peor” University of the State of New York Bulletin Entered «as second-class matter August 2, 1913, at the Post Office at Albany, N. Y., under the act of August 24, 1912. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, act of October 3, 1917, authorized July 19, 1918 Published Fortnightly ALBANY, N. Y. February 15, 1926 2 THE LIBRARY OF tyegTTL A % MAY Me 74929 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS ENGLISH IN THE RURAL AND VILLAGE SCHOOLS OF NEW YORK STATE BY Jacop S. ORLEANS Research Associate, Educational Measurements Bureau AND Epwin B. RicHarps Supervisor of English ALBANY THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK PRESS 1926 G191r-Mr26-2900(4638) * THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Regents of the University With years when terms expire 1934 CuesTeR S. Lorp M.A., LL.D., Chancellor - - Brooklyn 1936 ADELBERT Moot LL.D., Vice Chancellor - - - Buffalo 1927 ALBERT VANDER VEER M.D., M.A., Ph.D., LL.D. Albany 1937 CHaRLes By ALEXANDER IVA. CE. BI LLID Litt.: Dy fers Sa Grete oe i a Boe = a Ae 1928 WALTER Guest Kettoce B.A., LL.D.- - - - Ogdensburg 1932 JamEs Byrne B.A., LL.B, LL.D. - - - - =New York 1931 THomas J. Mancan M.A., LL.D. - - - - - Binghamton 1933 Witittam J. Wattin M.A. - - - - - - - Yonkers 1935 “Witttam Bonpy M.A;.LL.B, PhDs DCL. Newsy oc 1930 WitiiAm P. BAKER B.L., Litt. D. - - - - - Syracuse 1929 Ropert W. Hicpis M:A.- - -°- - - - = Jamaica 1938: Rortanp.B. Woopwarn B.A.- =~ = --= - .- Rochester President of the University and Commissioner of Education Frank P. Graves Ph.D., Litt. D., L.H.D., LL.D. Assistant Commissioner and Director of Professional Education AUGUSTUS.S, DOWNING SLA. Pdi Db 1D LED: Assistant Commissioner for Secondary Education James SuLuivan M.A., Ph.D. Assistant Commissioner for Elementary Education Grorce M. Witry M.A., Pd.D., LL.D. Director of State Library James I. Wyver M.L.S., Pd.D. Director of Science and State Museum CuHarites C. ApAMS M.S., Ph.D., D.Sc. Directors of Divisions Administration, LLoyp L. CHENry B.A. Archives and History, ALEXANDER C. Frick M.A., Litt. D., Ph.D. Attendance, © Examinations and Inspections, AVERY W. SKINNER B.A., Pd.D. Finance, CLARK W. HALLIDAY Law, Irwin Esmonp Ph.B., LL.B. Library Extension, School Buildings and Grounds, FRAnK H. Woop M.A. Visual Instruction, ALFRED W. ABRAMS Ph.B. | Vocational and Extension Education, LEwis A. WILSon University of the State of New York Bulletin Entered as second-class matter August 2, 1913, at the Post Office at Albany, N. Y., under the act of August 24, 1912. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, act of October 3, 1917, authorized July 19, 1918 Published Fortnightly No. 846 ALBANY ONJoY. February 15, 1926 ENGLISH IN THE RURAL AND VILLAGE SCHOOLS OF NEW YORK STATE At the request of the district superintendents of schools as agreed upon at their regional conference in the fall of 1924, and with the cooperation of the Supervisor of English, the Educational Measure- ments Bureau of the State Department of Education in the spring of 1925 conducted a survey of the teaching of English as its fourth annual survey. iBaheg Ben 6 etl, In planning the survey, it was decided to test the following: In grades 4 through § Ability to correct errors in English T Ability to use correctly, certain commonly islsKRMRY essions Ability to write structurally correct sentences ’ His In grades 7 and 8 Ay BAG Literature information y c 1929 Grammar recognition NI VERS Ty None of the existing standardized tests in English uke Abd Ae gy adequate to meet the demands of the situation since none covered the entire field satisfactorily. Construction of suitable tests was undertaken by Ethel L. Cornell, W. W. Coxe, J. S. Orleans and E. B. Richards. After a preliminary tryout the projected tests were reorganized under the following four headings: (1) sentence structure, (2) lan- guage usage (two parts), (3) grammar, (4) literature information. The sentence structure test provides situations to which the pupil is to respond by writing sentences, the number of sentences varying from one to seven, for the different situations. In all, twenty-four sentences are to be written by the pupil within the 20 minutes allowed. Each sentence is scored under each of the five elements that make a correct sentence. These are: (1) essential structure, (2) beginning capitalization and end punctuation, (3) spelling, (4) technical cor- rectness (internal punctuation and the like), (5) grammar and lan- 4 TELESUNDVERSIT Ye OF ELS Ss Ad Hh SOHN Wie OR Ke guage usage. The answer to each situation is also scored for comprehension; that is, the extent to which the pupil comprehends the situation. The language usage test has two parts. Part 1 is a test of the pupil’s ability to choose correct expressions to replace incorrect ones in given sentences. Part 2 tests the pupil’s ability to write into a sentence the correct word which is omitted. The word omitted in each case is one that is commonly misused. The grammar test requires the pupil to choose certain grammatical forms (noun, prepo- sition, adverbial phrase, demonstrative adjective, passive verb, etc.) from a given paragraph. The literature information test requires the pupil to indicate the correct one of four possible completions to each of a series of facts concerning the readings in English literature required for the seventh and eighth grades. These tests are based on the New York State English syllabus. Only the simplest and most fundamental items are included. The content of the literature information test was taken only from the lists of required readings. The errors included in the language usage test are the most common and all of them appear in the syllabus. The items called for in the grammar test are all fundamental to an understanding of English grammar. GIVIUN Ge RES Shs The tests were taken by some 55,000 pupils. This number would undoubtedly have been even greater if the tests had been given earlier* and if the plans for the survey could have been announced at an earlier date. As it was, this number is more than three times the number that participated in any of the three preceding surveys.’ In all, six cities, thirty villages and ninety-six rural districts in forty-two counties participated in the survey.* Not all the pupils in each place took all the tests for the grade. , In general, however, the local survey in most cases was fairly complete. Table 1 gives in round numbers the total number of pupils in the State that took the tests in each type of school. 1 The tests were given almost entirely between May 15 and June 15, 1925. 2 The increase in clerical labor due to the large number of pupils and of test scores may be indicated by the fact that more than 500,000 tally marks had to be made in the tabulation, more than 150.000 numbers were copied to get total distributions for the State, more than 3000 totals were found and 245 medians for the State computed. This does not include about 14,000 totals and 14,000 medians for separate places for each test in each grade. 3 The report for the cities is not included in this bulletin since it was felt that the small number of cities kept the results from being representative of the cities of the State. ENGLISH IN RURAL ‘AND VILLAGE SCHOOLS 5 The tests were given and scored by the teachers, principals or superintendents and the class record sheets were sent to the Educa- tional Measurements Bureau. TERUG: ARSED Se OIEANS A separate tabulation was made for each test for each grade for each village school and for each type of school in each rural district. The rural schools were grouped under three types: one-teacher schools, two or three-teacher schools, and four or more teacher (graded village) schools. TABLE | Number of pupils in each grade in each type of school that took the English survey tests GRADES TYPE OF SCHOOL 4 2) 6 ii 8 TOTAL One-teachermn one ease ic 2750 21950 2 900 2 100 1 600 12 300 Two or three-teacher..... 1 500 1 500 1 400 1 100 900 6 400 Four or more teacher.... 4 700 4 500 4 000 3 800 Gins.00 20 300 Villa gees mene elas ati. oe 2 506 2 500 23.00 2 000 1 900 i200 Citys (saty pec kee en ete ede 1 000 1 200 1 000 . 1 100 850 5 Ao) ‘Rotaligecrs ceosmrotn. ar 12 450 T2650) 11 600 10 100 550. 55 350 There are nine scores for each of grades 4, 5, and 6 and eleven scores ior each of grades 7 and:8. These 'scoresjare:, (1) essential structure, (2) beginning capitalization and end punctuation, (3) spelling, (4) technical correctness, (5) grammar and language usage, (6) form (total of scores 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5), (7) comprehension, (8) language usage, part 1, (9) language usage, part 2, and for grades 7 and 8 only, (10) grammar, (11) literature information.’ The first seven of these scores are for the sentence structure test. For each grade in each village or district there were nine or eleven distributions. The separate distributions were combined for the same test, grade and type of school. This gave 245 distributions 9d 66 such as “ essential structure, fourth grade, village schools,” “ essential structure, fourth grade, one-teacher schools,” “ language usage, eighth 2) 6% grade, two or three-teacher schools,” “grammar, fifth grade, village schools,” and the like. These 245 distributions were totaled and the medians were computed. 1 These scores will be referred-to hereafter as E, B, S, T, G, F, C, Ll, L2, Gr., and Lit. 6 THE UNIVERSITY GF THE- STATE OF NEW YORK GENERAL RESULTS Orr Erith Suh vay To understand the results of the survey, the maximum score for each test should be kept in mind. The maximum scores are: [ENP a tire OM oy: 24 points tes Se eee ee ee 18 points Bias ac eee 24 points keles Feuer 46 points OE a ph crcome eee 24 points L232. Sree 18 points i Ro aoe eee ee Spee 24 points GF ire ete Maco rast 48 points Gr Pee as og 24 points Lite ties sees 36 points | Set ao: Sarees: 120 points The median scores for each type of school in form, comprehension, language usage, grammar and literature are given in table 2. The median ‘scores for E, B, S, Viand G*are given in table-3. inethe villages. the medians for those schools having annual promotion are given separately from those having semiannual promotion. The medians for the village schools having annual promotion are given in italics since they are used later as a basis for comparison. Table 2 reads as follows: The median fourth grade pupil in one-teacher schools who took this test obtained a score of 53.5 in F, 7.3 in C, 10.9 in LI and 5.9 in L2. - The median fourth grade pupil in two and three-teacher schools obtained’ a score of 69.8 in F, 9.5 in C, ete. These tables are presented graphically in figures 1 to 9. In order to interpret-these results a brief statement of what the tests measure and of the method of scoring will be given. The usual tvpe of test provides rather artificial situations and hence an artificial product is usually scored. By an artificial situation is meant one that requires a response from the pupil in a way different from the usual ways in which he would use English. Such, for example, is the language usage test, part 1.» In the sentence structure test, how- ever, a number of real situations are set before the pupil and his responses are original productions. The sentence structure test, therefore, measures the pupil’s spontaneous composition. It is usual in the case of standardized tests to compare a pupil's score with grade norms including these of grades higher and lower than the one in .which he. is... Inj/the -case of the Sentence structure test such comparison must be made with caution since pupils of higher grades write longer and more complicated sentences and use more difficult words than pupils in the lower grades. The comparison of grade medians, therefore, in the case of this test is largely a com- parison in accuracy of writing. The median score for grade 8 in vil- lage schools is 104.0; for grade 4 it is 66.0. The difference between these is chiefly a measure of the difference in accuracy between the two grades. The difference in ability to write sentences probably is much greater because of the difference in the type of sentences SCHOOLS ENGLISH IN RURAL AND VILLAGE *‘sqooyos uorjowoid [enuuv 103 pue ‘iva jo jyey toddn Suljvoripur yw pue iev9h jo jyey Jomo], Surjeorpur g ‘sjooyss uotjowoid yenuueluas 1O¥ Ajayeredas UdAIZ 1e SUEIPsw ISR] A 7 OY GG, 6°C¢ Cee 9° 8 sey AE O° FOL 0°6L LOL 9°6 8° Ce jE MEE 9° 00T neere DeELUCEEL CaLG OBS (sy IEE 0°O0€ Lave 6°cOT oo} 6 SE 6 OF Lao Cael 6°26 ets Seah ae 9° +2 1°61 e°Ir Se O° +1 0°001 6°91 age $°6 €° > at 0°S6 gi rd BRITA $°9Z 6°22 c°Il 0°62 c°9L €° OL 9°81 S*et £26 pS O°ST C°86 ‘Aayove} stout Io AnOy 0°92 6°61 OL b°8Z Cot 9°Z01 c’61 Len £6 S$" O°ST £° 66 *dayors}-99.14} 10 OMT, Ipte 1°9L £°Or 1°92 c°ST £° 66 18 8°01 26 ae 4 S*bl £°S6 srreeesss d9yea}-3ugQ H ‘I c ‘ H ‘I ‘ ee ee eae es oy YS) Po A, PRE Wen Ba ae ea ie tee nae een 2 TOOHDS 30. THAAD § dAadvuyd Z aavuas 9°8 GCG Whe age 9°26 SeZ 6° 8T iG 78 8°98 hes?) jf AGE I°8 9°99 pe nel e, 8°83 3. £6 Gua G1 G6 0°8 0°02 Cut Paks 9°9 Lt Se Caeo er ee as a 0°8 aor 6°OL €°S8 8°9 8° rl 6°8 CPGL Oo) Deer 8° i Nin ei ete, hae SOeTITA 2) 3 mK Lact can VEL Ouaeal Care 9° +8 Eg vi LE 9°8 8° +9 *ToyIes} VtOl 10 INOW S38 0 cc 6° £1 8°46 IA all DCL +98 eg Soacal) cao 8°69 *toyoee}-9914} 10 OMY, o 8 6°61 eecaL LEUO Gals VoD Oat Tee 6°S 6° OT Cue Cees: (OBS SoU) ol I L G elie TARR Eh Ge OD le pL eprment aot Veen See ee ee TOOHDS AO AdAL 9 aAdvud ¢ aavas ~ advad ¥ (A[UO g puke / Sopels 10} 91e S}S9} OM} SET 91}) UOTJEUIIOJUI JIN}eIO}] (9) ‘reEWIUIeIs (¢) ‘asesn o8ensur] (Pp) ‘UOT}IUsO01 asensurY, (¢) ‘uOIsuUsyaIduIoD (Zz) ‘(aInjons Q9U9}UIS JO [P}0}) WIIOF 9dUd}USS (][) +:8}S9} SUIMOT[OJ dy} JO Yes UO ‘ooYydS Jo dA} Ydea IOZ ‘sapeis Aq SoIOOS UPIPa]A[ Z AIL K E OF NEW YOR NIVERSITY OF THE STAT AUIENS, 10; CZ6I sunt JO} UOISUdYaIdUIOD UO SdIODS URIPYP, Z IINSIYy Sooyns DBA Saccaneoe S\OCOUPS BYIVIIC-7 ~——-— Sjoours 1242€3} Qr0V4 40 + —+—-— SjooyrSs J94DEILT SZ6I euNf[ IO} WOOF UO SdI0DS URIPs|T J 9INSIY SOOUDS SHBLrA ————SlOouds Wayava] dJOW so S\OOYNDS J9YNIeAULS-F *—StOOuUdIS UdYdeIL-T ENGLISH IN RURAL AND VILLAGE SCHOOLS Sjoours APE IA --=-s]oeups ADUIPDY CIC Adp esses. SJOOMIGS 2942I¥]D] C-2 ee G (004 7S ADYkI] F (F4¥T a) Ss BATTS Sopeuy Y ca) ce) ™) a n A “> my Bb 3 3 B oe) Ke) to .?) st 9g £7 C26 eunf ‘(soury Inoj Joddn) am}jeisz] pue (SOUT, INOJ JoMOT) IeEWIWILIZ UO SdIOIS URIPEPT ¢ 2INSWY SZ6I eunf ‘Zz j1ed ‘osesn asensur[ uO Sd1OOS URIPIyY, yp IINSIY CZ6I eunf ‘]T }1ed ‘asesn asensuel uO SaiOos ueIpayY ¢€ sINBIYZ Sloours BSe\\A +--+ G{COUSS ADYIVIYC-7 SYCOUTE DPC eae SISSM ese Neced Sac ee g\eouss payoray a2ow boy — -—-— S${OOUIS ADYICO} FT —----5)0049S JOYIV9} Da0WL 40 fF — — — SlCours 2294p, Sapesy Ssepriyn UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK THE 10 *s]ooyps ,uoTjouIoI1d [enuue 10; pue ‘aeak jo yey soddn Suryvoipur y pue seak jo F[eY J9MO]T Suryeorpur _ ‘sfooyss uoTjowWOoId [enuUeTWaS IOJ AJoJeAvdas UdAIS aI SUvIpsUT ISEIILA 7 6°02 9° OT Sale GE LEG CAN 0° 6L Ye oy/h One PREC. COUR Cer Faerann jenuuy 8° 6L 8°8I Ome LAGE (9) Xe 6°61 Cao 1b eat ide Ales SECS sf eee Ve 8°61 0°61 L- 0¢ 0°C?C 9° CC 9° SI (S74 9°8T 9°02 Me RE Se ae ee iN 6° 0 15H! 6°02 GucG eG Li CG seeOer Leet Leeko oh ANA *Joyove} o10t IO Ino 6206 Geo 9°02 Gale OCC 6°61 0° 6. 8°61 Oslke Gale *TIYORI}-991Y} IO OMT, 0°02 ce 61 S°6L Pang Sule OE vst 9°S8T 050g O0C ty creas * TIYOeI}-9UGC) oO angel b; Ss a a 3) ay Ss a a i SsSSSSsSsSsSsSSSSsSssS TOOMDS SO AdAL 9 Aavayd Z aavuo 6° 6 8° 8 8° 8T Sahe LUG Cail [SE mor SOL 6°6L TeED JERS IE VaeLp CaED Sa ils ace oa fenuuy €°st TL 0°sT L202 Sade v9 eas ctl 0°8T 9°8T SeOr Dace 5 AOE Le ot OG 218 He es sea Vs ball 9°9T O°ST 8°8I Zot vr alk Len COL 6°9T 9°6 0°6 ae [EOE Gabe ey Gg se LIE fe teHh O°S8I 0°8TI GANG 8° 0d ZOD OL Sp Sal 8°8T Lor Sed OFT 8°OL jae tlh bao “1oYyoe} BIO IO INOW €°6L b'st £°8T c'0¢ OSiC aA 9 91 9°ST c°sr Sl! (bal (oy £5) CMe Cav ce 9 *T9YOeI}-991Y4} IO OMT, oy (Al) SAI 6.91 8° 8I 8°61 6° +1 Oe OMe E Ces c°9OL cea O°TL a6 Cw Ol 3 GE te ta 5 sees * Saqoes}-ouc o) AB: S a a i, ab, Ss d a 7B) lb; Ss a ast \ —_ 5s eee ee EE IOOHDS JO AdAL SS9U}D9IIOD JedTUYydI} (¢) ‘“osesn o8ensue] pue IewueIs (fp) “suyjeds (¢) ‘uonenjound pus pue uoneziTeqdes Suluulseq (Z) ‘ainjonij}s [eIUessa (T), :S}S9} SULMOT[OJ 94} Jo Yee UO ‘[ooyds jo add} Yoea IOJ ‘sapers Aq ‘sa109s UPIDS IAT Cuda Tavely Ll AGE SCHOOLS AL AND VILL RUR ENGLISH IN S261 9unf ‘sjooyds Iaydevd}-99I14} 10 OM} ul Sapeis Aq ry pue J ‘S ‘g ‘“q UO Sat0DS URIPsyY =f oINSIY oe Sa as ae oe oa Bpere S etteeeerer ress GPCL wh apersr.9 —s—* — OPSs> WB ¢Z6I eunf ‘s[ooyds JaYyde9}-a9u0 uI Sapeld Aq 5H pue fF ‘S ‘g ‘A UO SaIODS URIPs|, Q sINSIY ------- apeatyaG stsis'ep elnitre apes uid — = BPRIF uy PPLE YQ Ped yr8 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK SZ6I euNn[ ‘s[OOYdS s8eTTIA ul Sopeis Aq 5 pue J ‘S ‘g “A UO SdIODS URIPIy[ 6 FINS ba ag Eee Te Pie tg Oes SON): apesd 49 ae Pe LS SIAODIS ¢Z61 eunf ‘sfooyss Isyded} s10UL IO InOj ul sapeis Aq 4H pue J ‘Ss ‘g “WY UO Sal00S UkIPay] = g eINBIY , ENGLISH IN RURAL AND VILLAGE SCHOOLS 13 written by the pupils. This is even more true with the- several sentence structure scores. The value of these depends largely on the comparison of the parts of ‘the test with each other, that is. it is most valuable to compare the E, B, S, T and G scores with each other within each grade or for any one pupil. On page 21 there is a dis- cussion of the diagnostic use of the sentence structure test. The significance of a point on one of the sentence structure s~ores is made clear from the method of scoring. One point is allowed for each sentence that is perfect in each respect. Thus, if a pupil has a score of 17 on FE, then within the time limit he wrote seventeen sentences whose essential structure was satisfactory. If his score is 14 in S he wrote fourteen sentences that contained no errors in spelling, etc. Although the original purpose of the sentence structure test was to measure sentence form, it was found that a measure of compre- hension could be obtained with little added labor. Because of the importance of comprehension in the quality of English writing, it was felt that such a measure might help in diagnosing English difficulties. The value of the C score depends on the accuracy with which the papers are scored. Because this score was found to be rather sub- jective, it will not be dwelt upon to so great a degree as will the other scores. On the L1 test the pupil was asked to choose the correct gram- matical forms to be used in place of erroneous ones. Since the pupil might have chosen the wrong form, this test was scored by giving one point for each correct item and taking off one point for each incor- tect choice. The L1 score, therefore, represents the ability to choose the proper form in place of an incorrect one and to recognize as incorrect other possible but wrong forms. In the L2 test the pupil was given one point for each sentence in which he had filled in a word found in the key. Only those words were included in the key which fulfilled both of two conditions, namely: (1) were correct in form, (2) made the sentence correct from the point of view of good sense. In other words, this test involves comprehension tozether with the ability to use the correct form. The grammar test measures only the pupil’s ability to recognize certain fundamental grammatical forms. It does not measure his ability to use such forms in sentences, nor his ability to make gram- matical analysis. Each item on this test was given a score value of 1, 2 or 3 points depending on the difficulty of the item. The literature information test measures only the pupil’s knowledge concerning authors, titles, characters, and types of pieces of litera- 14 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK ture. It does not measure literary appreciation. Each item on this test had a score value of 1 point. An inspection of tables 2 and 3 and of figures 1 to 9 will bring to light the following facts: 1 In general, the village schools had higher median scores than the other types of schools. 2 The two or three-teacher schools apparently have done as well as the four-teacher schools. They are at a slight advantage in grades 4 and 5 but do not quite equal the median four- ‘teacher school achievement in the upper grades. 3 The one-teacher SERS are almost uniformly the lowest in all LEspects. 4 In F and C, the median scores for village schools having annual promotion are uniformly higher than the median scores for village schools having semiannual promotion, but in L1, L2, Gr. and Lit. the opposite is uniformly the case. The reason for this uniform tendency is not apparent. 5 The median scores in FE, B. S, T and G for village schools hav- ing annual promotion are, as in the case of F and C, uniformly higher in all grades than the median scores for village schools having semiannual promotion. 6 Of the E, B, S, T and G scores, in grades 4 and 5 the S score is lowest in every type of school. In the seventh and eighth grades the T score is uniformly lowest and in the sixth grade the S and T scores both are lowest. In other words, in the lower grades inaccuracy in writing sentences is more frequently due to spelling errors and in the upper grades to errors in technical correctness. 7 The median score for grammar in the seventh grade is approxi- mately 25 per cent of the maximum possible score and in the eighth grade it is approximately 45 per cent of the maximum possible score. On the other hand, the G score varies from about 50 per cent in the fourth grade to almost 85 per cent in the eighth grade. The median scores in language usage parts 1 and 2, vary from about 30 per cent in the fourth grade to about 60 per cent in the eighth grade. In other words, the ability of the pupils to write grammatically correct sentences is appreciably greater than their ability to correct errors in English and very much greater than their ability to recognize gram- matical forms. 8 The greatest gain in I is made between grades 4 and 6. The same is true in C. In Ll and L2 the gain is fairly uniform from the fourth grade through the eighth grade. ENGLISH IN RURAL AND VILLAGE SCHOOLS 15 9 Since 5 points in F represent one errorless sentence, the differ- ences in accuracy of sentence writing, in the villages are between grades 7 and 8, _ .7 sentences between grades 6 and 7, .6 sentences between grades 5 and 6, 2.2 sentences between grades 4 and 5, 4.0 sentences In the third supervisory district of Broome county almost all the pupils who took the sentence structure test were also given the New York State Spelling Scale, a standardized spelling test consisting of lists of words read to the pupils. The existence of this data made possible an answer to the questions: (1) Do the pupils who spell correctly lists of words, spell correctly the words they use in their own compositions? (2) Is the relation between these abilities (list spelling and spelling of words in original composition) the same for all grades? The answers to these questions may be obtained through the use of correlation coefficients which give a measure of the correspondence existing between the two abilities. The scores on the New York State Spelling Scale were correlated with the S scores of the sentence structure test for each grade. Perfect correspondence, the highest pupil on the one test being highest on the other, etc., is shown by a correlation of 1.00. . No correspondence whatever is shown by a correlation of 0.00. The correlations found were: Grade Correlation No. of Pupils A Ric Ree aca .544 161 5, ces ends keke .675 187 COP, ere: 604 162 Goer ari a 781 92 Ce aie by. s 3 862 71 The implication seems to be clear. In the seventh and eighth grades the best list spellers are on the whole the ones whose spelling in spontaneous writing is most correct. In the lower grades, par- ticularly the fourth, this is much less true. The reasons for this condition are not hard to find. The lower grade pupils have had much less practice in original composition, in English or in any other subject, than have the upper grade pupils. The standard of a perfect sentence is held up for the upper grades to a much greater extent than for the lower grade pupils. ; One would conclude then that the standard of a perfect sentence should be held to at an earlier period in the pupil’s school life, and perhaps also that the pupils in the lower grades be given more prac- 16 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK tice in written expression in their school work. The effect of both these procedures would of course be cumulative and would influence results in the upper grades. | The above table of correlations indicates that at least in the eighth grade a standardized list test in spelling is a fairly good measure of a pupil’s ability to write original sentences that contain no errors in spelling. Table 4+ attempts to show in more concrete form the difference between the several types of schools. The median scores for the village schools having annual promotion are chosen as the basis for comparison. The table reads as follows: The village schools in the fourth grade exceed the four-teacher schools by .9 of a month in F, 2.9 months in Li and 5.4 months in L2. They are exceeded by the two or three-teacher schools in grade 4 by 1.2 months in F but exceed the two or three-teacher schools by 1.4 months in L1 and 4.9 months in L2, etc. By a “month” is meant a month of the school year. This table 1s constructed in the following manner: The difference between the fourth and fifth grade F medians in the village schools is 20.2 points. . This is taken as a year’s achievement in F from grades 4to5. -The difference between the fourth-grade F medians im the four-teacher and village schools is 1.8 points. This is 9 per cent of 20.2 points, a year’s achievement. Taking 10 months for the school year, 9 per cent of it would represent .9 months. The year’s difference for L1 between the fourth and fifth grades is 5.8 points. The difference between the fourth grade L1 medians for the one- teacher and village schools is 1.7 which is 29 per cent of 5.8, a year’s achievement in L1 for grade 4 to 5. Therefore this difference of 1.7 points represents 2.9 months of school work. Where a number in table 4 is preceded by a minus sign, the village median is the lower of the two. Otherwise the village median is higher. Jt is obvious from the paucity of negative quantities in table 4 that the village medians are almost uniformly the highest. Whatever negative quantities appear in the table are small. In a few instances the differences between schools are great. For example, in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades the difference in F between the one-teacher and village schools is approximately a year and a half. The difference between the village and one-teacher schools in L1 is more than 10 months in grade 5, about 9 months in grade 6 and about 6 months in grade 8. The last line of the table gives the average of the differences for each type of school. The average difference between the village and one-teacher schools is 7 LY, SCHOOLS ENGLISH IN RURAL AND VILLAGE ee eee Ohiee Owe OF? ** $489} 11/2 10F ISLIIAY A ho =» @—— ————— Lat Aa 8'P 19 Pe ort 6'1 971 6'€ b 2 eu 9° eee yee ies eae oBvIIAV zs 9°9 0°9 "9 5 Clemo) t org Sap 9° 6°€ eat ¢ ites el Pe Ba aes 8 ne ery See Bees eee ae ee or a ay Bie era ih pices cota oe OP ecg may aera a - - et ee Rey so ee = Be As a fai cept e Rh ane po eee ; oy) eee Rae a. ope oe ae pero Be Seti ee re : oe eee a So er ed eee tt, ae Sts = a th Pei oe pee le Be ee ee eee we ig he OEE aa BL A sige Ty 3) tal ita a Pigie O43) el VT a UCU sé —_ eee 4 adadvyaod ul spTooyos JIYOeI}-IUQ) ul S[OOYOS TIYIRI}-991Y} I0 OMT ul STOOYOS J3YGovI}-INOY GAaAOXaA STOOHDS ADVTITIA UOTLULIOJUI ainjetoyy, (¢) ‘rewureizs (p) ‘Z Wed ‘osesn aSensury (¢) ‘T wed ‘asesn asensury (Z) «(7e}0} 91N}ONI}S BdU9}UI9S) WI0F ([) Ut spooyss jo sedA} Jay}O JO SuBIpoUt pue sueIpeUI IBEITIA UsaMjoq ‘yom jpooyos jo sy}yuoU ut ‘soousII HIG 7 a1 LL 18 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK - months, almost three-quarters of a school year. The average differ- ence between the village schools and either the two or three-teacher schools or four-teacher schools is approximately 2 months. In only a few instances are the differences in any grade in any test appreciably large between the village schools and either the two or three-teacher or four-teacher schools. For example, in the sixth grade the differ- ences in F are fairly large. The average differences by grades between village and four-teacher schools are as follows: Grade Difference in months ths Ph perce Nags «aa endanger ee Sa er OE eer eto ME Wh & eras, Sis 3.4 Ooch Bi sn coe es oe ie ees 4.8 1s test SOON cet RENEE: cd ey eee ae c ie ie Or ee a oe aan ct See aS It is rather obvious from these figures that the four-teacher schools stress English much more in the seventh and eighth grades than in the lower grades to the extent of virtually equaling the achievement in the villages. The corresponding averages giving differences by grades tor the one-teacher and two or three-teacher schools do not show the same tendency to so marked a degree. Table 5 shows the range in years of school achievement necessary to include the middle 59 per cent of the pupils in F, L1 and L2 in grades 5 and 7. These grades were chosen as illustrative. The differences for the other grades are undoubtedly similar. The table reads as follows: In the fifth grade in village schools in accuracy of sentence form (F’) the pupil who is 25 per cent from the top of the grade is 3.1 years more advanced than the pupil who is 25 per cent from the bottom of the grade; in the seventh grade the difference between the 25 per cent and 75 per cent pupil in F is more than 4 vears. In the four-teacher schools the corresponding differences are 2.8 years for the fifth and 4.5 years for the seventh grade, etc. TAREE 5 Showing the range in months of school work necessary to include the middle 50 per cent of scores in grades 5 and 7 of the several types of schools in (1) form (sentence structure total), (2) language usage, : part 1, (3) language usage, part 2 GRADE 5 GRADE 7 es F Li 2 F Ll d by Millages = 2c). «.cxcha Mera eee eae ae Soak See eal! 4.1+ Sti? 4.3 Pour-teacher, schools? JL Ss c ce i! OOT v 06 T ee, c OcT T SZ 0€ OLE ce OST Ke 9¢ Sc cv v 9S I Sv c ev l! 89T y OLE T OST Cc 06 i 00€ OST OSP OST OS¢ 0cl O8T Oot 08¢ 0c ccc OT 0ce cl sida) cl O0cY 0c OSP OT 09¢ 4! 062 cl “xe “UL oakcd “TOW xe “TTA ES sea a Z 9 5 sadvuod . "°* sodA ITV . "7° OBRTITA ] Jayors}-9UG sjooyos ITV ase A IayoRrI}-9uCO sjooy9s [IV oseTTLA | IIYICI}-IUG | spooyss ITV J eee JIYICI}-9UQ) sjooyos |TV aseTIIA sjooyos |TV eee oSeTITA Les JIYORI}-9UD a aia ete Venetavelise ate ce s[ooyos Iv J TOOHOS AHO FdAL r Sa | “ess *HIOM YSI[SUY JO uoeiedsig . eseereeese dINpeIOP'T ** YSI[SUY BATJOIIIOD TeUUIe IT) UOI}ISOdWUIOD Udz}ITA\ eeeeeoce ysi[suy [240 "TTS YIOM YsTPsUy [TV Loafans opeis yore Ul YSsuy 0} pajOAap y9amM & S2INUIUI UMUIIXeU pue UMUTIUIWI — jUSUT}O][e JWT, Il W1avye ENGLISH IN RURAL AND VILLAGE SCHOOLS 29 Similar differences in time allotment appear in connection with parts of English such as oral English and corrective English. The data are given in detail in table 11. It is evident that some teachers devote a large amount of time to certain phases of work and a small amount to other phases. For instance, the maximum amount of time given to oral English in any type of school is 270 minutes reported in the sixth grade in certain village schools. On the other hand, it is as low as 20 minutes weekly in the eighth grade in other village schools. The maximum amount of time devoted to literature is 250 minutes in grade 8 in four or more teacher schools and a minimum is reported as 1 minute in the fourth and sixth grades of one-teacher schools. It is, of course, possible that teachers in answering these questions made errors in their interpretation. The range in time allotment, however, is certainly very great. The last line in table 11 shows the variation for all types of schools in the amount of school time devoted to the preparation of English work. The variation, as is to be expected, is considerable. As little as no time at all up to 600 minutes weekly is reported devoted to the preparation of English work. Although some of this time is evi- dently under supervision, it is negligible compared to the amount of time devoted to ordinary unsupervised study. Of those answering the questionnaire seventy-two teachers reported that they gave no time to the supervision of the study that their pupils did. They are missing an opportunity for after all the largest purpose of teaching is training the pupil to teach himself and this can be done best by teaching him how to study through supervising his study periods. Related to this is the way the teacher undertakes the assignment. Most teachers stress this phase of their work but in different ways. The following devices were mentioned most often: Explanation of difficult parts Explanation of new work through the use of simple illustrations Introduction to reference books Only one teacher mentioned discussion or motivation as a means of arousing a desire or need for the lesson. On the whole, a rural teacher does not fully comprehend the relation of the assignment to the proper mastery of the work; nor does she appear to comprehend the importance of an adequate assignment compared with a meager assignment followed by an extended recitation which after all is usually nothing more than a sort of test. Table 12 shows the extent to which teachers use the textbook or the state syllabus in their teaching. About 69 per cent of the teachers 30 THE. UNIVERSITY OF THE-STATE OF > NEW. YORE reporting on this point follow the textbook wholly or in part in their work while about 99 per cent follow the state syllabus. Teachers do need some guidance in their work and should use reputable text- - books and the state syllabus provided they do not teach the textbook and the syllabus in preference to teaching the children. The text- book most used is Essentials of English by Pearson and Kirchway. Next in favor is Oral and Written English by Potter, Jeschke and Gillett. Other. texts are in scattered use. Tabulation of answers to the question concerning the pieces of literature used by the teachers shows that the following are the six most widely used in all types of schools. Number of teachers Grade Name of book mentioning it ETA Wet eet ‘er easute-lslande- sm cncn ae RS ad 5 § 46 Hervetiiel .4...75 EER in| SM Seca ees ae! A 45 Rebecca: of Sunnybrook: Parise seen are 42 TheeSkeletonsin "Armor oe ape. aera 4] Anne ot Greear Gables oe ee ee 28 Barbarag lH rentchiel 7g aac mos er oe eee oe 28 Rete ta pone ThevMarm -withontoa (ountry.creueen oon ae 115 Eyaneceline®<:. 77% oitee oe ca ee ee 86 Legend ‘of Sleepy: Hollow ssg-4 eee eee 79 ‘Lhes Courtship; of. Milesi Standish... oe 74 The Vision -oreSit? Lainialges: ete ae 53 The; Gold :Burg “64 Viena hie as eee renee 47 The question concerning the use of newspapers and magazines brought the answers shown in table 13. The most commonly used magazines and newspapers are listed below the table. Apparently there is a rather wide use of periodicals in the schools of the State. This indicates that many teachers have the idea that material in such local newspapers as they can secure and such periodicals as the Normal Instructor or the Literary Digest are of value in oral and written work. In connection with the literature read, systematic memorization is reported as being required by about 91 per cent of all teachers reply- ing. As sources of this memory work are mentioned collections of memory material as well as the syllabus, the textbook and the library. The particular source of the material is not so important as the building up of the habit of memorization and the utilization of this skill when occasion requires. As an aid toward establishing a wide acquaintance with literature, supplementary reading seems to be required by a large percentage of teachers. The amount varies, but the majority of schools of all types seem to require about six books a year from each pupil. The is not to be confused with the use of supplementary readers but is concerned chiefly with the library 9 question of “ supplementary reading ENGLISH IN RURAL AND: VILLAGE SCHOOLS ot and its development. If schools wish to establish the reading habit and to build up a love for literature through contact with books, then they must have books for children to read. The school library is essential for effective supplementary reading. In answer to the question concerning the correlation of English with other subjects, the reports indicated that English is correlated with History in 77 per cent of the classes Geography in 72 per cent of the classes Nature Study in 37 per cent of the classes Spelling in 33 per cent of the classes ABLES Ac Number of teachers using textbook or syllabus as basis for English TYPE OF SCHOOL BASIS FOR Two or Four or ENGLISH ANSWER three- more CURRICULUM One-teacher teacher teacher Village City Total (@WeSre tee tie tcl. 68 41 oF 15 0 161 rn eINO Spe tomers ators asi 34 38 28 14 6 120 adel Wie ) Answer omitted 12 8 10 10 0 40 lgbaxtl yin eee 47 28 19 5 0 109 | nen Re Tee ee eerie 149 107 84 36 6 382 : IN Ole ua etsnanesatens U ] 3 1 0 5 So DUS Ee isc | Answer omitted 7 1 5 2 0 15 eee laee Bon curiae 5 5 3 5 0 18 TABLE 13 Number of teachers using magazines, newspapers etc. TYPE OF .SCHOOL Two or Four or TYPE - USE three- more : : One-teacher teacher teacher Village City Total : § Yes 42 AV 36 11g) 3 124 eee ts No 18 18 14 9 3 62 2 Yes 46 35 45 9) 4 145 ReresbOn ets teal 14 15 5 5 2 4] Other printed { Mesmr ade: 28 20 14 5 2 69 Matemlals spect | NOTES - 32 30 36 FS} 4 i al7/ Magazines used Newspapers used Name No. of Classes Name No. of Classes Dortnal, |AStructors.cc sens 3 Aon Mirrvente Ivents renee. ee. ees 85 Piteraiy: Wigest ie ies cay te Al) ee Oa Sede etete OG ESS Ske 80 REGO a WiC i ke eth te idee fine Dh meee AUUEATI CG Camino occ sae es 0.0 ole 18 Other printed material Name No. of Classes Corgell Leafiet=. oon tee. so. 9 32 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK as well as to a lesser extent with a number of other subjects. A large number of devices were mentioned as means of effecting this correlation. Of these the most frequently mentioned is written work probably through the use of topics in Enelish drawn from other fields. The second is oral work in the same way. These are the two most common -ways of correlating the work in these subjects and by far the easiest. Examples of oral and written devices included description of nature objects, oral work in geography, oral or written work in history, outlines etc. Thirty-three per cent of the teachers reported that they taught spelling as a part of English, meaning that they emphasized the cor- rect spelling of words in written composition work. At the same time 97 per cent of all teachers teach spelling as a separate subject. Table 14 gives the teachers’ answers for each type of school. Obviously spelling may be justified as a separate subject but unless emphasis is placed on spelling as an integral part of English by all teachers, the ability of the pupil to spell will be measured by his proficiency in spelling columns of isolated words rather than by his skill in spelling accurately the words he uses in his own spontaneous writing. Without question the latter achievement is of paramount importance. In this connection it should be pointed out that par- ticularly in the lower grades the largest number of errors in sentence writing are in spelling, that is, the spelling of the words that the pupil himself uses.t Teachers need sound devices for furthering instruction. In oral English the following devices were most frequently reported: Dramatization by 22 per cent of all teachers Telling of stories by 20 per cent of all teachers Current events (pupil’s choice) by 18 per cent of all teachers Language games by 16 per cent of all teachers These are largely limited to the English period. From the returns of the questionnaire, however, it 1s quite evident that oral work in English is not confined to English classes, but in over 85 per cent of the schools is extended to other classes in other subjects. The topical recitation seems to lead as a means of accomplishing such work. Correlation, the maintenance of one standard, the requiring of accurate sentences in English expression are also cited as ways in which the oral English taught in the oral English period may be better established. This is a healthy sign in our elementary schools because 1 See table 3, figures 6-9, pages 10, 11, 12. ENGLISH “IN “RURAL AND. VILLAGE SCHOOLS 33 it shows that teachers in general are coming to appreciate the fact that the process of “ teaching English ” is one involved in the teach- ing of every subject and can not be evaded anywhere if commendable results are to be obtained. The teacher who does not consider every recitation a recitation in English and who does not take advantage of this, loses her opportunity to establish right habits in her pupils. In corrective English the most frequently mentioned devices were: language games by 33 per cent; pupils correcting other pupils by 25 per cent; drill 18 per cent; correcting book sentences 15 per cent. At this point it must be said that while drill is used by varying num- bers of teachers, it probably is not used so much-by any teacher as it should be. There probably is no device that can be favorably compared with consistent logical drill for effectiveness of instruction. Language games are very useful and as a means of fixing correct language habits are not excelled by any device commonly used, except drill. The questionnaire disclosed the fact that formal grammar is still taught, 74 per cent of all teachers concerned in the investigation reporting that they drill pupils in grammatical forms, presumably for their own sakes. On the other hand, 65 per cent report that they stress functional grammar. Clearly some teachers teach both formal and functional grammar. In every type of school the method by which the grammar of use is most often stressed is corrective English. Some teachers use analysis and drill in emphasizing the elements of grammar needed. About 60 per cent of all teachers use the diagram as a teaching device, chiefly on account of the “ vivid visual impres- sion’’ its use conveys. Many teachers report that pupils “seem to understand easily’ when the diagram is used. Some teachers are frank in saying, however, that they do not use the diagram because etidcceGisiikes it, edhe ISP CIMCUIE madNdalysiseis: peter, -)mtdo ‘ the mechanical,’ x 66 not accurate.” Referring to page 7, the reader will notice that the median eighth grade score on the grammar test is, for any type of school, not more than 50 per cent of the total possible score. In the seventh grade the median score on the grammar test is not more than one-half of this. The pupils’ ability to use correct grammatical forms and to correct incorrect grammatical forms, as expressed by the scores on the sentence structure test (G) and both parts.of the language usage test, is much more nearly perfect than are the median scores on the gramiar test. These facts are mentioned as aids in evaluating the teaching of grammar in the State. 34 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE;OF NEWYORK TABLE 14 Number of teachers teaching spelling as part of English or separately TYPE OF SCHOOL Two or Four or METHOD ANSWER : three- more One-teacher teacher teacher Village City Total As part of ; Yesietna. 92 69 Lats 50 19 2 232 Enelishpeeee steer 59 42 42 22 3 168 As separate yic¥es evs. 156 3 90 40 6 405 SUDjECts cient el eNO Ue 5 2 1 3 0 11 The amount of written work required of seventh and eighth grade children varies from one composition a week to five. The type of school seems to* have little effect upon ‘the amount required. Obviously the school requiring five compositions or even four or three 1s requiring too much formal written work. Probably one composition a week, and that not always in the English period, is a maximum amount to be expected of seventh and eighth grade chil- dren. One composition well done and properly used is worth any quantity poorly done and improperly used. That a large number of the teachers stress all written work as English work is indicated in the following table: TABLETS Number of teachers stressing all written work as English work Two or One- three- Four- é teacher - teacher teacher Vullage City VEG eres Pench rh, eros 13) 89 74 a: 1 INO aoe oiayee heal eee 18 22 9 4 2 mitted: 42 ee ae 11 X 12 13 3 It would seem essential for teachers to require the same standard for all written work whether in the English period or in any other period if the desired habits in English composition are to be instilled and maintained so that they will function after the pupil leaves school. The meaning of “stress”? on written work in other subjects varies, however, with different teachers. Some teachers stated that they insisted on clearness of meaning; others insisted on having papers rewritten if they contained many errors; others stressed the correct- ness of written work in so far as it did not hinder work in the par- ticular subject, etc. One disappointing feature in the replies received to the question- naire was the fact that nearly two-thirds of all teachers are teaching literature intensively, although the tendency today is away from the intensive teaching of literature toward an extensive acquaintance rs 5 4 , ee, . of * L \ ENGLISH IN RURAL AND VILLAGE SCHOOLS 35 Po _» with literature. Reading in class is reported by more than one-third of the teachers as the most used means of teaching literature. This method is capable of abuse and is generally regarded as a time waster. Clear discussion of literature is preferable but is not reported as being used to so great a degree. A few teachers report a scattered use of methods indicative of a clear understanding of present ten- dencies in the teaching of literature. These teachers, however, are too few in number. Organization of the work in a school, and tradition are responsible for many debatable practices. One of these relates to the separation or combination of classes in reading and literature. In general, a preferred practice in this respect is to combine classes in reading and literature in grades 7 and 8, devoting some of the literature time to silent reading in both these grades. Many teachers do this already; all should do so. It is encouraging to note that there are in the minds of many teachers clearly defined aims in their teaching of English in all grades. These aims are variously expressed, a large number of teachers hold- ing that “to form correct habits of oral and written expression” is the most important aim, as it is. When it comes to the aims in the teaching of literature at the end of the eighth grade, a “taste for good books” and the “appreciation of worth while books” lead as criteria in this phase of English instruction. These aims are laudable and, if followed to the ultimate conclusion, will bring results that will fit children for life and make them, likewise, better high school material. 36 ue THE UNIVERSE Y* OF ‘THE STATE OF NEW > YORK \ Bulletins and Pamphlets Brepenta by the Educational Measurements Bureau BULLETIN NUMBER 734 Morrison, J. C. Educational Measurements. 1921. Out of print 764 Morrison, J. C.:; Spelling in New York Rural Schools. 1922. 5 cents 772 Morrison, J. C. Some Administrative Uses Made of Standard Tests and Scales in the State of New York, 1921-22. 1923. Out of print 784 Morrison, J. C. The Use of Standard Tests and Scales in the Platts- burg High School. 1923. 10 cents 798 Coxe, W. W. Silent Reading in New York Rural Schools. 1924, 5 cents 802 Coxe, W. W. Organization of Special Classes for ctnrenat Chil- dren. 1924. Out of print 803 Coxe, W. W. & Richards, E. B. Suggestions for Teaching Silent Reading. 1924. 5 cents 806 Morrison, J. C., Cornell, W. B. & Coxe, W. w. Survey of the Need for Special Schools and Classes in Westchester County, New York. 1924. 5 cents 814 Coxe, W. W. & Orleans, J. S. One Year’s Reading Progress in New York Rural-Schools. 1925. 10 cents 819 Coxe, W. W. Organization of. special Classes for Subnormal Chil- dren. 1925. 5 cents Revision of Bulletin 802 835 Orleans, J. S. Survey of Educational Facilities for Crippled Chil- dren in New York State. 1925. 5 cents 839 Coxe, W. W. & Cornell, E. L. A Study of Pupil Achievement and Special Class Needs in Westbury, L. I. 1926. 20 cents 841 Coxe, W. W. Study of Pupil Classification in the Villages of New York State. 1925. 20 cents 843 Gray, E. A. Manual of Suggestions for the Use of the Phonograph in Special Classes. 1926. 10 cents 846 Orleans, J. S. & Richards, E. B. English in the Rural and Village Schools of New York State. 1926. 10 cents Gray, E. A. Books in the New York State Library Especially Help- ful to the Special Class Teacher. 5 cents Tether, C. H. Hints for Special Class Gardens. 5 cents Ability Grouping in Junior and Senior High Schools. Mimeographed. Free Suggestions for Reclassifying Pupils in Small Rural Schools. Mime- ographed. Free Publications of the State Department of Education are free to schools and libraries in New York State. Others may purchase limited quantities at the cost of publication listed above. The above bulletins and pamphlets should be ordered from and checks made payable to The University of the State of New York, Albany, N. Y.