The High School Failures A Study of the School Records of Pupils Failing in Academic or Commercial High School Subjects

The High School Failures, by Francis P. O'Brien, offers a rigorous, data-driven look at why students flounder in academic and commercial high school subjects in early 20th-century America. This non-fiction study—originally a 1919 doctoral dissertation at Teachers College, Columbia University—analyzes school records from New York City high schools to map patterns of failure by age, semester, subject, attendance, health, and class size. O'Brien combines quantitative tables with careful interpretation to explore the prevalence of failure, dropout timing, and possible prognostic indicators. Readers will find clear summaries of methodological choices, source reliability, and the limits of contemporaneous record-keeping, all set against a backdrop of Progressive Era educational reform. The work highlights how early systematic inquiry into student outcomes sought to inform school policy and teaching practice. Ideal for educators, historians of education, policy analysts, and anyone curious about the origins of data-informed schooling, this audiobook illuminates the roots of modern concerns about retention, assessment, and student support. Listen to understand how one foundational study shaped conversations about who succeeds in high school—and why.