It is somewhat more difficult to classify pupils by grades in junior and senior high school than in the elementary school, since the promotion in such schools is largely by subject. As a prerequisite for placement in each grade there is usually stated a minimum number of credits. This requirement is sufficiently uniform in the different secondary schools so that, for most practical purposes, valid data can be gathered through using the school's own definition of seventhgrade pupils, eighth-grade pupils, ninth-grade pupils, etc. If statistics from several different school systems are to be compiled, as, for example, in the case of a whole State, it may be advisable to define a seventh-grade pupil, an eighth-grade pupil, etc. One common classification which might be used in such cases is here described.

The regular program of the junior and senior high school usually consists of 20 periods of work a week. This sometimes consists of four subjects each taken five times a week, but in many schools these periods are spread over a larger number of subjects so that some subjects take up only two or three periods a week. In laboratory subjects a period may be longer than in other subjects. Physical education should be counted as outside the regular program, since failure in this by itself does not change the grade placement of the pupil in physical education. Using these 20 periods a week as the regular load of junior and senior high school program, the following classification is common:

For combined junior and senior high schools:

Seventh grade pupil-one entered on promotion from the elementary school.

Eighth grade pupil-one having credit for 15 periods of work in the seventh grade.

Ninth grade pupil-one having credit for 35 periods of work in the seventh and eighth grades.

Tenth grade pupil—one having credit for 50 periods of work in the first 3 years of high school.

Eleventh grade pupil-one having credit for 70 periods of work in the first 4 years of high school.

Twelfth grade pupil-one having credit for 90 periods of work in the
first 5 years of high school.

For junior high schools having the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades:
Same as for corresponding years in combined junior and senior high
schools as given above.

For senior high schools having 4 grades:

Ninth grade pupil-one entered on promotion from the eighth grade of an elementary school or transferred with eighth grade credit from a junior high school.

Tenth grade pupil-one who has credit for 15 periods in the ninth grade. Eleventh grade pupil-one who has credit for 35 periods in the first 2 years of high school.

Twelfth grade pupil-one who has credit for 55 periods in the first 3 years of high school.

For senior high schools having the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades: Tenth grade pupil-one who has been promoted from junior high school. Eleventh grade pupil-one who has credit for 15 periods in the tenth grade.

Twelfth grade pupil-one who has credit for 35 periods in the tenth and eleventh grades.

If it is desired to differentiate between boys and girls in regard to age-grade-progress statistics, the original forms by grades should be made out for boys and girls separately. The derived tables may also be made out in the same way. If a sufficient number of schools make studies of pupil progress differentiating between the sexes, national figures can be compiled on such a basis.

CHAPTER V: USE OF AGE-GRADE-PROGRESS STATISTICS

The facts obtained in an age-grade-progress study of a school system will throw light upon the causes of many situations that might otherwise be puzzling. To some extent they reflect the school's policies regarding pupil promotion and adjustment. Most frequently, however, they raise questions which require further consideration through the analysis and guidance of individual cases. The needed adjustment of pupils will vary from grade to grade, and the type of adjustment possible will depend upon the facilities and objectives of the school system. The types of assistance which pupil progress data can give are illustrated by the following examples:

(1) Age-grade statistics will show that pupils of many ages are found in the same grade. In the lower grades of some elementary schools are many relatively "old" pupils, actually adolescent, while in the high school there may be many students less than 14 years of age. The wide range of ages of pupils within a grade emphasizes the importance of planning work to suit the needs and powers of the group.

(2) The data will reveal what proportion of the retardation in school is a result of late entrance to the first grade, and what proportion is due to failure. Although the age of 6 is the traditional and also the most common legal time for entrance to first grade, a large number of pupils do not enter until 7 or 8. In school systems in which this is true, some education of the public should be undertaken to show parents the advantage of having children begin school at the normal time, i. e., at age 6. In any case, the school is under obligation to provide activities which will be of benefit to the child who enters school, regardless of his level of maturity. Yet, even if the work of the first grade can be adapted to the varying abilities of 6-year-old children so that the slow pupils do not fail, the problem is not solved, because in passing such children into higher grades the primary teacher only exposes them to repeated failure there. As now constituted, the curriculum of the middle and upper grades is often so constructed that primary teachers are forced to fail slow pupils in order to get them ready for the work of the higher grades. Accordingly, any readjustment of the curriculum of the first grade to fit the abilities and interests of 6-year-old children necessitates also a consideration of the curriculum of the whole school system.

(3) The age-grade-progress data at grade levels above the first will indicate where the retardation is most severe. Changes in the extent of retardation and acceleration in either age-grade or in grade progress after the first grade take place because of one or both of two factors.

One is the irregularity occurring in pupil progress; i. e., the changing of pupils from one grade to another between promotion periods, as well as nonpromotion and double promotions at the promotion period. The other factor is the elimination of pupils from school. Pupils who leave school are likely to be those who are overage. In the situation represented by the summaries of age-grade placement and grade progress on Forms XI and XIII, the number of pupils by age (Form XI) decreased considerably beginning with the seventh grade-the percent above age (retarded by age) ranging from 36.9 percent in the sixth grade to 15.4 percent in the twelfth grade. During this same school period the number of pupils with retarded progress (Form XIII) decreased from 44.6 percent in the sixth grade to 25.6 percent in the twelfth grade. There is thus a definite relation between these two factors-that of overage and that of retarded progress. The fact that a large number of pupils leave school at the junior high school level raises the problem as to whether the school could provide activities of value to these pupils, and whether by law or otherwise the community should retain them in school.

AN ILLUSTRATIVE STUDY IN ADJUSTMENT

In order to show how specific data secured through an age-gradeprogress study may be used as a basis for considering needed adjustments within a school or school system, the figures given in the illustration for the sixth grade of school system X (p. 23) are analyzed in the following paragraphs. Three general classifications of pupils are first considered: (1) Those below normal age for the grade; (2) those at normal age; (3) those above normal age. Each of these groups is again classified in terms of the progress made in school as (1) accelerated, (2) normal, (3) retarded. Each of these groups, it should be remembered, is made up of individual children, whose problems must be considered individually. The analysis into these groups will raise questions concerning individual children and will go part of the way in answering some of them, but for the most part it can only serve as a guide in pointing out problems that need careful analysis in terms of more intimate and personal knowledge of the pupil, his environment, and his educational history. In other words, mass data, such as those accumulated in an age-grade study, can never take the place of individual study of children. They can only indicate where such individual study is most essential and give some leading facts that are useful in attacking the problem.

Pupils below normal age ―There are in figure 3 two groups in this classification: (1) Three children who have made rapid progress and are thus young for the grade; (2) two children who have been retarded in progress, but are still young for the grade. The former situation is much more likely to occur than the latter. Either one, however,

raises a question as to the correctness of placement. The underage accelerated pupil may have been accelerated beyond his ability, or, on the other hand, he may not yet have reached the level of his capacity. In the former case he will grow increasingly maladjusted unless steps are taken to effect an immediate solution of his problem. In the latter case he is a candidate for an enriched program and possibly for further acceleration.

The two children who have been retarded in school progress but who are still underage for the grade obviously must have entered school at an earlier age than usual. If their slow progress has been due to failure in school work, the underlying cause may easily be a relative immaturity in chronological age. Fortunately pupils in this classification are comparatively rare, but when they are found, it may be feasible to give them additional experiences on a given grade level before permitting them to proceed, in order that they may not find themselves utterly beyond their depth merely because of some mistake in their being admitted to school too early.

Pupils at normal age.-Eleven pupils are at normal age and somewhat accelerated in school progress. They may have entered school late and have been given the opportunity to skip a grade or otherwise to make rapid advancement in keeping with their age and ability. The 36 pupils who are of normal age and normal progress might be supposed to be the best adjusted group in the school. As a matter of fact, however, this conclusion may be open to serious question. Some may be having great difficulty because their intellectual development has not kept pace with their chronological age. Others may be bright children who have gone on quietly from grade to grade at a normal rate of progress but without any challenge to the latent capacities within them. Obviously these should be discovered and considered for a program of enrichment and probable acceleration.

The 13 children who are of normal age but who show some retardation in school progress are those who began school before the standard age but who because of retardation are now at normal age for the grade. No doubt most of them should have entered kindergarten instead of the first grade. If their retardation is due to low academic intelligence it is bound to become progressively more serious unless adjustment of the curriculum is effected in keeping with their needs.

Pupils above normal age.-There are four pupils who are overage for the grade but who have made normal progress since entering school. Apparently they began their school career late. Perhaps they have met the consecutive grade requirements without much difficulty, but perhaps also they have been passed on from grade to grade because they were overage despite a limited ability to master academic school work. In either case, further retardation would probably not be wise at this time, but a plan for future work in the seventh and