We note that the percentages for mathematics and English, which represent their portions of the grand total of subject enrollments, are virtually the reverse of the percentages which designate the amount of total failures produced by the same two subjects.  That means that the percentage of the total failures produced by mathematics is really greater than was at first apparent, while the percentages of failures for English is not so great relatively as the statement of the total failures above would alone indicate.  In a similar manner, we note that Latin has 18.7 per cent of all the failures, but its portion of the total enrollment for all subjects is only 11.9 per cent.  If the failures in this subject were in proportion to the enrollment, its percentage of the failures would be reduced by 6.8 per cent.  On the other hand, if the failures for English were in the same proportion to the total as is its subject enrollment, it would claim 7.5 per cent more of all the failures.  In the same sense, French, history, science, and the business subjects have a smaller proportion of all the failures than of all the subject enrollments.

The comparison of failures by subjects may be continued still further by computing the percentage of failures in each subject as based on the number enrolled in that subject.  Such percentages are here presented for each subject.

Percentage of the number taking the subject who fail in that subject

Latin   Math.    Ger.    Fr.    Hist.    Sci.   Eng.    Bus.     Span. or
Subj’s.     Greek

18.7 16.0 13.5 11.6 10.4 9.8 8.2 8.0 4.1

It becomes evident at once that the largest percentage of failures, based on the pupils taking the subject, is in Latin, although we have already found that mathematics has the greatest percentage of all the failures recorded (p. 19).  But here mathematics follows Latin, with German coming next in order as ranked by its high percentage of failure for those enrolled in the subject.  History has the median percentage for the failures as listed for the nine subjects above.

The failures as reported by subjects for other schools and other pupils will provide a comparison which may indicate something of the relative standing of this group of schools in reference to failures.  The failures are presented below for thirteen high schools in New Jersey, involving 24,895 grades, as reported by D.C.  Bliss[7] in 1917.  As the schools were reported singly, the median percentage of failure for each subject is used here for our purpose.  But Mr. Bliss’ figures are computed from the promotion sheets for June, 1915, and include none of those who had dropped out.  In this sense they are not comparable to the percentages of failure as presented in this study.  Yet with the one exception of Latin these median percentages are higher.  The percentages as presented below for St. Paul[8] are in each case based on the total number taking the subject for a single semester, and include about 4,000 pupils, in all the classes, in the four high schools of the city.[B]