Haggerty: Studies in Arithmetic 



11 



to the Standard the per cent of dependabiHty is the same as the 

 Standard. If the hne slants upward to the right, the dependabiHty 

 is greater; if the hne slants downward to the right, the dependa- 

 bility is less. 



Continued investigation of achievement in arithmetical sub- 

 jects should lead some time to a standard much less arbitrary 

 than the ones here presented. To escape the charge of arbitrari- 

 ness a standard must have due regard to the following conditions: 



(a) The degree of efficiency required for the successful pursuit 

 of the vocations into which children will later go. 



(5) The degree of achievement required at each grade in 

 order to insure such efficiency in the end. 



(c) The time allotment necessary to secure such efficiency at 

 each step. 



(d) The proper relation of efficiency in the fundamentals to 

 efficiency in other arithmetical subjects. 



(e) The proper relation of efficiency in the fundamentals 

 of arithmetic to the necessary requirements in ever}^ other 

 subject which schools teach and to the other important 

 school interests. 



At the present time only the barest beginning has been made 

 in determining the adequate answer to any one of these demands, 

 and until such an answer is actually determined we must 

 content ourselves with the highly arbitrary standards which we 

 have. In this connection it is interesting to compare the median 

 scores in Indiana schools with similar scores from lowa^ and 

 Kansas^. These medians are given in Table I, and shown graphic- 

 ally in Figures 7 and 8. The Kansas medians are derived from 19 

 cities; those from Iowa are from 9 cities. As in Indiana, the total 

 number of children is somewhat less than 10,000 in each State. 

 Graphed on the Indiana Standard both States appear higher, 

 Iowa strikingly so. Searching the Indiana table of medians it is 

 difficult to find any city as high as the Iowa median in all points. 

 For the sake of comparison with the best of the Indiana cities, Table 

 V is constructed showing the 5 cities containing the highest scores 

 and the median scores of the 5. If the Indiana study had been 

 based upon these 5 cities the Indiana scores would have been 

 clearly above those of Kansas but not equal to those of Iowa. 



3An unpublished study by Ernest J. Ashbaugh. 



4 Walter S. Monroe. A Report of the Use of the Courtis Standard Research Tests in 

 Arithmetic in Twenty-four Cities. Emporia, Kan. 



