indicated. The school life of every 100 children annually entering the first grade follows:

Pupils remaining in each grade out of those entering first grade.

1 Thorndike, The Elimination of Pupils from School, p. 11.

2 Ayres, Laggards in Our Schools, p. 57.

3 Strayer, Age and Grade Census of Schools and Colleges, p. 135.

Noting as an exception Thorndike's belief that school elimination begins early in the primary grades, it is possible to summarize the important conclusions these investigators reached respecting the general tendency of the system, thus: Of every 100 children annually entering the first grade of our schools, practically all will reach the end of the fifth grade. Between this point and the first year of the high school, from 60 to 67 per cent of those reaching the fifth grade will be lost, leaving but from 17 to 25 of the original 100 pupils who will reach the second year of the high school. Out of this number, only from 8 to 10 will finally complete the high-school course. Studies which have been made in California show that of the 8 or 10 who graduate from the high school, fewer than 3 enter normal schools, colleges, or other schools of a grade beyond that of the high school, and of this number fewer than 1.5 remain to the end of the course.

A system in which the divisions, elementary, high school, and college, are so articulated as to permit each division to possess a distinctive function and a distinctive content shaped to meet such dominating purpose, would go far toward holding in the system the great numbers who are now falling by the wayside. The common arrangement, of assigning eight years to the period of elementary study and four years to that of secondary instruction, offers no such opportunity. Eight years, in the life of the child, beginning with the age of 6, carries him beyond the time necessary to acquire the tools of an education, and beyond the first natural division in his life, viz, that which comes with the dawn of adolescence. Its expiration finds him, if he has made normal progress through the grades, fully two years advanced into a period where nature demands a very different content and treatment from that in the period when the rudiments of

education are being acquired. While the advent of adolescence brings no greater break than does the change of night into day, yet as night differs from day, imperceptible though the transition from one to the other may be, so the characteristics of the child differ from those of the youth. The school system, in its organic form, and in the articulation of its parts, completely ignores the significant physiological and psychical changes which are ushered in with the advent of adolescence. That this phenomenon in human development is ignored by the system accounts in a very large degree for the rapid elimination in the upper grammar grades; nor will this loss be greatly decreased until an intelligent attempt is made by the educators to shape the system and the content of the courses to meet the needs that demand satisfaction.

That the present arrangement is not adequately accomplishing this is clear furthermore, not alone from the loss in the upper grades, but from that in the first year of the high school as well. Ayres claims that more than half of those enrolling in the ninth year never enter the tenth year. Whether this proportion be exact or not, educators know that the loss at this point is very large, greater, in fact, than that between the eighth grade and the high school. The reason is obvious, namely, the articulation of the two divisions is an artificial one, and one that does not meet the need for a gradual transition. The teachers in the two divisions are different in type; the administrative methods are radically different; the subjects of study in the early years of the latter division are not such as appeal to the natural interest of the pupils; in short, no proper transition has been provided between the one and the other and, in consequence, the pupil frequently becomes disheartened and drops out, with the consciousness of having failed. In many instances it is a failure for which the system in its blindness is responsible. Limiting the elementary division to six years and throwing in a three or four year period between the termination of the elementary division and the beginning of the upper half of the secondary period, which would provide a careful transition from the one to the other, would surely go far toward holding in school those who, at this point, are dropping out on account of failure to make an adjustment to the new conditions that must be met in the high school. In the reorganization plan under which the school department of Berkeley, Cal., is now operating, an attempt is made to provide such a period of transition and, at the same time, to secure a grouping of the several grades which shall be based on function rather than upon chance.

This plan, which was inaugurated in January, 1910, proposed that the 12 grades, or years, be broken into three groups: The first, elementary, to comprise the first six years of school life; the second, the

lower high school, to comprise the seventh, eighth, and ninth years'; and the third, the upper high school, to embrace all pupils of the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth years. In its ideal form, the plan required separate buildings for the elementary division, a separate building for the lower high-school grades at the center of each group of elementary schools, and an upper high-school building at the geographical center of the entire city, and thus at a point equally convenient to all. In practice, it was found that the buildings that were suited in size and equipment to the work of the lower high schools were not in every case situated at points altogether central and convenient to all of a given group of elementary schools; hence objection was at once made by some of the parents concerned.

When first suggested the plan contemplated transferring all of the children in the first six grades from the central or lower highschool buildings and distributing them among the elementary schools of the respective attendance districts. It was found, however, that such action would require that the little children who were living within the shadows of the central school would be obliged to attend schools situated at prohibitive distances. Two ways of meeting this serious objection to the plan were considered: First, retaining a sufficient number of rooms for the use of the first two or three grades and transferring the entire enrollment of the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades; second, retaining six rooms, one for each of the first six grades, to accommodate those children only who resided in close proximity to the school in question. The latter method was adopted, and has worked satisfactorily.

Another serious difficulty developed in carrying the plan into effect-namely, the attachment that the children of the upper grades had formed for their respective schools, and their disinclination to leave their home school and the teachers with whom they were acquainted until their eighth-grade course was completed. This difficulty was met by requiring only those children who had completed the work of the sixth grade in the outlying buildings to come in to the central school. The grades which had already entered upon the work of the seventh and eighth years were permitted to choose whether to remain in their home schools or be transferred to the central school, such decision to be determined by majority vote of the class, after conference with the parents, and after the educational advantages to be obtained at the lower high schools had been pointed out to them. In several instances classes chose to enter the central 'schools immediately, but in other instances the feeling for the home school was so strong that the children remained until the completion of their eighth year's work. A transition period of one and one-half years, or three terms, however,

brought them all into the central schools, and without the necessity of distasteful compulsion.

Various difficulties arose in connection with the internal organization, especially as it affected the personnel of the school corps. The plan required that the principals of the lower high schools should hold certificates of high-school grade, and that the teachers of such schools should also be teachers empowered by law to do high-school work. A further difficulty developed respecting the salaries of the principals of the elementary schools. The salary schedule under which the principals work bases salary upon the grade of the building, which, in turn, is determined by the number of rooms occupied. For instance, a 16-room building falls into one class, whereas a 15-room building is in the class below, in respect to the principal's salary.

The first was met by a transfer of principals, an arrangement that was made easy because of the fine spirit of the men concerned. In respect to the standard of certification required of the teachers, little difficulty was experienced in practice, because those teachers at the central schools who had been doing successful work in the seventh and eighth grades were retained in their positions, and the high-school requirement was made to apply to new teachers coming into the department, who for the most part were to be assigned to the ninth grade, which in accordance with California law is the first year of the high-school division. The salary schedule was so amended as to place all teachers of the lower high schools teaching on grammar-grade certificates on the grammar-school salary schedule, and all teachers teaching on high-school certificates on the salary schedule of the high school. The third objection from the corps was met by a liberal action on the part of the board of education to the effect that the principals of the elementary schools should not suffer a loss in salary on account of a decrease in attendance during the period of transition. In these ways the objections to the plan growing out of the personal interests of the school corps

were met.

Still another objection was raised-namely, that such an arrangement would be in conflict with the State laws, which view the elementary-school district and the high-school district as two separate corporate entities, the one being represented by an elementary school board of education and the other by a high-school board. Although the personnel of the two boards is the same, yet, under the law, the bodies are separate and distinct. The law provides, furthermore, that funds used for the maintenance of the elementary school, on the one hand, and the high school, on the other, must be kept separate, both as regards income and expenditure. Again, the school law provides that certain subjects shall be taught in the elementary school

and certain others in the high school; the State also has adopted a series of textbooks, which must be used in the clementary schools; furthermore, it decrees that no teacher who does not possess a highschool certificate issued by the State authorities shall teach a class of high-school grade. These objections proved not to be serious; for, by being careful to use the State textbooks in the seventh and eighth grades of the lower high schools; to keep the record of attendance of the seventh and eighth grades separate from that of the ninth grade, upon each of which the apportionment of the State school fund in part is based; and to assign to the ninth grade only those teachers in the lower high school who were teaching on highschool certificates, it was easy to carry the plan into effect, even under a law which did not contemplate such an arrangement.

A final difficulty arose, due to congestion at the central schools owing to the growth of the city. The capacity margin of the entire department has now become exhausted, and the people must take steps toward providing for the growth of the future. Recognizing that the plan proposed involved inconvenience, it was necessary to build up in the community a strong sentiment in support of it before the board of education could be expected to take affirmative action. A period of two months, therefore, prior to its adoption by the board was devoted to a campaign of publicity. Many meetings were held by improvement clubs, mothers' clubs, parent-teachers' associations, and other civic bodies for its examination. Even the churches cooperated in the effort to place before all of the people interested in the schools the details of the plan. A printed explanation of the contemplated scheme was placed in every home in the city. Descriptive articles appeared almost daily in the columns of the local press. More than 30 meetings were held among the citizens for a discussion of the plan, during each of which full opportunity was given for the presentation and frank discussion of the objections. In consequence of this period of discussion the objections were so far overcome that practically all of the organized bodies of citizens indorsed the proposed arrangement; whereupon, with complete unanimity, the board of education authorized its inauguration, knowing that the plan would be given sympathetic trial by the people.

The form of the organization under which the lower high schools were established was that commonly found in high schools throughout the country, embracing, so far as the corps of instructors is concerned, a principal and teachers selected to combine sympathy with children of the adolescent age, and a wider scholastic outlook than ordinarily is to be found among teachers limited to a preparation for grammar-school work. As in the upper high school, classes are organized on the basis of subjects rather than upon the basis of