THE CAUSES OF ELIMINATION IN HIGH SCHOOL BY FRANK JAMES DUFRAIN A. B. University of Illinois 1916 THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN EDUCATION IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 1922 1922 DB7 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS THE GRADUATE SCHOOL July Z 1 1 92 - 2 I HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY supervision by Frank J ame s JDuF rain ENTITLED The Causes of Eliminaiioir Tn-El^h --School- BE ACCEPTED AS FULFILLING THIS PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE of Jtrfs In Charge of Thesis Recommendation concurred in* Committee on Final Examination* •Required for doctor’s degree but not for master s 509414 THE CAUSES OF ELIMINATION IN HIGH SCHOOL By FRANK JAMES DU FRAIN A. B. University of Illinois 1916 THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN EDUCATION In THE GRADUATE SCHOOL Of The UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 1932 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS I Introduction Page 3 A. The Importance .of the Subject Page 2 B. Other Recent Studies Relating to This Subject Page 3 1. Van Denburg's Study of Causes of Elimination Page 3 2. O'Brien's Study of High School Failures Page 7 II Sources of Data Page 10 III Reliability of the Bata Page 11 IV A Study of the Bata Page 11 A. A Study of the High School Office Records Page 11 B. A Study of the Questionnaires from the Pupils Page 27 V Conclusions Page 4S VI Bibliography Page 53 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/causesofeliminatOOdufr 3 THE CAUSES OF ELIMINATION IN HIGH SCHOOL I Introduction A. The Importance of the Subject The problem of elimination of pupils from high school will undoubtedly always be an important one. At least so long as some schools have a high percentage of elimination and others a low one, the subject will be studied. The statistical report of ac- credited high schools for the school year of 1917-1918, 1 made by the Commissioner of Education, shows that the enrollment in the tenth grade is one third less than the enrollment of the ninth grade; that the eleventh grade has less than one half of the number in the ninth grade; and that the twelfth grade has about two fifths as many en- rolled as the ninth grade. This record is for the best secondary schools in the United States, and of course the record of the partly accredited and non-accredited high schools is worse. Surely this great elimination is a challenge to the administrators of the public high schools of the United States, where over one hundred millions of dollars are spent annually for public secondary education. It is doubtful whether any private business could exist if it were ef- fective only to the same degree as the public high school. At any rate if such a startling less as occurs in the efficiency of second- ^Bonner, H. R., Statistics of Public High Schools, 1917-18, Bulletin Iio. 19, 1930, United States Bureau of Education. % - ■ • ■ 3 ary education, shown by the amount of elimination, were found in business interests and were reported to the officials in charge of those interests, an investigation into the causes for the loss of ef- ficiency would result. Surely the effectiveness of our high schools is of sufficient importance to merit a like investigation. B. Other Recent Studies Relating to this Subject Recently there have been two very important investiga- tions of elimination in high schools, one by Joseph K. Van Denburg 1 o and the other by Francis P. O'Brien. Since Van Denburg 's study was the first thorough effort to study secondary school elimination on a large scale and since it paved the way for later investigations, the significant facts of his contribution to the problem are given here in considerable detail. 1. Van Denburg' s Study of the Causes of Elimination. In February, 1SCS, Joseph K. Van Denburg had 1100 pupils entering high schools in New York City fill out the questionnaire which follows: 1 . Last name. First name. Initial;' 'School . ~Year of "Birth. Month." Day/ " 2 . ' Number. Street' / ' B'orough. 3 .' __ From Grade School. Number. B’orough. Father's Business/ "Father ' s ' Nationality, ■Kan Denburg, Joseph K., Causes of the Elimination of Students of Public Secondary Schools of New York City. O'Brien, Francis P., The High School Failures. / •- - What do you intend do- Are four years in high school necessary? ing for a living? (3) ... Do you intend to stay four years? 5. _ Older Brothers and Sisters. Age. What are they doing? 6 . _ _ ?. 8 .. _____ S. __ Height. ’ Weight. What serious illness have you had?" When? 10. _ Do you have severe headaches? How frequently? Do you wear glasses? Tabulations were made of the answers to the questionnaires and compared with the facts later, i. e. whether the pupils were eliminated or graduated from high school. From this data the fol- lowing conclusions were drawn by Van Denburg: 1. Nearly one third of the group was eliminated at the end of the first term; nearly one half was eliminated at the end of the first year. '3. Approximately 57 per cent of the boys and S3 per cent of the girls who graduated from the eighth grade entered high school. 3. Fourteen and one-half years is the age at which the greatest number of pupils enter high school. 4. The most successful elementary pupils comprise about one third of the entering high school classes. 5. Hebrews excell all other races in their appreciation and use of New York City high schools. 6. Children whose parents are city .and government employees U 3 e the 5 high schools most, those of semi-professional parents next. 7. Of the boys 33 per cent chose some form of engineering as a pro- fession, 17 per cent business, and 11 per cent law. Teaching as a profession was chosen by more girls than all other professions combined. 8. Pupils chose 40 occupations while their brothers and sisters were in 160 occupations. 8 . Pupil3 should not be kept in school beyond the point where the high school work and life is surely of benefit to them. Short courses should be offered to those pupils who will surely drop out. 10. One fifth of the group entering high school had decided not to graduate when they entered, while one fourth more had no set de- termination to complete the course. 11. Pupils who are determined to stay in school usually elect Latin or German. 12. The average rental of the 430 homes which were visited was $15, while for graduates it was $20. Judging from the rentals, the high school curriculum is not meeting the needs of most of its pu- pils, for very few can afford to complete professional courses, and the high school training is largely preparation for college. 13. In four years three fourths of the pupils are eliminated. Of the remaining one fourth, about one half graduate on time and the other half remain as retarded pupils. 14. Pupils entering high school before they are fourteen years of age do better than those entering later. 15. The older pupils leave school early, and in many cases they • would stay to complete short courses if some were offered. 16. A pupil with some definite trade or occupation in mind remains in school longer than the others. 6 17. The economic status is only a slight factor in the stay in school . 18. Thirteen is the best age at which to enter high school so far as staying qualities are concerned. 19. Two thirds of the boys who were ranked as better than average in ability were not in the graduating group. 30. Pupils in the upper one third of the group so far as ability is concerned are more likely to graduate than those in the lower two thirds of the group. 31. Pupils who find no difficulty in their school work leave in large numbers. 23. If all boys who failed to get a mark of at least 50 per cent for their first semester's work were at once expelled, the number of graduates would not be lessened, for these boys are eliminated anyhow. 33. At least 75 per cent of the pupils who enter have the native ability to graduate if they choose to apply themselves. 24. A pupil who is the youngest child has a better chance than the older children. Briefly, according to Van Denburg, early elimination is favored by: 1. Late entering age. 2. Younger brothers or sisters. 3. A childhood free from serious illness. 4. Foreign-born parentage of Irish, Austro-Hungarian, Scotch, or Italian stock. 5. Choice of business for boys and stenography for girls. 6. A disbelief in the value of a high school course. 7 7. An uncertainty as to probable length of stay, or a determi- nation to leave early. On the other hand, elimination does not seem to be greatly increased by eye strain or frequent headaches, nor is there evidence that poverty causes early elimination. 2. O’Brien's Study of High School Failures. Francis P. O’Brien made a study of the failures and elimination of 6,141 pupils belonging to eight different high from the high school records, and in order that he might get the complete records for all pupils for their full time in high school, O'Brien studied the records for a period of six years where neces- sary . to the subject of this thesis are: 1. Of the graduating pupils, 58.1 per cent fail one or more times. 2. Of the non-failing non-graduates, 78 per cent are lost from school by the end of their first year. 3. The percentage of pupils failing increases for the first four semesters, and lowers but little for two more semesters. One third to one half of the pupils fail in each semester to the seventh. 4. Thirty-four per cent of the failures occur after the second year, when 52.2 per cent of the pupils have been lost and others are leaving continuously. 5. Mathematics, Latin, and English head the list in the percentages of total failures, and together provide nearly 60 per cent of the schools in New York and New Jersey. Some of the conclusions reached by O'Brien which relate 8 failures . 8. For the pupils dropping out without failure, the median age is at 16, with the mode at 15. For the failing drop-out 3 both the median and the mode are at the age of 17. Nearly 50 per cent of the non-failing drop-outs occur under the age of 16, but not 20 per cent of the failing non-graduates are gone by that age. The percentage of drop-outs is higher for older pupils. 7. The first year’ 3 record has real prognostic value for pupils per- sisting more than three semesters, but 57 per cent of those leav- ing earlier have no failures. This includes nearly 60 per cent of all the non-failing pupils, but less than 32 per cent of the failing ones have gone that early. 3. Prediction of failure by subjects is relatively easy and sure, and the later years seem more productive of this result ... .Fifty- six per cent of the failures for the graduates occur after the second year. The longer stay in school actually begets an in- crease in failures. The boys and girls are similarly affected by these factors of prognosis. 9. The percentages of the failing pupils who graduate and of the non-failing pupils who graduate are identical, 31.5 per cent. 10. The non-failing non-graduates do not persist long in school, com- pared with the failing non-graduates. The short persistence partly accounts for their avoidance of failure. 11. For 11.5 per cent of the non-graduates who fail in 50 per cent or more of their work, failure is probably a chief cause of dropping out . 12. Failure is probably not a prime cause of dropping out for most of tne non-graduates, as 80 per cent have only 5 failures or fewer. 9 13. The number of drop-out 3 does not tend to increase as the number of failures per pupil increases. 14. The pupils who lack native ability sufficient for the work are not a large number. 15. The early elimination of pupils, the number that fail, and the notable cases of non-success in school are evidence of something v/rong with the kind of education given. 16. Properly selected student advisers, appointed early, may trans- form the school for the pupil, save the pupil for the school, and save the pupil's work from failures. The studies made by Van Denburg and O'Brien as briefly outlined here throw much light on the problem of elimination* How- ever, the group studied by Van Denburg was so large that he could not know the individuals. Therefore the answers to the question- t / naires had to be taken at face value, and in many cases no doubt more reliable data could have been secured had the answers to the questions been checked or supplemented by a knowledge of the person- ality of the individual, his home conditions, his elementary school record, etc. Van Denburg realized this objection and recommended that studies be made of smaller groups where the investigator would have the opportunity of knowing more about the individuals. The same criticism, i. e., that the group studied was too large and that there (was no supplementary data concerning the home environment, the personality of the individuals, and the history of the pupils after leaving school, may be made of O'Brien's study also. However, O'Brien purposely avoided the disadvantages of the questionnaire by obtaining all his data from the school records. i • ■ 10 It is, therefore, the purpose of this study, in a small way to attempt to combine the good qualities of the work done by Van Denburg and O’Brien, with the advantage of a personal knowledge of each individual. The group studied is therefore limited to 367 pupils comprising the class of entering freshmen at Rockford High School, Rockford, Illinois, in September, 1916. The writer had supervision over these pupils during their entire stay in school, and in many cases he kept in touch with them after they were elimi- nated or were graduated. This personal knowledge of the individu- als studied, combined with information- taken from the school rec- ords and from questionnaires sent to the pupils should give data for a comprehensive and accurate study of the group. It is the particular task of this study to determine as far as possible the reasons why SOI pupils from this class of 367 freshmen left school before graduation. From the school records the objective factors are investigated; and from the replies of the pupils themselves, some of the human factors involved in the process of elimination are seen. Naturally some factors are hard to meas- ure, but there are many which are easily measured. However, the whole problem is complex in that there may be many factors causing the elimination of a single individual. II Sources of the Data The data used in this study were taken from the follow- ing sources: A. School records of 367 pupils who entered Rockford High School a3 freshmen (ninth graders) at Rockford, Illinois, in September, 1916. 11 B. Returned questionnaires which were sent in the summer of 1921 to this group of 367 pupils. C. Results of general intelligence tests and school records of 444 beginning freshmen in Rockford High School in September, 1919. Ill Reliability of the Data As the writer knew personally the group of pupils studied, and as he had planned to make this study at the time they entered high school, he was able to secure the data necessary for an investi- gation of this kind, and the information obtained would therefore / seem to be more accurate than that usually taken from school records and questionnaires. The questionnaires were distributed after the writer had left Rockford High School and also after the pupils had left. There should therefore be a minimum of influences to color the replies of this group. Inquiries were sent to every grade school principal to ascertain from them which reason they thought operative in the case of each eliminated pupil coming from their schools . Since the princi- pals usually knew the family and home conditions very well, the in- formation received from them was very reliable, and it was used to check against the high school records and the questionnaires. IV A Study of the Data A. A Study of the High School Office Records The following table shows the general distribution of the 12 pupils by achievement, giving the number and percentage of boys and girls in the group of 367 pupils studied, who graduated on time, graduated late, were still in school in June, 1921, or were elimina- ted. Four pupils who graduated in less than eight semesters are in- cluded with those who graduated on time. Table I The Distribution Over a Period of Five Years of the Pupils Entering as Freshmen in Rockford High School in September, 1916 Entering Sept. '16 Graduating On Time Graduat- ing Late Total Graduating Still in School June *21 Eliminated No. Per cent No Per cent No Per cent No Per cent No °er cent No Per cent Boys 178 48.5 51 28.7 12 6.7 63 35.4 4.5 107 60.1 Girls 189 51.5 83 43.9 11 5.8 94 49. 7 .5 94 49.7 Total 367 100.0 134 36.5 23 6.3 157 42.8 2.5 201 54.8 There were 178 boys and 189 girls who entered as fresh- men. Of that number 107 bO} r s or 60.1 per cent, and 94 girls or 49.7 per cent, were eliminated. Only 28.7 per cent of the boys and 43.9 per cent of the girls graduated in eight semesters. The following table shows the distribution of eliminated pupils according to their length of stay in school. . 13 Table II The Number of Semesters of Attendance Completed by Eliminated Pupils No. of Semesters Completed Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Boys 107 97 76 48 35 17 12 4 3 0 Girls 94 85 62 44 35 21 15 6 0 0 Total 201 182 138 92 70 38 27 10 3 0 Total Loss from Preceding Sernest 19 er 44 46 22 32 11 17 7 3 Per cent of Loss from | 9.4 Preceding Semester 21.8 22.9 10.9 15.9 5.5 8.4 3.4 1.5 Table II reads: Of the 10? freshman boys 9? completed the first semester, 76 the second, 48 the third, 45 the fourth, 17 the fifth, 12 the sixth, 4 the seventh, 3 the eighth, and none completed the ninth. It is interesting to note that the great loss of pupils occurred before the fifth semester and that less than half of the eliminated pupils completed three semesters of work. There is no marked difference in elimination by semesters between the sexes, al- though a greater percentage of girls dropped out before the second semester than boys. The rate of elimination was about the same as that found by O'Brien^' except that the pupils in this study were eliminated a little faster. The writer found that 31.3 per cent of the pupils eliminated were lost by the end of the first semester as compared with 33.7 per cent in O’Brien's study. A comparison by semesters follows: 1 O'Brien, Francis P., The High School Failures, p. 13. • t 14 Comparison of Cumulative Percentages with O'Brien '3 Study Lost by End of Semester 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 This Study 31.3 54.2 65.1 81.1 86.5 95.0 98.5 O'Brien's Study 33.7 53.4 62.6 76.2 81.9 90.7 94. 98.6 4 . Table III The Relationship Between the Humber of Pupils Who Graduated from the Different Elementary Schools at Rockford, Illinois, in June, 1916 and the Number and Percentage Who Entered High School in September, 1916. No. Graduated from Elementary Schools June, 1916 No. Who Entered High School September, '16 Per Cent Who En- tered High School September, '16 School B G T B G T B G T Blake 3 9 12 2 7 9 67 78 75 Brown 5 9 14 4 8 12 80 89 86 Church 13 15 28 9 11 20 69 73 71 Ellis 16 9 25 13 8 21 81 89 84 Freeman 13 14 27 11 8 19 85 57 70 Garrison 15 14 29 14 12 26 93 86 90 Hall 13 9 22 13 8 21 100 89 95 Jackson 15 19 34 11 15 26 73 79 76 Kent 5 4 9 3 2 5 60 50 56 Kiswaukee 7 8 15 r» b 6 12 86 75 80 Lincoln 1 13 12 25 14 14 28 Montague 9 6 15 6 4 10 67 67 67 Nelson 6 13 19 5 9 14 83 69 74 Peterson 9 7 16 6 4 10 67 57 63 Turner 8 11 19 6 8 14 75 73 74 Walker 11 10 21 10 9 19 90 90 90 Wight 4 14 18 3 8 11 75 57 61 Total 165 183 348 136 141 277 82 77 SO In this case several graduates from previous classes entered high school in September, 1916, making the number who entered high school in September greater than the number who graduated from Lincoln Sohod in June. Table III reads: 3 boys and 9 girls graduated from the Blake Elementary School in June, 1916. Of that number 2 boys, 67 per cent, and 7 girls, 78 per cent, entered high school in the following September . 15 The process of elimination begins below the high school, as shown by the fact that most of the elementary schools located in the wealthier parts of the city have relatively higher percentages of their graduates going to high school. This is not without excep- tion, for the Kishwaukee and Nelson schools, for instance, are lo- cated in districts where the percentage of foreign-born parents is high, while some other schools located in better environments, do not rank as high. It is possible for an elementary school with a strong principal, a well organized faculty, and a fine school morale, to create and perpetuate an interest in their graduates to go to high school. Table IV The Distribution of Pupils According to Their Elementary Schools and the Number and Percentage from Each School Who Graduated or Who Were Eliminated. Elementary School No. Pupils Who Entered High School No. Pupils Graduated or in School June, 1921 Per Cent Grab uated or in School June, 1921 Number Elimi- nated Per cent Elimi- nated B C- T B G T B G^ T B G T B G T Elake 2 7 9 0 4 4 0 57 44 2 3 5 ICO 43 55 Brown 4 8 12 3 3 6 75 38 50 1 5 6 25 62 50 Church 9 11 20 4 7 11 44 64 55 5 4 9 56 46 45 Ellis 15 8 21 3 2 5 23 25 24 10 6 16 77 75 76 Freeman 11 8 19 3 4 7 27 50 37 8 4 12 73 50 63 Garrison 14 12 26 8 8 16 57 67 62 6 4 10 43 33 38 Hall 13 8 21 6 6 12 46 75 57 7 2 9 54 25 43 Jackson 11 15 26 4 7 11 36 47 42 7 8 15 63 53 58 Kent 3 2 5 1 0 1 33 00 20 2 2 4 67 JD0 80 Ki shwaukee 6 6 12 5 3 8 83 50 67 1 3 4 17 50 33 Lincoln 14 14 28 11 8 19 78 57 68 3 6 9 21 43 32 Montague 6 4 10 0 1 1 00 25 10 6 3 9 100 75 SO Nelson 5 9 14 1 4 5 20 44 36 4 5 9 80 55 64 Peterson 6 4 10 2 0 2 33 00 20 4 4 8 67 ICO 80 Turner 6 8 14 1 2 3 17 25 21 5 6 11 83 75 79 Walker 10 9 19 5 6 11 50 67 58 5 3 8 50 33 42 Wight Co 3 8 11 1 2 3 33 25 27 2 6 8 67 75 73 Winnebago 15 19 34 6 13 19 40 68 56 9 6 15 60 32 44 Dgle Co. 2 4 6 0 2 2 00 50 33 2 2 4 100 50 67 )thers 25 25 50 7 13 20 28 52 40 18 12 30 72 48 60 Totals 178 189 367 71 95 166 39 50 45 107 94 201 61 50 55 ■ ' ; . 16 Table IV reads: Of the 3 boys and 7 girls who graduated from the Blake Elementary School in June, 1S16, none of the boys and 4 of the girls or 57 per cent graduated from high school or were still in school in June, 1921. A study of the percentages of graduates from the high school who came from the different elementary schools, shows that those elementary schools having 50 per cent or more of their pupils who entered high school remain to graduate, are located in the more desirable residential parts of the city, but it does not follow that the schools in the most undesirable portions of the city show the lowest percentages of graduation. It is interesting to note that the pupils who entered from the country schools rank well compared with those from the city schools. ho doubt the law of the "survival of the fittest" may op- erate more freely with regard to country pupils than with regard to city pupils, where the attendance laws are well enforced. 17 Table V The Relation Between the Elementary Schools of Rockford, Illinois When Ranked According to the Percentage of Their Graduates Who En- tered High School in One Year, and When Ranked According to the Per- centage of These Pupils Who Were Eliminated From High School Before Graduation. Percentage of 8th Grade Percentage of Pupils En- Rank Graduates June, 1916 Who tering K. S . Sept . , 1916 Differ Entered H. S. Sept., 1916 Rank Who Were Eliminated ence School School Garrison S6 1 Lincoln 25 4 Lincoln S6 2 Kiswaukee 33 1 Hall 95 3 Blake 40 3 Walker 90 4 Walker 42 0 Turner 89 5 Garrison 43 11 Ellis 88 6 Hall 43 5 Blake 83 7 Church 45 4 Kishwaukee 80 8 Brown 45 6 Brown 7S S Jackson 56 1 Nelson 74 10 Freemen 63 2 Jackson 73 11 Peterson 70 2 Church 71 12 Nelson 71 5 Freeman 70 13 Wight 73 3 Montague 67 14 Ellis 77 3 Peterson 63 15 Kent 80 4 Wight 61 16 Turner 82 3 Kent 56 17 Montague 90 2 Total 62 From the above table, it would seem that there is some correlation between the ability of an elementary school to send a large percentage of its graduates to high school and the ability to have a large percentage of these remain to graduate. Stated in another way, the elementary school sending the larger percentage of its graduates to high school will have the smaller percentage of elim ination from high school in that group. Some of the elementary school principals and teachers watched the high school work of their pupils very closely. If pupils from their school were failing or discouraged these teachers urged 18 them to continue and no doubt this constant interest explains the high rank in this study of some schools otherwise less favored. Table VI The Relationship Between Nationality of Father and Elimination from High School Nationality Number Number Per Cent of Father Entered Eli min ated Eliminated B G T B G T B G T American 63 70 133 39 25 64 62 35 47 Swedish 43 57 100 28 34 62 65 60 62 English 14 14 28 6 9 15 43 64 54 German 15 11 26 9 6 15 60 55 58 Scotch 13 11 24 6 6 12 46 55 50 Irish 7 7 14 5 4 9 71 57 64 Danish 1 3 4 1 2 3 Norwegian 2 2 4 1 1 2 French 3 0 3 3 0 3 African 0 2 2 0 1 1 Dutch 1 0 1 1 0 1 Jewi sh 2 C 2 0 0 0 Canadian 0 2 2 0 2 2 Italian 0 1 1 0 1 1 Lithuanian 0 1 1 0 1 1 Polish 1 0 1 1 0 1 Spanish 0 1 1 0 0 0 Swiss 1 0 1 0 0 0 Not Recorded 12 7 19 7 2 9 58 29 47 Totals 178 189 367 107 94 201 60 50 55 In percentages at least, the pupils of American fathers showed a better record, so far as elimination from high school is concerned, than those pupils of Swedish, English, German, Scotch, or Irish fathers, but the difference is not great enough to boast of. Van Denburg 1 found that the percentage of elimination was fairly evenly divided among the different races represented, with the Irish having the highest percentage of elimination (75 per cent) and the Germans next. The Americans ranked second as compared with first in this study. Van Denburg found no noticeable difference in the ■^Van Denburg, Joseph X., Causes of the Elimination of Students of Public Secondary Schoo ls of N ew Y ork City •• I ' - . 19 sexes, while in this study there is rather a marked difference in the cases of the American and the English fathers. Table VII The Age at Entrance of 36? Pupils Who Entered Rockford High School as Freshmen, September, 1916 Yrs . 11 12 13 14 15 16 1? 18 Mos. B Gr T B G T B G T B G T B G T B G T B Cr T B G T 0 3 0 3 7 13 20 jr 9 14 4 1 5 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 2 1 3 6 4 10 2 6 8 3 0 3 2 1 0 1 7 6 13 4 8 12 1 1 2 0 1 1 3 1 2 3 S 8 17 5 2 7 4 0 4 4 0 5 5 5 C 14 2 2 4 1 0 1 5 3 1 4 6 8 14 3 3 6 3 2 5 0 1 1 6 1 7 8 5 13 18 o 6 1 3 0 1 1 7 3 4 7 8 6 14 2 4 6 8 0 2 2 1 7 8 5 6 11 3 6 S 5 0 5 1 0 1 9 2 0 2 4 6 10 7 3 10 1 2 1 1 0 1 10 1 1 2 7 10 17 3 3 6 3 1 4 11 1 0 1 0 2 2 9 7 16 5 5 10 6 0 6 1 0 1 12 2 0 2 Tot- als 1 0 1 4 5 9 35 50 85 73 84 157 38 42 80 22 5 27 1 2 3 4 1 5 Median for Boys, 14 years, 7 months Median for C-irls, 14 years, 4 months Median for all, 14 years, 6 months The median age at entrance in Van Denburg's study was 2 3 14.5; in O'Brien's study, 14.8; in King's report 1 " of 1033 pupils entering Iowa City (Iowa) High School, 14.9, as compared with 14.5 in this study. Van Denburg, Joseph K., Causes of the Elimination of Students of 2 Public Secondary Schools of New York City. ^O'Brien, Francis P., The High School Failures. 3 King, Irvi ng, The High School Age. ' . 30 Table VIII The Age at Entrance of 301 Pupils Who Were Eliminated Median for Boys, 14 years, 11 months Median for Girls, 14 years, 7 months Median for all, 14 years, 9 months When Table VIII is compared with Table VII, it is clear that age at entrance is a factor in elimination. Those pupils who enter later are more readily eliminated than those who enter earlier. Two reasons may be given for this: either those pupils who enter lat- er are less able to do high school work effectively or else they be- come old enough to go to work sooner. O’Brien 1 found that the percentage of pupils graduating ^ who entered at the age of 13 is approximately four times that of the pupils who entered at the age of 13; likewise the percentage of graduates entering at lo and 14 years of age is more than four times tha^ of the pupils entering at 17 and 18 years respectively; while 1 0 'Brien, Francis P., The High School Failures, p. 34. 21 the percentage of graduates entering at 15 years is three times that of the graduates entering at 19 years. Table IX The Age at Leaving of 201 Pupils Who Were Eliminated Years 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Months B G T B G T B G T B G T B G T B G T B G I 0 3 1 4 8 11 19 2 3 5 2 2 4 0 1 1 1 1 2 3 3 i 4 3 4 7 1 2 3 2 0 2 2 1 i 2 2 4 6 5 1 6 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 3 3 5 8 3 1 4 3 2 5 4 1 1 2 4 2 6 1 1 2 2 0 2 5 1 0 1 3 2 5 0 3 3 3 2 5 0 1 1 6 0 2 2 4 1 5 2 0 2 7 2 2 4 2 2 4 1 3 4 1 0 1 1 0 1 8 3 2 5 4 1 5 2 1 3 1 0 I 9 3 4 7 3 3 6 1 0 1 10 0 3 3 2 4 6 1 1 2 4 3 7 0 1 1 1 0 1 11 2 0 2 4 2 6 1 3 4 1 0 1 1 1 2 2 0 2 Totals 10 11 21 32 26 58 28 32 60 35 17 42 6 6 12 2 2 4 4 0 4 Median for Boys, 16 years, 2 months Median for Girls, 16 years, 0 months Median for all, 16 years, 1 month The compulsory school attendance law in Illinois re- quired attendance in school until the age of 16, with the exception that pupils over 14 years of age whose help was needed at home, might attend part-time school eight hours per week provided they were able to get working permits from the superintendent of schools. The ef- fect of this law is evidently shown in the above table. O'Brien'*' found that 16 years was the most popular time \ for pupils to drop out, as 24.2 per cent were eliminated then as com- pared with 20.7 per cent at 15 years and 21 per cent at 17 years. lO'Brien, Francis P., The High School Failures, p. 26. 22 Since 16 years of age in O'Brien's study means 15i to 16^, under that classification this study has 71 or 35 per cent dropping out at that age, and IS per cent and 21 per cent at the ages of 15 and 17 respectively . Table X Occupation of Parents of 367 Freshmen Who Entered Rockford High School in September, 1316 MANUFACTURE AND TRADE No. PROFESSIONAL No FED. OR CITY EMPLOYEE No Baker 1 Architect 2 Bd. of Review Clerk 1 Finisher 5 Dentist 3 Constable 1 Foreman 15 Lawyer 3 County Clerk 1 Grocer 8 Minister 7 Election Bd. Clerk 1 Manager 17 Osteopath 1 Fireman 3 Mechanic 17 Physician 2 Mail Carrier 1 Merchant 17 Professor 1 Mail Clerk 1 Tool Maker 4 Total IS Officer (U. S. A.) 1 Total 84 MIDDLEMAN Sailor 1 ARTISAN Total XX Aostracts 1 Boiler inspector 1 Insurance 6 CLERICAL ASSISTANTS Boiler maker 1 Real estate 3 Bookkeeper 1 Cabinet maker 10 Salesman 7 Clerk 4 Carpenter 12 Total 17 Shipping clerk 2 Contractor 4 Total 7 Electrician 1 PERSONAL SEFVIC w Machinist 18 Barber 4 SEMI-PROFESSIONAL Mason 2 Dressmaker 2 Draftsman 1 Holder 8 Housekeeper 4 Druggist 1 Painter 4 Janitor 1 Teacher 1 Stationary engineer 2 Night watchmar i 4 Watchmaker 2 Tailor 3 Total 15 Total 5 r> n b ui GO TRANSPORTATION UNCLASSIFIED AGRICULTURE Chauffeur 1 Laborer 27 Farmer 53 Conductor 1 Driver 7 NOT RECORDED 49 Engineer 2 Mot orman 3 Total 14 The above table shows the distribution of parents of the whole group of pupils according to occupation, while the following table shows the number of pupils and percentage of elimination in each occupational group of parents. 23 Table XI The Relationship Between Occupation of Parent and Elimination from High School Occupation of Parent Number Entered Number Eliminated Per Cent Eliminated B G T B G T B G T Semi-professional 3 2 5 0 1 1 0 50 20 Professional 8 11 19 3 4 7 38 36 36 Fed. & City Employee 5 6 11 2 2 4 40 33 36 Agriculture 23 30 53 15 9 24 65 30 45 Mi ddl eman 8 9 17 5 3 8 63 33 47 Mfg. and trade 43 41 84 22 19 41 51 46 49 Personal service 9 6 15 6 2 8 67 33 53 Clerical Assistants 3 4 7 1 3 4 33 75 57 Artisan 34 32 66 24 17 41 71 53 62 Unclassified 8 19 27 5 13 18 63 68 67 Transportation 7 7 14 6 5 11 86 71 79 Not recorded 27 22 49 IS 16 34 67 72 69 Totals 178 189 367 107 94 201 61 50 55 Elimination is evidently affected by the occupation of the parent. The better trained the parent the more likely that the child will graduate from high school. As an example, according to Table XI, the child of a motorman would by the law of averages be twice as likely to be eliminated from high school before graduation as the child of a dentist. These findings compare favorably with T j. those of Van Denburg, but he has no agricultural group in his study He found that federal and city employees appreciated education more than those in other occupations. Children of federal and city em- ployees also rank high in this study. Some one has said that parents always see that their children receive as much as or more than the education that they 1 , Van Denburg, Joseph K., Causes of the Elimination of Students in Public Secondary Schools of New York City. — — — — 24 themselves received. At any rats the parents who appreciate mo3u the value of an education are most likely to keep their children in school for a long period. Unfortunately for this study, intelligence testa were not given to the class of pupils who furnish the data for this study. However, the Chicago Group Intelligence Tests were given to the freshman class of 444 pupils who entered three years later, in Sep- tember, 1919, and the writer is using the results of these tests and the amount of elimination shown to have occurred by June, 1931, a period of two years, as the basis for the comparison between general intelligence and elimination. Table XII The Relationship Between General Intelligence and Elimination General Intelligence as Shown by Chicago Group Intelligence Tests Number of Pupils Who Were Eliminated Before End of Fourth Semester 1 Per Cent of Each Fourth Who Were Eliminated Upper Fourth 26 33.4 * Id X X \X LXcXX 0 IX v • u Third Fourth — ?*. /T ari ^ P P 35 33.5 • m. vUXClii cJ iv • O Second Fourth — TT i t * a + Hi ifli'+i 1 a O.CK 34 21.6 1 i. X U ^UCll uXJ-t? WU« J Lower Fourth 46 41.4 / • ^Exclusive of the 17 who died or moved away. Of the 111 pupils in the upper fourth of the class, as 25 determined by these tests, 26 pupils or 23.4 per cent were eliminated while of the 111 pupils in the lower fourth, 46 pupils or 41.4 per cent were eliminated. Of the entire class 323 finished the first four semesters. Table XIII Reasons for Leaving High School Shown by Office Records Reason Number of Pupil3 Boys Girls Total Wished to earn money immediately 2S 17 46 Failures in H. S. subjects IS 11 30 Dislike for school 11 10 21 Work to support family 13 7 20 Poor health 3 10 13 Needed to help at home 4 7 11 Wanted a short business course 3 5 8 Parents not interested in education 2 3 5 Absent too much 3 2 5 Illness at home 1 2 3 Course too long 1 2 3 Wanted to learn a trade 2 0 2 H. S. subjects not worth while 1 0 1 To get married 0 1 1 To enter techanical schools 1 c 1 Enlisted in U. S. forces 1 0 1 Suspended 0 1 1 Reason not known 1 0 1 Died 4 2 6 Moved 9 13 22 Totals 108 S3 201 The above table is a summary of the investigations made by the school in its attempt to urge all pupils to remain until graduation. The case of each pupil who left was investigated until a satisfactory report was available. Twenty different reasohs are listed on the high school records as causes for pupil3 leaving- school, but many of these reasons are related to other reasons so closely that it is difficult to state which one applies in a partic- ular case. Often a combination of reasons is the real cause for elimination . 26 Summary Of the group studied 54.8 per cent were eliminated as compared with 57 per cent in the study made by Van Denburg; and O'Brien*’ found that of the group which he studied 68.5 per cent did not graduate from the high schools which they entered. Elimination is greatest during the first four semesters. The elementary schools in the better residential dis- tricts send a larger proportion of their pupils to high school than those schools in the poorer districts. In general the schools sending the larger proportions of their graduates to high school have the lower percentages of elimina- tion. A closer organization between the elementary schools and the high school would no doubt lower the number of pupils eliminated. The pupils of American fathers have a lower percentage of elimination from high school than pupils of foreign parentage. Late entrance in high school prognosticates early elimi- nation. The greatest number of pupils leave high school on or near their sixteenth birthdays. The three largest groups of parents classified by occupa- tion were manufacturers and traders, artisans, and farmers. Elimination ranked by occupation of parents was greatest in the transportation, unclassified, and artisan groups, while the 1 Van Denburg, Joseph K., Causes of the Elimination of Students of Public Secondary Schools of New York City ^O'Brien, Francis P., The High School Failures 27 least elimination occurred in the group of s emi -prof ess ional parents, professional, and federal and city employees. Approximately one pupil in every five pupils is elimina- ted because of inability to do the high school work. The greatest number of pupils dropped out of high school because of a desire to earn money immediately, failures in high school work, a general dislike for school, work to support the family, poor health, or because they were needed to help at home. B. A Study of the Questionnaires Questionnaires were sent to the 3S7 freshmen comprising the group studied with the exception of the 26 who died or moved. Form A, following, sent to the 175 eliminated pupils differed but slightly from Form B, pages 30, 31, and 32, sent to the 166 who had graduated or were still in school. One hundred replies were re- ceived from the eliminated group, and 108 from the other group. Fifty six boys (59 per cent) of the eliminated group returned ques- tionnaires, while 44 girls (55 per cent) replied. The record of the graduated group was much better, for 43 boys (60 per cent) and 65 girls (68 per cent) replied. It is an interesting fact that three follow-up letters were sent to the eliminated group before the 100 replies were secured, while the graduate group sent ICS replies with no follow-up letters. - " 28 Form A 507 Chalmers Street, Champaign, Illinois. July 6, 1931. Dear Friend: In September, 1916, there were 367 pupils who entered Rockford High School as Freshmen. 168 of that number have graduated or are still in school. You are one of the pupils who did not stay to graduate. I am making a study of the reasons why pupils drop out of high school. I am doing this for two reasons, first, because I am interested in you and in education in general, and second, because I am writing a thesis for cred- it in the Graduate School of the University of Illinois. Below you will find a list of questions. Will you please answer these questions and return these sheets to me immediately? By answering these questions you will be doing me a great favor and you may help some other boys and girls in the future, for it is from such studies as this one that we learn how to make our schools better. I assure you that this information will be con- fidential. The results of nearly 300 such question sheets will be tabulated but your name will never be used in any public way whatsoever. I mention this because your answers will be worth most to me if you answer these questions abso- lutely honestly so far as you are able. If you cannot answer a question perfectly, then write the approximate answer. All I am interested in is getting all of these facts concerning your own case. Sincerely yours. F. J. Du Frain Note: Answer every question pertaining to you. If you do not know the exact answer, write in as near the exact answer as you can. Name 1. Why did you leave Rockford High School? Check the proper reason given below if it occurs; otherwise write in the reason . 29 I left Rockford High School because: (1) of failures in subjects (2) of work to support family (3) I had poor health (4) of trouble with a teacher (5; of general dislike for school (6) I wished to earn money immediately (7) my home life was unhappy (8) I had been absent too much (9) the high school subjects did not seern v/orth while (1C) high school courses were too long (11) I wanted a short business course 2. Have you attended any of the following schools since you left Rockford High School? If so, check the proper one St. Thomas High School Keith School Business College Private School Military School College Academy If you have attended any of the above schools, state the following: Name of school was Give the date when you entered Date of leaving Did you graduate 3. If you have attended night school classes, state how long What subjects did you study in night school 4. If you have done any correspondence study, name the sub- j ects 5. Are you married? 6. If you have plans for getting more education, please state them 7. Was your father living when you left school? your mother? 8. Did your father want you to stay in school? your mother? 9. What is your present occupation? 10. How much did you earn from July 1, 1920 to July 1, 1921? (If you were employed .. , 30 only part of that time, how much did you earn per month? ) 11. How many older brothers have you? younger brothers? older sisters? younger sisters? 12. What subjects in high school did you like be3t? State why 13. What subjects did you like least? State why 14. What teacher did you like best? State why 15. What teacher did you dislike? State why 16. Did your parents own the home in which you were living when you entered high school in September, 1916 ? If they did not please state approximately the amount of rent which you had to pay per month at that time... 17. If you entered high school as a freshman again what course would you select? Why? Form B Pontiac, Michigan, October 29 , 1921 . Dear Friend: In writing my thesis for the Master of Arts Degree at the University of Illinois, I have discovered that I need some information which only you can give me. My subject is "Causes of Elimination of Pupils in R. H. S." My data is taken from the 367 pupils who entered in September, 1916 . I had thought that the information which I col- lected from the ones who did not graduate would be sufficient but I have found that I need your answers to these questions to 3erve as a means of comparison. I assure you that this information will be con- fidential. The results of the answers from all of your classmates will be tabulated but, of course, your name will 31 never be used in a public way whatsoever. I mention this because your answers will be worth most to me if you reply to them without "fear or favor." If you cannot answer a question perfectly then write the approximate answer. Your immediate reply will be appreciated by Your friend, F. J. Du Frain Name 1. Have you attended any of the following schools since you left Rockford High School? If so, check the proper one. Business College Military School Private School College or University If you have attended any of the above schools, state the following: Name of school was Give the date when you entered Date of leaving Did you graduate? What course did you take?.. 2. If you have attended night school classes, state how long What subjects did you study in night school? 3. If you have done any correspondence study, name the sub- j ects 4. Are you married? 5. If you have plans for getting more education, please state them 6. Was your father living when you graduated? Your mother? 7. What is your present occupation? 8. How much did you earn from July 1, 1920 to July 1, 1921? (if you were employed only part of that time, how much did you earn per month?) 9. How many older brothers have you? younger brothers? older sisters? younger sisters? 10. What subjects in high school did you like best? State why 11. What teacher did you like best? State why 32 12. What subjects did you like least? State why 13. What teacher did you dislike? State why 14 . Did your parents own the home in which you were living when you entered high school in September, ISIS? If they did not please state the approximate amount of 16. rent which you had to pay per month at that time 15. If you entered high school as a freshman again what course would you select? Why? The following tables will give the data secured from the returned questionnaires. Wherever the same question was asked of both groups, the information appears in the same table. Hereafter in this discussion "A" will be used to designate the group of grad- ates and pupils still in school, while "3" will stand for the group f eliminated pupils. Table XIV Why did you leave Rockford High School? Group B Boys Girl s Total Wished to earn money immediately 12 9 21 Work to support family 12 2 14 Poor health 4 10 14 General dislike for school 9 5 14 Failures in high school subjects S 3 12 Wanted short business course 5 6 11 Absent too much 6 4 10 Trouble with teacher 5 2 7 High school subjects not worth while r* o 1 7 Needed to help at home 1 6 7 Courses too long 3 2 5 Unhappy home 1 0 1 To get married 0 1 1 To enter technical schools 1 0 1 On account of the war 1 0 1 On account of stammering 0 1 1 Parents not interested in education 0 1 1 Wanted to learn a trade 1 0 1 Enlisted in U. S. forces 1 0 1 Totals 77 53 130 . 33 The above question was answered by 50 boys and 43 girls, but more than one reason was checked by some of them. The seven reasons receiving the highest number of votes are certainly import- ant factors in the elimination of this group. A reason such as "general dislike for school" may result from a combination of other factors like poor health, trouble with a teacher, unhappy home, etc. but since those reasons did not receive as many votes, it is as- sumed that the dislike for school is the most important reason in itself. Poor health is given as a reason for leaving school by 10 girls but by only 4 boys. The frankness in admitting that failure in school subjects was the cause for the elimination of .such a large percentage is noticeable. Some of the pupils of this group left during the world war and no doubt the unusual conditions of em- ployment and sacrifices at home had some effect on their elimination Table XV What schools have you attended since you left Rockford High School? Group A Group B Schools Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total College or University 23 31 54 Business college Technical school or 0 2 2 9 9 18 trade school 0 0 0 4 0 4 Private school 1 1 2 “ 0 “ 0 0 Other high schools 1 0 1 0 1 1 Military school 1 1 0 0 0 Night school 4 5 S 8 11 19 Correspondence school 6 3 9 6 0 6 Continuation school 0 0 0 4 0 4 Totals 36 42 78 31 21 52 It seems remarkable that of IOC eliminated pupils over half of them, 52, had done some further educational work after : . 34 leaving high school. It surely cannot be said that formal educa- tion stops with elimination or graduation from high school. The business colleges and night schools are serving an increasingly large group of young people who desire practical knowledge obtainable in the shortest possible time. Table XVI Are you married? Group A Group B Yes No Yes No Boys 0 43 4 53 Girls 0 65 11 33 Totals c 108 15 84 There is no question but that early elimination fore- casts early marriage. Table XVII If you have plans for getting more education, please state them. Group A Group B Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Already in college 33 31 54 Plan for more education 13 11 34 30 13 33 No plan for more educa- tion 7 33 30 33 30 63 Totals 43 65 108 53 43 95 For a period of several years, 50 per cent of the gradu- ates of Rockford High School have gone to college. Exactly one half of the graduates who replied to the questionnaires were in col- lege. It is likewise significant that 95 pupils of the eliminated 35 group had plans for more education. Table XVIII Where or how do you expect to get this additional training? Group J \ Group B Boys C-irls Total Boys Girls T o *fc al College or University International Correspondence SchoJ. 11 9 20 3 0 3 Preparatory school 2 3 5 Nurses' training 0 3 3 Stenography 0 3 3 La Salle Extension University 2 0 2 Commercial illustrating 2 0 2 Bookkeeping 0 2 2 Drafting 2 0 2 Auto school 1 0 1 1 0 1 Commerce 1 1 2 1 0 1 Agriculture 1 0 1 Commercial Spanish 1 0 1 Night school 1 1 2 Cooperative school 1 0 1 Moody Institute 1 0 1 Pharmacy 1 0 1 ' Music Unclassified 0 1 1 1 0 1 Totals 13 11 24 20 12 32 No douht the eliminated pupils have found a real need for more training as is shown by their plans for the future. No other group of citizens would show such a large percentage of their number planning to get more education training. " 36 Table XIX Was your father living when you left school or graduated? your mother? Group A Group B Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Father living Yes 38 56 94 48 40 88 Ho 5 9 14 7 2 9 Mother living Yes 3S 60 99 50 41 91 No 4 5 9 5 1 6 Parents dead 23 15 Total parents liv- ing and dead 216 194 Fewer parents of the pupils in group B were dead than of group A: so with the former group the loss of one or both par- ents is not a serious factor in the elimination of a large number. However, the loss of 9 fathers and 6 mothers from ICC pupils elimi- nated is a fact to be considered when home conditions are analyzed. Table XX Bid your father want you to stay in school? your mother? Group B Boys Girls Total F ather Yes 35 25 80 Ho 12 13 25 Mother Yes 46 30 76 Ho 3 q «./ 12 Total Parents Yes 156 Ho 37 3? While more parents wished, their children to remain in school than wished them to leave, the total of 25 fathers and 12 mothers who did not desire their children to stay, has an effect on elimination not to be overlooked. Table XXI What is your present occupation? Group A Group B Boys Girls Boys Girls Student 23 Clerk 8 Hone 3 Concertizing 1 Student 28 Stenographer 14 Teacher 7 Clerk 5 Farmer 12 Clerk 3 Salesman 5 Machinist 4 Housekeeper 14 Clerk 13 Stenographer 5 Bookkeeper 4 Ass't manager 1 Apprentice to optician 1 Electrician 1 Mechanic 1 Housekeeper 5 None 3 Typist 2 Nurse 1 Apprentice to machinist 4 Bookkeeper 3 Mechanic 3 Draftsman 2 Garment maker S' Factory hand 2 Salesman 1 Farmer 1 Newspaper advertising 1 Motion picture operator 1 Stenographer 1 Sign painter 1 Laborer 1 Pharmacist 1 Student 1 Chauffeur 1 Laborer 1 Sailor 1 Totals 43 65 50 40 By far the greater number of graduates is engaged in professional or clerical occupations or in training for those occu- pations, while the prevailing occupations of the eliminated group are agriculture, housekeeping, clerical work, and mechanical work. Group A is doing a higher class of work than group B. . 38 Taole XXII How much did you earn from July 1, 1920 to July 1, 1921? If you were employed only part of that time, how much did you earn per month? C-roup A Group B Dollars per Month Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total 41-50 1 4 5 2 2 4 51-60 1 2 3 5 8 13 61-70 1 7 8 1 7 8 71-80 4 3 7 6 6 12 81-90 4 3 7 6 2 8 91-100 4 3 7 6 2 8 101-110 1 3 4 3 0 3 111-120 1 0 1 1 0 1 121-130 2 0 2 9 2 11 131-140 2 0 2 3 0 3 141-150 0 0 0 0 0 0 151-160 0 0 0 1 0 1 161-170 1 0 1 3 0 3 Total reporting 22 25 47 46 29 75 Median salary for each group 90.50 68.58 82.42 95. 65.28 82.25 The median salary per month of those graduates who worked and those pupils who were eliminated is practically the same. The hoys of the eliminated group earned a little more than the hoys of the graduate group, while with the girls this was reversed. When one considers that approximately 50 per cent of the graduates were attending college, the wages of the graduates who stayed at home can hardly he considered representative of the earning ability of the group. It must also he borne in mind that since the elimi- nated pupils held positions longer this fact would further tend to give them an advantage over the graduates who had worked only a year ■ . 39 Table XXIII How many older brothers have you? younger brothers? older sisters? younger sisters? Group A Group B Number of Children in Pup ils Answering Pup: lIs Answering Family Boys Girls Total Boys Girl s Total 1 5 S 14 5 0 5 2 8 18 26 11 6 17 3 14 14 28 10 8 18 4 5 11 16 10 7 17 5 5 8 13 11 7 18 6 1 4 5 5 7 12 7 2 0 2 2 3 5 8 0 1 1 1 2 3 9 2 0 2 0 1 1 10 1 0 1 0 1 1 Totals 43 65 108 55 42 97 Median no. of children in family 3 3 3 4 4.5 4 Average no . of children 3.6 3.09 3.3 3.7 4.7 4.1 in family Sole child 5 9 14 5 0 5 Eldest child 9 26 35 16 10 26 Youngest child 13 15 28 14 12 26 Table XXIII reads: 5 boys and 9 girls in group A were the only children in their respective families, while 5 boys and 0 girls in group B had no brothers or sisters. Similarly there were 8 boys and 18 girls in group A who each had one sister or one brother, etc. Van Denburg 1 found that early elimination is favored by having younger brothers or younger sisters. It would also appear to be true from .this data, for 66 of the 97 eliminated had at least Van Benburg, Joseph K. , Causes of the Elimination of Students of Bubxic Secondary Schools of New York City. . 40 one younger brother or sister. The size of the families of group B is larger than that of group A. While the girls of group B come from much larger families than the girls of group A, there is not much difference in this respect in the size of families of the boys. Table XXIV What subjects in high school did you like best? Group A Group B 43 answers 64 answers 50 answers 38 answers Boys Girls Boys Girls Science 18 Mathematics 16 History 10 English 27 History 27 Mathematics 14 Mech. Drawing 18 Science 10 English 10 Commercial 14 English 13 Science 9 Commercial 7 English 5 Shoo work 3 Commercial 9 French 8 Household arts 6 Mathematics 8 History 8 Shoo work 7 Mathematics 6 F. H. Drawing 5 History 4 F. H. Drawing 2 Mech. Drawing 2 French 3 Science 6 Music 4 Languages 3 Commercial Latin 1 Languages 1 Household arts 2 Latin 1 Spanish 1 Oratory 1 F. H. Drawing 3 Pedagogy 3 Latin 3 Spanish 1 Totals 67 114 68 54 Note: The subjects are ranked in order of preference with the number of votes after each one. Evidently the practicability of mechanical drawing and commercial work appealed to the eliminated group. A comparison of the first three subjects in each of the four columns will show that only six subjects were voted on, i. e. science, mathematics, history commercial subjects, English, and mechanical drawing. The reasons given for the pupils' choices were 30 varied that a tabulation was not thought of any value. ' ’ 41 Table XXV What subjects in high school did you like least? Group A Group B 41 answers 62 answers 49 answers 37 answers Boys Girls Boys Girls English 13 Mathematics 11 Science 8 Mathematics 27 English 16 Latin 14 Disliked none 5 English 12 Mathematics 18 Disliked none 1 English 11 Mathematics 10 French 4 History 3 Hech. Drawing 2 Science 13 History 11 Commercial 3 Commercial 6 History 3 Hech . Drawing 2 Commercial 10 Science 6 History 6 Commercial 1 Shop work 1 Latin 1 Mil. training 1 French 3 Science 2 Shop work 1 Languages 1 F. H. Drawing 1 Latin 1 French 1 Totals 44 87 57 47 Note: The subjects are ranked in order of dislike with the number of votes after each one. The subjects which were liked best were also the ones that were disliked most by the pupils. If we compare the three highest in each of the four columns in the above table, we have the 1 following five subjects: English, mathematics, science, Latin, and commercial subjects. With the exception of Latin all of these are found in the "liked-best " group also. In each of the four columns ,the vote for disliked subjects is lighter than the vote for the liked subjects in Table XXIV, indicating that the pupils' likes were stronger than their dislikes. There is no question but that the dislike for certain subjects influenced some pupils to leave, but this influence is not very great. . Table XXVI What teacher 3 did you like best? 30 boys in group A gave 1C men 25 votes and 14 women 14 votes 60 girls in group A gave 6 men 26 votes and 20 women 38 votes 42 boys in group B gave 7 men 10 votes and 15 women 23 votes 31 girls in group B gave 5 men 5 votes and 17 women 21 votes Thirty-seven teachers were voted on as liked by from 1 to 5 pupils in group B. Twenty-five pupils in this group said they liked all of their teachers. The pupils in group A expressed their likes and dislikes more freely than the pupils from the eliminated group. This was probably due to two things: first, they attended high school longer and evidently had their likes and dislikes more firmly embedded, and second, they knew the writer better and were more free to ex- press themselves on 3uch questions. Table XXVII What teachers did you dislike? 42 boys in group A gave 5 men 10 votes and 11 women 21 votes 65 girls in group A gave 6 men 10 votes and 22 women 43 votes 30 boys in group B gave 7 men 7 votes and 8 women 11 votes 21 girls in group B gave 4 men 6 votes and 7 women 15 votes Forty pupils in group A and 23 pupils in group B dis- liked none of their teachers. The former group expressed a dis- like for 25 different teachers and the latter for 17 different teachers . The tone of the answers showed that in most cases the dislikes were not strong ones but rather the type of dislike a sol- dier might show towards some of his officers. In a few cases the 43 attack upon teachers was strong, but after comparing the replies as to likes and dislikes of both groups, the writer does not feel that the dislike for teachers has much effect upon elimination. Most of the replies showed a wholesome respect for the members of the faculty . Table XXVIII Did your parents own 1 the home in which you were living when you entered high school? Group A Group 3 Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Yes 32 51 83 36 26 62 No 11 14 25 20 15 35 Owning was understood to include homes on which there 7/as still some indebtedness. Hfhile the owning of a home is a measure of the financial condition of a family, it evidently is not a determining element in elimination, for 77 per cent of group A and 64 per cent of group 3 owned their homes. The large percentage of home owners is perhaps largely due to the fact that approximately half of the population of Rockford is Swedish or of Swedish descent, and they are a thrifty class of people. 44 Table XXIX If your parents did not own their home when you entered high school, please state approximately the amount of rent paid per month at that time. Group A Group B Dollars Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total 10-15 1 1 2 5 7 16-20 8 8 5 3 8 21-25 4 1 5 2 2 26-30 5 1 6 31-35 1 1 1 1 36-40 4 1 5 1 & 3 41-45 1 1 1 1 46-50 Over 50 1 1 2 1 1 Totals 11 12 23 17 12 2S Medians 35. 18.44 22. 22.5 15.84 19.38 The rentals asked for were those for September, ISIS, and at that time rents were much lower than at any time since. While the number of cases considered is small, the results show a slightly higher rental in group A, but in this study the difference is not enough to indicate a serious factor in elimination. Van Denburg, ten years earlier, found that the median rental for the eliminated pupil3 in New York City was about $15, and he 3 ays, "on the whole the economic statue of these pupils seems to be only a slight factor in their continuance in school." 1 Other studies re- ferred to by O'Brien^ lead to the same conclusion. 1 Van Denburg, Joseph K., Causes of the Elimination of Students of Public Secondary Schools of New York City, p. 113 ^O'Brien, Francis P., The High School Failures, p. 35 45 Table XXX If you entered high school as a freshman again what course would you select? Group A Group B Boys Girls Total Boys Girl3 Total Same course 30 35 83 36 18 54 Different course 13 13 35 11 15 36 Totals 43 65 108 47 33 80 Under the system used in Rockford High School at the time these freshmen entered, pupils choosing a special curriculum could not change until one semester of work was completed. In some cases this lack of adjustment may have aided elimination. However, there is not a large proportion in each group who were dissatisfied with the curriculums chosen, for only 33 per cent of the graduates and 33.5 per cent of the non-graduates would select different courses if they were entering high school again. Table XXXI Comparison of Reasons for Elimination Taken from School Records, With Those Given by the Pupils Themselves 46 School Recoi ds Questionnaires Number p er Number Per Cent Cent Reason B G T B 0 T B C- T B G m 1 Wished to earn money im- mediately 29 1? 43 27 18 23 12 9 21 16 17 IS Failures in H. S. subjects 19 11 30 18 12 15 9 3 12 12 r» O 9 Dislike for school 11 10 21 10 10 10 9 5 14 12 9 10 Work to support family 13 7 20 12 7 10 12 2 14 13 4 10 Poor health 3 10 13 3 10 6 4 10 14 5 19 10 Reeded to help at home 4 7 11. 4 7 5 1 JL n O 7 11 5 Wanted a short business course 3 5 8 3 5 4 5 6 11 6 11 8 Parents not interested in education 2 O 5 - 3 3 1 i] Absent too much 3 2 5 3 2 3 6 4 10 8 7 7 Illness at home 1 2 3 Trouble with teacher Zj 2 7 6 4 5 Course too long 1 & 3 3 2 5 4 4 4 Wanted to learn a trade 2 0 2 1 0 1 H. S. subjects not worth while 1 0 1 6 1 7 8 5 To get married 0 1 1 0 1 1 To enter technical school 1 0 1 1 0 1 Suspended 0 1 1 Stammered 0 1 1 Reason net known 1 c 1 Enlisted in U. S. forces 1 0 1 1 0 1 On account of war 1 0 1 Unhappy home life 1 n vJ JL Died 4 2 6 4 2 3 Moved 9 13 22 8 14 11 Totals 108 93 201 77 53 130 There is a total of 130 different reasons given under the questionnaires but this is due to the fact that many pupils in- dicated more than one reason for their elimination, for only 100 questionnaires were returned/ The above table shows that the correlation between the data taken from the school recc >rds and that from the quee tionnaires i ■ 47 is high. The desire to earn money immediately was the most im- portant reason as manifested both by the school records and the answers to the questionnaires. The school records showed that failures in high school subjects was the second most important reason for elimination, attributing 15 per cent of the elimination to this cause, but only 9 per cent of the pupils gave this as a cause. The reason ranking third, i. e., dislike for school, may have been influenced by other causes such as dislike of subjects elected, dislike of teacher, failure of parents to encourage chil- dren to continue in school, etc. Only 10 per cent of the students left school to support the family. v This may be compared with Barrows 1 '"' report that 80 per cent of the families of pupils leaving New York City schools for work were independent of the child's wages . Summary The answers to the questionnaires impress one with the serious attitude of life, not often accredited to pupils of high school age, which was shown, and it is a revelation to see among even the eliminated group how education "carries on." Many letters. were returned with the questionnaires to aid in making complete the answers given. Some of the pupils la- mented the fact that they had dropped out of school; others wished that they had done better work but hoped that the on-coming pupils would be advised of the importance of doing their work well; and 1 Barrows, Alice P., Pieport of Vocational C-uidance Survey (New York City), Public Education Association, New York City, Bui. No. S, 1912 , ' , . ’ . 48 one boy recommended that the author urge all student 3 wishing to study engineering to take all of the high school mathematics that they could get. These letters showed clearly that many of the eliminated pupils realized too late the value of high school train- ing andtheyalso showed that many of the graduates were beginning to look back upon their work with a wider vision. The public high school population as indicated by the questionnaires is much more cosmopolitan than that of private high schools as shown by Counts^ in his study of the pupils of the Uni- versity of Chicago Eigh School and Phillips Exeter Academy, where he found that 42.7 per cent of the parents were proprietors, 31 per cent were in professional service, and 11.5 £er cent in managerial service. The public high school pupils come from all classes of society and while many of the boys and girls are handicapped by poverty, lack of encouragement, and want of mental ability, success or failure in high school is not totally dependent on any of these factors. Such influences as loss of a parent, dislike for teach- ers or required subjects, selection of the wrong curriculum, etc. may be contributory causes but they do not seem to be important as direct causes of the elimination of . such large groups as we find dropping out of the public high schools of today. The greatest los3 of pupils comes from the desire to earn money immediately. The problem facing us, therefore, is to convince the high school population of the importance of graduation from high school. The value of an education needs to be kept con- stantly before the eyes of the boys and girls before it is too late ■^Counts, George S., The Population of the Private Secondary School, School and Society, Vol. 15, p. 571 , : ” 4S~ for them to avail themselves of the opportunities given by our pub- lic secondary schools. On the other hand, it is the problem of the high school to offer curriculums which will meet the needs not only of the potential graduate but likewise of the potential non- graduate . V Conclusions 1. More girls than boys entered high school, and a larger percent- age of girls than boys graduated. 3. Slightly over one half (54.3 per cent) of the entering pupils were eliminated. 3. The elimination was greatest at the end of the second and fourth semesters. 4. The lo 3 s in pupils shown by cumulative percentages is very simi- lar to that of O'Brien's study. 5. The morale, location, and general ideals of the elementary school constitute important factors in the length of time pu- pils remain in high school. 6. The pupils of American fathers show a lower percentage of elim- 2 ination in this study than in Van Denburg's. The Swedish people, who comprise about one half of Rockford's population, have the best record of any large foreign group 30 far as elim- ination i3 concerned. 7. The age at entrance for boy3 of the whole class, 14 years and 7 months, was on an average 3 months more than that for girls. ■^O'Brien, Francis P., The High School Failures. £Van Denburg, Joseph K., Causes of the Elimination of Students of -uolic Secondary Schools of New York City. ' . . 50 14 years and 4 months. As a group the median age of 14 years and 6 months compares favorably with that of other large school systems . 8. Since the average age of boys who were eliminated was 4 months more than for the group of boys, and since the average age for the girls eliminated was 5 months more than for the group of girls, age at entrance is a factor in determining elimination. 9. The compulsory school attendance law has an effect on elimina- tion. Its enforcement undoubtedly was responsible for as high a median age at leaving of 16 years and 1 month. However, one third of the 201 pupils eliminated were in school after their sixteenth birthdays. 10. In general the pupils of parents whose occupation requires the most education stay in school the longest. 11. From a study of the mental abilities of eliminated pupils as shown by the results of intelligence test3, it was found that about twice as many in the lower quartile were eliminated as were eliminated in any other quartile. 12. From the office records the five most important reasons for leaving high school were: (1) to earn money immediately; (2) failures in high school subjects; (3) general dislike for school; (4) work to support family; and (5) 'poor health. 13. As indicated by the returned questionnaires, the five mo3t im- portant reasons for leaving school vie re: (1) to earn money im- mediately; (2) work to support family; (3) poor health; (4) gen- eral dislike for school; and (5) failures in high school sub- jects. 14. The longer a pupil stays in school, the greater is his desire , ' 51 for more education. Over half of the replies from eliminated pupils shows that they sought more education in night, continu- ation, and correspondence schools, and business colleges. 15. Marriage is hastened by elimination from school but is not of much importance as a cause of elimination. 16. There is a genuine interest for mors education among the indi- viduals of the eliminated group. 17. So far as loss of parents is concerned, the eliminated group lost fewer parents than the graduate group; so loss of parents cannot be considered important in this study. 18. The indifference of one or both parents with regard to a child’s graduation from high school is an important cause of elimination. IS. The pupils who were eliminated are now engaged in occupations less desirable than those of the graduates. 20. During the fifth year after entrance in high school, the elimi- nated group wa3 earning about the same amount of money as the graduate group. However, since a great many of the graduates were in college, they could not be counted as wage earners yet. 21. The eliminated group came from larger families than the gradu- ates. This is especially ture of the eliminated girls. 22. With regard to subjects studied, the likes and dislikes of the pupils were generally for the same subjects with the exception that the like3 of the eliminated group were for the more prac- tical ones. Both groups showed stronger likes than dislikes. 23. Dislike for teachers may be of slight influence in elimination but probably due to the fact that in a large high school, pu- pils have many teachers, the questionnaires indicate that most " * 52 pupils have no strong dislike for their teachers. 24. So far as owning a home is concerned, 77 per cent of the gradu- ated group and 64 per cent of the eliminated group were thus favored. The difference shows, of course, that the graduated group had an advantage in home conditions, although hut a slight one. 25. The graduated group paid slightly higher rentals than the elim- inated group hut the difference is not great. 26. Of the graduates 23 per cent would select different courses if they went through school again, and about 32 per cent of the eliminated group would choose differently. The fact that a pupil selected the wrong course would make the chances for his early elimination greater. 27. Death caused 6 per cent of the elimination. 28. Removal from the city caused 22 per cent of the elimination. 53 VI Bibliography 1. Barrows, Alice P., Report of Vocational Guidance Survey (New York City), Public Education Association, New York City, Bulletin No. 9, 1912. 2. Bonner, H. R., Statistics of Public High Schools, 1917-18, Bulletin No. 19, 1920, United States Bureau of Education. 3. Counts, George S., The Population of the Private Second- ary School, School and Society, Vol. 15, p. 571. 4. King, Irving, The High School Age. 5. O’Brien, Francis P., The High School Failures. 6. The Money Value of Education, Bulletin No. 22, 1917, United States Bureau of Education. 7. Van Denburg, Joseph K., Causes of the Elimination of Students of Public Secondary Schools of New York City.