made for the purpose of finding out what educational preparation
workers in various industries had received. One of the most extensive
of these was conducted in connection with the study of the printing
industry. Educationally the printing trades rank higher than most
other factory occupations, yet the average journeyman printer
possesses less than a complete elementary education. Composing-room
employees, such as compositors, linotypers, stonemen, proof-readers,
etc., undoubtedly stand at the head of the skilled trades as to
educational training, but it was found that only eight per cent were
high school graduates. Six per cent had left school before reaching
the seventh grade, and 16 per cent before reaching the eighth grade.
The other departments of the printing industry made a much less
favorable showing.

An investigation conducted by the Survey in the spring of 1915,
covering 5,000 young people at work under 21 years of age, indicated
that only about 13 per cent of these young workers had received any
high school training and that less than four per cent had completed a
high school course. Over one-fifth reported the sixth grade as the
last completed before leaving school, and nearly half had dropped out
before completing the elementary course. Less than seven per cent of
the boys engaged in industrial pursuits had received any high school
training and only 42 per cent had got beyond the seventh grade. The
educational preparation of the boys engaged in commercial and
clerical occupations was somewhat better, nearly 22 per cent having
attended high school one year or more; about one-half had left school
after completing the eighth grade and nearly one-third had not
completed the elementary course.

These facts have a vital relation to the problem of vocational