depends upon the tact of his teacher and principal. In schools where the "help" phase is emphasized, the pupils do not think of "staying after school."

With regard to the ungraded room, I feel that its reputation will depend upon the teachers. Let the strategic time when several pupils can be helped to gain a grade by the aid of such a room be utilized to start the experiment. Then the attention of the pupils will be directed to the advantage of membership in the ungraded room rather than to any disgrace. The ungraded room will then find a warm welcome among the pupils.

THE SEPARATION OF PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY DEFECTIVE CHILDREN FROM THE REGULAR SCHOOL

C. G. PEARSE, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, MILWAUKEE, WIS.

I think it will not be denied that children who depart somewhat from the normal or regular type should be kept and taught with normal children so far as is possible without injustice to the children who are normal and without failing to give such instruction as is necessary to those children who depart, either physically or mentally, from the normal. Wherever those children who are somewhat different from the usual normal child can be kept as a part of the school community, wherever they can be educated by the usual methods and under usual conditions, wherever they can learn to maintain themselves and care for themselves in the presence and company of others who are normal, it is most desirable that they shall have the opportunity to do so. But certain children depart so far from the normal through lack of certain of the senses by which education and knowledge of the outside world are acquired, or through lack of the necessary intellectual strength to receive profitably this knowledge from outside by means of the senses and to classify and organize such knowledge, that some separation for certain definite classes seems advisable. This is true not only for the sake of children who are normal and who might be hampered in their progress if the teacher were required at the same time to attempt to care for the children who are not normal, but also for the sake of the non-normal children who under such conditions would fail to receive certain special and skilled instruction which is indispensable to their most favorable development.

Among those children who should certainly be separated thus from normal children for a considerable portion of their earlier school life would be children who are deaf. These children, through their lack of hearing, are unable to acquire the usual knowledge and arts of life through the usual instrumentalities. They must have specially trained and skilful teachers who know their peculiar needs and can minister to them; methods peculiarly adapted to their condition must be used in their instruction-methods which cannot be very well carried on in the presence of classes of normal children without great disturbance to the children who are normal and great embarrassment to the children who are deaf. These facts have been thoroughty established by the experiments which have been made in the conduct of special day schools for deaf children. However, when these children have made considerable progress and have learned to speak and to read the lips of those who speak to them, with sufficient skill, they may, perhaps at the high-school age, be transferred to the usual classes in the high schools and do, in most respects, the work which other students of their age are able to do.

It will be generally agreed, I believe, that children who are blind or whose vision is seriously defective must be taught in different classes or schools, at least for a considerable portion of the time in the earlier years of their school life. These children, as is the case with children who are deaf, require different school appliances, skilled and specially trained teachers, and the use of methods which cannot well be carried on in the presence of the usual classes without disturbance to these classes and embarrassment of the children thus specially afflicted. As the children who lack good vision advance in their studies they may gradually assume their places in the regular school classes-at first for a part and later for most of their school instruction. They will for a long time require special

help in study and in the preparation of their lessons. This must be given by teachers specially trained to teach the blind. But after the earlier years of separate instruction they will gradually acquire the ability to mingle and work with the normal members of the school upon a more and more nearly equal basis.

In some cities schools for crippled children have been established. It may be that for certain classes of crippled children such separate schools are desirable. It is possible that children who are crippled so as to be almost constantly in pain, whose nervous sys tems are more or less shattered by the sufferings they have endured and do endure day by day, or children who lack even reasonable control of their bodies or their limbs owing to paralysis or similar afflictions, or children whose physical misfortunes are such as to render them unsightly or loathsome in appearance, should be segregated from other children in rooms where special freedom can be allowed them, special appliances if needed can be provided for them, and special help such as they may require can be given. But where children are not seriously crippled, where they are defective only to the extent of an arm or a leg, or have such minor physical misfortunes as do not deprive them of reasonable physical strength and activity, it seems far better that they should remain members of the regular classes. They must, after leaving school, become members of the community, where they will be in competition with and will constantly meet people who are normal. The training they get in school, meeting such pupils in the competition of the classroom and the playground, is a valuable exercise for them in preparing for the work of life. The little courtesies and the consideration which can and ought to be shown them by the other pupils of the school offer, also, excellent training for the children who are normal. For these reasons it seems to me that only the seriously crippled or incapacitated or the unsightly ought, on account of their crippled condition, to be segregated in separate schools.

For the remaining class, those who are mentally defective, the interests both of normal children who would otherwise be kept in their company and the interests of the mentally defective children themselves would require that they be put into special classes where they may have such consideration, such freedom from conventional methods, such special appliances, and such specially skilled and sympathetic teachers as their unfortunate condition requires. It is especially important that these children should have every opportunity for the training of the hands. Often the sluggish or undeveloped intellect may be stimulated or developed through the work of the hands. The peculiar nervousness which these children often show, the perverseness which often characterizes them, when subjected to the usual school methods or conditions may, in a multitude of instances, be avoided by placing them under the care of properly skilled teachers and under proper schoolroom conditions.

It is unfortunately true that many of these mentally defective children cannot be so educated as to become self-directing, self-sustaining members of the community. They may be trained to certain useful arts, to certain habits of industry; they may become useful workers in various lines under wise direction; but great numbers of them will never be able to become self-controlled, self-directing, self-supporting citizens. Special work in these special classes will go far to cultivate in them habits of industry and good conduct, some industrial skill, and finally a good disposition toward the community and toward those with whom they must work and upon whom they must be dependent for direction and suggestion if not for care and support.

THE SEPARATION OF THE INSUBORDINATE AND INCORRIGIBLE CHILDREN FROM THE REGULAR SCHOOL

W. C. MARTINDALE, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, DETROIT, MICH. Instead of "The Separation of the Insubordinate and Incorrigible Children from the Regular School," my choice of title, if I had had the selection, would have been, "Separating Children from Their Insubordination and Incorrigibility."

Under the head "Duties of Teachers" the first rule in the Manual of the Detroit Board of Education reads as follows:

"It shall be the duty of teachers to practice such discipline in their schools as would be exercised by a wise and judicious parent in his family-always firm and vigilant, but prudent."

The traditional policy of the Detroit schools is in line with this conception of the relation between teacher and pupil; and the same spirit, I believe, is manifest in our treatment of the problem of insubordinate and incorrigible children.

The question of the separation of this class of children from the regular school and of their treatment in special schools is a broad one, involving as it does consideration of mental and physical peculiarities and of environment. However, I shall treat the subject largely from the side of administration.

I will say first that the maximum number of children to a teacher in the ordinary schoolroom is at present too large. In our School for the Deaf the average number of pupils to a teacher is five; in our special rooms for backward children it is eleven, and in ungraded rooms, nineteen. The maximum number of seats in an elementary room should not exceed forty, if the average teacher is to know something about individual pupils. With forty pupils established as the maximum number, I can see the teacher with time for an occasional long breath, with time to regain her elasticity, with an opportunity to retain her poise. The incorrigibles and insubordinates-these being but relative terms-have already begun to disappear.

In the second place, teachers should avoid helping to make incorrigibles of average children. A case in point may make this clear. John, six years old, was brought to school by his elder brother, but could not be kept there except by force and had to be sent home. His sister brought him back, but John cried to go home. He would give no reason for his attitude. It seemed impossible to pacify him and he was allowed to go home again. Then his brother and sister told the principal that their mother wanted John to be whipped in order to compel him to remain in school. Finally, after several days, the mother came with John and reiterated the demand that he be whipped. The principal replied that John would be made welcome at school if he came but he added, "I will not whip John." When John heard this he said, “Will you for sure not whip me ?" Upon being assured that he would not be whipped, he volunteered the remark that he would come to school, and so he did regularly from that time on. School had been represented to him as a place of punishment and if the teacher had fallen in with this view John might have become incorrigible like some of his older brothers. The principal's action was guided by some knowledge of John's environment.

The importance of physiology and of environment cannot be overestimated in dealing with children who are physically and mentally normal. In dealing with those who for various reasons are unable to profit by ordinary schoolroom instruction, such knowledge is absolutely indispensable. Some children are born into this world so handicapped that they require for their salvation the wisest and the kindest treatment. And yet those who need such treatment most are often least likely to receive it.

In Detroit our aim is to study the environment of each child, and his physical peculiarities and deficiencies receive special consideration.

It is often found that what has appeared to be incorrigibleness in a boy has resulted from causes which a little investigation has served to remove. To illustrate: A boy, fourteen years old, in the eighth grade of an elementary school, had long been a trial to his teachers. One day when the boy had been sent to the principal for disorderly conduct it came out in the course of questioning that being a late riser he frequently left home without breakfast. The result showed that the boy's nervous irritability and tendency to sulks and tantrums were largely due to this cause. For some time he was allowed to go home to relieve his hunger when a recurrence of his trouble seemed imminent,

but he himself was anxious to overcome the difficulty, and with the aid of teachers and parents finally succeeded. Certainly such treatment of the case was preferable to expul

sion.

This case is merely cited as a type of so-called insubordination. Eye strain and slight difficulty in hearing are also prolific sources of irritability and teachers should be observant and considerate in discovering and allowing for such slight physical defects in pupils.

That there is a close relation between insubordination and arrested mental development is axiomatic. Before special provision was made for just such cases, it sometimes happened that a child entered school at five or six years of age and remained for two or three years in the same class, without yielding to ordinary educational methods. For this class of children found in the kindergarten and lower elementary grades, special rooms for backward children were established in Detroit some years ago. Insubordination is considered as incident to deficiency. The rooms are not established for the permanent care of cases of arrested development but for the sole purpose of bridging over a certain period in the lives of those children who need individual assistance which cannot be given in regular classrooms.

The Day School for the Deaf is another factor in relieving the regular grade-rooms of a class of pupils, who under ordinary conditions are a great worry to teachers. This school is established under a state law by which the city receives a certain amount from the state for each pupil attending the school. The law extends the same privilege to all school districts establishing schools of at least three pupils.

The time and effort given by a superintendent to secure such laws as the one under which our Day School for the Deaf is organized may seem to some of you a dissipation of energy; it does not seem so to me. We are thus enabled to remove a class of pupils whose position has been heretofore pathetic. Attending the regular schools as they did, they were looked upon by other children as "queer," and many were classed as incorrigible. This probably seems a tame old story to many of you, but I claim that when those pupils with physical defects have been sifted out, the greater part of the old-time incorrigibles disappear. The teacher now has opportunity to look more carefully after the needs of the remaining pupils and is able to supply the very bright ones, mischievous because of lack of proper employment, with work suited to their needs and abilities. If she happens to have in her room a child ordinarily quite normal, but subject, at intervals, to a volcanic flaming-up of what can only be described as "cussedness," she is able to study his case and to get hold of him through a systematic strengthening of his better impulses.

Although I believe that no child properly trained is incorrigible, I realize that the proper method of training is not always easily discoverable, and that segregation is unavoidable in large city systems.

There remain now to be considered those actually classed as incorrigible and insubordinate. In addition to these, there is an unclassified contingent who, for various reasons, are dissatisfied and ready to avail themselves of the first opportunity which offers relief from the restraint of the schoolroom. This last class includes boys who have left private schools either before or after completing the courses offered there; boys who have gone to work but have not found work so attractive as they had pictured it and have no alternative but to return to school; and boys whose "occupation in the streets" has been terminated by the law and who are compelled to return to school.

To all these boys the regular school routine is dull and uninteresting. They create a problem difficult of solution. They like action and physical activity. Being older than their fellows in the regular classes, they rebel against prevailing methods. Their very natures seem to cry for emancipation from the grind. For this class of pupils we have established, in different elementary schools, seven rooms, known as "Ungraded Schools." With fewer pupils than the regular grade teacher, the teacher of the ungraded

school has more opportunity to study his pupils. The ungraded teacher also has more opportunity to work out his individual ideas in assignment of work.

While manual training is a part of the assignment in the regular grades, in our ungraded schools organized games and manual training are special features. Indeed, methods involving a great deal of physical activity have been found peculiarly serviceable. It is a remarkable fact that boys never play truant when they are on their way to a manualtraining "center."

women.

Detroit, I believe, was one of the first cities in this country to establish an ungraded school. This school was in a central location and was for incorrigible and insubordinate pupils. Of the seven now maintained, five are in charge of men; two are in charge of Each ungraded school is a "center" for a district comprising adjacent elementary schools. Each district has its own attendance officer. The district attendance officer calls each morning at his "center, turns in his reports of the previous day and receives instructions. Should a boy be absent under circumstances not satisfactory to the teacher, the attendance officer goes at once to the home of the absentee. Very often the boy is in his seat within a few minutes.

A special supervisor is in charge of the Ungraded Schools, Evening Schools, Public Playgrounds, and Vacation Schools. This supervisor also passes upon the necessity for granting working-papers. A state law provides that boys and girls who work in certain public places must be at least sixteen years of age. Boys and girls of fifteen years of age are allowed to work under ordinary conditions. Those from fourteen to fifteen receive working-papers only upon certification by the Supervisor of Ungraded Schools that their services are necessary to the support of the family. Investigation of such cases is made by the district attendance officers.

These details are given to show how closely the Ungraded Department is in touch with the home life of the boys and girls. We have not in Detroit, I believe, the desperate conditions prevailing in some large cities. This is due to constant and long-exerted vigilance. However, we have our problem.

I must add that as insubordination is a relative term, care must be exercised in order that pupils may not be "railroaded" from the regular grades to the ungraded schools, and that when conditions warrant, transfers be made from the ungraded schools back to the regular grades. By returning the delinquents who have become members of these ungraded schools to membership in their home schools, when good conduct and attention to duty warrant a return, the segregation becomes a matter of reform with a premium upon good behavior. The return of a boy is not upon his request nor upon the solicitation of friends vouching for his good conduct, but upon his own showing of good intention. Though I speak of returning a boy to his home school this is not exactly correct, for more often the delinquent is returned to an adjacent school where he has an opportunity to begin his school work anew.

I wish to recur a moment to the matter of holding boys and girls in school through interest and through an appeal to their own felt needs. The problem of making the work of the seventh and eighth grades flexible and interesting enough to secure the willing attendance of those boys and girls who become very restless at this period, has its proper place in this discussion. I cannot go into details, but can only say that some changes and experiments we have tried in the Detroit schools have this purpose in view and that results, so far, in increased attendance and interest, are most encouraging.

Let me sum up briefly then the means which seem most effective in reducing the number of incorrigible and insubordinate pupils in the public schools and in retaining as many as possible through the elementary grades.

1. The number of seats in any one classroom should not exceed forty (40).

2. A thorough physical examination of all pupils should be made as to sight, hearing, adenoid growth, and other physical defects which may be causes of insubordination. 3. The defects discovered should be remedied as far as possible through treatment