Statement of the Problem
In the swirl of social change which threatens at the present to engulf mankind, education must strive with double diligence to keep both its balance and its sense of direction. 1 Recently the Navasota public schools have striven to break away from the traditional plan of requirements for graduation based altogether upon the college entrance demands, and have offered a general or non-college course for graduation to prepare those students who are not going to college for doing better work in the field they choose.
The curriculum committee has made many gestures toward offering other courses along specific lines of study that lead to a certificate of graduation or to a high school diploma. Researchers have advanced the idea that when persons delve into the study of social and economic influences on individuals they emerge with the feeling that there have been very definite epochs in the evolution of the communities. The effects of social and economic influences on Negro high school students deserve extensive investigation.
As an outgrowth of the school program, the writer chose to study the effects of social and economic influences on Negro high school students in Navasota from 19^5 - 1950 and to determine, if possible, the extent to which failures and withdrawals can be traced to economic factors. The investigation is further designed to compare the records of graduates and non-graduates from various socio-economic levels and to ascertain what influences if any, the community exerts upon these individuals
