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.

MEASUREMENT OF INSTRUCTION

139

English appears to be the only effective means of developing a unified
intellectual and cultural life throughout the Islands.
One characteristic of the groups tested in Bulacan is very important.
They are all young, nearly all under 25 years of age. Most of them
are mere youths. Consequently, the inference may be safely drawn
that, if older people had been tested, their command of English would
have been much less than that of this group of young citizens. The
groups are small, totalling only 177, and no positive and far-reaching
conclusions can be drawn from the results. They are very suggestive,
however, and are sufficiently clear to confirm the inferences which have
been drawn concerning the importance of keeping children in school
longer and of definitely improving instruction.
On Charts I, V, and VIII, the achievements of these adult groups are
plotted in the lists corresponding to the highest grade which they had
attained in school. In the group which was tested, there were four
who had completed third grade and used no English in everyday life,
twenty-nine who had completed fourth grade, twenty-six who had
completed fifth grade and seventeen who had completed seventh grade.
The records of a group of eighty-seven who did not indicate the grade
completed, are plotted at the extreme right of Charts I, V, and VII.
For each of the foregoing groups, care was taken to ascertain that
neither in the occupation nor in the home was English frequently spoken
or read. There seems to be no doubt that all of these adults speak
English only on rare occasions.
The conclusions from this testing, if confirmed by the measurement
of a very much larger number of persons, have far-reaching importance.
They confirm strikingly our findings about the crucial importance of a
long residence in school. For those who had but three years of schooling command of English has practically faded out. Relatively little
linguistic ability is left. Seven years of schooling, on the other hand,
appears to promise real permanence. These seventh-grade graduates
read practically as well as do seventh-grade graduates who are now
in school. They solve quantitative problems described in English as
well as high-school students do now, and they understand spoken English and can spell as well as seventh-grade graduates. Seven years in
Philippine schools evidently develops relatively permanent linguistic
ability. There is great doubt whether this is true of three years contact
with the school.
What is the effect of four years schooling? Of five years? Five
years after leaving school, these graduates of the four-year primary
school have moderate skill in the use of written English. They read
about as well as second-grade Filipino children. They can receive
dictation and spell about as well as third-grade Filipino children.