The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1930-05-30
THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
of the
AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL
Continued from page one)

is justified as being selective, TIL
high school, designated as tn
peoples college, is eliminatin
students on the basis that the
are not able to meet the standard
set forth for abstract thinkins
Any system of education that az
cepts an inferior grade of work
OF that eliminates students on tn
basis OF selection based on su
perior talent, is socially and eco
nomically unsound. 1t is also pa
thetic and tragic. Perchance tn;
question arises from whence came
this academic course that tradi
ton so firmly has entrenched
About six million men and wo
men, boys and girls, will END
their formal schooling during the
spring months of 1880. Not all
will pass through the happy cere.
monies that now mark the com.
mencement of intellectual life but
which too frequently marks the
close. If some of our young peo-
pie leave the school tasks with
a sigh of relief and an eagerness
that all things studious are over
it is not altogether their fault
nor the fault of the instructors,
but it is more the fault of a
school system that has come down
to us through the ages.
Education For Leisure Glass
Before democracy began to
spread among the people of the
world, education was considered
the heritage Of the privileged
class only. Study was largely a
leisure class occupation. The
schoolmasters brought into their
curriculum practically all know
ledge except that which had to do
with such homely arts as that per
tanning to food, clothing and shell
ter. When the curriculum began to
take a unitarian turn it was
made to fit the needs of the min
istry and the other professions.
Much that required linguistic abil-
ity was retained but a variety Of
abilities that had to do with mem
DRY and imagination or the senses
were excluded. In other words,
anything that had to do with vo-
cational training was left out.
When high schools began to de-
velop in America they adopted
little modification the cur
of the earlier academies
Therefore, much that is useless to
us now has come down through
5he ages.
Growth In n. S. Enrolment
The first high school in Amer
ca maintained from public taxes
vas established in Boston in 1921.
the next half century the
rec high school waged a battle
ront after the other until free
high school education is becoming {
practically universal everywhere. I
n 1880, there were 110,277 stu |
enrolled in the high school; {
n 1890, 202,963 high school stu {
:ents were enrolled; in 1900, $685.
81 were enrolled; in 1910, 915,- 7
81 were enrolled; in 1920, 2,199,- [
80 were enrolled; in 1928, 4,000,- t
90 were enrolled and in 1880 t
here is good reason to put the I
stimated enrolment at $500, 900. o
Might we not well ask from 0
hence and why this increase in o
he high school enrolment? This o
normous increase may be COM c
AIRED to an avalanche tumbling v
own a mountainside sweeping in q
, the doors of the school house. p
lmost within a generation at II
,ndance at a secondary school u
as ceased to be a rar privilege G
nd instead has become an OPP n
0rtunity or almost an inalienable
ght to be enjoyed by half of the W
adolescents. This truly p
Extraordinary phenomenon without d.
'ecedent in the history of edu- el
Ltion should be ranked among 81
great social movements of our al
,ademic age. III
Indeed we may say the growth
the high school is the growth OF
a now social order, the result D(
a whole series of forces and al
nditions which we call our in IN
Istrial civilization. By an indus al
ial civilization we do not mere OF
refer to the appearance of the CT
eat cities and huge economic sB
but rather to the nj
ming of a highly i%ntegrated and W.
mplex society which holds with an
it's embrace the metropolitan tl(
nters, the village, the vegetable IN
d fruit gardens, the farm, the pr
Id, the shop and the factory. by
To be specific, there appears IN
he seven outstanding factors, IN
rkinp together and Intimately by
bring about the enormous high OF
IDOL attendance. These factors
}: the presence OF an early ag- Gle
ian society in the United an
ties; widening the opportunity sh'
elementary education; the ap- CIR
of a highly integrated Tn
.iety; the complexity of socie- cal
increased wealth and income ex'
| decrease of birth and death the
Sta