The Evolution of the American High School

4.1 Describe the historical roots of contemporary secondary (high) schools.

• Latin Grammar Schools - First American high schools. Taught Latin and Greek to help prepare boys for the ministry or a career in law. High cost made it available only to the rich.
• Academies - Benjamin Franklin founded academies in reaction to the Latin Grammar schools. Free of religious orientation, open to boys and girls, and tuition-charging, they taught math, navigation, astronomy, bookkeeping, logic, and rhetoric. Students selected from these options, setting the precedent for electives and alternative programs that exist at the secondary level today. Three important contributions that remain today:
• Practical
• Secular - Removed religion from the curriculum.
• Public - Partially supported by public funds, which established a trend that flourished during the common school movement.
• English Classical Schools (later called English High Schools) - Free secondary schools designed to meet the needs of boys not planning to attend college. Spread slowly due to competition from academies and public opposition to tax-supported schools. Unable to decide between practical or college preparatory, responded by offering both.

4.2 How have the goals of high school education changed over time?

• The Committee of Ten, appointed by the National Education Association (NEA), decided students who did not plan to go to college needed content and teaching methods that were the same as those who were college bound. Educators realized, however, that this did not prepare prospective workers with the skills needed for complex jobs. Next, the NEA appointed the Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education who broadened the high school curriculum to include basic skills and vocational education for students who weren't college bound.

4.3 How are junior highs and middle schools different from each other?

• Junior high schools are just like high schools. It was just a change in form, not so much in substance.  They were arranged in a 6-3-3 organizational pattern with 6 years of elementary, 3 of junior high (grades 7-9), and 3 of high school. Middle schools (grades 6-8) were designed to meet the social, emotional, and intellectual needs of early adolescents by creating stronger teacher-student relationships  by creating teams. Teachers were encouraged to lean more towards interactive instruction guided by teacher questioning