pp. 119-135 Summary and Analysis

Harold Morton was a fifth grade student who was a poor performer when Mike was assigned to work with him. Mike made an effort to spend extra time with Harold and went to visit his home. He talked with Mrs. Morton and learned that Harold's father had left when Harold was five years old and was currently in jail. Mike learned what he could about the boy and his living conditions.

After leaving the Morton house, Mike returned to the school and looked at Harold's file. He saw how many of the boy's problems were taken as organic and how he was classified as a slow learner despite his high entry reading scores. After that, the scores were lower and Harold was defined as marginal. The reports grew more dismal from year to year until they were considering putting...