What the Schools Teach and Might Teach - John Franklin Bobbitt

READING AND LITERATURE

The amount of time given to reading in the elementary schools of Cleveland, and
the average time in 50 other cities[A] are shown in the following table:

    TABLE   1.—TIME GIVEN   TO  READING AND LITERATURE

    ========================================================

                                |   Hours   per year    |   Per cent    of  grade   time

                                |———————————-|————————————

        Grade   |   Cleveland   |   50  cities  |   Cleveland   |   50  cities

    ————————————————————————————

                1    |   317     |   266     |   43  |   31

                2    |   317     |   235     |   36  |   26

                3    |   279     |   188     |   32  |   21

                4    |   196     |   153     |   22  |   16

                5    |   161     |   126     |   18  |   13

                6    |   136     |   117     |   15  |   12

                7    |   152     |   98  |   17  |   10

                8    |   152     |   97  |   17  |   10

    ========================================================

        Total   |    1710    |   1280    |   25  |   17

    ————————————————————————————

During the course of his school life, each pupil who finishes the elementary
grades in Cleveland receives 1710 hours of recitation and directed study in
reading as against an average of 1280 hours in progressive cities in general. This
is an excess of 430 hours, or 34 per cent. The annual cost of teaching reading
being about $600,000, this represents an excess annual investment in this subject
of some $150,000. Whether or not this excess investment in reading is justified
depends, of course, upon the way the time is used. If the city is aiming only at