Appendix C]

E.—2.

The influence of intelligence begins to bo felt, but ago and experience are still strong in determining examination order. Coefficient of correlation, -42 ; probable error, -05. The School Medical Officer was asked to examine those pupils whose class position varied greatly from their position in the I.Q. order. Her report is interesting reading, and is given below : — " I have examined, as you specially requested me, the children whose I.Q. and whose position in class varied more than they should do. There were 48 examined whose differences were more than 10. Of these, .12 are suffering from marked malnutrition, 19 have physical deformities, 23 have decayed second teeth, 16 have enlarged thyroids, 12 have enlarged tonsils, 6 have defective hearing, 5 whoso mental condition is much below the average, 14 have enlarged glands, 2 have defective speech, 1 cleft palate, 1 very severe heart trouble. Of the remaining 35 children, whoso differences varied from 5 to .10, tho following are the defects : 11 are suffering from malnutrition, 6 have physical deformities, 10 have dental caries, 2 have enlarged tonsils, 8 have enlarged glands, 10 have enlarged thyroids, 2 have heart trouble. " I hope you will find those results interesting. To my mind, the first group shows such marked physical defects that it is ridiculous for us to expect any accurate or concentrated school-work until these defects have been satisfactorily attended to. It seems to me that the medical-record card of the child should bo at hand for every teacher to be informed of the child's physical condition ; and, although tho percentage which we now get attended to is satisfactory, it should be possible to compel ignorant parents to have necessary remedial defects treated. Those results of yours I consider prove conclusively that teachers have a lot of unnecessary hard work in trying to teach children whoso physical condition is such that they are not fit to appreciate the efforts of their teachers." Comparison of Northumberland, and Terman Tests. —The standard pupils of the Queen's Park Model School were given both these tests, and it was found that there was a very close correlation between the two orders. The coefficient of correlation was -71 ; probable error, -1. Subjects of Instruction. —Sound work has been found in most of the subjects of instruction, and, in general, we are quite satisfied with the progress of the pupils. Wo are not satisfied, however, that the teachers have due regard in their lessons to some definite aim. The aims of the instruction are stated in the schemes, but the individual lessons too often appear to form no part of a welldesigned course. The attention of teachers has been directed to this phase of their work, and we hope for improvement in this respect during the coming year. Reading. —lncreased attention to the comprehension appears to have been given, and we regard this as a very hopeful sign. In the coming year it is proposed to attach a greater proportion of marks to " comprehension " in the Proficiency Examination. Recitation. —We are pleased to be able to report distinct improvement in this subject. Teachers are beginning to realize the importance of well-thought-out lists of subjects, and there is also general improvement in the treatment, especially where teachers use the " whole-poem " method rather than the line-by-line method of learning by rote. Composition. —Both in the tests given by us and in the examples soon in the exorcise-books we found very pleasing work, and our remarks of last year appear to have borne fruit, though there are still some teachers who confine their instruction in composition merely to setting subjects and correcting errors. Wo would like to see some closer relation between the essay work and the study of literature, especially in the upper standards. The work in formal grammar, also, should be more closely correlated with the essay work. Wo note that in some cases there is too much reliance on " skeleton " essays. This practice should be entirely discontinued. Spelling. —We found this subject good throughout, though there are still teachers who waste their own time and that of their pupils in the teaching of words unsuited to the stage of the pupils' progress. In many schools there is a pleasing extension of vocabulary work. Writing. —Generally satisfactory. The setting-out of work in exercise-books would bear improvement in some cases, but is generally good. A review of the exercise-books shows that in some schools most or all of the formal writing " iessons " are confined to transcription. While this kind of work certainly has its value, teachers should know that (even where copybooks are in use) the blackboard lesson is the only means of really teaching writing. Script writing has been adopted in the infant classes of most schools and in the lower standards of a few. Arithmetic. —Formal work taken from text-books is generally well done, but we note an almost universal neglect of practical work. This matter has been dealt with fully in a special " leaflet," and no teacher should now be able to plead want of material or ignorance of method in the matter of " practical " arithmetic. The following comments appear somewhat frequently in our reports to teachers : Failure to apply mental methods in written exercises ; neglect of mental arithmetic ; neglect of drill work. The last applies chiefly to the lower classes, where the teachers continue to use " concrete " methods long after the pupil should have mastered the combinations of numbers under consideration and after memorization of results should be expected. History and Civics.-— Again we have to report that this subject is disappointing. We attribute this to two main causes : (1) Failure to keep one definite aim in view ; (2) a poor knowledge of tho subject on the part of the teacher. Geography. —The work presented was in advance of that seen in history. The following comments, appearing frequently in our reports, indicate the general linos of improvement considered necessary : Failure to make full use of natural surroundings and to cultivate and encourage observation ; neglect of practical work ; failure to make full use of human interest and of pictures and newspapers ; failure to correlate with history and with nature-study ; separation of physical, commercial, and social geography ; failure to make use of the biography of exploration. Drawing. —This subject, on the whole, was good.

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