The Administration of Failing Pupils in the High Schools of Seattle, Washington

Abstract

The administration of failing pupils is a problem which in recent years has occasioned much discussion in both elementary and secondary schools. Elementary schools in particular, because of compulsory-education laws, have had to attack the problem from many angles. Special schools and ungraded classes have been organized, especially in the larger cities, for those pupils who, because of handicaps, cannot profit from the work of the regular school. Individual instruction, enrichment of curricular materials, and improvement of school conditions in general have likewise contributed toward the solution of the failure problem in the elementary school by seeking to develop in the potential failure type compensating abilities of a sort which will justify, both from the standpoint of the individuals concerned and from the standpoint of society, the expenditure in time and money involved. The high school has viewed the failure problem in a different light, although it is approaching more and more the point of view of the elementary school. It has dealt with a select group of students, and its functions have been more or less selective. The pupils are older and, presumably, have mastered the tools of learning. They must, therefore, assume a greater degree of personal responsibility for the use made of the school. While the secondary school cannot unload the responsibility for failure on the pupil alone, it errs in its administration df the pupil unless it develops in him a keen sense of responsibility for the proper use of school time and opportunities. It was with the foregoing thought in mind that Superintendent Thomas M. Cole recommended to the Board of School Directors of Seattle, Washington, in February, 1921, the adoption of a rule