80S 
NEW YORK HIGH SCHOOLS AND RURAL 
CHILDREN. 
The following correspondence between 
The R. N.-Y. and the N. Y. State De¬ 
partment of Instruction will interest 
many of our farmers: 
Letter No. 1. 
One of our readers in Westchester Coun¬ 
ty, New York, Mr. F. Q. White of York- 
town, makes the following statement with 
regard to the treatment handed out to 
his daughters. Mr. White lives eight miles 
from the nearest high school. lie has two 
daughters who cannot travel that far in 
Winter. These gills have been doing high 
school work at a local school taught by 
a Columbia University graduate. 
These girls went to the nearest high 
school and took the examination. In some 
studies they passed with a very high 
record, and in others between 70 and 75, 
yet they were not allowed a certificate, al¬ 
though 60 is the passing mark in these 
studies, had they taken their work in a 
high school. This is a statement of fact, 
and it seems to us that it is a clear case 
of injustice to these girls. They are penal¬ 
ized because they live in the rural districts, 
and were unable to have the advantages of 
the State high school. Why should not 
these girls receive the same credit for work 
done that town children receive? On the 
face of these facts we regard it as a case 
of rank injustice that village children with 
their special advantages should be allowed 
a certificate for 60 points, when rural chil¬ 
dren lacking these advantages are compelled 
to obtain 75 points. I cannot believe that 
the State of New York will willingly per¬ 
mit injustice of this sort. Will you be 
kind enough to tell us what can be said 
about it? h. w. COLLING WOOD. 
Letter No. 2. 
The facts as stated seem to be correct. 
I am sending you a copy of our handbook 
3 relating to examinations, on pages 8-0 
of which, you will find the rules regard¬ 
ing the per cent, of acceptance of papers 
written in Regents examinations. The 
rules there stated have been in force since 
1905. Previous to 1005, there was practi¬ 
cally no restriction on admission to Re¬ 
gents examinations. Any person, whether 
he had attended school or not, might be 
admitted to examination, and on his reach¬ 
ing a passing mark of 75%, his papers 
were accepted. When the syllabus was re¬ 
vised in 1905, it was thought best to 
drop the passing mark from 75% to 60% 
and to require for admission to the ex¬ 
aminations evidence that the student had 
pursued the subject, for a length of time 
specified for each subject, in an approved 
academic school, leaving the passing mark 
of 75% for those who had pursued the sub¬ 
ject the required length of time in an un¬ 
approved school. It was at that time urged 
that a written examination is not alto¬ 
gether a satisfactory test of a student’s 
proficiency. It was not unusual for a 
bright student to “cram up” a subject in 
a short time, pass the examination and so 
receive credit for scholarship that might 
be of a very superficial character. As is 
well known, there is a large element of 
chance in the passing of a written exami¬ 
nation. Not more than eight or ten ques¬ 
tions can be asked and if, by chance, the 
student has studied up, say, six out of the 
ten subjects to which the questions relate, 
a passing mark might easily be secured. 
In view of these facts, it was thought that 
evidence of attendance at an approved 
school should be required if the student 
were allowed to pass at 60%, and this 
rule has received general commendation, 
so far as I know, wherever it has been 
carefully discussed. The student who can¬ 
not furnish evidence of attendance and 
satisfactory work in an approved school 
is still placed on the same footing as be¬ 
fore and allowed to pass the examination 
at 75%. 
I fully recognize the fact that there may 
be cases where a student studying under 
a private tutor, or even studying without 
a tutor, may have done just as good work 
and may have studied the subject just as 
long as the one attending an approved 
school, but there would be a serious dif¬ 
ficulty in accepting certificates indiscrimin¬ 
ately from schools not approved, and as an 
administrative proposition we have been 
forced to draw the line, the higher passing 
mark required of those who have not 
studied in an approved school being simply 
additional evidence required instead of the 
evidence of attendance. 
CHAS. F. WHEELOCK, 
Second Assistant Commissioner of Educa¬ 
tion. 
Letter No. 3. 
I understand, of course, your point of 
view as a general proposition, yet I think 
this case was out of the ordinary. These 
girls were taught, as I stated in my former 
letter, by a graduate of Columbia Uni¬ 
versity, an accredited teacher, fully compe¬ 
tent in every way to fit these girls for the 
course. It is evident that their average 
would be above the 75%, which I under¬ 
stand you require in such cases. I am 
sure that an investigation of this case will 
prove to you that this was no case where 
students endeavored to “cram up” on a 
subject in a short time. The fact that 
these girls studied with a teacher, who 
would certainly be considered an approved 
instructor by your Department, places 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
them, I think, outside of the class to which 
you refer in your letter. I think this 
makes it an entirely different case from 
any incident of “cramming" to pass an 
examination. I know the parties in inter¬ 
est well, and they are not the kind of peo¬ 
ple who would attempt that class of work. 
As I stated in my former letter, it was 
physically impossible for these girls to at¬ 
tend the high school. In my judgment they 
are, with their home training and the 
teaching which they received, greatly 
superior in their education to a large ma¬ 
jority of the persons who receive your 
certificates. We feel that this is a clear 
case of discrimination against young peo¬ 
ple from the rural districts, who find it 
physically impossible to attend the school. 
I would like to know what the State of 
New York provides for such people in the 
way of a high school education. If the 
mere incident of locality is to cut them 
from the privilege which goes with a 
certificate, when in training and educa¬ 
tion they are fully equal to those who 
receive one, it becomes, in my judgment, 
a clear case of discrimination, and a clear 
injustice to country children. There 
should not be any cast-iron rule about 
such a proposition. There ought to be 
provisions made for a fair and common 
sense arrangement, when it is evident 
that pupils, like these girls, have been 
unable to attend the school. 
H. W. COLLINGWOOD. 
Letter No. 4. 
I have no reason to doubt your state¬ 
ment regarding the efficiency of the in¬ 
struction given to the children of Mr. 
White, but I am sure you will understand 
the difficulty of administering our rule in 
such a way as to cover cases of all the 
students in the State who have been in¬ 
structed by private tutors. We are always 
ready to register any school that applies 
for registration, but such registration re¬ 
quires a definite application and an in¬ 
spection of the work by one of our inspec¬ 
tors. We should be glad in this case to 
consider the matter of approving the work 
done by these students. In order to con¬ 
sider the work, we should need to have 
evidence as to the competency of the 
teacher, the length of time which the stu¬ 
dents had pursued the subject, i. e., the 
number of weeks and hours per week, and 
the conditions under which they have 
studied. I am well aware that our rule 
works hardship to those who have not been 
informed of the rule, but we have used 
the most diligent efforts to have all the 
people in the State informed regarding 
that rule, hut we have offered the relief 
in all cases to students who are well qualified 
through an examination at 75%, which is 
not a severe requirement and which has 
always been the standard in cases where 
a certificate of attendance at approved 
schools was not available. 
March 15, 
You say, “I would like to know what 
the State of New York provides for such 
people in the way of a high school educa¬ 
tion.” In reply I would call your atten¬ 
tion to the law which permits the State to 
pay the tuition of students in rural dis¬ 
tricts in any high school in the State which 
they see fit to attend. This law has been 
enacted in response to requests from this 
Department and it is being taken advant¬ 
age of by a large number of students in 
the rural districts. Of course, the State 
cannot attempt to equalize opportunities 
so far as such opportunities depend upon 
nearness to a high school, but I can assure 
you that this Department is putting forth 
every effort to bring the opportunities of 
the high school within the reach of every 
child in the State. 
Speaking for myself personally, I beg to 
say that my preliminary education was in 
a rural school. I was reared on a farm 
that was eight miles from any secondary 
school and as a result, my pers'onal sympa¬ 
thies are entirely with the children who 
are to-day similarly circumstanced, and 
anything that I am able to do to aid them, 
I am always ready to do. Under these cir¬ 
cumstances, I am sure you will admit that 
there can be no possible thought in this 
Department of discriminating against chil¬ 
dren in the rural districts. 
CHAS. F. WHEELOCK. 
Second Assistant Commissioner of Educa¬ 
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