Leonard Ayres and the Educational Balance Sheet

A major activity engaged in by educators between 1910 and 1918 which provides evidence of their increasing tendency to think and act in a business-like way was their action in handling the problems of retardation, elimination, and promotion. In this instance genuine educational problems did exist and they needed attention. But in the age of efficiency with an economy-minded public breathing down their necks some administrators dealt with these problems in a mechanical, financial way in order to defend themselves and demonstrate their efficiency. That the problems were perceived and treated in this manner was due largely to the way they had been presented and publicized by Leonard Ayres.