Research

Scope and Content Note

The series consists of approximatley on hundred completed surveys from public school pricipals in New York providing information on students in special classes for the mentally deficient.

The four-page surveys contain information on number of special classes, number of teachers for special classes, number of students, average attendance at classes, and any special training received by teachers of special classes. The surveys contain the following information on each student: name and address; actual age; mental age; by whom pronounced deficient (Board of Education, Board of Health, clinic or dispensary, family physician, New York Clearinghouse for Mental Defectives, other authority); country where born; country where parents born and when parents immigrated; language spoken at home; number of rooms in the home or tenament; family income; occupation of father and mother; number of other family members showing mental deficiency tendencies; and special aptitude for particular kind of work. For approximately one-third of the surveys, there is also a transmittal letter from the school principal elaborating on the survey responses; these provide general information on the special classes in the school.