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What processes are involved in writing a satisfactory examination paper?

What is the function of the question in the examining process?

What should be the relation of the type of examination given to the teaching processes involved in the course of instruction?

Is it true that the preparation for examinations requires effort under pressure that often gives new perceptions of the relations of subject-matter?

Are examinations particularly desirable, in that they give pupils training in expressing thought in writing acceptably under pressure?

Is the ability to stand examinations a valuable thing in itself? Should educational experts define objectives of a practical nature in this connection and specify the particular kinds of examinations

*The Examiner's Catechism, from the English Journal, 1919-1920.

that train best for the attainment of given objectives?

What distinctions should be made with reference to the educational functions of examinations and the mere testing functions?

What value have examinations as a means to the teacher of estimating the success or shortcomings of his own work?

If the final rating of the pupil's work were based upon class standing and occasional brief tests, what specific values would justify final examinations of a comprehensive character?

To what extent should examinations be used as instruments of control in educational supervision and administration?

What correlation is desirable between examinations and text-books?

What factors are prominent in determining the results of an examination in composition? literature?

In

T

HOMER W. ANDERSON Department of Educational Research

HIS article is a report on the size of high-school classes in Detroit. An attempt is made to show, in general, the size of classes, and, finally, to present tentative standards which may be used by the principals for their guidance in the organization of classes at the opening of the semester. This article does not aim to say what number of pupils should be handled in a given class. Whatever conclusions have been drawn have been based mainly on conditions actually found to exist in the local schools.

The data for this study were secured from the teachers' reports submitted to the office of the superintendent. These reports gave the attendance for one week of each month in every class which met during the week. The data were tabulated and the median classes were determined for each month in every subject and school.

SIZE OF CLASSES BY SCHOOLS

The

Table I shows the median and quartile. sizes of classes for the semester. table is clear if read as follows:

In School A the median number of pupils in attendance was 24, that is, one-half of the classes had 24 or fewer, and one-half had 24 or more pupils in attendance; the first quartile shows that in 25 per cent of the classes the attendance was 18 pupils or fewer; the third quartile shows that 25 per cent of the classes had 27 or more pupils. The rest of the table is read in the same way.

The median classes varied from 21 pupils in Schools G and H to 24 in School A. In the city the median was 23 pupils. The first quartiles are remarkably uniform, indicating that the proportion of small classes is about equal in all schools. *Copyright, 1920, by Homer W. Anderson.

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Quite naturally, the classes in physical education are the largest. Even in this group 25 per cent contain 16 or fewer pupils. This is explained in part by the large number of corrective classes in a few of the schools. Next in order of size are the English classes with a median of 25 pupils, first quartile of 21, and third quartile of 27 pupils. The classes in art and music are smallest. A striking fact is that fewer than 10 pupils were in attendance in 25 per cent of these classes.

DISTRIBUTION OF CLASSES ACCORDING
TO SIZE

The wide distribution of classes as to size was one of the most surprising facts revealed. It was found that in the physical education department 14 per cent of the classes had an attendance of fewer than 10 pupils, 10 per cent an attendance of 10 to 14 pupils, and on the other end of the distribution 35 per cent had 40 or more. These facts are shown in Table III.

In English, one class out of every 100 had fewer than 10 pupils, five had fewer than 15, and eleven had 30 and over. The

same wide distribution, with usually a heavier piling up of the smaller classes, occurs in all departments. It would seem that one of the constructive problems in secondary-school administration would be to cut off all of the classes having fewer than 10 pupils, and probably many of those with 10 to 14 pupils in attendance. The saving accomplished by this act would be of no small consequence. The great differences existing in the size of classes suggest that there is a need for standards to be used as guides for distributing classes at the opening of the semester.

TENTATIVE STANDARDS FOR DISTRIBUTION OF CLASSES

The proportion of classes starting out with fewer than 27 pupils belonging, increased from 58 per cent in February to 71 per cent in June. On the other hand, the classes having 27 or more pupils belonging, decreased from 42 to 29 per cent. This means a 13 per cent shift from the group of larger classes to the one with the smaller. Diagram I shows graphic

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at the time of organization, can probably not be defended when we know that nearly two-fifths will fall into this group by the end of the semester.

A tentative standard for the distribution of the total number of classes at the opening of the semester may be found to be of service to high-school administrators. It should be understood that these standards are not final, but that after fair trial and experiment they may have to be changed. Table IV and the shaded portion of Diagram I show the proposed distribution of classes.

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Per cent in

Each group

15

35

35

15

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The diagram should be read as follows: In February (dotted curve) 31 per cent of the classes had fewer than 22 pupils belonging, while in June (solid curve) 39 per cent fell in this group. Reading the rest of the diagram in the same way, it is seen that the 27 per cent in the group with 22 to 26 pupils had increased to 32 per cent. The next group, 27 to 32 belonging, had decreased from 29 to 20 per cent, and the fourth group from 13 to 9 per cent.

It would seem that this tendency to shift from higher to lower groups should be taken very strongly into consideration when organizing classes at the opening of the semester. It stands without argument that a proportion of the classes will have fewer than 22 belonging, but that nearly a third of the classes should consciously be placed in this group

It should be remembered that 22 belonging means approximately 20 in attendance. This is based on the attendance during the second semester 1919-20, when it was found to be approximately 92 per cent of the number belonging. In the use of the above tentative standard no inflexible interpretation as to its application should be made. It is probable that no high school in the city of Detroit can be organized on identically. these lines. On the other hand, probably every school can be organized on less than a five per cent variation. For instance, two principals may find that the distributions in Table V meet the conditions in their respective schools.

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If high schools in the city of Detroit had been organized along the above lines in February, 1920, the total number of classes would have been arranged according to the tentative standards proposed in Diagram I and Table IV. The dotted curve in Diagram I shows the actual arrangement of classes at that time. It is not expected that all schools following the suggestions in Table VI would come out with the per cents 15, 35, 35, and 15. An individual school would probably vary somewhat from these figures. To illustrate this point, the classes at one of the high schools were distributed on the basis suggested in Table VI. Diagram II shows the comparison of the result of this organization in this school, and the tentative standard. The diagram shows that had the school been organized on this basis, the curve would have been almost identical with the standard.

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