16 



Indiana University Studies 



The extent to which children remain in school after they 

 become sixteen becomes an index of the holding power of 

 the school. From the point of view of its social function it 

 is a measure of the efficiency of the school. Other things 

 being equal, that school is serving its community best which 

 is holding the largest per cent of the children until they com- 

 plete the work of the high school. 



Two Methods of Studying Elimination. The elimination 

 of children from the schools may be studied in two ways: 



(1) on the basis of the number of children in each age group; 



(2) on the basis of the number of children in each grade 

 group. The first method will enable us to say at ivhat age 

 children leave school. The second leads to a statement of 

 the grades ivhich the children reach before leaving school. 

 Both methods will be used in studying the facts of Tables I 

 to VI. 



(1) Age Distributions of Children. The age totals in 

 Tables I to VI show that some children, about twenty per 

 cent, start to the public schools at the age of five, and about 

 seventy per cent enter at six. From seven up to fourteen the 

 number of pupils in the different age groups is reasonably 

 constant, but beginning with the age of fourteen there is a 

 marked decrease in the numbers. In those systems having 

 a semiannual promotion, the age of fourteen appears to be 

 anticipated because there is a noticeable decrease in the num- 

 ber of the thirteen-year-old pupils. 



A Common Basis of Comparison. Before we can compare 

 the several age distributions, they must be reduced to a com- 

 mon basis. The most satisfactory method would be to ascer- 

 tain the total number of children of each age and calculate 

 the per cent ''belonging" in school. Unfortunately, this infor- 

 mation is not at hand. 



We may, however, assume that the age groups, seven to 

 twelve inclusive, represent approximately the actual number 

 of children of the respective ages. Four factors, (1) tem- 

 porary termination of school membership, (2) physical or 

 mental unfitness, (3) attendance at private or parochial 

 school, and (4) non-enforcement of the compulsory attend- 

 ance law, tend to reduce the number of pupils slightly. We 

 have no data to show the effect of these factors, 



