282 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts , and Letters. 
of six years, do a certain portion of the entire work in one year 
which is termed the first grade, then be promoted into the next 
grade called the second, and so on through eight years or grades 
of work. Entrance at the age of six is not compulsory but 
that is the legal entering age fixed by statute, and by well 
marked custom has become the usual entering age of children. 
It is, of course', a familiar fact, that each year some children 
are not promoted in the public schools. That is, they are com¬ 
pelled to go over a certain portion of the established course of 
study for a second time, thereby becoming retarded in their 
progress through the grades. 
IsTow the real basis of promotion is the course of study which 
the administrative authorities of the schools have established 
and which is, in short, nothing more or less than the amount 
of work prescribed to be done in each of the eight years of the 
elementary school. It prescribes the quantity of work to be 
done. The authorities likewise establish a quality standard 
for the work, or what is commonly termed the passing mark. 
Promotion and non-promotion or retardation are always rela¬ 
tive to these two standards. The course of study itself is the 
result of complex influences emanating from the past, from the 
present, from the home, and in short from too many extra¬ 
schoolroom sources. Rarely, if ever, is it the product of care¬ 
ful experimentation, being worked out under the same sur¬ 
roundings and conditions under which it is to be applied. 
Eor example: a superintendent from a cultured, old-settlecf 
community may go into a new lumber, prairie, or mining town, 
to take charge of the schools. The arranging of a course of 
study being left mainly, if not wholly, in his hands he at oncft 
applies his former course of study, without revision of any 
sort, to these widely different children, and then wonders at tm 
poor results. How many superintendents could stand up and 
say they had prepared the course of study for the very children 
who were attempting to follow its requirements. We need 
more tailor-made courses of study and fewer ready-made ones. 
We shall not attempt, either, within the scope of this thesis, 
to discuss the subjects usually found in a course of study, either 
