14 



Indiana University Studies 



1. Eliinination. To what extent do the schools hold chil- 

 dren after they pass beyond the age of compulsory attend- 

 ance? This is important because if a child starts to school 

 when six and makes regular progress he has only finished 

 the eighth grade at the age of fourteen. If he leaves school 

 at this age he has failed to take advantage of the high school 

 opportunities which the community offers. This, however, is 

 the most favorable case. At fourteen, only 44 per cent of 



No. of pupils 

 1100 



1000 

 900 

 800 

 700 

 600 

 500 

 400 



300 

 200 

 100 



1 



5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 



Age 



Fig. 3. Showing tlie total number "belonging" in systems having semi- 

 annual promotion and in systems having annual promotion in each age- 

 gronp on basis of 1,000 in the average of the age-group 7 to 12. For each 

 age-group the left line represents systems having semiannual promotion 

 and the right line represents systems having annual promotion. 



the children in the schools studied had completed the eighth 

 grade and for the remaining 54 per cent, their leaving school 

 at fourteen means that they have not obtained even a ''com- 

 mon school" education. 



II. Progress. The other problem concerns the progress 

 of those pupils who are in school. It is important that chil- 

 dren be in school, but it is even more important how they 

 respond to the instruction which the school offers. In case 



