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bility for the district reports, while the State superintendent is in turn responsible for those of the county superintendents. The following data show the number of districts in the State, the census, enrollment, and average daily attendance for each year from 1910 to 1915. The data for 1915 are taken directly from the county superintendents' reports. Figures for the years 1910 to 1914, inclusive, are from the biennial reports of the State superintendents, which in turn were made from reports of the county superintendents.

TABLE 27.-Number of school districts, census enrollment, and average daily attendance for six years.

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It is improbable that an actual increase of 7 per cent occurred from 1914 to 1915. The 1915 average daily attendance is undoubtedly too high.

It is apparent that serious errors exist in the Colorado attendance reports, either in the census enumeration or through duplicate enrollment-possibly both. The percentage of enrollment to census in 1910 as given in the above table is 76 per cent, while the Federal census for 1910 records 68 per cent of the school population enrolled in school. The county superintendents' reports for 1914-15, excluding Denver, record an enrollment which is 79 per cent of the census enumeration. Denver in the same year enrolled but 65 per cent of its census. In nearly all States rural school enrollment is larger in proportion to the population than city school enrollment. Daily attendance is less. It is improbable, however, that the enrollment for the rest of the State of Colorado was as much greater than that of Denver as these figures indicate, for the attendance law within Denver is enforced more strictly than in rural districts; its schools are accessible to all the children living in the district and its high schools have a large attendance. For the United States as a whole, approximately 60 per cent of the children from 6 to 21 years are enrolled in schools. A census enumeration extending from 6 to 21 years really includes 20 per cent who are over actual school age. Few pupils remain in school after their nineteenth birthday; normally they complete high school at the age of 18.

1 See Table 28.

TABLE 28.-School census 6 to 21 years of age, as reported by county superintendents for Feb. 10, 1910, and by Federal census, 1910.

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TABLE 29.-Per cent of census (6 to 21 years) reported by county superintendents as enrolled in schools 1914-15, per cent of those enrolled attending daily, and per cent of census number attending daily.

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Table 29 shows the percent of enrollment, based on the census, for all the counties in the State but two, which failed to report. In two counties superintendents report 95 per cent or more of the schcol population 6 to 21 years of age enrolled; in five other counties from 90 per cent to 95 per cent, and in 24 others from 85 per cent to 90 per cent. Only 17 counties report a percentage of enrollment which corresponds to that of Denver and the United States as a whole, namely, below 70 per cent. It is probable that the relation of enrollment to census as given is reasonably accurate only in these 17 counties and perhaps in a few others reporting slightly over 70 per cent. Little reliance can be placed upon the figures in the superintendents' reports. A comparison of the two certified census reports of the county superintendents formerly referred to, namely, those filed in June (as a basis of apportionment) and those filed in September (on the county superintendents' annual reports), which should be identical, as only one school census is taken each year, do not agree in the 1914-15 reports from 26 counties.

Table 30 shows the number of districts, census, enrollment, and average daily attendance from all of the counties in the State, also the number of children enrolled who are not attending school daily, and the number 6 to 21 years of age not attending daily.

TABLE 30.-Number of children in census and enrolled not in average daily

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TABLE 30.-Number of children in census and enrolled not in average daily attendance-Continued.

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Table 31 shows census and enrollment data for children between 8 and 14 years, as given in the county superintendents' reports to the State superintendent for the year 1914-15. In 28 of these counties the number enrolled exceeds the total census enumeration from 1 per cent to 25 per cent. In one county the number enrolled is equal to the census. The apparent purpose of this data (8 to 14 years) is to show the number of children who are not reached by the compulsory attendance law. If correct data were available the enrollment of children between the ages of 8 and 14 years subtracted from the census enumeration 8 to 14 would show the number of children who should be in school and are not, although within the age period when attendance is compulsory and when the enforcement of the law is most apt to be needed. The given data are useless for this purpose in 29 counties of the State because of the condition stated. In the other 33 counties 4,845 children, or 12 per cent of the census enumeration between 8 and 14, are reported not enrolled in school.

Because of the obvious errors, some of which have been referred to, the summaries given in this study are not those in the county superintendents' reports, but are made from original data given in the

reports; hence the total percentages, per capita costs, etc., are correct on the basis of the census enrollment, total costs, etc., as given by the county superintendents. This assumes that while many county superintendents do not make correct financial summaries or compute accurate averages and per capita expenses, etc., they do report with reasonable correctness the census filed with the State superintendent as the basis for apportionment of the State school funds and such expenditures and other financial data as can be obtained from the county treasurers' offices. This assumption, as pointed out above, is not in all cases justified, but the statistics taken are as nearly correct as it is possible to obtain under existing conditions. It is practically inevitable that often the census figures are taken carelessly by district clerks or their hired enumerators, and while it is the duty of the county superintendent to examine carefully these census lists. and to eliminate errors, it is apparent they do not in many cases. It is possible that in unusual instances the attendance at school may be equal to or greater than the census enumeration, even though data are carefully and correctly given, because of changes in population through the moving of families from one district to another; but it is practically impossible that this should happen in 28 counties and that there should be enrolled 3,000 more children between 8 and 14 years than the census records. One county superintendent confesses to his own lack of inclination to criticize census enumerations as reported by district secretaries so long as he himself holds his position by popular vote.

TABLE 31.—Children of compulsory age not attending school.

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