Schools retard more children than mentality levels would predict: 36.8% are below normal in school versus 20.1% below normal in mentality¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r1 · q2
Currency · newest study 1918 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Across the three schools, the percentage below normal in school (36.8%) exceeds the percentage below normal in mentality (20.1%), suggesting 12 to 16 percent of children are retarded in school yet capable of at least normal work. → Toops 1918

Evidence¶

Toops 1918¶

Toops, H. A., and Pintker, R. (1918). Mentality and School Progress. The Journal of Educational Psychology. https://eric.ed.gov/?q=Mentality+and+School+Progress+Toops+Pintner

q2 · i? · associational · r1

Descriptive summation figures from Table IV of the three-school mental survey. The article reports "32.9 per cent, of the "normal" mentality group retarded in school, 18.0 per cent, of the "bright" group and less than 2 per cent, of the "very bright" group".

"we find that there are 36.8 per cent, below normal in school, with only 20.1 per cent, below normal in mentality. On the other hand, there are only 15.2 per cent, above normal in school with 28.7 per cent, above normal in mentality."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Four or more grades of school retardation perfectly indicates a mentality not above normal, and more than one grade of advancement perfectly indicates a mentality not below normal (Q = +1.00) — related
• Eliminating both the normal school and normal mentality (I.Q.) groups yields Q = +.97 between school retarded/advanced and mentally backward/bright — related
• Excluding a middle 'normal' school group raises the association between school retardation/advancement and median-mentality to Q = +.85 — related
• The school of highest social status shows a consistently greater rate of increase in median mental age relative to chronological age across grades, yet a smaller retardation percentage (33.5% vs 38.4%) than the lowest-status school — related
• Pupils designated accelerated by their teachers, or selected by age-grade criteria, score above grade standards on the alertness tests — related
• In Goddard's Vineland examination of 1547 pupils, only about half of mentally over-age and under-age pupils show corresponding advancement or retardation in school grading — related
• Psychological studies of children's endowments show schools must set different aims and materials for different classes of children, and have broken up lock-step promotion — a broader claim this one bears on
• In Wallin's St. Louis psycho-educational clinic, of 430 referred cases, 25.9% of 320 boys and 40% of 110 girls were found feeble-minded, with almost twice as many backward and retarded as feeble-minded. — related
• Median age per grade, not per cent of retardation, is the best single statement of the age-grade situation for most practical purposes — related