Distribution  of  Students  by  Schools  in  the  Mississippi
Agricultural  High  Schools

There  were  in  1917  in  the  county  agricultural  high
schools  of  Mississippi  5,346  pupils.  (Mississippi  Biennial
Report,  1916-1917.)  A  study  of  the  distribution  of  pupils
among  the  schools  showed  this  distribution  was  not  fully
represented  by  the  average  alone.  There  was  a  range  in
the  variation  of  the  number  of  pupils  per  school  from  163
to  44.  Twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  schools  reporting
showed  more  than  121  pupils,  which  was  the  number  form-
ing the  upper  limit  of  the  third  quartile.  Fifty  per  cent
had  between  76  and  121  pupils,  and  only  twenty-five  per
cent  had  less  than  75  students,  with  only  one  school  with
less  than  50  students.  When  it  is  considered  that  a  num-
ber of  the  schools  were  building  and  that  those  of  another
portion  of  them  were  very  young,  the  variation  seems  to  be
not  very  wide.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  middle  fifty
per  cent,  which  groups  rather  compactly  around  the  central
tendency.  The  facts  regarding  the  distribution  of  students
seem  to  indicate  that  the  schools  are  meeting  with  ready
and  rather  equal  favor — a  fact  that  is  corroborated  by  the
High  School  Inspector's  report.  (Part  II,  Bulletin  No.  10,
1917,  County  Agricultural  High  Schools,  Mississippi  De-
partment of  Education.)

Distribution  of  Pupils  by  Years  in  These  Schools

A  study  of  the  distribution  of  these  pupils  by  years  shows
the  typical  first-year  class,  as  shown  by  the  median  of  the
group,  to  be  one  of  thirty  pupils.  The  typical  second-year
class  was  thirty-three  pupils,  the  typical  third-year  class
was  twenty-two,  and  the  typical  fourth-year  class  was  sev-


104  The  Administration  of

enteen  pupils.  The  range  of  variation  in  -the  first-year
group  was  from  seven  to  fifty-one  pupils.  In  the  second-
year  group  the  smallest  class  was  twelve,  while  the  largest
was  eighty.  In  the  third-year  group  there  was  only  half
so  many,  just  six  in  the  smallest  and  thirty-nine  in  the  larg-
est. In  the  final  year,  the  fourth,  the  maximum  class  had
thirty-two  pupils,  while  the  minimum  had  only  seven.
