The 310 foreign children came from widely scattered parts as the following table shows:

The largest contributions to the list are from Russia and from Austria-Hungary.

For the purpose of this report, race is determined by the race of the parents. Certain composite groups are necessary for completeness: First, those whose parents are partly native and partly foreign; second, those whose parents are both foreign but of different races; and third, those whose parents are both foreign but belong to races other than those specifically mentioned. With this grouping the composition of the school population is shown in the following

table:

TABLE 74.—Number of pupils in the Bayonne schools, by school and parentage, June,

1908.

The term "Slav" is used in Bayonne locally for persons born in Austria-Hungary who are not German, Jewish, Polish, or Magyar. It is reported that the term is used as a generic term, but as it is stated that the Slavs are much associated with the Magyars, there

can be little doubt that they are predominantly Slovaks. In this report it has seemed best to use the local term. An examination of this table shows that only 842, or a little more than one-fourth of the children, are of wholly American parentage. Among the foreign races the most numerous are the Slavs, followed by the Russian Hebrews, the German, and the Irish. It will be noticed that the final group "other races" is very large. This is due largely to the inadequacy of the returns, as in many cases the race was not noted for the persons born in Russia and in Austria. In the elementary schools there were 242 such cases for persons born in Russia and 121 for persons born in Austria-Hungary. Leaving out 9 cases considered doubtful, this leaves as many as 186 other cases which can be fairly distributed by race. Nineteen races are represented. The list which follows shows how composite, from the race standpoint, is the population of the Bayonne school:

There is, moreover, quite a difference between the several schools. In school No. 6 two-thirds of the pupils are of wholly American parentage, and if we add those who have one American parent, the proportion becomes five-sixths. On the other hand, in school No. 5 with 840 pupils only 50 had either both or one parent of native birth. In this school, on the other hand, one-half the pupils are Slavs. Schools 2 and 8 again show a representation of all races.

TABLE 75.-Number of pupils in the Bayonne schools, by grade and race of parents, June, 1908.

The totals present an apparent anomaly in that the fourth grade is more numerous than the third and the eighth exceeds the seventh These breaks in the usual gradual falling off of the numbers is prob ably due to the fact that the records give only certain schools and not the entire system of the city. It is possible that figures for the entire city would show the same tendencies, but it would be rather unusual. The several races follow the general tendencies, but the falling off in higher grades is much larger in some than in other. The very small number of Slavs, Italians, and Poles in the upper grades is very noticeable. In order that this may be seen more easily groups have been added to the table showing kindergarten, primary grades, and grammar grades. Some of the striking things in this summary are that there are only 4 Italians out of 69 in the grammar grades and only one in the high school. Of 494 Slavs, none are the high school and only 44 are in the grammar grades. On the other hand, of 842 Americans, 334 are above the primary grades.

Slavs and

The striking contrasts are between the two largest groups, Americans, and this difference may be due to any of the following reasons: First, they are, as a group, much younger; second, they leave school much earlier; third, they are very far behind in their progress To throw light upon this matter it is necessary to study the rela tion of age and place in school. For all the elementary pupils the figures are given in the following table:

TABLE 76.—Number of pupils in the Bayonne schools, by grade and age, June, 1908.

An examination of this table shows the largest number of pupils at the age of 7. It decreases from 415 at this age to 300 at the age of 12, a very rapid and unusual fall. Bayonne is growing rapidly. and this would account in some measure for the larger number at than at 12, but the difference seems too great to be fully explained in this way. Considering normal progress in the schools to be rep resented as follows-kindergarten, all under 7 years of age; first grade. all under 8 years of age; second grade, all under 9 years of age; third grade, all under 10 years of age; fourth grade, all under 11 years age; fifth grade, all under 12 years of age; sixth grade, all under 13

of

years of age; seventh grade, all under 14 years of age; eighth grade, all under 15 years of age-it appears that a considerable number of children are above the normal age.

In the aggregate for all pupils, 1,207 out of 3,123, or 38.5 per cent, judged by this standard, are behind their normal grades for their respective age. The percentage of over-age pupils, very small in the kindergarten, reaches nearly one-fourth in the first grade, and in the fifth grade reaches its maximum, where it is very nearly three-fifths of all the pupils. In the upper grades it diminishes as the backward pupils leave school. Accepting this standard, the Americans and Slavs can be educationally more exactly compared. Americans are first examined in the following table:

TABLE 77.— Number of pupils of native parentage in the Bayonne elementary schools, by grade and age, June 1908.

The first striking point in this table is the fact that the falling off in the grades is not so noticeable as in the general average. It is equally true that the falling off in ages is not so marked. This is brought out in the following statement:

It is clear that American-born children are in school at more advanced ages than the generality of pupils. This may be due to the fact that they are really older in the population at large and that

48296°-VOL 16-11-54

other races leave school earlier. In the matter of retardation the children of American parentage approximate the average very closely.

TABLE 78.-Number of pupils of Slavish parentage in the Bayonne elementary schools, by grade and age, June, 1908.

Some striking features of this table are: First, the small numbers in the upper grades; second, the small numbers in the ages of 10 and upward. The two are obviously related. The difference in numbers between the ages of 10 and 11, and 8 and 9, appears wholly abnormal. It hardly seems likely that as many children leave school after the age of 9 as these figures would indicate. It is perhaps true that the Slav children in the general population are more numerous in the lower age classes. When it is considered that the Slav immigration is comparatively recent, and that immigration consists largely of persons in the child-bearing ages, the inference, though perhaps unexpected, is not improbable. Figures in the table for the pupils of normal age show that the Slavs are making good progress in the schools. Up to the fourth grade, in which the pupils are relatively numerous, their progress is quite as good, if not better, than that of the American-born children. The smaller number in upper grades, where retardation is more frequent, gives them a less general percentage of retardation than the native children.

The other racial groups are not numerous, and it is questionable whether the figures are specially significant. It has already been seen how complex is the interpretation of the figures for the general percentage of over-age pupils. Treating, however, all groups in the same way, the following results are obtained.