attitude toward keeping their children in school, are apparently shown also.

The following table shows, by general nativity and race of father of pupil, the per cent. of pupils in the different kinds of public schools. It has been taken from the reports of the United States Immigration Commission on schools:

PER CENT. OF PUPILS IN THE DIFFERENT GRADES OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS, BY GENERAL NATIVITY AND RACE OF FATHER OF PUPIL

(Races represented by small numbers are not shown separately. Each race shown includes pupils in those cities only in which 200 or more pupils of that race are reported. The totals, however, are for all pupils studied. This table also includes only pupils in the kindergarten, elementary grades, and high school, and does not include pupils in special schools.)

General nativity and Number

Per cent. of pupils in

race of father of pupil of cities Kinder- Prim'y Gr'm'r High

Total

Native-born:

White

Negro

garten

grades

grades school

Scotch

Slovak

Swedish

The Canadians, other than French, for example, as can be seen from the foregoing table, have 10.3 per cent. of their children in the high schools; the German Hebrews have 7.8 per cent.; the Scotch, 9.7 per cent., and the Welsh, 7.8 per cent. On the other hand, the Slovaks have only 0.7 per cent.; the South Italians, 0.8 per cent.; the Poles, 1.6 per cent.; the Portuguese, 0.5 per cent. The average of all the different foreign-born races in the high schools is 4.7 per cent., while the native-born white show 9.1 per cent. and the negroes 4.2 per cent. In the primary grades the Portuguese have 79.6 per cent. of their children; the Scotch only 46.9 per cent.; the South Italians, 72.7 per cent.; the Lithuanians, 75.3 per cent.; with excepting the Scotch, correspondingly small percentages in the high schools. In the number of children attending the kindergarten, the Slovaks rank first with 8.6 per cent., the South Italians second with 7.8 per cent., whereas the Portuguese have the lowest proportion, only I per cent. No inferences may be made, however, from the proportion of different races in different grades because of the varying periods of residence in the United States of the families of the school. It is, of course, to be expected that the races of recent immigration will show the largest proportion of their children in the elementary and intermediate grades, while a large proportion of the children of older immigrants will be found in the higher grades.

Of much greater importance, in many respects, is the condition of affairs as regards retardation; that is, the percentage of the pupils of any race that are older than the normal age for that grade, and the reason why those children are retarded in the public schools, if such is the case. It is assumed that the normal age

of children in the first grade is seven years, and that, in consequence, those who are eight years or over are retarded. For the fifth grade the normal age is eleven, for the eighth grade fourteen. The study shows some very striking figures in this regard. Taking into consideration all the children enumerated in the public schools in all the cities included in the Commission's report, it was found that 34.1 per cent. of the white children with native-born fathers were retarded. Of the native-born negro children 63.5 per cent. were retarded. The average retardation among all the foreign-born races was 36 per cent., only a little higher than that of the average white American-born children of native fathers. Some of the races, however, rank very much higher. The highest degree of retardation was found among the South Italians, 48.6 per cent.; next to them rank the Poles with 48.1 per cent.; the French-Canadians also rank high with 43.1 per cent.; the North Italians with 45.9 per cent., and a number of others rank above 40 per cent. On the other hand, the children of several of the foreign-born races show a less proportion retarded than those of native-born white children with native white fathers. Best of all rank the Finns, with only 27.7 per cent. of retardation; the Canadians, other than French, with 27.9 per cent.; the Swedes, with only 28.7 per cent.; the German Hebrews, 29.9 per cent.; the Dutch, with 31.1 per cent.; the Welsh, 32 per cent.; the English, 33.7 per cent.; the Norwegians, 33.9 per cent.

In a much more detailed study of retardation in a number of cities, a study covering 46,836 pupils, and only pupils of eight years of age and over, some additional interesting facts were given. For example, among those children whose foreign-born fathers were

able to speak English and those who were not, a marked difference was found. Among the German pupils whose fathers spoke English, 31.7 per cent. were retarded, of those whose fathers did not speak English, 40.6 per cent. were retarded. Among the Russian Hebrews, where the fathers spoke English, 34.9 per cent. were retarded; where they did not, 66.6 per cent. The corresponding figures for the South Italians were 59.2 per cent. and 72.7 per cent. Somewhat similar figures were shown when the foreign-born fathers had taken out their first or second naturalization papers. Among the foreign-born English who had not taken out any naturalization papers, 31.9 per cent. of the children were retarded; if they had taken them out only 24.1 per cent. were retarded. Corresponding figures for the Germans were 42.6 per cent. and 31.6 per cent.; for the Russian Hebrews, 59.4 and 36.4 per cent.; for the South Italians, 71.2 per cent. and 59.6 per cent. Naturally, the figures are much higher if they have not taken out their naturalization papers. That is a sign of length of residence, of interest in America, of readiness to assimilate, of enterprise.

Similarly we find corresponding results if the parents speak or do not speak English at home. Of the pupils in homes where English is used, of the German, 30.4 per cent. are retarded; where English is not used at home, 37.4 per cent. The corresponding figures for the Russian Hebrews are 33 per cent. and 50.7 per cent.; for the South Italians, 56 per cent. and 67.3 per cent.

We should expect to find much better results among those who attend school regularly than among those who do not, and this appears in the report. Of

the pupils eight years of age or over who attended school three-fourths or more of the time, of the native-born whites, 26.2 per cent. were retarded. If they attended less than three-fourths of the time, 43.9 per cent. were retarded. Among the foreign-born, the figures in some instances are higher, and in some instances lower. Among the English, if they attended school three-fourths or more of the time, 22.9 per cent. were retarded; if they attended less than threefourths of the time, 45.3 per cent. Of the Germans, the corresponding figures are 29.1 per cent., 54.8 per cent.; of the Russian Hebrews, 37.5 per cent., 45.5 per cent.; of the South Italians, 56 per cent., and 85.6 per cent., if they have attended school less than three-fourths of the time.

It was found that altho questions were asked of the teachers regarding the causes of retardation, apparently there had been some misunderstanding so that it was not possible to get the facts accurately enough to tabulate them. Retardation might perhaps be due to a later entrance in school, to a lack of knowledge of the English language, to sickness, to frequent changes of schools, to ill health, mental defects, and other causes. It is unfortunate that the opinions of the teachers were not definite enough so that they could be tabulated. The figures already given, however, indicate the fact that the inability of the fathers to speak English, and the use of a foreign language in the home, are very important factors. The races arriving later in the United States show almost invariably a much higher percentage of retardation than others. The fact, then, that the children of certain races show a greater degree of retardation than do others, is not necessarily a sign of less mental ability,