Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Award Date

1953

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department / School

Education

Abstract

Rural pupils must make a major change from the eighth grade in the country school to the ninth grade in a city, town or consolidated school. Some ot them never begin high school and some of those who do, tail to complete their work. There is seemingly a natural break between the eighth grade in a rural school and the ninth grade in high school. School through the eighth grade has been compulsory. Now, it is voluntary. They have been graduated from a rural school where there were perhaps only one or two in the class and perhaps ten or twelve in the entire school ranging in ages from six to sixteen. Upon graduation, they are confronted with the prospect of attending a school which may have an enrollment ranging from forty to five hundred or more. The writer is a teacher or Vocational Agriculture in the largest high school in the county. This is the only Vocational Agriculture department in the county. During the course of his work, he has called at the home or nearly every male eighth grade graduate and talked with many or them personally. In case they were not at home, he left informational sheets regarding the program or Vocational Agriculture in high school along with other information regarding the school. (Appendix D). Parents were contacted whenever possible to explain the program an to encourage pupils to go to high school. In several oases, pupils were urged to attend the nearest high school when transportation or other problems made it impossible to attend Watertown High School. In this· study, there were so�e pupils who did not wish to continue their education beyond the eighth grade and there were those who started high school and terminated their education before graduation from the twelfth grade. Life in a democracy demands educated citizens who have the knowledge of and the desire ffor better government, citizens who have self reliance and a desire for an improved standard of living. Farming requires well-trained men as well as any other occupation. The eighth grade should not.terminate the education of farmers any more than it should terminate t he education of the implement dealer, the elevator operator or the potential store manager. This is a study of' male rural pupils. It does n ot include those pupils who completed the eighth grade in the Watertown Independent School system, Immaculate Conception 1n·watertown, Holy Rosary in Kranzburg, Waverly Consolidated, Henry Independent, Florence Independent or South Shore Independent, all of which are located within the county. This study is limited to those boys who attended the rural county schools in Codington County, South Dakota. It is a study which includes those who are in or who have been graduated from high school, those who started high school and dropped out, and those who did not start high school at all. The main part of the problem is concerned with the last group to see whether or not the schools can do more to serve these individuals.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

School attendance -- South Dakota -- Codington County
Dropouts -- South Dakota -- Codington County

Description

Includes bibliographical references

Format

application/pdf

Number of Pages

44

Publisher

South Dakota State University

Rights

No Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Only
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/

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