The relationship between persistence in school and home conditions ...

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The Relationship between sistence in School and Home Conditions

THESIS

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE

Part I Introductory Statement

THE PROBLEM

This study is concerned primarily with the qualitative analysis of the relationships which exist between the schooling of children and their home conditions. It is concerned secondarily with a rough determination of the relative importance of the hereditary and the environmental factors involved in these relationships.

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDY

The study is an outgrowth of a social survey of the Decatur, Illinois, high school made by the writer during the school year of 191 2-13. In making this survey a large amount of data was secured, most of which proved to be of relatively little importance, but among the many facts there were a few which suggested family tendencies in the matter of educating children. Some of the famiHes gave all the older children a high-school education, while other families, of similar size and agecomposition, did not have one child who had completed the high-school work. All the families having two or more children no longer in the pubHc school were selected and examined. There proved to be 198 such families, containing 642 older children, 334 of whom had secured a high-school education. A further examination showed that 40 per cent of the 198 families furnished 72 per cent of those who had finished the high school, and 30 per cent of the famiHes furnished 57 per cent of those who

^ This study was accepted as the dissertation for the doctorate of philosophy in education by the Graduate School of the University of Illinois. The writer wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness for counsel and suggestions given by Dr. W. C. Bagley and Dr. L. D. Coffman. Further, many useful suggestions were received from Dr. G. M. Whipple, Dr. C. H. Johnston, and the graduate students in education.

lO had not finished the high school. This difference suggested that there must be corresponding differences in the homes which might be ascertained. Data were secured and it was found that these two groups of homes differed markedly with respect to economic, educational, and social conditions.

Three years ago Dr. J. K. Van Denburg published the results of an investigation conducted in the New York City schools. He found that "on the whole, the economic status of these pupils (so far as it is shown by monthly rental) seems to be only a slight factor in the determination of length of stay in the high schools. The one most marked influence seems to be that the superior economic status in girls leads to a longer stay in spite of failure to progress at the 'normal' rate."^

At another place Dr. Van Denburg shows^ (Table I) the percentages of the different rental groups^ who graduated from the high school which

TABLE I

Percentage Graduating, Classified according to Rental Groups

Amount

Graduates

Total Entering

Percentage Graduating

Boys

Not specified

9 8

14 10

34 48

II. 8

$28 and up

Girls

Not specified

14. 1

14.0

$28 and up

6.1 they entered four years earlier. He, however, has no record of those who left the pubhc schools and went to private schools, a group mentioned as a factor of some importance. Hence the group " 28 and up," would

' Causes of the Elimination of Pupils in Public Secondary Schools (New York : Published by Teachers College, 19 12), p. 113.

3 A rental group is a group of families which paid specified amounts of rent per month. All the families selected were divided by Van Denburg into three rental groups: (i) those paying $8 to $17 per month, (2) those paying $18 to $27 per month, and (3) those paying $28 or more per month.

PERSISTENCE IN SCHOOL AND HOME CONDITIONS ii

have to be augmented by an unknown quantity to represent the true percentage of those who received the equivalent of four years in the pubHc high school. It is conceivable that this unknown quantity would be large enough to show a definite relationship for the boys between economic status and persistence in school. With the girls the case would not be so clear, for the two smaller groups contain the same percentage of graduates. It may be that the economic factor is of less importance with girls than with boys.

To be conservative, it might be said that the economic status of the families in Dr. Van Denburg's study is not of sufficient importance to overshadow or more than counteract other factors which make for persistence in, or ehmination from, the public high schools of New York City. He has shown that the presence or absence of younger children in the family, the nationality of the parents, choice or lack of choice of an occupation, and intention with regard to graduation are factors correlated with the length of stay in the high school. A more detailed study of home conditions might reveal other factors of far greater influence in this city than economic status.

In another study^ Dr. C. H. Keyes showed that acceleration or retardation were characteristic of certain families. He found that 6.8 per cent of the families produced 24 per cent of the accelerates, while 7.7 per cent of the famihes produced 24.5 per cent of the arrests. These facts obtained in a New England city tend to support those obtained in Decatur.

The apparent disagreement between the conditions found by Dr. Van Denburg in New York City and those found by the writer in Decatur, Illinois, raised the question: "Is Decatur representative qualitatively of the average middle western city?" With this question in mind it was decided to extend the study to other Illinois cities, and information was collected from the high schools of Centralia, Champaign, Gibson City, and Rochelle, Illinois. While these data were being collected, it occurred to the writer that this study dealt with a special class — those whose children reached the high school — and represented a special situation, and hence that it ought to be extended so as to include statistics from all levels of society. Accordingly the families residing in Urbana who had children between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one were selected, and

' C. H. Keyes, Progress through the Grades of City Schools (New York: Published by Teachers College, 1911).

a personal canvass was made by the writer which furnished a mass of facts from 234 homes. When these data had been tabulated and evaluated, and an interpretation was attempted, it was found that, although important relationships existed between the amounts of schooling that the children received and certain objective home conditions, it was impossible to distinguish between environmental and hereditary factors, a distinction that is very important from social and educational points of view. In order more accurately to determine the relative importance of these two types of factors it was decided to secure similar facts about the education and home conditions of adopted children.

In outline this presents the origin and development of the study. The presentation of the data will follow the same general order.

THE DATA

Sources. — The facts presented in Part II were secured from the high-school pupils of Decatur, Illinois, during the fall of 191 2. Those in Part III were collected from the high-school pupils of Centraha, Champaign, Gibson City, and Rochelle, Illinois, during the fall of 1913. The main data, those in Part IV, were gathered directly from the homes and from the courthouse records in Urbana, Illinois, during the summer and fall of 1914. The information about the adopted children, given in Part V, was secured from the Urbana courthouse records and from various individuals who resided in Champaign and Urbana during the early months of 1915.

Method of collecting. — The original data which uncovered the problem were secured from the high-school pupils of Decatur during the fall of 191 2. One morning in November the writer called at the school with a supply of blanks asking the following questions, as well as a number of others which had no bearing on the present problem:

Name Sex Age

Country of your mother's birthplace

Country of your father's birthplace

What language is commonly spoken in your home ?

OLDER BROTHERS

No. Age Has he finished What is he doing now ?

high school?

I

OLDER SISTEES

No. Age Has she finished What is she doing now ?

high school ?

The teachers were instructed briefly as to the facts desired and the collection of data was then left in their hands. The first period of the morning was used and each of the pupils attending at that time was required to fill out one of the blanks. Through the assistance given by the room-charge teachers the entire high school furnished the desired information in a short time.

After it was discovered that one group of homes educated its children more than the other group, it was thought that an objective description of these homes might be secured from the children who attended high school. For this purpose a blank was prepared asking for the following data:

a) Father's occupation

b) Father's education mother's education

c) What is the family income ?

d) What rent does the family pay per month (estimated by the kind of house in which they live) ?

e) Church affiliation of father of mother

/■) What newspapers does the family take ?

What magazines ?

g) What is the size of the family library ?

h) What clubs or organizations does the father attend ?

The mother ?

These blanks were given to the pupils from the selected homes and were filled out in conference with the teachers or principal. The results were later checked up by the principal, and reports containing obvious errors were marked so that the erroneous portions could be eliminated.

As stated earlier, the facts reported in Part III were secured from the high-school pupils of Centralia, Champaign, Gibson City, and Rochelle, lUinois. A blank asking for the following information was used.

Name Sex

1. Country of mother's birth

2. Country of father's birth

3. Father's occupation

4. Father's education (in years of schooling)

5. Miother's education (in years of schooling)

6. What monthly rent do your parents pay for the house in which they live ? (If they own their home, estimate the rent by comparing with rented houses in the neighborhood.)

7. How many volumes in your home library ?

OLDER BROTHERS OLDER SISTERS

No. Age Education in years No. Age Education in years

of schooling of schooling

2 2.

3 3-

4 4.

5 5.

Copies of this were sent to the principals or superintendents of Centraha, Gibson City, and Rochelle, and they secured the information from the pupils as best they could. In Gibson City this method resulted in returns from all the pupils attending on the day the information was secured. In Centralia and Rochelle less pressure was put upon the pupils and some failed to furnish any information. In Champaign the writer gathered the data during the Enghsh class periods, personally directing the work of the pupils. By answering any queries which arose because of a misunderstanding of any of the questions and by suggesting ways of estimating some of the items, he secured careful replies from almost all the pupils. They were told that it was not necessary for them to sign their names. Hence it was easy to meet any objections which a pupil might have to answering personal questions, and all the pupils filled out the blanks. In the other three towns the pupils signed the blanks, a fact which made them a little more reserved in their replies.

The information which forms the basis of Part IV was secured through a personal canvass made by the writer during June and July, 1914, in Urbana. The university-community portion of the town is a students' residence district and education is a thing uppermost in the minds of those who Uve there. It contains many families who have moved to Urbana to educate their children. Because of this emphasis on education and because of the difficulty of gauging an economic index where there are so many temporary residents, all families who lived west of Coler Street and south of Springfield Avenue were eliminated from consideration. The families of the university faculty who lived outside of this area were also eliminated. The preliminary list of names was secured from the 19 13 school census records, which gave every home containing an individual under twenty-one years of age. The list finally selected was restricted to those homes which included individuals fourteen to twenty-one years of age, and contained about 550 names. When the actual canvass was made, it was found that a few of these homes contained no children over fourteen (roomers under twenty-one years of age having been found by the school census taker and recorded) and that a few of the listed families had moved out of town. These two factors reduced the list of possible calls to slightly less than 500. The writer called at the homes on all the east and west streets (most homes in Urbana face these streets). Sometimes no one was at home. When convenient a second or even a third call was made to secure the desired information. The canvass resulted in securing information from 234 homes of whites and 5 homes of colored people and gave a random sampling of the community. The colored homes are not included in the study because their members belong to a race which is not as yet a homogeneous element of the population. Their number was too small to be studied separately. As an aid and guide in securing the information the following blank was used:

1. Occupation of father

2. Country of father's birth of mother's birth

3. Father's native language mother's native language

4. Education of father of mother

5. Nmnber of books in the home

6. Number of living-rooms in home

7. Number of people living in house over fourteen years of age

Under fourteen years of age

8. Number of members of family living at home

9. Rent per month

10. Children above fourteen years of age

Sex Age Years of schooling each has received

I i6 THE FIFTEENTH YEARBOOK

In conducting the canvass, the writer, after introducing himself, usually began with an inquiry as to the number of children in the home, their age, and education. Experience showed that parents were quite ready to talk about their children and that, after getting somewhat acquainted with the writer, they were then more free in answering the other questions. By this procedure the facts were secured to question No. lo first and then the blank was filled out in order, beginning with question No. i.

The figures for the personal property and real estate assessments were taken from the courthouse records giving the assessments for the 19 15 taxes. In case a name did not appear here, the previous year's records were examined. In a few cases the figures were obtained in the latter way.

The data which furnish the basis for the discussion of adopted children, presented in Part V, were gathered by the writer through a personal canvass. The original list of names was secured from the court records which gave the adoptions made in Champaign County since 187 1 . From these records the sex, date of birth, date of adoption, names of foster-parents with their town addresses, the changed name of the child, and cause of adoption were secured for each child. Excluding all children who would not now be at least fourteen years old, the Hst contained 155 cases of adoption. The present addresses of as many as possible of these foster-parents, of the children, or of someone who could give the desired information were secured from directories and from people who have long resided in Champaign or Urbana. That the results might be comparable with those presented in Part IV, only those parents who Hved in Champaign or Urbana and reared the children there were included in the study.

In securing these data a form quite similar to that used in the earher canvass was employed. It was as follows :

Parents' names

1. Occupation of father

2. Nativity of father of mother

3. Schooling of father (in years) of mother

4. Estimated number of books in home

5. Financial status of parents: very poor, poor, average, well-to-do, wealthy (check).

6. Estimated rent of home in which family lived when children were in school

7. Facts about all children living or dead, who reached fourteen years of age

Date of birth Sex Schooling in years

I

S

The procedure was approximately the same, after the Hst of names and addresses was secured, as that followed in gathering the data for Part IV. Members of the family or relatives furnished the information for all but one of the children studied.

Errors. — The data secured from the pupils through questionnaires which they themselves filled out were probably more inaccurate than those secured by the writer through the personal canvass. The greatest constant error is that of omission. It is thought by the writer that the effect of this is nearly that of pure chance, though this may be proved otherwise if carefully investigated. However, since this is primarily a qualitative study, such errors will be less serious than if it were a purely quantitative investigation. Wilful untruths may have existed in the data, but they were very rare. From the nature of the questions and the conditions under which they were answered, some of the data are estimates, more or less inaccurate. Errors pecuHar to one kind of data will be mentioned during its discussion.

Method of treatment. — The statistical method^ will be used in this study. All the important relationships will be expressed through coefficients of correlation. All correlations will be worked according to the

"product-moment" method of Pearson where r= — . The reliability

n(Ti(r2

of all correlations will be expressed according to the formula P.E.=

i—r^ o . 6745 ,- . The reliabihty of the difference between two medians wiU

\P E" P.E^ be expressed according to the formula P.E.D. = -^ --\ . All cen-

^ til ^2

tral tendencies will be expressed by medians.

' All the formulas used can be found in any standard work on statistical methods. See Thorndike, Mental and Social Measurements; or Whipple, Manual of Mental and Physical Tests, 2d ed., Part I, "Simpler Processes." Whipple gives on p. 35 a table showing the reliability of P.E. according to its relative size.

Part II Relationships Found In Decatur

The original data collected in Decatur during the fall of 191 2 revealed 198 children from homes having two or more older children no longer in the public school. These homes when examined could be distributed readily among three groups: (I) those from which all the older children had completed the high-school work; (II) those from which none of the older children had completed the high-school work; (III) those in which some of the older children had graduated from the high school and others had not.

In all there were 642 older brothers and sisters, 334 of whom had secured a high-school education. Group I contained 78 families and furnished 72 per cent of the 334 children. Group II contained 59 families and furnished 57 per cent of the 308 who had not finished high school.

This section will be devoted to a discussion of the dififerences between home conditions in the first two groups.

The replies were most nearly complete with respect to the education of the parents, though a few children failed to give this information. When the replies were checked, it was found that some information was secured concerning 60 homes of Group I and 43 homes of Group II. On some of the blanks there was very Httle information, probably because the pupils, or even the parents in some cases, could not give the facts desired.

RESULTS OF THE INVESTIGATION

The differences between the two tj^pes of homes are striking.

a) Occupations. — The fathers of Group I (the families that gave their children a high-school education) are chiefly engaged in professional and commercial occupations (see Table II). The fathers of Group II (the families that did not provide a high-school education for their children) are chiefly engaged in artisan trades, and in semi-skilled and unskilled occupations (Table II).

b) Schooling. — The median number of years of schooHng received by the parents of Group I is twelve; by the parents of Group 11, eight

(see Table III). In Group I, 60 per cent of the fathers and 61 per cent of the mothers have had the equivalent of a high-school education,

TABLE II

OF Fathers

GROUP n Occupation No.

Fanner 6

Retired farmer 3

Carpenter 3

Minister 3

Blacksmith 3

Cabinet-maker 2

Night watchman 2

Janitor 2

Railroad engineer

Railroad conductor

Mail clerk

Shoeman

Lock-maker

Occupations

GROUP I Occupation No.

Farmer 8

Lawyer 4

Insurance 4

Real estate dealer 3

Retired farmer 2

Physician 2

Public official 2

Jeweler 2

Cashier 2

Minister 2

Implement dealer i

Druggist I

Millwright i

Business i

Painter and decorator i

Floor-walker i

Nurseryman i

Mason i

Railroader i

Music store i

Brick business i

Bookkeeper i

Auto trimmer i

Proprietor, machine-shop i

Hotel-keeper i

Machinist i

Cement factory i

Carpenter i

Secretary and treasurer i

Barber i

Fumaceman i

Railroad engineer i

while more than 91 per cent of the fathers and mothers of Group II have had less than four years of high-school work. Indeed, 74 per cent of

I

I

I

I

I

Factory employee i

Boiler-maker i

Clothier i

Gardener i

Cement contractor i

Conunission dealer i

Horse-dealer i

Grocer i

Miller i

Clerk I

Passenger engine inspector i the fathers and 71 per cent of the mothers of Group II did not go beyond the eighth grade. The mathematical differences between the medians of the two groups, 3.68=^0.38 years for fathers and 3.70=^0.38 years for mothers, have a high degree of reUabihty.

TABLE III The Education of Fathers and Mothers

Number of Years

OF Schooling

I

•2 .

C

I

2 2

II 3 21

I s

4 2

I

II

4 5

I

II

IT.

I le

I

Median years of education ....

Difference between median education of Groups I and II,

fathers = 3 . 68 ± o . 38 years Difference between median education of Groups I and II,

mothers = 3 . 70 ± o . 38 years c) Incomes and rent. — As would readily be inferred from the facts concerning occupation and schooling just presented, the yearly incomes and monthly rentals are higher with those who sent their children through the high school than with the other group. The median yearly income of Group I is $2,000; of Group II, $1,350 (Table IV). Each family studied in this section contained at least three children, and the average is almost five. Thus it seems that the problem of furnishing the necessaries of life must be a serious one for many famiUes of Group II.

The differences between the rental values of the two groups of homes are evident to one who simply glances at Table V. Statistically they are shown by the difference in the medians. They are marked, for 8i per

TABLE IV

Incomes*

Below $699

1,799

2,099 2,199 2,299

2,399 2,499

2,599 3,999 4,999

5,000 and above Median income .

S

52,000

$1,35°

Difference between medians of Group I and II = $650 ±$242 them.

* A number of families had such indefinite incomes that the parents themselves could not estimate cent of the families in Group I pay $25 or more a month while 77 per cent of Group II pay less than this amount. A house with modern improvements, bath, toilet, etc., large enough for a family of six costs

TABLE V Rental Values of Homes*

Per Month no.

17- 18. 19.

Per Month

22.50

Median rent

No. who own their homes ho 14

520.80 9

DijBferences between medians of Groups I and II=$9 . 20=*=$! . 17

*The question which asked for this information was poorly constructed. It was: "What rents does the family pay per month (estimated by the kind of a house in which they live)?" Some replied by merely stating that they owned the home. Others estimated the rent even if they owned the home.

at least $25 a month in Decatur. Hence a large part of the famiUes of Group II live in somewhat undesirable houses. The number reported

TABLE VI

Newspapers Taken

Decatur papers

Chicago papers

Other local papers as owning their homes, 14 families of Group I and 9 famiHes of Group II, is too small to be a basis for any significant conclusions.'

TABLE VII

Magazines Taken

Ladies' Home Journal

Woman's Home Companion .

Saturday Evening Post

Cosmopolitan

Pictorial Review

Youth's Companion

Good Housekeeping

Popular Mechanics

Literary Digest

Everybody's

Religious papers

Collier's

McClure's

Woman's World

Farm papers

Motor Age

Life and Judge

Review of Reviews

Boys' paper

Home-Life

Current Events

Success

Travel

S d) Home culture. — There is only a slight relationship between the number of newspapers taken by a home and the schooling and financial standing of the parents (Table VI). Every home in both groups took

^ The difference between the median rents of the two groups is much more reliable than the differences between median incomes. The latter is barely large enough to justify statistical consideration.

a daily newspaper with one exception, a home of Group I. This home took several magazines.

The two groups of homes showed a much greater difference when the quantity and quality of the periodical literature were examined. Magazines of the better class were found in the homes represented by Group I, but were very infrequently found in the homes of Group II (Table VII).

The library facilities of the two groups of homes correspond to the other characteristics already discussed. The median number of books found in homes of Group I was 271; in Group II, 83 (Table VIII). In other words, the average home of Group I had more than three times as many books in it as the average home of Group 11, All but one of the homes of Group II, or 97 per cent, had smaller libraries than the average home of Group I.

TABLE VIII Libraries

Volumes

Volumes

Less than 50

CI- 7c

10 6

5 12

I

301-400

401-500

501 and over

Median number of volumes

76—100

2 6 7

I

101-200

201-300

Difference between medians of Groups I and II = 188 ±24 volumes e) Clubs and organizations. — The number of clubs and organizations attended by the fathers of Group I was larger than the number attended by the fathers of the other group (Table IX). The fathers of Group I were more often members of those social and recreational societies which are somewhat of an economic burden. Among the mothers the only important difference to be noted is that the mothers in Group I attended the "women's clubs" while mothers in Group II attended the "mothers' club" of the public school.

/) Religious affiliations. — The differences which appeared between the two groups with respect to this point (Table X) were not significant in their bearing upon persistence in school. A more extended study might reveal important facts which did not appear in the small number of cases secured in this study.

TABLE IX Clubs and Organizations Attended by the Fathers and Mothers

Masons

17 13

4 5

Woodmen

Oddfellows

Social or recreational

I

Knights of Pythias

Professional

I

I

Moose

I

Chamber of Commerce

Knights of Columbus

Trade union

I 6 I I I I I 2 2 I

Owls

G.A.R

Rebecca

I

I

Royal Neighbors

Church societies

I I

Court of Honor

I

BenHur

Yeomen

I

I I I I

Women's clubs

I

Eastern Star

King's Daughters

Mothers' club

Y.W.C.A

W.C.T.U

I

TABLE X

Church Affiliations of Fathers and Mothers

Methodist Episcopal

Presbyterian

Christian.

15 II

17 12 6 3 3 2

3 3

I I I I

6 2

8 3 4 2

Congregational

United Brethren

Baptist

Lutheran

Catholic

Free Methodist

German Methodist

Episcopal

I

I

Christian Science

African Methodist

I

I I

I

Church of God

I

Unitarian

I

Protestant

I

Seventy-eight families, 40 per cent of those which had two or more older children no longer in the public school, furnish 72 per cent of the 334 high-school graduates.

Fifty-nine famihes, 30 per cent of those studied, furnished 57 per cent of those who did not finish high school.

As a class, the parents of the first group were better educated, were employed in different occupations, received larger incomes, paid more rent per month or lived in better homes, took a greater number and a better type of magazines and newspapers, had larger libraries, and attended a different type of clubs, organizations, and churches than the parents of the group of families none of whose older children finished high school.

There was, in Decatur, Illinois, a decided relationship between advantages of home conditions and the amounts of schooling which children received.