A survey of the educational system of the Philippine islands by the Board of educational survey, created under acts 3162 and 3196 of the Philippine Legislature.

136 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF THE PHILIPPINES

The conclusions which we have drawn thus far rest chiefly upon the
evidence presented in Chart I. The evidence is derived from a definite
measure of a complicated process-the art of paragraph reading. The
findings are confirmed by a study of other measures of reading ability
which the Commission obtained. Chart II compares the ability of
Filipino and American children to understand the meaning of sentences;
Chart III compares their vocabularies; and Chart IV summarizes in
one measure the general reading situation in the two countries.
The four charts should be carefully studied and compared. The data
of one are thoroughly consistent with those of the others. Mastery of
words and ability to read sentences develop, of course, hand in hand
with ability to do paragraph reading. Trace the achievements of pupils
in the various municipalities as recorded in Charts I, II, and III.
Take Polo, Lucena, Bauan, or Pagsanjan at the top of the list in
Grade III. The high grade of work in all phases of reading causes
them to appear near the top of each of the four charts. Similarly, those
at the bottom of one grade list appear at or near the foot of the others.
So it is with the measures of average achievement. A study of the
other grades reveals the same consistency in performance. Individual
municipalities, of course, show variations from this rule. On the average, however, we have measured three aspects of reading ability and
the findings from any one confirm and support the findings from the
others.
Chart IV, which presents the facts on general reading ability in the
Islands, is especially significant. Even more prominently than do Charts
I, II, and III, it throws into sharp relief the reading deficiency of the
elementary schools. The measures of "general reading ability" are
expressed in units of "reading age." Scores made in tests 1, 2, and 3
have been turned into corresponding "ages." This is a technique that
has been adopted after prolonged study and debate by American scientific students of education. The average "reading age" in San Pablo
in Grade III, for example, is 7 years and 11 months. This means that
the median score made in the three reading tests in San Pablo was
made in America by children whose median age was 7 years and 11
months. The "reading ages" of each of the other municipalities on
Chart IV is to be interpreted in the same way. By such a method of
expressing a child's score in terms of age direct comparisons can be made.
In interpreting Chart IV, however, it is important to remember that
Filipino children are two years older to a grade than are American
children. In another section we show that the average ages of the
pupils of the elementary school are as follows: