rkmen in the various building trades provide their own
tools and no expensive machines are required. Comparatively little
working capital is necessary, as provision is made in most contracts
for part payments as the work progresses.

THE PROBLEM OF TRAINING

The recommendations of the report relating to training for the
building trades may be summarized under five headings:

1. _Reduce retardation._ The first step in improving the educational
preparation of workers entering the building trades is to reduce
retardation or slow progress in the elementary grades. At present it
is approximately true of the men entering the building trades that
one-third drop out of school by the sixth grade, two-thirds by the
seventh grade, and three-thirds by the eighth grade. Now according to
law a boy cannot go to work until he is 16, and if he has made normal
progress he will have completed the eight grades of the elementary
course before he has reached that age. In point of fact, many of these
boys do not make normal progress through the grades and hence they
reach the age of 15 before completing the elementary course. As a
result they fall out of school without having had those portions of
the work in reading, drawing, mathematics, and elementary science
which would be of most direct use to them in their future work.

2. _General industrial courses in seventh, eighth, and ninth grades._
If retardation could be largely reduced in the elementary grades,
industrialized courses could be properly introduced in the seventh,
eighth, and ninth grades for boys intending to enter the building
trades. The specific changes recommended include as their most
important elements:

a. Increased training in industrial arithmetic beginning in
the seventh grade.

b. Courses in industrial drawing.

c. Courses in elementary science relating to industry.

d. Courses in industrial information.

e. General courses in industrial shop work.

These are general industrial courses and it is recommended that they
be introduced as prominent features of the work of the junior high
school. They are not intended to take the place of specialized courses
in the building trades, but they are proposed as courses valuable for
all future industrial workers and within which certain adaptations
should be made for those who are intending to enter the building
trades.

3. _A two year industrial trade school._ In addition to the general