The Boise Survey Volume 9; A Concrete Study of the Administration of a City School System (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1920 Excerpt: ...instruction, without segregating in permanent special classes, has met with success in many cities. Several methods for this group have been devised, all of them being based chiefly on what is known as the "Batavia plan." By this plan several teachers, especially skilled in the teaching of individual school subjects, and with special training and experience with backward children, gather the pupils from the different rooms for special drilling in one subject at a time. The first period, for example, may be devoted to arithmetic. At this time the teachers send to the Batavia room all the pupils who have recently fallen behind in arithmetic. The class will be made up of pupils from several different grades, but the time will be devoted exclusively to helping each pupil with the work which he has failed to get from the regular class. At the end of the period the pupils pass back to their rooms, and a period is given in the Batavia room to the teaching of another subject. Any individual pupil may be sent into this room once, twice, or for a week, two weeks, or as long a time as may be required. The supposition is that if the pupil has the necessary intelligence he will soon be caught up with his class and continue under his regular teacher. If he lacks the capacity to do the work, even with special help of this kind, he may be placed in a lower grade or transferred to a special class. Skillful and energetic Batavia teachers, with the supervision of a good principal, may exert much influence among the pupils of a school and materially reduce the amount of retardation. The plan merits a liberal trial in Boise. SPECIAL CLASSES FOR BACKWARD PUPILS Pupils of the third group, those whose essential condition is subnormality, should neither be demoted nor sho...