A handbook to aid counselors in the vocational guidance of business education students in the C. K. McClatchy Senior High School

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A HANDBOOK TO AID COUNSELORS IN THE VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE OF BUSINESS EDUCATION STUDENTS IN THE C. K. McCLATCHY SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

A Project Presented to the Faculty of the School of Education The University of Southern California

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in Education

by Herbert W. Briggs August 1950

UMI Number: EP46207

All rights reserved IN FO R M A TIO N TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.

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UMI EP46207 Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code

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's-t T h is project rep o rt, w ritte n under the direction of the candidate's adviser an d a p p ro ved by h im , has been presented to and accepted by the F a c u lty o f the School of E d u c a tio n in p a r t ia l f u lf illm e n t of the requirements f o r the degree

o f M a s t e r of

Science in Educatio n.

Date.

.

7

/ .

A d v is e r

Dean

TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER

PAGE

I. THE PROBLEM AND THE PROCEDURE..................

1

Statement of the problem.

1

Justification of the problem.. . . . . . . .

1

Analysis of the problem....... ....

*+

Scope of the study.

5

...........

Method of procedure * ................. ..

5

II. DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES OF BUSINESSEDUCATION C OURSES...............

. .

7

Bookkeeping

11

Typing........................... ............ 15 Gregg Shorthand

...........

19

Transcription.............................. 20 Stenographic Office Practice.

20

Salesmanship

......................

22

III. DESCRIPTION OF CLERICAL AND STENOGRAPHIC DUTIES .

2k

. . . . .

Purpose of the chapter.

.........

2k

Duties commonly

performedby general clerks . 25

Duties commonly

performedby bookkeepers. • . 3k

Duties commonly

performedby stenographers.

Duties commonly

performedby sales clerks . . ^3

. 37

IV. PROGNOSTIC AIDS FOR COUNSELORS.................^9

iii

iv CHAPTER

PAGE

V.

IMPORTANCE OF PERSONALQUALITIES . . . ............. 60

VI.

SUMMARY ANDRECOMMENDATIONS......................... 66

BIBLIOGRAPHY................... ................ .

70

LIST OP TABLES PAGE

TABLE I.

Number and Percentage of Clerks Performing Each Duty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

II.

Types of Duties Performed by 158 Clerks Engaged in. Bookkeeping

III.

36

Educational Prerequisites and General Informational Requirements Needed by Secretaries . . . . . . .

IV.

V. VI. VII. VIII.

28

39

Business Forms Specified, Arranged in Order of Frequency, Based on. the Number of Times Reported

*fl

Filing Duties. . ....................... . . . . .

M+

Machines Used by Stenographers Bookkeeping Duties

........ .. **6

Duties Performed by Retail Sales Clerks............ **7

v

CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM AND THE PROCEDURE Statement of the problem.

This study was made for the

purpose of compiling data which should inform counselors of the C. K. McClatchy Senior High School of Sacramento of the following: 1.

The objectives of business education courses.

2.

Types of duties performed by clerical and steno­ graphic employees.

3.

Personal attributes necessary to success in the business world. Methods of predicting the student’s degree of success in business education courses.

5#

The need for closer relations between the school and the sources of employment.

Justification of the problem.

Students who are busi­

ness education majors in the senior high schools can be placed in three categories: 1.

Non-vocational.

2.

Prevocational.

3*

Vocational.

The first mentioned is composed largely of students with low academic aptitudes, for whom a passing grade commonly

1

2 regarded as a reward for attendance:

it is seldom evidenced

by any degree of achievement* During the last five years, in the C. K. McClatchy Senior High School of Sacramento, these non-vocational stu­ dents have increased in relation to the total enrollment in business education courses*

To some degree they are segre­

gated from the prevocational and vocational students, but where such segregation does not prevail their presence demands either that the vocational standards for the courses be relaxed or that the number of failures be increased to an embarrassing figure*

The former alternative has been too

frequently accepted, with a resultant loss to the vocational value of the courses taught. The prevocational student differs from the vocational student only in the extent of his preparation for employment. The former regards his work in high school as preparatory for instruction he will receive following graduation; the latter anticipates gainful employment as soon as he finishes high school. Boys and girls in both of these categories suffer from being treated as non-vocational students.

This results

in bad classroom instruction and fallacious counseling.

It

was the author's observation that a better informed counsel­ ing body could remedy the existing weaknesses.

Certainly

the counseling of students, many of whom are hopeful of

3 beginning a career in the business world within three to five years after they enter senior high school, is a task calling for specific knowledge which the author has never found to be possessed by the counseling office.

A justification for

this study was expressed by J. Frank Dame -when he wrote: One may ask why there is a need for guidance in the business curriculum in particular, whereas in most departmental fields we seem to make no such claim. One possible answer is that the com­ mercial department is training for vocational adjustment in terms of a job and that certain weak­ nesses are present in the average high school that act as a hindrance to the attainment of this objec­ tive. Some of the weaknesses are as follows: 1. Lack of business experience on the part of many teachers. 2. Traditional business courses traditionally taught. 3. Little or no responsibility for placement and follow-up. *t-. Neglect by schools in their provision for vocational failures. 5. Mixing vocational and nonvocational stu­ dents in the same classes. 6. Inadequate acquaintanceship with the occupa­ tional environment. 7. Desire for large department -^enrollments even at the expense of training.

J. Frank Dame, Prognosis, Guidance. and Placement in Business Education (Cincinnati: South-Western Publishing Company, 19^), pp. 17-18.

3+ Analysis of the problem. An analysis of this problem could be achieved by seeking honest answers to the following questions: 1.

Should vocational standards be maintained in business education courses offered at the C. K. McClatehy Senior High School?

2.

Do these courses conform to the most widely accepted vocational standards?

3.

Can the lower ability students be successful in courses which adhere to vocational standards?

*f.

Do the counselors know what personal qualities, academic attainments, and skills are necessary for success in the various types of commercial employment?

5.

Can prognostic tests be used as an aid in counsel­ ing business education students?

6.

Is there a desirable relationship between the number of students enrolled in vocational courses and the employment opportunities in the community?

7.

Should the development of new courses be encour­ aged?

If the answer to the first question was in the affirma­ tive, and the answers to the second and third questions were in the negative, and the answers to the remaining questions were admissions of ignorance, this problem could find solution

5 only through, a revision of existing counseling practices, aided by better information respecting the type of work for which students should be trained, and knowledge of the requirements for occupational success. Scone of the study.

This study was limited to the

compilation of data which should be in the hands of all coun­ selors and teachers of students preparing to enter the busi­ ness world.

It was designed for the specific purpose of

aiding the counseling of vocational students in the business education department of the C. K. McClatchy Senior High School of Sacramento, California. Method of procedure.

It was the author’s desire to

achieve the objectives of this project through the following. 1.

Acquaintance of the counselors with the objectives of courses offered by the business education department at the time this study was made.

2.

Justification for the addition of courses to the business education curriculum of the C. K. McClatchy Senior High School.

3*

Description of duties common to clerical, sales, and stenographic positions.

*t.

Giving the counselors prognostic aids of special value in predicting success of business education students.

5.

Encouragement of closer relations between the counselors and organizations offering employment to high school graduates.

The method employed in completing the study- consisted of: 1.

Ascertaining and analyzing respected publications pertinent to this study.

2.

Obtaining information by questionnaires and inter­ views with employers and business educators.

3.

Surveying prognostic tests and other criteria for forecasting achievements of students in the busi­ ness education department.

CHAPTER II DESCRIPT ION AND OBJECTIVES OF BUSINESS EDUCATION COURSES At the time this study was made the business education curriculum of the C. K. McClatchy Senior High School con­ sisted of: Subject

Semesters b

Bookkeeping..................... Typing

..............................

b

Shorthand

b

Transcription

1

General Office Training ........

..

1

Business Fundamentals............ .. Theoretically the courses in bookkeeping were reserved for students having I# Q, scores above 90, and the courses titled “Business Fundamentals,” i, e* , General Business, were reserved for students of lower ability.

All other subjects

were undifferentiated, though in actual practice, by reason of prerequisites, the advanced courses in shorthand, typing, and transcription were seldom open to lower ability students. However, in beginning typing and shorthand classes, it was not uncommon to find half of the students with I, Q, scores far below 90, and lacking in compensative attributes which

7

8 might give assurances of some measure of success.

Not infre­

quently the span of concentration of these students was so short as to render difficult the learning of even the simple mechanics of typing.

In problems involving centering, tabu­

lation, and syllabication most of them experienced failure. Acknowledgment of the fact that beginning typing should not be reserved for vocational students, since its avocational benefits are beyond dispute, and the exploratory value of the course should not be denied, did not justify the described conditions.

The counselors could not resist the temptation

to program low ability and problem students into the typing classes.

Their disposition to do so, coupled with limited

typing facilities, frequently resulted in better students finding it difficult to take typing. Because of the low level of accomplishment, the grad­ ing standards for Typing I were exceedingly lenient, and the practice of allowing students to pass as a reward for effort, was expected of all teachers.

Students who had never exhibited

ability to do acceptable work were given “D's” and "C's” and admonished not to take Typing II.

Most of them ignored the

admonition, and seldom did the counselor dissuade them from doing so. During the five years preceding this study, 586 stu­ dents received the grade of "C", and 2*+8 other students were given the grade of “D H in beginning typing.

Five hundred and

9 eighteen f,CH students who took Typing II received the follow­ ing grades at the end of their second semester: 6 . . . . . . . . .

12

A

. .B

1 8 2 ................ C 226 ................ Q 9 2 .............. . F The 185 ,!DM students who took Typing II, received the following grades at the end of their second semester b ................. B b 2 ................. C 102 . . .

......... D

3 7 ........... . . . F The exploratory function for Typing I may be commend­ able, but the foregoing data should cause counselors to act cautiously when advising students who receive grades below ‘‘B11 in this course to continue with the subject. The same condition, in a less aggravated form pre­ vailed in shorthand.

In bookkeeping, presumably a differen­

tiated subject, a similar difficulty was experienced.

In

all four-semester subjects the mortality rate was exceedingly high after the second semester.

The refusal of teachers to

extend leniency to laxness made the programming of these mis­ guided students difficult during their eleventh and twelfth years in school.

The solution of this problem (what should

10 be done for these students?), was not a part of this study, but certainly it can never be found in subjects which in their advanced courses must maintain some semblance of voca­ tional standards. In the opinion of J. Frank Dame: . . . The fate of these "second rate" people is the problem facing many schoolmen. It should be the policy of the school to carry these students along in the curriculum just as far as possible. This does not mean that the inferior student should be scheduled with the better students. He should continue in business classes somewhat adapted and modified to his ability. The course in general office training combined instruc­ tion in the operation of calculating machines, mimeographing, and filing.

Vocational.proficiency was not an objective of

the course, and it was regarded by the counselors as another convenient place to put difficult students. In the hope that a better understanding of the objec­ tives of the curricular offerings in the business education department might promote through improved counseling prac­ tices, higher standards in the courses offered, and favor the introduction of subjects worthy of places in the business education curriculum, the writer has compiled the following description of courses, and a statement of objectives

2

Ibid., pp. 53-9+.

11 approved by teachers of business education subjects, I.

3

BOOKKEEPING

The objectives of the bookkeeping curriculum gain new importance with increased governmental regulations and requirements.

Those objectives can now be stressed as voca­

tional, personal, and social; with added emphasis upon accuracy.

The work during the first year should give stu­

dents a thorough understanding of business terms, forms, and general bookkeeping procedure.

The second year should amplify

the previous year's teaching and develop to a greater extent an understanding of general accounting principles and ability to interpret the records kept and reports prepared. Vocational. 1,

To prepare students to earn their living in the field of bookkeeping and accounting.

2*

To prepare students in the stenographic fields to handle bank accounts and personal records of their employers.

3.

To give students preparing for any commercial posi­ tion an introduction to accounting procedure and terms.

3 Lawrence Bobyns, and others, Bookkeeping (School Publication Number C-21J? Bevised; Los Angeles City School District, 19^3)> P* 1*

Personal. 1.

To aid the student to meet his personal financial problems, i.e., banking, tax returns, social security, and investments.

2.

To improve the student's ability to produce accurate work, attractively and neatly presented.

3.

To develop in the student some ability to solve problems by analysis and deduction.

Social. 1.

To give students an appreciation of business terms, forms, and procedures.

2.

To acquaint students with the various records and reports which might be used in all types of organ­ izations.

BOOKKEEPING I Description of the course.

Through the equation method

the student is introduced to the theory of debits and credits employed in double entry bookkeeping.

He is instructed

through‘simplified forms, involving the complete bookkeeping cycle, requiring a knowledge of:

opening entries, journaliz­

ing, posting, and, closing and adjusting entries.

He is

acquainted with the use of the work sheet and the construc­ tion of profit and loss statements and balance sheets.

13 BOOKKEEPING II Description of the course.

Practice in the use of

columnar journals and instruction in the following: 1.

The function of reserve accounts.

2.

Depreciation of fixed assets.

3.

Accruals. Entries necessitated by losses or gains on sales of fixed assets.

5.

Payroll deduction entries required by law.

6.

Bank discount and interest.

7.

Note, trade acceptances, and commercial drafts.

BOOKKEEPING III Description of the course.

The bookkeeping records

presented include: 1.

Subsidiary ledgers.

2.

Controlling accounts.

3.

Methods of preventing, finding, and correcting errors. Formation of partnerships under a variety of conditions.

5.

Procedures used in recording profits and losses in partnerships.

6.

Reorganization and liquidation of partnerships.

7*

Income tax problems.

lb BOOKKEEPING IV Description of course.

This course is primarily

devoted to the keeping of books for a corporation.

The

following new material is introduced: 1.

Depletion accounts and tables.

2.

Intangible assets.

3.

Contingent liabilities.

*f.

Bonds.

5.

Stocks: a.

Preferred.

b.

Participating preferred.

c.

Common.

d.

Treasury.

6.

Surplus accounts.

7.

Payment of dividends.

8.

Corporation balance sheets.

9.

Entries necessary to the formation of a corpora­ tion.

10.

Statutory law relating to corporations.

Testing procedure and standards for grading.

Weekly

tests for which a half hour is allowed should be given, and at the end of every six-week period, classes should receive one-hour tests.

Grades on tests should be given on the

following percentage basis:

A,.

..

•90-100

B

•.*

.80-89

C

...

.70-79

D

•••

.60—69

Grades on tests and dally assignments should have equal influence on the semester grades. II.

TYPEWRITING

The objectives of typing courses are twofold, personal and vocational.

The former objective can be satisfied by

students of average aptitude in one or two semesters.

The

latter objective requires the completion of four semesters with a standard of proficiency not less than that measured by Hthe grade of r,C.n Stuart insists that no student making less than a MBrl in typing or shorthand should be allowed to continue with either subject.

If a "C1* is given for work

which is below the minimum vocational standard, she is unques­ tionably right. The demands of the subject far exceed the mere mechan­ ics of straight typing. requires mastery of:

Success even in the beginning course

tabulation, placement, and syllabication.

^ Mary Stuart, "Are There Any Real Reliable Guidance Techniques for Directing Students in the Various Commercial Curricula?" National Business Education Quarterly. 5:1-25, October, 1 9 3 ^

16 As students advance to the second, third, and fourth semes­ ters, it is essential that they become proficient in typing business forms and correspondence, as well as in proofreading and correcting copy containing errors in spelling, punctua­ tion, and grammar. The grading standards for the four courses are as follows: TYPING I The grading standard for timed writings is based on five-minute tests.

The net rate on these tests is determined

by deducting ten words for each error from the total number of words written, and dividing the remainder by the number of minutes in the test.

The following is the grading scale

accepted by the teachers of the business education department. Net words per minute

Accuracy measured by percentage of errors

A

30

A

.01

B

25-29

B

.015

C

20-2b

C

.02

D

15-19

D

.03

Standard for grading on exercises Grade

Errors

A

1

B

2

C

3-h

D

5-6

17 TYPING II During the second semester the timed writings should be increased from five to ten minutes, and the following is the standard for grading: Net words per minute

Accuracy measured by percentage of errors

k

bo

A

.01

B

35-39

B

.015

C

29-2b

C

.02

D

23-28

D

.025

Standard for grading on exercises: Grade

Errors

A

1

B

2

C

3-1*

D

h-6

TYPING III Net words per minute

Accuracy measured by percentage of errors

A

55

A

.005

B

1*8-5*+

B

.01

C

39-^7

G

.015

D

3^-38

D

.02

Standard of grading for exercises:

18 Grade

Errors allowed £§£ m g e

A

1

B

2

C

3

D

b-5

Net words per minute

Accuracy measured by percentage of errors

TYPING IV

A

60

A

.005

B

55-59

B

.01

C

50- 51*

C

.015

D

h$-b9

D

.02

Standard of grading for exercises; Grade

Errors allowed

£er jage A

1

B

2

C

3

D Comparative values of timed writings and exercises in determining grades;

In Typing I and II, timed writings and

exercises are of equal value in the determination of the grade.

In Typing III and IV, 60 per cent of the grade is

based upon assignments and H-0 per cent on timed writings.

19 III.

GREGG SHORTHAND

At the time this study was made plans for radical revision of the subject were in progress.

The adoption of

these plans would not in any respect change the objectives, which are of a purely vocational nature.

Shorthand possesses

a negligible personal value. Students taking shorthand should be able, by the time they have completed the subject, to take dictation at a minimum rate of 100 words, and to transcribe accurately at rates above 20 words a minute. The vocational use of shorthand requires proficiency in typing, and English (spelling, grammar, and mechanics), as well as personal qualities essential to success in steno­ graphic employment.

No student should be admitted to a

shorthand class who has not had two semesters of typewriting, with a grade of WBM or better in Typing II.

An average grade

of *'CU in English should also be a prerequisite. . . . It is a waste of time for everybody con­ cerned to try to train a pupil to be a stenographer when she has not the required ability to achieve success in that phase of work. The sooner the inability is discovered, the better it is for everybody.^

5 David Weglein, “The Relation of Business Education to General Education,“ Balance Sheet, 19:197> January, 1938.

20 IV.

TRANSCRIPTION:*!

It is in the transcription class that the student, combines his abilities as a typist and a writer of shorthand. Here he must convert his shorthand notes into letters which would be accepted as mailable in a business office.

These

letters must be well placed, and free from:• transcriptiom errors, misspelled words, and faulty punctuation.

The

transcription course places severe demands on the student's knowledge of English, as well as his ability to render an accurate transcription of his own notes at rates which exceed twenty words per minute. Description of proposed business education courses. The following courses were not in the business education curriculum of the C. K. McGlatchy Senior High School at the time this study was made.

A limited survey, made by the author,

presented evidence of the need for these courses. V.

STENOGRAPHIC OFFICE PRACTICE

Objectives of the course. 1.

To improve the skills which the student has acquired in typing, shorthand, and transcription and apply them to a typical offiee situation.

2.

To give the student a fundamental knowledge of office organization and routine.

21 3.

To allow the student actual practice in perform­ ing many of the routine jobs common to business offices:

taking dictation, transcribing, using

telephone and switchboard, filing, care of office equipment and supplies. *f.

To provide instruction in secretarial record­ keeping and financial duties (such as a physician's or a lawyer's office records, and handling a petty cash account.)

5.

To acquaint the student with the most commonly used office machines and provide some instruction in their use.

6.

To provide an opportunity to develop a personality that will be acceptable in the business world.

Obviously this course far exceeds the existing general office practice course, both in its scope and its objectives. Enrollment in it should be reserved for seniors who have at least finished four semesters of typing, and a minimum of three semesters of shorthand, receiving a grade of flC" or better in the last semester of each subject.

Preferably

students should have completed transcription with a grade of "G" or better.

c

Abigail Notterman, and others, Stenographic Office Practice (Publication Ho. C-3185 Los Angeles City School District, Curriculum Division, Business Education Section, 19^7), p. 1.

22 VI.

SALESMANSHIP

This course has vocational, personal, and social value. None of the three major objectives of the course need be slighted since they are not competitive but are supplementary to each other.

A justification of this course, based on data

obtained from the Sacramento Chamber of Commerce, will be found in a later chapter of this study. Vocational objectives.

To equip the student to succeed

as a salesman in the field of merchandising.

The student

should be made conscious of the following: 1.

Value of personal appearance.

2.

Methods of displaying merchandise employed by various types of businesses.

3.

Channels of distribution. Buying motives of customers.

5.

6.

Knowledge about merchandise. a.

Uses of product.

b.

Performance of product.

c.

Care of product.

d.

Background of product.

Sources of merchandise information. a.

Merchandise itself.

b.

Customers.

c.

Competitors.

23 d.

Testing bureaus*

e.

Publications.

7*

Presentation of selling points,

8.

Methods of demonstration.

9*

Value of customer participation in demonstration

10.

Meeting customer objections.

11.

Creating goodwill.

Personal objectives.

Good appearance, a pleasing per­

sonality, and a reputation for personal integrity, are of value to all persons in all fields of human endeavor.

To

the extent that the course inculcates these desired qualities it possesses a value other than those of a purely vocational nature. Social value.

The course should be so designed as to

acquaint the student with the part of our economy which is responsible for merchandising of goods and services to the consumer.

It should develop better informed citizens as

well as salesmen.

CHAPTER III DESCRIPTION OF CLERICAL AND STENOGRAPHIC DUTIES Purpose of the chapter.

A counselor of business educa­

tion students should not only be well informed regarding the objectives of courses which are the student's most vital con­ cern, but should also be acquainted with the duties awaiting the student in the various types of employment which are most readily available to high school graduates.

It was the pur­

pose of this chapter to impress upon the counselors the demands which the holder of a job must satisfy. Successful vocational training in business education can not be built on a foundation deficient in the fundamental tools of learning.

To expect a student who has never achieved

elementary school proficiency in spelling, arithmetic, English (written and oral), and penmanship, to succeed in a clerical position is either an admission of ignorance or excessive optimism. Louis H. Martin made a study of the problems involved in guidance, selection and training of students for clerical work.

His findings based on extensive research, revealed

that business men complain that the deficiencies of their clerks are mainly the lack of grounding in fundamentals, and insufficient skill training to equip them to do at least one

2b

25 type of office work accurately and with reasonable speed.

1

A jofe analysis made by the National Office Management Association states: . . . There is a certain amount of basic knowledge that all students should have to pre­ pare them for general office work. They should know thoroughly English, grammar, spelling, all of the arithmetic operations, and should have some knowledge of science and economics. In addition, students should be proficient in the use of one or more office machines.2 While a standard of proficiency which will conform to the requirements of every job can not be determined, general minimum standards for various types of commercial employment can be ascertained by a study of duties common to different jobs. Duties commonly performed by general clerks.

No

definition of the title "general clerk" can be descriptive of all the jobs which are so classified.

Marguerite Gohdes

says: In larger offices, even though the tasks are generally more specialized, there is usually a

1 Louis H. Martin, "A Critical Study of Guidance, Selection, and Training of Clerical Workers," (unpublished Master's thesis, The University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1935) » P« 95* 2 Loc. cit.

26 general office worker, often a recent employee, who helps out in the various activities and per­ forms those duties that do not directly belong to more specialized workers. Such a general worker often helps out with switchboard, with office machines, "pinch hits" in the typing and steno­ graphic work, does errands, etc.3 Mary Stuart says that general clerks are those . . • who know how to assemble papers, sort, check, clip, etc., and who can operate the various small devices and machines needed and used in modern offices.^Obviously, the duties of a general clerk are manifold, and in the larger offices, where a high degree of specialization prevails one would not expect to find many employees so designated.

Yet information obtained for this study from the

California State Personnel Board revealed

that 168 state

employees in the Sacramento area are classified as general clerks.

These positions are frequently filled by persons

between the ages of eighteen and twenty.

They are, therefore,

most important to students in high school who plan to seek employment immediately or soon after graduation. Because of the many duties performed by the general clerk a high degree of adaptability is essential to success on the job.

3

According to Buggies one may find his duties

Marguerite Gohdes, "General Office Work," The Platoon School. 12:10-12, May, 193S. Ll M. Stuart, "Foreward," National Business Education Quarterly, 9:1, May, 1937.

27 require him to assist any or all of the following clerical workers: 1. 2. ?• 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 14. 15.

Billing clerk Sales clerk Accounting clerk • Record clerk Order clerk Auditing clerk Payroll clerk Mailing clerk. Subscription clerk Dividend clerk Mail order clerk Checking clerk Clerk-typist Stock clerk Examining clerk

16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25* 26. Zl' 28. 29. 30.

Warrant clerk Purchasing clerk Statistical clerk Filing clerk Vault clerk Secretarial clerk Confidential clerk Complaint clerk Certification clerk Corporation clerk Employment clerk Freight clerk Traffic clerk Clerk-stenographer Clerk-bookkeeper^

The table on the following pages lists the duties per­ formed by 200 general clerks who were subjects of a study made by K. H. Pilkenton.^

While no individual clerk performed

all of the enumerated tasks, certainly the performance of any ten of them requires a degree of intelligence greater than that possessed by those students to whom the r,Z“ classifica­ tion is given at the C. K. McClatehy Senior High School.

The

presumption that low ability students can be placed as general clerks is a fallacy which no personnel manager wants to share.

^ Allen M. Ruggles, A Diagnostic Test of Aptitude for Clerical Office Work (Teachers1 College Contributions to Education Ho• 148; New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 1924),4 p. 1. i 4

6

K. H. Pilkenton, “An Investigation of the Duties of a General Office Clerk,** (unpublished Master’s thesis, The University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1940), pp. l44‘ 148.

28 TABLE I NUMBER AND PERCENTAGE OF CLERKS PERFORMING EACH DUTY

Duty

No. of Clerks

Per Cent

1.

Answer telephone

173

86.5

2.

Make telephone calls

16^-

82.0

3.

File alphabetically

l*fO

70.0

if.

Meet office callers

120

60.0

5.

Operate adding machine

111

55.5

6.

Compose letters

110

55.0

7.

Get material from files

107

53.5

8.

File numerically

99

*+9.5

9.

Type letters

97

1+8.5

85

1+2.5

10. Remove old material from files 11.

Type information on blank forms

85

1+2.5

12.

Make long distance calls

81+

1+2.0

13.

Open incoming mail

80

l+o.o

l*f.

Prepare folders for filing

79

39.5

15.

Type routine reports

77

38.5

16.

Classify material to be filed

75

37.5

17.

Type simple tabulations

7*f

37.0

CO H

Gather data for reports

7*f

37.0

19.

Prepare outgoing mail

72

36.0

29 TABLE I (Continued) NUMBER AND PERCENTAGE OF CLERKS PERFORMING EACH DUTY

Duty-

No. of Clerks

Per Cent

71

35.5

21. Make out receipts

68

3^.0

22.

Operate card index file

68

3^.0

23.

Receive cash and record receipts

67

33.5

2b.

Transcribe notes

66

33.0

25.

Read mail and check enclosures

65

32.5

26.

Sort incoming mail

6b

32.0

27.

Collect papers for filing

6b

32.0

28.

Make change

62

31.0

29.

Make out requisitions

58

29.0

30.

Use cross references in files

55

27.5

31.

Check and verify bills

5b

27.0

32.

Combine several reports into one

51

25.5

33.

File by subject

i+9

2*f.5

3>K

Distribute incoming mail

b8

2if.O

35.

Inspect mail before sending out

b8

2b.0

36.

Send telegrams

b7

23.5

37.

Figure percentages

b7

23.5

33.

Make out statements

b7

20.

Take dictation

1

23.5

30 TABLE I (Continued)

HUMBER AND PERCENTAGE OF CLERKS PERFORMING EACH DUTY

Duty

No. of Clerks

Per Cent

39.

Compile statistical data

*f6

23.0

**0 .

Pay office bills

k6

23.0

*tl.

Post original entries

**2.

Keep follow-up files

*+5

22.5

**3.

Make cash reports

^5

22.5

Mf.

Make original account entries

^5.

Check copied data with original

ko

20.0

k6.

Check posting

38

19.0

^7.

Figure interest

38

19.0

W.

Prepare bank deposits

38

19.0

50.

Operate petty cash fund

37

18.5

51.

Inspect and rubber-stamp papers

37

18.5

52.

Transfer routine data to forms

37

18.5

53.

Figure and check invoices

36

18.0

5*f.

Figure payrolls

36

18.0

55.

Make bank deposits

35

17.5

56.

Cut stencils

31*

17.0

57.

Keep expense account

3^

17.0

58.

Prove bank balance

3^

17.0

23.0

22.0

31 TABLE I (Continued)

NUMBER AND PERCENTAGE OF CLERKS PERFORMING EACH DUTY

Duty

No. of Clerks

Per Cent

59.

Issue office supplies

33

16.5

60.

Post data to daily record sheet

33

16.5

61.

Make out credit memoranda

32

16.0

62.

Take care of mailing lists

31

15.5

63.

Keep a sales record

31

15.5

Help prepare financial reports

31

15.5

65.

Use check writer

29

1^.5

66.

Summarize reports, articles, etc,

29

1^.5

67.

Make out payroll records

27

13.5

68.

Figure discounts

27

13.5

69.

Make out purchase orders

26

13.0

70.

Keep stock records

26

13.0

71.

Check in shipments of supplies

26

13.0

72.

Operate comptometer

26

13.0

73.

Make out cheeks by hand

25

12.5

7^.

Keep time records

25

12.5

75.

Check invoices with purchases

23

11.5

76.

Keep bank balance on check stubs

23.

11.5

77.

Operate telephone switchboard

23

11.5

78.

Operate number and date machines

20

10.0

32

TABLE I (Continued) NUMBER AND PERCENTAGE OF CLERKS PERFORMING EACH DUTY

Duty

No. of Clerks

Per Gent

79.

Make duplicating master copies

19

9.5

80.

Issue permits, licenses, etc.

16

8.0

• H CO

Operate mimeograph

15

7.5

82.

Keep perpetual inventory

13

6.5

83.

Copy printed matter in longhand

12

6.0

8i*.

Make physical inventories

11

5.5

85.

Operate duplicating machine

9

86.

Operate billing machine

9

H-.5

87.

Operate key-drive calculator

9

*k 5

88.

Operate bookkeeping machine

8

lf.0

89.

Operate dictating machine

8

lfr.0

90.

Operate crank calculator

•8

If.0

91.

File geographically

8

b.O

33 Ruby V* Perry found that no student with an I, Q. below 90 has ever succeeded in completing the commercial 7 course at the Allen High School of Commerce. No categorical estimate of the intelligence of persons successfully engaged as general clerks was available to the author of this study, but since the quality of adaptability is so essential to this occupation, no student incapable of adjusting himself quickly to heterogeneous tasks can be trained to perform the work in a satisfactory manner. . . . It is not necessary that a student just graduated from high school meet the specific requirements of any individual company. It is necessary, however, that he have the basic train­ ing for quick adaptation.0 The basic training for quick adaptation to the ninetyone duties described in Table I includes:

one semester of

instruction on office machines, three or four semesters of typing, two semesters of bookkeeping, four semesters of short­ hand, followed by one semester of transcription.

The student

should also be able to exhibit evidence of adequate training in English and arithmetic. Counselors should be mindful of the fact that a general clerical job is either a stepping stone or a stumbling block;

? Ruby V. Perry, “After Graduation, What?11 Balance Sheet, 18:^00-^03, May 1937. q National Office Management Association, Blueprint -for Business Education (Cincinnati: South-Western Publishing Company, 19^-6), p. 18.

3^

a person incapable of advancing from such a position will never be either a satisfactory or a satisfied employee. Duties commonly performed by bookkeepers.

If the four

semesters of bookkeeping offered in senior high schools were designed exclusively to prepare students to accept positions in which full employment of their training could be utilized, the time spent on the subject could not be justified.

It is

doubtful if any recent high school graduate could secure a position in which he would be placed in complete charge of a set of books. With smaller firms, the intricate practices involved in adjusting and closing a set of books are generally per­ formed by bookkeepers in the employ of public accountants, and seldom is the work of journalizing and posting sufficient to demand the full time of even one employee.

In a survey

made by the author it was found that not one of twenty-six business houses in Sacramento, employing fewer than ten persons, had on its payroll an employee in complete charge of the books.

All of the employers of this class reported

that their daily entries were made by clerks who were engaged in general clerical duties; the more involved practices were assumed by bookkeepers or accountants associated with public accounting firms. Eleven larger concerns, maintaining bookkeeping depart­ ments were consulted by the writer.

In each of these a high

35 degree of specialization prevailed. used bookkeeping machines.

Six of these concerns

The work done by the clerks in '

these departments consisted of making entries in special journals, machine posting, filing of ledger cards, and sundry duties tabulated in Table II. These business houses employed from seven to eighteen persons in their bookkeeping departments, yet in eight of the departments only one person was required to understand the double entry bookkeeping well enough to take complete charge of a set of books.

Two departments required three persons

capable of assuming full charge of the books, q.nd one, the largest of the group surveyed, required that four of its bookkeeping personnel possess full knowledge of bookkeeping and accounting procedures. The greatest vocational value of four semesters of high school bookkeeping will be realized by the student who, following graduation, continues his studies as an accounting major in college.

The others will find their work on books

so limited or so specialized as to furnish them little opportunity to exploit the knowledge they obtained in Book­ keeping III and IV.

Table II on the following page lists

duties commonly performed by 15*8 persons who were classified by their employers ass

ledger clerks, journal clerks, or

general clerks whose duties included journalizing and posting. A knowledge of bookkeeping is an aid to passing some

36 TABLE II TYPES OF DUTIES PERFORMED BY 158 CLERKS ENGAGED IN .BOOKKEEPING

DUTY

No. of Clerks

Per Cent

1.

Operating bookkeeping machines

132

83.0

2.

Checking bills and invoices

102

65.0

3.

Operating calculating machines

86

5^.0

ij.#

Figuring discounts

52

33.0

5.

Making out statements and invoices

52

33.0

6.

Making out deposit slips

b8

30.0

7.

Checking daily cash receipts

b8

30.0

8.

Issuing credit memoranda

b?

29.5

9.

Operating petty cash account

be

29.0

10.

Making out receipts

39

2^.5

11.

Cheeking inventory forms

38

2^.0

12.

Checking bank statements

37

23.5

13.

Filing account cards

33

21.0

lb.

Checking time cards and keeping payroll records

33

21.0

1?.

Making journal entries

26

16.5

16.

Posting by hand to ledgers

26

16.5

17.

Operating billing machines

17

10.5

. 00 H

Issuing checks

1^

9.0

37 of the civil service tests given by the State Personnel Board, but an opportunity to employ this knowledge is not given to beginning employees in accounting departments, most of whom are engaged in routine operation of bookkeeping machines. These employees may find an understanding of a bookkeeping cycle an aid to their promotion, but not essential to their initial employment. Duties commonly performed by stenographers. The line of demarcation between a stenographic and secretarial position may be measured in terms of the responsibilities and confiden­ tial duties which the latter assumes in addition to taking dictation and transcribing notes,

Webster*s Collegiate

Dictionary. Fifth Edition, defines stenography as:

“The art

of writing in shorthand; , . . also loosely, the making of shorthand notes and subsequent transcription of them, especi­ ally in typewriting,'* The same publication defines secretary as:

“A confidential clerk, especially one who attends to

correspondence, records, etc., of a private or confidential character.w Since the responsibilities of a secretarial position require a degree of maturity seldom possessed by a recent high school graduate, the author has confined this part of his study to those duties of a purely stenographic nature which may be assumed by a young man or woman immediately after graduation from high school or perhaps at the conclusion of a year spent

38

in the business education department of the Sacramento Junior College, Success in a stenographic position can not be assured to one who has mastered typewriting and shorthand, and acquired some knowledge of common business forms, unless he has achieved better than a mediocre knowledge of English,

From ninety-eight

secretaries, all regarded as most competent, Charters learned that fifty-five of them desired further training in English.

9

For a student who aspires to become a stenographer, and later a secretary, English should be regarded as a vocational course. At the time this study was made, the "Y" and "Z" courses in English offered at the C, K. McClatchy Senior High School were not designed to meet the demands of a business world, and no course in Business English and Correspondence was in the curriculum.

However "Y" and "Z" students, obviously deficient

in English, were counseled to take shorthand. 10

Crawford

found as a result of his survey, which

secured the opinions of l*+5 business and professional men, that the contents of Table III were regarded as educational prerequisites and general informational requirements needed

9

W. W. Charters and I, B. Whitley, Analysis of Secre­ tarial Duties and Traits (Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins Company, 192*f) , p. Edward Irwin Crawford, “A Survey of Training Needed by Secretaries," (unpublished Master's thesis, The University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1936), p. 57*

39

TABLE III

EDUCATIONAL PREREQUISITES AND GENERAL INFORMATIONAL REQUIREMENTS NEEDED BY SECRETARIES

Prerequisite

Number of^ Employers

Arithmetic.......................... Business English

l+l

......................

Business Law

36

...........

Id

Insurance Information................ .. .

16

Negotiable Instruments

36

...............

Postal Information.............

35

Stock Market Information

10

Telephone, Telegraph, and Radio..........

32

Business Abbreviations . ................

37

Business Terms

62

...............

Important Local Buildings............

31

Large Cities in the United States. . . . .

15

Large Foreign C i t i e s ................ .. .

7

NOTE: This table should be read as follows: Fortyone of the employers listed arithmetic as a prerequisite to secretarial employment.

bO

by secretaries.

An interesting revelation of Crawford's

study is the fact that ninety-four of the employers contacted by him stated that graduation from high school met the requirements for employment.

Twenty-eight employers demanded

that their secretaries be business college graduates, seven­ teen stated a preference for Junior college graduates, and six insisted that their secretarial employees be university graduates,11 An interesting revelation of Table III can be found in the demands for a knowledge of business terms and busi­ ness abbreviations, both of which should be included in a Business English course.

It further reveals that aspirant

for a position as a stenographer or a secretary needs a competent general educational background as well as ability in shorthand and typewriting. Table IV presents the type of business forms which Crawford

12

specified as being most commonly used by 107

employers who replied to his questionnaire.

Since no busi­

ness education department can equip a student to meet all the demands peculiar to various types of businesses, acquaint­ ance with many forms never introduced in the classroom, must be attained on the job.

11 Ibid.. p. 56. 12 Ibid.. p. 53.

The student's capacity to learn on

hi TABLE XV

BUSINESS FORMS SPECIFIED, ARRANGED IN ORDER OF FREQUENCY, BASED ON THE NUMBER OF TIMES REPORTED

Rating Number

Name of Form

Number Reporting

1.

Write and Extend Invoices

2.

Monthly Statement of Account

87

3.

Affidavit

76

Annual Inventory of Stock

6*f

5.

Fill Out Federal Income Tax Return

60

6.

Tabulated Listings

52

7.

Bill of Sale

51

7.

Payroll

51

7.

Requisition (Purchase Order)

51

10.

Bids (Construction or Machinery)

50

11.

Special Release

b8

12.

Estimates (for Contracts)

if7

13.

Writing Advertising Copy

^5

l*f.

Balance Sheet (including Consolidated)

lfif

15.

Chattel Mortgage

37

15.

Newspaper Articles

37

17.

Inter-office Correspondence

36

17.

Investigation Reports

36

107

k-2

TABLE IV (Continued) BUSINESS FORMS SPECIFIED, ARRANGED IN ORDER OF FREQUENCY, BASED ON THE NUMBER OF TIMES REPORTED

Rating Number

Name of Form

Number Reporting

17.

Trade Acceptance

36

20.

Draft (Time and Sight)

35

21.

Credit Memorandum

3^

22.

Deposition

33

1*3: the job should be demonstrated in the classroom. Further duties performed by stenographers are revealed in the data gathered for the purpose of this study and pre­ sented in Tables V, VI, and VII.

Eighty-three stenographers,

employed by twenty-one Sacramento business houses and profes­ sional men, furnished the desired information. Proficiency in all of these duties, coupled with the desired personal qualities, should assure the vocational success of the student. Duties commonly performed by sales clerks.

The duties

of a sales clerk, as revealed by the author*s survey of eleven Sacramento retail establishments, are far more demand­ ing than most customers observe.

The concerns which provided

data for the purpose of this study employed 193 clerks engaged in various types of retail selling, each with its own peculiar problems.

All of the employers consulted by the author

expressed the opinion that their salespeople could have bene­ fited from training in school. One of the complaints made by employers was the failure of schools to impress upon the students the need for adapta­ bility to the numerous and varied duties which are a part of the daily experiences of sales clerks.

That these duties

exceed the mere taking of orders from customers, is revealed in Table VIII.

bb

TAJ3LE V FILING DUTIES

Types

Number

File letters received

83

File carbon copies

83

Get letters from files

83

File bills, invoices, orders

67

File sales contracts

67

Make cross references

6b

Transfer materials from active to dead files

57

Use follow-up files

b2

File inventory forms

26

File clinical records

9

File addressograph plates

7

*+5

TABLE VI MACHINES USED BY STENOGRAPHERS

Type of Machine

Number

Adding machine

7b

Calculator

63

Mimeograph

*+9

Check writer

1+6

Dictaphone

29

Envelope sealer

23

Postage meter

19

Billing machines

11

Time stamp

11

Addressograph

10

Envelope sealer

10

Key punch

6

TABLE VII BOOKKEEPING BUTIBS

Description of Duties

Number

Post to ledgers

6*+

Journalize

6b

Take trial balances

58

Balance cash daily

52

Keep petty cash records

52

Prepare payroll

to.

Reconcile check book and bank balance

to

Calculate interest

37

Make abstracts of accounts

33

Keep inventory records

27

Keep record of sales allowances

19

Keep record of purchase allowances

19

Keep note record

11

Calculate commissions on sales

10

b7 TABLE VIII DOTIES PERFORMED BY RETAIL SALES CLERKS

Description of Duties

Number

Waiting on customers

198

Stockkeeping

198

Displaying of merchandise

198

Marking merchandise

l&i-

Operating cash register

lb2

Writing orders

128

Keeping stock control records

128

Taking inventories

126

Requisitioning or buying merchandise

109

Mailing merchandise to customers

9^

Cashiering

38

Typing, bookkeeping, and filing

26

Demonstrating household appliances

26

Telephone soliciting

23

Writing advertising

17

Handling adjustments

15

Window decorating

1*+

Delivering merchandise

9

Collecting

9

Estimating costs

6

^8 Recommendations, made by these employers, were to have the benefits of practical selling experience conveyed to the *

students through talks given classes by men and women engaged in merchandising, to stress English, spelling and arithmetic as possessing vocational values, to train in methods and tech­ niques of talcing inventories, and to acquaint students with the favored forms of advertising and the displaying of goods.

CHAPTER IV

PROGNOSTIC AIDS FOR COUNSELORS The future success, happiness, and efficiency of the individual, to say nothing of the direct concern of society in the matter, often depend upon making a proper, though not necessarily a permanent, vocational adjustment not later than the attainment of adulthood. The guidance of the school with respect to such vocational adjust­ ment will help the student to survey the needs and opportunities for employment and to appraise his own potentialities and opportunities. It will point out to him the educational programs which best meet his needs, and help him to make wisely the choices he will have occasion to exer­ cise during his secondary school career, during his induction into his vocation, and during his progress in the vocation.1 The importance of vocational guidance as a function of the counselors of students in the C. K. McClatchy Senior High School is not reduced by the fact that 68 per cent of its alumni have continued their formal education after receiving their high school diplomas.

Seventy-six per cent of the

graduates have not remained in school more than two years after graduation from high school.

For these the importance

of vocational guidance is beyond dispute.

If they are to

receive the benefits of the training and education which can be offered them, an approach to a solution of their vocational

National Education Association, The Purposes of Education in American Democracy (Educational Policies Commis sion; Washington, D. C.: The Commission, 1938), pp. 93-9*k lf9

50 problems must be made as soon as they enter the school. This requires that a careful analysis be employed in the selection of students for each of the several curricula. Certainly both the student's aptitude and interests should be guiding factors in any vocational plans.

The importance

of well-considered vocational guidance in high school is not mitigated by the student's plan to continue his training after graduation.

Students, unable to demonstrate poten­

tialities of attaining vocational proficiency in business subjects, have been advised to continue their efforts in junior college.

Thus the latter school has been given the

unpleasant duty of informing these victims of bad counseling that their time spent in business courses has been squandered. Where they should have been placed is not a question to be answered by the business education department.

The fact

remains that their presence, in large numbers, in any class, frustrates efforts to maintain a level of achievement con­ sistent with vocational standards. If the business education department is to render its services to students who are both vocationally interested and capable it must conduct classes which are designed to serve such students.

The placement of inapt or disinterested stu­

dents in vocational courses is a mistake which must be mini­ mized, if it can not be avoided completely. a solution:

Hayes urges as

51 It would seem that a more careful analysis is often needed in selecting pupils for each of the several curricula in. our secondary schools, A battery of intelligence tests; and the child’s own desires, his deportment, his school grades, and other pertinent data should be consulted and studied before placement in any curriculum. This method of pupil placement will necessitate a seri­ ous study by those in charge of the educational guidance. They should understand the advantages of enrollment in each curriculum and should know what attitudes, skills, and abilities are required for success in each of the major fields.2 Admittedly no test or battery of tests yet devised can furnish an infallible prognosis, but supported by other information in the possession of the counselor, they should 3 serve to promote better counseling practices. Fox suggests the use of the followings 1.

English grades.

2.

I. Q.

3.

P. Q. (Personality Quotient). Foreign language grades (if available).

5.

General scholastic rating.

6.

Beading ability score (if available)•

7.

Record of absences.

Many other aids for counseling business education students are available, though prognosis of typing skill by

2 Benjamin R. Hayes, “Stop 'Dumping1 of Pupils," The Balance Sheet. 1^11^7, December, 1932. 3 H. R. Fox, Prognosis of Stenographic Ability (Philadelphia: Temple University, 193o), p* *+1.

52 means of tests is subject to doubts in the minds of competent judges,

Mary Stuart says:

In typewriting we have at present no tests or any other means of determining possible success except the exploratory period, , , . No pupil should be allowed to elect typewriting the second year who cannot reach standards of accomplishment set up by business.4" However, the results of an investigation made by Cook and Appel dispute Mary Stuart’s contention.

These investiga­

tors found: When a typewriting class is made up from a heterogeneous high school population, represent­ ing the various curricula, and the objectives of the course emphasize personal typing and typing from problem situations rather than speed and accuracy from straight copy material, the rela­ tionship between typing success and measures of scholastic aptitude are much higher than has commonly been assumed. Under these conditions one may predict success in typewriting from intelligence test scores and average^of school marks with relatively high accuracy.^ The Minnesota Rate of Manipulation Test, devised by Zeigler, may be used with some success in predicting typing speed, but for the purpose of counseling the student planning to become a stenographer, it is of less value than evidence

k

Mary Stuart, "Are There Any Really Reliable Guidance Techniques for Directing Students in the Various Commercial Curricula?" National Business Education Quarterly. 5*1*25, October 1936. ^ W. W. Cook, and M. Appel, "New Bases for Predicting Typing Success," Journal of Business Education. 16:17-18, January, 191+1.

53 of general intelligence and facility in English, both written and oral.

The typewriter is a tool, one must be able to use

it with both skill and intelligence, if he is to be success­ ful in his employment. Clerical aptitude is aptitude for work which requires: typing, shorthand, skill in filing, bookkeeping, and office machine operating.

It involves such factors as number com­

parison, word comparison, correct English usage, spelling, penmanship, and arithmetic. Intelligence may be considered a prerequisite for success as a clerk.

Intelligence tests have been used exten­

sively by employers to indicate clerical aptitude.

Among

tests which may be used for this purpose, the following deserve attention:

Pressey Classification Test and Verifica­

tion Test, Bureau Test VI, Otis Advanced Examination, Otis Self-Administering Higher Examination, the Army Alpha as revised by Bregman and Wells, and the Terrnan Group Test of Mental Ability. One of the most highly recommended tests of clerical aptitude is the Minnesota Vocational Test for Clerical Work­ ers, which was arranged by Dorothy M, Andrew under the direc­ tion of Donald G. Peterson.

It is a test of speed and

accuracy in number comparison and name comparison. has a short and long form.

The test

The short form consists of two

hundred pairs of names and numbers.

The examples which follow

5*f are similar to items in the test: Albert C. Burns _________ Albert G.

Burns

_________Marion Blake

Marian Blake

Wm. Sutton_____ _________William Sutton _________Grace Stevens

Grace Stevens

5125

_______ 5125

181*68

161*68

189901

__ ______ 189910

The names contain a minimum of seven letters and a maximum of sixteen letters, with an equal number of each length.

The number test has a similar construction, ranging

from three to twelve digits.

The subjects are instructed to

place a check mark on the line between the names or numbers if they are exactly alike. is made.

If they are not alike, no mark

Correct items are those in which the like ones are

checked and different ones are left blank.

6

Bingham

found that the test can predict ability in

clerical work 35 per cent better than chance.

There is also

a significant relationship between the test scores and later progress in business courses. O ’Conner's Worksample Number One is a test of number checking ability and is similar to the Minnesota test.

The

first five pairs of numbers taken from the test are given £ Walter V. Bingham, Aptitudes and Aptitude Testing (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1937)? pp. 322-329-

55

below in the manner in which they are arranged in the origi­ nal: Same 96

96

6*+

68

55

55

Different

63 80

80

The General Test for Stenographers and Typists was developed under the direction of O ’Rourke, Director of Research for the United States Civil Service Commission and an outstanding authority on personnel testing.

The test

consists of eighty items involving practical judgment, vocabu­ lary, English usage, spelling, and reading comprehension. is primarily a test of power rather than of speed.

Norms

have not been worked out for high school students.

This

It

test has predicted success in stenographic work 38 per cent 7

better than chance.

A simple reading test which has been used for several years by the Metropolitan School of Business of Los Angeles, possesses value as a screening device.

A person, seeking

admission to the school as a student in business education courses, is required to complete the test within ten minutes.

7 Ibid., pp. 322-329

56 A passing grade on the test requires seven correct answers out of ten. The following copy of the test was offered as an exhibit favoring the employment of such an instrument in the selection of students for business education courses in the C, K. McClatchy Senior High School.

Passing such a simple

test will not assure success in business education courses, but failure should eliminate persons destined to suffer failure in courses which maintain vocational standards. METROPOLITAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS READING TEST 1. Mr. Wilson works for the Western Distribut' ing Company. Monday and Thursday he worked the usual eight hours. On Tuesday he put in an hour overtime, Wednesday an hour-and~a-half overtime, and Friday a half-hour overtime. On what day did Mr. Wilson work the most overtime. ____________ 2. Mr. Jones and Mr. Brown also work for the Western Distributing Company. Mr. Brown is the bookkeeper, and Mr. Jones is the shipping clerk. If the president of the company asked his secre­ tary to send to his office the man responsible for the books of the firm, what is the name of the man the secretary would send to the president’s office? 3. Mr. Henderson has worked for three different companies during the period of thirty years. For the last twelve years he has worked for the Inter­ national Supply Company. Before that he worked for the Smith Company for thirteen years and for the Wilson Petroleum Company for five years. What is the name of the company for which he worked the longest period of time?__________ _______________ *+• Many reference books are useful additions to the office library. No office should be without a good dictionary. A style book, a thesaurus, a grammar textbook, a city directory, and copies of

51

trade and business directories will also be help­ ful. Of the books mentioned, which one should be in every business office? _____________________ 5. The most common size of paper used for letters, second sheets, and mimeographed work is 8 1/2 x 11 inches. The baronial size, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches, and the monarch size 7 1/*+ x 10 1/2 inches, are sometimes used by executives for semi-social correspondence. What are the measure­ ments of the baronial size? ____________________ 6 . Paper has many uses in the business office. The most frequent use is for correspondence. Most business letterheads are printed or engraved on bond paper. Bond paper may always be distinguished from other paper by the watermark that appears on each sheet. A watermark is a faint figure impressed in the paper. What kind of paper is used for most business letterheads? __________ ____ 7* Mrs. Crane is preparing for a stenographic position. She is working especially hard in her English class, because she knows that a thorough knowledge of English is the foundation for good stenographic work. However, she is also studying typewriting, filing, record keeping, and office machines, all of which are important. What subject is the foundation for good stenographic work? 8. A suffix is added to the end of a word to modify the meaning, such as book— bookish. Add the suffix ful to the word hope, and write it in the box at the right.__________________________ 9. In the following series of numbers, what is the fourth number to the right of the second figure five? / ____ / 10. Words ending in y preceded by a consonant change the y to i and add es to form the plural, but words ending in y preceded by a vowel simply add s to form the plural. Following this rule, record the number of the plural of ally in the box at the right. /______________/ ■^alleys

^allies

^allys

^ally

58 C. G. Gentry's “Vocational Inventory" has been used to determine the vocational aptitudes of students.

It should be

supplemented by Strong's “Vocational Inventory" which has aided thousands of students in determining whether they would like certain occupations. The “Minneapolis English Classification Test" merits attention because of the marked relationship it has with filing ability.

This test devised by R. B. and R. C. Hackman,

has been reported as showing a .93 correlation with ability in alphabetic, geographic, and subject filing. The “Detroit Clerical Aptitude Examination," which is the work of H. Baker and P. H. Voelker, deserves attention for its prognostic value respecting general and specific clerical aptitudes.

Like all other tests it is fallible, but

even the most gifted counselor should find it an aid to his treasured powers of human insight. For purposes of summary, the conclusions reached by Hahn are suggested; 1. All information concerning a pupil is important. Tests supplement case histories— they do not tell the whole story. 2. No single test has yet been devised that can possibly be used as the selective factor. 3. The administration and the interpretation of tests must be in the hands of competent per­ sonnel. *f. Norms on comparable groups in other insti­ tutions must be used until each school is able to build norms from its own population.

5. Test results -will indicate critical areas in which a high probability of failure exists. A border-line case must be considered carefully, and all cases must be selected with regard to supplementary case history data. 6. The case-history approach used by trained persons and supplemented by measuring instruments that reach into several areas where they are useable will more than repay the time and money g expended in the selection of commercial students. O M. Hahn, "The Selection of Pupils for Commercial Subjects,11 Business Education World. 20:^91, February, 19**0

CHAPTER V

IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL QUALITIES No teacher of business subjects, worthy of his position, lacks knowledge or appreciation of the demands of the business world, and he is aware of the important part which personality plays in the quest for success.

Complaints from personnel

managers which have reached schools have expressed dissatisfac­ tion with the personalities or the characters of many youthful employees.

Hunt found that 10.1 per cent of the employees

released from jobs were deficient in necessary skills, while 89.9 per cent failed because of the lack of desired personal 1 qualities. This may testify to the lack of patience and tolerance on the part of mature adults in dealing with imma­ ture youths, and perhaps the education of some employers would serve to alleviate the unhappy situation.

However expediency

dictates that the schools approach a solution to the problem through training and conditioning students to meet the demands of employers. The success of this effort depends upon the disposition of the student to make necessary adjustments, and his willing­ ness to do so reveals his interest in vocational success.

The

J. Frank Dame, Albert R. Brinkman, and Wilber E. Weaver, Prognosis. Guidance and Placement in Business Education (Cincinnati: South-Western Publishing Company, 191+i0 •

60

61 student to whom office work is repugnant is, if placed in a business education course, “More sinned against than sinning*n This is a ruthless fact with which counselors should become better acquainted. Wide recognition of the importance of the personal qualities of employees has resulted in an increasing use of the BEG Personality Rating Schedule prepared by the Business Education Council and the National Office Management Associa­ tion.

This valuable aid to the guidance of business educa­

tion students emphasizes the personality traits and qualities generally conceded by businessmen to be essential to an ade­ quate and pleasing personality. are:

These traits and qualities

mental alertness, initiative, dependability, coopera­

tiveness, judgment, personal impression, courtesy, and health. If the classroom furnishes an environment favorable to the development of these desired attributes the student has been well placed. Baggley suggests that the classroom should be thought of as an office, and that the student be trained to observe critically both himself and his work.

2

Success in such a

venture would Indeed be a commendable achievement.

Self-

rating scales have served as a source of data for information

^ F. E. Baggley, “Developing Personality in the Typing Class,“ California Journal of Secondary Education. I1*: 219, April, 1939•

62 on personality development.

Anecdotal records possess value,

but their use is limited because they place considerable demand on the time of teachers and counselors. LaRue contends, "We need, in our public schools, and wherever else personality is studied, a simple, comprehen-

3

sive, record form.’*

Koos states the other basic principle

in regard to tests and records when he says: Most schools will find it unprofitable to undertake extensive programs of measurement of character. Such programs can be justified only for schools with extensive personnel programs and with a sufficient number of adequately trained workers to utilize the results of such me asurement s. For schools enjoying the position of the C. K. McClatchy Senior High School, Koos finds these programs both worthy and feasible.

A program designed to develop in the student the

most desirable personal qualities, must be fused throughout the school.

However, the counselors must be ready to solve

problems beyond the powers of the teacher, who is, in turn, a specialist in his field.

Strang offers the following as

principles to be practiced by the counselor who is charged with the guidance of youth:

3 Daniel W. LaRue, Educational Psychology: Personality and itiat Shares It (New York: T. Nelson and Sons, 1939)? p. 9Z~. if Leonard V. Koos and Grayson N. Kefauver, Guidance in Secondary Schools (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1933), P. 362.

63 1. Every pupil should be assigned to someone in theschool who knows him as a person. . . . 2. This person should be responsible for using the school and community resources to supply the experiences, information, and counsel which the study of the child shows to be desirable and neces­ sary. . . . 3. Education for achievement on the child*s own level should include the development of ability to make wise choices and plans. . . . Much of the guidance will be indirect, i.e., carried on without the label ’guidance* . . • 5* The good of the group, as of theindividual, should always

well as the good^ be kept in mind.

In the classroom the amenities of the office, such as courtesy and thoughtfulness to fellow workers may be incul­ cated by the teacher.

The students— future employees— must

learn to get along with all kinds of people, some of them more difficult and more demanding than their teachers. The development of desirable personal qualities in a student may be measured from time to time by the employment of personality rating scales.

By means of these rating

sheets, the student and counselor takes an inventory at stated intervals and compare evaluations.

Besides the BEC Personal­

ity Hating Schedule, previously mentioned in this study, the following tests for the measurement of personality develop­ ment are worthy of attention:

The adjustment inventory by

K ' Ruth M. Strang, Pupil Personnel and Guidance (New York: The Macmillan Company, 19^+0), p. 166.

6^ Hugh M. Bell, which measures adjustments in four areas: home, health, social, and emotional; The A-S Reaction Study by G. W. and F. H. Allport, which measures the degree of the student's tendency toward submissiveness or dominance; the Colgate Tests of Emotional Outlets, which consist of three forms that measure introversion, extroversion, and emotional stability. Dame urges that the cycle of personality development should include lectures by businessmen and psychologists, followed by demonstration, practice, correction, and then penalty or reward.

6

It is the conclusion of the author that no devices or procedures for the favorable development of the student's personality can be employed successfully unless the student is placed in an environment which is conducive to his success and happiness.

Failure in a course can not be concealed

from a student, however charitable the standard of grading may be.

Persistent failure frustrates the development of

desired personal qualities. MacLean contends: There is but one way to prevent failure, either in school or after graduation, and that is a process of careful selectivity preceding the beginning of a period of instruction in

Dame, Brinkman, and Weaver, op. cit., p. 1^0.

65

any specialized field.

7

To the degree that counselors exercise caution and wisdom in the programming of students, they aid the immature youth to become an attractive and successful adult.

^ L. MacLean and I. Pilcher, ‘‘Placement of Graduates in the Commercial Field.” National Business Education Quar­ terly. 5*1^6, May, 193o.

CHAPTER V I

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS This study has sought to impress counselors with the importance of employing selective practices when programming students into courses which possess vocational objectives, and must maintain vocational standards.

To prevent failure

either in school or on the job, careful selection should be exercised before placing any student in a vocational course. An effort has been made by the author to acquaint the counselors with the content and the standards of courses offered, and the demands which the employee must satisfy in different types of clerical positions.

A more extended study

is needed to amplify this information. The use of prognostic aids has been urged as a means of reducing the number of inapt students admitted to business education courses, where they have suffered humiliation, and created new counseling problems.

It was the desire of the

author to stop the practice of using the business education department as an area for the unloading of students who deserve a type of remedial education which can not be offered in vocational subjects. Recommendations. The need of a course in retail selling is urged by the author.

Justification for this course was 66

67 found in data furnished by the Sacramento Chamber of Commerce which revealed that in March, 1950, 2,398 persons in the Sacramento area were engaged in various forms of retail selling.

Two hundred and seventy-six of these retail sales

clerks were between the ages of seventeen and twenty.

A sur­

vey made by Earl W. Barnhart, of the Federal Board for Voca­ tional Education, revealed that 100,000 young people eighteen and nineteen years of age find employment in selling and other kinds of store work, but the total enrollment in the high school retail selling courses did not exceed 10,000 students.'*' The counselors should keep themselves well informed regarding trends in employment conditions which most potently influence the graduate’s chances of obtaining employment. Sources of such data are the Chamber of Commerce, United States Employment Service, State Department of Labor, State Personnel Board, Executives Association of Sacramento, and the Federated Trades Council. The following recommendations are offered in the inter­ est of improved counseling for students and placement of graduates: 1.

Organization of a placement service in the school.

1 J. Frank Dame, and others, Prognosis. Guidance. and Placement in Business Education (Cincinnati: South-Western Publishing Company, 1944), p. 19.

Supply the school library with books and pamphlets on various fields of employment. Increase the amount of vocational information offered in the orientation courses taught by the counselors. Bring to the attention of counselors current articles and reports on prognostic tests. Include in the school's handbook for students data on the curricular plans and standards for vocational courses. Compile, in convenient form, data on personality traits needed in various business occupations. Establish a follow-up service which will keep the faculty informed on the progress of graduates.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

B IB LIO G R A P H Y

A.

BOOKS

Barker, Laura, Retain Selling Methods* Hill Book Company, 1923. 2 ^ pp.

Hew York:

McGraw-

Bingham, Walter V., Aptitudes. and Aptitude Testing. New York Harper and Brothers, 1937. 3$*+. pp. Charters, W. W . , and Isadore B. Whitley, Analysis of Secre­ tarial Duties and Traits. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins Company, 192*+. 186 pp. Crawford, Claude C., Ethel G. Cooley, and C. C. Trillingham, Living Your Life. Boston: D. C. Heath and Company, 194-0. ^50 pp. Dame, J. Frank, Albert R. Brinkman, and Wilber E. Weaver, Prognosis. Guidance and Placement in Business Education. Cincinnati: South-Western Publishing Company, 19*+*+. 216 pp.

de Schweinitz, Dorothea, Occupations in Retail Stores. Scranton:

International Textbook Company, 1937.

*+H pp.

Endicott, Frank S., One Hundred Guidance Lessons. A Discussion Manual for High School Students. Scranton: International Textbook Company, 1937. 236 pp. Fox, N. R . , Prognosis of Stenographic Ability. Temple University, 1936 . 126 pp.

Philadelphia:

Hamrin, Shirley A . , Clifford E. Erickson, Guidance in the Secondary School. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1933* 6^0 pp.

Hamrin, Shirley A., Clifford E. Erickson, and Margaret O'Brien Guidance Practices in Public High Schools. A Research Study. Bloomington, Illinois: McKnight and McKnight, 19*+0 .

68 pp.

Koos, Leonard V., and Grayson N. Kefauver, Guidance in Secondary Schools. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1933^ Si+0 pp. LaRue, Daniel W . , Educational Psychology; Personality and What Shanes It. New York: T. Nelson and Sons, 1939. 33B~PP.

71 Strang, Ruth May, Pupil Personnel and Guidance. The Macmillan Company, 19^0• 3 £6 PP*

New Yorks

Weersing, Frederick J., Reorganization of Commercial Educa­ tion in Public High Schools. Cincinnati: South-Western Publishing Company, 1931* 15^ PP* B.

PERIODICAL ARTICLES

Baggley, F. E., "Developing Personality in Typing Class," California Journal of Secondary Education. l5;219, April, 1939* Barnhart, Earl W., "Employment Opportunities for Beginning Stenographers and Typists," School Life. 23s278-9, April, 1938. Cook, W. W . , and M. Appel, "New Basis for Predicting Typing Success," Journal of Business Education. 16:17-18, January, 19^1* Cooper, A. P., "Teaching Personality by the Contract Method," Journal of Business Education. 17*31-2, February, 191+2. Dietz, J. Walter, "Dividends from the Investments in Schools," Nations Business. 12:2b, July, 1938. Gohdes, Marguerite, "General Office Work," The Platoon School. 12:10-12, May, 1938. Hahn, M . , "The Selection of Pupils for Commercial Subjects," Business Education World, 20: *+91} February, 19^-0. Haynes, Benjamin R., "Business Education Viewed in the Light of Fundamental Principles of Education," The Balance Sheet, 10:2^3? December, 1928. . "Stop ‘Dumping1 of Pupils," Balance Sheet. l5+:li+7. -------------

December, 1932.

Kent, George, "A Job Behind the Counter," American Magazine. 121:72-7*+, June, 1936. MacLean, L., and I. Pilcher, "Placement of Graduates in the Commercial Field," National Business Education Quarterly. 5:1:**6, May, 1936*

72 Perry, Ruby V . , “After Graduation, What?” Balance Sheet, 18: 400, May, 1937. Stuart, Mary, “Are There Any Real Reliable Guidance Techniques for Directing Students in the Various Commercial Curricula?*1 Rational Business Education Quarterly. 5:1:25, October, 193^:

_____ , '’Foreward,'* National Business Education Quarterly. 9:1, May, 1937. Weglein, David, “The Relation of Business Education to General Education,” Balance Sheet. 19:197, January, 1938, C.

PUBLICATIONS OF LEARNED ORGANIZATIONS

Buswell, G. T., “Function of Subject Matter in Relation to Personality,” Sixteenth Year Book of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. New York: Bureau of Publi­ cations, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1941. Pp. 8-19. Dobyns, Lawrence, and others, Bookkeeping. School Publica­ tion Number C-215 Revised; Los Angeles: Division of Instruction and Curriculum, Los Angeles City School Dis­ trict , 1943. 14 pp. National Education Association, The Purposes of Education in American Democracy. Educational Policies Commission; Washington, D. C.: The Commission, 1938. 198 pp. National Office Management Association, Blueprint for Busi­ ness Education. Cincinnati: South-Western Publishing Company, 1946. 38 pp. Notterman, Abigail, and others, Stenographic Office Practice. School Publication Number 3l3; Los Angeles: Los Angeles School District, 19^3• 79 pp. Ruggles, Allen M . , “A Diagnostic Test of Aptitude for Cleri­ cal Office Work,” Teachers * College Contribution to Education. Number l48. New York: Teachers’ College, Columbia university, 1924. 126 pp.

73 D.

UNPUBLISHED MATERIALS

Anderberry, Christine, "Job Analysis and Employment Relations in Store Salesmanship as a Basis to a Course of Study." Unpublished Master's thesis, The University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1932. 99 PP* Crawford, Edward I., "A Survey of Training Needed by Secre­ taries." Unpublished Master's thesis. The University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1936* 109 PPMartin, Louis H . , "A Critical Study of Guidance Selection, ana Training of Clerical Workers." Unpublished Master's thesis, The University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1935- 122 pp. Pilkenton, K. H . , "An Investigation of the Duties of a General Office Clerk." Unpublished Master's thesis, The Univer­ sity of Southern California, Los Angeles, 19^0. 196 pp.

"yinivQfsity o f b o u th o rn C a liM P M