Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-05-06
THE FUNCTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL

yates and seeks employment in a given
industry, he becomes proficient more
quickly and his progress is rapd on
that account. II is surprising there
fore that technical schools of every
q aracter. and which are often doing
work Of a very elementary nature, GER
tainly not of a higher grade than might
I be performed by the high school, are
! overcrowded. and parents exhibit the
greatest anxiety to place their children
in such institutions in preference TO the
high school. 1t is for this reason, In the
Judgment of the writer, that the high
school is not more generally patronized,
and that when patronized, majority or
those entering leave before they have
half completed the course of instruction.
The failure to properly correlate the
/ high school with life and make it some
thing more than a stepping stone to the
university accounts in large measure for
the proportionately small number of boys
and girls who pursue instruction there
IN.
According TO the report of the Unit
ed States commissioner of education
for 1909. there were 3OS.16I students
i'm all departments in our institutions
of higher learning. OF tpis number,
IS2,477 students were OF collegiate
grade. Notice what a large per cent
were I'm preparatory departments or
doing work below collegiate standards.
Less than one i'm five of those in the
high schools seemed to have entered
an institution of higher learning ar
cording to these statistics. Surely
there is something radically wrong
with the course OF instruction offered
in the high school at the present time.
or they would be more literally pat
rOnized in a country justly celebrat-
cd for it's scheme of universal educa-
ton.
What. then. is the true function or
the American high school? First, II
should prepare students for college IL
is fundamental that we have leaders.
and our leaders must be carefully and
thoroughly trained. a nation sue
cseds in proportion to the preparation
of its leaders. This is witnessed by
the fact that Germany with unfavor-
able soil and climatic conditions main
tains a population OF 800 persons per
square mile, and in the past quarter
of a century has become a great world
power. The high school course shout
not be impaired, therefore. in so rar
as its utility is concerned in preparing
men and women to receive a university
education. Just what is necessary.
however. to prepare men and women
for university training may properly
be a matter for careful consideration
Possibly some OF the subjects now re-
garded as essential may be modified
Sr abandoned altogether when voca-
tional studies are introduced into the
high schools. The particular line or
work in which the student listens to
specialize may influence the university
entrance requirements very materially.
There is no reason, for instance, why
three lines of vocational training
should not be put in the high school:
first, domestic science and art: Sec
ond, manual training; and third, agri-
culture. The boy or girl who pursues
any one of these courses when prop
carly organized and directed will have
attained as much vital knowledge, re-
ceived as much discipline, and he quite
as capable OF carrying on university
work as those who have merely pur-
sued some of what are generally re-
garded as the fundamental studies. be-
cause they are of ancient origin. There
Is no reason why the standard of the
university should not be modified to
permit of the boy or girl receiving en-.
trance credits TO the extent of from
one TO three units for proper vocation
al training in any of the subjects men
toned. This might have been consider |
cd radical at one time. but there is a
distinct movement in this direction at
present. and it can not be considered |
so radical as the actual abandonment
of language training in technical courses
in some OF our leading universities.