census may be compared with the 

 enrollments by grades in the public 

 schools of the country as tabulated 

 by the United States Office of Edu- 

 cation. Again it will be noted that 



there is a marked decline after the 

 seventh grade and a progressive dimi- 

 nution through the years of high 

 school : 

 — "Statistics of State School Systems, 



1937-38 



1941-42 



Elementary school pupils 



Kindergarten 



First grade 



Second grade 



Third grade 



Fourth grade 



Fifth grade 



Sixth grade 



Seventh grade 



Eighth grade 



Secondary school pupils.. 



First year 



Second year 



Third year 



Fourth Year 



Post graduate 



19,748,174 



18,174,668 



607,034 

 3,317,144 

 2,486,550 

 2,444,381 

 2,402,617 

 2,342,428 

 2,252,722 

 2,173,173 

 1,722,125 



6,226,934 



625,783 

 2,930,762 

 2,215,100 

 2,175,245 

 2,196,732 

 2,166,018 

 2,124,494 

 2,060,752 

 1,679,782 



6,387,805 



1,979,379 

 1,669,281 

 1,379,398 

 1,150,506 

 48,370 



1,927,040 

 1,705,546 

 1,450,788 

 1,273,141 

 31,090 



1939-40 



Surveys 



1940-42. 



and 1941-42." Biennial 

 of Education, 1938-40, 

 (Table III, p. 9.) 



In the year 1941—42 there was a 

 decrease in high school enrollments 

 of about 189,000, distributed as 

 follows: 



First year of high school 84,000 



Second year 61,000 



Third year __ 35,000 



Fourth year 9,000 



Recent reports indicate a larger 

 decrease in high school attendance 

 for the years 1942—43, with indica- 

 tions that some 160,000 boys and 

 some 50,000 girls had left high 

 school. Efforts to reduce the number 

 of students leaving high school and 

 to persuade others to return, have 

 apparently checked this decline in 



high school enrollments in 1944-45. 



There is, as these figures indicate, 

 a progressive reduction in the num- 

 ber of students at each successively 

 higher level of education. Thus, the 

 total student body may be compared 

 to a pyramid with a broad base of 

 elementary pupils sloping upwards to 

 the apex of professional and graduate 

 students. 



Various detailed studies of how 

 and when students drop out along 

 the educational sequence have been 

 made which throw light upon the 

 size of and occasion for withdrawals, 

 and the reasons therefor. 



Starting with 1,000 pupils enrolled 

 in the fifth grade (figures for earlier 

 grades are confusing because of pupil 

 retardations), the following figures 

 show the extent to which they are 

 reduced in each successive year: 



168 



