studies in Arithmetic, 1916-1917 



29 



all other cases Indiana in 1914 falls distinctly below Kansas 

 and Iowa. The Indiana medians (1915) are generally above 

 those of 1914. Nine of the 20 cities that gave the tests in 

 1914 continued their use in 1915 and presumably in the mean- 

 time attempted to bring up the work in arithmetic. Consid- 

 ering the effect that these 9 cities might have had on the re- 

 sults, the Indiana 1915 medians are still below the other state 

 standards. In this connection it will be interesting to examine 

 Figures 1 to 4, pp. 26, 27, which set forth these comparisons 

 graphically. It will be seen in Figures 1 to 4 how the solid 

 lines for Indiana 1917 scores in both attempts and rights fall 

 distinctly below the other lines. No one should fail to see 

 that in subtraction and division the Iowa line for rights runs 

 above the Indiana line for attempts. Such a graph should 

 challenge the attention of every teacher in the state. 



A Study of the Best Five Cities. Since the results for the 

 state as a whole show that Indiana achievements are inferior 

 to those of Iowa and Kansas, the question arises whether 

 there are any cities in the state whose achievements equal or 

 excel outside standards. To answer that question a brief 

 study has been made of the 5 cities that rank highest. These 

 cities are 5, 12, 13, 19, and 25. Of these five cities. City 25 is 

 first with 5, 13, 12, and 19 following in descending order of 

 achievement. City 6 really ranks fifth, but since it has only 

 the seventh and eighth grades represented. City 19, ranking 

 sixth, was selected instead. The medians for each of the Best 

 Five Cities, the medians for the group, for the Indiana 1914 

 and 1915 studies, and for other states have been collected in 

 Table XI. A graphic representation of the results is given 

 in Figures 5 to 8. An examination of these figures reveals a 

 characteristic common to all four fundamental operations. 

 The solid lines representing the number of attempts and 

 rights for the Best Five Cities assume the same general shape. 

 This is particularly noticeable in the case of the eighth grade. 

 It invariably fails to show the growth that should be expected, 

 considering the advanced positions that the sixth and seventh 

 grades hold. This same thing is true of the seventh grade in 

 addition. 



At this point compare the Indiana lines in Figures 1 to 4 

 and 5 to 8. This tendency to move downward characteristic 



