Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

Alpha test 164; in Otis test 196. Grades of A and A plus given in studies.

Grace is very active, fond of play, and is a leader in school. Her attitude toward home and school work is excellent. Her

health is good, with no indications of nervousness. She has high lung capacity, her vital index being 23.36 cubic centimeters. Her special school interests are language and science. She is a hand. some girl and has an attractive personality.

Her parents have had only a grade school education, but seem to have improved all their opportunities to learn. Her father is a mechanic. Rating by teachers in intellect and social standing is 100%.

No. 3. Galin J. No signs of superiority noticed by parents, except to remark that he has been a great reader since entering school.

Age 16:5; mental age 19; second year in high school. Score in Alpha test 154; in Otis test 182; school grades B plus and A.

Is active and fond of athletics. Well developed physically; vital index 30.08 cubic centimetres. In good health, though slightly

nervous.

Special interest is mathematics, and his aim is to be an electrical engineer. His father is a school teacher, and a college graduate; his mother received a high school education. Galin's teachers rank him superior intellectually and socially.

No. 4. Alta S. Was the leader of her class while in grade school, and learned very easily.

Age 15:6; mental age 17:3; third year in high school. Score in Alpha test 150; Otis test 187. Received B plus and A in all school subjects, and is ranked very superior by her teachers.

She is fond of games, and especially delights in aesthetic dancing. Is a leader, and dominated by the determination to excel in everything she undertakes.

In physical development she is above the average. Her weight is 128, lung capacity 178 cubic inches, and vital index 22.4. Alta is a very pretty girl.

Her father is a physician, a college graduate; her mother is a high school graduate.

No. 5. Harold L. Precocity evidenced at the age of two. Was early interested in mechanics, which continues to be his chief interest today.

Age 16:2; mental age 18:1; third year in high school. Score in Alpha test 147; Otis test 169. Is rated as superior in intelligence by teachers.

Harold is a fine looking boy, a good talker, and of pleasing personality. Has a great interest in mathematics and any form of mechanical work.

Has had many of the ills of childhood, but seems to be in good health. Is active, but not particularly fond of play. Vital index 28.32.

Father is dead. Was at different times merchant and farmer during lifetime. Mother was a normal school graduate and a teacher.

No. 6. Wilma S. Ability apparent in early childhood. Age 17:10; mental age 18:6; fourth year in high school. Score in Alpha test 161; Otis 171; grade of B plus in studies. Has a deep interest in social and religious work.

Father is a locomotive engineer and is interested in any mechanical device. Mother is descended from a long line of ministers. Wilma is taking the teacher-training course in high school, and expects to teach in a rural school.

No. 7. Thomas W. All-around ability, self-confident and determined. Age 19:3; mental age 18:1 (due to limitation of Binet test); fourth year in high school. Score in Alpha test 164; in Otis 173. Grades of B plus in school.

Joined the army at age of sixteen and served many months with 65th Field Artillery in France. Physically well developed; a sturdy, manly-looking lad. Leader in school activities; plays on football team. Is interested in mathematics, and intends to become an engineer.

His family are well educated, many being university graduates and holding responsible positions. Quoting from his mother, "Ability is what counts in this family."

No. 8. Ivorita W. Learned to read before entering school; is very fond of reading. Age 13:8; mental age 16:7; grade 7-A in junior high school. Score in Alpha test 127; in Otis test 170. Receives A grades, and is exempt from examinations.

Is in good health, but is slightly nervous. Vital index 22.58. Is an only child and has spent much of her time with older people, which gives her somewhat a staid air. Is quiet, and does not care for play.

Her special interests are reading and sewing, in both of which she excels. Her father is a printer of good education; her mother is a high school graduate.

No. 9. Morrison M. Early sign of precocity was a very retentive memory. Age 14:11; mental age 18; second year in high school. Score in Alpha test 168; Otis 184; given grades of B plus in school work.

A good-looking, wholesome boy. Alert and active, but shows no special tendencies to leadership. Was reciting easy poems from memory at the age of two and one-half years, and reading simple books at four.

His parents are normal school graduates. Father was a teacher, but is now in the mercantile business. The whole family has musical talent.

No. 9. Ronald B. Evidences of superiority noticed at age of two. Age 16:8; mental age 19:6; second year in high school. Alpha test score 173; Otis 184. Grade of A in all school subjects.

Is a leader, fond of play, makes friends readily. Tall and slender, height 69 inches; weight 124 pounds. Interested now in making statistical tables and studying statistics. Plays the piano well, and is quite an exceptional singer.

Father and mother are university graduates; father a teacher. Ronald has made the high school debate team two years.

No. 10. Helen E. A girl of very superior intelligence, and with marked talent in art and music.

Age 17:2; mental age 18:4; senior in high school. Score in Alpha test 149; in Otis test 168. Receives a grade of A plus in her school work, and is rated as very superior by her teachers.

Helen showed considerable ability to draw at the age of four. Interest in drawing and music has constantly grown. Is reported to be apt and graceful in aesthetic dancing.

Is a beautiful girl, and a great favorite with her schoolmates. In good health; shows no sign of nervousness. Vital index is22.08. Mother is well educated; daughter of a college professor. Father a machinist of more than ordinary ability.

These descriptions are quite typical of the other forty-one gifted pupils discovered. Correlations between the Alpha Army test and the Otis test were quite high: .65 for the girls, and .75 for the boys. No correlations were computed between the group tests and the Binet-Simon test, the ranges of the latter not being sufficiently high to give a just evaluation of the intelligence of this selected group. No correlation exists between intelligence and vital index.

In spite of high estimates from teachers, it was discovered that on the basis of chronological age fifteen students were actually retarded one to three years, while on the basis of mental age the whole group was retarded. Sixteen were accelerated on age basis, and twenty were at normal.

Physical superiority was as apparent as mental. The Smedley norms were considerably exceeded in both weight and height. The boys led in vital capacity, or ratio of weight to height, by six points.

To provide that these superior individuals may progress in school work at a normal rate is no small problem. Here are fifty-one students of varying ages, distributed from the seventh grade to the twelfth. Summarized, the methods in vogue for meeting this situation are as follows:

1. Individual instruction after the fashion of the Pueblo plan. 2. Individual instruction supplementing class teaching, assis

tant direction given either by a regular classroom teacher or by

a tutor.

3. Individual credit for more extensive work through additional assignments for individuals or for completing maximum courses in groups.

4. Extra credit for higher quality.

5. Special classes progressing at a more rapid rate than normal.

The number of superior types in each grade in a school of 2,000 pupils is too small to warrant the organization of special classes for each grade. Furthermore, skipping grades is not recommended as a method, for it argues that the subject matter is of no value, in which case one might well ask why not omit all of it, or better, why not eliminate the useless matter and introduce content of value.

Grading on the basis of mentality does not seem advisable, for practical as well as theoretical reasons. First, the tests are certainly not infallible; we have been so enthusiastic over their use we have taken no account of their limitations. Second, such grading tends towards the development of caste and hastens the elimination of the pupils on the lower levels. Third, it is not ensured that superior types are best developed by isolation. There are many other considerations that enter into the discussion: finances, teachers, rooms, equipment, attitude of the public.

Studies of superior types seem to justify the following conclusions:

1. About eight per cent of the six upper grades possess unusual mental ability.

2. These individuals are not nervous, anemic, or pathelogical in any respect. They are physically superior.

3. Superiority may be detected at the age of three to five years. 4. Superiority manifests itself as general ability, and in addition there are strong special interests.

5. Leadership accompanies unusual ability in other respects. 6. The gifted individuals come from good homes.

« AnteriorContinuar »