"Colony Plan."
Superintendent E. R. Johnstone of the Training School describes the
possibilities of action along this line, as follows:[87]

There are idiots, imbeciles, morons and backward children. The
morons and the backward children are found in the public schools in
large numbers. Goddard's studies showed twelve per cent. of an
entire school district below the high school to be two or three
years behind their grades, and three per cent. four or more years
behind.

It is difficult for the expert to draw the line between these two
classes, and parents and teachers are loth to admit that the morons
are defective. This problem can best be solved by the establishment
of special classes in the public schools for all who lag more than
one year behind. If for no other reason, the normal children should
be relieved of the drag of these backward pupils. The special
classes will become the clearing houses. The training should be
largely manual and industrial and as practical as possible. As the
number of classes in any school district increases, the
classification will sift out those who are merely backward and a
little coaching and special attention will return them to the
grades. The others--the morons--will remain and as long as they are
not dangerous to society (sexually or otherwise) they may live at
home and attend the special classes. As they grow older they will
be transferred to proper custodial institutions. In the city
districts, where there are many classes, this will occur between
twelve and sixteen years of age. In the country districts it will
occur earlier.

These institutions will be the training schools and will form the center
for the training and care of the other two groups, i. e., the imbeciles
and idiots. Branching out from the training schools should be colonies
(unless the parent institution is on a very large tract of ground, which
is most advisable). These colonies, or groups of comparatively small
buildings, should be of two classes. For the imbeciles, simple buildings
costing from two to four hundred dollars per inmate. The units might
well be one hundred. A unit providing four dormitories, bath house,
dining-halls, employees' buildings, pump house, water tank, sewage
disposal, laundry, stables and farm buildings can be built within the
above figures providing the buildings a