Prolonged Absences Research Articles

The ‘Spanish Chapel’ of Philip II

In the introductory section of La Música en la Corte de Carlos V (Barcelona, 1944), Dr. Higinio Anglés published a series of documents from the Archives at Simancas which showed that a Chapel composed exclusively of Spanish musicians was attached to the Royal Court of Spain as early as 1526 and existed simultaneously with the Emperor's Flemish Chapel from that time. The Spanish Chapel was established by the Empress, Isabel of Portugal, the wife of Charles V, who acted as his regent during his many and prolonged absences from Spain. While the Flemish Chapel regularly accompanied the Emperor on his journeys, the chapel of the Empress belonged to her household and remained permanently in Spain. It is interesting to note the name of Antonio de Cabezón in the first list of cantors of this chapel. The name of the great composer of keyboard music appeared continuously among the musicians attached to the Royal Court until he died in 1566.

When Spelling has been Mastered in the Elementary School

In the teaching of spelling, efficient learning is based upon (1) the acquisition of a method of mastering words; (2) the development of an ability to be aware of spelling errors and correct forms; and (3) the develop ment of a pride in spelling words correctly. The present investigation deals with elementary school pupils who had seemingly developed considerably in these three respects. This study is one aspect of an experiment conducted in the University Elementary School to investigate the effects of maintained homogeniety by frequent grouping and regrouping of pupils, standardized spelling tests being applied at short intervals.1 The results reported in the present study were made possible by the inclusion in the program of homogeneous grouping, provisions for two special types of pupils; (1) the exceptionally strong pupil with high spelling achievement, and (2) the very weak pupil with low spelling achievement. The children with very high achievement scores were excused from spelling instruction following each application of a spelling test.2 When all other pupils were studying spelling, the exempted children were helped in other subjects or activities in which they were known to need assistance. During the year and a half of experimentation, 35 pupils were excused from instruction in spelling. Of this number, 11 were returned to spelling groups because standard test scores did not remain above grade or age levels sufficiently to warrant continued omission from spelling instruction. Health factors and prolonged absences were typical causes influencing these cases.