out the country. The figures that 

 have been given above are the oxer- 

 all figures for the Nation: in some 

 States the loss is much less, in others 

 much greater. Unless one were to 

 believe — which we do not — that 

 there is a corresponding difference in 

 the distribution of native abilitv 

 among the States, one cannot help 

 reaching the conclusion that the dif- 

 ferences reflect great variation in the 

 quality of our secondary education. 

 It is not .within our mandate to 

 enter into the controversial subject 

 of the way in which a larger amount 

 of public funds should be expended 

 on secondary education in those 

 States where the amount now spent 

 per pupil is very low, and it is surely 

 no coincidence that it is in these very 

 States that we find the losses, from 

 the fifth grade on, to be the greatest. 

 We would be remiss in our duty, 

 however, if we did not point out that 

 much remains to be done to make 

 our educational system effective in 

 developing the latent talent of the 

 Nation by improving the quality of 

 the secondary schools in many locali- 

 ties so that no boy or girl of talent 

 and promise may be deprived of the 

 proper high school education. 



Among those who drop out before 

 completing high school, both in the 

 States which provide excellent public 

 education and in those which are less 

 advanced in this respect, there un- 

 doubtedly are some at least who have 

 potentialities for becoming first-rate 

 scientists and engineers. The early 

 discovery of such individuals who 

 have dropped out of the educational 

 system obviously presents peculiar 

 difficulties. The Committee suggests 

 to employers, and to educational, sci- 

 entific, and labor leaders that serious 

 consideration be given to the prob- 

 lems involved in the discovery of such 



individuals and in getting them back 

 into educational institutions where 

 their talents can be dexeloped in spite 

 of their lack of complete high school 



trammg. 



Students drop out of high school, 

 college, and graduate school, or do 

 not get that far, for a variety of rea- 

 sons. The reasons that concern us 

 are only those which relate to the 

 talented and they are (1) that they 

 cannot afford to go, (2) that schools 

 and colleges proxiding work of inter- 

 est and up to the level of their abili- 

 ties are not available locally, and (3) 

 that business and industry recruit 

 from among the ablest before they 

 ha\'e finished the training of which 

 they are capable. 



These reasons apply generally, but 

 they apply with particular force to 

 science: 



1. The educational road to becom- 

 ing a high-grade scientist is long and 

 expensive, and the families of many 

 able students cannot afford to pay 

 their way. It is of a length at least 

 6 years beyond high school and it is 

 expensive because, as is evident, no 

 large percentage of science students 

 can get first-rate training in educa- 

 tional institutions while living at 

 home. 



2. Students of scientific capability 

 are particularly vulnerable to bad or 

 inadequate mathematical and scien- 

 tific teaching in secondary school 

 which fails to awaken their interest 

 in science or to give them adequate 

 instruction. Improvement in the 

 teaching of science all along the line 

 is imperative. To become a first-rate 

 scientist it is necessary to get a good 

 start early, and a good start early 

 means good secondary school science 

 teaching. No matter how gifted and 

 capable a person may be, if he is 

 not interested to finish secondary 



148 



