studies in Arithmetic, 1916-1917 



25 



the examples without error. This is not necessary for a me- 

 dian accuracy of 100 per cent. It is only necessary that half 

 or more of the pupils do all the examples that they attempt 

 correctly. The standard of 100 per cent set by Courtis is a 

 theoretical one. In using it for comparative purposes one 

 should keep in mind the significance which he attaches to it. 

 For this reason we quote the following:^ 



The question of proper standards is not so simple as that for speed. 

 In the first place, children of all ages attain perfect accuracy, so that 

 100 per cent would seem to be the only standard possible. Certainly no 

 inaccurate work is of value. On the other hand, "to err is human" and 

 the most precise mortal will make mistakes at times. Should the stand- 

 ard be 90 per cent on straight ahead work, with the teaching of habits 

 of constant checking, or should one aim for perfect accuracy, with check- 

 ing as an activity to be used only in cases of doubt? 



It seems to the writer that such questions should be settled, not on 

 the basis of opinion but by experimentation. It is possible to determine 

 by actual measurement how many children, under the present conditions, 

 attain standard speed and 100 per cent accuracy; also how many can 

 be brought to this level. Certainly 100 per cent accuracy is better than 

 90 per cent accuracy, unless the time cost of the training should prove 

 to be too great. Accordingly, for his own work he has adopted 100 

 per cent accuracy as a working standard, but he wishes to emphasize 

 the fact that this is done with an open mind and a full realization of 

 the possible necessity for change. A better statement would be that he 

 has adopted no standard for accuracy, but is now^ trying to collect data 

 that would enable a standard to be set intelligently, and that he is par- 

 ticularly interested in finding out the number of children who can work 

 at standard speed and with perfect accuracy. 



There appears to be as much fluctuation from city to city in 

 accuracy as in the rate of work. An extreme case of this 

 variation is seen in fifth grade division where there is a range 

 from 22 per cent to 93 per cent. A range of 40 per cent is 

 not uncommon. Compared with Kansas and Iowa, the Indi- 

 ana accuracy median scores without exception are lower. 

 Compared with the Indiana 1914 and 1915 scores, the 1917 

 scores are higher than the fonner in fifth grade subtraction, 

 in sixth grade addition and subtraction, in all the operations 

 in the eighth grade, whereas they are lower than the latter in 

 all instances except in seventh grade addition and multiplica- 

 tion, in eighth grade multiplication, and in eighth grade addi- 

 tion, in which they tied. 



* Courtis, S. A. : "Third, Fourth, and Fifth Annual Accountings" (Department of 

 Cooperative Research, Detroit, Mich.) pp. 29-30. 



