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BULLETIN No. 59 
 
 BUREAU OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH 
 COLLEGE OF EDUCATION 
 
 PROVISIONS FOR MENTALLY 
 ATYPICAL PUPILS 
 
 By 
 
 Charles W. Odell 
 Assistant Director, Bureau of Educational Research 
 
 Published by the University of Illinois, Urbana 
 1931 
 
6300 6 31 642 . UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 ii PRESS II 
 
PREFACE 
 
 Under a system of mass instruction, especially when the classes 
 are large, it is difficult for the teacher to give much attention to indi- 
 vidual pupils. The assignments, questions, explanations, or other in- 
 structional procedures are planned for the average pupil. ^ The consci- 
 entious teacher probably always has made some effort to "help" back- 
 ward pupils, and since individual differences have been emphasized, 
 several fairly well defined procedures have been devised to provide 
 for the mentally superior child, as well as the one who is below aver- 
 age. The general types of adaptation of instruction to individual differ- 
 ences are well known, but in practice there are many variations. For 
 this reason it has seemed desirable to inquire into the provisions for 
 atypical pupils in the state of Illinois. 
 
 As the author indicates in the introductory chapter, the purpose of 
 this bulletin is to present a description of current practices. Some of 
 the provisions are probably more effective than others, but there is no 
 attempt to effect a systematic evaluation. It is likely that no one plan 
 would be most effective in all situations. If this hypothesis is true, 
 a superintendent of principal should endeavor to devise a plan of pro- 
 viding for atypical pupils which will meet the needs of his school 
 rather than to adopt a plan used with apparent success in some other 
 school. This bulletin is published in the hope that it will stimulate 
 interest in providing for mentally atypical pupils and that it will be of 
 
 service in doing this. 
 
 Walter S. Monroe, 
 
 June 27, 1931. Director 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 3 
 
 Preface 
 
 Chapter I. Introduction ' 
 
 Chapter II. Homogeneous Grouping 10 
 
 Chapter III. Special Rooms and Teachers 28 
 
 Chapter IV. Miscellaneous Provisions 39 
 
 Chapter V. General Programs to Provide for Children of 
 
 Atypical Mentality 49 
 
 Chapter VI. A Brief Consideration of Objections to Pro- 
 visions for Children of Atypical Mentality .... 59 
 
PROVISIONS FOR 
 MENTALLY ATYPICAL PUPILS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 Purpose. It is the purpose of this bulletin to present in a non- 
 statistical manner the results of a study of provisions for mentally 
 superior and inferior pupils in a number of school systems in the 
 State of Illinois and in addition to offer some suggestions along the 
 same line. The first may be considered the major purpose; theretore 
 the following discussion will give more attention to the description ot 
 what systems in the state are doing along this line than to the theo- 
 retical statement of what the writer or anyone else believes they should 
 be doing. There will, however, be some more or less critical comments 
 as to actual practices, some suggestions, and finally some discussion ot 
 certain objections advanced against some of the provisions frequently 
 employed for this purpose. 
 
 Systems from which data were obtained. In order to ascertain 
 what special provisions school systems in the State of Illinois are ac- 
 tually making for children of atypical mentality the writer ad- 
 dressed a letter of inquiry to about three hundred and seventy-five 
 principals and superintendents. The systems represented included prac- 
 tically all of those in the state with enrolments of three hundred pupils 
 or more except Chicago, and quite a number, selected at random, ot 
 those with smaller enrolments. Responses were received from 165 
 principals of township or community high schools and superintendents 
 of elementary or elementary and high-school systems. One hundred 
 and seven of these reported that their systems employ some one or 
 more procedures that may definitely be considered special provisions 
 for pupils of atypical mentality, whereas the remaining fifty-eight ap- 
 pear to have nothing of this sort. Some of the latter stated that 
 teachers are encouraged to provide for individual differences among 
 pupils, that supervised-study periods and other provisions are so em- 
 ployed, but since they appear to have no formal or specific provisions 
 for this purpose, they have not been counted as among those answering 
 affirmatively. Although the writer knows that some of the systems 
 from which no replies were received are taking specific steps to pro- 
 vide for children of unusual mentality, it is probable that most of these 
 are not doing much along this line. Xo tabulation of the responses was 
 
Bulletin No. 59 
 
 made according to the size of the systems, but from the writer's inspec- 
 tion of them it was apparent that few elementary systems of less than 
 five hundred pupils and high schools of less than three hundred are 
 doing much along this line, whereas a large majority of both enrolling 
 one thousand or more pupils are making some such provisions. 
 
 Although the 107 principals and superintendents described the pro- 
 visions made by their systems in from one or two sentences up to 
 several pages each, it seemed desirable to visit a number of them to 
 secure a more intimate knowledge of what they are doing than was 
 possible by correspondence. The writer, therefore, visited a number 
 of these systems, selecting those which appeared to be doing the best 
 work of this sort, which had something more or less different from 
 most other systems, or which for some other reason it seemed desirable 
 to include on the list. Those visited included ten combined elementary 
 and high-school systems, seventeen township and community high 
 schools, and seventeen systems composed of elementary schools only. 
 About 40 per cent of those visited were within Cook County outside of 
 Chicago, but the other 60 per cent were fairly well scattered over the 
 northern two-thirds of the state extending as far south as Bridgeport 
 and as far west as Rock Island and Moline. In size they ranged from 
 systems enrolling somewhat more than three hundred up to one of 
 over fourteen thousand pupils. 
 
 Of the elementary schools reporting some provisions for children 
 of atypical mentality almost two-thirds have some form of so-called 
 homogeneous grouping. This ranges from quite formal and complete 
 schemes to very informal and temporary grouping. More than half 
 of the elementary schools reported one or more special rooms of some 
 variety or other or special teachers who go from room to room or 
 building to building giving assistance to individuals or groups most in 
 need of it. About one-fourth reported miscellaneous provisions of 
 various types not connected with either homogeneous grouping or 
 special rooms or teachers. Of the high schools about two-thirds have 
 some form of grouping, and two-fifths, various other provisions. From 
 these figures it appears that many of the elementary schools are making 
 two or even more types of provisions for atypical children, but that 
 provisions of this sort are not so common among the high schools. 
 
 Plan of the remaining chapters. The next three chapters of this 
 bulletin will be devoted respectively to homogeneous grouping, special 
 rooms and teachers, and miscellaneous provisions. In each the writer 
 will endeavor to sketch briefly the different procedures followed by 
 systems which replied to the inquiry. In doing so usually he will not 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 9 
 
 give complete descriptions of all the features found in single school 
 systems but instead will mention together the various practices con- 
 cerning a particular feature. In addition to accounts of actual prac- 
 tices there will be some comment thereon and some suggestions as 
 to procedure. In Chapter V there will be somewhat more complete 
 accounts of what is being done in a few systems selected as having 
 the most complete programs of this sort or as being for some other 
 reason unusually worthy of mention. This chapter will also contain 
 a few general recommendations not particularly connected with one 
 of the three types of provisions already dealt with. Finally, Chapter 
 VI will present a number of the objections raised to homogeneous 
 grouping, to special rooms, and to other provisions, and an attempt will 
 be made to answer them. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 HOMOGENEOUS GROUPING 
 
 Introduction. So-called homogeneous or ability grouping of 
 pupils is more commonly employed in Illinois school systems than 
 any other type of formal provisions for children of atypical men- 
 tality. Therefore it will be treated at greater length than any other 
 of the plans to be discussed. Before proceeding to discuss it, however, 
 the writer wishes to make two points. The first is that in using the 
 term "homogeneous" he does not mean to imply that the groups to 
 which it is applied are truly homogeneous in the strict sense of the 
 word but merely that they are less heterogeneous than ordinary or 
 complete single-grade groups. The word "homogeneous" is used in 
 preference to some other because it seems to be more commonly em- 
 ployed in this connection than any other. A few writers have made 
 a distinction between homogeneous grouping and ability grouping, but 
 as most persons use the terms they are interchangeable. No distinction, 
 therefore, will be made between the two in this bulletin. 
 
 Before beginning the discussion of particular points it seems well 
 to recall that there are certain fundamental differences in the problems 
 and conditions of homogeneous grouping in non-departmentalized ele- 
 mentary schools on the one hand and in departmentalized elementary 
 and high schools on the other. These differences are due to the fact 
 that in non-departmentalized schools a group of pupils almost always 
 retains its integrity and unity in all or practically all subjects, remains 
 in the same room, and is taught by the same teacher for the greater 
 part of its time. Therefore it is usually dealt with as an integral and 
 complete unit in a sense that is not true of a group of pupils in the 
 same grade that carries different subjects with different teachers and 
 in addition often does not remain in any one room for very much of its 
 work. In the following discussion attention will be given to some 
 differences between these two types of situations. 
 
 The number of groups. The common practice, in so far as any 
 practice can be said to be common or typical of Illinois school sys- 
 tems in this respect, is to place pupils who are homogeneously grouped 
 on three levels— upper, middle, and lower. In some cases there are only 
 two levels, usually upper and lower, but sometimes upper and regular, 
 or regular and lower. In a few systems the classification is carried 
 considerably further than into three or even four groups. There are 
 two ways in which this is done. One is a general classification into 
 
 ID 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 11 
 
 three groups, each teacher ordinarily having a room full of pupils all 
 in the same group, and then within each group a further division into 
 several smaller and supposedly still more homogeneous groups. These 
 latter groups are generally quite informal and their membership is 
 shifted frequently, whenever the teacher in charge thinks best. The 
 other way is to have as many levels as there are groups. 
 
 It is 'much more common in high schools and departmentalized 
 upper grades than in non-departmentalized elementary schools to have 
 more than three levels. When this is true there are usually as many 
 levels as there are instructional groups or sections, the upper twenty- 
 five thirty, forty, or whatever the desired number may be, consti- 
 tuting the highest group ; the next twenty-five or other number, the 
 second group, and so on down. 
 
 In many systems the number of levels upon which the pupils are 
 placed is not 'consistent throughout the system or even throughout 
 a single building or grade but depends upon the judgment of the super- 
 visors and teachers or upon the number of children in a given grade 
 in one building. Thus, not infrequently the lower grades, m which 
 there are more children, are divided into three sections each, and the 
 upper, into two only, or in some buildings there are three sections ot 
 certain grades, whereas in others there are two, and perhaps in others. 
 
 only one. 
 
 When there are three levels it is the usual practice that the number 
 of pupils at each is about the same, or else that the number at the 
 middle or average level is considerably larger than that at either ot 
 the others. Thus, for example, if there are four groups it is most 
 likely that one is superior, two are average, and one is inferior. In some 
 cases there are four, six, or even more middle groups to one at each 
 extreme. 
 
 Size of groups. There is often considerable variety as to the 
 size of sections as well as to the number. In some cases no groups are 
 formed unless each is large enough to constitute a whole room full of 
 pupils, whereas in others there may be two or sometimes even more 
 sections in a room. The most extreme case of this found was one 
 system which throughout the lower grades has three sections ot each 
 grade in each room, a condition due in part to the fact that there is 
 only one teacher to each grade in each building. In case there are 
 three sections of a grade and two teachers, the upper and lower sec- 
 tions are sometimes placed together under one teacher, and the average, 
 under another. Sometimes the upper section and part of the average 
 
!2 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 section are under one teacher and the remainder of the average and 
 the lower section are under the other. 
 
 In this connection it should be noted that the fraction of the 
 pupils at each level at a given time does not indicate the fraction that 
 actually finishes the complete course at that level. This is especially 
 true when the variance is in rate, since many pupils can keep up with 
 fast sections for a while but not permanently, and likewise many must 
 go slowly for a while but can also make some average progress. One 
 school system, for example, which has a triple-track system through 
 the first five grades, finds that about 15 per cent of its pupils complete 
 the five grades in four years, 50 per cent, in five, and 35 per cent, in six. 
 In one rather large system in which the fast groups cover the eight 
 years' work in seven, the middle groups, in eight, and the lower groups 
 spend eight years on the work of the first six, the per cents of pupils 
 in the three groups are respectively about twenty, fifty, and thirty. 
 
 Times of grouping. Ordinarily pupils are grouped or regrouped, 
 as the case may be, at the end of the semester or year, whichever is 
 the basis on which the school system is organized, in readiness for 
 the beginning of the next semester or year, or else just at the beginning 
 of a semester or year. Pupils entering the first grade and high-school 
 freshmen, and, although rarely, those in other grades, are often not 
 grouped immediately but at the end of four or six weeks or some other 
 convenient period. In almost all systems there is some shifting of 
 pupils, at irregular times or perhaps at frequent regular intervals, as 
 it appears desirable. 
 
 Grades covered by plan. Not all systems with homogeneous 
 grouping have it in all grades or even in the same grades year after 
 year. One school system, for example, has the work of only the first 
 five grades organized with different rates of progress; another, that 
 of only the first four. In another system, grouping does not begin 
 until the second grade and continues through the sixth ; in still another 
 it covers only Grades III to V and so on in others. Likewise it may 
 exist in the non-departmentalized elementary grades and not in the 
 departmentalized ones and high school, or vice versa. 
 
 In some systems that have no formal comprehensive plan of homo- 
 geneous grouping there is nevertheless a considerable amount of such 
 grouping being employed. Teachers and principals in accordance with 
 their own judgment organize groups to gain time and cover extra 
 work or else to spend more than the normal time on a unit of work, 
 or to cover only the minimum essentials. Groups thus formed usually 
 remain together for a comparatively short period of time, rarely more 
 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 
 
 13 
 
 than two vears and frequently less, by the end of which they have 
 completed 'a given amount of work and have either gained or lost 
 a grade, and are then put back into regular classes. 
 
 Very few high schools have homogeneous grouping in all or even 
 nearly all of their classes. Homogeneous grouping is most common 
 in English and mathematics, particularly in freshman work in both 
 subjects. Likewise in other subjects there is more grouping of this 
 sort in the lower than in the upper years, apparently partly because 
 the number of pupils enrolled in them is larger and partly because 
 those in the upper years constitute a more select group and have less 
 need of classification. In schools in which the classification in the same 
 subject runs through several years it is not uncommon to have three 
 levels the first year and later to reduce the number to two. 
 
 Bases of placement. The bases upon which placement of pupils 
 is determined are so many and so varied that it is difficult to say that 
 any one is typical. Moreover, in some systems the method of grouping 
 is not uniform even throughout the elementary school, but varies in 
 different grades or in different buildings, being left more or less to the 
 judgment of the teachers and of the supervisors in charge. Intelli- 
 gence and achievement test scores, teachers' marks, teachers' opinions 
 of intelligence and probable future success, estimates of health and of 
 social development, previous failure, ratings of such qualities as am- 
 bition, enthusiasm, industry, interest, and study habits, and chrono- 
 logical age are among the factors being used for this purpose. Not 
 only are these and others employed, but they are used in many different 
 combinations and with various weights. Indeed, the per cent of systems 
 that employ any single definite basis is very small. In addition to 
 these more or less numerical bases other considerations sometimes 
 enter in. For example, in one, no disciplinary cases, no pupils who are 
 doing poor work because of absence or illness, and no others of this 
 general type are allowed in the inferior sections. 
 
 Of all factors the first three of those named, intelligence and 
 achievement test scores and school marks, are the most common, but 
 scarcely any two systems of those studied make use of even these 
 factors in just the same way. Some use the results of a single in- 
 telligence test alone, others, those from two intelligence tests. Some 
 employ a general survey test of achievement, such as the Stanford 
 Achievement Examination; others, especially in the primary grades, 
 give tests in reading alone or in reading and arithmetic, or in several 
 but not all subjects. If teachers' marks are employed, sometimes only 
 those for the last semester or year are used, and sometimes those 
 
14 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 for a longer period, perhaps including the whole school history of the 
 child ; m some instances those in one or more subjects are employed ■ 
 in others, general averages based on all subjects are used. In cases 
 where the grouping is not carried out until several weeks after the 
 beginning of the semester or year, marks for that period of time are 
 often an important, or even the only, basis. Sometimes the various 
 factors employed are combined on a strictly mathematical basis into an 
 average rating, whereas in other systems they are considered by prin- 
 cipals, teachers, or whoever determines placement, and a decision is 
 reached without mathematical exactitude. 
 
 Even when exactly the same tests are employed for the purpose 
 of classification the scores are frequently used in quite different ways 
 For example, in one school system that bases classification on results 
 from an intelligence test pupils with I.Q.'s above 115 may be placed 
 in the superior sections and those with I.Q.'s below 85, in the inferior 
 ones, whereas in another school system using the same test the critical 
 points may be 110 and 90, and in still another, something else. In some 
 systems there are no fixed critical points, but instead the upper 25 or 
 33i/ 3 per cent or some other fraction of the pupils in a given grade 
 constitute the superior section and a similar, or sometimes a different, 
 fraction of the lowest, the inferior section. Instead of a given fraction 
 a set number may be used ; thus the highest thirty-five pupils, for ex- 
 ample, may constitute one section and the lowest twenty-five, another. 
 One rather large high school which has pupils sectioned in prac- 
 tically all of the academic subjects except foreign language has a plan 
 that differs in one or two details from any other. The division into 
 sections of which there are four in the freshman year and two or three 
 in the other years is made at first on the basis of intelligence test scores 
 and elementary-school marks with the grammar mark receiving double 
 weight for English and the arithmetic mark receiving double weight 
 for algebra. Moreover, in order to allow for differences in the general 
 standards of marketing in the six different elementary-school districts 
 that send pupils to this high school each elementary mark is divided 
 by the median for the district before being employed for classification 
 purposes by the high school. Three or four times a semester the pupils 
 take quite carefully constructed tests and are given letter ratings ac- 
 cording to the results of these tests. Only a comparatively few are 
 shifted into other sections, however, regardless of whether or not their 
 letter ratings agree with the sections in which they already are placed. 
 It is assumed that the original placement was well enough made to be 
 accurate in most cases and that differences between it and the letter 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 15 
 
 ratings earned on the tests indicate differences between actual achieve- 
 ment and capacity to achieve. 
 
 Especially in high schools, but also to some extent m department - 
 ized upper grades, there is a tendency for a somewhat different basis 
 of grouping to be employed from that common in non-departmentalized 
 elementary schools. This difference consists in the fact that if achieve- 
 ment tests are used as the sole or partial basis of classification they are 
 likely to test pupils in only one or more subjects supposed to be some- 
 what closely connected with the subjects in which pupils are to be 
 grouped For example, arithmetic test scores are employed in grouping 
 pupils in algebra, language and grammar test scores, for grouping them 
 in English and perhaps likewise in foreign language, and so on with 
 other subjects. Despite this tendency, however, the most common 
 achievement test basis for grouping high-school pupils at their entrance 
 is probably the Stanford Achievement Test, given either at the com- 
 pletion of the year or semester before they enter high school or just 
 
 when they do enter. 
 
 Several bases of placement are employed in high schools, but are 
 rarely or never employed in elementary schools. One of these is vo- 
 cational intentions. Schools that use this basis of placement endeavor 
 to ascertain the vocations in which pupils are interested or for which 
 they are best fitted and make use thereof in sectioning them in cer- 
 tain subjects. Usually such sectioning can hardly be said to be on the 
 basis of general mental superiority or inferiority and so seems not to 
 merit further discussion in this publication. In two or three high 
 schools freshmen select certain subjects according to whether or not 
 they intend to go to college, and it is assumed that those who choose 
 foreign language and other college-entrance subjects are the more able 
 Therefore in the subjects carried by all pupils those who do intend 
 to go to college are gathered together into one or more sections which 
 are considered superior or perhaps superior and average, whereas those 
 who do not begin the college-entrance course form other sections 
 considered inferior or inferior and average. A very few h.gh schools 
 reported that they employ tests intended specifically for prognostic 
 purposes, such as 'the Orleans Algebra Prognosis Test and the Luna- 
 Orleans Modern Language Prognosis Test. When used these are more 
 likely to be employed alone than in conjunction with other data, but 
 in one school at least the results from them are combined with those 
 from intelligence tests in determining placement. 
 
 There is considerable difference of practice as to when tests are 
 given. Usually they are administered either at the beginning ot the 
 
 
16 
 
 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 semester or year for which the classification is to be made, or at the 
 end of the previous semester or year. The latter is especially common 
 in the case of eighth-grade graduates preparing to enter high school 
 In some cases they are given at other times of the year than these two. 
 Differentiation of work at different levels. A second point in 
 which there is a great deal of difference between the procedures of 
 various school systems is that of the work done by groups at the differ- 
 ent levels. The two general bases of differentiation in the work of the 
 groups is either that of the rate at which the work is covered or the 
 amount and type of work done. Very few systems follow the prac- 
 tice of having all groups do just the same work at different rates 
 whereas most systems make some difference in the character of the 
 work that the groups do. In quite a number, however, there is also 
 a difference in the rate as well as in the character. If there is a plan 
 of differentiation in rate covering all the elementary grades it is most 
 frequently arranged so that the superior sections cover their work in 
 one year less than do the average sections. In some cases where this 
 is true the inferior sections use one more year, and very rarely two 
 more, whereas in others no difference is made in the time but in the 
 amount of work covered. In many systems there is not a single unified 
 differentiation in rate running through the whole elementarv-school 
 course. Instead, a superior group may do three semesters' work in two 
 sometimes four in three, or rarely even two in one, after which it pro- 
 gresses at a normal rate for a while or else does not retain its organi- 
 zation as a special group longer. The same is frequently true of lower 
 groups. Inferior pupils are placed in sections that spend three se- 
 mesters covering the work of two or that otherwise go slowly and 
 afterward the groups either resume normal progress or^are broken up. 
 There are several major plans of differentiating the work covered 
 by groups at several levels. The most common is the provision of three 
 courses, more or less formal, frequently referred to as the minimum- 
 essentials course, the normal or average course, and the enriched 
 course. Sometimes there are only two, the minimum and enriched In 
 a very few cases sections following these different courses use entirely 
 different texts, but this is not usually true. Instead the courses are gen- 
 erally arranged chiefly by omitting material from the adopted texts 
 or by supplementing them. In some cases the omissions and additions 
 are such that the differences consist almost entirely in amount of work 
 whereas in others they are largely in type or character of work For 
 example, in one system visited the lower section of a second grade 
 had barely finished one reader, the average section had finished this 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 17 
 
 same reader and another quite similar to it, and the upper section had 
 completed these two and several other readers of the same type. 
 On the other hand, in another system the average and upper sections 
 had done somewhat more of the same type of reading than had the 
 lower section but, in addition, the average section had devoted some 
 time ancfthe upper section a relatively large amount of time to drama- 
 tizing stories that they had read. In arithmetic the most usual differ- 
 ence is the omission of some of the more difficult topics and more drill 
 and practice on what are supposedly the more important processes 
 by the lower sections ; the upper sections use the time saved from 
 drill to cover some of the difficult topics just referred to and per- 
 haps also to carry out group or individual projects involving the use 
 of numerical operations. 
 
 As examples from the high-school level, two cases may be cited. 
 One school which has superior, average, and inferior sections in fourth- 
 year English differentiates the work by having the superior section 
 take up advanced composition, which approaches introductory journ- 
 alism, the weaker sections study chiefly grammar with some letter 
 writing, and the average sections carry the ordinary work, which is 
 mostly literature. 
 
 V One of the most outstanding examples of differentiation in the con- 
 tent of the work of a particular group was found in the case of an 
 English group in a rather large high school. This group consisted of 
 pupils who had failed the first semester of freshman English from two 
 to four times and were apparently hopeless cases. When the group was 
 gathered together it seemed totally uninterested and unresponsive. It 
 was apparent that ordinary methods could hardly be expected to be 
 successful with it. Therefore the teacher's first effort was to find 
 anything at all that might be connected with English in which the 
 pupils were interested. Unusual methods were employed. Mystery and 
 magic was chosen as the first general topic and was introduced by the 
 performance of tricks in class, by the solution of puzzles, by the dis- 
 cussion of mysterious pictures, and so forth. Gradually, as the inter- 
 est of the pupils was awakened, English was introduced by making 
 notebooks that dealt with topics having* mystery in them, by the study 
 of some of the writings of Houdini and of his life, and so forth. This 
 was followed by a unit on fun and humor which centered around the 
 study of Mark Twain's life and several of his works. Letter writing 
 was next taken up and, following that, other topics that seemed of 
 most interest and practical value. 
 
 Another plan of differentiating the work at different levels is that 
 
18 
 
 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 instead of doing either more work of the same kind or even in the 
 same subject, the middle and upper sections take up other kinds of 
 activities, usually some that are ordinarily very little if at all included 
 in school work. These frequently take the form of class projects in 
 constructing such things as miniature farms or houses and stage 
 scenery, mdividual projects, such as picture books and other books of 
 various sorts, occasional trips and excursions to places of supposed 
 educational interest and value, and so on. Sometimes in the upper 
 grades superior pupils take up formal school subjects not carried by 
 the others, but this is unusual unless departmental organization pre- 
 vails It is perhaps more common in high school than in elementary 
 school for the enrichment of the work to consist in supplementary work 
 rather different from that done by the lower sections than more work 
 of a very similar type. In other words, the upper sections are given 
 the opportunity to broaden out considerably in the scope of what 
 Vhey cover. 
 
 X A plan that sometimes exists in elementary schools, although much 
 more frequently in high schools, is what is commonly referred to as 
 the unit or contract plan. This is employed in various forms but all 
 have one characteristic in common, the division of the work to be 
 covered into a number of units with the provision that the pupils in 
 each group cover as many of these units as they can cover satisfac- 
 torily In some cases this differs very little from the three-course plan 
 already mentioned, but in many cases the two are distinguished from 
 each other by the fact that the unit plan prescribes no definite number 
 ol units to be completed, whereas the other does. Sometimes a definite 
 number ot units is set as a minimum with the expectation that the 
 middle and upper sections and perhaps even the lower one too will 
 hmsh them in time to do more. 
 
 It is not unusual for school systems with homogeneous grouping 
 to differentiate rate in certain grades and amount of work in others 
 in high school as well as in the elementary school. Thus one system 
 has a triple-level plan, with three rates of progress' through the first 
 hve grades and different courses for the last three. In another a few 
 rather highly selected groups are allowed to gain a semester's or even 
 a years time, and, rarely, an inferior group takes extra time to cover 
 a certain amount of work. In the main, however, all pupils unless 
 they are failed, progress at the normal rate and cover different amounts 
 of work. In another the plan is that the highest group of pupils covers 
 the work ot the first four grades in three years, and apart from that 
 the differences between the work of the groups consist in amount and 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 
 
 19 
 
 not in rate. Several differentiate in one way in their first six grades 
 and in the other in their departmentalized seventh and eighth grades. 
 Likewise in high school there may be different rates in some subjects 
 and different courses in others. 
 
 There is somewhat more of a tendency in high school to vary the 
 amount and type of work than to vary the rate, doubtless because ot 
 the fact that it is administratively more difficult to arrange for groups 
 to proceed at different rates. Some high schools, however, allow su- 
 perior sections to cover three semesters' work in algebra or some other 
 subject in the freshman year. Still more rarely do high-school pupils 
 proceed slowly and spend, for example, three semesters in covering 
 one year's work, but this practice is occasionally found. Thus in one 
 high schSSf visited freshman algebra pupils are divided into sections, 
 of which the first contained approximately the thirty ranking highest 
 according to the basis of placement used, the next section, approxi- 
 mately the next thirty, and so on down. Each section covers the same 
 work, that is, the regular first year's work in the subject, but it does so 
 at its' own speed. The fastest sections require at least a year in which 
 to do this, whereas the slower ones may consume any greater amount 
 of time up to two years. No assumption is made at the beginning as 
 to how much time each section will take, but it is left to the judgment 
 of the instructor to regulate it as seems best to suit the particular group. 
 In two or three of the high schools visited the old and familiar plan 
 of limiting the number of subjects carried by inferior pupils to less 
 than four and encouraging the superior pupils to take more than four 
 is supplemented by a more or less careful division of the pupils into 
 groups which should carry the different numbers of subjects. On the 
 basis of intelligence test results and upper-grade marks pupils are ad- 
 vised how long they should plan to spend in high school. In one high 
 school all that is done is to advise the weakest pupils to spend five 
 years In another the brightest are advised to plan to complete their 
 high-school courses in three and a half years or, very rarely, in three, 
 and the weaker, in four and a half or sometimes in five years. 
 
 Designation of sections. A relatively minor point on which con- 
 siderable difference of practice exists is the terms by which the dif- 
 ferent groups are designated. This is sometimes done by letters of 
 the alphabet, usually "A," "B," and "C" or "X," "Y," and "Z." Some- 
 times the terms "fast," "medium," and "slow" are employed, or 
 "superior," "average," and "inferior." Rarely numbers, such as "1," 
 "2," and "3," are found. One system uses Greek letters and another, 
 the names of colors, those employed being "red," "white," and "blue." 
 
20 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 In this case, as in several others, the designations were chosen for the 
 purpose of avoiding in so far as possible any intimation as to the rela- 
 tive abilities of the different groups. Another method occasionally used 
 for this same purpose is to employ irregular numbers or letters that in 
 themselves give no clue. In most cases, however, there appears to be 
 no particular attempt to conceal the levels of the various groups. 
 
 Emphasis on differences. In most systems the possibility of 
 entering a higher group is held up to pupils in groups at the lower and 
 average levels as a stimulus to better work. They are told that, al- 
 though the original classification may have been made partially or 
 entirely on some other basis, continued retention at a level depends 
 upon the quantity and quality of school achievement and that if they 
 do well enough they will be placed in a group at the next higher level. 
 Likewise those in average and superior groups are told that unless 
 they do well enough to deserve to remain there they will be dropped 
 into a lower group. In a few systems, however, just the opposite point 
 of view is taken: pupils are encouraged to do as good work as possible 
 at their levels but not to strive to be transferred to a higher level nor 
 to feel that they must be careful to avoid being changed to a lower one. 
 In support of this it is argued that a very careful effort is made to 
 place pupils where they belong and that although some are transferred 
 when it appears that their placement is incorrect, yet it is better that 
 pupils should not consider themselves in comparison with those at 
 other levels. 
 
 Assignment of teachers to groups. There appear to be two chief 
 plans of assigning teachers to homogeneous groups. In some cases the 
 effort is made to assign teachers according to their apparent abilities, 
 interests, or desires. Those who are most sympathetic and patient with 
 pupils and who perhaps are most efficient in the handling of drill work 
 are assigned to the lower sections. On the other hand, those of keenest 
 intellect and broadest culture are assigned to the upper sections. In 
 other systems the plan is to pass the different sections around so that 
 all or at least most teachers in the course of a few semesters or years 
 handle sections on all levels. This procedure is usually based on the 
 argument that few of the teachers wish the inferior sections and most 
 of them prefer the superior ones and that, therefore, the fairest thing 
 to do is to pass them around. In some cases it is considered desirable 
 that during any one given year or semester a teacher have pupils in 
 only one of the groups, whereas others make it a point to assign all 
 teachers at least two different groups. 
 
 Adapting schedules to homogeneous grouping. In almost all 
 high schools and frequently in departmentalized elementary schools the 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 21. 
 
 grouping of pupils differs in the different subjects. Thus those who 
 compose the upper group in Latin, for example, do not compose it in 
 English nor in algebra. This difference introduces a considerable diffi- 
 culty in making schedules that provide the possibility of assigning 
 pupils to those groups in each subject to which they seem to belong. 
 In schools in which the number of sections is quite large this difficulty 
 is minimized but in small schools in which there are only a few sections 
 of each subject it is not at all easy to overcome. Most principals con- 
 sider it impossible to arrange a schedule that will not interfere to some 
 extent with homogeneous grouping which differs for the various sub- 
 jects. Only a very few of those in charge of small schools are attempt- 
 ing to arrange schedules that present no interference whatsoever with 
 grouping and in only one or two schools now enrolling less than a 
 thousand pupils in either the departmentalized upper grades or in the 
 high school, as the case may be, does this goal appear to be reached. 
 In high schools in which pupils are classified in only a few subjects, 
 perhaps English and mathematics, it is much easier to arrange sched- 
 ules that will not interfere with the grouping, and this arrangement is 
 more often found in them. 
 
 Suggestions on homogeneous grouping. In the opinion of the 
 writer it is impossible to lay down in detail or even in more than a few 
 very general features any plan of homogeneous grouping that can be 
 considered best for all schools. Local conditions of many kinds play 
 a part in determining the details of the most satisfactory plan for a 
 particular school system. Nevertheless, there are a number of sugges- 
 tions which the writer wishes to offer as being more or less generally 
 applicable. He would not for a moment suggest that a school system 
 which has a plan of homogeneous grouping that appears to be function- 
 ing efficiently but that differs in some point from these suggestions 
 should hurriedly proceed to change it so as to conform with them. He 
 would, however, suggest that if there are such differences, whether the 
 particular plan is working efficiently or not, it would be well to consider 
 the reasons for using it. In many cases the reasons will undoubtedly 
 be found to be satisfactory, whereas in others they will probably not 
 
 be so. 
 
 In the ordinary school situation, three levels, superior, average, and 
 inferior, constitute the most desirable number. If there are only two 
 it is usually necessary to divide the average pupils, placing the better 
 of them with the superior ones and the lower with the inferior ones, 
 which seems much less desirable than organizing a group that is 
 distinctly average. In schools so small that a single teacher must 
 handle all the groups within one period two groups are probably better- 
 
22 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 than three. When the number of pupils in the class or grade to be 
 grouped is large enough to form more than three groups, as is often 
 the case in large departmentalized upper-grade schools and high 
 schools, there may well be as many levels as there are groups 
 
 Experience seems to indicate that it is somewhat easier to teach 
 superior pupils and somewhat harder to teach inferior pupils than those 
 of average ability. This points to the conclusion that if the homogen- 
 eous groups constitute whole recitation sections those of superior pupils 
 may well be somewhat larger than those of average pupils, and those 
 of inferior pupils, somewhat smaller. Thus in a high school that has 
 twenty-five, for example, as a standard size of class it is suggested that 
 each superior group consist of twenty-eight or thirty pupils, and each 
 inferior one, of only twenty or twenty-two. In elementary schools the 
 standard size ot class is usually larger, but about the same ratios should 
 exist between the sizes of groups at the three levels. 
 
 The question often arises in non-departmentalized elementary 
 schools whether homogeneous grouping shall prevail in only the more 
 academic subjects or also in such subjects as music, art, manual train- 
 ing, home economics, physical education, and so forth. From the ad- 
 ministrative standpoint it is frequently easier to handle homogeneous 
 groups as whole units throughout all the work of the school than other- 
 wise. If this is not the case, however, as when the groups are small 
 enough that two or more may well be combined for the work given by 
 a special teacher or given by the regular teacher, there seem to the 
 writer to be no valid reasons why the grouping should be preserved in 
 those subjects which have low correlations with the so-called book sub- 
 jects. The ordinary subjects of this type include physical education 
 music, and art, and, perhaps to a somewhat lesser degree, handwriting! 
 manual training, and home economics. 
 
 If, however, as is common in departmentalized elementary and high 
 schools, the grouping differs in various subjects, there seems to be 
 no good reason why groups should not be formed in the non-academic 
 subjects as well as in the academic ones. Indeed, from one standpoint 
 it is probably quite desirable that pupils who may, for example be 
 inferior in most of their academic work but possess greater ability or 
 interest in some other type of work should become members of 
 average or superior groups therein. Likewise, there are some advan- 
 tages in having pupils who are superior in the academic subjects but 
 not m others become members of average or inferior sections in the 
 other subjects. This helps to prevent them from gaining a false idea 
 that they are superior in every capacity or ability. 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 23 
 
 Because of the reasons just given as well as those for such grouping 
 in general, there should, whenever it is practicable, be separate group- 
 ing for each subject rather than uniform grouping for all. There is 
 probably less gained by such separate grouping in the primary grades 
 than in the upper grades and less in the upper grades than in high 
 school, but the writer believes it is worth while whenever possible. 
 Furthermore, he knows of no valid reasons why homogeneous grouping 
 should not extend throughout the whole elementary and high-school 
 
 periods. 
 
 Perhaps the most difficult and important point on which to make a 
 definite recommendation is the basis of placement. Various schools 
 use quite different bases with apparently about equal success. Never- 
 theless some suggestions will be offered. For pupils just entering the 
 elementary school concerning whom practically no previous informa- 
 tion is available or indeed for those entering at any level concerning 
 whom this is true, intelligence test scores are probably the best available 
 data for the purpose. It is highly desirable that two good group tests, 
 instead of only one, be used in such cases. If the scores on the two 
 differ markedly it is likely that the higher one more nearly represents 
 the capacity of the individual than the average. The reason is that a 
 child is not likely to make a score that indicates ability much above 
 his true ability unless he has had some previous coaching in the test 
 or in some other way has received illegitimate aid, but, on the other 
 hand, he may easily make a score considerably below his true ability be- 
 cause of the operation of intellectual, emotional, or physical factors. It 
 is still better to give all pupils individual tests, but in actual school 
 practice this is rarely practicable. It is, however, not beyond the scope 
 of reason to expect that this will be done in the case of problem pupils 
 or those for whom the group test results seem for any reason decidedly 
 inadequate. 
 
 For pupils who have already spent some time in school a valid and 
 reliable measure of their school achievement is probably the best single 
 basis of prediction. In most cases this is better obtained by using 
 standardized tests than by teachers' marks. However, not only the 
 results from standardized achievement tests, but also those from in- 
 telligence tests, teachers' marks, ratings of pupils' health, interest, am- 
 bition, and so forth, and any other data that bear on the question, 
 should be considered. Here also, as in the case of the two group in- 
 telligence tests, it is best not merely to secure a mathematical average 
 of some sort or other and then let placement be absolutely determined 
 by it, but rather to consider intelligently the different items of infor- 
 
24 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 mation about each pupil and on the basis of this consideration decide 
 where he should be placed. In general, if either intelligence test re- 
 sults, achievement test results, or school marks indicate that a pupil 
 may succeed in a superior section, he should be placed there. The 
 same is, of course, true between an average and an inferior section. 
 
 If classification is being made for a single subject alone, achieve- 
 ment test scores and school marks in that one subject should receive 
 considerably more weight than general survey test scores or general- 
 average marks. (}n many cases the latter need not be considered at 
 all. In the case of high-school subjects not previously studied for 
 which distinctly 1 good prognostic tests exist, these tests probably con- 
 stitute the best single basis of classification, but it is still worth while 
 to pay some attention to the other data mentioned above. 
 
 One of the most important questions that arise in connection with 
 homogeneous grouping is whether the difference in the work of the 
 groups shall consist in their rate of progress or in the amount and kind 
 of work. It seems to the writer that it is well to have some of both. 
 The stimulus of gaining time is one of the best available motives to 
 secure a high quality of school work. Furthermore, as the amount of 
 training for many vocations, especially for the so-called learned pro- 
 fessions, is coming more and more to include several years beyond 
 the bachelor's degree it seems quite desirable that for those who are 
 mentally able this long time of preparation should be somewhat short- 
 ened. On the other hand, it is recognized that if very bright pupils 
 are pushed ahead as rapidly as they can cover the same school work 
 done by the average or inferior pupils, those who are greatly acceler- 
 ated are liable to be social misfits in their relations with their school 
 mates. The danger of this if they are only one year, or perhaps two 
 years, accelerated is practically non-existent. Moreover, if inferior 
 pupils are required to go so slowly that they can cover all of the work 
 done by an average group the most inferior will never even reach the 
 upper elementary grades and thus will lose certain values to be obtained 
 from the subjects offered there and from social contacts with others 
 of their approximate age. It is, therefore, I recommended that in the 
 ordinary elementary school three-track plan the superior groups should 
 regularly cover the work of the eight grades in seven, the average 
 groups, in eight, and the inferior groups, in nine.\ A few very excep- 
 tional pupils may do the work in six or very rarely in even fewer years, 
 and a few who cannot get through in nine may be able to do so in ten 
 
 ^The best prognostic tests available are probably those for predicting success 
 in Latin, modern foreign language, algebra, and geometry. 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 25 
 
 or more. Along with this difference in rate there should be a difference 
 in curriculum, that is, there should be what are commonly known as 
 the minimum-essentials course, the average course, and the enriched 
 course. 
 
 <J In high school the same general policy is desirable, but in actual 
 practice it is more difficult to provide for the gaining of time. It is 
 usually more or less necessary that classes come out even, so to speak, 
 at the end of the semester or year. This necessitates that fast groups 
 gain at least a whole semester and slow groups lose at least one. Only 
 decidedly superior groups can well cover three semesters' work in two, 
 and very few groups of high-school pupils who can ever do the work 
 are so inferior that they cannot do more than one semester's work in 
 two. It is suggested, therefore, that whenever it is administratively 
 practicable to arrange for superior groups to cover certain units of 
 work in less than the ordinary time, this be done, and perhaps cor- 
 responding arrangements be made for slow progress groups. On the 
 whole, however, differentiation of the amount and type of the work 
 done should receive much more attention in high school than should 
 that of rate. 
 
 The designations given the different groups are not very import- 
 ant, since, regardless of what they are, most pupils and others interested 
 learn which are the superior and which the inferior groups. Never- 
 theless, it seems desirable to give them designations that do not unduly 
 emphasize the fact of difference. For this reason such terms as "fast," 
 "normal," and "slow" or "superior," "average," and "inferior" should 
 be avoided and a system of letters, numbers, or words not significant in 
 themselves should be used. 
 
 Vln some elementary systems pupils at the different levels are kept 
 markedly apart from those at other levels, whereas in others there is 
 considerable intermingling in non-academic subjects, on the play- 
 ground, in extra-curricular activities, and so forth. The writer recom- 
 mends the latter practice as much preferable. Just as in ordinary life 
 individuals tend to seek their own mental level in certain groups, and 
 in other relationships come in contact with persons of all levels, so in 
 school it seems highly desirable that they do both. 
 
 It is recommended that an effort be made to assign those teachers 
 who appear to be best fitted for them to the different groups rather 
 than to pass the groups around from teacher to teacher. As was sug- 
 gested previously, teachers of inferior groups should possess unusual 
 patience and sympathy, the ability to see pupils' difficulties and to know 
 how to give help in overcoming them, and other similar qualities. On 
 
26 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 the other hand, teachers of superior groups need themselves to be su- 
 perior so that they will be fully as keen and alert mentally as are their 
 pupils, and likewise they need a broad general culture, since superior 
 students themselves acquire a broader culture than do others and tend 
 to lose respect for a teacher who does not have it. 
 
 One rather minor point mentioned as a detail of procedure in sev- 
 eral systems is that pupils are not placed in superior or inferior sections 
 unless their parents consent. The writer believes that the principle 
 back of this is absolutely wrong. It is, of course, desirable to secure 
 the good will and cooperation of parents in this as in all matters, but 
 school authorities rather than parents are in a position to make the 
 best decisions as to where children should be placed. Parents are not 
 required to consent before children are failed or promoted at the end 
 of a regular year's work, although the question at issue is the same as 
 that concerned in placing them in ability groups, that is, the group to 
 which the children indicate that they belong in the school system. 
 
 Finally, one of the most important characteristics of any plan of 
 homogeneous grouping is a high degree of flexibili ty. By this it is 
 meant that it should be comparatively easy to transfer pupils from one 
 level to another whenever it appears that they are misplaced. The 
 chief prerequisite to insure that this is possible is that the schedule be 
 so planned as to permit it, preferably by having at least one section 
 on each level meeting at each period when there are any at all. This 
 is frequently quite difficult to arrange in small schools, but in those 
 large enough to have three or more teachers of the subjects in which 
 pupils are grouped there should be little difficulty about making such 
 arrangements. w 
 
 It should perhaps be stated that a high degree of flexibility does 
 not require that pupils should necessarily be transferred to other levels 
 very soon after the first classification has beeiynade. If a pupil whose 
 achievement has been quite superior and who has therefore been placed 
 in a superior section does poor work the first two or three weeks, it is 
 very likely this is caused by some temporary condition and that if his 
 case is properly diagnosed and the proper remedial measures taken he 
 will do well enough to justify membership in the superior section. 
 Likewise, if a pupil with a high intelligence test score does not do 
 satisfactory work in a superior section the likely reason is that he is 
 not interested, does not have the necessary prerequisites, or perhaps 
 does not know how to study the subject properly. Every effort should 
 be made, therefore, to help him to utilize his intelligence so that the 
 application of it to the work in hand will result in a high level of 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 27 
 
 achievement. In either case, that of high previous achievement or 
 high intelligence-test rating, however, a pupil whose present achieve- 
 ment is poor should not be continued indefinitely in an upper section ; 
 when it appears that he cannot be stimulated or helped to do work of 
 sufficient merit to justify his retention there, he should be transferred 
 to a lower section. 
 
 School systems recommended for visiting. In closing this chap- 
 ter on homogeneous grouping it seems fitting to name a few school 
 systems in Illinois as among those which school officials or others in- 
 terested in homogeneous grouping might well visit. The writer does 
 not wish to be understood as implying that the systems named below 
 have the best homogeneous-grouping schemes in the state or even the 
 best of those concerning which he secured information, but merely that 
 in his judgment they are among the best. Furthermore, the fact that 
 they are named does not imply that he approves in detail all that they 
 are doing along this line, but merely that his opinion of their pro- 
 cedures as wholes is decidedly favorable. It perhaps should be added 
 also that although he visited most of them in person his information 
 concerning three was obtained by correspondence and from others. 
 The schools recommended are as follows: 
 
 fBatavia Elementary and High 
 
 ^Bridgeport Elementary 
 
 ^Canton Elementary and High 
 
 +Deerfield- Shields Township High, Highland Park 
 
 fDundee-Carpentersville Elementary and Community High 
 
 ^Elmhurst Elementary 
 
 :£Joliet Elementary 
 
 fMaine Township High, Des Plaines 
 
 *Oak Park Elementary 
 
 fParis Elementary 
 
 fProviso Township High, Maywood 
 
 ^Riverside-Brookneld Township High 
 
 ^Robinson Elementary 
 Those marked with asterisks differentiate the rate of progress, those 
 with single daggers, the type and amount of work, and those marked 
 with double daggers, the rate of progress and the amount of work. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 SPECIAL ROOMS AND TEACHERS 
 
 Introduction. The provision of special rooms is the second of 
 the two most common methods of providing for children of atypical 
 mentality in the elementary schools. In high schools such rooms are 
 never provided, although in a few cases special groups of pupils that 
 more or less correspond to such rooms do exist. The discussion in this 
 chapter, however, will be limited entirely to elementary schools. 
 
 The term "special room" has been chosen by the writer as being 
 more inclusive than such expressions as "opportunity room," "un- 
 graded room," "utility room," "remedial room," and so on, and there- 
 fore as being preferable to them. In the school systems visited the 
 term "opportunity room" is most frequently employed, but all of the 
 others mentioned, and some others also, are in use. Some of these 
 terms are used in different systems with somewhat different meaning, 
 especially in systems which have special rooms of more than one kind 
 and use different names to denominate them. 
 
 A general description. The typical special or so-called oppor- 
 tunity room, in so far as any room can be said to be typical of Illinois 
 school systems, is a room enrolling from fifteen to twenty pupils from 
 several elementary grades who are having particular trouble with their 
 work either because of mental inferiority, protracted absence, language 
 difficulty, or some other reason. Usually these pupils are all drawn 
 from the building in which the special room is located and remain in 
 the room for all of their work or at least all except physical educa- 
 tion and perhaps one or two other special subjects, and spend a period 
 of from a month to a whole year there at a time. The children are 
 usually chosen on the basis of poor school work and intelligence test 
 results. The teacher has ordinarily had only a small amount of train- 
 ing in special methods of dealing with such children but has been 
 chosen because of her interest or supposed ability along this line. The 
 work done by the pupils usually includes somewhat more manual and 
 construction work than is given in the regular grades. 
 
 Number and source of pupils. There are, of course, many vari- 
 ations in the organization and procedure of special rooms from that of 
 the typical one described. In only a few cases are more than twenty 
 pupils, thirty being the maximum found, allowed in a room which 
 retains them all day, and in several systems the number is limited to 
 tourteen or even to twelve. To some special rooms pupils from only 
 
 28 
 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 
 
 three grades are admitted, whereas into others those from four or any 
 number up to eight are accepted. If there are two or more such rooms 
 in the same building there is commonly a division on the basis of grade 
 or, less often, of age. One room, for example, receives pupils from 
 the upper grades and the other, from the lower, or one room admits 
 children over twelve years of age and the other, those below that age. 
 
 A few systems have special rooms to which pupils come from all 
 buildings in the city. Indeed, in two or three of these there is a whole 
 opportunity or special school consisting of a number of rooms and en- 
 rolling all pupils from the whole system who seem to belong there, 
 or for whom there are accommodations. Other systems have a mixed 
 plan; that is, in some buildings there are special rooms that enroll 
 pupils from other buildings, besides those in which they are located, 
 and in others, special rooms which draw only from regular rooms in 
 the same building. For example, one city with about twenty elementary- 
 school buildings has four special rooms for children of low mentality in 
 one building and one in each of six others, and all of these rooms ex- 
 cept one draw pupils from two or more buildings. In the building 
 in which there are four they are graded somewhat, there being one 
 for lower-grade boys and girls, one for intermediate boys, one for 
 upper-grade boys, and one for intermediate and upper-grade girls. 
 Some school systems likewise have only partial provisions of this sort: 
 that is, they provide special rooms for the children of some buildings 
 and none for those of others, or only for those of some of the grades 
 rather than for all. When the latter situation exists it is perhaps most 
 common that no provision is made in such rooms for pupils from the 
 primary grades. Thus in several systems no pupils are admitted to 
 the special rooms from the first grade or from the first two grades ; 
 in others there is a minimum entrance age of nine, eleven, or some 
 other number of years. Frequently there is a maximum also, usually 
 fifteen or sixteen, with the provision that all pupils in the room who 
 reach that age shall be transferred to the junior high school or de- 
 partmentalized upper grades, or, very rarely, to the senior high school, 
 at the beginning of the next year. 
 
 Purpose. The purposes of special rooms are rather clearly in- 
 dicated by the types of children admitted to them. It was stated that 
 one characteristic of the typical special room is that the pupils admitted 
 to it were having unusual difficulty with their work for some reason or 
 other. In some cases only pupils of low mental capacity are admitted. 
 On the other hand, there are a very few which admit only those who 
 are apparently of at least almost normal mentality, but for some more 
 
 
30 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 or less temporary reason, such as absence or language handicap, are 
 having difficulty in doing satisfactory work. In a few cases children 
 who are disciplinary problems are sent to such rooms regardless of 
 whether the trouble has arisen out of poor achievement or not. In 
 at least two of the systems concerning which information was secured 
 there are rooms of both kinds, that is, some for pupils of definitely 
 inferior mentality and others for pupils who, if given special help, 
 have a fair chance of going ahead with their classes or at least of losing 
 comparatively small amounts of time. In a minority, though not an 
 extremely small minority, of the special rooms some children of su- 
 perior mental ability are to be found. These are almost always pupils 
 who are being allowed to skip a grade and are placed in these rooms 
 to receive help in doing so. Sometimes, however, they are pupils who 
 seemingly cannot be interested in the work or for some other reason 
 are doing unsatisfactory work. In no case was a whole room for such 
 pupils reported, but in one system visited a rather large room was 
 found in which there were two teachers and two groups of pupils, one 
 enroling pupils of inferior mentality and the other, pupils of superior 
 mentality. 
 
 P^rom another standpoint also there is considerable variation in the 
 objective of those in charge of special rooms. Four different aims may 
 be identified, with, of course, degrees and combinations thereof. One 
 is to have the pupils cover as much of the regular grade work as they 
 can ; another is to develop in them the "habit of success" ; a third is 
 to teach them practical, especially manual, skills; the last, which is 
 usually more implicit than explicit, is to relieve other teachers of the 
 presence of troublesome pupils and to keep these pupils pleasantly busy. 
 In a few school systems the specific purpose and type of member- 
 ship in special rooms changes from time to time, their general purpose 
 being to meet the most pressing need apparent. Thus, in one elementary- 
 school building which enrolls about one thousand pupils there has been 
 a special room and teacher for a number of years, but there has been 
 no uniform policy as to the type of group dealt with. Sometimes it is 
 a primary group having unusual difficulty in getting started, sometimes, 
 an upper-grade group of greatly retarded pupils, for one year at least,' 
 a group of pupils being helped to gain time, and at the time the writer 
 visited the school, a group of about thirty rather heterogeneous boys 
 who for a number of different reasons were considered problem cases. 
 Their I.Q.'s ranged from quite low up to about 120, their ages, from 
 nine to sixteen, and their achievement was at the level of Grades II 
 to IV. 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 
 
 31 
 
 Basis of selection. The selection of pupils for special rooms 
 naturally depends to a considerable extent upon which of the four aims 
 just stated prevails. The selection is made by almost as many means 
 as are used as bases for placing pupils in homogeneous grouping. Of 
 these, however, three appear to be definitely more commonly employed 
 than the others. These are intelligence test results, usually those from 
 an individual test or from both individual and group tests; recom- 
 mendations of teachers based upon poor achievement and other diffi- 
 culties ; and over-ageness. Achievement tests play a rather minor part 
 but are sometimes employed. When intelligence test results are used 
 for this purpose they are usually transmuted into intelligence quotients. 
 In some systems it is considered that any pupil with an I.Q. below 70 
 is a fit subject for a special room, in others the critical point is 75, and 
 in others, 80. In a few there is a lower limit— any pupil with an I.Q. 
 below 50', for example, is considered to possess mentality of too low 
 a degree to profit by such a room and is, if possible, placed in a special 
 institution. If over-ageness or retardation is the criterion, two years 
 is usually employed, although sometimes the number is three or four. 
 In many systems pupils are not placed in such rooms without the con- 
 sent of their parents. A few schools provide for complete clinical 
 examinations of children whom they are considering placing in special 
 rooms. These are sometimes carried out by members of their own 
 staffs and sometimes through cooperation with such organizations as 
 the Institute of Juvenile Research in Chicago. 
 
 Work done by pupils. This also is closely connected with the 
 purpose. There is quite a wide range of difference in the work offered 
 in special rooms. In a few such rooms the pupils follow the regular 
 course of study with no apparent deviation except in rate, whereas at 
 the other extreme are those in which comparatively little attention is 
 paid to most of the academic subjects, although of course there is 
 always some reading, arithmetic, language, spelling, and so forth, and 
 a large amount of attention given to manual and creative work of 
 various sorts. Frequently the older pupils at least have access to 
 manual-training shops and kitchens and sewing rooms used by junior 
 or senior high schools and often make considerable use of them. If 
 not, there are likely to be a few benches in the special room itself or 
 in some adjoining space; perhaps also there is a stove and even a 
 sewing machine for the use of this room alone. The non-academic 
 work, however, is by no means limited to formal manual training and 
 domestic science. In many such rooms there is^ a great deal of indi- 
 vidual and group construction involving many kinds of material, such 
 
32 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 as paper, cardboard, cloth, wood, metal, and so forth. In some cases 
 the object of this is apparently rather general, merely to keep the 
 pupils happy and busy and perhaps to give them the habit of success, 
 whereas in others it is quite definitely intended to develop skills that 
 will be of practical value in their after-school life. These skills consist 
 chiefly of the things that the ordinary man or woman in poor, or at best 
 moderate, circumstances needs to do about the home. In some of these 
 rooms much emphasis is put on such phases of training for citizenship 
 as seem to come within the comprehension of the pupils. 
 
 Instructional organization. In most special rooms the pupils are 
 organized into several, usually two, three, or four, groups for instruc- 
 tional purposes. These groups frequently vary for the different sub- 
 jects and tend to be more informal than in regular rooms. In a few 
 cases the rooms are handled almost entirely on the individual basis, 
 and except for some of the special subjects and group projects there 
 are no class groups called. 
 
 Although in the typical special room the pupils assigned thereto 
 remain the whole day or practically all of it there are a number of 
 systems which have rooms to which children go for shorter periods. 
 In two or three cases this period is a half day, but usually it is a single 
 recitation period. Thus the teacher of such a room has a different 
 group of pupils each period and in the course of the day may have 
 almost any number of different pupils, the numbers actually" found 
 ranging from about forty to about one hundred and sixty. In "the first 
 case no one group was larger than six ; in the last some groups con- 
 sisted of twenty pupils. The pupils sent to such rooms are rarely re- 
 garded as at all hopelessly inferior mentally but are rather those who, 
 it is hoped, can, with some special help, advance at the regular rate of 
 progress, be retarded only a small amount, or, in some cases, gain some 
 time. It is common for such groups as those just mentioned to report 
 to the special room for only a few weeks or months rather than for a 
 whole semester or year and then to resume their places in the regular 
 grades or rooms and allow other more needy groups to come to the 
 special room. 
 
 The daily program at the time the writer visited one system is 
 typical of such special rooms. According to it the teacher dealt with 
 the following groups during the day: 
 
 First-Grade Reading, Section I 
 First-Grade Reading, Section II 
 Second-Grade Numbers 
 Sixth-Grade Arithmetic 
 Fourth-Grade Arithmetic 
 Seventh-Grade Arithmetic 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 
 
 33 
 
 Fifth-Grade Reading 
 Third-Grade Reading 
 Eighth-Grade Arithmetic 
 Eighth-Grade English 
 Sixth-Grade Arithmetic 
 Special teachers. In a few school systems there are special 
 teachers provided rather than special rooms. In other words, instead 
 of having teachers in charge of rooms to which the pupils are sent, 
 the teachers go from room to room or from building to building giving 
 special help to individuals or to groups. For example, one such teacher 
 covers three elementary buildings with a total enrolment ot over two 
 thousand pupils and is usually giving help three times a week to each 
 of about fifty children at any one time. Much of this help is given 
 individually, though sometimes two or three children are instructed 
 at once. She is also a trained psychologist and tests all children recom- 
 mended to her care before giving them special instruction. In other 
 cases such teachers go from building to building working with groups 
 instead of with individuals. If there are no available classrooms, prin- 
 cipals' offices, corridors, and other unoccupied rooms are employed 
 for this purpose. In some cases the work is even done in the regular 
 room, if possible, when there is no other recitation being carried on 
 therein. 
 
 Suggestions on special rooms. It is perhaps somewhat easier 
 to give general suggestions for special rooms than is true in the case 
 of homogeneous grouping, but even here it is not at all desirable that 
 there be uniformity in the various developments having to do with such 
 rooms in different systems. The following suggestions are those that 
 the writer considers more or less generally applicable. 
 
 From the standpoint of giving the desired help to pupils who are 
 in special rooms the membership in such rooms in which the same 
 pupils remain the whole day should not be allowed to exceed twenty. 
 An even smaller number may be theoretically more desirable, especially 
 if the average intelligence is unusually low, but it is doubtful if the 
 high per capita expense of maintaining such a room for only twelve or 
 fifteen pupils can be justified in view of the other demands upon the 
 financial resources of most school systems. From the standpoint of 
 relieving regular class teachers of pupils who require so much atten- 
 tion as to hinder seriously their regular work it is sometimes desirable 
 in a particular practical situation to allow a membership that exceeds 
 
 twenty. 
 
 The proportion of all pupils in a system that should be in such 
 special rooms is of course largely dependent upon their exact purpose. 
 
34 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 If they are planned to care for only those who are quite inferior men- 
 tally it is probable that from 1 to 2 per cent of the pupils in the aver- 
 age school system should be in them. If they are also intended to take 
 care of pupils having difficulties due to absence and other temporary 
 difficulties they should probably be prepared to accommodate at least 
 4 or 5 per cent. If they are designed to help superior children who are 
 gaming time an additional 1 or 2 per cent should be included. 
 
 With regard to the question of whether it is best to have a single 
 special room in each building or to have a group of two or more 
 rooms in one building serving several buildings, a system which re- 
 quires many of the pupils to come considerable distances, there are 
 good arguments on both sides. It is undoubtedly undesirable to have 
 elementary-school children come unusual distances to school unless 
 transportation is provided, in which case, of course, the expense is in- 
 creased. On the other hand, there are also undoubted advantages in 
 gathering together enough children for several special rooms so that the 
 membership of each room can be made somewhat less heterogeneous 
 than is necessary when there is only one room for all such children 
 On the whole, therefore, the writer recommends that, whenever pos- 
 sible, groups of such rooms in a single building be formed to serve 
 several other buildings as well and that transportation be provided 
 If transportation is not provided he would not recommend requiring 
 the children in such rooms to come any longer distances to school than 
 do other elementary children. He does not believe that it is wise to 
 follow the practice of the few systems which devote whole buildings 
 to pupils of inferior mentality. The objection is that this tends entirely 
 too much to prevent such children from having contacts with normal 
 and superior children and that as has already been pointed out in 
 another connection such contacts have a social value that should not 
 be lost. 
 
 Although the writer believes that special rooms are justified merely 
 for the relief they offer to teachers of regular rooms by removing 
 pupils who require unusual amounts of attention, he does not believe 
 that this should be their only or even their chief purpose. Instead 
 those in charge should have very definitely in mind as an aim the 
 preparation of pupils of inferior mentality to become as satisfactory 
 members of the community as possible. In other words, none of their 
 activities should be carried on merely for the sake of keeping them 
 happy and busy but all should be of value in obtaining the objective 
 just stated. The effort should be made, therefore, to determine those 
 portions of the ordinary work of the schools and such other work 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 3d 
 
 as it is practicable to give which these pupils can master sufficiently 
 well to be worth their time and which at the same time will be most 
 helpful to them after they have completed their school work. In gen- 
 eral the work they should cover includes certain fundamentals in the 
 traditional subjects, and certain habits, attitudes, and items ot mtorma- 
 tion of value for good citizenship, for home making, and tor selt- 
 
 5UP It 01 seems to the writer that the question as to which of the several 
 purposes should be served by special rooms depends largely upon the 
 size of the school or group of schools each serves. There should be, 
 if possible, a special room in every elementary building in which there 
 is at least one regular teacher for each grade. Assuming that the school 
 population is of average mentality, such a room can hardly be justified 
 in the smallest building included by the specification above, that is, 
 one with onlv eight regular grade teachers, unless it includes in its 
 membership not only the pupils of decidedly inferior mentality but 
 also those having temporary difficulties and probably those being al- 
 lowed to gain time as well. In a building or group of buildings served 
 by a group of special rooms, in which there are enough pupils of defi- 
 nitely inferior mentality to constitute the membership of one room, it 
 is better to collect them therein and to place those whose difficulties 
 are only temporary in one or more other rooms. In addition, there 
 may well be still another room for superior children who are being 
 allowed to gain time. Although rooms of this latter type are quite 
 rare the writer believes that they are desirable features ot school 
 
 systems. . . 
 
 In the selection of mentally inferior pupils to be placed in special 
 rooms an individual intelligence test should be employed in addition 
 to group tests. Indeed, it is still better to have a complete clinical ex- 
 amination, but if this cannot be done results from the Stanford Re- 
 vision of the Binet-Simon Scale, or some other good individual in- 
 telligence test, may be used. This should, of course, be given by trained 
 examiners, and every school system, no matter how small, should have 
 at least one member of its staff prepared to administer such a test. It 
 the system has no part-time or full-time tester by the title ot school 
 psychologist, school psychiatrist, or so forth, it is probably as good a 
 plan as any to expect the teacher in charge of each special room to be 
 well enough trained to give the tests. Pupils should be recommended 
 to her by principals and teachers, either as a result ot their poor 
 achievement or as a result of scores on group tests, and after the in- 
 dividual test has been given decisions should be reached as to whether 
 they should be placed in the room or not. 
 
36 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 There are several agencies and organizations from which school 
 systems that do not have their own trained child examiners may secure 
 clinical examinations. Of these the Institute for Juvenile Research, 
 907 South Lincoln Street, Chicago, is probably the outstanding one! 
 This provides psychiatric, medical, psychological, social, and other types 
 of service, including the examination of children at the institute itself 
 and also through its extension services elsewhere where there are 
 groups of children in need of such examination. When children are 
 referred to the institute itself or to one of its branches no charge is 
 made for examinations. When a group of examiners spend some time 
 in a particular community carrying on a clinic, the local school system 
 or some other local organization is expected to pay travelling and hotel 
 expenses. Under no circumstances are any charges made for the actual 
 services of the staff of the institute. A somewhat detailed report of 
 the activities of the institute may be found in its annual report. 1 
 
 Teachers should recommend individual pupils and groups of pupils 
 suffering from temporary difficulties, and the teacher in charge of the 
 special room and the principal or the supervisor together should decide 
 which groups are most in need of attention and which should, there- 
 fore, be admitted to the room. There are probably some groups of this 
 sort that should spend practically their whole time for a few weeks in 
 the special room, whereas others may well go there for a single period 
 per day. In the case of pupils to be helped to gain time, it is desirable 
 but not highly important that an individual intelligence test be given. 
 If pupils, either by the high quality of their achievement or by high 
 scores on group intelligence tests, indicate that they might well be 
 allowed to gain time they should be considered by the teacher of the 
 room and by the principal or supervisor for admission thereto, and as 
 many of the most promising be admitted as can be conveniently ac- 
 commodated. 
 
 ^ It does not seem desirable to set any definite I.Q. as the critical 
 point below which individuals shall be placed in special rooms for 
 inferior pupils and above which they shall not. In general the lower 
 the proportion of all pupils that can be accommodated in special rooms, 
 the higher will be the I.Q. that determines whether they are admitted 
 or not. Thus, if there is one special room to serve one thousand pupils, 
 enough children of inferior mentality to fill it may be found by setting 
 the critical point at 70, whereas if the room served only five hundred 
 
 'Adler, H. M. Twelfth Annual Report of the Criminologist, July 1 1928 
 to June 30, 1929. Department of Public Welfare. Springfield, Illinois: Tournai 
 I nnting Company, 1930. (Printed bv authority of the State of Illinois) " 104 p 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 37 
 
 it may be set at 75 or some other higher point. In any instance all 
 pupils with I.Q.'s below 70 should certainly be in special rooms, 
 whereas those with I.Q.'s above 80 should not be there merely because 
 of mental inferiority. 
 
 It is probably best to handle pupils enrolled in special rooms by a 
 combination of group and individual methods. In such rooms, as else- 
 where in the school system, it is more economical to combine pupils 
 into groups for purposes of instruction. Furthermore, there are, to 
 be obtained from group work, certain values that do not come from 
 individual activity. On the other hand, it is impossible to help pupils 
 in such rooms as much as may reasonably be expected unless individual 
 methods are employed to some extent. This is perhaps especially true 
 with regard to the non-fundamental subjects or portions of subjects. 
 Particularly in these it is highly desirable that inferior pupils find some- 
 thing at which they can work with comparative success and that they 
 develop their ability along this line. 
 
 It is highly desirable that all teachers of special rooms have appro- 
 priate training for this kind of work in addition to their general pro- 
 fessional training. Unfortunately, there are not many institutions in 
 which such training can be obtained, but enough exist that all such 
 teachers should be required to have at least a whole summer's training 
 of this sort. In addition to this the teachers placed in charge of such 
 rooms should be patient and sympathetic, should be able to direct pupils 
 in various types of manual and creative activities, and should not be 
 easily worried or disturbed by discouraging and more or less unpleasant 
 occurrences in the school room. 
 
 Whether or not children should remain permanently or practically 
 permanently in special rooms or should be expected to return to regular 
 rooms after some time in a special room depends on the reason for 
 their being in the special rooms. If the reason is inferior mentality as 
 represented by I.Q.'s below 75 or thereabouts it is probable that pupils 
 should remain in special rooms permanently. An exception may be 
 made to this in case there are some homogeneous sections organized 
 to make very slow progress. If, on the other hand, pupils are in the 
 special room because of temporary difficulties it should be expected 
 that they return to their regular rooms as soon as these difficulties are 
 overcome. Ordinarily this will probably be a period of comparatively 
 few weeks, although in some cases it may require a semester or even 
 a longer period of time. Superior pupils who are in special rooms to 
 be helped in gaining time should likewise be returned to regular rooms 
 as soon as they have received enough help to enable them to make the 
 amount of gain planned. 
 
38 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 The same arguments apply in the case of parents' consent being 
 required to place children in special rooms as in the similar situation 
 with regard to homogeneous grouping; therefore the conclusion is the 
 same. Desirable though it is that parents see the wisdom of placing 
 pupils in special rooms their consent should not be required to do so. 
 
 School systems recommended for visiting. For those who wish 
 to visit or otherwise secure information concerning special rooms for 
 children of inferior mentality in particular Illinois school systems it is 
 suggested that among those worthy of attention are those in Bloom- 
 ington, Cicero, East St. Louis, Elgin, Joliet, Peoria, and Springfield. 
 For rooms whose chief purpose is to assist pupils in temporary diffi- 
 culties rather than those of inferior mentality the special room at 
 Lombard and the utility rooms in some of the buildings at Moline are 
 suggested. Batavia, Canton, Hinsdale, and La Grange provide good 
 examples of systems which have special teachers rather than rooms. 
 The room in the Washington School at Decatur well illustrates the 
 type in which the character of the group changes somewhat from time 
 to time and in general is rather heterogeneous, especially with regard 
 to mental ability. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 
 Introduction. There are about a dozen types of miscellaneous 
 provisions for pupils of atypical mentality in various elementary 
 and high schools in Illinois, of which only about half appear to merit 
 treatment in this bulletin. Some of these have more or less but not 
 necessary connection with plans of homogeneous grouping and with 
 special rooms. Others may be thought of as adaptations or uses of 
 administrative and of other provisions not intended primarily for this 
 purpose. Since some of these are comparatively little used and others 
 are so commonly employed and understood as to need little discussion 
 they will be treated rather briefly in this chapter. 
 
 Differentiated assignments. This plan is one of the miscellane- 
 ous provisions most frequently found in Illinois school systems, 
 especially in high schools. Although, as was mentioned in Chapter II, 
 it is sometimes connected with homogeneous grouping, it is frequently 
 used in regular class groups in which no such grouping at all has taken 
 place. The essential feature of the plan is that the assignments made to 
 the class are on several, usually three, levels. Sometimes pupils choose 
 the levels they will undertake, with of course some help or advice in 
 this matter from the teacher. In other cases all pupils attempt the as- 
 signment at the lowest level, some go on to the next, which is supple- 
 ' mentary to it, and some of these in turn go on to the highest, which is 
 again supplementary. 
 
 Probably the most common form in which the plan of differentiated 
 assignments is used is the unit or contract plan, frequently called the 
 Morrison Unit Plan because of the part played by Professor H. C. 
 Morrison, of the School of Education of the University of Chicago, in 
 developing and advocating it. This plan, with somewhat varying de- 
 tails, was found in use in a number of high schools and in a few 
 elementary schools. Some of these varying details are given below. 
 
 As used by some of the teachers in one high school there are four 
 levels. The lowest of these demands only mastery of fundamentals; 
 the next calls for higher additional reading in the same or related fields 
 plus written work of an assembling and tabulating nature; the next 
 requires reading, evaluating, and comparing additional material; and 
 the highest demands creative work. The assignments are given by 
 units, and pupils must pass rigid examinations over these units before 
 being allowed to go on to the next ones. Those who pass the exami- 
 
 39 
 
40 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 nations over the lowest level only cannot earn marks above 80, those 
 who pass the examinations over the next level, 85, the next, 90, and the 
 highest, 95. This plan is typical of that used in several schools, except 
 that there are usually not four levels but only three, or rarely two. 
 
 Another plan of differentiating assignments by the unit method is 
 that in which the work is divided into units just as in the last plan, 
 without, however, uniform assignments over these units, except at the 
 lowest level. Pupils who complete the lowest or minimum-essentials 
 level before the time for a given unit is up are given individual assign- 
 ments which they do in order to receive higher marks or, in a very few 
 cases, additional credit. When such plans are in operation it is usually 
 required that whatever additional work is done be completed by the 
 time set for the completion of the unit. For example, one history 
 teacher visited had the work divided into seven units, each covering 
 approximately five weeks' work; whatever work was undertaken by 
 pupils who had completed the general assignment over a unit had to 
 be completed before time to begin the next unit. 
 
 One point on which there is more or less difference of practice in 
 the unit plan is the length and size of the units. The case just referred 
 to, in which there are only seven units per year, has almost as long units 
 as were reported by any school. One or two have only five or six in 
 the year. At the other extreme are a few schools in which the units are 
 so small that the average time for them is a week or less. 
 
 A few teachers use the differentiated assignment plan, but not the 
 unit plan, by means of daily assignments on each of several levels. 
 Thus, one Latin teacher visited maintains three informal groups, all 
 meeting in the same room during the same class period, and makes three 
 assignments every day. Group A, for example, might be held respon- 
 sible for translating the easiest half of the sentences in the lesson; 
 Group B, for a few of the harder ones; and Group C, for still more 
 of the harder ones, while at the same time some of the easiest ones 
 were omitted from the assignments to Groups B. and C. In this case 
 also another rather unusual procedure is followed. The work is handled 
 in a two-day cycle, on one day of which each of the three groups is 
 seated together in the classroom and works mostly by itself, and on 
 the other of which the three are seated as a single class and recite 
 together with each, however, responsible only for its own assignment. 
 Special promotion. The practice of providing for superior pupils 
 by giving them special promotions or allowing them to skip grades 
 is such a time-honored and well-known practice that it scarcely needs 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 41 
 
 discussion. Some details as to how some schools facilitate it will, 
 however, be given. 
 
 In connection with skipping a number of systems make some defi- 
 nite provision for helping pupils to cover the most important parts of 
 the work in the grades skipped. In some the programs of the two 
 teachers affected are so arranged that the pupils for a while carry the 
 more important subjects with both teachers at once. Thus a pupil being 
 promoted from the fourth grade into the sixth may carry fifth-grade 
 arithmetic as well as sixth. Two systems have this plan so well worked 
 out that the pupils carry all their major subjects in two semester grades 
 at once and thus gain a semester by making what is called a "skip 
 without a skip." One of these two does so with the traditional or- 
 ganization, that is, with pupils remaining under one teacher for all of 
 their regular work, whereas the other which does so has Grades II to 
 VIII organized upon the platoon plan. In the latter system Grades 
 II A, III B, and so on, constitute one platoon and II B, III B, and so 
 on, the other ; thus pupils are enabled to carry all of the academic sub- 
 jects in both platoons at once. To do this it is necessary for them to 
 leave out most of the special work, such as physical education, music, 
 art, and so on. 
 
 In some systems pupils receiving special promotions are given some 
 individual help either by the teacher of the grade which they are en- 
 tering or of that which they are skipping. As has already been stated 
 in the last chapter, pupils who are gaining time are sometimes sent to 
 special rooms for some help when so doing. 
 
 There are various provisions in Illinois school systems regulating 
 how much time may be gained by special promotions and when special 
 promoting may be done. Most systems organized on the semester basis 
 do not allow more than one semester to be skipped at once, and prac- 
 tically all of those on the annual basis limit the skip to one year. Many 
 systems require that after a semester or a year has been skipped the 
 pupil remain a certain length of time, perhaps one or two years, with a 
 regular class before being allowed to skip again. Some systems allow 
 no pupils to skip enough to complete the eight years of the elementary 
 school in less than seven, and a few set six as the limit. Those which 
 place no limit allow few pupils to gain more than one year and prac- 
 tically none, more than two. 
 
 In some cases pupils are allowed to skip certain grades only. Thus 
 in one system no pupil may skip the first grade or the eighth, in another 
 no pupil above the sixth may skip, in still another no one above the 
 fifth. Sometimes pupils are allowed to skip only alternate grades— 
 
42 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 that is, they may skip the second, fourth, or sixth, but not any other, 
 or they may skip the third, fifth, or seventh, and no other. 
 
 Individual instruction and progress. It is well known to educa- 
 tors that a number of school systems, of which that of Winnetka is 
 undoubtedly the outstanding illustration in Illinois, have more or less 
 individualized instruction and progress. None of those visited by the 
 writer nor answering his letter of inquiry are among the few that do so. 
 Partly because of this reason and partly because of the large amount 
 of publicity which the Winnetka plan has received and the consequent 
 familiarity of administrators, supervisors, and teachers with it, the 
 writer will not include a discussion of the plan in this publication. 
 
 It should perhaps be mentioned here, however, that several of the 
 school systems included in the study are making some use of indi- 
 vidual instruction in special rooms, or elsewhere with small groups, 
 although none of them have adopted individual instruction as a general 
 policy. This use of it is frequently in connection with some other plan, 
 such as that of differentiated assignments, for example, and is generally 
 incidental thereto rather than adopted for its own sake. 
 
 Pupil guidance. Since the purpose of educational and vocational 
 guidance is to adapt the work carried by pupils and their vocational 
 choices to their capacities, interests, and characteristics, it follows that 
 guidance is a means of providing for children of unusual mental ability. 
 Since, however, educational and vocational guidance is much broader 
 than that and constitutes an important part of school procedure in 
 itself rather than a mere detail in connection with providing for 
 atypical children, it, as well as individualized instruction, will not be 
 considered at length here. A number of high schools and a few ele- 
 mentary schools in the state are taking serious and in many cases 
 apparently effective steps to guide pupils in their choice of subjects. 
 In so far as this guidance affects superior and inferior pupils especially, 
 it consists largely in advising the superior ones to take more subjects 
 and subjects that are supposedly rather abstract and academic in their 
 nature, and inferior pupils to carry less work and that of a so-called 
 practical nature. Thus in a number of schools superior pupils are 
 advised to take all subjects required for college entrance, whereas in- 
 ferior pupils are advised to omit foreign language and perhaps the 
 usual high-school mathematics. 
 
 Apart from more or less formal provisions for guidance there is 
 informal guidance in connection with practically all differentiated 
 assignment plans. Rarely are pupils left to their own individual initia- 
 tive to decide the levels at which they will attempt to work. They are 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 43 
 
 practically never compelled to try the work on levels which they do not 
 wish to attempt but, on the other hand, if they appear to be going to 
 choose levels that are definitely too hard or too easy .for them they are 
 usually advised to make a different selection. 
 
 Special periods. Although the plan of providing special periods 
 for helping atypical children is in a sense similar to that of having 
 special rooms, it seems well to consider the plan separately. This pro- 
 vision is most often found in high or departmentalized upper-grade 
 schools. The usual arrangement is that such periods are provided 
 before regular recitations begin in the morning or after they close in 
 the afternoon. In a few cases when the first or last period of the day 
 is used for this purpose it is not a period before or after the regular 
 school day but a part of it, and pupils not receiving special help spend 
 the time in regular study halls or assembly rooms. In some schools 
 the special period is not at the first or last of the school day but is 
 inserted sometime during the day and those pupils not receiving special 
 help then are at study or perhaps in some of the special subjects. One 
 or two schools use a portion of the noon period for this purpose. 
 
 In some cases these periods differ little from mere compulsory 
 study halls for those doing poor work ; in others they are practically 
 equivalent to additional class recitations in the particular subjects; 
 and in others they are almost anywhere between these two extremes. 
 Usually pupils who are below a given mark, which may be the failing 
 point or may be somewhat above it, are required to attend, although 
 attendance is sometimes voluntary and sometimes some of the better 
 pupils come as well as the poorer ones. One school, for example, re- 
 quires that all pupils doing very poor work in English come two extra 
 periods and those who are less inferior, one extra period each week. 
 During this time they are given special help over the fundamentals by 
 the regular English teacher. In some cases pupils who have been 
 absent for a specified time are required to attend special help periods 
 until they have made up the work missed during absence. In some 
 cases attendance at special periods is practically permanent, that is, 
 the weak pupils attend them regularly, whereas in others it is tem- 
 porary, pupils being required to come only for a few days or perhaps 
 even a day at a time. 
 
 Several schools endeavor to handle such special periods so that 
 they will in no way be felt as an added imposition or stigma. For 
 example, some of them provide an official school day of nine periods 
 and allow those whose work is above a certain level to be excused the 
 
44 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 last period rather than provide an eight period day and require those 
 below the same point to remain an additional period. 
 
 Perhaps reference should be made to supervised study under this 
 head of special periods. The reason is that in some instances the 
 supervised-study period is devoted primarily to helping a comparative 
 few of the most needy pupils rather than in giving assistance to the 
 class as a whole. It goes without saying that the provision of super- 
 vised-study periods, whether the emphasis is that just mentioned or 
 not, facilitates providing for pupils of atypical mentality by offering 
 a better chance for teachers to assist them with their work. 
 
 Coaching by superior pupils. One plan found in some schools 
 is that of having superior pupils assist or coach backward ones. In 
 the few schools that employ this method it is not used throughout the 
 system but only in certain grades or subjects. It is carried out in 
 several ways. In one system elementary-school pupils are divided into 
 groups of six or seven with a superior pupil in charge of each group. 
 These groups are quite informal, and the pupils work in them only a 
 portion of the day and in certain subjects. In a high-school Latin class 
 visited the groups are much smaller, each consisting of one of the better 
 pupils and one or two of the poorer ones. The two or three pupils in 
 each group sit together and carry on what may be considered a minia- 
 ture class recitation with the better pupil acting as teacher. When 
 visited, ten or twelve groups were reciting in the same room at the 
 same time, but the pupils had become so used to the method that they 
 did not seem to disturb one another. The teacher went from group 
 to group giving help as it seemed to be needed. 
 
 Other provisions. Other means by which schools provide for 
 children of atypical mentality seem scarcely worth discussing here. 
 This does not mean that they are of no merit but rather either that, 
 as is the case with one or two already mentioned in other connections, 
 providing for children of unusual mentality is not their main purpose 
 but only an incidental result, or that there are scarcely enough details 
 about them to merit discussion. These include such administrative 
 and other provisions as more frequent promotion periods, semi-annual 
 rather than annual, and in a very few cases even more frequent ; 
 special courses or subjects offered during the second semester by high 
 schools organized on the annual basis chiefly for the benefit of those 
 who have failed or those who may well carry extra subjects ; regula- 
 tion of the amount of extra-curricular participation by individuals ac- 
 cording to their apparent ability; the provision of summer work by 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 45 
 
 which pupils who have failed may have the opportunity of making 
 up their failures and others, the opportunity of doing extra work. 1 
 
 Suggestions concerning miscellaneous provisions. The writer is 
 very much in favor of the use of differentiated assignments regardless 
 of whether there is also homogeneous grouping or not, and believes 
 that the so-called unit or contract plan is probably the most workable 
 of those used. Therefore he recommends that this plan be adopted, 
 especially in high school. In using this plan it is probably best to re- 
 quire all pupils in the class to cover the original or minimum-essentials 
 assignment on a unit. As to the additional work, he would suggest 
 that some of it be uniform for all those who attempt to do it, but that 
 some of the supplementary assignments be adapted to individual in- 
 terests and thus not be uniform for all members of the class. In most 
 cases each unit of work should cover a period of at least two or three 
 weeks ; in some subjects at least five or six weeks are not too many. 
 
 The amount of special promotion or skipping advisable in a school 
 system depends to a considerable extent upon other provisions for 
 taking care of unusual pupils. If homogeneous grouping is in effect, 
 particularly if there is a difference in the rate of progress, compara- 
 tively few special promotions should be necessary. In any system that 
 does not have absolutely individual progress, how r ever, there are some 
 pupils who cannot be properly taken care of unless they are allowed 
 to skip one or more grades. In a normal school population the pro- 
 portion of pupils who may well be allowed to gain some time during 
 the eight years of the elementary school is probably about 20 per cent; 
 hence the difference between this fraction and the fraction who gain 
 time through membership in accelerated groups represents the ap- 
 proximate per cent that should at some time during their elementary- 
 school career receive special promotion. 
 
 When pupils are given special promotion it is quite desirable that 
 arrangements be made for them to carry some of the work in two 
 grades at once, to report to a special room or teacher, or in some other 
 way to receive some help on the work they are skipping. Furthermore, 
 the courses of study in most systems are such that there are certain 
 grades which it is easier to skip than others, and this should be taken 
 account of in giving special promotions. On the whole, it is probably 
 better to allow pupils to skip a primary or an intermediate grade than 
 
 'Summer work in Illinois elementary and high schools has been discussed 
 and advocated by the writer in the following bulletin: 
 
 Odell, C. W. "Summer Work in Public Schools," University of Illinois 
 Bulletin, Vol. 27, No. 34, Bureau of Educational Research Bulletin No. 49. 
 Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois, 1930. 42 p. 
 
46 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 an upper grade. The amount skipped at one time should not be more 
 than the smallest possible unit of work, usually either a semester or 
 a year, and the total amount in the elementary school should not ex- 
 ceed one year except for quite a small per cent of pupils; for prac- 
 tically none should it exceed two years. 
 
 As a universal procedure the plan of individual instruction and 
 progress does not seem desirable. On the other hand, the writer is in 
 agreement with those who maintain that there are certain subjects or 
 portions of subjects, almost entirely in the first six grades, which can 
 be taught more efficiently by the individual method and in which such 
 practice involves no loss of valuable outcomes through the absence of 
 group work and contact. There are, however, other subjects and 
 portions of subjects in which the interchange of thought and other 
 group activity is an important factor in securing the desired outcomes. 
 Therefore what should properly be called a modified individual method 
 or a combination of the individual and the group methods is a desirable 
 form of procedure. 
 
 As to the guidance of pupils, it goes practically without saying that 
 they should receive as helpful advice as possible and that their work 
 should be adapted to their individual aptitudes and interests. It is, 
 however, very easy to be too dogmatic in giving such advice to pupils. 
 It should always be borne in mind that even the most expert advice 
 is not infallible, since the data upon which it must be based are not 
 thoroughly valid and reliable. Furthermore, it should be remembered 
 that, on the whole, negative advice is generally safer than positive 
 advice ; that is, it is usually easier to find fairly valid and reliable evi- 
 dence that a pupil will not do well in some subjects or courses than 
 to find equally good evidence that he will do well in others. 
 
 The provision of special periods for helping children is a very de- 
 sirable one that the writer believes should exist in every school. The 
 arrangements for these periods should be such that they are not felt 
 in any sense as burdens or penalties but rather as opportunities. It 
 is suggested, therefore, that at least some such periods be scheduled at 
 times when all pupils are expected to be in school. Those not receiving 
 the special help can spend the time in ordinary study. In addition to 
 this, however, it is frequently well to have other periods, either before 
 school in the morning or after school in the afternoon, for the same 
 purpose. During the special periods help should be given not only 
 to pupils who are having difficulty with their work but also to those 
 who are skipping a grade, or doing additional work. In other words, 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 47 
 
 the special periods should be considered as times at which all pupils 
 who for any reason need special help should receive it. 
 
 The writer does not believe that a formal plan of coaching inferior 
 pupils by superior pupils is desirable. On the other hand, some in- 
 formal help of this sort can well be given. The chief danger is that the 
 superior pupils will not be sympathetic with the difficulties of the in- 
 ferior ones and will not have enough skill as instructors to give them 
 the needed help, but instead will tend to do the the work for them 
 and perhaps fail to see many of their difficulties. 
 
 As to the other miscellaneous provisions mentioned, there is some 
 value in all. The writer believes that summer work should be offered, 
 that participation in extra-curricular activities should be adapted to in- 
 dividual ability, that in fairly large schools there should be semi-annual 
 rather than annual promotions, and that in high schools organized on 
 the annual basis special second-semester courses should be given. In 
 these provisions, as well as in all others, sight should not be lost of 
 the fact that superior pupils as well as inferior pupils are to be pro- 
 vided for. 
 
 School systems recommended for visiting. The school systems 
 which the writer recommends as worth visiting for the study of the 
 provisions dealt with in this chapter are as follows: 
 Differentiated assignments 
 
 Argo Community High 
 
 Elmhurst-York Community High 
 
 La Salle-Peru Township High 
 
 Lincoln Community High 
 
 Mt. Pulaski Township High 
 
 Princeton Township High 
 Special promotion 
 
 Bloomington Elementary 
 
 Canton Elementary 
 
 Dundee-Carpentersville Elementary 
 
 Silvis Elementary 
 Individual instruction and progress 
 
 Argo Community High (bookkeeping and typewriting) 
 
 Des Plaines Elementary (upper-grade reading) 
 
 Winnetka Elementary 
 Guidance 
 
 La Salle-Peru Township High 
 
 New Trier Township High, Kenilworth 
 
 Paris High 
 
 Thornton Township High, Harvey 
 Special periods 
 
 Argo Community High 
 
 Bloomington Elementary 
 
48 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 Bridgeport Township High 
 Evanston Township High 
 Fairfield Community High 
 Forest Park Elementary 
 Lincoln Elementary 
 Lincoln Community High 
 Princeton Township High 
 Proviso Township High, Maywood 
 Riverside-Brookfield Township High 
 Coaching by superior pupils 
 
 Dundee-Carpentersville Community High (Latin) 
 La Salle-Peru Township High (mathematics) 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 GENERAL PROGRAMS TO PROVIDE FOR CHILDREN 
 OF ATYPICAL MENTALITY 
 
 Introduction. The last three chapters have been devoted to sepa- 
 rate discussions of certain methods of providing for children of atypi- 
 cal mentality. A discussion of the whole question, however, is not 
 complete unless some consideration is given to these different pro- 
 visions comparatively and jointly. The first part of this chapter 
 will, therefore, contain a short discussion of this sort. Following that 
 there will be fairly complete descriptions of what five systems are doing 
 along this line so that a comprehensive idea of their entire programs 
 will be given. 
 
 A desirable point of view. For the consideration of what pro- 
 visions are to be made for children of atypical mentality a general 
 point of view is important. The writer, therefore, wishes to suggest 
 what he considers two important elements in such a point of view. 
 The first is that any organization or administrative provision of this 
 sort should be regarded merely as providing better opportunities for 
 effective instruction and learning and not as something that in itself 
 will increase the efficiency of a school system. It is probably true that 
 some of the provisions mentioned in previous chapters do merely of 
 themselves bring about some increase in efficiency. For example, it 
 seems reasonable that by collecting pupils who present the most difficult 
 problems in special rooms the efficiency of the work in the regular 
 rooms will be automatically increased. In the main, however, this is 
 not true to any considerable degree. Therefore when any type of pro- 
 vision is inaugurated it should be accompanied by a careful study of 
 what use is to be made of it. For example, homogeneous grouping 
 should not be introduced unless it is accompanied by the provision of 
 different rates of progress or different courses of study, nor should 
 special rooms be introduced unless the instruction therein is to be 
 better adapted to the pupils placed therein than is that in regular rooms. 
 
 The second element referred to has to do with the attitude of the 
 teaching staff. There is some evidence, although it is not very objec- 
 tive or very conclusive, that teachers do better by the use of inferior 
 methods and devices in which they believe, and therefore, about which 
 they are enthusiastic, than with superior ones toward which their atti- 
 tude is definitely hostile or even only neutral. It is, therefore, im- 
 portant that before any new provisions for atypical children are 
 
 49 
 
50 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 introduced the teaching corps should be brought to understand them 
 and to feel at least somewhat favorable toward them. Preparation for 
 their introduction should be made by disseminating information con- 
 cerning the contemplated provisions among the teachers and discussing 
 them in teachers' meetings. Indeed, instead of the adoption of a plan 
 by the board of education or by the superintendent or principal, it is 
 better that the plan be allowed to grow, or at least to appear to grow, 
 more or less out of study and discussion by the teachers themselves. 
 A skillful superintendent or principal can with due preparation fre- 
 quently lead his teaching staff to accept his ideas in such a way that 
 they feel that the ideas are largely their own. Although it may delay 
 the inauguration of the contemplated plan for a semester or year and 
 involve a considerable amount of extra labor the writer believes very 
 strongly that the results are w r orth the cost. 
 
 Suggestions for a general program. Most of the chief provisions 
 dealt with in Chapters II to IV may exist at the same time in the same 
 system. They are not mutually contradictory and exclusive, but in 
 many cases they tend to be definitely interrelated and supplementary to 
 one another. The writer believes, therefore, that a complete program of 
 this sort should include a number of them. The chief points of such 
 a program as he believes it should be are in general as follows. There 
 should be a three-track plan of homogeneous grouping with details 
 such as were set forth near the end of Chapter II. Accompanying this 
 should be special rooms, preferably some for children of inferior men- 
 tality, others for those having temporary difficulty, and perhaps even 
 some for superior pupils receiving special promotions, as described 
 near the end of Chapter III. In addition, differentiated assignments 
 should be employed, particularly in departmentalized elementary and 
 high schools ; a few special promotions should be given ; within groups 
 pupils should work more or less individually upon certain portions of 
 the work; careful guidance should be provided; there should be at 
 least one special help period daily; summer work should be offered; 
 the number of extra-curricular activities allowed should be adapted to 
 the individual ; and other minor provisions should exist. Most of 
 these can be put into effect at no extra cost, and for the others the 
 expenditure required represents a comparatively small per cent of the 
 total spent upon the school. 
 
 Descriptions of all provisions for children of atypical men- 
 tality in five school systems. The five systems described below were 
 chosen for fairly complete description partly because they have more 
 of the different types of provisions than do most systems studied and 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 51 
 
 partly because the author believes they are carrying out those they have 
 rather well. None are included that were not visited in person. 
 
 Argo Community High School 
 
 This school has homogeneous grouping with differentiated assign-, 
 ments and different rates, differentiated assignments without homo- 
 geneous grouping, special periods, and individual progress. In a 
 number of the subjects there are groups on two or three levels— the 
 basis of grouping differs from subject to subject. Scores on intelli- 
 gence and achievement tests, school marks, and teachers' judgments are 
 used in varying ways. In differentiating assignments some teachers 
 use the unit or contract plan ; others follow what is practically the 
 conventional type of assignment. For more detailed illustrations of 
 what is done, the plans followed in a number of subjects will be given 
 
 below: . 
 
 In commercial work both three-level assignments and individual 
 progress are employed. The former is used in bookkeeping, and the 
 latter, in the laboratory period of bookkeeping and in portions of the 
 typing work. There is also a special period after school during which 
 pupils who are having difficulty in bookkeeping are given help. In the 
 shorthand classes material is dictated at different rates of speed for 
 pupils of varying capacities. 
 
 The assignments in English are on four levels of difficulty. The 
 lowest level requires only mastery of fundamentals and pupils who 
 master these fundamentals satisfactorily may earn a mark of 80. The 
 next level, by mastering which pupils may earn a mark of 85, requires 
 further reading in the same field as the lowest one or in related fields 
 and also written work that involves assembling and tabulating ma- 
 terial. To secure a mark of 90 pupils must read still other material 
 and in addition evaluate and compare it. The highest level requires 
 some creative work and allows a grade of 95 to be made. In addition 
 the department has a special class for weak pupils. The very weakest 
 spend two periods a week in this class and others, one period. The 
 whole work of the department is organized on the unit basis, and each 
 pupil is required to pass a regular examination on one unit before 
 passing to the next. 
 
 In history the triple-level assignment by the unit method is em- 
 ployed. The additional work for the two higher levels consists of 
 such things as book and other reports, summaries, term papers, charts, 
 diagrams, maps, talks to the class, and so forth. 
 
 In first-year Latin pupils receive higher marks for doing more or 
 less original work in addition to that assigned to the whole class. This 
 
52 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 work consists of the study of derivations, the writing of original stories 
 or conversations in Latin, the construction of posters, the study of 
 Roman history, and so forth. In second-year Latin some time is given 
 every day to special help for the weaker pupils. 
 
 In mathematics there is more or less of what may be called the 
 double differentiated assignment system. In addition to a uniform 
 enriched course for the superior pupils, individual assignments to the 
 very best of the group are also made. Especially in geometry the best 
 pupils are left largely to their own resources, whereas much help is 
 given to the weaker ones. However, some individual attention is given 
 to superior pupils who seem particularly able to profit by it. In algebra 
 a test is given at least every week, and all pupils who do not pass it 
 attend a special session to receive help. 
 
 In the science classes there is one period a week devoted to prob- 
 lems and written work which is used for giving individual attention 
 to pupils who need it. In addition, all pupils and particularly the in- 
 ferior ones are encouraged to come for individual help after regular 
 school hours. In science, as in several other subjects, additional exer- 
 cises and problems are done by the stronger pupils who, therefore, 
 earn higher marks. 
 
 In Spanish superior pupils work out special projects similar to 
 those described above under Latin. Individual help is given inferior 
 pupils after school in the afternoon. As a stimulus to do superior 
 work only those pupils who do so are allowed to hold office in the 
 Spanish club. 
 
 Bloomington Elementary and High Schools 
 
 In Bloomington there are to be found an opportunity school for 
 the whole system, special periods, special promotion, homogeneous 
 grouping chiefly in the upper grades and high school with differences 
 in both rate and work done, and differentiated assignments not con- 
 nected with homogeneous grouping. 
 
 What is known as the junior-primary class is practically equivalent 
 to an inferior section of the first semester's work. Its work is similar 
 in many ways to that of the upper kindergarten plus some reading. 
 Beginning pupils with I.Q.'s below 90 are likely to be in it, and those 
 who during the first few weeks of the semester do not give evidence 
 of being able to do regular first-semester work satisfactorily. The 
 junior-primary classes are not organized until several weeks after the 
 beginning of the semester. They are handled by the regular I B teach- 
 ers in the same rooms with the I B pupils. Provision is made for 
 shifting pupils from the junior-primary to I B, and vice versa, when- 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 53 
 
 ever it appears desirable. About one-fourth, or slightly less, of the 
 beginning pupils are in the junior-primary. Most of them remain there 
 only one semester, but a very few are kept longer. 
 
 The particular feature of the six lower grades is the "skip without 
 a skip." Pupils whose capacity and achievement seem to warrant it 
 are allowed to carry the major subjects in the next higher grade as 
 well as in the grade they are in and if successful they receive credit 
 for completing both grades at the end of the semester. Pupils are en- 
 couraged to do this twice and thus gain a full year's time but are 
 rarely allowed to gain more than this. Approximately 1 per cent of 
 the pupils earn extra promotion by this method each semester. 
 
 In the seventh and eighth grades, which are departmentalized, 
 there are some slow sections. These, however, do not exist in all build- 
 ings. In freshman English and algebra there is also homogeneous 
 grouping. In English, pupils over sixteen years of age with I.Q.'s 
 below 100, who have been repeaters in the elementary grades, are 
 placed in slow or retarded sections. These groups do only the mini- 
 mum essentials and use different textbooks from the regular classes. 
 However, at the end of the year they receive the same amount of credit 
 if they pass. In algebra ail do the same work but at different rates. 
 These' rates are not determined in advance, but each group goes ahead 
 at the rate that seems appropriate to it. In some cases two years are 
 required to cover the year's work, and apparently the work is never 
 covered in less than one year. The division in algebra is made pri- 
 marily upon the basis of the work done in class during the first four 
 weeks during which all pupils are kept together in random groups. 
 After the division is once made pupils are rarely shifted from one 
 group to another. 
 
 The opportunity school consists of two rooms in one of the ele- 
 mentary buildings. It draws pupils from the whole system. Enrol- 
 ment is limited to twenty-eight. The pupils admitted range in I.Q. 
 from 50 to 70 with occasionally some up to 80, and in age from eight 
 or nine to sixteen years. Pupils are recommended by teachers, and 
 sometimes by parents, for admission to the opportunity school. Fre- 
 quently the evidence concerning them secured at the child guidance 
 clinic is the deciding factor in whether or not they are placed in this 
 school. Parents' consent must be secured, and so far only a few 
 parents have refused it. The opportunity school has available a small 
 shop and a kitchen in which the pupils do a considerable portion of 
 their work. Emphasis is placed on teaching them whatever will make 
 them better homemakers and citizens. When pupils in this school 
 reach the age of sixteen they commonly go to high school if they con- 
 
54 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 tinue in school at all and there they are allowed to take only such work 
 as they seem able to do profitably. 
 
 Throughout the elementary school there is one remedial period per 
 day in each room during which the teacher gives attention to those 
 who need help most. Elastic assignments are also largely used in the 
 grades, although in rather informal fashion. 
 
 Canton Elementary and High Schools 
 
 There is a considerable amount of homogeneous grouping through- 
 out the Canton school system with both differentiated rate and differ- 
 entiated work. There are also special promotions and a special teacher. 
 The homogeneous grouping is based upon intelligence test results and 
 teachers' opinions. There is an approximation to a double plan of such 
 grouping throughout the elementary school. In the first six grades 
 the practice is to form a fast group whenever there appear to be 
 enough children on the same level in one building to warrant it. Some- 
 times this group is quite small, consisting of not more than three or 
 four children, whereas in other instances it includes a whole roomful. 
 The fast groups usually cover three years' work in two but sometimes 
 do five years' work in four. Frequently the small fast groups do not 
 meet as separate groups continuously, but meet with regular groups 
 working at their level for a while. For example, a group that is to do 
 five years' work in four may go rapidly enough to gain one semester 
 of the year to be gained, then may work for a while with a class at its 
 level, and then may be separated again to gain the other semester. A 
 few very bright pupils are allowed to cover seventh- and eighth-grade 
 work in one year. 
 
 In addition to the fast groups just described there are groups, 
 usually at three levels, formed throughout the lower six grades and 
 six groups, in the seventh and eighth grades. The difference in their 
 work is in the amount and type of subject-matter covered. This is 
 especially true of the two lowest sections in Grades VII and VIII, 
 in which much stress is placed upon citizenship, the dignity and value 
 of labor, home-making skills, arithmetic computation rather than 
 reasoning, and so forth. It is assumed that the pupils in these lower 
 sections, who are ordinarily at least sixteen years of age when they 
 complete the eighth grade, will not usually go on to high school, and 
 that, therefore, the work in the seventh and eighth grades should pre- 
 pare them for life in so far as it is possible. 
 
 In general no elementary-school pupil is failed often enough to be 
 more than sixteen years of age before he completes the eighth grade. 
 Pupils who are passed because of this provision, when according to 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 55 
 
 ordinary standards they would not be passed, are said to be "socially 
 promoted," and especially in the upper grades these pupils do not do 
 work entirely on the grade level at which they are nominally classified. 
 Thus some of these pupils who are ostensibly in the seventh grade may 
 be doing fifth-grade arithmetic, fourth-grade reading, and so on. In such 
 cases they work often largely as individuals rather than as members 
 of a group. In history, geography, literature, and some other subjects 
 they attend class with regular seventh-grade pupils and gain whatever 
 they can. The comparatively few who continue into high school are 
 given what is intended to be as practical work as possible ; correct usage 
 rather than grammar is emphasized, certain phases of public speaking, 
 vocational subjects, and so forth are given, and the regular high-school 
 mathematics and foreign language are omitted. The very few who 
 earn enough credits for high-school graduation receive industrial- 
 course diplomas rather than those for college entrance. 
 
 There is homogeneous grouping in freshman English and algebra 
 and to a lesser extent in other subjects. This grouping is largely de- 
 termined by whether or not pupils take Latin, which in turn depends 
 largely upon their seventh- and eighth-grade records. At the end of 
 about six weeks those who appear to have been placed in the wrong 
 grades are shifted. 
 
 There is a small amount of skipping in the elementary grades to 
 take care of individual pupils or groups too small to form accelerated 
 groups. Some of this skipping occurs between the eighth grade and 
 high school. A few of the best eighth-grade pupils carry high-school 
 algebra instead of eighth-grade arithmetic, and a still more limited 
 number who have completed the first semester of eighth-grade work 
 are at once admitted to several high-school subjects and thus can be 
 graduated in three more years. 
 
 A special teacher is provided who goes from building to building 
 giving help to pupils who seem most in need of it. This help is pri- 
 marily intended for individuals or groups having temporary difficulties 
 rather than for those of very inferior mentality. 
 
 Dundee-Carpentersville Elementary and High Schools 
 
 This system, especially the high school, has one of the most con> 
 plete schemes of homogeneous grouping found by the writer. In addi- 
 tion, there are a number of special promotions because of the fact that 
 the different groups progress at the same rate. 
 
 A few weeks after the beginning of the year pupils in the first 
 grade are divided into three groups according to their achievement to 
 date. This plan is continued through the second grade but from the 
 
56 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 third grade on through the elementary school there are only two groups 
 instead of three in each grade. In addition to the general enrichment 
 of the work done by the upper group the most superior pupils do still 
 more by way of supplementary reading and individual projects and 
 also in a few cases tutor or coach pupils having special difficulties. 
 About 10 percent of the elementary-school pupils skip one grade some- 
 time during the course, and a very few skip two grades. 
 
 High-school pupils are tested with an intelligence test at the be- 
 ginning of each semester of their freshman and sophomore years and 
 are then grouped on the basis of the results. During the junior and 
 senior years grouping continues but no additional tests are given; in- 
 stead the results of those already administered are employed. This 
 grouping is in effect in all subjects except physical education and those 
 in which the number of pupils is so small that there can be only one 
 section. The number of levels is the same as the number of sections 
 in each year's work of each subject. The largest number is six in 
 freshman English and the smallest, two, found in a number of instances. 
 Whenever a pupil's achievement indicates that he is doing markedly 
 better or worse than the intelligence test results predicted, he is shifted 
 to a higher or lower section. So much attention has been given to 
 planning the schedule that it is claimed that all such desirable shifts can 
 be made. Sometimes doing so involves shifting a pupil in more than one 
 subject at the same time. The various groups do different amounts of 
 work, each doing all that it can, but at the end of the semester or year 
 all pupils who pass receive the same amount of credit. As an example 
 of the kind of differentiation first-year German may be cited. The 
 work is essentially the same until well along in the second semester. 
 At this time the pupils who are superior take up special topics, pla3*s, 
 rapid reading, and so forth, whereas the inferior ones continue to spend 
 their time on the fundamentals. Another example of differentiation, 
 which has already been described elsewhere, is found in second-year 
 Latin. The class is divided into groups, each of which consists of one 
 of the better pupils and one or two of the weaker. Each group works 
 together, particularly on the translation, with the superior pupils as- 
 suming some of the responsibilities of the teacher. All the groups 
 recite in the same room at once but apparently are not troubled by the 
 seeming confusion. The teacher goes from group to group giving help 
 where it appears to be needed. 
 
 Princeton Township High School 
 
 In this school there is no uniform plan of dealing with pupils of 
 atypical mentality but practically every teacher is doing something 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 57 
 
 definitely intended for this purpose. Homogeneous grouping with 
 differentiation in the amount and type of work, differentiated assign- 
 ments, and special periods, are the three most common plans. The 
 following details concerning a number of the subjects serve to illustrate 
 how these are applied. 
 
 Algebra pupils are grouped on the basis of cumulative scholastic 
 records and intelligence test scores. All cover the minimum essentials, 
 some do additional work common to the group, and a few are also 
 asked to work out different solutions from those commonly obtained 
 and to do exercises from college texts. Inferior pupils are given more 
 board work than others and are to some extent helped by the superior 
 pupils as well as by the teacher while doing this. 
 
 In bookkeeping the contract method is used with three levels. C 
 pupils must do a certain number of written exercises, B pupils, a larger 
 number, and A pupils, a still larger number. 
 
 The chemistry instructor attempts to provide for differences in 
 ability through term papers. All pupils write them but they are 
 adapted in difficulty to their supposed abilities. 
 
 In English the contract plan with assignments on three levels is 
 largely used in both composition and literature. In the former all 
 pupils must write the same number of themes. In rewriting them the 
 inferior ones pay most attention to grammatical and rhetorical points, 
 the average pupil in addition centers attention upon originality and 
 interest, and the superior ones not only rewrite their own themes but 
 read those of other groups, mark the errors, and suggest improvements. 
 In connection with the contracts there is a system whereby specific 
 units of work count so many points each, and a pupil's mark is de- 
 termined by the number of points earned. For example, on the study 
 of one classic a pupil is passed if he earns 12 points, receives C for 
 15 points, B for 18, A for 20, A+ for 22, and AA for 24. These 
 points may be earned in a number of ways. The required work is 
 reading the book, which counts one point if done in four days ; passing 
 an examination, which counts two points for a grade of 70, three for 
 one of 80, and four for 90 ; and outlining the book, which counts two 
 points. The other work consists of a list of fourteen items, counting 
 from one to fourteen points each, from which pupils may choose and 
 do as many as they desire. 
 
 In French all pupils are held together for the first semester. Dur- 
 ing the second, however, each reads ahead as rapidly as he can or will. 
 In the second year an A, B, C system of requirements is in effect. 
 In general science a contract plan with three levels is being used. 
 
58 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 Provisions in geometry consist of a special class before school in 
 the morning for inferior pupils and the requirement of more original 
 thinking, more elaborate constructions, and the solution of extra prob- 
 lems by superior pupils. 
 
 History is another subject in which a three-fold assignment plan 
 is employed. The differences between the three levels are of two kinds, 
 both in amount and type of work. For example, a C pupil is expected 
 to read fifteen pages on the particular topic, a B pupil, twenty pages, 
 and an A pupil, twenty-five pages and likewise to have a corresponding 
 difference in the completeness with which the topic is covered in his 
 notebook. In addition, superior pupils are expected to prepare and 
 present reports on special topics, to illustrate what they have written up 
 in their notebooks, and to do other additional work. 
 
 In home economics the work is adapted to the interests and abilities 
 of the girls, and in addition each pupil in sewing goes at her own speed. 
 Latin is another subject in which the triple-assignment plan is used 
 but the details differ somewhat from those already mentioned. Each 
 group is responsible for a certain portion of the work in the book. 
 There is some overlapping, but the assignment of each group does not 
 include everything assigned to the group below it. Thus the Group B 
 assignment includes some harder sentences for translation than does 
 that of Group A and also some but not all of those assigned to the 
 lower group. The same is true between Group C and Group B. 1 The 
 work of the class is planned largely on a two-day cycle, on one day of 
 which each group is seated by itself and works as a unit and on the 
 other of which the three groups recite together as a single class with 
 each responsible only for its own assignment. Sometimes members of 
 the C groups coach those in the A groups. 
 
 In music pupils in harmony receive special attention that amounts 
 to almost private lessons of about ten minutes apiece every day. Each 
 then proceeds at his own rate. This of course is only possible because 
 of the small number of pupils enrolled. 
 
 At the beginning of the work in typewriting all pupils are kept 
 together but as soon as noticeable differences begin to appear this no 
 longer holds. The inferior pupils are assigned remedial work and the 
 superior ones, extra work. The same general plan is followed in short- 
 hand with differentiation, especially in speed. By the end of the second 
 year inferior pupils are expected to be able to do eighty words per 
 minute and superior pupils, one hundred words with the same degree 
 of accuracy. 
 
 1Jt wi , U be noted that in this case Group C and not Group A is the superior 
 group and accordingly Group A, the inferior one. 
 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 A BRIEF CONSIDERATION OF OBJECTIONS 
 
 TO PROVISIONS FOR CHILDREN OF 
 
 ATYPICAL MENTALITY 
 
 Introduction. Throughout the preceding five chapters the as- 
 sumption that provisions for children of atypical mentality were 
 desirable has been more or less implied. Since, however, some serious 
 objections to such provisions, especially to homogeneous grouping, have 
 been raised, it seems that a bulletin on the subject should not close 
 without considering them. It is not the writer's purpose to consider 
 them at great length, but he does wish to offer quite briefly what seem 
 to him valid answers to a number of these objections. Those to be 
 answered include a few of the more fundamental ones raised by critics 
 and, in addition, all those given by Illinois principals and superintend- 
 ents who complied with the writer's request to state their objections. 
 
 In general, the objections advanced may be divided into two chief 
 groups. One includes what may be called theoretical objections, that is, 
 objections derived from a supposedly logical consideration of the 
 matter. The other group may be called experimental, because they are 
 derived from experiments intended to ascertain the worth of such 
 provisions as are being considered or from study of such provisions in 
 operation. In many cases the two overlap, but, on the whole, it is 
 rather easy to classify objections as one kind or the other. 
 
 Keliher's objections to homogeneous grouping. Perhaps the 
 most carefully considered adverse criticisms of homogeneous grouping 
 are those of Keliher. 1 She made critical analyses of what seemed 
 to her the basic implied assumptions involved in homogeneous grouping 
 and in the use of measurement as a basis for grouping, and as a result 
 of her thinking she arrived at a number of conclusions which she con- 
 sidered were fairly certain and others less certain but in accord with 
 evidence. The assumptions which, she stated, seem to be fundamental 
 to homogeneous grouping as commonly carried on are as follows: 2 
 
 1. Intelligence is so adequately measured by verbal intelligence tests 
 that the results may serve as bases for action which concerns the whole 
 individual. 
 
 keliher, A. V. "A Critical Study of Homogeneous Grouping," Teachers 
 College, Columbia University Contributions to Education, No. 452. New York: 
 Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1931. 165 p. 
 
 2 These assumptions are quoted by permission from pages 49, 66, 71, 77, 85, 
 91, 96, 101, 131, 140, 142, and 147 of Keliher's discussion. 
 
 50 
 
60 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 2. Learning, as measured by standardized achievement tests, is an ade- 
 quate and relevant basis for action which involves the whole individual. 
 
 3. The Educational Age and varying weightings of I.Q., M.A., and 
 Teacher's Judgment form a sound basis for certain courses of action con- 
 cerning the individual. 
 
 4. An individual is so consistent in his performance in specific traits 
 that homogeneity of grouping is possible. 
 
 5. Homogeneity of grouping reduces the range of variations within a 
 grade. 
 
 6. Homogeneity of grouping tends to bring superior learning results. 
 
 7. Homogeneity of grouping tends to provide superior provision for 
 individual differences. 
 
 8. Homogeneous grouping provides for better attitudes in pupils. 
 
 9. The legitimate next step to grouping is the arrangement of a mul- 
 tiple-track curriculum, differentiated in number of years, or scope of cur- 
 riculum, or both. 
 
 10. The common essentials in education are those learnings upon which 
 grouping is made, the academic skills. 
 
 11. Differences in ability to create and ability to appreciate aesthetic 
 values vary concomitantly with "intelligence" and (in some interpretations) 
 high ability in each is limited to those of high intelligence. 
 
 12. The classification and segregation of children in our schools does 
 not adversely affect society since a like segregation exists in democratic 
 society. 
 
 Her general conclusion is that these assumptions are more or less 
 invalid and therefore that homogeneous grouping is undesirable. 
 
 After a critical examination of the assumptions just given the 
 writer is unable to see how any one familiar with the situation can 
 believe that some of them are implied in homogeneous grouping at its 
 best, nor does Keliher make this claim; therefore, it seems to 
 him that in general the conclusion to be drawn therefrom is not that 
 homogeneous grouping should be abolished but rather that it should be 
 improved until it is more in accord with the best practice. In the 
 second place, the writer radically disagrees with Keliher in her 
 belief that some of the assumptions which she gives are false in think- 
 ing that the weight of evidence favors them. With this general in- 
 troduction he will proceed to discuss briefly each of the assumptions 
 given above. 
 
 1. Intelligence is so adequately measured by verbal intelligence tests 
 
 that the residts may serve as bases for action which concerns the 
 
 whole individual. 
 
 All careful students of intelligence tests recognize that they are 
 
 far from yielding perfect measures of intelligence, and the number of 
 
 teachers and others who still regard them as perfect, or practically so, 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 61 
 
 is constantly decreasing. At the same time, there is considerable evi- 
 dence that they do measure to some extent certain capacities and char- 
 acteristics that tend to make for better achievement in school, par- 
 ticularly in the so-called academic or book subjects. Unless all group 
 instruction and activity in school is to be abandoned in favor of indi- 
 vidual work, there must be grouping upon some basis or other. In 
 grouping pupils by grades the attempt is made to get together those 
 who are at an approximately similar stage with regard to achievement. 
 Homogeneous grouping within the grade is merely an attempt to carry 
 the same process one step further, and if intelligence test scores corre- 
 late sufficiently well with the achievement they may well be used to 
 assist in doing so. As should be evident from the discussion of the 
 bases of grouping in Chapter II the writer found very few systems in 
 which intelligence test results alone are used for this purpose and in 
 those opportunity is provided for shifting pupils if their achievement 
 indicates that it is desirable to do so. It is true that the school in a 
 sense deals with the whole individual. This fact, however, is not in 
 itself an argument against grouping, but instead merely one that the 
 school should recognize in dealing with children after they have been 
 grouped. 
 
 2. Learning, as measured by standardized achievement tests, is an ade- 
 
 quate and relevant basis for action which involves the whole 
 individual. 
 The answer to this is practically the same as to the previous state- 
 ment. There is, however, the difference that standardized achievement 
 tests measure more directly the results of instruction and, therefore, 
 in a sense are more appropriately used for the purpose indicated. It 
 is true that they do not measure all phases of desired learning in the 
 school subjects and very few outside of the subjects, but this fact does 
 not condemn their use. Instead, it merely reminds us to remember 
 that there are these other desired outcomes of the school. 
 
 3. The Educational Age and varying weightings of I.Q., M.A., and 
 
 Teacher's Judgment form a sound basis for certain courses of 
 
 action concerning the individual. 
 To this the answer is very much the same as to the two previous 
 statements. It is necessary to take some action concerning pupils, and 
 it is better to have this action based upon as much objective evidence 
 as possible than to allow it to be entirely subjective. Therefore, al- 
 though the factors mentioned do not form a completely sound basis 
 for action, they, in conjunction with other knowledge about the pupil, 
 provide a sounder basis than if they were not included. 
 
62 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 4. An individual is so consistent in his performance in specific traits 
 
 that homogeneity of grouping is possible. 
 As was explained near the beginning of Chapter II the expression 
 "homogeneous grouping" is not understood by anyone familiar with 
 the situation to signify that the grouping is strictly homogeneous but 
 rather that it is less heterogeneous than it would be otherwise. It is 
 recognized that pupils do not exhibit the same quantity and quality of 
 achievement in the various school subjects. On the other hand, there 
 is ample evidence to show that positive correlation exists among their 
 achievements in most subjects and that in cases where the correlation 
 is not definitely positive it is rarely negative but rather approaches zero. 
 Thus, if a reasonable degree of homogeneity is secured in one or more 
 subjects or important phases thereof the tendency is for it to be accom- 
 panied by a decrease in heterogeneity in other subjects. 
 
 5. Homogeneity of grouping reduces the range of variations within 
 
 a grade. 
 This assumption is true even though the reduction of range of 
 variation is less than has frequently been supposed. Published and 
 unpublished evidence from various sources indicates that at the best 
 the range of variation within each level in a three-track system of 
 homogeneous grouping is about one-half of that in the whole grade. 
 In common practice it is somewhat greater than one-half. Burr 3 has 
 collected considerable data on this point and finds that on the average 
 it is not far from four-fifths as great. The writer believes, however, 
 that in systems where homogeneous grouping has been carefully carried 
 out and comparatively easy transfer from group to group is possible 
 it will rarely be found to be as much as this. Moreover, he believes 
 that such reduction of variation is desirable for reasons mentioned in 
 the discussions of other of the assumptions. 
 
 6. Homogeneity of grouping tends to bring superior learning results. 
 
 Whether this assumption is true or not is to be determined by ex- 
 periment and study. Keliher summarizes the evidence available 
 as hardly conclusive but as indicating that heterogeneity is favorable to 
 learning. The writer is unable to see how anyone who has studied 
 thoroughly the reports of experiments and studies along this line can 
 arrive at this conclusion. The best summary of the results with which 
 he is familiar is that of Turney. 4 Turney's conclusions upon this point 
 are as follows: 
 
 3 Burr, M. Y. "A Study of Homogeneous Grouping." Teachers College, 
 Columbia University Contributions to Education, No. 457. New York: Bureau 
 of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1931, Chapter II. 
 
 4 Turney, A. H. "The Status of Ability Grouping," Educational Administra- 
 tion and Supervision, 17:21-42, 110-27; January, February, 1931. 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 
 
 63 
 
 4. The experimental literature indicates that more often than not 
 pupils do better in homogeneous groups than in heterogeneous groups. 
 
 5. There is a fairly strong indication that when efforts are made to 
 adapt the means and materials of instruction to the needs of different levels 
 of ability, better achievement occurs in homogeneous than in heterogene- 
 ous groups. _ . 
 
 6. In the experimental situation where there is no special effort made to 
 adapt content or method the average and lower groups appeared to benefit 
 more often than the higher groups. 
 
 7. There is some evidence, not conclusive, that ability grouping pro- 
 motes motivation of the pupils to increased effort. 
 
 These conclusions are essentially the same as those the writer has 
 reached from a study of the same question. In addition, however, at 
 least one more seems evident. It is somewhat connected with the sec- 
 ond one quoted from Turney but is not just the same. It is that 
 markedly better achievement has been secured in enough instances by 
 the use of homogeneous grouping to indicate that when it is employed 
 at its best it is superior to heterogeneous grouping and, therefore, to 
 indicate that by improving homogeneous grouping as generally prac- 
 ticed similar results can be secured more generally. 
 
 7. Homogeneity of grouping tends to provide superior provision for 
 
 individual differences. 
 This is another assumption that the writer believes is true. 
 Keliher states her fear that homogeneous grouping tends to cause 
 teachers to be less alert to detect and to provide for individual differ- 
 ences. From the writer's experience with homogeneous grouping 
 under his own control, from his observation of it in many school 
 systems, and from the literature on the subject, it appears quite evident 
 to him that just the opposite result usually takes place, that more atten- 
 tion rather than less is centered upon individual differences. More- 
 over, the mere fact that there is homogeneity of grouping tends in itself 
 to make partial provision for such differences. 
 
 8. Homogeneous grouping provides for better attitudes in pupils. 
 
 Keliher submits some data on this point which she interprets 
 to mean that the assumption is not true. She believes that homoge- 
 neous grouping offers more likelihood that inferior pupils will be dis- 
 couraged and superior pupils, conceited than does heterogeneous group- 
 ing. The writer admits that this result may possibly ensue but not 
 that it usually does in actual practice. In many cases with which he 
 has been familiar teachers and others have reported that when inferior 
 pupils were grouped by themselves and thus were not brought into 
 direct comparison with superior pupils their attitude became much 
 better and their discouragement much less. The reason given is usually 
 
64 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 that by comparison with their fellows in homogeneous groups they do 
 not appear to be very inferior and that they have more frequent 
 chances of ranking well in their group. Similarly, superior pupils are 
 reported to be less conceited when they are in a whole group of similar 
 pupils and therefore do not stand out in the group to which they belong 
 so markedly as when they are in a group of which the majority are 
 average and inferior pupils. It is true that in some cases an undesir- 
 able stigma is attached to inferior groups, but by skillful handling on 
 the part of teachers and others in charge this can almost always be 
 avoided. For example, the writer some years ago had occasion to 
 visit quite frequently a large elementary school in which the slow sec- 
 tions had acquired the epithet of "dumbbells" and were ridiculed con- 
 siderably by the other pupils. The principal and teachers, however, 
 took the matter in hand and within two or three years had changed 
 the situation so that no such attitude was longer apparent, and the 
 pupils in the slow sections were undoubtedly happier in their work 
 than they would have been in ungrouped sections. 
 9. The legitimate next step to grouping is the arrangement of a 
 multiple-track curriculum, differentiated in number of years, or 
 scope of curriculum, or both. 
 This also is an assumption that the writer believes is true despite 
 the fact that the slogan of "educational determinism" has been hurled 
 against it. As others have pointed out before, it is not true democracy 
 to provide the same educational opportunities for all pupils regardless 
 of whether they are best suited to them or not. Rather each should be 
 provided with those opportunities which are best adapted to his ca- 
 pacities and interests. It goes without saying that errors will be made 
 in providing such differentiated opportunities, but it is better to attempt 
 to provide opportunities and make some mistakes than to make no 
 such attempts. 
 
 10. The common essentials in education are those learnings upon which 
 grouping is made, the academic skills. 
 This assumption seems to the writer partially, but not wholly, true. 
 As the term "minimum essentials" is commonly employed it refers to 
 what are considered the more important portions of the common 
 academic subjects. At the same time there is an increasing tendency 
 to recognize that there are other fundamentals having to do with such 
 matters as citizenship, character, and so forth, which it is highly im- 
 portant that all children acquire. Still further, there is a growing 
 tendency to realize that children in lower groups should be provided 
 with opportunities in what may be called creative work so that teachers 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 65 
 
 may discover the types of activity in which they have most ability and 
 interest, and consequently provide opportunities for achievement 
 therein. 
 
 11. Differences in ability to create and ability to appreciate aesthetic 
 
 values vary concomitantly with u intelligence" and (in some in- 
 terpretations) high ability in each is limited to those of high 
 intelligence. 
 This has been partially at least considered in discussing the previous 
 statement. There is probably some correlation between intelligence 
 and creative and appreciative ability, and it seems to the writer that 
 comparatively few plans of homogeneous grouping are so administered 
 as to imply that the correlation is nearly perfect. It is, of course, true 
 that in a certain sense children of inferior mentality do not have the 
 same opportunity to develop their capacities as do those who are su- 
 perior, but this can hardly be avoided if all spend the same amount 
 of time in school work. Those who work more slowly than others 
 cannot by any procedure be made to accomplish as much as those who 
 work more rapidly. 
 
 12. The classification and segregation of children in our schools does 
 
 not adversely affect society, since a like segregation exists in 
 
 democratic society. 
 In Chapter II and also still more in Chapter III the writer has 
 already made the point that he believes homogeneous groups should 
 not be entirely segregated from other children. Just as outside of 
 school individuals tend to seek their own levels so it is natural that in 
 school also the same process should occur. The levels sought outside 
 of school differ in the different phases of an individual's life and there- 
 fore it is desirable that the same be true in school. For this reason the 
 writer has already recommended that at least in the upper grades as 
 well as in high school grouping differ for the several subjects rather 
 than be the same for all, and furthermore that children of one level 
 have the opportunity of associating with those at other levels in various 
 social activities. 
 
 Objections to homogeneous grouping offered by Illinois super- 
 intendents and principals. The objections received from Illinois 
 principals and superintendents, in so far as they differ from those of 
 Keliher, are as follows: 
 
 1. Good teachers do not need homogeneous grouping to do efficient 
 
 work. 
 
 2. Homogeneous grouping places too much emphasis on subject-matter. 
 
 3. Homogeneous grouping makes too much work for teachers. 
 
 4. Teachers do not want to handle slow sections. 
 
66 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 5. Teachers are not trained for the plan. 
 
 6. Suitable textbooks for differentiated courses do not exist. 
 
 7. More pupils fail than when there are no homogeneous groups. 
 
 1. In answer to the first objection, that good teachers do not need 
 homogeneous grouping to do efficient work, the writer readily admits 
 that under almost any conditions good teachers do efficient work with 
 their pupils. He believes, however, that the school should endeavor to 
 make conditions as favorable for good teaching as possible and that 
 homogeneous grouping is one means of doing this. In other words, 
 it makes it easier for all teachers, regardless of their ability, to do good 
 teaching. 
 
 2. As to the statement that homogeneous grouping puts too much 
 emphasis on subject-matter, the writer does not believe that this is true. 
 Indeed, he is totally unable to see any inherent connection between the 
 two. Subject-matter may be over-emphasized at the expense of the 
 child in any school, whether or not homogeneous grouping exists. It 
 seems, however, that there is a tendency for homogeneous grouping to 
 have the opposite effect, that is, to center more attention upon the in- 
 dividual and his needs, and therefore upon subject-matter as a means 
 of meeting these needs rather than as an end in itself. 
 
 3. It is true that it is slightly more work for a teacher to handle 
 two or three sections than to keep all her pupils in one section. How- 
 ever, the additional amount of work is not so great that teachers should 
 feel it is an imposition upon them to have to do it if, as the writer 
 believes, the educational procedure that demands it is sufficiently better 
 than that which does not demand it. If, as is sometimes true, the 
 homogeneous groups are large enough that all the pupils in one room 
 belong to a single group there is no additional work at all. 
 
 4. There are many teachers who do not wish to handle the lower 
 sections. On the other hand, there are some teachers who do. In his 
 own experience as a principal and superintendent, the writer had 
 teachers request that they be given charge of pupils having the most 
 difficulty with their work. If in any system there are not enough 
 teachers who wish to teach the lower sections and who seem peculiarly 
 well adapted to do so the sections can be passed around among many 
 or all of the teachers and thus no teacher will feel that she is being 
 unduly imposed upon. 
 
 5. It is, of course, highly desirable for teachers who are handling" 
 homogeneous groups to have some special preparation therefor. Most 
 teachers, however, who have had their professional work in education 
 within the last few years have learned something about the plan, and 
 
 ' 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 67 
 
 this preparation, supplemented by the proper preparation in teachers' 
 meetings and otherwise, should be sufficient. 
 
 6. There are, it is true,, comparatively few textbooks that are defi- 
 nitely prepared for use at several levels. Well trained supervisors and 
 teachers, however, should have no great difficulty in making such elimi- 
 nations as seem best from textbooks or in providing supplementary 
 assignments thereto. After this has once been done it is necessary 
 only to revise what has been already prepared somewhat from time 
 to time in order to continue using the material. 
 
 7. The objection that there are more failures with homogeneous 
 grouping than without it was offered by two high-school principals. 
 The writer does not believe that such a result has any inherent connec- 
 tion with homogeneous grouping. Indeed, in many cases evidence has 
 been offered to show that the number of failures is less. It is possible 
 that if inferior groups are placed under teachers not well adapted to 
 handle them the number of failures may increase from this cause. 
 However, in any case, the number of failures depends upon the stand- 
 ards set, and it is probable that the reason for the increased number of 
 failures in these two schools was some unconscious change in stand- 
 ards. Another possibility is that there was a change in the quality of 
 pupil material, but this is less likely than the other reason. 
 
 Other discussions of homogeneous grouping. Although other 
 lists of objections to homogeneous grouping and arguments against it 
 have appeared the writer will not consider them here. For the benefit 
 of those interested, however, what is probably the most complete list 
 of arguments against homogeneous grouping and likewise of those in 
 its favor may be found in the Ninth Yearbook of the Department of 
 Superintendence* Furthermore, the writer wishes to call attention to 
 what is in his opinion the best general defense of homogeneous group- 
 ing that he has seen. In it Symonds 6 considers the arguments ad- 
 vanced by Burr and Keliher, to which reference has already been made 
 earlier in this chapter, also those of McGaughy, 7 and of others. In 
 addition, the treatments of the subject by Purdom. s Ryan and Crecil- 
 
 5 " Arguments for and Against Homogeneous Grouping." Ninth Yearbook of 
 the Department of Superintendence. Washington: National Education Associa- 
 tion, 1931, p. 121-26. 
 
 6 Symonds, P. M. "Homogeneous Grouping," Teachers College Record, 
 32:501-17, March, 1931. 
 
 AlcGaughy, T. R. "Homogeneous Grouping," Childhood Education, 6:291-96, 
 March, 1930. 
 
 s Purdom, T. L. "The Value of Homogeneous Grouping," University Re- 
 search Monograph No. 1. Baltimore: Warwick and York, 1929. 100 p. 
 
68 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 ius, 9 and Hollingshead 10 are among those worth mentioning. Further- 
 more, a bibliography 11 prepared by the present writer and also a por- 
 tion of that in the Twenty-Fourth Yearbook of the National Society 
 for the Study of Education 12 may be found helpful. 
 
 Objections to special rooms. In comparison with the objections 
 and arguments advanced against homogeneous grouping comparatively 
 few have been raised in opposition to special rooms and the other pro- 
 visions for children of atypical mentality dealt with in this bulletin. 
 The outstanding objections to each will, however, be briefly considered. 
 
 The usual first argument advanced against special rooms is their 
 cost. If, as is desirable, the number of pupils in such rooms is con- 
 siderably smaller than the number in regular classrooms the per capita 
 cost for the pupils in special rooms is necessarily rather high. This 
 is sometimes slightly increased by the fact that in order to get teachers 
 who are fairly well trained school systems must pay somewhat better 
 salaries than they pay to regular elementary-school teachers. If pupils 
 are brought to special rooms from other buildings than those in which 
 they are located the cost of transportation may also need to be met. 
 In some cases, the school system also bears the expense of noon 
 lunches. There are two possible answers to the objection of added 
 cost: the first and best is that if the system can possibly afford it spe- 
 cial rooms are or should be worth the cost ; the second is that by 
 placing a somewhat larger number of pupils in such rooms than is best 
 the per capita cost can be reduced until it is not very much greater 
 than that for the system in general. The latter procedure is not recom- 
 mended, but it is probably better to do this than not to have such rooms 
 at all. 
 
 Another objection brought against special rooms is that it is difficult 
 to get adequately trained teachers for them. There is some truth in 
 this assertion, but on the other hand there are a number of teacher 
 training institutions that give courses intended to prepare teachers for 
 just such work. Usually when the provision of such rooms is con- 
 
 9 Ryan, H. H., and Crecelius, Philipine. Ability Grouping in Junior High 
 School. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1927. 223 p. 
 
 10 Hollingshead, A. D. "The Use of Certain Educational and Mental Measure- 
 ments for Purposes of Classification," Teachers College, Columbia University 
 Contributions to Education, No. 302. New York: Bureau of Publications, 
 Teachers College, Columbia University, 1928. 63 p. 
 
 "Odell, C. W. "An Annotated Bibliography Dealing with the Classification 
 and Instruction of Pupils to Provide for Individual Differences," University of 
 Illinois Bulletin, Vol. 21, No. 12, Bureau of Educational Research Bulletin No. 
 16. Urbana: University of Illinois, 1923. 50 p. 
 
 ""Adapting the Schools to Individual Differences," Twenty-Fourth Year- 
 book of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part II. Blooming- 
 ton, Illinois: Public School Publishing Company, 1925, p. 317-29. 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 69 
 
 templated several teachers already in the system can be found who are 
 willing to secure a summer's training in the methods used in such 
 rooms and then to take charge of the rooms. Especially if these teach- 
 ers are given slightly more salary than other elementary teachers is it 
 easy to find some willing to do this. Although more than one summer's 
 special training is desirable, some successful teachers of special rooms 
 have had no more than this amount. 
 
 Another objection advanced against special rooms is the same as 
 one of those raised in connection with homogeneous grouping: that 
 pupils placed in them become discouraged as a result of the social 
 stigma of being there. The answer to this is the same as in the other 
 case, that although this may happen, it need not. The testimony of 
 most teachers and others closely connected with such rooms is that 
 pupils are less discouraged and happier in them than in the regular 
 grade groups where they would otherwise be. 
 
 It is sometimes claimed that no improvement is shown by the pupils 
 in special rooms. The writer believes that this objection is usually 
 based on the fallacious hope that such pupils will do about as well as 
 average pupils in regular grades. Instead, the achievements of pupils 
 in special rooms should be compared with their own achievements in 
 regular rooms or with those of others of similar ability who are in 
 regular rooms. Many cases can be cited of pupils whose achievement 
 in regular-grade rooms was almost zero who, when placed in special 
 rooms, made marked improvement. 
 
 Objections to differentiated assignments. The chief objections 
 to differentiated assignments appear to center about two major points, 
 that handling such a system requires too much work of teachers and 
 that it is non-democratic. It is undoubtedly more work for a teacher 
 to provide and check up on assignments on several levels than if uni- 
 form assignments are employed. If the work is carefully systematized, 
 however, the added labor should not be great and. as has already been 
 suggested in another connection, teachers should be willing to do it 
 in view of the educational value of such a system. 
 
 The second objection, that such a plan is non-democratic, has al- 
 ready been answered in connection with the similar objection to homo- 
 geneous grouping. True democracy consists rather in offering each 
 pupil the educational opportunities best suited to him and by which he 
 can profit most than in giving all pupils the same opportunities. 
 
 Objections to special promotions. The common objections to 
 skipping or special promotion are that it leaves gaps in the pupil's work 
 which have undesirable later effects and that pupils who are allowed 
 
70 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 to gain time in this way reach high school and college when still too 
 immature. The writer believes that there is some truth in the first 
 objection, but that the gaps are much less serious than has frequently 
 been supposed. Most elementary-school courses are such that in the 
 upper grades the pupils review or repeat most of what they have had 
 in the lower grades. Thus pupils who skip portions of the work are 
 offered an opportunity to cover them later. On the other hand, as 
 was stated in discussing special promotions in Chapter IV, the writer 
 believes that it is desirable whenever possible to provide means whereby 
 pupils who are receiving special promotion need not entirely skip a 
 semester's or a year's work, but by carrying the work of two grades 
 at once or by receiving special help may actually cover most of it. 
 
 The argument that pupils may reach high school or college at too 
 early an age has already been referred to in connection with homoge- 
 neous grouping. Since, on the whole, pupils of superior mentality are 
 also possessed of superior social development, are above the average 
 in height, in weight, and in other phases of physical development, the 
 writer does not believe that when they are accelerated only one year 
 there is any appreciable danger of their being socially immature for the 
 groups in which they are placed. If they are accelerated two years 
 there is some danger that this may be true, and if they are accelerated 
 three or more years the danger is so great that, as already stated, the 
 writer would allow very few pupils to gain this much time. 
 
 Objections to individual instruction and progress. There are 
 perhaps three chief objections to individual instruction and progress. 
 One is the same as the first given above in the paragraph on differen- 
 tiated assignments, that the plan requires too much labor on the part 
 of teachers. The answer to it is the same as that given above supple- 
 mented by the fact that there are more and more self -helping and self- 
 testing materials being made available by means of which pupils can 
 work individually with a minimum of attention from teachers. 
 
 The second objection is that if pupils work individually certain 
 values are lost which cannot be secured save through group activity 
 and cooperation. In the discussion of individual instruction and pro- 
 gress in Chapter IV this objection was recognized as having some 
 validity, and therefore it was recommended that instruction and prog- 
 ress should in any case be only partially individual and partially group. 
 
 The third objection is the same as one raised in connection with 
 special rooms, that teachers are not trained to handle the plan. The 
 answer is the same as in the other case, that although there may be 
 somewhat of a shortage of teachers so trained it is possible to secure 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 71 
 
 them and that a good teacher with a summer's training in this work is 
 usually at least fairly competent to direct individual work. 
 
 Objections to guidance. The one important theoretical objec- 
 tion to guidance is that it is impossible to offer advice that is valid and 
 reliable enough to justify giving it and that because it is not highly 
 valid and reliable many undesirable consequences ensue from following 
 it. The answer to this is that any one who understands the situation 
 realizes that the best guidance that can be given is far from perfect 
 and that, therefore, it is offered merely as advice rather than as some- 
 thing which must be followed. Moreover, pupils have to reach de- 
 cisions concerning what subjects they will take, what vocations they 
 will enter, and so forth, and it is far better for them to reach these 
 decisions with the help of the best advice that can be given them than 
 to choose without this advice. 
 
 In addition to this theoretical objection, there are two practical 
 ones. These have to do with the cost of a satisfactory guidance pro- 
 gram and the difficulty of getting competent advisors. The cost, how- 
 ever, need not be excessive even in a large high school. One full-time 
 member of the staff can fairly adequately direct such a program, if 
 he has the assistance of a number of the teachers, each of whom gives 
 a small portion of his time to the work. With regard to the difficulty 
 of securing competent advisors the situation is just the same as in the 
 case of competent teachers for special rooms and for individual in- 
 struction. 
 
 Objections to special periods. Practically the only objections 
 raised to providing special periods are that such provision entails 
 extra work for the teachers and that pupils required to attend them 
 tend to be somewhat stigmatized. In this case as in several others 
 already mentioned the extra work should be asked of teachers if the 
 results have sufficient educational value. Moreover, by providing time 
 at which teachers may help some of their most difficult pupils more 
 effectively than during ordinary class periods, the special periods tend 
 in a manner to lighten teachers' loads. 
 
 As to the stigma attached to required attendance at special periods, 
 suggestions have already been made as to how this may at least par- 
 tially be avoided. In at least some of the schools which the writer 
 visited there certainly appears to be no such stigma felt by the pupils 
 who receive help in special periods. 
 
 Objections to coaching by superior pupils. The objections raised 
 to this are that superior pupils cannot help inferior ones so well as can 
 teachers, that it is difficult to arrange for such help to be given, and 
 
72 Bulletin No. 59 
 
 that the giving of such help is not so educative for the superior pupils 
 as some other activities which they might take part in. The first of 
 these objections was referred to near the end of Chapter IV and, as 
 indicated there, the writer believes it has some validity. It is, however, 
 possible to guide superior students in the help they give inferior ones 
 so that it will be of distinct value. Moreover, a number of superior 
 students working with one or a few inferior pupils each can give more 
 help than can a single teacher who must deal with a comparatively 
 large group. 
 
 It is sometimes difficult to make satisfactory arrangements for the 
 giving of such help but in many cases this can be done during a por- 
 tion of the class period and always during a supervised-study period 
 if one exists. As has been shown by an example taken from actual 
 practice, there is not an insuperable objection to having a number of 
 groups each composed of one superior and one or more inferior pupils 
 working together orally in the same room at the same time. 
 
 The third objection, that superior pupils may employ their time 
 more profitably to themselves, has some truth in it. Too great an 
 amount of coaching or helping inferior pupils is undesirable from this 
 standpoint. On the other hand, it is the testimony of many teachers 
 that they learned a subject much better when they taught it than when 
 they were studying it. If this is true there should be at least some 
 of the same effect in the case of superior pupils helping inferior ones. 
 
 General summary and conclusion. This chapter, which has been 
 devoted to considering some of the objections and arguments against 
 the various provisions for children of atypical mentality considered 
 in this bulletin, leads to at least two general conclusions. One is that 
 many, perhaps most, of the objections raised appear upon analysis to 
 be really objections to certain features of the provisions discussed 
 rather than to the provisions themselves. In many cases these features 
 are generally recognized as undesirable by experts in the field and are 
 not in accord with the best practice. 
 
 The second conclusion is that although, as just stated, many of the 
 objections and arguments against such provisions are not in accord 
 with the best practice, they do point out very common practices. In 
 other words, many, probably most, school systems that make provisions 
 for mentally atypical children would do well to modify these pro- 
 visions so that they eliminate certain features thereof that are not in 
 accord with the best practice. In this phase of the educative process, 
 as in any other, the provisions offered should be subjected to critical 
 scrutiny in the light of the best available knowledge and should not be 
 
Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 73 
 
 continued in effect unless reasonable justification for them exists. In 
 all too many cases systems have introduced provisions of one type or 
 another merely because they were popular or because they seemed to 
 work well in other systems without giving any thoroughgoing con- 
 sideration to the philosophy underlying them, their implications, and 
 consequences. On the contrary, these should be thoroughly examined 
 and considered. The writer believes that they will be found to be 
 such as to justify homogeneous grouping, special rooms, and most of 
 the other provisions dealt with in this bulletin. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS BULLETIN 
 
 Issued Twice a Week 
 Vol. XXIX September 18, 1931 No. 6 
 
 [Entered as second-class matter December ll, 1912, at the post office at Urbana, Illinois, 
 under the Act of August 24, 1912. Acceptance for mailing at'the special rate of post- 
 age provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized July 31, t918.] 
 
 BULLETIN No. 59 
 
 BUREAU OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH 
 COLLEGE OF EDUCATION 
 
 PROVISIONS FOR MENTALLY 
 ATYPICAL PUPILS 
 
 By 
 
 Charles W. Odell 
 Assistant Director, Bureau of Educational Research 
 
 Price Fifty Cf.n- 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, URBANA 
 
 1931 
 
The Bureau of Educational Research was established by 
 act of the Board of Trustees June 1, 1918. It is the purpose 
 of the Bureau to conduct original investigations in the field of 
 education, to summarize and bring to the attention of school 
 people the results of research elsewhere, and to be of service 
 to the schools of the state in other ways. 
 
 The results of original investigations carried on by the 
 Bureau of Educational Research are published in the form of 
 bulletins. A list of available publications is given on the back 
 cover of this bulletin. At the present time five or six original 
 investigations are reported each year. The accounts of re- 
 search conducted elsewhere and other communications to the 
 school men of the state are published in the form of educa- 
 tional research circulars. From ten to fifteen of these are 
 issued each year. 
 
 The Bureau is a department of the College of Education. 
 Its immediate direction is vested in a Director, who is also an 
 instructor in the College of Education. Under his supervision 
 research is carried on by other members of the Bureau staff 
 and also by graduates who are working on theses. From this 
 point of view the Bureau of Educational Research is a re- 
 search laboratory for the College of Education. 
 
 Bureau of Educational Research 
 
 College of Education 
 
 University of Illinois, Urbana 
 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 THE STATE UNIVERSITY 
 
 URBANA 
 
 Harry Woodburn Chase, Ph.D., LL.D., President 
 
 The University includes the following departments: 
 
 The Graduate School 
 
 The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Curricula: General with majors, 
 in the Humanities and the Sciences; Chemistry and Chemical Engi- 
 neering; Pre-legal, Pre-medical, and Pre-dental; Pre-journalism, Home 
 Economics, Economic Entomology, and Applied Optics) 
 
 The College of Commerce and Business Administration (Curricula: Gen- 
 eral Business, Banking and Finance, Insurance, Accountancy, General 
 Railway Administration, Railway Transportation, Industrial Adminis- 
 tration, Foreign Commerce, Commercial Teachers, Trade and Civic 
 Secretarial Service, Public Utilities, Commerce and Law) 
 
 The College of Engineering (Curricula: Ceramics; Ceramic, Civil, Electri- 
 cal, Gas, General, Mechanical, Mining, and Railway Engineering; En- 
 gineering Physics) 
 
 The College of Agriculture (Curricula: General Agriculture; Floriculture; 
 Home Economics; Smith-Hughes — in conjunction with the College of 
 Education) 
 
 The College of Education (Curricula: Two year, prescribing junior stand- 
 ing for admission — General Education, Smith-Hughes Agriculture, 
 Smith-Hughes Home Economics, Public School Music; Four year, ad- 
 mitting from the high school — Industrial Education, Athletic Coaching, 
 Physical Education. The University High School is the practice school 
 of the College of Education) 
 
 The College of Law (three-year curriculum based on a college degree, or 
 three years of college work at the University of Illinois) 
 
 The College of Fine and Applied Arts (Curricula: Music, Architecture, Ar- 
 chitectural Engineering, Landscape Architecture, and Art and Design) 
 
 The Library School (two-year curriculum for college graduates) 
 
 The School of Journalism (two-year curriculum based on two years of 
 college work) 
 
 The College of Medicine (in Chicago) 
 
 The College of Dentistry (in Chicago) 
 
 The School of Pharmacy (in Chicago) 
 
 The Summer Session (eight weeks) 
 
 Experiment Stations and Scientific Bureaus: U. S. Agricultural Experiment 
 Station; Engineering Experiment Station* State Natural History Sur- 
 vey; State Water Survey; State Geolop' al Survey; Bureau of Educa- 
 tional Research; Bureau of Business F earch. 
 
 The Library Collections contain (July 1. .931) 832,643 volumes and 221,000 
 pamphlets (in Urbana) and 45,241 volumes and 7,875 pamphlets (in 
 Chicago) 
 
 For catalogs and information address 
 
 THE REGISTRAR 
 
 Urbana, Illinois 
 
BULLETINS OF THE BUREAU OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH, 
 
 COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, 
 
 URBANA, ILLINOIS 
 
 (BULLETINS OUT OF PRINT ARE NOT LISTED) 
 
 Price 
 No. 1. Buckingham, B. R. Bureau of Educational Research, Announcement, 1918-19 .15 
 
 No. 5. Monroe, Walter S. Report of Division of Educational Tests for 1919-20 25 
 
 No. 6. Monroe, Walter S. The Illinois Examination 50 
 
 No. 7. Monroe, Walter S. Types of Learning Required of Pupils in the Seventh and 
 
 Eighth Grades and in the High School 15 
 
 No. 13. Monroe, Walter S. and Fester, I. O. The Status of the Social Sciences in the 
 
 High Schools of the North Central Association 50 
 
 No. 15. Monroe, Walter S. The Constant and Variable Errors of Educational 
 
 Measurements 25 
 
 No. 16. Odell, Charles W. An Annotated Bibliography Dealing with the Classification 
 
 and Instruction of Pupils to Provide for Individual Differences 50 
 
 No. 18. Streitz, Ruth. Teachers' Difficulties in Arithmetic and Their Correctives 30 
 
 No. 19. Odell, Charles W. The Progress and Elimination of School Children in Illinois .50 
 No. 21. Monroe, Walter S. (Director). A Survey of the City Schools of Marion, Illinois .50 
 
 No. 22. Odell, Charles W. Conservation of Intelligence in Illinois High Schools 30 
 
 No. 24. Seybolt, Robert Francis. The Evening School in Colonial America 50 
 
 No. 29. Odell, Charles W., assisted by Blough, John H. An Annotated Bibliography 
 
 Dealing with Extra-Curricular Activities in Elementary and High Schools... .50 
 No. 30. Monroe, Walter S. The Duties of Men Engaged as Physical Directors or 
 
 Athletic Coaches in High Schools 25 
 
 No. 31. Monroe, Walter S., assisted by Clark, John A. The Teacher's Responsibility 
 
 for Devising Learning Exercises in Arithmetic 50 
 
 No. 33. Monroe, Walter S. and Herriott, M. E. Objectives of United States History 
 
 in Grades Seven and Eight 30 
 
 No. 34. Odell, Charles W. Are College Students a Select Group? 25 
 
 No. 35. Ojemann, R. H. The Constant and Variable Occupations of the United 
 
 States in 1920 25 
 
 No. 39. Monroe, Walter S., Hindman, Darwin A., and Lundin, Roy S. Two Illustra- 
 tions of Curriculum Construction 50 
 
 No. 41. Monroe, Walter S. and Herriott, M. E. Reconstruction of the Secondary- 
 School Curriculum: Its Meaning and Trends 50 
 
 No. 42. Monroe, Walter S., Odell, Charles W., Herriott, M. E., Engelhart, Max D., 
 
 and Hull, Mabel R. Ten Years of Educational Research, 1918-1927 1.00 
 
 No. 43. Odell, Charles W. A Selected Annotated Bibliography Dealing with Examina- 
 tions and School Marks 50 
 
 No. 44. Monroe, Walter S. How Pupils Solve Problems in Arithmetic 50 
 
 No. 45. Odell, Charles W. A Critical Study of Measures of Achievement Relative to 
 
 Capacity 50 
 
 No. 46. Odell, Charles W. The Use of Scales for Rating Pupils' Answers to Thought 
 
 Questions 50 
 
 No. 47. Herriott, M. E. Attitudes as Factors of Scholastic Success 50 
 
 No. 4?. Monroe, Walter S. and Engelhart, Max D. Experimental Research in Education .50 
 
 No. 49. Odell, Charles W. Summer Work in Public Schools 30 
 
 No. 50. Monroe, Walter S., Hamilton, Thomas T., Jr., and Smith, V. T. Locating 
 
 Educational Information in Published Sources 50 
 
 No. 51. Monroe, Walter S. and Engelhart, Max D. Stimulating Learning Activity 30 
 
 No. 52. Odell, Charles W. Predicting the Scholastic Success of College Students 30 
 
 No. 53. Members of the Senior Class, University High School, 1930. A Project in 
 Fourth- Year English Composition — A Description of the University High 
 
 School .30 
 
 No. 54. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Faculty of the College of Educa- 
 tion, University of Illinois, with the Superintendents of Schools of Illinois. 
 
 Urbana, Illinois, November 20, 1930 30 
 
 No. 55. Gregg, Russell T., and Hamilton, Thomas T., Jr. Annotated Bibliography of 
 
 Graduate Theses in Education at the University of Illinois 50 
 
 No. 56. Hendrix, S. Gertrude. Teaching Devices on the High-School Level 30 
 
 No. 57. Clevinger, Arthur W. and Odell, Charles W. High-School Libraries in Illinois .30 
 No. 58. Monroe, Walter S. and Engelhart, Max D. A Critical Summary of Research 
 
 Relating to the Teaching of Arithmetic 50 
 
 No. 59. Odell, Charles W. Provisions for Mentally Atypical Pupils 30