of eight would fail in college algebra, while an imbecile of 15 would fail in a first grade reading lesson. In the latter case the child's dullness would be at fault; in the former the selection of studies would be to blame. 24 Helen S. Trounstine Foundation Failure of a child to master a given curriculum is therefore a two-sided situation with the fault lying on both sides. The record of the studies in which the children failed shows their relative ability to learn to perform concrete, manual tasks and their ina- bility to master abstract matters. The subjects in the order of success were as follows: TABLE 8 Subject Household arts I ndustrial arts Conduct Effort Writing Spelling Reading German History Language and composition Arithmetic Geography Per cent of children in this group, recorded as taking subject, who were poor in it 1 5-3 18.1 17-3 18.6 36.6 41.4 47.8 45-0 71.8 74.8 77.6 75-3 Clearly, subjects requiring manual dexterity and bearing obvious service to the child are quite readily mastered. Household arts appeal to nearly every girl as of immediate practical value, involve manual dexterity and deal with tangible objects. Hence mastery here is well-nigh universal among these children. Industrial arts involve manual dexterity and deal with tangible objects, but are of less immediate practical use to boys than cooking and sewing are to girls. Writing is a purely manual problem but the practical value of beautiful script is less obvious to the child than that of good biscuits. Besides, the appeal to the constructive instinct is lacking. Spelling is purely a matter of memorization, without the appeal of manual construction but without the difficulty of abstract reasoning. Reading has a practical appeal but begins to call in higher reasoning centers. History and geography, because of their removal from daily values and their requirements for thought, come high in the scale of difficulty. Gram- mar is a complex abstraction, and composition is one of the really difficult arts, of little practical appeal to a child of laboring outlook. Arithmetic, in spite of the admirable efforts of Cincinnati school authorities to make it concrete, is a highly abstract science. Public schools attempt to teach feeble-minded children the meaning of "aliquot numbers," whose very definition the principal of one of Cincinnati's best schools was unable to give without looking it up. The listlessness and lack of ambition which have been mentioned as a serious cause of failures in school are due in part to the fact that school 1 These percentages are not based on official reports, but are recollections and impressions of parents and teachers. Retardation in Cincinnati Public Elementary Schools 25 work is not interesting. Now "interest" comes directly from the Latin and means "It concerns." Studies are uninteresting because they have no vital connection with the real life and needs of the children. Psycholog- ical experiments have proved that resources of energy are released when interest is aroused. Interest can be gained by connecting the school work directly with the child's own aptitudes, environment and future develop- ment. Dropping for a moment the unreasoning assumption that in a democ- racy every child should be prepared for college, what are the practical needs of a boy or girl whose mental calibre fits him only for unskilled or semi- skilled labor? He needs, first, training in the use of his body in the rougher practical crafts. This the record seems to show him capable of. Second, he needs enough knowledge of reading, writing, spelling and grammar to enable him to read and understand a newspaper and to write a legible and intelligible letter occasionally. Of arithmetic he needs only enough to count money correctly, to add simple columns, and to solve rudimentary problems of measurement. For the sake of his fellow citizens he needs to understand in rough outline the ideals of the American Government, the practical ways in which it touches his life, and how to exercise the ballot. For his own sake, he needs to understand as much of the practical life of industry and of the meaning of the fine arts as he can. If the traditions of the past were swept aside, and a curriculum made up for this group of children with these definite needs in mind, failures due to dullness could be practically eliminated. On the other hand, children of keen minds, who are fitted to become engineers, chemists, editors, or lawyers need quite a different elementary training. They must learn to master abstract conceptions in mathematics, language and philosophy. Even those children whose mental equipment is such as to fit them for bookkeeping, salesmanship and skilled crafts of various sorts, need to be able to grasp more complicated ideas than those who are destined to be the unskilled workers of the world. Any attempt, therefore, to simplify the abstract studies for all children to such a degree that the dullards can grasp it, involves a serious injustice to the intelligent children who need the severer discipline. The method of having all of the work alike for practically all of the children, and then requiring those who do not grasp the teaching in one year to repeat it a second time, is certainly a bungling expedient. What is needed is a prompt classification of children according to their innate mental capacities, and an adjustment of the studies to fit the needs of their various grades of intelligence in the light of the future stations in life to which their abilities destine them. Cincinnati schools are already making some notable experiments looking toward some such intelligent adjustment of education to actual needs. The Vocation Bureau is now working at the task of making such adjust- 26 Helen S. Trounstine Foundation merits oa the basis of mental tests. The "Opportunity School" is an actual application on a limited scale of the principle of special treatment for retarded children. Three "rapidly moving" classes are now in operation for brilliant children. The development of industrial arts and its extension into the lower grades is a preliminary step in this direction. Classes in sewing, dressmaking, power-machine operating, garment making, basketry, weaving, millinery and embroidery have organized in an attempt to meet the needs of average and retarded pupils. The "observation classes" in the Peaslee School are an experiment in the same direction. Distinctively industrial classes for retarded children are in operation. The classes in the Bloom School, for children who havs finished the grades before the legal mininum working age but who cannot go on to high school are sug- gestive of possible adjustment of curricula to special needs. Thus Cincin- nati has made a start toward remedying conditions which many other cities are ignoring in their own schools. STANDARDS OF PROMOTION The importance of absence as a cause of failure would lead one to sup- pose that the schools having the largest percentages of absence would tend to have the largest percentages of failures, and that the schools with the smallest percentages of absence would tend to have the smallest per- centages of failures. No such connection exists among the fifty-nine elementary schools of the city. It is true that the school having the largest percentage of absence (io.i per cent) has also the largest percentage of failure (31.40 per cent). But here the correlation ends. The other four schools with the largest percentages of absence have percentages of failure very close to the average. The six schools with the least absence include the school which has the fourth largest percentage of failure in the city. Of the seven schools with the largest proportion of failures, all except one have less than the average amount of absence, and the schools with the least failures have a normal average of absence. These apparently paradoxical facts suggest the hypothesis that the standards of promotion vary radically from school to school. Naturally, in any school, the children who are most absent and least intelligent would be the first to fail. In some schools, however, the lines are apparently drawn very rigidly, while in others a generous laxity obtains, so that a child who would easily pass in one school is repeatedly held back under the more severe standards of another. Without some such hypothesis it is impossible to understand how, in one group of six Cincinnati schools, one child out of every five failed in 1914-15, while in one other school only one in 27 failed, and in a group of eight schools, only from one pupil in 15 to one in 11 failed. Thus, in the former group of schools, about 20 percent of the pupils failed, while in the latter group the percentage was only about 8. The radical variability in standards of promotion which these figures indicate is a serious misfortune for the children. Those who are held Retardation in Cincinnati Public Elementary Schools 27 back because of unduly rigid standards are certainly injured in their ambi- tion, their interest and their acquaintance with higher departments of learning. Those who pass because of lax standards are being hurried through a course of badly digested, ill-comprehended material which will leave them ill-fitted for life. STATISTICAL APPENDIX TABLE 9 EXTENT OF NON-PROMOTION IN CINCINNATI PUBLIC GRADE SCHOOLS IN 1914 AND 1915 Number of Pupils 5 Number not 1 Percent not Percent not 2 Grade "11915 Promoted 191 5 Promoted 19 15 Promoted 1914 Kindergarten 2,522 157 6% 1st 5,786 1,214 21% 21% 2nd 4.984 644 13% 12% 3rd 4-893 705 14% 14% 4th 4,612 554 12% 13% 5th 4-349 528' 12% 13% 6th 3,93i 427 11% 12% 7th 3,157 358 11% 12% 8th 2,425 217 9% 9% All Grades 36,659 4,804 13% 13% TABLE 10 AGE DISTRIBUTION BY GRADES IN JUNE, 1915 OF CHILDREN WHO FAILED TO PASS AT THAT TIME IN THE TEN SCHOOLS STUDIED Grade Age 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 All Ages 1st 69 77 7 27 48 14 5 26 34 2 1 10 27 11 3 14 14 16 5 2 2 19 8 10 3 1 6 13 16 16 4 1 1 4 18 20 23 10 2 9 18 16 10 1 5 6 2 179 94 93 58 68 74 64 26 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th .- 7th 8th All Grades 69 84 89 67 52 49 44 56 77 55 14 656 1 Annual Report Cincinnati Public Schools, 86, opp. 348, Table VII (1015) 2 Annual Report Cincinnati Public Schools, 85, 345 (1914) 28 Helen S. Trounstine Foundation METHOD OF ESTIMATING TRUE EXTENT OF RETARDATION The Cincinnati school report for 1914-15 shows' that 4,019 children born in 1908, were in the first grade in June, 191 5,' and that 2,025 children born in 1907, were also in the first grade at the same time. Both of these groups are stated, in accordance with the generally accepted practice, as being "of normal age for the grade." However, the group of 2,025 children born in 1907, must include the children born in that year who entered first grade in 1913, at the age of six, and failed. The school report for 1913-14, shows" that 3,783 children in 1908 were in the first grade in June, 1914. Only 2,539 children born in 1908, appear as being in the second grade in June, 1915. What became of the other 1,244 children? Some of them may have gone to private or parochial schools for the second grade. Part of them, however, certainly failed. About 21 per cent of all first grade children failed in 1914. 3 Twenty-one per cent of 3,783 is 795. If this many of the first graders born in 1907, failed in June, 1914, nearly 800 of the supposedly normal aged children in the first grade in 19 14- 15 were in reality one year retarded. The objection raised against this method of estimating retardation is that the first grade is not normal ; that children are simply held there until they can be properly classified; and that apparent failure there is not signif- icant. This viewpoint gains support from the fact that, in Cincinnati schools, 20 to 25 per cent of the first grade pupils are not promoted, while only 12 to 15 per cent of second grade pupils are held back. Suppose that we assume that in June, 1914, the percentage of true failures among the six-year-olds in the first grade was only 10 per cent instead of the 21 per cent assumed above. In this case, only 378 of the 2,025 first graders born in 1907, were really retarded. This would leave 1,647 children who were born in 1907, and who were normally completing the first grade in June, 1915, as compared with 4,019 born in 1908. Of this 4,019, however, probably 10 per cent will be of the type referred to above, held back for classification purposes but not truly retarded. The ratio of true six-year- old entries to seven-year-olds would thus be 3,617 : 1,647. Now it seems reasonable to assume that about the same proportion of the former as of the latter pupils will fail, so that the ratio of normally advanced six year entries to normally advanced seven-year entries will continue to be the same. We can ascertain from the age-grade classification in 1915 the number of normally advanced children who entered at the approximate age of six. Hence we can determine the number normally advanced who entered at seven, and by subtraction ascertain how many of those given as "of normal age for the grade" had actually failed once. This proc- ess is embodied in the following table: 1 Annual Report Cincinnati Public Schools 86, 356 (1015) - Annual Report Cincinnati Public Schools, 85, 356 (1014) 3 Annual Report Cincinnati Public Schools, 85, 345 (1914* Retardation in Cincinnati Public Elementary Schools 29 TABLE 11 ESTIMATE OF TRUE RETARDATION IN JUNE, 1915 Grade Entered at approximate age of six Children one year older in same grade Estimated number normally ad- vanced of latter group Retarded Children Entered at six years* and failed once On basis used in report Total I 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 . 3617 2539 2098 1572 2025 1767 1648 1476 1647 1156 955 717 378 611 693 759 737 1093 1554 1871 1115 1704 2247 2630 5 6 7 8 1319 1210 1022 823 1204 1182 1024 1039 600 55i 466 375 604 631 558 664 1956 1895 1392 778 2560 2526 1950 1442 Total 14,200 11,365 6,467 4,898 11,276 16,174 Column 2 contains children in first grade born in 1908, (minus 10 per cent), in second grade born in 1907, in the third grade born in 1906, etc. Column 3 contains children in the same grades born one year later than those in Column 2. Column 4 contains the number of actually normally advanced children among those of Column 3, estimated as explained above. Column 5 is the difference between Column 3 and 4. It represents the estimated number of retarded children included among those entered in the school report as "of normal age for the grade." TABLE 12 NUMBER OF PREVIOUS FAILURES OF CHILDREN IN EACH GRADE WHO FAILED, IN THE TEN SCHOOLS STUDIED, IN JUNE, 1915 Grade Number of Previous Failures Total Not Given Grand Total None 1 2 3 4 5 1st 53 11 9 3 6 4 3 3 109 43 43 20 20 20 21 16 11 24 34 19 18 26 32 6 1 4 4 8 H 18 3 1 4 10 3 1 1 2 174 83 92 56 68 7i 59 25 5 11 1 2 3 5 1 179 94 93 58 68 74 64 26 4th 5th 6th 7th •. 8th : 92 292 170 52 18 4 628 28 656 Percentages 14.6 46.5 27.1 8.3' 2.9 .6 100 30 Helen S. Trounstine Foundation TABLE 13 AGE AT STARTING SCHOOL, OF CHILDREN IN EACH GRADE WHO FAILED, IN THE TEN SCHOOLS STUDIED, IN JUNE, 1915 Grades Age at Starting School 5 yrs. 6 yrs. 7 yrs. 8 yrs. 9 yrs. 10 yrs. & over Total Not Given Grand Total 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th Totals Percentages 128 65 70 36 46 43 51 20 33 T 9 21 13 16 24 173 91 93 54 67 73 63 26 179 94 93 58 68 74 64 26 459 138 640 16 656 2.8 71.8 21.6 3-1 TABLE 14 SERIOUS ILLNESS REPORTED FOR THE YEAR 1914-1915, FOR THE CHILDREN WHO FAILED IN THE TEN SCHOOLS STUDIED Children with III nesses luring 19 14-15 Yes No 230—47% 259—53% Total Omitted 489 167 656 TABLE 15 DETAIL OF ILLNESSES DURING 1914-15 OF 230 WHO WERE SICK Type of Disease Number per 1,000 Number of Cases from whom illness data was secured 23 47 4 8 3i 63 78 159 69 141 11 22 3 6 4 8 6 12 10 20 39 80 278 566 Digestive system Nutritional disorders I nf ectious — serious Infectious — children's diseases Eye, ear, nose and throat Lung Heart Blood Urogenital Nervous system M iscellaneous Total Retardation in Cincinnati Public Elementary Schools 3i TABLE 16 INCOMES OF FAMILIES OF CHILDREN WHO FAILED IN TEN SCHOOLS, CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO SIZES OF FAMILIES Weekly Size of Family Age Classifica- tion of Mem- bers of Families ramay — Incomes ] 2 3 4 5 6 7 3 2 7 6 11 8 5 6 3 2 53 $14 65 $ 2 09 8 2 2 1 6 4 4 4 3 1 1 28 $14 50 $ 1 81 9 2 5 5 4 16 $18 60 $ 2 06 10 I 2 4 2 1 10 $16 50 $1 65 11 1 2 1 2 1 2 13 1 1 All Sizes Adults Minors $ 1— 4.99 • 5— 6 -99 7— 8 -99 ■ 9—10.99 11 — 12.99 I3—I4-99 15—17-99 18 — 20.99 21 — 24.99 25—29.99 30—39-99 • 3 1 3 1 . 6 4 3 8 14 7 5 3 8 5 4 9 7 18 21 22 13 10 1 1 5 7 9 21 22 15 9 12 1 2 8 8 7 21 18. 9 5 2 3 10 19 35 45 78 89 84 52 49 8 7 13 37 64 92 159 198 207 124 124 25 22 29 5i no 152 276 283 287 192 142 25 22 Total 3 14 52 in IOI 83 6 ( $15 00 $ 1 36 ) 2 476* 1065 1569 Median Income $ 9 $12 55 $14 25 $13 82 $14 60 $14-15 Per Cap. Income $ 4 50 $ 4 18 $ 3 56 $ 2 76 $ 2 43 $ 2.66 * Data for 180 children omitted. TABLE 17 NUMBER OF WAGE EARNERS IN FAMILIES OF CHILDREN WHO FAILED Number of Wage Earners Number of Families Having Each Specified Number of Wage Earners Total Number of Wage Earners 1 2 3 4 5 6 . 7 385 152 61 17 8 2 385 • 304 183 68 40 12 All Families 1.56 632 992 Data Omitted 24 Grand Total 656 32 Helen S. Trounstine Foundation TABLE 18 WEEKLY WAGES OF PARENTS OF CHILDREN WHO FAILED Wage Groupings Number of Fathers in Each Specified Group Number of Mothers in Each Specified Group Under $4 15 4i 88 36 72 46 28 24 9 18 35 31 3 2 1 1 1 $ 4— 5 6— 8 Q IO II — 12 13 — 14 15 — 16 17 — 18 10, — 20 21 — 24 25 and over Total for whom wages are stated Omitted of those working 359 177 92 50 Total working 536 142 TABLE 19 MONTHLY RENTALS PAID BY FAMILIES OF CHILDREN WHO FAILED Monthly Rentals Number of Families Pay- ing Specified Rentals $ 3 — 4.99 12 87 170 89 91 31 7 18 2 5 1 2 3 1 77 5 — 6.99 7 — 9.99 . . 10 — 1 1.99 . . 12 — Id.QQ 15 — 17-99 18 — 19-99 ••• 20 — 22.99 . . 23 — 26.99 2 7 — 29.99 30 — 34.99 18.00* •10 — ^.00* "5S.OO* 5O.OO* Own home Data omitted 596 60 656 * Cases in which rent includes store or where rooms are subrented. Retardation in Cincinnati Public Elementary Schools 33 TABLE 20 NUMBER OF ROOMS OCCUPIED ACCORDING TO NUMBER OF PERSONS IN FAMILIES OF CHILDREN WHO FAILED Number of Persons Per Family Number of Rooms in Apartment Occupied 1 2 8 29 42 35 4i 17 7 1 3 3 2 16 51 46 40 24 15 12 5 1 4 1 6 24 18 19 22 11 5 3 2 1 5 1 4 10 13 6 11 5 6 1 2 6 1 1 2 9 7 4 4 4 3 1 1 7 2 1 4 4 2 1 1 8 2 3 I 1 9 I 10 1 I 1 I Total 1 1 1 5 1 16 58 139 126 119 82 45 29 13 8 1 2 2 ■7. 4. s 6 7 8 q 10 • •• II 12 1-5 Total 8 183 212 112 59 37 15 7 1 4 638 TABLE 21 CONTACTS WITH SOCIAL AGENCIES REPORTING TO CONFIDENTIAL EX- CHANGE OF FAMILIES OF CHILDREN WHO FAILED Agency Number of Times Reported Sept. 1914 — Sept. 1915 Associated Charities... United Jewish Charities Catholic Charities Salvation Army Attendance Dept. Bd. of E. Juvenile Court School Nurses Child Welfare 49 4 3 43 53 36 63 191 Total No. Times Reported. Total No. Cases Reported.. 442 229 34 Helen S. Tronnstine Foundation TABLE 22 EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN WHO FAILED Types of Occupation Store Moving Picture Theatre. Carpenter Work Stable Light Lamps Newspapers On Wagon Errands Help Father Home Occupation Omitted. Children Working Not Working Data Omitted Total Children Number of Children 4 i I I i 36 2 8 2 39 95 103 512 41 656 TABLE 23 TYPES OF RECREATION MENTIONED BY 481 OF THE CHILDREN WHO FAILED Indoors Outdoors Home 230 Parks and Playgrounds 92 School Yard 9 Church Clubs and Parties 8 Movies 33 Music 13 Sewing 6 Ball 39 Athletics and Gymnasium 3 Total 31° Miscellaneous 15 Total 226 175 children gave no information as to recreation. TABLE 24 LANGUAGES SPOKEN IN HOMES OF CHILDREN WHO FAILED Alone With English Total 32 3 19 1 1 5 534 37 5 2 1 534 69 3 24 1 1 2 6 Yiddish.... 61 579 640 Retardation in Cincinnati Public Elementary Schools 35 TABLE 25 PARENTAL RELATIONS OF CHILDREN WHO FAILED Father Mother Total Separated 11 89 10 1 29 8 12 118 18 8 Dead Step Parents Living with Relative Relationship Normal no 38 156 492 8 Data Omitted Total 656 TABLE 26 TIME SPENT AT HOME BY PARENTS OF CHILDREN WHO FAILED Father Mother All or Most of the Time Four or Five Days and Nights Two Days and Nights Half of the Day Noons and Nights Nights Only Daytime Only Week Ends Irregular and Little Omitted Total 37 6 3 305 19 4 37 297 6 1 10 54 401 255 368 288 656 656 TABLE 27 CAUSES OF FAILURE IN 1915, AS REPORTED BY Parents Teacher Total Mental Physical Immature Disposition and Habits... Attitude Toward School Conduct Truancy Absence Change of Schools Late Entrance Difficult Studies Conditions in School Conditions in Home Total Number of Children Involved 82—14.6% 117—20.9% 12— 2.1% 83- 52- -14.8% - 9-3% 77—13.7% 24— 4.3% 4— 0.7% 29— 5.2% 52— 9.3% 28— 5.0% 225—30.6% 101—13.7% 72— 9.8% 54— 7-3% 94—12.7% 13- 1-8% 4— 0.5% 88—11.9% 19— 2.6% 7— 1.0% 9— 1.2% 5i— 6.9% 30—18.2% 49—29.5% 10— 6.0% 27- 3" -16.3% - i-8% 36—21.6% 5— 3.0% 1— 0.6% 3- 1.8% 1.2% 560-100.0% 517 737-100.0% 584 166 100.0% 166 NOTE: Percentages in this table are based on total number of citations of causes. Percentages in text are based on number of children involved. 36 Helen S. Trounstine Foundation TABLE 28 HEIGHT AND WEIGHT BY AGES GIRLS HEIGHT WEIGHT "o o> "o 0> u C HI oj g2 0>_ be cfl 0> be— o> c v- C o> o> o> _ 0) bfl 8i.fi 5 S 1- 3 CTJ U li o> 3J3 03 e 1- G 03 03 rt h o> bfl £'£ SI 4i +j > O £fce 0) be 0) ■- > O 0) £ > O ^ < 2U "o 0) QJ 0> 0) _ be o3 2 6 0) be_ 03 03 Jr 3 o> c be oj 03 1- U o> u C 0) 0) O" 1 be 03 2 S o> be— a o3 o> c be oj 03 >- 01 b/0 3'.c >£ > o> be 32 £fe o> r, > U >•- < 2U o £ CO f-, w >« n m H CO W H 55 W Pi Q s U Q W Q < H W Pi! CO H CO W H 5* W W J P-, Pi & co A O co W h o 55 .2.2 ? 2^ 2 U V h Dim U I— I ►— I << ►— 1 1— 1 1— I c « # c d b h'+J h b h'^'^ d *'Jj o s o !s o "i? .3.3 CU y CU.- 0) (j y.i; 3 y.Si r- ••=< cu.— c ^ O CU 00 Xl N.2, co' 3 X il) C j) >> o;3 IW 00 O _ 122 co aJ 00 rt 2 cu m 22 00 JJ*N +-> . >-• N O £ +j 3.3\ .2 -3 Oh JD a) bfl .Q -^ CO O £ s=: .2X PL| Ui . CO rt en CO CO r- > Im i- KJ CU DpCOH >> >> o . rj rj "d +i +J 3 3 c .2.2 CO CO rt £ Pu Ph to CO- O « : 0000PhUU - 1lL,J at fe n a CJ g i-i CU «» £ J- oj al-aJ g^ of ,2 curtco- --.,co'a3a3033coio r 7;aj " * & « IS « * rt §L &'£ || 13 £ ^ * 00 g* > ° oU ™ 1m u c c . o rt -H "H in _CJ oj 53 o , > 3 u pSk3 S-Sco'^cij.-^ cfe *" « i- * ac O^Ti T3C0 3 co , a "... >> p cC >>^o VO uOOOO >">>>co' ,Z :ph ?s C coJ2 CUT3 0) "2 1-1 r^, ctf vn "S ;x cu aj fe r^ co 2 S §^ 2 > cs c o'+3 a; o fu rs 3 > a=3.2 ?— aaa 33=:=: a 3=: 3 3 aaag^^ a a o l l l l I i f^ t^ O\00 ^O ON O fOCN ^^LDO CNvO i-h r>- -* 1-1 vo ONCOM00 CNnOOO i-h I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I On Onoo t^oo 00 t^NO t^oo On^O 00 CN OnOnOni-i Oco 000 aj Ml OOOh hO CO c-0 "0 Tt" CO lO O h n N^-ioiO Onoo OniOO OncnvO tN moo "0iD-^-cOt)--^-cOCN co*3-iOcO-<3-t^"Oi/5 lOvO On co ON CO NO ^h lOO O N NN onoo 00 m on 1-1 ^hv£) NmQ N h ^J- 0) OO Oxt-O CJmOO ON ON r^^O 00 00 vo ionO 00 On i/OOO 1-1 O\00 OO O ■+OOH On r^ on r^ ~~ O M M C H M M IOIO 1 1 1 1 1 1 00 00 00 00 On On \£> MD ^O NO vO f^-00 On CN CO iOnO NO 00 00 00 00 On 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 T 1 1 I 1 I 1 1 1 1-1 OnOnOnOnOnOnOnOnOOOOOOOOOO 6-i i i-n OI-OI h M tO't l/} NO 40 Helen S. Trounstine Foundation o < PQ < O - < u > u 03 Q H CO W H £ W Ph Q _' 3 u Q W Q Pi < H U CO H CO W H pi < W - Ph Pu !=> co is O CO W o y, 4> 4/ OJ 4> CJ M t* , -^ >> > > > u^-^ v. ^ u~ u u u > u > u >-M^ »-;OC rtf;! h-^-t-'-t J -t J -^0'ri-OOO c 3000-t-'0'-wO'-Mir! rt 4I.S.S C C «J U O O O O-- «J O.-.-.S g.S.S.X y-— CJ-- u -"£-£- "7~J tu flj fli fli (ij 1- *t~] *r~; l—Uil-iC^l-iUil-ifl)Ui/iii-iflj -7-3 — O^'^OOol'fftJ'tJO O'S'S'S O'S'S'tJD'tJIi'tJfoO u TO 4> tfi TO 3 -i 4>C0 . (N C u U * en r ) +j >>2cj 00 Dh On U S 3 C O .2 re PL u u u 2o- +j c • >% 3 >>>> iU 2 ^^S2'£ " M u re re _ „5 oo « a) aj ai c c a c g d c .2.2.2.2-2.2 ° -a -2 e« re £^ a^^^-J-^ O^r/l m"'»1»11«91'!»1»1 ^3333^3=5 rtCOcOCOcO^COcO X) en X X X X en g f 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 £ cu^ 1 co gcocococo S >, ►*> i^oo en hdikii/idjI'Ikio) >rtrerera™rere >%>>>>>> ^> >% >, 4)o4)4>4/4Jo» . vo Si K)10»)sa)I/ll»llJ9)3 D « d) ? 1) 4) I) vU- .•tt .ti .tj 5^ .tj .t; .t; ,T.-y 3 000_oOOO . O ^ o o a"" 0000 ox? O O Or3 O O O O O 3 ooo]ub^j aipuaoaaj 3§V FluaiM sa^ja^ uo s^uioj OOmQ •t'OO' I >— i 1 — 1 >— < I— C 00 H NNi^ + hOOONh I I I I I I I I I H ffl^H 0\Q H H O OOOO O) w m M t riii O rOOMH Q\ o 'T On •* On ON 10 "Ooo 00 iO ■^■vO uo t^ t^- iO ^d- uOvO XI ^uapoiiQ aouaSi[|3juj O i-i rj h iflvO vO t^r^Tl-OvO ■<*■ "O^O M O O^nO m NNir, On^O On Onoo i^.on oo i-h o r^^o i^oo o t^oo r^ t^oc oo oo oo oo oo oo t^ o^^o oo no t^ on apBjQ jooqas "">;^^^^^ > >>"> >;> ^>>>>«>>>>>> sq}uop\[ puB sjBa^ ui aSy 1 + -+nO Os rO rO 1 1 1 1 1 1 T 1 1 w SC H > CQ o Z w Pi Q 3 u Q W Q Pi < W Pi H en W H e i> o j) oj '-4-t '-I-J 1-1 '+-) Ctj *4-J *-t-> +J o a> a) cu^p l) u C a> a; >. c 00 i> - CO ^t- 13 P- D 00 * 00 00 u - as to to 1) 1> ■_, 00 00 vO VO 00 § rt a3 ctf aj 4, 01 4) D ^ >> >-. >i 00 00 60 so _J ^tototoctJtototototo'H 50J«)lllgDU4)lH)3 "T, " to ° to ° to o'to'to to ° to to ■ r; yooo"ooooo-^ — a a. D-33 aaaaa^ <000 c u to to 1> D >> >> 00 00 j-j fQCQCQ • >-' ii ii to » to c c C o o °UU j; to to u =3 u to o3 a) to nj >. ^ 0^3 to ■ to to D U In Ih cj +J cd aj c £ i> i> aj g >,3^ dco ^ o 10 o u< >,u to S u n! a! 1) D >> >. OOM fiOOj, to to P to -, a; a) > oj u .ti.ti'SD.'tH ^ to to 10-4-" O O 1> O 3 a a c a o- a a o a^D OOZO< ^ *-=■ ■ u rnrn u CO sL CL\n aj v- C „ 1) rt S - ^ • • a> o c to to s 3 a a a coUOOO toOOr ) O . ^ a a a a OO a a O HH O OO I I III 101 I I I I I I I I I I I I I oooiowmoH^H^ntooHvooMMHaiO" I I I 1000 00 Ovh cO-^-lOO 1-1 01 ON "0^0 t^ r<3 lO 1^300 tONNNHCC \D \0 NiOON t^O OO vD O On t--. t-» O t^-00 t^ r^oo r^GO >s^ s^ O O i-i 1-1 ff TTTTtt Ti'i ri v"i t 1 n 1 1 " 1 " WW o I I I ID w 1-1 1DVO t^OO On'o 1-1 6"' Totals 5® z / 1 V /•* 1 1 2 9 7 fit'* / I 1 z 1 ?, 1 1 1 1 1Z IS 01 1 1 1 1 z 6 IS 6 " 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 I6° } 1 1 fc<" I 1 p 2 3 \6 7 10 8 6 7 \e 8 Z Z z 3 Z 1 I 7? More than one year above age — 3 cases Within one year of age — 17 cases. More than one year below age — 59 cases. More than two years below age — 39 cases. Retardation in Cincinnati Public Elementary Schools 43 INDEX Absence Cause of failure, 8, 9, II, 21, 23, 26, 35. Cause of, II. Extent of, 8, Diagram, page 10. Remedies for, 4. Result of illness, 11. Abstract studies, failure in, 24. Achievements of Cincinnati Schools, 26. Adenoids, 13. Age distribution of children who failed, 27. Age distribution at starting school, 30. Ages: Mental V. S. physical, 42. Aliquot numbers, 24. Ambition of children and parents, 23, 24. Anemia, 13. Arithmetic, failure in, 24. Associated charity cases, 33. Attendance department cases, 33. Baths, lack of, in homes, 17. Binet Tests, 38. Bloom School, 26. Boys, failure of, 23. Catholic charity cases, 33. Card used in investigation, 37. Causes of failure, 8, 35. Change of schools, 18, 35. Child labor, 18, 34. Child welfare cases, 33. Cincinnati's forward steps, 26. Classification of children who fail needed, 2 5- Conduct and failure, 23, 24, 35. Congested living conditions, 17, 33. Cost of decent living, 14. Curriculum and failure, 5, 23 — 26, 35. Defects, physical (see physical). Defects, mental (see feeble-mindedness). Degeneracy theory, 22. Departmentalization as remedy, 5. Diagnosis of children needed, 25. Difficult studies as cause of failure, 35. (see also curriculum). Dullness, 4, 19—23- 25, 35, 38 ff. Ear defects, 13. Effort and failure, 24. Employment of children who failed, 18, 34. Enthusiasm, lack of, 23. Entrance, late, 9. Eye defects, 13. Extent of retardation, 5-7. By grades (diagram) 7. Of failure, 27, 29. Of poverty, 13-17. Failure. Absence as cause, 8, 9, 11, diagram 10. By grades, 27. Causes, 8, 23, 35. Extent of, 27. Families, size of, 33. Below poverty line, 14, diagram, p. 15. Family incomes, 14, 16, 31. Fatherlessness, 17, 35. Fathers' wages, 32. Feeble-mindedness, 4, 19-23, 25, 26, 35. And poverty, 21-22. Extent, 19, 38ff. Method of Measuring, 38 ff . Treatment, 4. Foreign languages spoken at home, 18, 34 Form used in this investigation, 37. Further investigation needed, 5: Gary plan referred to, 5. Geography, failure in, 24. Girls, failures of, 23. German spoken at home, 34. German, failures in, 24. Grades in which children failed, 27. Retardation by grades, 7. Grammar, failure in, 24. Heights of children who failed, 13, 36. Hereditary causes of failure, 19 ff . History, failures in, 24. Home conditions. Cause of absence, 11, of dullness, 18,35. Employment, 34. Languages spoken, 34. Parental, 35. Recreation, 34. Home study, opportunity for, 17. Home visiting by teachers, 5. Household arts, failures in, 24. Housing — see congestion, rent. Illness and failure, 3, 11, 13, 30. Immaturity and failure, 35. Inability to master studies, 11 ff. Inadequacy of family incomes, 14-16. Incomes of families of children who failed 14, 31- Industrial arts, failures in, 24. Infant mortality and poverty, 14. Interest and failure, 24 ff. Investigation, further needed, 5. Italian spoken at home, 34. Juvenile court cases, 33. Juvenile Protective Association, 8. Language and composition, failures in, 24. Languages spoken at home, 34. Late entrance, 9, 35. Listlessness, 23, 24. Living standards 13 ff. Lungs, defective, 13. Mental examinations, 19, 35, 38 ff. Recommended for all children who fail, 4. Method of study, 8. Method of estimating true retardation, 44 Helen S. Trounstine Foundation I NDEX — Continued Milwaukee. City Club reports quoted, 14. Mothers at work, 17-18. Mothers' wages, 32. Moving pictures as cause of failure, 18. Opportunity school, 26. Orphans, 35. Overcrowding, 17, 33. Parental condition, 17, 35. Parents' estimate of causes of Absence, 11. Failure, 35. Physical defects, 11-13, 35. And poverty, 16, 17. Diagram, 12. Remedies, 4. Poverty. And feeble-mindedness, 21-22. And physical defects, 13-17. Cause of absence, 13-14. Cause of retardation, 13. Cause of sickness, 13. Extent of, 14-15, diagram 15. Practical studies mastered, 24. Pretuberculous children, 13. Previous failures, 29. Promotions, standaids of, 26 ff. Promotions, semi-annual, 5. Psychological tests, 38 ff. Quiet study, home opportunities for, 17. Reading, failures in, 24. Recommendations, 4-5. Recreation and failure, 18, 34. Rentals paid by families of children who fail, 17, 32. Retardation (see also, failure). By grades, diagram, 7. Extent, 5. Method of estimating, 28. Salvation Army cases, 33. School nurses cases, 33. Schools, failures in various, 26 ff. Schools, list of those studied, 8. Semi-annual promotions recommended, 5. Sex and failure, 23. Sickness, 3, 11, 13, 30. Sizes of families, 31, 33. Sleep, amount of, 18. Social agencies treating families of children who failed, 22, 33. Spelling, failures in, 24. Standard of living, 13 ff. Standards of promotion, 5, 26 ff . Statistical appendix, 27 ff. Studies in which failure occurred, 24. Summary, 3. Supernormal children (diagram) 7. Teachers' estimate of causes of failure, 35. Teeth defective 13. Time spent at home by parents, 35. Tonsils, 13. Trounstine, Helen, 8. Truancy as cause of Absence, 11. Failure, 35. Tuberculosis and poverty, 14. United Jewish Charities cases, 33. U. S. Public Health Service report quoted, 14. Unskilled laborers, curriculum for future, 25- Wage-earners, number of, 31. Wages, classification of, 32. Weather, cause of absence, II. Weight of children who failed, 13, 36. Widowed mothers, 35. Woolley, Helen Thompson, 16, 19, 20, 38. Working children, median family incomes, 16. Writing, failures in, 24. Yerkes Point Scale, 38. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 020 730 346 PI