Standards (1890-1920)
Struggle for the High School Curriculum
Rather than being subject to the dictates of college officials ... nineteenth century high schools [were] involved in a dynamic relationship with institutions of higher learning in which the high schools, not the colleges, often had the upper hand.
Dave Angus and Jeff Mirel
"Presidents, Professors, and Lay Boards of Education: The Struggle for Influence over the American High School, 1860-1910"
Once devoted to the classical curriculum centered on Latin and Greek studies to prepare students for higher education, the American high school became viewed as a terminal institution for the vast majority of its students that did not pursue a college education.
Increasingly after the Civil War, high schools began to offer courses of a more practical nature, especially as opportunities for employment in business and commerce emerged and as local demand for such courses rose. The high school curriculum increasingly added vocational and practical subjects designed to prepare the new cadre of students for life beyond the classroom.
By the late 19th century, critics of the classical curriculum questioned its utility for practical purposes of preparing youth for life in an industrial society. However, there were still proponents of the classical curriculum for secondary schools, and a struggle ensued to control the high school curriculum.
