MEDICAL INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS 



is that in all these states the examinations result in the discovery 

 each year of many thousands of pupils with defective vision and 

 hearing. This means that each year large numbers of these chil- 

 dren receive treatment for defects which otherwise would in all 

 probability have continued uncared for and would have con- 

 stantly grown more serious. 



TABLE 1 6. RESULTS OF VISION AND HEARING TESTS IN MASSACHU- 

 SETTS, CONNECTICUT, AND MAINE 



RECORDS 



Individual records are a most important feature of a system 

 of physical examinations. General information about the health 

 of the pupils as a whole will not do; there must be a completed 

 individual record for each child. The record card or blank must * 

 have spaces for entering the results of subsequent examinations 

 as well as the initial one. If the work is to be of real practical 

 value, there must be the closest connection between the records of 

 the physical examinations and those of the class room. 



Three classes of forms are essential. In the first place, there 

 must be a system for notifying the parent of the results of the 

 physical examination of the child. Forms of this sort are con- 

 sidered in Chapter VI entitled, Making Medical Inspection 

 Effective.* In the second place, there is the individual record for 

 each child. To be effective, this record must be an integral part 

 of the child's educational accounting and must be always available, 



* See p. 72 ff . 

 52 



