Dunces of the Universities

Associate Professor of Chemistry University of Wisconsin

Mrs. Stout’s claim that “the low level of ability required to get a degree in education is a standing joke in colleges and universities” can be checked against the findings of an impartial agency, the U.S. Selective Service Administration. In 1951, during the Korean conflict, 339,000 men college students took the draft deferment test, making this the largest mental examination given to college students. The group was remarkably uniform: all were male, U.S. citizens, 18 to 22 years old, graduates of American high schools, and in good health. All were strongly motivated; those who failed would go into wartime service.

The test was designed by psychologists and educators to measure mental ability and to pass 50 per cent of the examinees. Of the college freshmen, 53 per cent passed. H. Chauncy reported in Science, July 25, 1952, the following breakdown: 68 per cent of the engineering students passed, 64 per cent in physical science and mathematics, 59 per cent in biological science, 57 per cent in social science, and 52 per cent of those studying humanities. Only 27 per cent of the education students passed. Results were similar for sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

What was most shocking was that no one was surprised at the poor level of the education students. It has long been known that America chooses its school heads from among the dunces of its universities.