An Experiment in the Classification of Ninth-Grade Pupils according to Ability

Abstract

Several years ago the Scott High School, Toledo, Ohio, began classifying the incoming Freshmen into A, B, and C groups, basing the classification on the achievement of the pupils in the eighth grade. This system of grouping was inadequate because it did not take into consideration the pupils' real ability; it made no provision for the lazy, bright pupil. During the past two years another basis of classification has been employed, namely, the classification indexes of the pupils as determined by the Otis Classification Test. Early in the spring before the pupils enter the high school, cards are sent from the elementary schools showing this rating together with the selection of courses. Special recommendations and information of use in understanding and grouping the pupils appear on the backs of these cards. The cards are arranged serially and then rearranged according to the information about physical handicaps or handicaps of home or school background. A great deal of help in this regard is given by the eighth-grade teachers and the principals. The cards are then divided into class groups of about thirty each, and the teachers and hours are assigned for the autumn classes. In the year 1926-27 the groups were numbered from i to 22, Group i being the highest. The Saturday before school opens in the autumn pupils from out-of-town, private, and parochial schools are tested and fitted into the groups according to classification. Groups 21 and 22 were really two sections of the same group. Because their handicap in all subjects was often due to failure to use and understand the English language, the pupils were given a course in English composition and expression and another in reading and literature. They also studied introductory social science, a good 673