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68 Bulletin No. 40

refer to one of them by the term X. If they are in a correlation table
the one so referred to is that which has its scale upon the horizontal
axis. Whenever X is used to refer to the variable itself, x is used to
refer to the difference or deviation of the variable from its mean. See
correlation table, variable. — Odell, Educational Statistics, p. 36f., 156f.
Y, y. In dealing with situations in which two variables are con-
cerned, such as a correlation table, the coefficient and ratio of correla-
tion, the regression equations, and so forth, it is very common to refer
to one of them by the term Y. If they are in a correlation table the
one so referred to is that which has its scale upon the vertical axis.
Whenever Y is used to refer to the variable itself, y is used to refer
to the difference or deviation of the variable from its mean. See cor-
relation table, variable. — Odell, Educational Statistics, p. 36f., 156f.

Yes-no test. This is a variety of the alternative test commonly
used in connection with the new examination and upon standardized
tests. It consists of a series of questions to each one of which pupils
are expected to respond by yes or no. — Odell, Objective Measurement,
p. 9f.

Z. Abbreviation for mode.

Zero point. The zero point on any given scale is the point which
means just not any of the trait or characteristic measured by that
scale. In the case of most educational measuring instruments a score
of zero does not represent zero ability, or, in other words, a pupil who
earns a score of zero cannot be known to be located at the true zero
point. This result follows from the fact that the easiest exercises on
most tests are difficult enough that a pupil may have some knowledge
or ability along the line tested and still not be able to respond correctly
to the easiest exercise on the test. If scores on different tests are ex-
pressed in terms of a common unit they can, for some purposes at
least, be added to and subtracted from one another without the deter-
mination of true zero points, but they cannot be multiplied and divided
into one another unless such points have been found. — Monroe, The-
ory, p. 101 f., 146f., 150.

BULLETIN NO. 41

BUREAU OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE
SECONDARY-SCHOOL CURRICULUM
ITS MEANING AND TRENDS

By
Walter S. Monroe

Director, Bureau of Educational Research

and

M. E. Herriott
Associate, Bureau of Educational Research

PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, URBANA

1928

PREFACE

Our understanding of current educational problems is usually
augmented by an inquiry into recent educational history; in fact, it
is frequently impossible to attain a clear comprehension of current
problems by merely examining the present. This is especially true in
the case of the problems relating to reconstruction of the secondary-
school curriculum, our understanding of which is necessarily limited
unless we know the course of their development.

The public high school became recognized as the dominant form
of secondary school about 1890 and since then has had its greatest
development. The first important report of a national committee
relative to the secondary school was made in 1893, which marks the
beginning of a new epoch in the history of American secondary edu-
cation. No comprehensive studies of the past thirty-five years are
available ; hence, it seemed appropriate to undertake a comprehensive
study of the secondary-school curriculum over that period. To one
who is already familiar with the source materials, this bulletin should
be helpful as a synthesis and as a review of certain details. To those
not familiar with these source materials, particularly persons immedi-
ately concerned with the problems of the secondary school, this bul-
letin should render greater service by providing a background and
setting in which the significance of present problems and practices
may be more clearly seen than before.

This study attempts to identify and interpret the trends in the
development of the secondary-school curriculum beginning with the
Report of the Committee of Ten. It does not undertake to suggest
what changes should be made. However, by making clear the trends
of the past thirty-five years, it should contribute to the solution of
our current problems.

Walter S. Monroe, Director
March 1, 1928

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PACE

Chapter I. Introduction 7

Chapter II. The Secondary-School Situation Prior to 1893 16

Chapter III. Curriculum Reconstruction : Objectives . . 29

Chapter IV. Curriculum Reconstruction : Selection and
Organization of Materials of Instruction, Assuming a
Four- Year High School 55

Chapter V. Curriculum Reconstruction : Selection and
Organization of Materials of Instruction, Assuming a
Junior-Senior High School 79

Chapter VI. Curriculum Reconstruction : Selection and
Organization of Materials of Instruction so as to Secure
Adaptation to Individual Differences 101

Chapter VII. Conclusions 116

Index of Authors and Committees 119

LIST OF TABLES

PAGE

Table I. Subject offerings in the high schools of thirty North-Central cities,

1886-90 21

Table II. Number of different subjects in each field of study in the high

schools of thirty North-Central cities, 1886-90 22

Table III. Courses offered by the high schools of thirty-five North-Central

cities, 1886-90 23

Table IV. Historical and geographical subjects required for admission to

college in 1870 25

Table V. The major divisions of human experience as revealed by the topics

treated in the Literary Digest 51

Table VI. Subject and time recommendations of the conferences of the

Committee of Ten 57

Table YII. Minimum, maximum, and average number of units of work

offered in the high schools of a group of fifteen large cities, 1923-24 61

Table VIII. Per cent of schools offering the different subjects during the

several periods from 1891 to 1918 63

Table IX. Subjects reported in seventh and eighth grades under elemen-
tary-school and junior-high-school forms of organization .... 82

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE SECONDARY-SCHOOL
CURRICULUM: ITS MEANING AND TRENDS

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

The problem. A conspicuous phase of the present secondary-
school situation is an insistent demand for a reorganization of the
curriculum. There appears to be wide-spread dissatisfaction with ex-
isting conditions. If one considers only a very recent period, he finds
that many changes have been proposed, some of which have attained
a sudden popularity. However, if one examines the criticisms of ex-
isting conditions and the changes advocated, he encounters difficulty
in identifying central trends or a coherent guiding theory of education.
Many of the discussions are controversial and most of the proposed
changes appear fragmentary. This bulletin represents an attempt to
analyze curriculum reconstruction on the secondary level, beginning
with the Report of the Committee of Ten of the National Education
Association1 in 1893, for the purpose of identifying the trends in
thinking and interpreting the present situation.

Terminology. A casual examination of committee reports, maga-
zine articles, and other writings in the field of secondary education re-
veals variations in technical vocabulary. The disappearance of some
terms and the introduction of others represent corresponding changes
in ideas ; but in other cases, changes in terminology represent chiefly
refinements in thinking. In describing the trends relative to the sec-
ondary-school curriculum, it is difficult to avoid using the terminology
of the periods considered, but the writers of this bulletin have en-
deavored to be consistent in their use of terms in so far as conditions
permit. When a definition seems necessary in order to make the mean-
ing clear to the reader, it is given at the place where the term is first
used in this bulletin. Particular attention is called to the following
terms : "learning activity," "learning exercise," "materials of instruc-
tion," "controls of conduct" or "abilities," and "objectives," all of
which are defined in the discussion of objectives, Chapter III, pages
29-30.

^The National Education Association of the United States was originally organized as
The National Teachers' Association on August 26, 1857, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This
name was changed at Cleveland, Ohio, on August 15, 1 870, to National Educational Asso-
ciation. The present name, National Education Association, was adopted at the Fiftieth
Anniversary Convention held July 10, 1907, at Los Angeles, California, when a new national
charter was accepted. For more complete information, see the Journal of Proceedings and
Addresses of the Xational Education Association, Vol. 44, 1905, p. 26-40; Anniversary
Volume, 1906, p. 19-20; and Vol. 45. 1907, p. 1, 36-38.

Throughout this bulletin the title "National Education Association" is used irrespective
of the date of the reference.

8 Bulletin No. 41

"Secondary school" and "curriculum" have such a diversity of use
and breadth of meaning that it is necessary to consider them at some
length preparatory to defining the problem.

The secondary school. The schools devoted to secondary educa-
tion are so varied in character, and opinions as to their scope and
meaning vary so greatly, that it is impossible to give a simple, complete,
and wholly adequate definition.2 Probably the secondary school is most
commonly thought of as a division of a crudely articulated educational
system beginning with the kindergarten or primary grades and extend-
ing through the graduate school of the university. In the introduction
to his account of the development of secondary schools in the United
States, Brown defined "secondary education roughly as education of a
higher stage than that of the elementary school and lower than that of
institutions authorized to give academic degrees."3 Until recently the
elementary school has generally included eight years,4 the secondary
school four years, and the college four years. Hence, Brown's defi-
nition might be restated by saying that the secondary school is the
institution that provides the four years of schooling following the
eight years of the elementary school and preceding the four years of
college.

Although published twenty-five years ago, Brown's definition still
describes the secondary school, but the interpretation must be modified.
The secondary school, particularly the public high school, is being ex-
tended both upward and downward. The prevailing trend in city
school systems is to combine the seventh and eighth grades with the
ninth to form the junior high school, the remaining three grades form-
ing the senior high school. The upward extension, which includes the
thirteenth and fourteenth years, is commonly known as a junior col-
lege. In a few cities an attempt is being made to organize grades seven,
eight, nine, and ten into a junior high school and the next four years
into a senior high school.5 Consequently, we cannot describe the second-
ary school in terms of a definite number of years. Many high schools
include only grades nine to twelve, as formerly, but there is an in-

2This situation is not new. For example, the following statement was made in 1914:
". . . . there is now no consensus of opinion as to the scope or meaning of secondary
education. ... In our own country the views concerning secondary education as to its
purpose, scope, curriculum, method, or organization are of the most diverse character, even
among those who are specialists in this very field."

Monroe, Paul. (Edited by). Principles of Secondary Education. New York: The
Macmillan Company, 1914, p. 1-2.

3Brown, E. E. The Making of Our Middle Schools. New York : Longmans, Green,
and Company, 1902, p. 1.

4In some of the eastern states, the elementary school includes nine grades. In other
places, notably the southern states, the elementary school includes only seven grades.

5There are several other combinations of school grades at the secondary-school level,
but these are the ones most commonly made.

Curriculum Reconstruction 9

creasing number of junior and senior high schools, which, with the
junior college, include grades seven to fourteen.

The secondary school is also thought of in terms of the subjects
in which instruction is offered. Until recently, beginning algebra,
plane geometry, the first years of foreign languages, the elementary
phases of physical and biological sciences, and the history of countries
other than the United States were rarely taught below the ninth grade
and hence served to distinguish the secondary division from the ele-
mentary school. Today, it is much more difficult to describe the sec-
ondary school in terms of characteristic subjects. Secondary schools
vary greatly with reference to the number and type of subjects offered.
The curriculum of the small high school necessarily is limited. In
some cases it is very similar to that of the typical secondary school a
quarter of a century ago, but in others the curriculum is dominated by
"new" subjects designed to fulfill a practical or vocational function.
In the larger high schools the curriculum usually includes a long list
of subjects, many of which are "new." The downward extension of
the high school has added to the complexity of the situation. Subjects
that formerly were taught in the ninth grade or above have been moved
downward. In some cases a sequence of subjects, such as arithmetic,
algebra, and geometry, is being reorganized by shifting the grade
placement of topics. Hence, it is apparent that the secondary school
cannot be described satisfactorily by an enumeration of subjects.

The secondary school may be considered with respect to its func-
tions, of which two have stood out most prominently. The preparation
of students to enter college has always received attention and at times
has been thought of as the dominant function. Evidence of this is
afforded by the frequent use of the name ''preparatory schools." Co-
ordinate with this function and ever growing more prominent, is the
preparation of pupils for vocational activities of a non-professional
character but on a higher plane than unskilled labor. These two
functions are suggested by the names "classical" and "technical,"
which are sometimes applied to certain public high schools in large
cities. In general, these functions appear to be declining in relative
prominence. A number of writers are using the term "comprehensive"
to indicate that a single high school is intended to fulfill a number of
functions.

From another point of view, the type of secondary school desig-
nated as the public high school has been described as "Common, free,
tax-supported, non-sectarian, and State-controlled."6 On the basis of

6Cubberley, Elhvood P. An Introduction to the Study of Education. Boston: Hough-
ton Mifflin Company, 1925, p. 11.

10 Bulletin No. 41

location and type of community served, public high schools are desig-
nated as rural, village, and city. They also vary in size from enroll-
ments of less than fifty pupils to several thousand. The term "small
high school" is frequently used as designating a type. Although there
is no official definition, it is apparent that the maximum enrollment of
a small high school seldom exceeds 100 and sometimes there is a
much lower maximum specified. One writer defines a small high
school as "one employing four or fewer teachers and enrolling 75 or
fewer pupils."7 Ferriss describes "the typical small high school" as
one staffed by three to five instructors including the principal.8 A large
high school differs from a small one in more than mere size. It is in
reality a very different type of eductional institution. For example,
it offers a wide range of subjects from which a student may choose
those he wishes to pursue, whereas in the small high school there is
very little or no opportunity for choice. For some purposes high
schools are classified on the basis of the number of years of schooling
offered, as one-year and two-year high schools, and so on.

The descriptions given in the preceding paragraphs make clear the
impossibility of formulating a simple statement of the characteristics
of our secondary schools. For the purpose of this bulletin, the writers
have thought of the secondary school primarily in terms of the middle
division of our educational system, formerly including grades nine to
twelve but now frequently being extended to include also grades seven
and eight. They have not included, except incidentally, either the
small high school or the very large high school. In general, the writers
have had the public high school in mind, but occasional reference has
been made to secondary schools not supported by a general property
tax.

Development of the curriculum concept. The term "curriculum"
has grown into general educational usage within the past thirty-five
years and represents an explicit refinement of an idea that has existed
from the very beginning of formal education. The Committee of Ten,
1893, did not use "curriculum" in their report, nor does it seem to have
been in common use among educators at that time. Instead, they used
the terms, "subject," "topic," "subject-matter," "matter," and "course
of study." For example, in discussing the report of the Conference
on Natural History, the Committee stated : "Inasmuch as both the
subject matter and the methods of instruction in natural history are

"Rufi, John. "The Small High School," Teachers College, Columbia University Con-
tributions to Education, No. 236. New York: Bureau of Publications, Columbia University,
1926, p. 5.

sFerriss, Emery N. Secondary Education in Country and Village. New York: D.
Appleton and Company, 1927, p. 18.

Curriculum Reconstruction 11

much less familiar to ordinary school teachers than the matter and
the methods in the languages and mathematics, the Conference be-
lieved that descriptive details were necessary in order to give a clear
view of the intention of the Conference."9 Later, in discussing the re-
port of the Conference on Geography, the Committee used the term
"topics" with almost the same meaning as that given to subject-matter
and matter in the sentence quoted. Thus, the curriculum was con-
ceived by the Committee of Ten as consisting of the tested products
of racial experience to be transmitted to the on-coming generation.
This appears to be representative of the general point of view at that
time.

The Committee on College Entrance Requirements, reporting in
1899, used the terms "curriculum," "program of studies," and "course
of study," which they defined as follows :

(1) Program of studies, which includes all of the studies offered in a
given school; (2) curriculum, which means the group of studies schematically
arranged for any pupil or set of pupils; (3) course of stitdy, which means the
quantity, quality, and method of the work in any given subject of instruction.

Thus the program of studies includes the curriculum and may, indeed,
furnish the material for the construction of an indefinite number of curricu-
lums. The course of study is the unit, or element, from which both the pro-
gram and the curriculum are constructed.10

For ten years11 or more the word "curriculum" has been widely
used in educational writings. Frequently, its meaning has not been
apparent, but some writers have given explicit definitions. One of the
older and widely used meanings is expressed by Ruediger : "By the
curriculum is meant the logical, complete, and unified conception of
the studies and exercises of the schools regardless of their adminis-
tration; .... by the course of study is meant the arrangement and
grouping of these studies and exercises for the purpose of bringing
them effectively to the learners."12 These definitions are not in agree-
ment with those given by the Committee on College Entrance Require-
ments, but they probably represent the meanings most frequently as-
signed to these terms.

Several more recent educational writers have assigned somewhat
different meanings to "curriculum." The following quotations and

""Report of the Committee of Ten on Secondary School Studies." New York: Ameri-
can Book Company, 1894, p. 28.

10"Report of the Committee on College Entrance Requirements." Washington: Na-
tional Education Association, 1899, p. 41-42.

"Bobbin's book, The Curriculum, was published in 191 S.

12Ruediger, W. C. The Principles of Education. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company,
1910, p. 225. See also:

De Garmo, Charles. Principles of Secondary Education, Vol. I. New York: The
Macmillan Company, 1913, p. 141f.

Monroe, Paul. Principles of Secondary Education. New York: The Macmillan Com-
pany, 1914, p. 33, 356f.

Inglis, Alexander. Principles of Secondary Education. Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Company, 1918, p. 662f.

12 Bulletin No. 41

paraphrased statements give the essence of the concepts of the leading
curriculum thinkers of today. Some injustice may have been done in
thus extracting and isolating these statements ; however, care has been
taken to retain each author's exact meaning as understood by the
present writers. For a more thorough understanding of these state-
ments, the student should read each in its original context.

"As applied to education, it [the curriculum] is that series of tilings which
children and youth must do and experience by way of developing abilities to do
the things well that make up the affairs of adult life; and to be in all respects
what adults should be."13

Elsewhere he says, not to quote exactly yet to retain his meaning,
that the curriculum of the school is the series of consciously directed
training experiences that the schools use for completing and perfecting
the unfoldment of the abilities of the individual.14

"The curriculum should be selected directly from real life and should be
expressed in terms of the activities and the environments of people."13

"The essence of the curriculum as used in this experiment is the purposes
of boys and girls in real life. As such it is necessarily as broad as life itself
and is not limited to any set of prescribed performances to be engaged in by
boys and girls in a particular sequence as is the usual interpretation of the
school curriculum. In this sense the curriculum is a living thing, child experi-
encing, no more capable of standardization in the sense of performances nicely
prescribed in advance and from above than is any other living, growing
thing."16

"At the outset it must be insisted that the curriculum consists of both
ideals and activities on the one hand and their methods of realization and
performance on the other hand.""

In a footnote, Briggs makes the following terse statements, ex-
planatory of the text :

"Hitherto curriculum has been used to indicate the entire corpus of edu-
cational materials. A course of study means the organization of material into
a unit for presentation, as 'a course of study for first-year English' or 'a course
of study for the ninth grade in civic duties.' Later curricula will be used to
indicate a coherent grouping of courses of study leading to some larger goal,
as 'a music curriculum.' "1S

Bonser assumes a more or less composite point of view in the

following :

"If the purpose of the curriculum is to furnish aid in the selection and
promotion of experiences of the largest life values, then the curriculum must

13Bobbitt, Franklin. The Curriculum. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1918, p. 42.
Italics in the original.

llIbid., p. 43.

15Meriam, Junius L. Child Life and the Curriculum. Yonkers-on-Hudson, New York:
World Book Company, 1920, p. 171. Printed in italics in the original.

16Collings, Ellsworth. An Experiment with a Project Curriculum. New York: The
Macmillan Company, 1923, p. vii-viii, (Author's foreword). Italics in the original.

"Charters, W. W. Curriculum Construction. New York: The Macmillan Company,
1923, p. 74.

18Briggs, Thomas H. Curriculum Problems. New York: The Macmillan Company,
1926, p. 23. Italics in the original.

Curriculum Reconstruction 13

include, not only the essential facts, principles, and processes found useful in
the daily conduct of life, but also the activities required."19

Clement uses the term "subject-matter" to mean the content of the

curriculum, which appears to be the facts, principles, and processes

that are the products of racial experience, especially as set down in

books. A typical statement is :

"Our chief concern, however, is, How effective may these [aims] become
in evolving subject matter appropriate to their realization."20

It is apparent that he conceives of the objectives as separate from
and preliminary to the curriculum proper when he heads his third
chapter "The Correlation between Objectives and Curriculum Mak-
ing."21

The following statements relative to the nature of the curriculum
are found in the composite statement of the Committee on Curriculum-
Making of the National Society for the Study of Education :

"Curriculum-making includes three technical tasks of major importance:
the determination of the ultimate and immediate objectives of education; the
experimental discovery of appropriate child activities and other materials of
instruction ; and the like discovery of the most effective modes of selecting
and organizing the activities of the respective grades of the school."22

"The curriculum should be conceived, therefore, in terms of a succession
of experiences and enterprises having a maximum of lifelikeness for the
learner."23

". . . . that part of the curriculum should be planned in advance which
includes (1) a statement of objectives, (2) a sequence of experiences shown
by analysis to be reasonably uniform in value in achieving the objectives,
(3) subject matter found to be reasonably uniform as the best means of en-
gaging in the experiences, and (4) statements of immediate outcomes of
achievements to be derived from the experiences. That part of the curriculum
from which selection of supplementary experiences and materials are to be
used as conditions locally suggest, should be planned partly in advance and
should be made partly as new materials become available. That part of the
curriculum which represents the daily life-situations and interests from which
the immediate specific needs of students arise, should be — can only be — made
from day to day."24

It is evident from the diversity of these statements that there is
little agreement in regard to the concept designated by the term "cur-
riculum." It may mean activities, or problems, or experiences, or
ideals and their methods of realization and performance, or more or
less formalized statements of the products of racial experience (facts,

19Bonser, Frederick Gordon. The Elementary School Curriculum. New York: The
Macmillan Company, 1922, p. 2.

20Clement, John Addison. Curriculum Making in Secondary Schools. New York:
Henry Holt and Company, 1923, p. 28.

21lbid., p. 27.

22"The Foundations of Curriculum-Making." Twenty-Sixth Yearbook of the National
Society for the Study of Education, Part II. Bloomington, Illinois: Public School Publish-
ing Company, 1926, p. 14.

™Ibid., p. 18.

uIbid., p. 19-20.

14 Bulletin No. 41

principles, processes), or a composite of any or all of these, with some
possible additions. However, it is evident that an attempt is being
made to modify the traditional concept of the curriculum as a body of
"formal subject-matter (facts, processes, principles) set-out-to-be-
learned." When the curriculum is described as consisting of ''pupil
activities and experiences," emphasis is given to the fact that learning
is an active process ; when the curriculum is thought of as subject-
matter, emphasis is given to the desired outcomes and there is the
implication that learning is accomplished by memorizing.

From this survey of the use of the term, it appears that the cur-
riculum may be thought of as consisting of three phases: (1) objec-
tives, (2) materials of instruction, and ( 3) learning exercises. Ob-
jectives are the abilities or types of behavior to be attained; the ma-
terials of instruction are the subject-matter of the various courses and
the physical materials used, such as apparatus in science laboratories ;
and learning exercises are requests, usually by a teacher, for the pupil
to do something in order that he may learn. This concept of the
curriculum, including the meaning of these terms, is expanded in
Chapter III.

Restatement of problem. The foregoing exposition of the sec-
ondary school and the curriculum makes it possible to restate the prob-
lem in terms of the following questions :

1. What have been the trends of thinking since 1893 relative to
the objectives of secondary education in the United States?

2. What have been the trends of thinking since 1893 relative to
the selection and organization of the materials of instruction of sec-
ondary education ; assuming, first, a traditional grade grouping and
second, a regrouping of grades at the secondary-school level ?

3. What have been the trends of thinking since 1893 relative to
the learning exercises of secondary education?25

4. What are the present trends of thinking relative to the cur-
riculum of secondary education?

Sources of data. The reports of three national committees of
the National Education Association — The Committee of Ten on Sec-
ondary School Studies,26 reporting in 1893 ; The Committee on College
Entrance Requirements,27 reporting in 1899 ; and The Commission on

^Although logically a part of the problem, this aspect of the curriculum will receive
no systematic treatment in the following chapters. Most curriculum-makers in the field of
secondary education have restricted their efforts to the determination of objectives and ma-
terials of instruction, and have left the devising of learning exercises to the teacher.

^"Report of the Committee of Ten on. Secondary School Studies." New York:
American Book Company, 1894. 2+9 p.

2T"Report of the Committee on College Entrance Requirements." Washington: Na-
tional Education Association, 1899. 188 p.

Curriculum Reconstruction 15

the Reorganization of Secondary Education,28 reporting in 1918 — have
been taken as representative of the advanced thinking relative to sec-
ondary education current at the time of their publication. Other
sources have been consulted freely, chief among them being : the pro-
ceedings of the National Education Association and of various sec-
tional education associations, such as the North Central Association of
Colleges and Secondary Schools ; educational journals prominent in
the field of secondary education, such as the School Review; reports of
special investigations in the field of secondary education ; and the writ-
ings of prominent educators, such as Charles W. Eliot.29

In selecting sources, an attempt has been made to distinguish be-
tween thinking relating to the elementary school, the secondary school,
and the college.30 This is the reason for the somewhat incidental men-
tion of such educational influences as the Herbartian movement and
the writings of John Dewey. No attempt has been made to compile a
bibliography. The reader interested in going to original sources will
find no difficulty in locating them through the references given in the
footnotes.

A caution. Educational practice as represented by typical schools
always lags behind educational theory. A few schools, usually called
"progressive," may be in advance of generally accepted theory, but
these are more than balanced by those following traditional practices.
Although there will be some reference to educational practice in the
following chapters, the writers are concerned primarily with the trends
of thinking about the secondary curriculum and its organization since
about 1890.

Furthermore, it is their purpose to trace these trends rather than
to set forth their own opinions in regard to the reconstruction of the
secondary curriculum. However, the writers realize that in their
selection and interpretation of the sources cited, judgment has been
exercised. Other investigators, by selecting different sources or by
making different interpretations of the data, might arrive at somewhat
different conclusions.

^"Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education," U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin,
1918, No. 35. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1918. 32 p.

29Throughout the bulletin references are given to particular sources. However, the
sources cited represent only a small part of the total volume of material examined.

30When the Committee of Ten made its report in 1893, our educational system was
thought of in terms of three major divisions: (1) elementary school, grades one to eight;
(2) high school, grades nine to twelve; (3) college and university which included all work
beyond the twelfth grade. These institutions, however, had not developed as divisions of a
comprehensive system. Some coordination existed between the high school and the college
by virtue of the fact that the former fulfilled a preparatory function, but the high school
and the elementary school were relatively more independent of each other. Reforms in the
elementary school did not significantly affect curriculum development and organization in
the secondary school until several years after the Report of the Committee of Ten.

CHAPTER II
THE SECONDARY-SCHOOL SITUATION PRIOR TO 1893

In order to have a proper perspective with which to approach a
study of the trends in secondary-school curriculum reconstruction dur-
ing the thirty-five years intervening between the Report of the Com-
mittee of Ten in 1893 and the present, it is necessary to review briefly
the development of secondary schools in the United States and to
describe the status of the curriculum just prior to 1893. In the pres-
ent chapter the development of secondary schools is sketched in bold
outlines only. The status of the curriculum is described in greater
detail.

Development of secondary schools in the United States. The
development of secondary schools in the United States is usually di-
vided into three periods, each of which is represented by a distinctive
type of school. The first type, commonly designated as the Latin
grammar school, began with the establishment of the Boston Latin
School in 1636. It continued as the dominant type of secondary
school until after the Revolutionary War. The second type, known
as the academy, was established in order to provide facilities for a
more "liberal" education. During the first half of the eighteenth cen-
tury there were a number of private schools that offered an opportun-
ity for a "liberal" education, but the popularity of the academy idea
dates from about 1749, when Benjamin Franklin proposed the estab-
lishment of an academy at Philadelphia.1

Although the early academies were established as finishing schools
— that is, schools in which a student might finish his schooling rather
than merely prepare for college — they also served as preparatory
schools, especially after the beginning of the nineteenth century and
hence tended to become fitting schools. The establishment of the
third type of secondary school, the public high school, was due in part
to dissatisfaction with the academy as a finishing school. Although the
first public high school was established in Boston in 1821, the academy
continued to be the dominant type of secondary school until after the
Civil War.

The history of secondary education in the United States is in part
a record of attempts to provide a finishing school as well as a fitting
school; that is, an institution that will prepare for life as well as for
college. The desire for a more efficient finishing school twice resulted

1This academy was established in 1751 and later became the University of Pennsyl-
vania.

Curriculum Reconstruction 17

in the establishment of a new type of secondary institution. In turn,
each was subjected to the powerful influence of higher education to
make of it what the Latin grammar school had been, primarily a
"fitting" school for the colleges. The academy succumbed and most
of its remnants continue in this role today. The public high school
faced the same fate and nearly yielded, but rallied and today boldly
faces the herculean task of providing a training that will serve the
dual function of preparing for life and for college. The most gen-
erally accepted point of view is that the two aspects of this function
are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and that both may be served
as well within a single institution as within independent institutions.2

Concepts which largely determined the nature of the curriculum.
Before attempting to describe the status of the secondary-school cur-
riculum just prior to 1893, it will be helpful to note the prevailing
meaning associated with the following : ( 1 ) the general function of
the secondary school, (2) the learning process, and (3) the outcomes
of learning.

(1) Concept of the general function of the secondary school.
The concept of the function of the high school prevailing just prior to
the appointment of the Committee of Ten appears to be represented
by the following quotations :

"One citizen supports the high school because it is a 'fitting-school' for
college; another, because it prepares for business; another, because it is a
school where children may become familiar with the elements of the natural
sciences in an experimental way; and still another believes in it because of its
training in manual labor. The result is that it becomes a difficult question to
define the functions of a high school. This much seems clear to me : that the

high school, as at present organized, is a provisional arrangement For

the present, the high school is both a 'fitting' and a 'finishing' school, and in
most places a school for both sexes."3

"It [the high school] is also preparatory for a higher course; but in a
true sense it must be complete in itself, and not arranged especially for the
needs of the very few whose education is to extend beyond the high school."4

"It is the province of the Western high school to meet, to a reasonably
high degree, the requirements for entrance at college and in doing so it is
certainly an important duty of principals and teachers of high schools to dis-
tinguish, especially in their recitation work, between the pupils fitting for col-
lege and those whose education is to be completed in the high school

"The second and most sacred province of the Western high school is to
provide most wisely and unqualifiedly for the full needs of that very large
majority of high-school pupils, reaching nearly eighty per cent of all pupils
enrolled in the high schools of the country, which is and always will be the

2The changes relative to the objectives of the secondary school which led to acceptance
of this point of view are described in the following chapter.

3Bechdolt, A. F. "The High School as a Fitting-School," Journal of Proceedings and
Addresses of the National Education Association, Vol. 29. Washington: National Education
Association, 1890, p. 617, 622.

4Allen, E. A. H. "Science in Secondary Schools," Education, 10: 109, October, 1889.

18 Bulletin No. 41

broadest culture that the effort of the best teachers and the best methods can
give them. To do this, school committees, superintendents, principals and
teachers must be willing to sacrifice a considerable degree of fascinating pop-
ularity which comes first as a bribe to exchange real cultural studies for the
so-called practical studies of the utilitarian age in which we are now living."5
"The prime purpose of the High School is to prepare those who can go
no farther, for the business of life and to open up to those who would go
farther the several avenues of scientific and literary culture which they may
hereafter desire to follow."6

In 1890 the academy was still an important type of secondary
school, especially in the eastern and southern sections of the United
States. Although it was chiefly recognized as fulfilling a college-
preparatory function, it was still considered to have a "finishing"
function.

The object of the academy is to bring together the promising and ambi-
tious youth who desire to improve themselves in knowledge, self-reliance,
mental, social and religious discipline. The academy aims to give a wider
education than can be secured in the more elementary schools ; to prepare some
of its pupils (the more the better) for colleges and universities; to give chiefly
by education in the various branches taught, that power to do things, to organ-
ize and lead in worldly enterprises, to create and direct public sentiment,
which is needed in every well-ordered community ; in short, the work of the
academy is to bring forward well-equipped men and women who will be leaders

in the work of the world We want academies for those who have no

high school on hand, and who will never go to college, unless they awake in
the academy to the desire and possibility of it.7

Thus, the secondary schools, especially the public high school,
were generally considered as fulfilling a dual function : a "fitting" and
a "finishing" function. The attempt to serve both phases of this func-
tion was thought to place the secondary school in a compromising situ-
ation ; but nevertheless, both must be served.

(2) The prevailing concept of the learning process. According
to the "doctrine of formal discipline," as the theory of learning pre-
vailing before 1890 is commonly designated, the child's mind was con-
sidered to consist of certain faculties, such as perception (observa-
tion), memory, discrimination, and reasoning, which were trained or
disciplined by doing school tasks. This concept of learning was em-
phasized in connection with mental arithmetic in the elementary- school
and with Latin and mathematics on the high-school level. The edu-
cative value of an exercise was considered to depend largely upon its
difficulty.

'Austin, H. "The Province of the Western High School," Journal of Proceedings and
Addresses of the National Education Association, Vol. 30. Washington: National Education
Association, 1891, p. 681, 682.

6Thirty-Seventh Annual Report of the Board of Education of the City of Chicago,
1890-91." Chicago: Board of Education, 1892, p. 39.

'Editorial. "The Value of the Academy," Education, 11:187-88, November, 1890.
(Quoted from a letter of C. F. P. Bancroft, headmaster of Phillips Andover Academy.)

Curriculum Reconstruction 19

The following statements are typical of many that might be
quoted.

Education is the development of the individual in and through his environ-
ment— or, more clearly for our purpose, education is gaining a knowledge of
one's environment and training the faculties to use knowledge wisely and
skillfully; it properly includes in the high-school period a training in the con-
sciousness of one's own powers and possibilities. The acquisitions to be made
in this period, which is the full dawn of all high possibilities, are view and
power — the view, which takes in broad and striking scenes ; the power, which
may be used successfully in any field of activity

Thus far the use of studies on the knowledge side has been considered,
but the mental power, the development of the mental faculty — that higher
purpose of education — must be constantly kept in view. Properly employed,
mathematics trains the abstractive and deductive powers ; science the percep-
tive, conceptual and inductive powers ; history the ethical and the higher per-
sonal emotions; literature the aesthetic and the ethical emotions; all studies
exercise memory and imagination more or less; proper school requirements
cultivate right emotion and train the will ; all physical training, as reading,
speaking, music, drawing, exercise, give the mind power over the body and
thus train the will.8

The same concept of learning was evidenced in discussions of the
"newer" subjects which were struggling for recognition in the high-
school curriculum. The following statements relative to manual train-
ing are representative.

". . . . manual training has a very substantial 'educative value' ; it is in
fact nothing but mental training in a new mode — a mode in which the hand
and eye play rather important parts as the mind's instruments."9

"There is a psychological foundation for manual training which should
not be overlooked. All educators are now of one mind that the first duty of
the teacher is the cultivation of the perceptive powers. No matter what system
of philosophy we may profess, we are all agreed that knowledge begins in
perception. The tactual and visual perceptions are by far the most important.
'The former of these gives us the direct mode of apprehending things, the
latter the largest grasp of external things, of any of the modes of perception.'
(Sully, Outlines of Psychology.) The progress of perception grows with the
increase of the power of visual and tactual discrimination. Now the purpose
of manual education is primarily the training of the hand and eye. Hence
drawing, as a mode of cultivating visual perception, is made one of its promi-
nent features ; and the introduction of tools in connection with wood, iron,
and other materials is simply for the purpose of so cultivating the hand as to
enable the mind to attain to a larger and more exact knowledge of things as
they exist in nature and are used in industrial arts. It would therefore be
easy to show that the introduction of manual work into the schools is impor-
tant because of the effect it would have upon the mind itself. The processes
of manual training afford a better means of cultivating the faculties of reason
and judgment than many things which now find place in the courses of instruc-
tion. Measurements, comparisons, the adjustment of means to ends, the co-

8Baker, James H. "The High School as a Finishing-School," Journal of Proceedings
and Addresses of the National Education Association, Vol. 29. Washington: National Edu-
cation Association, 1890, p. 634-35.

Baker was principal of the Denver High School and was also chairman of the com-
mittee which immediately preceded and paved the way for the Committee of Ten.

9Seaver, Edwin P. "Manual Training," Education, 11:501, April, 1891.

20 Bulletin No. 41

operation of mind, hand and eye, all conduce to a broader mental culture than
can be gotten from many of the studies which usurp so large a portion of the
pupils' time."10

(3) Concept of the outcomes of learning. The concept of the
outcomes of learning prevailing about 1890, of which the principal ones
were trained faculties, is reflected in the preceding pages. Knowledge
(memorized facts), ability to translate passages of Latin, ability to
demonstrate a theorem in geometry, and skill in bookkeeping or in
manual training were primarily means of attaining these more import-
ant objectives.11 The following statement relative to the function of the
high school reflects the then current concept of the outcomes of learn-
ing:

I. Its chief function is not to teach pupils how to make horse shoes,
wood-boxes, or bricks.

II. It is not a business college, turning out its graduates armed for the
conflict of life with a copy plate handwriting and so called "business" methods
that business men do not use.

III. It is not a normal school, furnishing its pupils with ready-made
methods of teaching everything under the canopy.

IV. It is not a college, training the boys and girls to discourse learnedly
on psychological and economic questions in which they, and too often their
instructors, are as deeply versed as is the "Cassowary on the plains of Tim-
buctoo." ....

That school only is a high school in the true sense of the word which
furnishes its pupils with high ideals. The development of the intellectual
powers, the receptivity of the mind to new and far-reaching truths, likewise
make easily possible the acceptance of moral truths. These truths it is the
duty of the teacher to emphasize and render vital in the mind of the pupil.
The man who scoffs at sacred things, content with his year's work if he can
show intellectual progress in his pupils and who has no concern for their
moral welfare, has no place in the school-room.12

Status of the curriculum just prior to 1893. Efforts to serve a
dual function and to make the subjects and their organization conform
to the prevailing concepts of the nature of learning and its outcomes
had led the high schools into a chaotic condition of which educators
were becoming decidedly conscious. In consequence, they were be-
ginning to feel the situation to be intolerable. Latin, Greek, algebra
and geometry were subjects of long standing. A technique of teaching
had been worked out for them, and it was generally considered that
their masterv was accompanied by the training of the student's facul-
ties. Hence, these subjects were considered to possess a high educa-
tive value. However, other subjects had been introduced in response

10MacAHster, James. "Manual Training," Education, 11:430-31, March, 1891.

n"The process of education implies the accumulation of information and the training
of the faculties: if harmoniously conducted, the result is the cultured man."

Thorpe. Francis N. "The Study of Current Topics as a Feature of School, Academic
and College Education," Education, 11: 170, November, 1890.

12Cabeen, C. W. "The Place of the Public High School," Education, 10: 537-40, May,
1890.

Curriculum Reconstruction

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Bulletin No. 41

Table II. — Number of Differ-
ent Subjects in Each Field
of Study in the High
Schools of Thirty
North-Central Cities,
1886-90"

to the desire for a finishing school. Even in colonial times, instruction
was given in French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, geography, history,
natural philosophy, astronomy, surveying, navigation, bookkeeping,
and other vocational subjects.13 Stout14 shows that during the period
from 1860 to 1890 a surprisingly large number of subjects were intro-
duced in public high schools. Such
titles as elocution, American literature,
physical geography, civil government,
commercial arithmetic, commercial law,
mental philosophy (psychology), draw-
ing, manual training, and domestic sci-
ence15 reflect a popular demand during
that period for instruction in "practi-
cal" subjects. However, there appears
to have been little uniformity in either
the content of these "new" subjects or
the amount of time devoted to them.

Table I presents a tabulation of the
subjects offered in the high schools of
thirty representative North-Central
cities during the period 1886-90. A
large proportion of the subjects were
"short courses." Of the 583 subjects
for which the time allowance is stated,
167 or 29 per cent were taught for a
third of a year or less ; 286 or 49 per cent a half year or less ; 385 or
66 per cent two-thirds of a year or less ; and only 198 or 35 per cent
were allotted a year or more. This is a condition against which the
Committee of Ten seriously protested.16

Table II shows that the total number of subjects offered in the
high schools of these thirty cities was large (seventy-one), although
distributed over comparatively few fields. The subjects in some of the
fields, notably English and the social studies, had been so multiplied
that there was a large degree of overlapping. It was in these two fields
and in science that the greatest proportion of subjects with a short
time allowance was found. Only one subject, algebra, was offered by
all thirty schools. Botany was a close second, all but one school offer-

Field

Number of
Subjects

Foreign Languages

(Other than Latin). . .
Latin

3
6

Science

Miscellaneous

Total

6
71

•The data for this table were taken
from:

Stout, John Elbert. "The Devel-
opment of High-School Curricula in
the North Central States from 1860 to
1918," Supplementary Educational Mono-
graphs, No. 15. Chicago: University
of Chicago. 1921, p. 277-79.

"Seybolt, Robert Francis. "Source Studies in American Colonial Education, The
Private School," University of Illinois Bulletin, Vol. 23, No. 4, Bureau of Educational Re-
search Bulletin No. 28. Urbana: University of Illinois, 1925. 109 p.

"Stout, John E. "The Development of High-School Curricula in the North Central
States from 1860 to 1918," Supplementary Educational Monographs, No. 15. Chicago: Uni-
versity of Chicago, 1921. 322 p.

15Ibid., p. 71-74.

™See p. 56.

Curriculum Reconstruction

Table III. — Courses Offered by the High Schools of Thirty-five
North-Central Cities, 1886-90a

Name of Course

Academic

Ancient Classical. . . .

Business

Commercial

Commercial-English .

Classical

English

French-English

General

General-Literary- ■ ■ •

Number of
Schools

Name of Course

General Science

German

German-English. . . .

Latin

Latin-English

Latin-German

Modern Classical. . .

Normal

Preparatory- English .
Regular

Number of
Schools

"These data were taken from Stout. Op. oil., p. 47-48.

ing it. At the other extreme were fifteen subjects offered by only one
school of the thirty, and many other subjects offered by only two,
three, or four schools. All thirty schools offered something in each of
four fields : English, mathematics, science, and social studies. In the
other fields, the proportion varied from 83 per cent offering Latin
down to 47 per cent offering subjects classed as miscellaneous.

An examination of the statistics of the various subjects of study
reported by the United States Commissioner of Education for the
school year 1889-90 indicates that in the public secondary schools,
Latin and algebra were the only subjects taken by more than 30 per
cent of all pupils enrolled, and Greek and French were the only ones
pursued by less than 10 per cent. In private schools, Latin and algebra
were again the only ones taken by more than 30 per cent, while Greek
and chemistry were taken by less than 10 per cent. In general, foreign
languages were taught to a less extent in the western division than in
the other divisions of the United States. Otherwise, sectional varia-
tions in both public and private schools were comparatively negligible.

Organization of subjects into courses. Table III presents a tab-
ulation of the courses into which subjects were organized in the high
schools of thirty-five cities.17 One is impressed with the miscellaneous
character of the courses, there being twenty different titles. Other
data show that only fifteen of the thirty-five schools offered more than
one course. Of these, only one offered as many as four courses, and
only two offered as many as five. Stout18 calls attention to the fact
that by 1890 the terminology used to designate courses had become
much less meaningful than had formerly been the case. "Department"
had given way to "course" ; "classical course" and "English course"

17This is a slightly different group from the one for which subject data were presented
in Table II, although it includes most of the thirty cities of the first group.
18Stout. Op. cit., p. 249.

24 Bulletin No. 41

had ceased to be used exclusively to designate courses intended to pre-
pare for higher institutions and for life.

Some causes of the chaotic condition of the curriculum. Stout is
of the opinion that a major cause of the chaotic state of high-school
subjects and courses was the effort of the high schools to meet the
needs of the various classes of children enrolled. He also points out
that college-preparatory courses were undergoing marked change —
Greek ceasing to be a constant and many other subjects being added.
No doubt this was largely due to the liberalizing of college-entrance
requirements, although changes in both unquestionably were recipro-
cally related. Broome shows that the increase in subjects required for
admission was markedly accelerated after 1870. 19 In consequence, the
variation from college to college constantly became more pronounced.
However, Table IV shows that it was marked as early as 1870. Al-
though the data are confined to one of the newer fields, the same sort
of variation can be found in the old established subjects, such as
Latin.

For the most part, the high schools had attempted to work out
their destinies without assistance from higher institutions. Prior to
1890, a few colleges and universities, such as Columbia College, Har-
vard University, and the state universities of Michigan, Minnesota,
Indiana, and California, had initiated schemes of inspecting and ac-
crediting high schools, and were holding annual conferences between
groups of colleges and high schools. Associations of secondary schools
and colleges were beginning to be organized — the Xew England Asso-
ciation of Colleges and Secondary (Preparatory) Schools being formed
in 1884, and the Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools of the
Middle States and Maryland being organized in 1887 as the College
Association of Pennsylvania. These represent the beginning of or-
ganized attempts to promote harmony between colleges and secondary
schools. Previously, the influence of the colleges had been exerted in
the main through independent formulation of entrance requirements.

By the nineties, the chaotic condition of the high-school curricu-
lum and of college-entrance requirements, the lack of articulation be-
tween the high schools and colleges, and the attempt of the high
schools to serve two functions, resulted in a situation ripe for some
action to bring order out of chaos.20

"Broome, Edwin Cornelius. "A Historical and Critical Discussion of College Admis-
sion Requirements," Columbia University Contributions to Philosophy, Psychology end Edu-
cation, Vol. 11, Nos. 3-4, 1903, p. 6 1 f .

20Stout's investigation shows that the chaotic condition of the secondary-school curric-
ulum about 1890 was not markedly different from that of preceding periods. In fact, there
were some tendencies toward greater stability than at any previous time, particularly in the
amount of time devoted to various fields and the number of schools having subject offerings

Curriculum Reconstruction

Table IV. — Historical and Geographical Subjects Required for
Admission to College in 187f>

Institution

Subjects

Institution

Subjects

Columbia. . . .

Geography, Ancient and Modern

Michigan

Roman and Greek History
U. S. History, to close of Revo-
lution

Roman and Greek History
Geography

Ancient and Modern Geography
Physical Geography

Harvard

History of Greece and Rome
Ancient and Modern Geography
Elements of Physical Geography

Princeton

Yale

Geography, Ancient and Modern
Geography

"Data for this table taken from Broome. Op. cit., p. 53.

Criticisms of secondary education prior to 1893.21 Naturally,
this chaotic condition led to many criticisms of the secondary school,
particularly the public high school. Several statements already made
indicate that there was some dissatisfaction with secondary education,
but an examination of the proceedings of educational associations and
the files of educational periodicals reveals many vociferous critics.
Many of the statements bear close resemblance to much of what we
hear on every side today. William T. Harris, then United States
Commissioner of Education, is quoted as having said: "It has been
agreed on all hands that the most defective part of the education in
this country is that of secondary schools."22 J. Remsen Bishop23 identi-
fied two groups of those who wished to be constructive critics of sec-
ondary education. The first was composed of those who had what he
termed the "independent high-school idea." Their watchwords were :
"The best equipment for living," and "The greatest good to the great-
est number." They stood for a broad course which should "lay the
foundation — supply the rudimentary data — of the greatest practicable
number of liberal studies, defining liberal studies as those which 're-
gard rather intellectual improvement than the necessity of subsistence'."
They believed that eventually the colleges would accept their gradu-

in certain fields. Some subjects, particularly mental philosophy, moral philosophy, classical
antiquities, ancient geography, and all higher mathematics except trigonometry, had prac-
tically disappeared by 1890. On the other hand, the number of subjects and courses was
steadily increasing and the terminology applied to subjects and courses was becoming ever
less meaningful.

21In considering criticisms of secondary education one must ever keep in mind that
there was little uniformity in practice, and hence many of the criticisms were not generally
applicable. Furthermore, different critics saw the schools from different points of view and as
a result practices that were laudatory in the eyes of some were severely condemned by others.

22Lynch, Charles P. "Is it True that the Most Defective Part of Education in This
Country is in the Secondary Schools?" Journal of Proceedings and Addresses of the Na-
tional Education Association, Vol. 33. Washington: National Education Association, 1894,
p. 745-51. Apparently this refers to a letter of transmittal which accompanied the first 30,000
copies of the "Report of the Committee of Ten" which were printed by the U. S. Bureau of
Education.

23Bishop, J. Remsen. "The Future of the American High School," School Review,
3: 287-93, May, 1895.

Although this appeared in 1895, it was just as applicable in 1890.

26 Bulletin No. 41

ates. The second group was composed of those who had what he
termed the "trans-oceanic idea." Their watchwords were : "A few
things thoroughly," and "Coordination of the high school with the col-
lege." However, the "few things" proved to be the traditional col-
lege-preparatory subjects or those which were being rapidly introduced
as such.

The chief criticism of the objectives of secondary education was
relative to the lack of preparation for life and citizenship. It was fre-
quently maintained that the high school was too much of a fitting
school. In a somewhat more fundamental way it was occasionally
pointed out that there was a lack of purpose on the part of the sec-
ondary schools. The following quotations are illustrative.

"If he [an elementary school pupil] looks forward to the high school in
that city, he finds himself contemplating a four years' course in an institution
modeled on the plan of the university-fitting school of a generation ago; — four
years of cramming in Latin and mathematics, with a little dabbling in science
and a mild flirtation with English literature, under a faithful group of teachers
who honestly believe the present educational methods a mischievous falling away
from 'the good old times.' So, in a city of 60,000, requiring the most rigorous
training of at least 5,000 boys, by the best methods, to the age of fifteen, with
a generous high school course, adapted to the needs of at least three classes
of students, a few hundred boys stagger on to the age of twelve, possibly a
hundred and fifty begin the high school course, half of them falling out, and
not a hundred receive the education adequate to a real career in any depart-
ment of life. Meanwhile, a serene school committee of 'eminent citizens,'
advised by the superintendent, publishes to the world the fact that the schools
of their budding metropolis are 'as near perfection as can be attained' ; con-
gratulating themselves that the half dozen boys graduated from the upper
story become the 'honor students' in the same narrow course of study at the
university. This is neither a fancy sketch nor a portrait of a solitary place.
It represents a condition of affairs that exists, today, in the majority of towns
and cities of five thousand and upwards in the United States."24

In commenting on this editorial, Frank E. Plummer said :

"No one surpasses me in enthusiastic confidence in the American high
school. Yet I do not believe it has fulfilled its mission. That the high school
of the present does not secure proper and sufficient results in its efforts to
develop the typical American citizen is evidenced by the growing and wide-
spread feeling which has settled into a determination to effect radical changes
in certain directions

"They [the assertions of the editorial] mirror the feeling of unrest which
seems to pervade the general public — an unrest which calls, loudly and impera-
tively, for a readjustment of the high school, that the needs of the present and
the future may be more fully conserved."25

"Michigan school men have been so lost in the idea of a great educational
ladder, 'with one end in the gutter and the other in the university,' that they
have failed to realize the fact that the masses can climb but the first few

"Editorial, Education, 11:638-39, June. 1891.

^Plummer, Frank E. "The Future High School," Journal of Proceedings and Ad-
dresses of the National Education Association, Vol. 30. Washington: National Education
Association, 1891, p. 622-23.

Curriculum Reconstruction 27

rounds, and that a landing should be provided for them. The}' consider the
high schools as but feeders to the University, and that every scholar must
take one of the University preparatory courses, whether he is ever to attend
the University or not."26

A number of critics called attention to the lack of articulation of
the high school with the other units of the educational system.

"The weak points in the public-school system seem to be the transitions —
transition from the grammar to the high school, and transition from the high
school to the college. Undoubtedly many pupils drop out at the end of the
grammar-school course and fail to carry their education further, only, or at
least principally, because of the length of the step from the school they have
been attending to the high school

"If the high school could thus be brought closer to the college, a more
perfect differentiation of their respective functions would be attainable. In the
first place such subjects as psychology, logic, the philosophy of ethics, would
be recognized as necessarily belonging to the college, and they would be dropped
from the high-school course. Less obvious but not less important would be
another change, which would inevitably occur, in high-school aims and methods
rather than in the scheme of studies. The high-school teacher would see more
clearly just what he is called upon to do, just what kind of instruction he
should give, just how far he should seek to carry his pupils. And it is just
here that some powerful checking influence is needed in our high-school
methods. We are in great danger, in getting beyond our pupils, of resorting
too much to college methods; of exhausting, or rather of trying and pretending
to exhaust the subject. If both teacher and pupil see the college plainly before
them there will be less of this vain, and worse than vain, attempt to cover
the whole subject and finish it up. It will be easier for each to content himself
with such an introduction to various fields as is proper to the high-school age,
each having constantly before the mind the fact that just ahead is a school —
the college — in which the same studies are pursued further, deeper, higher."27

Criticism of secondary education was by no means confined to
those officially connected with our schools. Some of the most severe
criticisms were made by laymen. Their interest in secondary educa-
tion may be inferred from the alacrity with which the Report of the
Committee of Ten was seized upon by the press of the nation. In a
bibliography2S on this subject published in 1894, references are made
to articles (frequently editorials) in the following non-educational
periodicals: Outlook, Dial, Harper's Weekly, and Atlantic Monthly.
The following defensive statements reflect criticism that had been
leveled at the school by laymen.

The Boston Herald scholarships of some months ago, have called wide-
spread attention to a fact that has been patent to men and women of observa-
tion for many years, viz., that public school graduates of these latter days

26MacKibbin, Stuart. "Preparation for Citizenship in Michigan," Education, 10:411-12.
March, 1890.

"Dougherty, X. C. Discussion of an address by Charles W. Eliot, "The Gap Between
the Elementary Schools and the Colleges," Journal of Proceedings and Addresses of the
National Education Association, Vol. 29. Washington: National Education Association, 1890,
p. 533-34.

^"References on the Report of the Committee of Ten, and on the Policy of the State
toward Education," School Review, 2: 558-61, November, 1894.

28 Bulletin No. 41

appear to have profited but little by their years of study of the English

language

When parents learn that they are the teachers of their children, and that
Miss Normal Graduate is only an efficient assistant provided by the state,
complaints of the insufficiency of the schools will not be so frequent.29

Concluding statement. The secondary-school situation in the
United States just prior to the report made by the Committee of Ten
may be summarized in the following brief fashion.

1. Although the academy was still an important factor, the public
high school was firmly established, succeeding the Latin grammar
school and the academy as the dominant type of secondary school.

2. A serious conflict existed between the "fitting" and "finishing"
functions, placing the high school in a compromising position in the
effort to serve both.

3. The concept of learning conformed to the doctrine of formal
discipline; a child's mind consisted of faculties which were trained or
disciplined by doing school tasks.

4. A decidedly chaotic condition existed with reference to the sub-
jects offered and their organization into courses (departments or cur-
ricula), a condition brought about chiefly by the effort to serve the
dual function of secondary education and to make the work com-
patible with the accepted theory of learning and its outcomes, aggra-
vated by the variegated character of college-entrance requirements.

5. The secondary school was receiving vigorous criticism from
both educators and laymen. The most significant criticisms were
leveled at the purposes of the secondary school, and through them
directed at the subject offerings.

29Chase, Frank. "Engiish in the Schools," Education, 11: 123-24, October, 1890.

CHAPTER III
CURRICULUM RECONSTRUCTION: OBJECTIVES

The curriculum concept amplified. In Chapter I, the conclusion
was reached that the curriculum should be thought of as consisting
of three phases: (1) objectives, (2) materials of instruction, and (3)
learning exercises. This concept of the curriculum implies certain
educational principles. It is a generally accepted psychological prin-
ciple that a person learns only as a result of his own activity: physical,
mental, and emotional. All activity is educative, but frequently educa-
tion is not its primary function. In order to designate activity whose
primary function is educative, "learning" is added as a qualifying
term. Hence, any activity whose primary function is the education of
the participant is a "learning activity."

Although some learning activities originate with the learner and
constitute attempts to realize his own purposes, most of them are re-
sponses to requests made by the teacher. A request, explicit or im-
plicit, to do something is called an exercise. In order to differentiate
exercises whose primary function is educative from those having some
other purpose, particularly the measurement of achievement, "learn-
ing" is added as a qualifying term. Hence, any request whose primary
function is the education of the doer is a "learning exercise." Learning
activities are responses to learning exercises.

Many learning exercises are requests to respond to or to do
something with certain materials,1 which, because of their use for the
purposes of instruction, may well be called "materials of instruction."
They are of three general classes : first, verbal statements of facts,
principles, arguments, descriptions, and the like; second, physical ob-
jects that a pupil observes, usually by seeing;2 and third, physical ma-
terials that the pupil manipulates, such as those in the laboratory or
shop.

Learning activity produces changes in the participant : he acquires
new habits, new principles, new attitudes, and the like. These products
or outcomes of learning are called abilities or achievements. Since,
however, they function as determinants of future behavior, they are
frequently designated as "controls of conduct." Three types are desig-

1Some learning exercises, such as many thought questions, simply request the learner
to do something with information already in his possession and cannot be said to involve
materials of instruction.

2This class includes such materials as slides, moving pictures, and phonograph records
which are used to furnish observational materials. In some respects these are more closely
related to verbal statements than to the class of observable materials.

30 Bulletin No. 41

nated by the terms "specific habits," "knowledge," and "general pat-
terns of conduct."3

The outcomes of learning which are set up as the aims or goals
of education or of a division of the educational system are commonly
termed "objectives." Thus, one ma}- refer to the objectives of the
high school, of junior-high-school mathematics, or of a lesson in Eng-
lish literature. Those educational goals which are stated in terms of
controls of conduct are designated as "control objectives," a term
used because it is more meaningful than the more commonly used
equivalent, "immediate objectives." The latter has acquired numerous
peculiarities of usage which have vitiated its value where exactness of
meaning is desirable. Educational goals stated in terms of the be-
havior or conduct of educated persons or groups are designated as
"conduct objectives," a term used because of its meaningful character
as compared with its more frequently used equivalent, "ultimate ob-
jectives." Educational goals, whether conduct objectives or control
objectives, thought of in broad, general terms, are designated as "gen-
eral objectives" as a means of distinguishing them from goals of a
more detailed nature which are called "specific objectives."

With this discussion as a background, the description of the cur-
riculum as consisting of objectives, both control and conduct, materials
of instruction, and learning exercises, is somewhat more meaningful.
Although both control and conduct objectives are included, the former
occupy the more prominent position in the curriculum. They are more
direct determiners of materials of instruction and learning exercises.
On the other hand, conduct objectives are more fundamental to cur-
riculum thinking. They must be clearly conceived in order that a
proper selection of control objectives may be made. As has already
been pointed out in Chapter I, learning exercises, although an essential
part of the curriculum, have been dealt with only incidentally by most
curriculum-makers, being left in the main to be devised by textbook
writers and especially by teachers as a phase of their daily teaching
tasks.

The central problems of curriculum-making. Inasmuch as most
curriculum-makers in the field of secondary education have dealt with
learning exercises in an incidental way only, the central problems of
curriculum-making have to do with the first two phases of the cur-
riculum: objectives and materials of instruction. Each of these affords
the basis for a group of related problems. For example, the question,

'Monroe, Walter S. Directing Learning in the High School. Garden City, New York:
Doubleday, Page and Company, 1927, p. 30-31.

Curriculum Reconstruction 31

What should be the objectives of secondary education? leads to such
problems as : What are the proper general functions of the secondary
school? For what children should the curriculum be planned? What
phases of life should be included by the conduct objectives? Should
differentiation be made in objectives for different groups of children?
The question, What should be the materials of instruction of secondary
education and how should they be organized? requires that attention
be given to such problems as : What materials of instruction are best
adapted to a realization of accepted objectives of secondary education?
How will the selection of materials be affected by the administrative
organization of the schools? What is the proper grade-placement and
sequence of selected materials of instruction? What differences in
materials of instruction are desirable for different ability groups?

Each of these lists of subordinate questions might be extended,
but those stated indicate how the numerous smaller problems of cur-
riculum-making center around the two problems : What should be the
objectives of secondary education? and, What should be the materials
of instruction of secondary education and how should they be or-
ganized ?4

The problems of the following chapters. The statement of the
problem given in Chapter I has three major divisions : the first
deals with the trends of the past thirty-five years relative to objectives,
the second with the trends relative to the selection and organization of
materials of instruction, and the third with present trends relative to
both objectives and materials of instruction. In order to present an
adequate discussion of the very complex problem and at the same time
to avoid confusion, an analytical form of treatment is necessary. The
following titles of this and the succeeding chapters give a general view
of the way in which this discussion is organized.

Chapter III. Curriculum Reconstruction : Objectives

Chapter IV. Curriculum Reconstruction : Selection and Organiza-
tion of Materials of Instruction, Assuming a Four- Year High
School

Chapter V. Curriculum Reconstruction : Selection and Organiza-
tion of Materials of Instruction, Assuming a Junior-Senior
High School

Chapter VI. Curriculum Reconstruction : Selection and Organiza-
tion of Materials of Instruction so as to Secure Adaptation
to Individual Differences

4On logical grounds, it is apparent that this latter problem is essentially two. How-
ever, the two are so inextricably intermingled and interdependent that an arbitrary distinc-
tion leads one into serious confusion. This is especially true because of the complicating
influence of such factors as the administrative organization of the educational system and
provision for individual differences.

32 Bulletin No. 41

A final chapter summarizes the trends discussed in the chapters
just outlined and indicates trends that are apparent in thinking about
the secondary-school curriculum today.

This chapter: the development of the objectives of secondary
education since 1893. Aside from an almost incidental mention of the
general function of the secondary school, the Committee of Ten did
not recognize objectives; they did not use the term. The Commission
on the Reorganization of Secondary Education thirty-five years later
made their report primarily a statement of objectives; they made con-
stant use of the term. During this interval of thirty-five years, a very
complex development occurred : the group of children for whom the
secondary school was planned was greatly expanded, the "fitting" and
"finishing" functions became oriented to each other, the importance
of objectives was given recognition, explicit distinctions were made
between ultimate and immediate objectives, the scope of conduct for
which the school was designed to contribute preparation was extended,
the concept of controls of conduct was changed, and within the sec-
ondary school a differentiation of objectives with respect to individual
differences was made. These several phases of secondary-school de-
velopment are naturally interrelated in the most complex manner. One
can scarcely be considered without introducing the others. However,
each is considered in turn in the following pages of this chapter.

Extension of the group of children for whom the secondary
school is planned. Although the Committee of Ten explicitly re-
jected the principle that the dominant purpose of the secondary school
is to prepare its students for college, they thought of the secondary
school as being designed for "that small proportion of all the children
in the country — a proportion small in number, but very important to
the welfare of the nation — who show themselves able to profit by an
education prolonged to the eighteenth year, and whose parents are able
to support them while they remain so long at school."5

The Committee on College Entrance Requirements considered the
secondary school primarily from the point of view of the college-
preparatory function, but they seem to have thought of secondary edu-
cation as being designed for a larger and less select group of children
than did the Committee of Ten. "We must bear in mind that the vast
majority of our pupils — those for whom the course should be planned
— will not continue their education beyond the high school."6 "A very

^"Report of the Committee of Ten on Secondary School Studies." New York: Ameri-
can Book Company, 1894, p. 51.

6"Report of the Committee on College Entrance Requirements." Washington: Na-
tional Education Association, 1899, p. 91.

Curriculum Reconstruction 33

large majority of the pupils who attend our secondary schools are of
the middle class, a very respectable minority are of the poorer class,
and only a small fraction are from the homes of the rich."7 One other
"straw" pointing in the same direction is the following statement :

In pleading for uniformity in college-entrance requirements, there are a
few vital facts which cannot be ignored : First, the triple function of the
public high school, viz., to equip pupils for the business of life, to give a proper
training to those who will teach in the common schools, and to prepare for
college.8

The Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education
stated that they favored "such reorganization that secondary education
may be defined as applying to all pupils of approximately 12 to 18
years of age."9 This point of view is also reflected by other state-
ments : "Since a large proportion of pupils leave school in each of the
successive years, each subject should be so organized that the first
year of work will be of definite value to those who go no further ; and
this principle should be applied to the work of each year."10 Further-
more, the Commission would have "suitable instruction" provided for
"all pupils who are in any respect so mature that they would derive
more benefit from the secondary school than from the elementary
school."11

These statements make it clear that in 1918 this group of leading
thinkers in the field of secondary education definitely rejected the prin-
ciple that the secondary school should be planned for a highly select
group of children. They would have the curriculum planned for all
pupils of secondary-school age rather than for the select group "who
show themselves able to profit by an education prolonged to the
eighteenth year, and whose parents are able to support them while they
remain so long at school."

By 1918, this principle, which represents a revolutionary change
in thinking about secondary education, had been accepted, at least in
theory, by many local communities and was reflected in the more ad-
vanced educational practice. The trend since this date has been toward
a more general acceptance and application of this principle in planning
our program of secondary education. However, recent studies of the
secondary-school population have revealed that the children attending
high school still form a select group. In reporting a careful study of
the high-school population in four representative cities, Counts says :

"'Op. cit., p. 41.

blbid., p. 8. A quotation from a semi-official report of the chairman of the Committee
on College Entrance Requirements in the School Review of June, 1896. Accepted and ap-
proved by the Committee.

9"Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education," U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin,
1918, No. 35. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1918, p. 11.

wIbid., p. 17.

"Ibid., p. 19. Printed in italics in the original.

34 Bulletin Xo. 41

"In the light of the facts revealed in this study, it is clear that we are
very far from the realization of this ideal [the universalization of edu-
cation] in our own country, at least in so far as secondary education
is concerned In a very large measure participation in the priv-
ileges of a secondary education is contingent on social and economic
status."12 This situation may be explained as the inevitable lag of
practice behind theory, but it appears that those who plan our second-
ary schools are not thinking as yet in terms of "all the children of all
the people." Occasionally the desirability of completely universalizing
secondary education is frankly questioned. In most cases this has been
prompted by the burden of taxation for public high schools, but other
factors have contributed.

Subordination of the "fitting" function. In Chapter II it was
shown that prior to 1893 most of the thinking about the objectives of
the secondary school related to the conflict between the "finishing"
and "fitting" functions. The Committee of Ten explicitly advocated
the "finishing" function: "The secondary schools of the United States,
taken as a whole, do not exist for the purpose of preparing boys and

girls for colleges Their main function is to prepare for the

duties of life The preparation of a few pupils for college or

scientific school should in the ordinary secondary school be the inci-
dental, and not the principal object."13 Furthermore, the Committee
supported the proposition that when secondary-school courses were
arranged in accord with the principles laid down by them, "the col-
leges and scientific schools should be accessible to all boys and girls
who have completed creditably the secondary school course."14 The
Committee of Ten also accepted the principle, "that every subject
which is taught at all in a secondary school should be taught in the
same way and to the same extent to every pupil so long as he pursues
it, no matter what the probable destination of the pupil may be, or at
what point his education is to cease."15

In spite of these explicit pronouncements in favor of the "finish-
ing" function of the secondary school, the Report appears to have
encouraged domination by the colleges and scientific schools. This
reaction was probably due to the fact that the Report designated the
content of certain subjects and recommended four "school pro-
grammes." Furthermore, the personnel of the Committee and of the

"Counts, G. S. "The Selective Character of American Secondary Education," Supple-
mentary Educational Monographs, No. 19. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1922, p. 149.

""Report of the Committee of Ten on Secondary School Studies." New York: Ameri-
can Book Company, 1894, p. 51-52.

"Ibid., p. 52.

™Ibid., p. 17.

Curriculum Reconstruction 35

several conferences, the sponsorship of the National Education Asso-
ciation, and the publication of the report by the Federal Bureau of
Education tended to make the recommendations authoritative. Since
both the Committee of Ten and the several conferences were domi-
nated by members from colleges, their recommendations had the ap-
proval of higher institutions, which were glad to utilize the Report
as a means of promoting uniformity in secondary schools.

The influence of the Committee of Ten was supplemented by the
recommendations of the Committee on College Entrance Requirements
of the National Education Association,16 appointed in 1895 and re-
porting in 1899. With the assistance of committees of specialists, this
committee outlined ideal and practical "courses of study" which con-
stituted "so many national norms, or units, out of which any school
may make up as rich a program of studies as its means and facilities
permit ; a program, moreover, which may be made to yield several
curriculums, or, possibly, almost as many curriculums as there are
students, each curriculum perhaps being better than the others, from
an individual point of view."17 By defining "national norms, or units,"
in Latin, Greek, French, German, history, mathematics, and biological
and physical science, all of which were already accepted college-
preparatory subjects, the Committee on College Entrance Require-
ments assisted the high schools in fulfilling a "fitting" function. On
the other hand, it gave little consideration to the "finishing" function.
Of course, the Committee was not appointed to consider the latter, but
even so, such a close relationship exists between the two functions (as
was clearly recognized by the Committee of Ten) that it seems
impossible to consider the one adequately without at least defining the
accepted status of the other.

Broadly speaking, the period from about 1890 until about the end
of the first decade of the twentieth century marked an ascendancy of
the "fitting" function of public high schools. In other words, during
this period the domination of secondary education by the colleges
reached its high-water mark. However, the high schools were growing
rapidly. Large numbers of pupils who had little or no intention of
going on to college were attending the high schools, and tended to in-
crease greatly the enrollment in the newer, more "practical" courses

lcCooperating committees of three members each were appointed by each of the four
sectional associations: New England Association of Colleges and Preparatory Schools, Asso-
ciation of Colleges and Preparatory Schools of the Middle States and Maryland, North Cen-
tral Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, and Association of Colleges and Sec-
ondary Schools of the Southern States. Cooperating committees were also appointed by the
Philological Association, Science Department of the National Education Association, the
American Historical Association, the Modern Language Association, and the American
Mathematical Society.

""Report of the Committee on College Entrance Requirements." Washington: Na-
tional Education Association, 1899, p. 43.

36 Bulletin Xo. 41

and to give them standing. A larger number of graduates of the high
schools were going on to college, but many found entrance denied
them because they had taken some of the "newer" subjects instead of
those specified as prerequisites for admission to college.

By about 1910 the increase in the number of public high schools
had placed them in a position to be independent of the colleges to a
much greater degree than before. They were slowly awakening to a
consciousness of their power and were becoming restive under the
restraint of the colleges which they had previously accepted willingly,
almost with avidity. On the other hand, the colleges, recognizing their
dependence upon preparatory institutions, began to accede to the pro-
posals of the high schools. A number of colleges, especially those oc-
cupying positions of leadership, such as Harvard and the University
of Chicago, were coming to a different and more tolerant understand-
ing of the high schools and were beginning to encourage them to rede-
fine their purposes. The following statement epitomizes the position
of the high schools with reference to the colleges in 1910. It was
issued under date of May 7, 1910, by the High School Teachers Asso-
ciation of New York City.

We believe that the interests of the forty thousand boys and girls who
annually attend the nineteen high schools of this city cannot be wisely and
fully served under present college-entrance requirements. Our experience seems
to prove the existence of a wide discrepancy between "preparation for life"
and "preparation for college" as defined by college-entrance requirements.

The attempt to prepare the student for college under the present require-
ments and at the same time to teach him such other subjects as are needed for
life is unsatisfactory. Under these conditions the student often has too much
to do. The quality of all his work is likely to suffer. The additional subjects
are slighted because they do not count for admission to college. In such a
course it is impossible for the student to give these subjects as much time and
energy- as social conditions demand.19

On July 6, 1910, the Department of Secondary Education of the
National Education Association adopted a resolution recommending a
liberalizing of college-entrance requirements. This led to the appoint-
ment of the Committee of Nine on the Articulation of High School and
College which reported to the Department at the meetings of July 11,
1911. July 9, 1912, and July 9, 10. and 11. 1913. From this committee
sprang the Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education19
which took the point of view that they must consider all education (in-
formal as well as formal") before formal education in general and sec-
ondary education in particular could be understood intelligently. They

li'" Report of the Committee of Nine on the Articulation of High School and College,"
Journal of Proceedings and Addresses of the Xational Education Association, Vol. 49.
Washington: National Education Association, 1911, p. 564.

19The chairman of the original Committee of Nine, Clarence D. Kingsley, was made
chairman of the Commission.

Curriculum Reconstruction 37

postulated that there are three major factors to be considered: (1)
changes in society, (2) changes in the secondary-school population,
and (3) changes in educational thinking. From this foundation they
formulated a statement of the goal of a democracy and of the function
of education in general, enumerated seven objectives of all education,
defined the role of secondary education in achieving these objectives in
relation to the preceding and succeeding divisions of the educational
system, and finally attempted to outline the nature of the administra-
tive organization and curriculum of the high school which would be
most effective in contributing to a realization of the objectives formu-
lated.

The contributions of the Commission on the Reorganization of
Secondary Education. The contributions of the Commission on the
Reorganization of Secondary Education to an amicable settlement of
the struggle between the "finishing" and "fitting" functions of the
public high school may be summarized as follows :

1. The Commission defined the relation of secondary education
to the other divisions of the educational system, saying that "the sec-
ondary school should admit all pupils who would derive greater bene-
fit from the secondary than from the elementary school" and that
"higher institutions of learning" should admit all "those whose needs
are no longer met by the secondary school and are disposed to con-
tinue their education."

2. Subjects should be taught in the secondary school with direct
reference to the probable vocational future of the pupils. For ex-
ample, chemistry should be taught differently for agriculture, home
economics, commercial, and college-preparatory students.

3. Curricula should be organized and named along vocational
lines, e.g., home economics, industrial, commercial, and so forth, rather
than in terms such as the Committee of Ten used.

4. Thus, the primary function of the high school is that of a
"finishing" school with the "fitting" function secondary and incidental.

This is essentially a return to the fundamental position of the
Committee of Ten, that "the secondary schools of the United States,
taken as a whole, do not exist for the purpose of preparing boys and

girls for colleges Their main function is to prepare for the

duties of life The preparation of a few pupils for college or

scientific school should in the ordinary secondary school be the inci-
dental, and not the principal, object."

However, the two differed as to the proper means of attaining
the end sought. The Committee of Ten held that the essential of sec-

38 Bulletin Xo. 41

ondary education was vigorous mental training which would prepare
the mind to operate with equal efficiency in all adult activities. The
Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education stood for
extreme differentiation of the curriculum with reference to the prob-
able vocational future of the pupils. Or, to state these two positions
somewhat differently, the Committee of Ten held that : That education
which fits best for college is also best for life; the Commission on Re-
organization of Secondary Education held that : That education which
will best develop an individual as a member of democratic society
should be accepted by institutions of higher learning as satisfactory
preparation for entrance.

Recognition of the importance of objectives. As the group of
children for whom the secondary school was planned grew to include
all children of secondary-school age and the "fitting" function came to
take a subordinate position, educators recognized an urgent need to
formulate more definite goals of secondary education. This increase
in the recognition of the importance of objectives has been an impor-
tant trend in our thinking about the objectives of the secondary school.
Outside of statements relating to the general purpose of the secondary
school, the Report of the Committee of Ten contains only incidental
reference to objectives. In fact, the faculty psychology in terms of
which the Committee and the members of the several conferences did
their thinking eliminated much of the need for considering conduct
objectives. The "trained faculties," which were accepted as the con-
trol objectives, were considered as general controls of conduct which,
if acquired, would function in all activities of out-of-school life.

The "Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education" by the Com-
mission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education in 1918 stands
out in sharp contrast to the Report of the Committee of Ten. The
former is primarily a statement of objectives, because the Commission
regarded the formulation of objectives as fundamental. "No curricu-
lum in the secondary school can be regarded as satisfactory unless
it gives due attention to each of the objectives of education outlined
herein."20 "The objectives must determine the organization [of the
curriculum] or else the organization will determine the objectives."2

It is significant that within a period of twenty-five years the lead-
ing thinkers about secondary education became conscious of the
fundamental importance of determining objectives as a prerequisite
step in selecting and organizing materials of instruction. The work oi

^"Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education," £7. 5. Bureau of Education Bulletin,
1918, Xo. 55. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1918, p. 20.
2Vbid., p.27.

Curriculum Reconstruction* 39

the Committee of Ten centered largely around the question: What
topics, or parts, of the several subjects may reasonably be covered dur-
ing the four years of the high school? They approached the task of cur-
riculum construction from the point of view of the subject-matter
specialist. Their interpretation of the question just stated might be
expressed : What topics should be included in order to have a sys-
tematized and logical treatment of the subject? Some of the confer-
ences, especially the one on "history, civil government, and political
economy," appear to have given some consideration to the "practical"
value of the subject-matter, but their point of view was primarily that
of the subject-matter specialist. Twenty-five years later another group
of leaders in secondary education approached the task of curriculum
construction from a fundamentally different point of view. In effect,
they accepted the principle that the purpose of secondary education
should be recognized as the basic criterion in the selection of materials
of instruction.

Explicit distinction between conduct and control objectives.
Since 1893, and especially since the ascendancy of the "finishing"
function, significant changes have been made in the concept of the ob-
jectives of secondary education. Among these changes is the tendency
to distinguish between ultimate (conduct) objectives and immediate
(control) objectives. This distinction was made by Herbart22 as early
as 1835 and may be found in older writings. Thorndike pointed it out
more than twenty years ago.

These aims of education in general — good will to men, useful and happy
lives, and noble enjoyment — are the ultimate aims of school education in
particular

The special proximate aims of school life from twelve to eighteen are
commonly taken to be physical health and skill ; knowledge of the simpler
general laws of nature and human life and of opinions of the wisest and best;
more effective use of the expressive arts; interests in the arts and sciences,
and in human life both as directly experienced and as portrayed in literature;
powers of self-control, accuracy, steadiness and logical thought, technical and
executive abilities, cooperation and leadership ; habits of self-restraint, honor,
courage, justice, sympathy and reverence; and the ideals proper to youth.23

The term "ultimate objectives" suggests goals to be attained at
some time subsequent to the period of secondary education. "Imme-
diate objectives" suggests those to be attained during this period. This

22Herbart, John Frederick. (Translated and annotated by Lange, Alexis F. and De
Girmo, Charles) Outlines of Educational Doctrine. New York: The Macmillan Company,
1901, p. 44-45.

This was originally published in 1835, with a second edition in 1841, as Uniriss
padagogischer Vorlesungcn, usually translated Outline of Pedagogical Lectures.

23Thorndike, E. L. The Principles of Teaching. New York: A. G. Seller, 1906, p. 3-4.

S. C. Parker, in Methods of Teaching in High Schools, first published in 1915, em-
phasized this distinction.

40 BcLLETrx Xo. 41

interpretation appears to be rather generally accepted, but other dif-
ferer.; - s inetimes recognized. Probably the most helpful contrast
is the one in which ultimate objectives are thought c : as : hsisting
specifications of the out-of-school conduct or behavior of educated
persons or groups of educated persons, and immediate objt
considered to represent abilities or controls of conduct. According to
this interpretation, the distinction is made on the basis of certain ob-
jectives being means for the realization of others, rather than on the
basis of remoteness or nearness. It is of course true that no sharp
line of demarcation can be drawn between the two types of obje:
If a description of conduct is made sufficiently detailed, it specifies
abilities and hence is virtually a statement of immediate objective-
the other hand, descriptions of abilities made in sufficiently g^
terms, tend to become ultimate objectives rather than immediate ones.

This interpretation of the terms "immediate objectives"" and "ulti-
mate objectives"' is not generally recognized, but the - lence that
:ognition is growing. The present tendency toward very detailed
and definite objectives :s essentially an endeavor to specify the par-
ticular abilities to be engendered.2* Since we appear to be moving to-
ward this interpretation of the two types of obje;: es the present
writers are inclined to substitute "conduct objectives"' and "control
objectives" for the terms "immediate objectives" and "ultimate ob-

res."

Extension of the scope of conduct for which the secondary school
should assume responsibility. Faculty psychology, in terms of which

mmittee of Ten did their thinking, eliminated the necessi:
an analysis of out-of-school conduct. "Trained faculties .ere con-
sidered to constitute efficient equipment for all duties. Consequently,
:ices to the scope of conduct are vague. In one place— the Report
states that the "main function"' of the secondary school is "to prepare
for the duties of life." but there is no explanation of what the phrase,
"duties of life," was intended to include. In summarizing the report
of the Conference on History-. Civil Government, and Political Econ-
omy, the Committee called attention to the Conferences 'belief in the
efficiency of these studies in training the judgment, and in preparing
children for intellectual enjoyments in after its, and for the ex-
ercise at maturity of a salutary influence upon national affairs. Y -

Application of job-analysis techniques in determining the duties to be per
~:"d represents attempts to determine what items of conduct should

a"Report of the Committee of Ten on Secondary School Stuc: -
look Company, 1S9*. p. 51.

Curriculum Reconstruct! 41

cational activities, at least those classified as ": appear to

have been recognized. Hence it is possible to identify three rubrics of
adult conduct: leisure-time activities, citizenship, and occupations.
These, however, were not clearly defined.

The Committee on College Entrance Requirements also did their
thinking in terms of faculty psychology, tinctured with Herbartianism,
which ipso facto almost precluded their giving much consideration to
analysis of out-of-school conduct. However, they did recognize the
"later work of life." which seems to have meant work of a vocational
nature, for they hastened to add '"social and civil duties."27 Elsewhere,
in stating the case for economics, they remarked that "all citizens are
called upon to take sides in the discussion and decision of important
economic questions."2- In discussing the prerequisites lor technical
schools, they recognized the contributions of high-school training for
---ssional careers."26 They also placed value upon modern foreign
langu; ig< - undation for "an accomplishment that may become

useful in business and travel."30 Thus, one may identify the same three
rubrics of adult activities as those previously abstracted from the re-
port of the Committee of Ten < leisure time, citizenship, and occupa-
tions) with the addition of an even more vaguely defined rubric, social
activities.

In the second paragraph of the report of the Commission on the
Reorganization of Secondary Education, attention is called to "three
dominant phas- - : life which demand a greater "degree of intelli-
gence and efficiency on the part of every citizen" than can be secured
through elementary education alone. The Commission continued by
calling attention to the decrease in the education afforded by "social
agencies other than the school" and the consequent : essity of recog-
nizing other phases of life in thinking about the function of secondary
education. The exposition of objectives is given in terms of -
rubrics of activities: 1 health, 2 command of fundamental pro-
orthy home-membership, (4) vocation. (5) citizenship,
I 6 i worthy use of leisun 7) thical character. -

Although the report of the Commission on the Reorganization of
Secondary Education represents a significant change from the think-
ing done by the Committee of Ten, recognition of the various phases
of life was not new. In 1859, Herbert Spencer, writing on the topic.

WMReporl •' the Comm::- Xa-

tional Education Association, 1 899, p. :

sIbid., p. -

*lbid., p. 28.

"Ibid., p.

""Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education." U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin,
191S, Xo. •?. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1918, p. 10-11.

42 Bulletin No. 41

"What knowledge is of most worth?" enumerated the following groups
of activities :

1. Those activities which directly minister to self-preservation;

2. Those activities which, by securing the necessaries of life, in-

directly minister to self-preservation;

3. Those activities which have for their end the rearing and dis-

cipline of offspring;

4. Those activities which are involved in the maintenance of

proper social and political relations ;

5. Those miscellaneous activities which make up the leisure part

of life, devoted to the gratification of the tastes and feel-
ings.32
However, the point of view represented by this analysis does not
appear to have particularly influenced educational thought until some-
time after 1900. Franklin Bobbitt of the University of Chicago, was
one of the first of our present authorities to apply it.33 His most re-
cent analysis represents a refinement of the statement by the Commis-
sion on the Reorganization of Secondary Education, and is designated
as the "major fields of human experience."

1. Language activities; social intercommunication

2. Health activities

3. Citizenship activities

4. General social activities — meeting and mingling with others

5. Spare-time activities, amusements, recreations

6. Keeping one's self mentally fit — analogous to the health ac-

tivities of keeping one's self physically fit

7. Religious activities

8. Parental activities, the upbringing of children, the mainten-

ance of a proper home life

9. Unspecialized or non-vocational practical activities
10. The labors of one's calling34

The North Central Association has adopted a similar, although
much briefer analysis :

1. Health and physical fitness

2. Leisure time

3. Social relationships such as civic, domestic, community, and

the like

4. Vocation35

32Spencer, Herbert. Education, Intellectual, Moral and Physical. New York: D. Ap-
pleton and Company, I860, p. 15-14.

33Bobbitt, Franklin. The Curriculum. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1918. 295 p.
He made an analysis several years before the appearance of this book.

34Bobbitt, Franklin. How to Make a Curriculum. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company,
1924, p. 8-9.

35"Report of the Committee on Standards for Use in the Reorganization of Secondary
School Curricula," The North Central Association Quarterly, 1:433, 438-44, March, 1927.

Curriculum Reconstruction 43

The extension of the scope of conduct for which the secondary
school should assume responsibility, may be indicated by a brief
resume of the recognition accorded each of the seven phases of extra-
school life noted by the Commission on the Reorganization of Second-
ary Education. At the time of the Committee of Ten health was given
practically no recognition as a phase of out-of -school life to which
secondary education should specifically contribute. Today, it has come
to occupy a place of great prominence in our educational thinking.
Command of fundamental processes is emphasized no more — perhaps
less — than in 1893, but it has been reinterpreted. Today, we think of
it chiefly in terms of the English language, while previously it was
thought of in terms of Latin and algebra. Worthy home-membership
may be said to be one of the phases of out-of-school life of which edu-
cationists are coming to be painfully conscious but about which they
have done little, either by way of effective thinking or of practice.
Probably the near future will see significant developments in this di-
rection. Vocation has received marked reinterpretation and increased
emphasis within recent years. At the time of the Committee of Ten,
recognition of vocational preparation was limited in the main to com-
mercial courses and to those having a preprofessional function. Since
then, recognition of vocational objectives on the secondary-school level
has grown until in 1918 the Commission on the Reorganization of Sec-
ondary Education strongly recommended that curricula be differ-
entiated on a strictly vocational basis. Citizenship has always been
recognized and accepted as a phase of life for which the secondary
school should provide specific preparation. At the time of the Com-
mittee of Ten, the pronounced attitude was that the best citizen is the
one who has the most knowledge and can use it most effectively, with-
out much specification as to the kind of knowledge. The following
statement appears to represent the attitude at that time :

The ultimity of the public school system is the propagation of worthy
citizenship. National character is supremely modified by national culture. The
people who think most and think best are going to make the history of the
next era.36

Later, the study of the machinery of government was emphasized as
a means for attaining desirable citizenship behavior. Today social-
political attitudes are being emphasized. In the main, the change with
reference to citizenship has been in the means of attaining suitable

36Giles, Edith. "Elective Study in the High School," Education, 14: 160, November,
1893.

44 Bulletin No. 41

conduct and not in the concept of the objective itself. Worthy use of
leisure, although vaguely recognized in 1893, was not consciously
striven for in the secondary school. Since then, it has been given much
incidental attention, chiefly in connection with extra-curricular ac-
tivities. Like worthy home-membership, this is an aspect of life that
has attained prominence in educational talk, but about which little
effective thinking has been done. Ethical character has always been
recognized as a quality to be engendered by secondary education, but a
clear definition of the term has been lacking. Recently, recognition ap-
pears to be somewhat more explicit ; and attempts are being made to
specify the conduct that belongs under the caption of "ethical char-
acter."

Changes in the concept of controls of conduct. The concept of
controls of conduct held by the Committee of Ten was in terms of
faculty psychology. The more important outcomes of the pupil's
participation in learning activities were believed to be trained faculties,
such as observation, memory, imagination, expression, inductive rea-
soning, deductive reasoning, judgment, and "sense of accuracy." In sev-
eral places the report mentions "accurate knowledge," "mastered facts,"
and "information," but it is apparent that trained faculties were con-
sidered to be the principal outcomes and hence the principal control
objectives.

At the time the Committee of Ten made its report, however, a
movement was under way which later resulted in a different concept of
the outcomes of learning and hence in a different concept of control
objectives. Herbartian psychology was being introduced into the
United States through the writings of Charles De Garmo, Charles Mc-
Murry, Frank McMurry, and others.37 Herbart advanced the hypoth-
esis that the outcomes of learning, and hence the controls of con-
duct, were ideas or knowledge. "In place of this [faculty psychology7]
Herbart substituted the conception that the soul is a unity, not en-
dowed with intuitive or inborn faculties, but a blank at birth, possess-
ing but one power, — that of entering into relation with its environment

through the nervous system Through the expansion of the one

original power the teacher has to develop knowledge from experiences
and sympathy from intercourse [contact with society]."38 Hanus quotes
Herbart : "Thus to present the whole treasure of accumulated research
in a concentrated form to the youthful generation is the highest service

37These theoretical writings were supplemented by reports of several experiments which
were interpreted as proving faculty psychology to be fallacious.

3SMonroe, Paul. A Textbook in the History of Education. New York: The Macmillan
Company, 1905, p. 626-27.

Curriculum Reconstruction 45

which mankind at any period of its existence can render to its suc-
cessors."39 A recent writer describes Herbart's theory as follows :
"The individual grows and matures through the acquisition of an
ideational content, assimilated through a constantly more richly ap-
perceived experience, instead of through the maturing development
and modification of a complex set of capacities, abilities, and tend-
encies to respond to situations."40

In The Art of Study, published in 1900, B. A. Hinsdale included
a chapter with the title, "Is Knowledge or Mental Development the
End of Teaching?" He quotes Compayre as saying: "There are those
who wish above all to develop the intelligence ; and there are others
who are preoccupied with furnishing the mind with a stock of positive
knowledge." He follows with the statement, "Both views are firmly
rooted in language and mental habit."41

Shortly after 1900 Thorndike began to advocate his S-R bond
theory, according to which the outcomes of learning consist of a multi-
tude of bonds, each one being a connection between a particular stimu-
lus (S) and a response (R). "Learning is connecting, and man is the
great learner primarily because he forms so many connections. The
processes [learning] operating in a man of average capacity to learn,
and under the conditions of modern civilized life, soon change the
man into a wonderfully elaborate and intricate system of connections.

There are millions of them A volume could well be written

showing in detail just what bonds certain exercises in arithmetic, spell-
ing, German, philosophy, and the like, certain customs and laws, certain
moral and religious teaching, and certain occupations and amusements,
tend to form in men of given original natures."42

In certain respects, this concept of the outcomes of learning is
the opposite of that furnished by faculty psychology. According to
the latter, the significant outcomes of learning are a few trained fac-
ulties ; according to Thorndike's S-R bond theory, they consist of sev-
eral millions of connections, each one of which is a bond between a
particular situation or stimulus and a particular response.43 Hence, as
is frequently the case, the rejection of one point of view was followed
by the opposite extreme.

39Hanus, Paul H. Educational Aims and Educational Values. New York: The Mac-
millan Company, 1899. p. 34.

40Kandel, I. L. (Editor). Tivcnty-Five Years of American Education. New York: The
Macmillan Company, 1924, p. 97.

"Hinsdale, B. A. The Art of Study. New York: American Book Company, 1900, p. 31.

42Thorndike, E. L. Educational Psychology. Briefer Course. New York: Teachers
College, Columbia University, 1914, p. 173-74.

"It is perhaps not fair to Thorndike to say that he conceives of the outcomes of
learning entirely in terms of S-R bonds. In some places he uses terms that imply the op-
posite, but his S-R bond theory stands out so prominently in his own writing and has been
so much emphasized by his followers that his influence upon thinking about control objectives
has been much the same as it would have been if his hypothesis had limited the outcomes of
learning to S-R bonds.

46 Bulletin No. 41

Turning from expositions of psychological theories to discussions
of the objectives of secondary education, one finds that few, if any, of
the writers have thought exclusively in terms of either Herbartian
psychology or Thorndike's S-R bonds. Even some of the leading Her-
bartians appear to have included trained faculties, or at least some-
thing very similar to them, in their concept of the outcomes of learn-
ing. The following statements by De Garmo exhibit traces of faculty
psychology: "Not only should the student gain a clear insight into the
intellectual achievements of the race, but he should also acquire the
power to use effectively the ideas thus gained."44 "In all genuine edu-
cation, mental discipline, like culture itself, is a necessary concomi-
tant."43 ". . . . translation in language and the solving of examples
in mathematics .... have been — perhaps still are — the greatest in-
struments in the hands of the schoolmaster for effecting mental dis-
cipline."46

Some writers, notably Bagley, have taken an eclectic position and
have recognized three types of outcomes : specific habits, which con-
form very closely to Thorndike's S-R bonds; knowledge (ideas, con-
cepts, and principles), which reflects Herbartian influence; general
patterns of conduct, which fulfill a function similar to that assigned to
trained faculties.47 This eclectic hypothesis appears to be implicit in
most of our present thinking of control objectives ; but different writers
vary in the emphasis placed upon the three rubrics of outcomes, es-
pecially when dealing with problems of secondary education.

Differentiation of objectives within the secondary school with
respect to individual differences. So long as secondary education was
intended for "that small proportion of all children in the country ....
who show themselves able to profit by an education prolonged to the
eighteenth year, and whose parents are able to support them while
they remain so long in school," so long as the scope of conduct for
which education should prepare was included by the unanalyzed phrase
"duties of life" for which "trained faculties" constituted the best
preparation; there was no particular felt need of differentiating sec-
ondary education in order to train directly for variations in conduct.
In so far as possible, our secondary schools were intended to produce

■"De Garmo, Charles. Principles of Secondary Education, Vol. II. New York: The
Macmillan Company, 1908, p. 73. Italics not in original.

i5Ibid., p. 158.

*6Ibid., p. 174.

4"There is some evidence of Bagley's position in The Educative Process, 1905, but these
rubrics of outcomes are more explicitly recognized in his Educational Values, published in
1911. He does not use the term, "general patterns of conduct," but his classification of out-
comes can easily be arranged under the three rubrics given here. For an exposition of spe-
cific habits, knowledge, and general patterns of conduct, see:

Monroe, Walter S. Directing Learning in the High School. Garden City, New York:
Doubleday, Page and Company, 1927, p. 30-31, 117-25, 149-62, 314-28.

Curriculum Reconstruction 47

a uniform product. Variations necessarily occurred, but secondary
education was not concerned with regulating them. As the group for
whom the secondary school was planned increased to include "all
pupils of approximately 12 to 18 years of age," and as the scope of
conduct was broadened to include all phases of life, the need for con-
sidering variations in conduct objectives became apparent. This need
was accentuated by the emphasis of educational psychology on indi-
vidual differences, by the development and acceptance of the concept
that the needs of a democracy demand full development of the indi-
vidual as such, and by the increased number of pupils attending sec-
ondary schools.

Thus, the Committee of Ten gave consideration to variations in
conduct only to the extent that the individual differences due to native
traits and economic conditions were to be accentuated by selection. No
marked variations were to be fostered by the secondary school for
those who secured a secondary-school education. Different "pro-
grammes of study" were proposed not so much to secure training for
differences in future conduct as to assure a more effective training of
the faculties of all who attended the secondary school.

The Committee on College Entrance Requirements accepted, but
did not develop, the idea of variation of conduct on the basis of indi-
vidual variation in abilities and aptitudes. However, they gave little
consideration to the social desirability of variability or of homogeneity.
They quoted and endorsed the following statements :

"It is generally admitted that, until secondary education commences,
children should have much the same training; yet even in the lowest grades
individual direction should not be lost sight of, as the mind very early gives
evidence of a divine implanting which must not be ignored. Thruout the
course of secondary instruction, surely, there must be no Procrustean bed
which every pupil by some process of dwarfing or stretching must be made to
fit, but natural endowments, as soon as discovered, should have full scope,
within certain limitations. College courses ought to be so adjusted that every
pupil at the end of a secondary course recognized as excellent, both in the
quality and quantity of its work, may find the doors of every college swing
open to receive him into an atmosphere of deeper research and higher culture
along the lines of his mental aptitudes. We do not mean that secondary pro-
grams should be purely elective, but that they should be eminently elastic and
that this elasticity, based upon psychological laws, should be recognized by the
colleges."48

". . . . secondary programs of study should be thoroly elastic and with
varied electives, suited to the talents of the individual child ; a college program
should be still more elastic and with a larger number of electives. Every
person will then find opportunities for the development of that power which
will enable him with confidence to attack the problems of life which he wishes
to help to solve."49

4S"Report of the Committee on College Entrance Requirements." Washington: National
Education Association, 1899, p. 7.
i9Ibid., p. 8.

48 Bulletin No. 41

The Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education,
through explicit recognition of individual differences and the desirabil-
ity, especially in a democracy, of fostering development of diverse
abilities along with integrating characteristics, placed considerable em-
phasis upon the specializing, differentiating function of secondary edu-
cation. They would provide for similar conduct on the part of all
through subjects that they called "constants." By means of "curricu-
lum variables," they would provide for variations in vocations.
Through "free electives," they would provide for development of a
wide diversity of leisure-time activities.

The variations in conduct for which the Commission would have
the secondary-school prepare are based in the main upon variations in
interests, aptitudes, and tastes, and very little upon general native
ability. The latter is only hinted at in such phrases as "maximum and
minimum assignments for pupils of greater and less ability." Examina-
tion of other writings and educational practice reveals marked tend-
encies to take account of individual differences, either by directing
education so as to level up those at the lower levels of intelligence and
thus prepare for similar conduct, or by directing education so as to
produce a widely varying product in accord with the varying capacities
of the pupils. Wherever the same materials of instruction are offered
to all children, wherever the only provision for individual differences
in ability is variation in the rate of progress, wherever no attempt is
made to provide additional or different materials, the purpose of the
school is, at least by inference, to prepare for similar conduct. About
the only provision made for variation in such cases — a provision that
creeps in inadvertently, although irrepressibly — is variation in the
standard of achievement.

When provisions for individual differences first attracted marked
attention, the emphasis was given to bringing the less capable up to a
level comparable with that attained by the more capable. More re-
cently, the pendulum has swung toward attention to the gifted. The
Committee on College Entrance Requirements proposed only that the
gifted be accelerated. Since then, a certain prominence has been at-
tained by the idea of enriched curricula and preparation of the su-
perior for special positions in life, particularly positions of leadership.

The discussion of the function of the school relative to preferences
in regard to variations in conduct given by Bobbitt50 is representative
of the better educational thinking on this subject. He speaks in terms
of control objectives and learning activities, but inasmuch as the abil-

50Bobbitt, Franklin. Hozc to Make a Curriculum. Boston: Houehton Mifflin Company,
1924, p. 41-42, 61, 66, 71-72.

Curriculum Reconstruction 49

ities engendered determine conduct, variations in conduct are easily
and naturally inferred. He points out that even in the nine fields of
non-specialized functional activities those individuals of large natural
capacity must be expected to develop types of ability that are not at-
tainable by the weaker. The same holds also for specialized vocational
activities. By way of example, he points out certain abilities in which
only those of large intellectual caliber can attain adequate proficiency
to warrant much formal training : ability to read a foreign language ;
ability to do public speaking; and a broad vision of social affairs, his-
torical and sociological.51

The procedure for determining objectives. The trends of objec-
tives since 1893 are reflected in the contrast between the lack of tech-
nique for determining objectives at that time and the procedures em-
ployed at present. A brief presentation of the outstanding character-
istics of these procedures will reinforce the preceding discussion of
trends and present status of objectives. As long as the control ob-
jectives were thought of in terms of trained faculties, their determina-
tion did not constitute a serious problem. The number of faculties
recognized was relatively small and could be determined in an "arm-
chair" fashion. The control objectives for different subjects over-
lapped greatly and for certain subjects were identical. Since trained
faculties were of general applicability, there was no need to consider
conduct objectives.

Acceptance of the Herbartian theory of the outcomes of learning
created the problem of determining what "ideas" should be recognized
as control objectives. In effecting a selection, the Herbartians em-
phasized children's interests as criteria, but they considered it essential
that the "ideas" be practical. Although no systematic procedure was
evolved, Herbartian theory influenced thinking about the content of
several secondary subjects, especially the newer ones such as general
science, agriculture, and home economics.

Acceptance of the thesis that the school should prepare children
for socially efficient participation in out-of-school life implies that
society is the source of objectives and that they may be determined by
an analysis of extra-school life. A beginning is made when the major
fields of human experience are identified as by Bobbitt, the North
Central Association, or the Commission on the Reorganization of
Secondary Education. (Sec p. 41-42.) Bobbitt has described the general
procedure by which this analysis of out-of-school life is to be accom-
plished. "Human life, however varied, consists in the performance of

"Bobbitt. Op. cit., p. 41-42.

50 Bulletin Xo. 41

specific activities they can be discovered. This requires only

that one go out into the world of affairs and discover the particulars
of which these affairs consist."52 These "particulars" will be conduct
objectives which may be classified under a list of captions such as is
given on pages 41-42. After one has discovered the specific activities
he "can then see the [control] objectives of education. These latter
are the abilities to perform in proper ways the activities. The two are
cognate but not identical."53 These statements describe the essentials
of the "job-analysis" technique.

Charters describes four methods of "job analysis" or "activity
analysis" :

1. "Introspection," in which a participant in the job lists all of the

activities or duties of which he can think;

2. "Interviewing," in which a trained interviewer "asks the individual

on the job to give a list of his duties";

3. "Working on the job," which is a modified form of introspection;

4. "Questionnaire," which is essentially a type of interviewing.54

If job-analysis studies are examined, it is possible to identify two
other methods :

5. Observing workers and noting the particular duties they perform ;

6. Analyzing records of activities performed.53

In 1918, Charters56 listed fifty-six studies, and since that date, a much
larger number have been made.57 A majority of these studies relate to
the elementary school, but several are in the field of secondary educa-
tion.

In a recent publication, Bobbitt5S has given the results of five
studies in which records of "contemporary life" were analyzed into
the "major fields of human concern." In the first, the articles listed
in the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature for the years 1919-21
were classified under 46 general topics. Since the various publications

"Bobbin, Franklin. The Curriculum. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1918, p. 42.

53Bobbitt, Franklin. How to Make a Curriculum. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Company,
1924, p. 10.

"Charters, W. W. Curriculum Construction. New York: The Macmillan Company,
1923, p. 38.

"Fragmentary studies have been made in the "fundamental processes" (arithmetic,
language, reading, and spelling) and in some of the other subjects. A good illustration of
this method is furnished by studies in spelling. Investigators have collected writings of
children and adults and have listed the words actually used. The resulting lists constitute
a description of spelling activities. The method has also been applied to arithmetical ac-
tivities and to the reading of newspapers and other periodicals. In the case of some me-
chanical activities, such as brick-laying, a motion-picture camera has been used to secure the
record. Certain occupational "jobs," such as pharmacy, selling shoes, office management, and
the like, have been analyzed so as to show the specific duties to be performed.

"Charters, W. W. Curriculum Construction. New York: The Macmillan Company,
1918, p. 114-17.

57For a list of the more important investigations, see:

"Curriculum-Making: Past and Present." Twenty-Sixth Yearbook of the National
Society for the Study of Education, Part I. Bloomington: Public School Publishing Com-
pany, 1926, p. 464" 5.

"Bobbin, Franklin. "Curriculum Investigations," Supplementary Educational Mono-
graphs, Xo. 31. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1926. 204 p.

Curriculum Reconstruction

Table V.

-The Major Divisions of Human Experience as Revealed by
the Topics Treated in the "Literary Digest "a

Frequency

Per Cent

7,501

17.7

5,226

12.4

4,882

11.5

4,626

10.9

4,550

10.8

4,439
3,719

10.5
8.8

3 710

8.8

3.655

8.6

1. Government and diplomacy: foreign government and international di-
plomacy. United States politics and government

2. Large group friction and adjustment: war and the control of war, pop-
ulation migrations and racial relations, capital and labor

3. Literature, art, and recreation: language, literature, and the fine arts;
sports, travel, and exploration

4. The economic order: business, commerce, industry, and agriculture;
development and conservation of resources

5. The physical sciences and their applications: the physical sciences; com-
munication and transportation; mechanics, invention, and engineering. .

6. Intimate glimpses of human action: intimate group glimpses of human-
ity, personals

7. Religion and philosophy

8. Family and community welfare: family and community social welfare,
law and order; physical safety; education

9. The science and natural history of living things: health, the science of
man (not including health), animal and plant life

Total.

100.0

•Bobbitt, Franklin, and others. "Curriculum Investigations," Supplementary Educational
Monographs, No. 31. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1926, p. 43.

whose contents are listed in the Reader's Guide "constitute a continu-
ous mirror of the world's action and of the things and relations with
which that action deals," this tabulation furnishes an epitome of the
world of affairs; that is, what people are doing, thinking, and feeling.59
Similar analyses were made of two volumes of the New York Times
(April to June and October to December, 1924), the list of ten thous-
and most frequently used words prepared by Thorndike,60 a random
sample of The Encyclopaedia Britannica totaling 7,370 pages, and the
complete files of the Literary Digest for 1900 to 1924 plus a random
sample for the ten years previous to 1900. A condensed summary of
the analysis of the Literary Digest is reproduced in Table V, which is
to be read : Of the 42,308 articles appearing in the Literary Digest,
7,501 or 17.7 per cent related to that "major division of human experi-
ence" which may be labeled "government and diplomacy," including
foreign government and international diplomacy and United States
politics and government. The remainder of the table should be read in
similar manner. In general, this tabulation appears to be fairly repre-
sentative of the other analyses with the exception of the one based on
The Encyclopaedia Britannica in which "geographical areas and
places," and "biographies of persons" headed the list. The uniqueness
of this list is to be expected since an encyclopedia is not so much a

50Vocational activities are undoubtedly minimized.

^Thorndike, E. L. The Teacher's Word Book. New York: Teachers College, Colum-
bia University, 1921. 134 p.

52 Bulletin Xo. 41

record of contemporary life as an epitome of the world's accumulation
of knowledge.

Any analysis of contemporary life as a means of determining ob-
jectives implies the assumption that what is, should be. However, it
is generally accepted that schools are preparing for future conduct ;
that they have been set up not merely to preserve the best of society's
achievements but also to make for progress ; and that therefore, the
determination of objectives should be guided by a concept of the ideal,
rather than by the existing, social order. In consequence, the usual
job-analysis technique is coming to be supplemented by another in-
tended to provide this forward look. Rugg61 describes such a pro-
cedure applied to the field of the social studies. The assumption is
made that the persons best qualified to express judgments in regard
to the "insistent problems and issues of the day," with which "the
growing generation will [probably] have to grapple," and in regard to
the changes that should be made in current modes of living, are the
"frontier thinkers" of today. These are our leading students of gov-
ernment, world politics, economics, sociology, and the like. Hence, as
a basis for determining the conduct objectives in the field of social
studies, Rugg selected the "important" books in this field. These books,
totaling more than one hundred and fifty, were "critically analyzed" to
determine the "insistent problems and issues of the day."

The difference between Rugg's procedure and the usual job-
analysis method is significant. Both involve analysis, but the materials
analyzed are different. The usual job-analysis study gives merely an
analytical description of a typical, or at best a selected, phase of con-
temporary life. Rugg's method gives a list of conduct objectives based
upon the composite judgment of outstanding authorities in regard to
the kind of social group that we should endeavor to build up and per-
petuate.

In addition to systematic job-analysis studies, there have been
several significant investigations in which other procedures have been
employed to determine objectives. In 1924 Bobbitt published an ex-
tensive list of objectives which represented the product of "twelve
years of cooperative effort on the part of some fifteen hundred mem-

^Rugg, H. O. "Problems of Contemporary Life as the Basis for Curriculum-Making
in the Social Studies," Twenty-Second Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of
Education, Part II. Bloomington: Public School Publishing Company, 1923, p. 260-75.

See also:

Hockett, John A. "A Determination of the Major Social Problems of American Life,"
Teachers College, Columbia University Contributions to Education, Xo. 281. New York:
Bureau of Publications, Columbia University, 1927. 101 p. A list of 396 problems and issues
is given.

Curriculum Reconstruction 53

bers of graduate classes in 'The Curriculum' " and of "some twelve
hundred high-school teachers in Los Angeles."62 Other techniques
might be described. However these are the major ones employed : ex-
amination of the technique employed in simple job or activity-analysis,
analysis of future jobs or activities by "frontier thinkers," cooperative
formulation of objectives by educators, and analysis of the records of
contemporary life. Practically any specific instance of the determina-
tion of objectives is a variant or modification of one of these, or a
combination of two or more of them.

Concluding statement. Although present-day thinking relative to
the objectives of secondary education is admittedly inadequate, a sur-
vey of educational thought and practice since the Report of the Com-
mittee of Ten in 1893 reveals many marked changes which appear to
represent progress. The following significant trends in thinking may
be identified.

1. The group of children for whom the secondary school is de-
signed has changed from "that small proportion of all the children in
the country .... who show themselves able to profit by an educa-
tion prolonged to the eighteenth year, and whose parents are able to
support them while they remain so long at school" to "all pupils of ap-
proximately 12 to 18 years of age .... or who are in any respect so
mature that they would derive more benefit from the secondary school
than from the elementary school."

2. At the beginning of this period, the "fitting" and "finishing"
functions of the secondary school were in sharp conflict. Today the
"fitting" function has become definitely subordinated to the "finishing"
function.

3. The recognition of the importance of objectives grew from no
specific mention of them as such by the Committee of Ten to the very
marked emphasis given them by the Commission on the Reorganization
of Secondary Education.

4. Refinement in thinking relative to objectives has progressed to
the point where an explicit distinction is made between conduct ob-
jectives and control objectives.

5. The scope of conduct for which it is considered desirable that
the secondary school should prepare has broadened out from leisure-
time, citizenship, and vocational activities (all conceived of in a very
limited way) to include all phases of out-of-school life.

62Bobbitt, Franklin. How to Make a Curriculum. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company,
1924. 292 p. Much of this material was previously published in monograph form as a report
of curriculum-making in the secondary schools of Los Angeles, California.

54 Bulletin No. 41

6. The concept of the controls of conduct has changed from that
of general faculties to that of more specific abilities — specific habits,
knowledge, and general patterns of conduct.

7. The recognition of individual differences within the secondary
school has grown from an implied uniformity of objectives by the
Committee of Ten to recognition by the Commission on the Reorgani-
zation of Secondary Education of the desirability of great variability
on the basis of individual differences — differences in interests, apti-
tudes, tastes, and general native ability.

8. Finally, with the growing recognition of the importance of ob-
jectives, many techniques have been developed for the determination
of objectives, most of them being based upon the fundamental propo-
sition that objectives are to be "discovered" in society, not manu-
factured.

CHAPTER IV

CURRICULUM RECONSTRUCTION: SELECTION AND OR-
GANIZATION OF MATERIALS OF INSTRUCTION,
ASSUMING A FOUR-YEAR HIGH SCHOOL

Relation of the organization of our educational system to curric-
ulum construction. Our educational system developed as three more
or less distinct units, elementary school, grades one to eight ; high
school, grades nine to twelve; college and university, grade thirteen
and above. . This organization prevailed generally until after 1900 and
is still retained in some cities and in most rural communities. At the
time the Committee of Ten was appointed, a few educators were point-
ing out that this type of organization did not facilitate the functioning
of the curriculum as well as it should. Since then, the public schools
in many of our cities have been reorganized by an extension of the
high school downward. The most usual type consists of an elementary
school, grades one to six; a junior high school, grades seven to nine;
and a senior high school, grades ten to twelve. This is commonly
designated as the 6-3-3 plan. A few cities have added a junior college
offering two years of work. This usually results in a type of organiza-
tion described as the 6-3-3-2 plan. The suggestion has been made that
when a junior college is included, a 6-4-4 plan of organization would
be more effective.

The administrative organization of a school system influences the
curriculum. The continuance of the existing organization favors the
established curriculum ; whereas, changes in administrative organiza-
tion encourage curriculum reconstruction and make possible changes
that could not be effected under the old organization. Consequently, it
is desirable to consider separately the curriculum reconstruction which
assumes the traditional organization and that which assumes a down-
ward and upward extension of the high school to include grades seven
to twelve or fourteen. The present chapter deals with the reconstruc-
tion of the curriculum under the first condition. Reconstruction in con-
junction with administrative reorganization will be considered in
Chapter V.

Types of changes in materials of instruction. The changes which
have occurred in the selection and organization of materials of in-
struction may be classed under two major heads: (1) changes in-
volving subjects as units, and (2) changes in the content of subjects.
Each of these two major types may be analyzed into several sub-types,
each of which is discussed in the following paragraphs. An analysis of

56 Bulletin No. 41

the factors instrumental in bringing about these changes is then pre-
sented.

Changes involving subjects as units. Curriculum changes involv-
ing subjects as units are of two principal types: (1) introduction and
elimination of subjects, and (2) organization of subjects into courses.
Evidence relative to the first type of change is presented under the fol-
lowing captions: (a) subjects recommended by the Committee of Ten,
(b) subjects recognized by the Commission on the Reorganization of
Secondary Education, (c) additional evidence of the expansion of the
curriculum, and (d) upward and downward trends of subjects. The
organization of subjects into courses is dealt with under the captions:
(a) parallel courses, < b) the elective system, and (c) differentiated
curricula.

Subjects recommended by the Committee of Ten. The recom-
mendation for the appointment of the Committee of Ten by the Na-
tional Education Association in 1892 included the statement: "It is
expedient to hold a conference of school and college teachers of each
principal subject which enters into the programmes of secondary
schools in the United States and into the requirements for admission to
college."1 After its appointment, the Committee instituted an inquiry
to ascertain the principal subjects taught. Information secured from
forty "leading secondary schools" showed that the total number of
subjects "was nearly forty, thirteen of which, however, were found in

only a few schools Many of these subjects were taught for

such short periods that little training could be derived from them ....
the time allotted to the same subject in the different schools varied
widely."2 On the basis of this information, the Committee organized
the following subject-group conferences :

1. Latin

2. Greek

3. English

4. Other modern languages

5. Mathematics

6. Physics, astronomy, and chemistry

7. Natural history (biology, including botany, zoology, and physi-

ology)

8. Histor3_, civil government, and political economy

9. Geography (physical geography, geology, and meteorology)

The several conferences recognized the subjects presented in
Table XI "as proper for secondary schools." In some cases, two sub-
jects are recommended as options ; that is, the school is to offer one or

1"Report of the Committee of Ten on Secondary School Studies." New York: Ameri-
can Book Company, 1894, p. 3.
-Ibid., p. 5.

Curriculum Reconstruction

Table VI.

-Subject and Time Recommendations of the Conferences
of the Committee of Ten3

Subject

Latin.
Greek.

English

Literature .

Composition.

Rhetoric
Grammar. . . .

Modern Languagesb

German

French

Mathematics

Algebra

Higher Algebra

Geometry

Trigonometry

Bookkeeping and commercial arithmetic.

Physical science

Physics

Chemistry

Astronomy

Natural History

Botany

Zoology

Anatomy, physiology, and hygiene .

Geography
Meteorology. .

Geology

Physiography.

History

French

English

American

"A special period intensively, and civil government'

Total

Year-subjects, 5 periods per week .

Time

Years

Periods
Per Week

Year-
Periods

20
5

10
1

5
5

149H
29^6

, „. "This table is made up from data presented in Tables I and II of the "Report of the Committee
of Ten on Secondary School Studies. New York: American Book Company, 1894, p. 34-35, 37.

b The recommendations we have made for French and German apply also to Spanish and'to
any other modern language that may be introduced into high or grammar schools." Ibid., p. 103.

the other but not both. For example, this is the recommendation in
the case of geology and physiography. If optional subjects are in-
cluded, the subjects recommended by the several conferences total
149% year-periods or approximately 30 year-subjects, 5 periods per
week. This statement describes quantitatively the subjects (materials of
instruction) that in the judgment of the several conferences were suit-
able for inclusion in the secondary curriculum. Other subjects were

58 Bulletin Xo. 41

being taught in the high schools in 1893. As was shown in Chapter
II, pages 20-23, many of them had been taught for several years pre-
viously. The Committee of Ten explicitly recognized this fact,3 but they
believed that "some of the omitted subjects would be better dealt with"
if included in certain other specified subjects rather than if taught
separately. In this connection, drawing, both freehand and mechanical,
ethics, economics, metaphysics, aesthetics, and industrial and commer-
cial subjects were mentioned.

Subjects recognized by the Commission on the Reorganization of
Secondary Education.4 The Commission on the Reorganization of
Secondary Education, like the Committee of Ten, organized subject
committees. The groups of subjects thus recognized are indicative of
the status of the secondary curriculum in 1912 when the work of the
Commission was organized. The subject committees were as follows :

1. Agriculture (Xew)

2. Art education (Xew)

3. Business education (Xew)

4. Classical languages (corresponds to the Latin and Greek confer-

ences of the Committee of Ten)

5. English

6. Household arts (Xew)

7. Industrial arts (Xew)

8. Mathematics

9. Modern languages

10. Music (Xew)

11. Physical education (Xew)

12. Sciences (corresponds to three of the conferences of the Com-

mittee of Ten)

13. Social studies

The Commission recognized seven subject-matter fields5 in addi-
tion to the nine recognized by the Committee of Ten. However, by
making certain combinations, they allotted the total of sixteen subject-
matter fields to thirteen committees. In reporting, these committees
made no attempt to be explicit in their subject recommendations and
hence it is not possible to present a table of subject and time recom-
mendations as was done for the Committee of Ten.

Additional evidence of the expansion of the curriculum. Evi-
dence relative to the present range of the secondary-school curriculum

3"Report of the Committee of Ten on Secondary School Studies." Xew York: American
Book Company, 1894, p. 49.

4Xo discussion is presented of the subjects recognized by the Committee on College
Entrance Requirements, inasmuch as little was added by them to the recommendations of
the Committee of Ten. Recommendations were made by this committee of 1899 for Latin,
Greek, German, French, history (four units), mathematics, geography, chemistry, botany,
zoology, and physics. They expressed regret for not having included geology, astronomy,
and physiology. They also called attention to having omitted the commercial subjects, there
being some doubt as to the advisability of accepting such subjects for college admission.

5These are labeled "new" in the preceding list.

Curriculum Reconstruction

is furnished by a recent study of college-entrance requirements.6 Data
were secured from 314 of the 349 "Accredited Higher Institutions"
appearing in the 1922 list of the American Council of Education. Of
these colleges, 273 specified the "subjects recognized as suitable for
satisfying college entrance requirements." The total number of sub-
jects listed in 1922 was 111.7 The number of units per subject was not
given but it is unlikely that less than half -units were accepted. It is
evident that some of the subjects, such as Latin, included as many as
three or four units. Hence, the total number of units was probably
greater than 111. Forty-three of the subjects were distributed as fol-
lows :

English — 4 subjects

Mathematics — 5 subjects

Foreign languages — 13 subjectss

Social science — 12 subjects

Science — 9 subjects
The remaining 68 subjects are given below :9

Household Arts :
Sewing
Cooking
♦Millinery
Clothing
Shelter
Foods

Manual Training:

Drawing —

Freehand
Mechanical
Architectural
^Mathematical
Geometrical

Forge

Foundry

Woodwork

Wood carving

Metal work

Chipping, filing, fitting

Machine tool practice

Commercial :

Stenography
Typewriting

Business correspondence
Bookkeeping
Accounting
Office practice
Materials of commerce
Commerce

History of commerce
Commercial geography
Commercial arithmetic
Commercial law
Economic history
Banking
*Salesmanship
Business organization
Economic geography

Music :

Harmony
Counterpoint

"McKown, H. C. "The Trend of College Entrance Requirements 1913-1922," U. S.
Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1925, No. 3 5. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1925,
172 p.

•Ibid*, p. 95. A language, such as Latin, or German, is counted as one subject.

'Thirteen different languages were acceptable, with probably no less than two units for
each.

9The starred (*) subjects have become college-entrance subjects since 1913.

Bulletin No. 41

Music: (Continued)
Appreciation
Dictation
Sight singing
Vocal

Instrumental
Club, etc.

Normal Training:

Methods and management
History of Education
Teaching training
Education
Psychology

Miscellaneous :
Geography
Christian doctrine
Agriculture

*Farm accounts

Vegetable gardening
*Argumentation, debating
*Reserve Officers' Training
Corps

Surveying
*Sunday-school work

Art
*Modeling
♦Military science

History of art
*History of science

Bible

Public speaking

Elementary law

Bird life

Nature study
*Phvsical education

Counts made a study of the unit courses offered in the high schools
of fifteen large cities in 1923-24.10 The minimum, maximum, and
average number of units of work offered in the several groups of sub-
jects in these cities are given in Table VII. A great variation in prac-
tice is shown, but the table makes clear that in these cities a wide
range of subjects was offered. The minimum curriculum, in Pueblo,
contained 51 units, and the maximum, in Los Angeles, 127%. It is not
possible to make direct comparison of these data with the recom-
mendations of the Committee of Ten. However, comparison may be
made with the data presented in Chapter II relative to the situation
just prior to 1893. Examination of those data reveals that the average
for the thirty cities was twenty-three subjects totaling only seventeen
and one-half units per city, which is roughly comparable to the average
of seventy-nine units found by Counts. Probably the growth in subject
offerings was not as great as this difference indicates, since the cities
studied by Counts are somewhat larger than those studied by Stout.
Nevertheless, the secondary-school offerings must have at least doubled
in the period between 1893 and the present.

During the five-year period from 1918-19 to 1923-24, sixty-four
subjects were added to the high-school curricula in this group of cities,
and only fourteen subjects were abandoned.11 The most numerous
changes were in the fields of home economics, commercial subjects,

10Trenton, New Jersey; Atlanta, Georgia; New Orleans, Louisiana; St. Louis, Missouri;
Kansas City, Missouri; Pueblo, California; Los Angeles, California; Berkeley, California;
Salt Lake City, Utah; Lincoln, Nebraska; Joliet, Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan;
Rochester, New York; and Newton, Massachusetts.

Counts, George S. "The Senior High School Curriculum," Supplementary Educational
Monographs, No. 29, Chicago: University of Chicago, 1926. 160 p.

"Ibid., p. 123.

Curriculum Reconstruction

Table VII. — Minimum, Maximum, and Average Number of Units

of Work* Offered in the High Schools of a Group of

Fifteen Large Cities, 1923-24b

Subject or group

Number of units

Minimum Maximum Average

1. English

2. Foreign language . . . .

3. Mathematics

4. Natural science

5. Social science

6. Commercial subjects.

7. Industrial arts

8. Home economics

9. Music

10. Art

11. Physical education. . .

12. Miscellaneous

4)4
10

3)4

4
4
8
2
2

7)4
16
27
11

12)4
12

7
12)4

5)4
12
13

5)4

4)4

Total.

""A unit of work involves four or five recitations a week for an entire school year."
bTaken from:

Counts, George S. "The Senior High School Curriculum," Supplementary Educational Mono-
graphs, No. 29. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1926, p. 16.

and industrial arts. Six of the fourteen subjects abandoned were listed
under Greek or German. The others appear to be the result of reor-
ganization rather than of complete elimination. Most of the subjects
added may be grouped under three general types: (1) subjects whose
status may be considered as established : economics, civics, German,
modern history, trigonometry, sociology, general science, and biology ;
(2) differentiations of established subjects: industrial English, indus-
trial mathematics, household chemistry, business English, and several
other subjects in commerce, industrial arts and home economics; (3)
essentially new subjects: home nursing, vocations, stagecraft, and Red
Cross. For the most part, the subjects added appear to represent dif-
ferentiations of certain established subjects rather than the introduc-
tion of essentially new types of school work.

Examination of the reports of the United States Commissioner of
Education from 1890 to 1922 reveals that for the school year 1889-90
the enrollment was reported for only nine subjects in public secondary
schools; for 1894-95, sixteen subjects; for 1899-1900 and 1904-5,
eighteen subjects; for 1909-10, twenty-four subjects; for 1914-15,
thirty subjects ; and for 1921-22, seventy subjects. These figures can-
not be taken at quite their face value, for there were many subjects
taught in 1889-90 which were not reported. The Commissioner's re-
ports varied in completeness from time to time until in 1921-22 when
there was an evident attempt to enumerate every secondary-school sub-

62 Bulletin Xo. 41

ject. However, this increase from nine to seventy reported subjects is
indicative of a marked growth in subject offerings of the secondary
school.

Upward and downward trends of subjects. Koos demonstrates
the downward shift of the "materials of the college curriculum" dur-
ing the period of about 1830 to 1900 by showing that English gram-
mar. geography.12 algebra through quadratics, plane geometry, ancient
history. French. German and English literature were inherited by the
secondary school from the college, and that many others, such as solid
geometry, trigonometry, college algebra, analytic geometry, physics,
chemistry, the biological sciences, economics, sociology, and many his-
tory courses accompanied or closely followed these in their drop from
the superior to the lower unit. He then makes the following summary
statement :

Except for the classics all important courses and subjects finding place
in college curricula during any considerable period have shown a marked
tendency to shift to lower levels. This shift has not stopped at the freshman year
of college, but has continued into the secondary unit below, including both
subjects prescribed for college entrance and a host of others not — at least not
o f ten — prescribed."

- has interpreted these changes in subjects offered as a tendency
to make a "people's college" out of the high school.

Stout has made a study of the subject offerings of the high school
for a period which overlaps somewhat the period of 1830 to 1900 dis-
cussed in the preceding paragraphs but which brings the data nearer
the present. Table YIII pre» nts facts from Stout's study relative to
the appearance and disappearance of subjects in the secondary-school
curriculum during the period 1891 to 1918. It is apparent that, so far
as these particular Xorth-Central schools are concerned, of the sub-
jects which disappeared from the secondary-school curriculum, some,
such as mensuration and astronomy, were never prominent; others,
such as English grammar, were prominent for a short time only. It
reveals that some subjects, such as general science, civics, and Span-
ish, made their appearance during this period and have achieved con-
siderable importance : whereas a few appeared but have attained little
prominence.

Apparently some subjects, such as astronomy and geology, which
virtually disappeared during this period, became confined to the college
level, never having become typically secondary. Others, such as arith-

r.glish grammar and geography eventually became distinctively elementary-school
subj c

13 Koos, Leonard Vincent. "The Junior College," Research Publications of the Univer-
ssota, Education Series, Xo. 5, Vol. I-II. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota,

Curriculum Reconstruction

Table VIII. — Per Cent of Schools Offering the Different Subjects
During the Several Periods From 1891 to 1918a

Subjects

Mathematics

Arithmetic

Algebra

Plane Geometry

Solid Geometry

Geometry

Trigonometry

Mensuration

College Algebra

English

Grammar

Analysis

Word Analysis

Reading

Composition

Rhetoric

English Literature

American Literature

Literature

Classics

Orthography

Public Speaking

First Year English

Second Year English

Third Year English

Fourth Year English

Six Years of English

Science

Physiology

Physical Geography

Natural Philosophy

Physics

Chemistry

Geology

Astronomy

Botany

Zoology

Biology

Natural History

Geography

Mineralogy

Physiography

General Science

Social Studies

Ancient History

Medieval History

Modern History

Medieval and Modern History.

United States History

English History

French History

General History

Outlines of History

Civil Government

United States Civil Government

1891-
95

70
100
15
17,
82.
20
2.

32.5
22.5
15
7.5

2.5

37^5
35

5
62.5

2.5
62.5

2.5

1896-
1900

100

22.5
72.5
22.5

2.5
12
10
42

62.5
37.5
15
35
15

42^5
35

27.5
15

70
75

95'
67.5

22.5
27.5
82.5
42.5
10

2.5

2^5

37.5

5
7.5

45'
50
10
65

60 '

1906-
11

45
100
100

56'
'7.5

2.5
100
100
100
87.5

65
82.5

100*

92.5

12.5

17.5

2.5

1915-
18

30
100
100

97.

50 '

100
100
100
100
2.5

52.5
52.5

100
92.

65'
40
45

47.5
97.5

85
90
52.5

aData for this table were taken from:

Stout, John Elbert. "The Development of High-School Curricula in the North Central States
from 1860 to 1918," Supplementary Educational Monographs, No. 15. Chicago: University of Chicago,
1921, p. 71-74, 286-91.

This table includes the last two columns of Stout's Table X, p. 71-74, and two additional col-
umns, figures for which were calculated from data presented by Stout in Tables I and H, p. 286-91.
Three corrections were made in Stout's Table X: Chemistry was offered by 67.5 per cent instead of
by no schools in the period 1896-1900, as shown by his later data; Greek was offered for two years
by 10 per cent and for three years by 7.5 per cent instead of by 7.5 per cent and 5 per cent respec-
tively as shown by his later data. These were obvious errors. There may be others, but they are of
no apparent significance.

Data for forty schools were reported for each of the four periods included in this table. However,
the same forty schools are not included in any two periods, although approximately the same schools
appear in all four lists.

Bulletin No. 41
Table VIII. — Continued

Subjects

Social Studies — Continued

State Civil Government

Civics

United States Constitution

United States and State Constitution

Political Economy

Historical Reading

Social Science

Current Events

Political History

History

Economics

State History

Citizenship

Contemporary Life

Foreign Languages

Latin

One year

Two years

Three years

Four years

Six years

Greek

Two years

Three years

Four years

German

One year

Two years

Three years

Four years

French

One year

Two years

Three years

Four years

Spanish

Two years

Three years

Four years

Swedish

Two years

Commercial Subjects

Bookkeeping

Business Forms

Commercial Law

Commercial Arithmetic

Phonography

Commercial Geography

Business Practice

Stenography

Typewriting

Banking

Commercial English

Commercial History

Accounting

Business Methods

Salesmanship

Office Practice

Advertising

Fine and Practical Arts

Agriculture

Domestic Science

Domestic Art

Domestic Economy

Mechanical Drawing

Manual Training

Pattern Making

Machine Shop

Metal Work

Pottery

1891-
95

2.5
17.5

2.'5
27.5
2.5
2.5
2.5
2.5

2.5
15
25
63

17^5
10

7.5

52'
10
27

5
10
15
10

2.5

2*5
2.5

2.5

1896-
1900

7.5
15
75

67.5

22.5

20
2.5
7.5
2.5

12.5

12.5
2.5

1906-
11

82.5

2.
45

25
5

95'

32!
27.
35
32.

2.
10

7.
12.

57.5
55

57.5

67.5
62.5

22.5
7.5

42.5
7.5
2.5
2.5

57.5

Curriculum Reconstruction
Table VIII. — Concluded

Subjects

Fine and Practical Arts — Continued

Household Chemistry

Camp Cooking

Forging

Machine Fitting

Printing

Electricity and Applied Mechanics.

Building Construction

Carpentry

Home Management

Design

Telegraphy

Millinery

Art and Needlework

Laundry and Sanitation

Household Physics

Drawing

Art

Miscellaneous

Mental Philosophy.
Moral Philosophy. .

Psychology

Ethics

Pedagogy

Biblical Literature.

1891-
95

7.5

is'

2.5
20

1896-
1900

2.5
2.5

22.5
5

1906-
11

2.5

12.5
2.5
20

1915-
18

12.5
2.5

15
2.5
5

2.5
5

2.5
7.5
2.5
2.5
5
5

2.5
2.5

25
2.5

metic, English grammar, and rhetoric, passed on down into, or became
confined to, the elementary school. However, many others simply be-
came absorbed in some broader subject. This occurred in most pro-
nounced fashion in English, and today there is a strong tendency for
the same thing to occur in the field of the social studies. Science has
shown a similar tendency in connection with general science. This
tendency to unify the old established fields of subject-matter in the
secondary school appears to be one of the most significant trends of
the period. On the other hand, the elaborate multiplication of subjects
exhibited in the less well-established fields of commercial subjects and
the fine and practical arts is an equally significant trend.

In the main, Koos' statements for the period of 1830 to 1900,
relative to the downward movement of subjects into the secondary
school from the college, do not hold for the period just discussed
(1891-1918), unless it be for the commercial subjects and the fine and
practical arts. However, even in these fields the increase is chiefly a
development of new courses on this level rather than the bringing
down of courses from a higher educational unit.

The preceding discussion may leave a false impression unless the
reader remembers that the purpose has been to describe the range of
secondary-school subjects rather than to show what the curriculum
has been in various types of schools. Since the studies from which
the preceding descriptions were taken included few or no small high

66 Bulletin No. 41

schools, this type of school should be given some explicit consideration.

The small high school cannot offer a wide range of subjects. However,

the program of studies varies from school to school ; in some cases the

offerings are restricted largely to traditional subjects ; in others, the

"newer" subjects characterize the curriculum. Run has reported a

study of five small high schools in Pennsylvania which "were generally

conceded to be better than were the majority of schools in their class."

He says :

In spite of the fact that comparatively few of their pupils are entering
college, all of these schools put considerable emphasis upon what are generally
considered to be college preparatory subjects. Foreign language occupies a
prominent place in four out of five of these schools. In these schools as many
units of Latin are given as of English. Two of these schools offer work in
both Latin and French. The offerings of the various schools differ little, even
though the communities served by the schools differ greatly in certain im-
portant respects.14

In a study of 283 rural high schools in 47 states, Ferriss15 reports
the following :

Per Cent of

Subjects Schools

Offering Each

Home economics and home-making 62

Arithmetic and commercial arithmetic 48

Agriculture and vocational agriculture 44

Economics 44

Community civics 38

Bookkeeping 38

Manual training 32

Vocal music 37

Sociology 30

Instrumental music 18

Hygiene and sanitation 11

Commercial geography 11

Psychology 10

General mathematics 10

Commercial law 6

These data present the small high school in a somewhat better
light with reference to the "newer" subjects than does the report by
Run, but it is undoubtedly true that in general the small high school
has been relatively conservative.

Parallel courses. The curriculum of the Latin grammar school
constituted a fixed course of study. All students were expected to

"Rufi, John. "The Small High School," Teachers College, Columbia University Con-
tributions to Education, No. 236. New York: Bureau of Publications, Columbia University.
1926, p. 86.

I5Ferriss, Emery N. Secondary Education in Country and Village. New York: D. Ap-
pleton and Company, 1927, p. 30-32. For a summary of several similar studies see p. 25-41
in Ferriss' book.

Curriculum Reconstruction 67

pursue the same studies, of which Latin was the dominant one.16 When
the number of subjects became so large that a student could not take
all of them, it became necessary to adopt some plan of selection. The
scheme most generally employed until after 1890 was to organize two
or more parallel courses. Usually, one course was designated as "clas-
sical" and had Latin as the dominant subject. The "scientific" course
emphasized the sciences.17 A "course" consisted principally of pre-
scribed subjects, and a student had only to decide upon the "course"
he was to pursue. Occasionally, a few options were permitted,18 but as
a rule they were confined to subjects considered of minor importance.

The Committee of Ten did not depart from the usual procedure
of the time in respect to courses and options. They recommended four
parallel "school programmes" : classical, Latin-scientific, modern lan-
guages, and English. However, they hastened to add, "All four com-
bined might, of course, be tabulated as one programme with options
by subject."19 They further recognized the principle of elective sub-
jects by advocating the thesis that "all the main subjects taught in the
secondary schools" would become "of equal rank for the purposes of
admission" when the recommendations of the several conferences were
"well carried out."20

The elective system. The statements just quoted from the Com-
mittee of Ten make evident the close relationship between a system of
parallel courses and one of electives. The former, however, does not
possess the flexibility of the latter. The protagonists of disciplinary
values insisted upon relative rigidity of the curriculum, whereas those
who placed a high value upon adaptation to individual differences in-
sisted upon flexibility. This conflict was prominent in the second an-
nual meeting of the North Central Association, February 12 and 13,
1897, where the following resolution was introduced :

Resolved, That in every secondary school, and in college as far as to the
end of the sophomore year, the study of language and the study of math-
ematics should be predominantly and continuously pursued ; that the study of
English, including grammar, rhetoric, and composition, should continue
throughout every course; that two languages besides English should be studied;

16"Latin was apparently three-quarters of the curriculum in the most of the grammar
schools, or more likely nine-tenths of it, or nineteen-twentieths."

Brown, E. E. The Making of Our Middle Schools. New York: Longmans, Green, and
Company, 1902, p. 133.

"As pointed out in Chapter II, there was a strong tendency for the titles of courses
to be less meaningful than formerly.

18Stout, J. E. "The Development of High-School Curricula in the North Central States
from 1860 to 1918," Supplementary Educational Monographs, No. 15. Chicago: University of
Chicago, 1921, p. 52.

19"Report of the Committee of Ten on Secondary School Studies." New York:
American Book Company, 1894, p. 44.

*>lbid., p. 52.

68 Bulletin No. 41

and that no other studies should be allowed to interfere with the preeminence
of the studies here designated.21

This resolution represents the point of view of a conservative
group. It appears that the Association included a vigorous liberal group
whose point of view is presented in the following substitute resolution :

Resolved, That in both Secondary Schools and Colleges, such courses of
study should be provided as will offer to every student the best advantages
within reasonable limits for the highest development of those talents with
which he has been endowed, and that to this end studies should be arranged
under the following heads; viz: (1) Language; (2) Mathematics; (3) Nat-
ural and Physical Science; (4) History and Literature; (5) Civics and Eco-
nomics ; and further that while students should, in general, be encouraged to
maintain a reasonable balance between these, the courses should be so plastic
as to permit alternative options, with a view to their adaptation to the indi-
vidual capacities and purposes of students.22

After prolonged discussion, the original resolution and the sub-
stitute were referred to the executive committee with the suggestion
that they be presented again at the next annual meeting. This was
done, and after another prolonged and heated discussion, the sub-
stitute resolution was unanimously adopted.23

One year later, the Committee on College Entrance Requirements
explicitly endorsed the point of view which was adopted by the North
Central Association only after long debate. The first of the group of
resolutions adopted by this Committee in 1899 reads : "Resolved: That
the principle of election be recognized in secondary schools."24 In ex-
planation of this action the Committee stated: "In this resolution the
Committee merely indorses a practice very common in secondary
schools." Their sixth resolution states that the Committee "does not
believe in unlimited election, but especially emphasizes the importance
of a certain number of constants in all secondary schools and in all
requirements for admission to college." The Committee's recommenda-
tion for constants was "four units in foreign languages (no language
accepted in less than two units), two units in mathematics, two in Eng-
lish, one in history, and one in science."25

From an examination of published courses of study for a num-
ber of cities in the north-central states, Stout notes, relative to the
period 1900-1918 that "Three plans of organization prevail — a single
course with electives, parallel courses, and the major-minor system.
The latter, however, is rare, but it is probable that its use will become

21Davis, Calvin O. "The History of the North Central Association the First Half
Decade," The North Central Association Quarterly, 1:560, March, 1927.

-Ibid., p. 563.

*>Ibid., p. 569.

24" Report of the Committee on College Entrance Requirements." Washington: National
Education Association, 1899, p. 27.

^Ibid.. p. ??.

Curriculum Reconstruction 69

more general."26 Relative to required subjects, he makes the following
statements :

English is the only field in which subjects are universally required

Approximately 80 per cent of the schools require algebra and about 60 per cent
require plane geometry Previous to 1900 practically all high schools re-
quired both algebra and plane geometry. The decline in this practice has taken

place chiefly since 1910 About 50 per cent of the schools require some

work in science, usually one or two years On the whole the practice of

requiring science is decreasing, the only exception being in general science.
.... Something in the field of the social studies is required in 60 per cent of the

schools Some foreign language, usually not specified, is required in

about 10 per cent of the schools. When the language is specified, it is in-
variably Latin No school in the list requires commercial subjects. It is

rather interesting to note, however, that 10 per cent of the schools require
something in the field of fine and practical arts."

Differentiated curricula. The Commission on the Reorganization
of Secondary Education dealt with the program of studies under the
caption, "The specializing and unifying functions of Secondary Edu-
cation." School subjects were classified under three heads: (1) con-
stants, to be taken by all or nearly all students; (2) curriculum vari-
ables, required subjects within a curriculum; and (3) free electives. It
was recommended that subjects offered in the senior high school be
organized into differentiated curricula, the basis of differentiation be-
ing vocational. Thus, in a school offering such curricula or courses as
agricultural, commercial or business, industrial, fine arts, household
arts, and the like, certain subjects, called constants, would be included
in all curricula; the curriculum variables would be required within a
particular curriculum ; and all curricula would include provisions for
some free electives.28

The distinctive feature of this recommendation is the basis on
which curricula are differentiated. The Committee of Ten designated
the recommended curricula as "classical," "Latin-scientific," "modern
languages," and "English." Their basis of differentiation was subject-
matter or content. The Commission on the Reorganization of Second-
ary Education made vocations the basis. In other words, they main-
tained that each curriculum should be organized about a vocational
objective. This, of course, does not mean that the other six groups of
objectives29 are to be neglected in planning a curriculum, but they are
cared for by the subjects designated as "constants" and "free electives."

26Stout, J. E. "The Development of High-School Curricula in the North Central States
from 1860 to 1918," Supplementary Edxicational Monographs, No. 15. Chicago: University
of Chicago, 1921, p. 203.

-Ubid., p. 223-24.

^"Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education," U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin,
1918, No. 35. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1918, p. 21-23.

29These are: health, command of fundamental processes, worthy home-membership,
citizenship, worthy use of leisure, and ethical character.

70 Bulletin No. 41

Changes in the content of subjects. In speaking of the upward
and downward trends of subjects, it was pointed out that in the main
one of two things may cause a subject to disappear from the curricu-
lum of the secondary school : it becomes relegated to another educa-
tional level ; or it becomes amalgamated with allied subjects in the sec-
ondary school. Such amalgamations and additions to and subtrac-
tions from the topics of established subjects do not appear in any
enumeration of offerings. The following discussion of such changes in
the content of secondary-school subjects will make this point clearer,
and at the same time it indicates the nature of the changes that have
occurred.

There has been comparatively little change in the topics of the
established mathematical subjects — algebra, plane geometry, solid
geometry, and trigonometry. Perhaps the increase in attention to gra-
phic representation of mathematical relations, especially in algebra, has
been the most important topic change. In plane geometry, some atten-
tion has been given to emphasizing "fundamental theorems and con-
structions" and to using ''subsidiary propositions" for supplementary
purposes only.30 However, the most significant changes have not been
primarily concerned with the introduction and elimination of topics,
but rather with their rearrangement and enrichment. Mathematics has
shown in very recent years a strong tendency toward unification and
reorganization of topics so as virtually to obliterate the traditional lines
of demarcation between arithmetic, algebra, and plane geometry, and
to include a generous sprinkling of solid geometry and plane trigo-
nometry. Although begun in the traditional four-year high school,31 this
development has come to involve administrative reorganization to such
an extent that its discussion is left to Chapter V.

In English, the tendency is distinctly toward a "unified" four-year
course, the traditional divisions of grammar, rhetoric, composition,
and literature being ignored ; the first two are made subordinate and
incidental to the latter two. On the literature side, emphasis has been
shifted somewhat from the classics and biographies of authors to cur-
rent literature.

In the sciences, the principal additions have been topics dealing
with recent discoveries and practical applications, such as the radio in
physics and commercial processes in chemistry. Except for the de-
velopment of general science, which tends to become a junior-high-
school subject although still important as a first-year subject in the

MFor a list of such theorems, constructions, and propositions, see:

"The Reorganization of Mathematics in Secondary Education." The Mathematical
Association of America, Inc., 1923, p. 55-60.

31See Chapter V, p. 85, for references by Myers, Rugg, and Clark.

Curriculum Reconstruction 71

four-year high school, there has been only one marked tendency to-
ward unification in the sciences ; botany and zoology have tended to
become unified as biology. However, to the extent that general science,
physics, chemistry, and biology absorb the content of the formerly well-
established subjects of physiology and physical geography, there is a
tendency toward unification and consequent rearrangement of topics
which is in harmony with similar trends in other established secondary-
school subjects.

In the social studies, a similar sort of amalgamation is beginning
to appear. However, here, as in mathematics, such changes involve
consideration of the junior-high-school unit; consequently the discus-
sion is deferred to Chapter V. Up to the present, the more important
changes in this field have involved introduction and elimination of
topics more than a rearrangement of them. Political and military his-
tory have been relegated to a subordinate position, being superseded
by social, industrial, and commercial history. Civics has been changed
from a rather abstract account of governmental forms and machinery
to a functional treatment of the problems of community life.32

In addition to changes involving the introduction and elimination
of topics and rearrangement of the content of subjects, some changes
have been made for the purpose of enriching the traditional subjects.
This has been accomplished in the main by introduction of the fa-
miliar and the practical, and subject-matter of popular interest. "Ap-
plication" has tended to be the keynote. The facts and principles of
algebra and geometry are applied to numerous practical problems ;
business letters and movie scenarios are written in English classes ; the
moving picture, the radio, the chemistry of foods, and the like are
studied in science classes ; and current events are discussed in the social
studies.

Since the commercial subjects and the practical and fine arts did
not attain an established position in the curriculum until after the be-
ginning of this period, it is not possible to describe the changes in the
content of the subjects in these fields as has been done for the older
subject-matter fields. However, it is apparent that the practical is be-
ing emphasized and thus far the tendency has been to form new sub-
jects by differentiation rather than to consolidate two or more sub-
jects.33

32"The Social Studies in the Elementary and Secondary School," Twenty-Second
Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part II. Bloomington, Illinois:
Public School Publishing Company, 1923, p. 76-215.

33Changes in the content of secondary-school subjects are given a somewhat fuller
treatment from a slightly different point of view and are illustrated with numerous specific
examples in:

Stout, John Elbert. "The Development of High-School Curricula in the North Central
States from 1860 to 1918," Supplementary Educational Monographs, No. 15. Chicago: Uni-
versity of Chicago, 1921, p. 228-48.

72 Bulletin No. 41

Causes of changes in materials of instruction. Understanding of
the changes in materials of instruction described in the preceding
pages is enhanced and refined by consideration of their underlying
causes. These are intimately interrelated, many being deeply embedded
in our general economic and social development. The major causes,
however, may be discussed under six heads : ( 1 ) the psychological
basis of evaluating materials of instruction, (2) acceptance of the im-
portance of objectives, (3) recognition of pupil interests and needs,
(4) recognition of the "practical," (5) desire for economy of time, and
(6) increase in the number of secondary-school pupils. The following
pages are devoted to a brief discussion of these causes.

The psychological basis of evaluating materials of instruction.
As has been mentioned, a fundamental change in the concept of the
outcomes of learning has occurred since 1893. The trained faculties
then believed to result from the study of Latin and mathematics may
be designated as indirect or concomitant outcomes. They are produced
as by-products in learning (memorizing) items of knowledge. The
controls of conduct produced directly, learned items of knowledge and
the like, are commonly called direct or intrinsic outcomes.34

As long as faculty psychology dominated educational thinking,
"trained faculties," or "mental habits," were considered to be the more
important outcomes resulting from the use of materials of instruction.
The direct or intrinsic outcomes were assigned a secondary place. This
evaluation of outcomes of learning activity is clearly indicated in the
Report of the Committee of Ten.

It is inevitable, therefore, that specialists in any one of the subjects
which are pursued in the high schools or colleges should earnestly desire that
the minds of young children be stored with some of the elementary facts and
principles of their subject; and that all the mental habits, which the adult
student will surely need, begin to be formed in the child's mind before the age
of fourteen.35

The following quotations are representative of the recognition of
intrinsic and concomitant outcomes by the Committee on College En-
trance Requirements :

34For the most part, intrinsic outcomes consist of specific habits and knowledge. The
qualifying words "direct" and "intrinsic" indicate that the outcomes are those that belong
to, or are directly connected with, the materials of instruction used. In other words, "direct
outcomes" are those which can be engendered only by using a given unit of instructional
material. For example, ability to saw boards square is acquired only by sawing boards (per-
haps in a woodworking course), not in writing translations of French to English; ability to
measure the quantity of a chemical in a solution is acquired only in studying chemistry, not
in analyzing the style of Shakespeare; ability to pronounce French is acquired only by
studying French, not German.

Along with the engendering of direct or intrinsic outcomes, certain general patterns of
conduct may be engendered. For example, in either sawing boards square or writing trans-
lations of French to English, one may in part acquire a general attitude of neatness; in
making either a titration in chemistry or an analysis of the style of Shakespeare, one may
develop a generalized attitude of exactness; in learning to speak either French or German,
one may acquire a liking for the study of languages.

35"Report of the Committee of Ten on Secondary School Studies." New York: Ameri-
can Book Company, 1894, p. 16. Italics not in original.

Curriculum Reconstruction 73

"We believe that they [the modern foreign languages] are worth, when
properly taught, no less than the ancient languages. It is of course conceded
that the Latin and Greek are the more "difficult" in the intial stages. But
difficulty cannot be the highest test of educational utility, else Latin and Greek
should themselves give way to Sanskrit and Chinese. Evidently it is the good-
ness of the kernel, and not the thickness and hardness of the shell, that we
are mainly to think of. The kernel is the introduction to the life and literature
of a great civilized people, which it is, for some reason, very important for
us to know about

"The practical command of a foreign language has a potential value that

is at once perceived by every one The committee holds, however, that

in our general scheme of secondary education the ability to converse in French
or German should be regarded as of subordinate importance."36

"The study of chemistry is a valuable constituent of the high-school course
on account (1) of the training in observation in general and correct induction
from observation which it affords, and (2) of the first-hand information which
it gives about well-known materials, the principles of their manufacture, and
their properties, as the result of personal observation."3'

A significant phase of our curriculum development has been the
increasing recognition of direct or intrinsic outcomes. Although al-
ways considered important in the elementary school or in trade train-
ing, they were assigned a place of minor importance on the secondary
level. However, it has been noted that there was a growing recog-
nition of intrinsic outcomes by the time of the report of the Committee
on College Entrance Requirements. By the time of the Commission
on the Reorganization of Secondary Education, both faculty and Her-
bartian psychology were passe. In fact, psychology had become a
relatively minor factor in determining educational theory and prac-
tice ; or at least other factors, especially social theory, had assumed
positions of such importance as to eclipse psychology in this respect.

The details of the change in the concept of the outcomes resulting
from the use of materials of instruction are not easily apparent from a
comparison of educational writings, because by the time the Commis-
sion on the Reorganization of Secondary Education made its report,
it was a common practice to describe objectives in terms of desired
conduct rather than in terms of the controls of conduct to be engen-
dered. In so far as objectives were thought of in terms of controls of
conduct, most of the outcomes recognized were intrinsic in nature.
However, considerable emphasis was placed upon concomitant out-
comes, yet without closely relating the two types.

Acceptance of the importance of objectives as criteria. The in-
creasing recognition of intrinsic outcomes, combined with the increased
.scope of conduct objectives,38 probably has been the most potent cause

36"Report of the Committee on College Entrance Requirements." Washington: National
Education Association, 1899, p. 82-83.
31 Ibid., p. 165
3aSee p. 39-40.

74 Bulletin No. 41

of changes in materials of instruction. In theory, we appear to be
committed to the principle that the curriculum should consist of those
materials of instruction whose intrinsic outcomes are acceptable as con-
trol objectives. The acceptance of this principle by the Commission on
the Reorganization of Secondary Education is indicated in the follow-
ing statement :

In each report [dealing with the several subjects] the commission at-
tempts to analyze the aims in terms of the objectives; to indicate the adaptation
of methods of presentation to the aims accepted ; and to suggest a selection of
content on the basis of aims and methods.39

Although relatively easy to understand, this principle is difficult
to apply because we have not yet developed a systematic procedure for
determining materials of instruction from objectives, or for determin
ing the compatibility of proposed materials of instruction and accepted
objectives. In some cases, especially if the objectives are motor skills,
the instructional materials to be used are relatively obvious; but if th
objectives include knowledge and general patterns of conduct, the pro
cedure to be followed in determining materials of instruction is much
more difficult, and we have no authoritative formulation of guiding
principles.

The significance of the point of view of the Commission on the
Reorganization of Secondary Education becomes more apparent if it
is contrasted with the criteria of selection and organization which pre
vailed at the time the Committee of Ten made its report. As long a
the doctrine of formal discipline was paramount, it appears that the
chief criterion for the selection of content was scholarliness ; that is,
the content must be thorough, complete, logical, and truthful. The
Conference on History, Civil Government, and Political Economy of
the Committee of Ten gave much evidence of this in their discussion
of "subjects recommended," "inter-relation of subjects," "intensive
study," and "distribution of subjects and eight-year program."40 The
Committee of Seven of the American Historical Association in their
report included in the Report of the Committee on College Entrance
Requirements made similar demands based on the implicit criterion of
scholarliness.11

The criteria of scholarliness and cultural education are apparent

in the following statement by William T. Harris :

There are no other phases of nature and man than these five, which we
see are contemplated by the five chief branches of study in the district schools,

39"Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education," U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin
1918, No. 35. Washington, 1918, p. 16.

"■""Report of the Committee of Ten on Secondary School Studies." New York: Amert
can Book Company, 1894, p. 175-79.

"" Report of the Committee on College Entrance Requirements." Washington: Nations
Education Association, 1899, p. 128.

Curriculum Reconstruction 75

Secondary education must go on in the same direction, opening windows
of the soul in five directions, so that the pupil gets a better insight into these
cardinal provinces of nature and man.

Therefore, the secondary pupil will continue his study of mathematics,
taking up algebra and geometry; of language, studying the ancient languages,
from which civilization has been transmitted, and modern languages. He will
continue the view of organic nature, given in geography, by studying the out-
lines and methods of such natural sciences as geology, astronomy, physiology,
zoology and botany; continue history, by adding to the special study of the
United States, begun in the elementary school, the study of general history;
continue the study of literature, begun in the school readers, by systematic
study of the greatest writers, like Shakespeare, Milton, and others, in selected
complete works of art, together with a history of literature. Mathematics are
reinforced by physics (called natural philosophy), treating of the mathematical
laws of solids and fluids.42

It should also be noted that tradition went hand-in-glove with
scholarliness and ideals of culture as a criterion for determining the
details of the content of courses. The influence of tradition is illus-
trated by the fact that many textbook writers, especially college in-
structors, felt that they must include all that their immediate predeces-
sors had included.

Recognition of pupil interests and needs. As long as the doc-
trine of formal discipline was accepted, the child's immediate interests
received little or no consideration in curriculum construction. It was
thought that in order for a subject to possess a high educational value
it must be difficult. The prevailing attitude has been described by the
statement, "It don't matter what a boy studies just so he don't like it."

Recognition of pupil interests and needs was really a phase of the
Herbartian movement which reached its height about 1900. The fol-
lowing quotations are typical of many that might be cited.

"In providing appropriate materials, two aims must be kept constantly in
mind : the genuine interests of the child at different stages of his growth, and
the maturer view of life toward which this growth is to be guided. The child's
interests are at first -supreme, but even if this be granted, there are choices of
appropriate facts and occupations, and these choices must be determined by
the ultimate end in view."43

"There are then, it seems to me, these four considerations on which the
selection of the facts to be taught in history must be based. Those facts must
be such as can be related to the experience of the child ; they must be of suffi-
cient value to justify them excluding the many facts that might have had their
place ; they must be valuable enough to fill a permanent place in the teacher's
mind ; they must be of organic value, capable of assimilation, that is, into a
larger scheme of culture — culture, as I apprehend the word, meaning the un-

42Harris, W. T. "The Curriculum for Secondary Schools," Journal of Proceedings
and Addresses of the National Education Association, Vol. 33. Washington: National Edu-
cation Association, 1894, p. 504-5.

43Vincent, George E. "Social Science and the Curriculum," Journal of Proceedings and
Addresses of the National Education Association, Vol. 40. Washington: National Education
Association, 1901, p. 126.

76 Bulletin No. 41

derstanding of the world as it is, through a sympathetic knowledge of the
world as it has become, or came to be, what it is."44

"Unless the subject matter and the methods of instruction [of civics] are
adapted to the pupil's immediate needs of social growth, such attempts [trans-
ferring civics from grade to grade, shifting emphasis, etc.] avail little."45

"Civics teaching is good in proportion as its subject matter is selected
and organized on the basis of the pupil's past experience, immediate interests,
and the needs of his present growth."46

Recognition of the "practical." Many of the traditional materials
of instruction have been questioned on the ground of being "imprac-
tical," and many new materials have been introduced into the second-
ary school because of possessing real or supposed "practical" values.
The commercial subjects and practical arts have shown a marked in-
crease in offerings on the secondary-school level ; the practical aspects
of established subjects have been emphasized, as in commercial arith-
metic, commercial geography, and business English ; and the basis of
differentiation of curricula tends to be vocational.

Combined recognition of pupil interest and the "practical" has
been a potent factor in bringing about the introduction of much ma-
terial that was formerly considered extra-curricular. For example, the
radio (in science), the giving of plays (in English), music, certain ele-
ments of public speaking, and physical education have all come more
or less directly from extra-curricular activities and have received much
of their impetus from that source. Some school administrators have
gone so far as to attempt to make all or most of their extra-curricular
offerings an integral part of the school curriculum proper.

Desire for economy of time. The desire to shorten the period of
formal education has been an important cause of changes in secondary-
school materials of instruction. The first public utterance to succeed
in directing serious consideration to the question of economy of time
was President Eliot's address in 1888 at the Washington meeting of
the Department of Superintendence of the National Education Asso-
ciation entitled "Can School Programmes be Shortened and En-
riched?"47 The desire for economy of time, particularly in case of
those entering the professions, was prominent in the minds of those
who were responsible for the appointment of the Committee of Ten.

44Muzzey, David Saville. "What Facts of Ancient History Should be Taught to Pupils
of the Secondary Schools, in Order that They may Better Understand the World They Live
in?" Journal of Proceedings and Addresses of the National Education Association, Vol. 44.
Washington: National Education Association, 1905, p. 463.

45Dunn, Arthur William. "The Social Studies in Secondary Education," U. S. Bureau
of Education Bulletin, 1916, No. 28. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1916, p. 10.

ieIbid., p. 58. Printed in italics in original.

"Journal of Proceedings and Addresses of the National Education Association, Vol. 27.
Washington: National Education Association, 1888, p. 101-18. See also:

Eliot, Charles W. Educational Reform. New York: The Century Company, 1898, p.
151-76.

Curriculum Reconstruction 77

Changes in college-entrance requirements, which in turn influenced the
subject offerings of the secondary school, were due in large measure
to the desire to shorten the period of formal education.48 The same
cause also operated to stimulate the downward movement of traditional
secondary-school subjects, the organization of materials so as to fa-
cilitate learning, and the introduction of measures designed to reduce
the amount of retardation and increase the number of accelerated pu-
pils, especially at the junior-high-school level. Although having ex-
erted an appreciable influence on the materials of instruction of the
secondary school, economy of time is receiving less attention today
than at other times during the period under consideration. No doubt
the movement has been vitiated in a measure by the inability of its
advocates to agree upon the precise meaning attached to "economy of
time."

Increase in the number of secondary-school pupils. Another
factor making for change in the materials of instruction selected is the
great increase in the number of secondary-school pupils. However,
this factor is not entirely comparable to the ones previously mentioned ;
it is more of the nature of an aggravating condition which has brought
into prominence and shaped the character of the other causal factors,
especially the recognition of pupil interests and needs. The enormous
growth in enrollment means that all classes of society are being repre-
sented in constantly increasing numbers. This condition seems to have
been particularly influential in forcing attention upon citizenship and
practical or vocational objectives. National recognition of the need for
realization of the vocational objective has brought about legislation,
notably the Smith-Hughes Act.

It appears, then, that there are six major factors which have
operated since the Report of the Committee of Ten in bringing about
changes in the materials of instruction in secondary education : a
change in psychological concepts, acceptance of the importance of
objectives, recognition of pupil interests and needs, recognition of the
"practical," and desire for economy of time in education, all aggra-
vated by the rapid increase in secondary-school enrollment. However,
as in every evolutionary process, other factors have tended toward
conservatism and preservation of the existing order. As the factors
dominant at the time of the Report of the Committee of Ten have
persisted in their original form, they have tended to maintain the status

48For a discussion of the influence of economy of time on the admission requirements
at Harvard, see:

Bunker, Frank Forest. "Reorganization of the Public School System," U. S. Bureau
of Education Bulletin, 1916, No. 8. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1916, p. 44-47.

7S Bulletin Xo. 41

quo of materials of instruction. Colleges, through their entrance re-
quirements and the leadership of their faculties, have exerted a power-
ful stabilizing influence. Textbooks, until recently, have been written
in the main by college professors, and in a textbook-dominated educa-
tion such as ours, they have constituted a conserving force of great
potency. In consequence, the present character of materials of instruc-
tion is a resultant of the operation of these two opposing types of
forces — those making for change, and those tending to maintain the
status quo.

Concluding statement. The curriculum and the administrative
organization of our school system are intimately interrelated, a static
condition of one tending toward a static condition of the other, and a
dynamic state of either encouraging a like condition in the other. How-
ever, significant changes have been effected in the secondary curricu-
lum which are independent of any administrative reorganization. These
changes may be summarized as follows :

1. A few subjects have disappeared from the secondary-school
curriculum or have become of little importance. On the other hand,
many subjects have been added, so that the number of subject offer-
ings has been greatly increased, perhaps more than doubled. These in-
creases have occurred in the main in the commercial subjects and the
practical and fine arts, in which the tendency is toward differentiation
and multiplication of subjects. In the "older" fields of mathematics,
science. English, and the social studies, there is a tendency toward uni-
fication and a reduction in the number of subjects.

2. Subjects are being organized into curricula i such as commer-
cial, agricultural, and college-preparatory) differentiated on a voca-
tional basis instead of being grouped in parallel courses (such as clas-
sical, Latin-scientific, and English) organized on a subject-matter
basis. An elective system has more or less generally accompanied, and
has sometimes existed independent of, organization of subjects into
courses or curricula.

3. The content of subjects has been modified in two important
respects: (1) by rearrangement of content to secure "unification," as
in the development of general mathematics and general science ; and
(2) by enrichment, accomplished in the main through "application,"
as in household physics and business English.

CHAPTER V

CURRICULUM RECONSTRUCTION: SELECTION AND OR-
GANIZATION OF MATERIALS OF INSTRUCTION,

ASSUMING A JUNIOR-SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Administrative reorganizations of our educational system having
curricular significance.' In the preceding chapter, the relation be-
tween the administrative organization of our educational system and
curriculum construction was pointed out. The two administrative
changes that have greater curricular significance than others which
might be mentioned are : (1) regrouping of school grades, and < 2) de-
partmentalization of instruction below the ninth grade.

The traditional form of administrative organization2 had not been

questioned to any appreciable extent until about the time of the report

made by the Committee of Ten. The following is one of the most

clear-cut statements of this Committee on the need for reorganization :

In preparing these programmes, the Committee were perfectly aware that
it is impossible to make a satisfactory secondary school programme, limited to
a period of four years, and founded on the present elementary school subjects
and methods. In the opinion of the Committee, several subjects now reserved
for high schools, — such as algebra, geometry, natural science, and foreign
languages. — should be begun earlier than now, and therefore within the schools
classified as elementary; or, as an alternative, the secondary school period
should be made to begin two years earlier than at present, leaving six years
instead of eight for the elementary school period.3

Since 1893. serious and continued criticism has led to a variety of
attempts to effect a different division of the years of schooling, par-
ticularly at the lower and upper limits of the traditional four-year

JXo attempt is made in this chapter to give a detailed account of the development of
the new organization. This position is taken in part because administrative reorganizat:
subordinate and incidental to curricular reorganization. Furthermore, several adequate
treatments of administrative reorganization are readily available, probably well-known, to
most readers in such as the following:

Bunker, Frank Forest. "Reorganization of the Public School System." U. S. E :.
of Education Bulletin, 1916, No. S. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1916. It

Davis, Calvin O. Junior High School Education. Yonkers-on- Hudson, New York:
World Book Company, 1924. 451 p.

Koos. Leonard V. The Junior High School (Enlarsed'l. Boston: Ginn and Companv,
1927. 506 p.

Koos, Leonard V. The Junior-College Movement. Boston: Ginn and Company,
436 p.

McDowell, F. M. "The Junior College." L\ S. Bureau of Ed 1919,

Xo. 55. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1919. 159 p.

Proctor, William Martin (Edited byi. The Junior College. Stanford University, Cali-
fornia: Stanford University Pres-. 27 226 p.

:The most generally accepted divisions were: an eigh: tary school, a four-

year high school, and a four-year college. There were many local and a few sectional varia-
tions from this for-'. . :he nine-year elementary schools of Xew England and the
seven-year elementary schools of the South. However, in these two instances, the normal
ages for entering were five and seven respectively, as compared with six where the ele-
mentary school was eight years in length. Consequently, the age at which elementary edu-
cation ended and secondary education began was whatever the length of the ele-
mentary school. Likewise, the normal age for college entrance was the same.

:"Report of the Committee of Ten or. Secondary School Studies."' Xew York: A
can Book Company, 1894, p. 45.

80 Bulletin No. 41

high school. These attempts have resulted in the junior-high-school
and the junior-college movements.

The junior high school has shown a definite tendency to become
organized so as to include grades seven, eight, and nine, thus leaving
a six-year elementary school and a three-year senior high school.4
Combining the studies of Briggs, Davis, and Douglass, one finds that
of the 743 junior high schools reported by them, 327 or 54 per cent
included grades seven, eight, and nine; 281 or 37 per cent were of
the seventh-and-eighth-grade form ; while only 19 per cent included
other grade combinations.5 In making an enumeration of junior high
schools in cities having a population of 2,500 and over in 1923, the
United States Bureau of Education recognized the following three
plans of organization : the 6-3-3, the 6-2-4, and the 6-4-2, of which
the 6-3-3 predominated.6 Legal restrictions in some states, notably
Illinois, have tended to prevent the formation of three-year junior
high schools.7

The junior-college movement has had little apparent effect upon
the high-school curriculum. In most cases the public junior college
has been organized as an additional division of the school system,
sometimes housed with the high school, using the same library, audi-
torium, and laboratories ; at other times housed and administered
separately. In a few instances, a reorganization has been started
which looks toward a regrouping of school years according to the
6-4-4 plan; that is, a division of six elementary grades, another of
four intermediate grades, and a third including the last two years of
the traditional high school and the first two traditional college years.

The second administrative change, departmentalization of instruc-
tion below the ninth year, is an extension downward of a long accepted
form of secondary-school organization, which stands in marked con-
trast to the grade organization that was once all but universal in the
elementary school. Departmentalization has usually accompanied the
downward extension of secondary-school subjects, although frequently

4In some cases, especially in small school systems, there has been no actual organiza-
tion of a junior high school, grades seven to twelve being designated as the high school or
the junior-senior high school.

5Douglass, H. R. and Stetson, F. L. (Reported by). The Junior High School — A Man-
ual of Suggestions and Standards for Junior High Schools in Oregon. Salem: State Printing
Department, 1922, p. 10.

6Hebb, Bertha Y. (Compiled by). "Junior High Schools in Cities having a Popula-
tion of 2,500 and over," U. S^ Bureau of Education City School Leaflet, No. 12, 1923. Wash-
ington: Government Printing Office, 1923, p. 1.

'In Illinois in 1925-26, of the forty-three school districts having an organization desig-
nated as a junior high school, only eight included grades seven, eight and nine. The other
thirty-five districts had junior high schools which included only the seventh and eighth
grades. Of the eight, only one was in a district having a dual system. See:

Booth, W. S. (Collected and tabulated by). "The Junior High School Situation in
Illinois — Data Respecting their Organization," The Illinois Department of Education Circular,
No. 206. Springfield: Illinois State Register. IS p. (No date given.)

Curriculum Reconstruction 81

adopted without any subject changes. Today, all junior high schools
and probably more than half of all elementary schools have some
form of departmentalized instruction. Data collected by Booth for
1925-26 from 497 Illinois districts outside of Chicago having boards
of education show that 281 or 57 per cent had some form of depart-
mentalization ranging down as low as the fourth grade but limited
in the main to the seventh and eighth grades. Of the 281 departmental-
ized schools only 43 were called junior high schools.8

Relation of administrative changes to curriculum reorganization.
The reciprocal relation between selection and organization of mate-
rials of instruction and administrative reorganization is readily ap-
parent. For example, the efficiency of a reorganized junior-high-school
unit is largely dependent upon a reorganization of the curriculum at
this level ; on the other hand, the reorganization of the curriculum is
limited unless there are attendant administrative changes. One illus-
tration of the recognition of this intimate relation between adminis-
trative organization and the selection and organization of materials
of instruction is given by Dawson. Speaking of the work of the
Committee of Seven and of the Committee of Five of the American
Historical Association, he said: "Both of these committees were ob-
viously in favor of cycles of history and, had present school conditions
existed then, they would probably have favored three-year cycles."9

Changes in materials of instruction at the junior-high-school
level. Changes in materials of instruction made in conjunction with
administrative reorganization have occurred in the main at the junior-
high-school level. From this center, some influences have reached
down into the elementary school and up into the senior high school
and junior college. Changes in the junior-high-school unit may be
grouped into two classes: (1) those involving subjects as units, and
(2) those made in the content of subjects. Each of these classes may
be further subdivided. The first includes: (a) those involving the
introduction and elimination of subjects, and (b) those relating to
the organization of the program of studies. The second includes :
(a) reorganization of the established subject-matter fields, and (b)
organization of orientation and try-out courses.

Introduction and elimination of subjects at the junior-high-
school level. Table IX presents a tabulation of the subjects offered
in the seventh and eighth grades when they constitute a part of the

8Booth. Of. cit.

'Dawson, Edgar, ct al. Teaching the Social Studies. New York: The Macmillan Com-
pany, 1927, p. 280.

Bulletin No. 41

Table IX. — Subjects Reported in Seventh and Eighth Grades Under

Elementary- School and Junior-High-School

Forms of Organization

Subjects

Elementary School

Cities

KHYS

Cities

Jr. H. S.

KHYS
Cities3

Mathematics

Algebra

Arithmetic

General Mathematics

Geometry

English

Grammar

Language and Composition1,

Penmanship

Reading0

Spelling

Science

Biology

Botany

Physiology

Zoology

Physiography

General Science

Science

Social Studies

American Historyd

Ancient History

English History

General History

Medieval History

Modern History

Civics

Geography

aOf the subjects marked as appearing in the seventh and eighth grades under a junior-high-school
form of organization, all except botany and zoology appear in both grades. These two subjects are
not reported as being taught below the latter half of the eighth year.

bLanguage and composition as reported by McGaughy is considered the equivalent of language
reported by Ayer.

cIn McGaughy's report, a distinction is made between silent and oral reading in elementary
grades but not in junior high schools. No differentiation is made by Ayer.

rtAyer does not designate elementary-school history as American, but it is here considered the
equivalent of McGaughy's American history.

traditional elementary school and of the subjects offered in the same
grades when reorganized as a part of a junior high school.10 This
table should be read : Algebra is not reported by either Ayer or Mc-
Gaughy as taught in the seventh and eighth grades when a part of
the traditional elementary school, but is reported by McGaughy as
taught in these grades organized as part of a junior high school. Arith-
metic is reported by both Ayer and McGaughy as taught in the seventh
and eighth grades in either type of organization. The remainder of
the table should be read in the same manner.

10This table is made up from data presented in the Second Yearbook of the Depart-
ment of Superintendence of the National Education Association, p. 139-72, 186-87. The
original data were collected by Fred C. Ayer for the elementary schools of forty-nine cities
over 100,000 in population, and by J. R. McGaughy for elementarv and junior high schools
of 375 cities of over 8,000 population in an Inquiry, "Know and Help Your Schools," made
by the National Committee for Chamber of Commerce Cooperation with Public Schools.

Curriculum Reconstruction
Table IX. — Concluded

Subjects

Foreign Languages

Latin

French

German

Spanish

Commercial Subjects

Bookkeeping

Commercial Arithmetic .
Commercial Geography.

Stenography

Typewriting

Fine and Practical Arts

Drawing

Music

Agriculture

Cooking

Sewing

General Shop

Industrial Arts ,

Mechanical Drawing.

Printing

Sheet Metal Work

Woodworking

Physical Education and Health

Athletics

Calisthenics

Hygiene

Nursing

Physical Education15

Sanitation

Sex Hygiene

Elementary School

Cities

KHYS
Cities

Jr. H. S.

KHYS
Cities0

eAyer's physical training is considered the equivalent of McGaughy's physical education.

Examination of this table and of the more detailed data presented
in the original reports reveals that there is a fairly uniform group of
subjects generally found in the seventh and eighth grades when they
constitute a part of the traditional elementary school, but when a
junior high school has been organized, a great many "new" subjects
are introduced in these years. Some of these "new" subjects merely
represent finer differentiations of "old" subjects. For example, physical
education has been replaced by calisthenics and athletics ; hygiene by
sex hygiene, nursing, and sanitation; and industrial arts by printing,
sheet metal work, general shop, and mechanical drawing. However, it
is apparent that this is principally a matter of extending downward the
customary differentiation and specialization of the high school. When
attention is directed to ancient, medieval, modern, and English history,
geometry, Latin, zoology, and so forth, it is evident that many subjects

84 Bulletin No. 41

have been moved down more or less bodily into the seventh and eighth
grades.

Organization of the program of studies. As long as a grade
organization obtained, the program of studies in the seventh and
eighth grades provided for virtually no variation in subjects taken.11
In the first year of the high school, pupils were frequently permitted to
choose between two or more courses or were allowed to elect one or
more subjects. With the advent of the junior high school, the number
of subjects in the seventh and eighth grades was greatly increased and
it became necessary to organize courses, or to provide some system of
election. Koos has identified three main types of organization: (1) the
"single-curriculum type," (2) the "pure multiple-curriculum type,"
and (3) the "constants-with-variables type." Some schools have an
organization that does not belong strictly to any one of these types, but
is a combination of two or even all three of them. In collecting the pro-
grams of study of junior high schools for the year 1925-26, Koos
found that of the first fifty programs, thirty-one were of the constants-
with-variables type ; fourteen were combination types ; three were of
the single-curriculum type; and two were of the pure multiple-curricu-
lum type.12 Most writers on the junior-high-school curriculum accept
the constants-with-variables type as the typical form of curriculum
organization at this level.

Inasmuch as these names are descriptive of the forms of organi-
zation, all except the most prominent type may be dismissed with a
word. The single-curriculum type is one in which the same subjects
are prescribed for all pupils with no choice of other subjects. The
pure multiple-curriculum type is one in which the subjects are or-
ganized into two or more prescribed curricula, any one of which a
given pupil may pursue. The combination type is merely a combination
of one or both of these with the constants-with-variables type. This
last may be described best by an illustration. The junior high schools
of San Antonio, Texas, have their program of studies organized on
this plan. If we bear in mind that this division of the San Antonio
school system includes grades six, seven, and eight, the entire system
being on an eleven rather than on a twelve-year basis, the following
description is adequate.

The constant and elective studies vary considerably in the different years
of the course. In the sixth grade all subjects are constants, on the theory
that the children of this grade should probably all pursue the same course of

11A common exception to this plan was the prescription of manual training for boys
and domestic science for girls.

12Koos, Leonard V. The Junior High School (Enlarged). Boston: Ginn and Company,
1927, p. 145-68.

Curriculum Reconstruction 85

fundamental studies and that they are not yet ready to exercise an intelligent
choice of subjects. In the seventh grade a small amount of elective work is
provided in addition to the constants of English, mathematics, physical educa-
tion, social studies, and the study of vocations. The present program allows
the pupil to choose six hours out of the following: foreign language, 5 hours;
manual arts, 5 hours ; domestic science, 5 hours ; commercial courses, 5 hours ;

music, 1 hour ; art, 1 hour

Constants are considerably reduced in the eighth grade, the pupils being
required to carry only English, physical education, and social studies, making
a total of 15 hours per week. This leaves 15 hours which the pupil may choose
from the following: mathematics, 5 hours; general science, 5 hours; Latin,
5 hours; applied art, 5 hours; manual training, 5-10 hours; domestic science,
5-10 hours ; commercial courses, 5 hours.13

It is apparent that the San Antonio plan is distinctly different
from the organization of differentiated curricula in either the four-
year high school or the senior high school or of the curriculum in the
upper grades of the traditional eight-year elementary school.

Reorganization of subjects in the established subject-matter
fields. The subject-matter fields of secondary education which had
been established in the last two grades of the elementary school or be-
came established in the new junior-high-school unit are: English, for-
eign languages, mathematics, natural sciences, social studies, and the
fine and practical arts. The changes already effected or now being
effected in the first five of these fields at the junior-high-school level
are described in the following paragraphs. Consideration of the prac-
tical and fine arts is deferred until the topic of orientation and try-out
courses is taken up.14

Changes in mathematics. Early attempts at reorganization of
mathematics were independent of the junior high school. Myers and
his coworkers in the University High School at the University of Chi-
cago were among the first to attempt to organize algebra, geometry,
and trigonometry into a unified course.15 In the first year of this
course, algebra formed the core or unifying content. In the second

13Judd, Charles H. "The Junior Schools of San Antonio, Texas," Elementary School
Journal, 24: 736-3 7, June, 1924. Reprinted in:

Lyman, R. L. and Cox, Philip W. L. Junior High School Practices. Chicago : Laidlaw
Brothers, 1925, p. 96.

The quotation given here was taken by Judd from:

"The Junior Schools: Organization and Administration," San Antonio Public Schools
Bulletin, Vol. 1, No. 1. San Antonio, Texas: Board of Education, 1924, p. 40.

uSee p. 96-98.

15For accounts of the early development of this course, sec:

Myers, George W. "Mathematics in the University High School," School Review,
14: 57-64, January, 1906.

Myers, George W. "The Year's Progress in the Mathematical Work of the University
High School," School Review, 15:576-93, October, 1907.

Breslich, E. R., ct al. "Course of Study in Secondary Mathematics in the University
High School, The University of Chicago," School Review, 24:648-74, November, 1916.

"The Reorganization of Mathematics in Secondary Education." The Mathematical As-
sociation of America, Inc., 1923, p. 202-9.

Rugg, Harold Ordvvay and Clark, John Roscoe. "Scientific Method in the Recon-
struction of Ninth-Grade Mathematics," Supplementary Educational Monographs, No. 7.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 191S, p. 130-31.

86 Bulletin No. 41

year, the emphasis shifted to geometry. Myers and Breslich, with the
assistance of others, embodied this course in textbooks for the first
two years of high school.16 Although these texts have not been widely
used, this experiment has exerted considerable influence on the de-
velopment of general mathematics. It should be noted that this was an
effort merely to reorganize the more or less traditional material of the
ninth and tenth grades without modifying the work of the upper ele-
mentary grades. At this time the junior-high-school idea was still a
matter of theory and not of practice.

A few years later, Rugg and Clark17 made a study in which they
noted a tendency to develop three-year unified junior-high-school
mathematics courses18 and predicted that "ninth-grade mathematics
will certainly come to be regarded by school men in our generation as
the last year of mathematics that will be required."19 Soon after, they
published a text20 which they candidly stated to be a transition book in-
tended to meet the immediate needs of required mathematics in the
ninth grade. They expected that much of the material presented would
soon be found distributed over the eighth and ninth grades. In the
report referred to above, Rugg and Clark noted two or more text-
book series intended to form the basis of a junior-high-school unified
mathematics course. Since then, a very large number of such series of
textbooks have been issued. The reports of the National Committee
on Mathematical Requirements have given especial impetus to such
developments. In a bulletin of the U. S. Bureau of Education,21 the
Committee recommended that the junior-high-school course include
materials from arithmetic, intuitive geometry, algebra, numerical
trigonometry, demonstrative geometry, and history and biography.
They also suggested several plans of organization which combined
these materials in various ways, but did not give preference to any
particular plan.22

On the junior-senior high-school level, Lincoln School of Teach-
ers College, Columbia University, has made an attempt to "develop a
mathematical curriculum that would teach pupils things worth know-
ing and discipline them rigorously in things worth doing. The school

16Myers, George William, et al. First-Year Mathematics for Secondary Schools. Chi-
cago: University of Chicago Press, 1911 (Third impression). 365 p.

Myers, George William, et al. Second-Year Mathematics for Secondary Schools. Chi-
cago: University of Chicago Press, 1911 (Third impression). 282 p.

"Rugg, Harold Ordway and Clark, John Roscoe. "Scientific Method in the Recon-
struction of Ninth-Grade Mathematics," Supplementary Educational Monographs, No. 7.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1918. 189 p.

™Ibid., p. 132-33.

^Ibid., p. 131. Printed in italics in original.

^Rugg, Harold O. and Clark, John R. Fundamentals of High School Mathematics.
Yonkers-on-Hudson, New York: World Book Company, 1918 and 1919. 368 p.

;i"The Reorganization of Mathematics in Secondary Education," U. S. Bureau of Edit
cation Bulletin, 1921, No. 32. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1922, p. 17-24.

-Ibid., p. 24.

Curriculum Reconstruction 87

has assisted in creating a type of mathematical material suitable for
the average intelligent citizen or the general reader, without regard to
subsequent specialization. Hence, it was found necessary to eliminate,
or to reduce considerably, much of the traditional material, to adopt a
new sequence of topics, and to lay reasonable stress on motivation and
probable life situations."23

The following lists of units give a general idea of the content of
the course in the seventh and eighth grades :

Seventh grade :

1. Making accurate measurements

2. How graphs are used to picture numbers

3. How to locate places ; direction ; measurement of angles

4. The use of lines and angles in designs

5. The use of geometry in architecture

6. The measurement of area; formulas

7. The measurement of volume ; formulas

8. How to solve problems by the use of the equation

9. The percentage relations; profits and loss; applications of per-

centage
10. Projects in business practice

Eighth grade :

1. Practical measurements

2. How to find unknown distances

3. Using the right triangle

4. Four ways to express a relation between numbers

5. The use of geometry in architecture

6. Practice in problem solving

7. Interest

8. The secret of thrift

9. Making money earn money

10. The nature of insurance. Taxes

11. The use of positive and negative numbers

12. Household measurements24

The course for the ninth grade has been published in textbook
form as General Mathematics by Schorling and Reeve.25 It "consists
of the simple and important principles of arithmetic, algebra, and
geometry. It also includes about four weeks' work in numerical
trigonometry and an extensive unit in graphic representation. In addi-
tion to this, the course offers certain optional topics, as may be illus-
trated by small units on logarithms, slide-rule, mechanics, and the
like."26

In the Cass Technical High School of Detroit, we find a unique
attempt to base the course in mathematics on the needs arising in the

^"The Reorganization of Mathematics in Secondary Education." The Mathematical
Association of America, Inc., 1923, p. 234.

uIbid., p. 243.

^Schorling, Raleigh and Reeve, William David. General Mathematics. Boston: Ginn
and Company, 1919. 488 p.

26"The Reorganization of Mathematics in Secondary Education." The Mathematical
Association of America, Inc., 1923, p. 235.

88 Bulletin No. 41

laboratory and shop and to effect an organization of the mathematical
materials such that the study of the various topics will be "timed"
with respect to these needs.27 The general character of the work for
the ninth and tenth grades is indicated in the following description :

The order of topics throughout the mathematics course is based upon the
development of the algebraic formula. The department takes the position that
the introduction of geometrical material is justified only as it applies to the

formula or the equation Care is taken to see that problems demand

constant use of common and decimal fractions and that problems from corre-
lated subjects are in use in these classes at about the same time. The first
half of the ninth grade aims to carry the pupil far enough so that he will be
able to manipulate the equation sufficiently well to substitute in the formula
for any letters and solve the resulting equation for the remaining letter. In
the latter half of that year he learns to solve the formula for any letter before
evaluating.

The mathematics of the tenth grade is devoted to the demonstration of
the truth of geometric formulas, the development and proof of new formulas
including proportionality of lines, functions of angles and formulas of trig-
onometry.

.... There are no geometrical developments separate from algebra until

the use of the formula begins to demand a formal proof The geometric

formulas used up to the last half of the tenth school year have been within
the pupils' experience or else are treated as clearly intuitive. At that point
when more complicated concepts arise with constructions whose development
demands a formal proof, deductive geometry is introduced.28

The general topics of the remainder of the course are : third year
— solid geometry, trigonometry, logarithms, and slide rule ; fourth year
■ — higher algebra and mechanics with necessary mathematics.

Glass29 and others have noted that there are two distinct types of
general courses, one of which may best be called "coordinated" and
the other "unified." A coordinated course in mathematics combines
material of the various types mentioned above without amalgamating
them ; it is merely a coordination. Unified courses bring these materials
together in such a way as to produce an amalgamation, a unique
organization which is much more than a reassembling of the materials
of the traditional courses so that each retains its identity as either
arithmetic, algebra, or geometry.

Courses in general mathematics have not found their way into
practice to any considerable extent, even in junior high schools. Glass
reports that "a few of the fourteen centers have experimented with
unified courses."30 Of the cities studied by McGaughy, only 39 junior

"'Op. tit., p. 193-202.

™Ibid., p. 198-99.

29Glass, James M. "Present Curriculum Practices in the Junior High School," Second
Yearbook of the Department of Superintendence. Washington: Department of Superintend-
ence of the National Education Association, 1924, p. 233.

*>lbid., p. 233-34.

Curriculum Reconstruction 89

high schools reported courses in general mathematics, whereas 129
reported arithmetic, 100 reported algebra, and 20 reported geometry.31
However, with the exception of general science, mathematics is prob-
ably being taught as a general course in the junior high school more
often than any other subject.

Changes in the social studies. Table IX shows that geography.
civics, and American history were established seventh and eighth-
grade subjects in the 8-4 type of organization. With the establishment
of junior high schools, other history subjects (ancient, medieval, mod-
ern, general, and English history ) were introduced. Koos summarizes
the usual status of the social studies in junior high schools thus: "the
history of our country through seventh and eighth grades ; geography
in seventh grade ; community civics and ancient history vying with
each other for a place in ninth grade, with civics rather in the ascend-
ant ; and the course in 'vocations' appearing in no negligible proportion
of schools."32 The phases of the general subject-matter field of the
social studies which are included in this enumeration are much the
same as those recommended by the Committee of Ten for the seventh,
eighth, and ninth grades.33 The only obvious differences are the fol-
lowing two: History of Italy, Spain, and France was recommended
for the ninth school year by the Committee of Ten but does not appear
in the above enumeration ; "vocations" is not mentioned by the Com-
mittee of Ten.

Other less obvious, although equally significant, changes have oc-
curred, such as the "civil government" of the Committee of Ten be-
coming the "community civics" or "citizenship" of today, or geography
becoming primarily a social study as compared with the geography of
1893, which was primarily a natural science. Evidence might be pre-
sented to show the shift from military and political to social and eco-
nomic phases of history, and from governmental organization and ma-
chinery aspects of civil government to a functional basis.34 However,
it appears that the most significant present tendency in the social
studies at the junior-high-school level is to unify the accepted subjects
into a well-ordered sequence, ignoring the established subject bound-

31Ayer, Fred C, ct al. "Facts on Time Allotment of Subjects," Second Yearbook of
the Department of Superintendence. Washington: Department of Superintendence of the
National Education Association, 1924, p. 159-61.

32Koos, Leonard V. The Junior High School (Enlarged). Boston: Ginn and Company,
1927, p. 215-16.

""Report of the Committee of Ten on Secondary School Studies." New York: Ameri-
can Book Company, 1894, p. 3 5, 5 7, 41.

34For such evidence, see: Koos, op. cit., p. 214-3 7. Also:

"The Social Studies in the Elementary and Secondary School," Twenty-Second Year-
book of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part II. Bloomington, Illinois:
Public School Publishing Company, 1923. 344 p.

90 Bulletin- Xo. 41

aries in so far as possible.35 Two illustrations are given in summary
form.

At the Lincoln School of Teachers College, Columbia University,
a reconstruction of the materials of instruction in the social studies of
the junior high school has been effected which is representative of the
tendency toward unification in this field.36 The aim is stated as the
engendering of a "better understanding of the problems and the com-
plicated nature of the modern social world." In effecting the organi-
zation, the separate social studies — history, geography, and civics —
were looked upon as separate subjects with fairly well-defined and
separate fields of study, but no effort was made to insist upon the
maintenance of strict boundaries "where there is obviously a greater
educational contribution to be made by ignoring them." Ten major
problems were used as centers about which to organize the materials
of the course in social studies in the three junior-high-school years:

Seventh Grade :

1. Town and city life

2. Resources, industries, and cities of America

3. Industries and trade which bind nations together

a. The great industrial nations

b. The changing agricultural nations
Eighth Grade :

4. Explorers and settlers westward bound

5. Mechanical conquest of America

6. America's march toward democracy
Ninth Grade :

7. Americanizing our foreign born

8. Resources and industries in a machine world

9. Waste and conservation of America's resources
10. How nations live together

One of the most thoroughly developed city courses of stud}* in
the social studies for junior high schools is the one for Oakland, Cali-
fornia.37 In the Introduction, the following statements are made rela-
tive to the character of the course :

This is a composite course, — that is, the work in history, geography, civics,
and occupations is merged as much as possible and developed in its natural

35For detailed accounts of the development of the social studies, recommendations of
national committees, and descriptions of courses, sec:

Dawson, Edgar. "The Social Studies in Civic Education." U. S. Bureau of Educa-
tion Bulletin, 1925, Xo. 25. Washington : Government Printing Office, 1923. 16 p.

Dawson, Edgar, ct a!. Teaching the Social Studies. New Vork: The Macmilian Com-
pany, 1927, p. 273-92.

Dunn, Arthur William (Compiled by). "The Social Studies in Secondary Education,"
U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1916, No. 28. Washington: Government Printing Office,
1916. 63 p.

Gambrill, J. Montgomerv. "Experimental Cuiriculum-Making in the Social Studies,"
The Historical Outlook, 14:58-1-406, December, 1923; 15:37-55, January, 1924.

Shiels, Albert. "The Social Studies in Development," Teachers College Record,
23: 126-45, .March, 1922.

36See: Descriptive Booklet, published by the Lincoln School of Teachers College, 425
West I23rd Street, New Vork City, 1925, p. 47-52.

37"Social Studies — Junior High Schools — Grades 7, 8, 9," Superintendent's Bulletin,
Course of Study Series, Xo. 93. Oakland, California: Oakland Public Schools, 1926. 143 p.

Curriculum Reconstruction 91

relationship. There is no sharp cleavage line between history, geography,
civics, and occupations — although the chronological sequence of American his-
tory is made the backbone of the structure, especially for Grades 7 and 8.

In the three year basic block, the subject matter balance is proportion-
ately one year history, one year geography, one year civics.3"

Examination of the course of study reveals that its makers have
had measurable success in achieving their goal. The course is organ-
ized on a problem basis. Although the more detailed material in the
course of study reveals the unified character of the course better than
the following enumeration of topics and problems, yet the close inter-
relation of history, geography, civics, and occupations can be inferred
from this meagre statement :

Low Seventh Grade :
Major Topic:

The Development of the Americas, 1492-1789.
Main Problems :

1. Why and how the Americas were discovered and explored;

2. Why North America has proved to be a better continent for

settlement than South America ;

3. How the colonies in the new world were founded and

peopled ;

4. How European powers struggled for supremacy in the new

world ;

5. How the spirit of liberty, which started with the founding of

certain English colonies in North America, grew until they
gained their independence.
High Seventh Grade :
Major Topic :

The Development of the United States, 1789-1850.
Main Problems :

1. How the newly made states established a strong government ;

2. How our relations with foreign countries helped make us
stronger ;

3. How the United States spread to the Pacific ;

4. How the Industrial Revolution affected the development of
our country and the lives of our people ;

5. How the growth of democracy and education were advanced.
Low Eighth Grade :

Major Topic :

The Development of the United States, 1850-1900.
Main Problems :

1. How a threatened division in the United States resulted in
a stronger union ;

2. How improved methods of transportation and communication
have helped to bring the people of the United States closer
together ;

3. How the LTnited States has become a great "Melting Pot" ;

4. How the United States became a world power.

sOp. cit., p. 11

92 Bulletin Xo. 41

High Eighth Grade :
Major Topic :

The Development of the United States, 1900 to the Present
Time.
Main Problems :

1. How the conservation of America's resources has become a

vital issue ;

2. How the Great War made the United States a leader in

world affairs ;

3. How the world is becoming a great market ;

4. How world unity and cooperation are being brought about.
Low Ninth Grade :

Major Topic :

California and Community Problems.
Main Problems :

1. What opportunities for successful living does California offer ?

2. How the greatness of California depends upon the develop-

ment of her resources;

3. How the growth of our two great metropolitan areas is due

to natural advantages;

4. Why Oakland is a desirable community in which to live.
High Ninth Grade :

Major Topic :

Vocational Opportunity.
Main Problems :

1. Why it is necessary for a man to work;

2. What one should know about vocations before making his

choice;

3. What are the opportunities offered for the student complet-

ing the junior high school course?

4. How can employment be obtained ?

5. What should be the relationship of the individual to his

government and society?

Changes in the natural sciences. Table IX shows that physiology
and hygiene, and possibly some science of a nature-study or general-
science character, were established elementary-school subjects in the
8-4 plan of organization. With the establishment of junior high
schools, many other science subjects were introduced : sanitation, sex
hygiene, general science, biology, botany, zoology, agriculture, and
physiography. The Committee on Science of the Commission on the
Reorganization of Secondary Education proposed for the junior high
school that "general science, including hygiene" should be taught in
either the seventh or eighth year five periods a week or in both years
three periods a week, and that "biological science, including hygiene"
should be taught in the ninth year, the subjects in this field to consist
of botany, zoology, or general biology.39 However, practice varies ma-
terially from these recommendations. As shown by Table IX, there is

^"Reorganization of Science in Secondary Schools," U. S. Bureau of Education Bul-
letin, No. 26, 1920. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1920, p. 23.

Curriculum Reconstruction 93

a greater multiplicity of courses than the Committee proposed. How-
ever, data collected by Rodgers40 indicate that most of these subjects
are not offered frequently enough by junior high schools to make them
of importance. Physiology and hygiene are taught, in the main, as
separate subjects and not in conjunction with either general science or
biology. On the other hand, biological science is not offered to any
appreciable extent. Thus, the science offerings of the junior high
school consist chiefly of physiology and hygiene in the seventh year,
followed by general science in the eighth or ninth year.

The development of general science is the most significant change
that has occurred in science materials of instruction at the junior-
high-school level. This subject began primarily as a collection of more
or less dissociated parts taken from the various established sciences.
There has been a constant seeking for a principle of organization of
content which will make general science a coherent whole. A principle
beginning to be generally recognized is that the topics selected should
involve the application of truths from several sciences. The Commit-
tee on Science of the Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary
Education suggested the following seven topics : combustion, water,
air and the weather, light and its benefits, work and energy, magnetism
and electricity, and nature's balance of life.41 Many textbooks and
courses have been worked out along such lines as the ones suggested
by this committee. However, a balance between the various sciences
has seldom been maintained. Biological and physical science still vie
with each other as to which shall make the greater contributions. This
is due in large measure to attempts to tie up general science, civics, and
sanitation or community hygiene. Titles of some general science text-
books, such as Civic Science in Home and Community,42 are indicative
of this.

Changes in English. Table IX does not indicate any changes in
the field of English due to the organization of junior high schools, but
other sources of information indicate that marked changes have been
taking place. The Committee on Junior-High-School English of the
Department of Superintendence stated that "There is a marked tend-
ency to extend the scope of the English course far beyond its original
limits. Dictionary use, penmanship, journalism, library methods, voice

"Rodgers, J. Harvey. "Junior High School Curricula and Programs," School Review,
29: 198-205, March,, 1921.

Made use of by:

Koos, Leonard V. The Junior High School (Enlarged). Boston: Ginn and Company,
1927, p. 172-75, 252-59.

""Reorganization of Science in Secondary Schools," U. S. Bureau of Education Bul-
letin, No. 26, 1920. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1920, p. 25-28.

42Hunter, George W. and Whitman, Walter G. Civic Science in Home and Commun-
ity. New York: American Book Company, 1923. 527 p.

94 Bulletin No. 41

culture, physical exercises, debating, dramatics are now included in
the courses of study in English in many junior high schools."43 Such
practices probably represent an extreme situation but they are truly
indicative of a distinct tendency to bring many new types of material
into the junior high school under the general title of English. There is
also an obvious tendency to effect a unification of such materials rather
than to maintain reading, language, grammar, and so forth as separate
subjects. This tendency is due largely to the organization of the junior
high school as a part of secondary education, the English of the junior
high school being in some measure an extension downward of the
English of the established high school. This amalgamation of the Eng-
lish subjects is attended by a certain bifurcation, a tendency to make
rather sharp distinctions between the language-composition aspects and
the reading-literature aspects. These two phases of English are given
approximately equal time allotments in secondary programs of study.
Almost all who attempt to describe the present secondary-school
situation with regard to English find that the situation has its founda-
tion in the report of the Committee on English of the Commission on
the Reorganization of Secondary Education.44 Lyman made an analysis
of this report and classified the "progressive tendencies in the teaching
of English" which appeared in it.45 The Committee on Junior-High-
School English of the Department of Superintendence identified cer-
tain tendencies in junior-high-school practices relative to the materials
of English.40 From these two summaries, the tendencies in the ma-
terials of English instruction in junior high schools may be summarized
as follows :

A. The tendencies relative to English materials in general are :

1. To bring together as the one subject of English many related

materials formerly offered as separate subjects;

2. To bifurcate these materials, making rather sharp distinctions be-

tween the reading-literature materials and the language-compo-
sition materials.

43"The Junior High School Curriculum," Fifth Yearbook of the Department of Super-
intendence. Washington: Department of Superintendence of the National Education Asso-
ciation, 1927, p. 88.

"Hosic, James Fleming (Compiled by). "Reorganization of English in Secondary
Schools," U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1917, No. 2. Washington: Government Print-
ing Office, 1917. 181 p.

This is one of the most important of the several reports made by subject committees
of the Commission, being a "report by the national joint committee on English representing
the Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education of the National Education
Association and the National Council of Teachers of English." (From title page of the
bulletin.)

"Lyman, R. L. "A Study of Twenty-Four Recent Seventh- and Eighth-Grade Lan-
guage Texts," Elementary Scliool Journal, 24:440-52, February, 1924.

46"The Junior High School Curriculum," Fifth Yearbook of the Department of Super-
intendence. Washington : Department of Superintendence of the National Education Asso-
ciation, 1927, p. 88-89.

Curriculum Reconstruction 95

B. The tendencies relative to the reading-literature materials are :

1. To reduce oral reading materials and increase silent reading

materials, making them broad and within the range of the
pupils' comprehension and interest ;

2. To increase the materials for enjoyment and for training in

various types of reading at the expense of materials for the
purpose of technical literary analysis ;

3. To stress content reading in all fields.

C. The tendencies relative to the language-composition materials are :

1. To place oral composition on an equality with written composition ;

2. To reduce the formal aspects to a functional basis by limiting

spelling lists to words in common use; by teaching writing only
until a certain minimum quality is attained ; and by teaching
grammatical rules and other language techniques only when the
need for them arises;

3. To take composition subjects from life and the experiences of

pupils.

The above tendencies must not be taken for realized facts ; they
have considerable strength in recommendation and in practice, but still
they are only tendencies. After making his "classification of progres-
sive tendencies in the teaching of English," Lyman made an analysis
of twenty- four language-composition textbooks for the seventh and
eighth grades, all published since 1920. Twelve were distinctly in-
tended for use in the reorganized junior-high-school unit and twelve
for use in the traditional grade organization. The analysis of these
textbooks revealed the tendencies just mentioned. Although they were
somewhat more prominent in those texts designed for junior high
schools, Lyman expressed the conviction that further changes might
be made.

Changes in foreign languages. Table IX shows that foreign
languages are not among the accepted subjects in the seventh and
eighth grades under the 8-4 plan of organization, but that Latin,
French, Spanish, and German appear in these grades when junior high
schools are organized. Other investigators report Italian as appearing
occasionally.47 In the main, little change has been made in the ma-
terials of instruction other than to spread over two junior-high-school
years the content formerly covered in one high-school year. Koos cites
two attempts which have been made to adapt foreign-language ma-
terials to the new educational level.48 One of them is an attempt to
replace the "grammar method" of teaching Latin by the "translation
method."49 The other is an attempt to develop "Introductory Lessons
in Latin and English"; the organization of which is indicated by the

4TKoos, Leonard V. The Junior High School. Boston: Ginn and Company, 1927, p. 260.
aIbid., p. 266-67.

49Fletcher, W. H. "The Translation Method of Teaching Latin," Journal of Educa-
tional Psychology, 11: 1-5, January, 1920.

96 Bulletin No. 41

following examples of lesson titles: ''The Roman People and the Latin
Language," "The Latin Language as It Lives Today," "How to Ex-
tend Your Knowledge of the Roman People," "Our Debt to Latin,"
"Latin Prefixes in English." and "How a Roman Spent His Day."""

Such titles are indicative of the content of a new type of course
in foreign languages. Sometimes it is given a broader scope by in-
cluding topics relating to modern languages. A few schools are experi-
menting with a "general language" course which is designed to fulfill
an orientation or a try-out function.

Organization of orientation and try-out courses. The number of
subjects offered in the larger high schools is so great that a student can
pursue only a few of them, and even under a well-organized plan of
educational guidance his training may become specialized to an un-
desirable degree. General or orientation courses have been organized
largely to correct this fault. The most notable case of this type of
curriculum reconstruction is general science.

Try-out courses are very similar but their purpose is somewhat
different. They are intended to afford an opportunity for the student
to become acquainted with a number of related fields so that he may
choose his future programs more intelligently. One of the most daring
attempts to prepare a text for such a course is one written for an
exploratory language course,"'1 a field in which one might least expect
such efforts. A description of this text will help give an understanding
of orientation and try-out courses. The authors state in the Preface
that the course was developed in the junior high schools of West Hart-
ford, Connecticut, as a try-out course in languages. They outline the
purposes of the text as follows :

1. To offer all pupils the story of the development of language in general,
and in particular an understanding of the historical place of their own
language — English ;

2. To furnish all pupils some knowledge of the history and etymology of
our English words and the relation between them and the words of other
languages ;

3. To present a foretaste of the study of foreign language, and by so
doing to give the pupils what has been termed a language sense ;

4. To give the individual pupil, his teachers, and his parents some basis
for judging whether he should continue the study of a specific language further;

5. To reduce through educational guidance the mortality which usually
accompanies the first year's study of any foreign language ;

6. To give the pupils who later elect a foreign language a background
for the study of that subject. This includes a knowledge of the home life and
national customs, as well as the geographical background.02

50Gray, Mason D. "Introductory Lessons in Latin and English" (Teacher's edition).
Rochester, New York: Board of Education, 1922.

51Bugbee, Lucy Mallary, et al. An Exploratory Course in General Language. Chicago:
Benjamin H. Sanborn and Company, 1926. 258 p.

52Ibid., Preface.

Curriculum Reconstruction' 97

The text proper is divided into six parts. The first part is intro-
ductory, consisting of six chapters entitled respectively: Beginnings of
Language, Development of Writing, Races and Languages, Greek In-
fluence on Language, Roman Influence on Language, and The English
Language. The second, third, fourth, and fifth parts are devoted to a
presentation of the pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary of Latin,
French, Spanish, and German, respectively. Each language is intro-
duced by a chapter describing the country of which the language is the
native tongue. Many pictures are also included. Part Six is devoted
to word study, aiming to develop the relationship of other languages to
English.

Xo- doubt the experiment carried on at Okmulgee, Oklahoma, by
Bruner,53 is the most outstanding instance of the development of
orientation and try-out courses, or as designated by Bruner, "broaden-
ing and finding" courses. The plan followed involved reorganization of
the school from the administrative standpoint and use of certain guid-
ance techniques in addition to reorganization of curriculum materials.
However, we ma}' pass directly to a description of the "broadening and
finding" courses. The courses offered in the seventh grade included :
art, auto-mechanics, cooking, electricity, expression, general shop work,
instrumental music, journalism, mechanical drawing, science, sewing,
typewriting, vocal music, vocational information for boys, vocational
information for girls, and woodwork. In the eighth grade, the courses
of this character included : arts and crafts, banking, brick-laying and
cement, biological science, business, carpentry, English and Latin,
forging and sheet metal, general repairs, home nursing, interior dec-
orating, millinery, physical science, pre-modern languages, printing,
and public speaking.

As an illustration of the character of the curricular changes in-
volved in the organization of these "broadening and finding" courses,
reference is here made to the larger aspects of the English-Latin
course. The aim of such a course is said to be : (1) to enrich the pu-
pil's experiences with an appreciation of art, literature, and so forth ;
(2) to give the pupil a "cross-section of Latin study from the most
pleasant to the most difficult part" ; and (3) to show the pupil the prac-
tical values of a study of Latin to our English vocabulary. The several
aspects of the course include: (1) a study of the fall of Troy and the
wanderings of Aeneas, (2) early English, (3) history of Rome and
the spread of Latin, (4) the contact of Latin with English, (5) mod-

53Bruner, Herbert B. "The Junior High School at Work," Teachers College, Columbia
University Contributions to Education, Xo. 177. Xew Vork: Bureau of Publications, Co-
lumbia University, 1925. Ill p.

98 Bulletin No. 41

ern Latin, (6) word studies, (7) Latin words and expressions used in
everyday life, (8) the elements of language (^fundamentals of gram-
mart, ( 9 • how Latin helps us in spelling, (10) Latin prefixes in Eng-
lish, (11) syntax and inflection, and (12) a consideration of the ques-
tion: "Is Latin worth while?"

Obviously, such provisions as those set forth above necessitate
administrative reorganizations. Thus, besides the "enrichment" of any
course, provision is made for the more capable students who can do
the twelve years of grade and high-school work in ten years ; for the
less capable, who require more than six years to do the elementary
work and who may spend only two to four years in the junior-senior
high-school cycle ; as well as for the average or normal students.

Changes in materials of instruction at the senior-high-school
level. Significant data are not available in such form as to make it
possible to identify the trends in subject offerings of the senior-high-
school years which have resulted from the organization of a junior-
high-school unit. The senior-high-school years are dominated to such
an extent by college-admission requirements that the influences of ad-
ministrative reorganization are no doubt greatly vitiated, even to a
greater degree than has been shown to be the case in the ninth school
year. In the main, the changes are not distinct from those described
in the preceding chapter for the four-year high school. However, two
of these tendencies have been somewhat accentuated. In the first place,
development of a new unit at the junior-high-school level which places
emphasis upon a core curriculum of constants and try-out courses has
left the way open to, in fact has probably stimulated, an increase in
vocational and prevocational courses ; it has, in the second place, given
impetus to curriculum organization on a vocational basis. The Com-
mission on Reorganization of Secondary Education explicitly assumed
the junior high school and emphatically urged vocational subjects and
designation of curricula in the senior high school on a vocational basis.

Changes in materials of instruction at the junior-college level.
Questions relative to changes in materials of instruction at the junior-
college level may be disposed of briefly, for it is clear in reading such
reports as the lengthy one by Koos,54 or the newer account by Proctor,55
that offerings in junior colleges have broken very little with tradition.
In studying trends over a long period of time, one finds evidence of
significant downward movements of subjects from the later college

MKoos, Leonard Vincent. "The Junior College," Research Publications of the Univcr-
sitx of Minnesota, Education Series, Xo. 5, Vol. I-II. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota,
1924. 082 p.

^Proctor, William Martin (Edited by"). The Junior College. Stanford University,
California: Stanford University Press, 1927, p. 60-74.

Curriculum Reconstruction 99

years, shifts which seem to have occurred independently of the junior
college as such. In fact, the downward reaching of the college and the
upward reaching of the high school have produced a twilight zone
which defies all attempts to draw a distinct line of demarcation be-
tween the secondary school and college. Few subjects are universally
confined to either division. The only subjects which seem to be at all
distinctively junior-college in attachment and character are courses
which are intended to prepare for the semi-professional phases of com-
merce, engineering, and the like, and "orientation" courses somewhat
analogous to those of the junior high school. Both types of courses
tend to spread to the first years of four-year colleges.

The junior-college movement is beginning to evidence itself in
the titles of textbooks. A few series of books are being published which
bear titles indicating that they are for junior-college use.56 However,
the beginning in this field is similar to the stage of junior-high-school
textbooks a decade or more ago in which the designation of a book
as a junior-high-school text was more an expression of a hope than of
an actuality.

Concluding statement. Many changes in the administrative or-
ganization of the public-school system are either reflected in, or made
in response to, curricular changes. The relationship is reciprocal and
change or lack of change in either may facilitate or retard changes in
the other. Two changes in administrative organization have borne the
most direct relation to changes in materials of instruction : regrouping
of grades, and departmentalization of instruction in grades seven and
eight. The junior-high-school level has been and is still the focal point
of change. From this point, influences spread to both the higher and
lower educational levels.

In the junior-high-school years, two main types of changes in
materials of instruction have occurred: (1) changes involving subjects
as units, and (2) changes in the content of subjects. The number of
subjects at this level has greatly increased with organization of the
junior high school. Most of the subjects appearing in the upper grades
under the traditional organization have been retained in the new unit,
although not so universally offered as previously. Increase in the num-
ber of subjects has been accompanied by organization of curricula
similar to those on the high-school level. However, the main tendency
is to organize a core curriculum with electives.

The chief tendency in reorganization of the content of established
subjects is to unify the several subject-matter fields, bringing together

6An example is the University of Chicago junior-college series in German and French.

100 Bulletin No. 41

two or more subjects formerly discrete, reordering the topics, and or-
ganizing them upon new bases. Courses such as general mathematics
and general science and amalgamation of several subjects into the one
subject of English have resulted. In addition to reorganization of the
materials of instruction retaining the traditional subject-matter di-
vision, new orientation and try-out subjects have been developed which
more or less completely ignore the older lines of distinction. In the
main, these subjects have been given a vocational bias.

On the senior-high-school level, the only change that is noticeably
different from the changes in the traditional four-year high school is
an intensified specialization of materials of instruction, particularly
along vocational lines.

The junior-college level exhibits almost no well-defined tendencies,
the materials of instruction remaining about the same as those found
with the traditional organization. There is some evidence of an in-
crease in materials designed to train for the semi-professions.

CHAPTER VI

CURRICULUM RECONSTRUCTION: SELECTION AND OR-
GANIZATION OF MATERIALS OF INSTRUCTION
SO AS TO SECURE ADAPTATION TO
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Problems of this chapter. In preceding; chapters, occasional
references have been made to provisions for individual differences,
particularly in the discussion of objectives (Chapter III, p. 46-49) and
of parallel courses, electives, and differentiated curricula (Chapter IV,
p. 66-69). However, the problem of providing for individual differences
is so complex and cuts so sharply across most other educational prob-
lems that it seems advisable to devote a separate chapter to provisions
for such differences. In this chapter, an attempt is made to trace
briefly the growth since 1893 in recognition of the need for adaptation
of education to individual differences, to summarize the types of pro-
visions that have been made, and to present an analysis and discussion
of the selection and organization of materials of instruction necessary
to secure adaptation to individual differences.

Recognition by the Committee of Ten of the need for adaptation.
At the time the Committee of Ten made their report, some provisions
for individual differences were generally recognized.1 They stated, "It
has been a very general custom in American high schools and academies
to make up separate courses of study for pupils of supposed different
destinations, the proportions of the several studies in the different
courses being various."2 The Committee felt that the chaotic condition
of secondary-school programs of stud}', which had largely grown
out of the effort to supply different "courses of study for pupils of
supposed different destinations," was in serious need of simplification.
In the main, the solution proposed was fewer "courses of study"
("programmes" or curricula) and reduction in the number of short
courses.

At various places in the Report, they spoke of the "welfare of an
individual pupil,"3 the need of "selection for the individual,"4 the need

lNo doubt some recognition of need at the secondary-school level for adaptation of
formal education to individual differences has existed from the beginning of the development
of schools in the United States, although largely cared for through private initiative. See:

Seybolt, Robert Francis. "The Evening School in Colonial America," University of
Illinois Bulletin, Vol. 22, No. 31, Bureau of Educational Research Bulletin Xo. 24. Urbana:
University of Illinois, 1925. 68 p.

Seybolt, Robert Francis. "Source Studies in American Colonial Education — The Pri-
vate School," University of Illinois Bulletin, Vol. 23, Xo. 4, Bureau of Educational Re-
search Bulletin No. 28. Urbana: University of Illinois, 1925. 109 p.

2"Report of the Committee of Ten on Secondary School Studies." New York: Ameri-
can Book Company, 1894, p. 17.

3Ibid., p. 43.

4Ibid., p. 40.

101

102 Bulletin No. 41

of providing for boys and girls who leave school before they complete
the secondary-school course,5 and the need of giving pupils the oppor-
tunity to sample various fields of learning so as to make an intelligent
choice.6 Nevertheless, they appear to have assumed that the only needed
provisions for individual differences were choices of "programmes of
study" and subjects of study. They specifically stated "that every sub-
ject which is taught at all in a secondary school should be taught in
the same way and to the same extent to every pupil so long as he pur-
sues it, no matter what the probable destination of the pupil may be,
or at what point his education is to cease."7 Apparently, they assumed
that all secondary-school pupils, at least those within any one class,
were of "like intelligence and maturity," for they stated:

The suggestions of the Conferences presuppose that all the pupils of like
intelligence and maturity in any subject study it in the same way and to the
same extent, so long as they study it at all, — this being a point on which all
the Conferences insist strongly. No provision is made, therefore, for teaching
Latin, or algebra, or history to one portion of a class four times a week, and
to another portion of the same class only thrice or twice a week. Such pro-
visions are very common in American schools ; but the recommendations of
the Conferences, if put into effect, would do away with all expenditures of this
sort.8

It appears strange that the Committee, being greatly influenced by
Charles W. Eliot, said no more than it did about provision for indi-
vidual differences, and that they took a positive stand in favor of uni-
formity. President Eliot's addresses delivered about this time re-
veal a strong conviction on his part that individual differences should
be amply provided for, both in justice to the individual and to so-
ciety, particularly our democratic society. Especially in one address,
"Undesirable and desirable uniformity in schools,"9 delivered before
the National Education Association at Saratoga on July 12, 1892, he
set forth strong arguments in favor of variations to provide for indi-
vidual differences. He condemned in no uncertain terms the sort of
education which keeps all pupils together, which never allows the
bright ones to work to their utmost, which urges the slow ones for-
ward at a rate that drives some of them to despair, and which aims
at a uniform product. Rather, he advocated that pupils should be
more unlike in powers and acquisitions at the end than at the begin-

60/>. tit., p. 47-48.

6Ibid., p. 45-47.

1Ibid., p. 17. This, the Committee states, is the unanimous conclusion of all ten con-
ferences held under the direction of the Committee. See, for example, the reports of the
Latin Conference, p. 75; the Natural History Conference, p. 140-41; the History, Civil Gov-
ernment, and Political Economy Conference, p. 165; and the Geography Conference, p.
234-35.

Hbid., p. 38-39.

'Eliot, Charles William. Educational Reform. New York: The Century Companv,
1898, p. 273-300.

Curriculum Reconstruction 103

ning. He urged that there should be a thorough exploration of all the
capacities of pupils, largely through a wider program of studies in the
secondary school. He further advocated less strict grading and fewer
simultaneous promotions, a greater individualization of instruction,
and careful study of the "temperament, constitution, and mental apti-
tudes and defects" of each pupil. Supplemental to these provisions for
individualization, he advocated a uniformity similar to that recom-
mended by the Committee of Ten but differing from it in being merely
a uniformity in minimum essentials or "reasonable minimum expecta-
tion of attainment."

The need of providing for individual differences in all schooling,
particularly for pupils over nine or ten years of age, seems to have
been of great concern to Eliot, as he referred to it time and again in
his addresses.30 On many occasions he pronounced uniformity a curse
and urged provision for individual differences. In an address before
the National Education Association on February 16, 1892, at Brook-
lyn, "Shortening and Enriching the Grammar-School Course," he
made perhaps his broadest and most far-seeing single pronouncement
on this subject when he said, "Selection of studies for the individual,
instruction addressed to the individual, irregular promotion, grading by
natural capacity and rapidity of attainment, and diversity of product
as regards age and acquisitions, must come to characterize the Ameri-
can public school, if it is to answer the purposes of a democratic so-
ciety."11

Recognition by the Committee on College Entrance Requirements
of the need for adaptation. The special subject-matter committees
which cooperated with the Committee on College Entrance Require-
ments did not deal with the subject of provisions for individual
differences. However, the main committee dealt specifically with the
problem. Their major suggestion was that adaptations should be made
through the medium of electives and variations in curricula.12 With
reference to their first resolution, "That the principle of election be
recognized in secondaiy schools," they stated, "the committee merely

"Eliot. Op. cit.:

"Shortening and Enriching the Grammar-School Course," p. 253-69, especially p. 253-
54, 260-63, 265-68. Address before the National Education Association, Brooklyn, February
I 16, 1892.

"The Grammar School of the Future," p. 303-11, especially p. 308-11. Address before
the Massachusetts State Teachers' Association, December, 1893.

"The Unity of Educational Reform," p. 315-39, especially p. 317, 320, 327. Address
before the American Institute of Instruction at Bethlehem, New Hampshire, July 11, 1894,
J and published in the Educational Review of October, 1894.

"The Function of Education in Democratic Society," p. 401-18, especially p. 408-9.
Address before the Brooklyn Institute on October 2, 1897, and published in the Outlook.

"Ibid., p. 265.

12"Report of the Committee on College Entrance Requirements." Washington: Na-
tional Education Association, 1899, p. 27-2S, 32-3 3, 43.

104 Bulletin No. 41

indorses a practice already very common in secondary schools."13 With
reference to variation in curricula, they made their most emphatic
statement in regard to adaptation to individual differences, saying that
the program of studies of a school "may be made to yield several cur-
riculums, or possibly, almost as many curriculums as there are stu-
dents, each curriculum perhaps being better than the others, from an
individual point of view."14

Their two most important additions to the recommendations al-
ready made by the Committee of Ten relative to adaptation to indi-
vidual differences were : first, emphasis on guidance, the principal act-
ing as an advisor to individual students ;15 and second, recognition of
the need of special provisions for "gifted students."16 Their only sug-
gestion was more rapid progress, upon which they placed considerable
emphasis without suggesting practical means for its accomplishment.

Despite their explicit recognition of the need for adaptation to
individual differences, the Committee on College Entrance Require-
ments made some very positive statements with regard to .desirable
uniformity. After stating that "absolute uniformity in our secondary
education thruout the country, or thruout any considerable section of
it, is so improbable that it is a waste of time to discuss the question
whether it is desirable or not," they launched into an argument for
uniformity in courses of study ("the quantity, quality, and method of
work in any given subject of instruction"), arguing that "the course of
study is the unit out of which curriculums and programs are framed,"
and that "national units or norms" should be set up and generally
adopted.17 Xo recognition is given to the possibility of these "units or
norms" corresponding to Eliot's "reasonable minimum expectation of
attainment." Consequently, this committee was in essential agreement
with the position of the Committee of Ten "that every subject ....
should be taught in the same way and to the same extent to every
pupil so long as he pursues it."

Recognition by the Commission on the Reorganization of Sec-
ondary Education of the need for adaptation. In the interim be-
tween the report by the Committee on College Entrance Requirements
and publication of the Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education,
there was a marked development in recognition of the significance of
individual differences, brought about largely through the child study

13Op. cit., p. 27.
uIbid., p. 43.
™Ibid., p. 28.

*6Ibid., p. 35-36. This appears to be one of the earliest uses of "gifted" in pedagogical
literature, a term which has become widely used in recent years.
"Ibid., p. 41-45.

Curriculum Reconstruction 105

movement and related influences. The Commission on the Reorgani-
zation of Secondary Education laid down three fundamental propo-
sitions :

"The purpose of democracy is so to organize society that each member
may develop his personality primarily through activities designed for the well-
being of his fellow members and of society as a whole."18

"Consequently, education in a democracy, both within and without the
school, should develop in each individual the knowledge, interests, ideals,
habits, and powers whereby he will find his place and use that place to shape
both himself and society toward ever nobler ends."19

"The doctrine that each individual has a right to the opportunity to de-
velop the best that is in him is reinforced by the belief in the potential, and
perchance unique, worth of the individual. The task of education, as of life,
is therefore to call forth that potential worth."20

These three propositions form the basis on which the Commission

built their concepts of the specializing and unifying functions of the

secondary school. In essence, the first of these functions calls for full

recognition and proper development of individual differences so that

most effective advantage may be taken of them in democratic society.

For example, the Commission wrote :

The content and teaching methods of every study should be adapted to
the capacities, interests, and needs of the pupils concerned. In certain studies
these factors may differ widely for various groups of pupils, e. g., chemistry
should emphasize different phases in agricultural, commercial, industrial, and
household-arts curriculums.21

The second function of the secondary school, unification, calls for
elements common to all pupils. The following provisions were pro-
posed by the Commission :

(a) Studies of direct value for this purpose, especially the social studies

and the mother tongue, with its literature

(b) The social mingling of pupils through the organization and adminis-

tration of the school

have a large measure of responsibility, such as athletic games,
social activities, and the government of the school22

Summary. During the twenty-five years between the report by
the Committee of Ten and publication of the Cardinal Principles of
Secondary Education, marked changes took place in educational think-
ing relative to provisions for individual differences. The Committee

18"Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education," U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin,
1918, No. 35. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1918, p. 9.

™Loc. cit.

*>Ibid., p. 32.

21Ibid., p. 22. This statement places the Commission in a position diametrically op-
posed to one of the fundamental positions assumed by the Committee of Ten and the Com-
mittee on College Entrance Requirements that "every subject .... should be taught in
the same way and to the same extent to every pupil so long as he pursues it." Other pro-
visions which the Commission felt were necessary in order to fulfill the specializing function
are presented on p. 106-7.

22Ibid., p. 23.

106 Bulletin No. 41

of Ten recognized essentially two provisions; namely, electives and
parallel "programmes." At the same time, they advocated absolute
uniformity for all who studied a particular subject. The Committee on
College Entrance Requirements maintained essentially the same posi-
tion with two additions; namely, acceleration of "gifted students" and
emphasis on guidance, particularly by the principal. The Commission
on the Reorganization of Secondary Education came out more boldly
in their stand on provisions for individual differences. They explicitly
recognized them by advocating differentiated curricula, electives, and
a wide range of subjects. They also made proposals diametrically
opposed to uniformity of treatment of any particular subject for all
pupils. They amplified the guidance idea of the Committee on College
Entrance Requirements into "exploration and guidance," and greatly
expanded the same Committee's idea of acceleration of "gifted stu-
dents" under the caption of "flexibility of organization and adminis-
tration" so as to include all pupils. Recognizing complementary func-
tions of education — the specializing and unifying functions — the Com-
mission advocated not the uniformity advanced by the preceding two
committees but rather a few constants, such as English and the social
studies, for all pupils, and organization and administration of the
school so as to bring about a mingling of the pupils in extra-curricular
activities.

Types of provisions for individual differences. As has already
been pointed out, the Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary
Education, recognizing that the nurturing of individual differences is
for the good of both the individual and society, conceived of provisions
for individual differences as necessary to a realization of the special-
izing function of secondary education. They did not advocate merely
an adjustment to individual differences but also a conscious encourage-
ment and development of them, thus being in full accord with Eliot's
dictum "that a teacher who did not discharge his pupils at the end of
each year much more unlike in powers and acquisitions than they were
at the beginning was a proved failure."23 In this vein, the Commis-
sion proposed five types of provisions for individual differences, briefly
discussing each so that it might have a fullness of meaning.

Specialization demands the following provisions in secondary education :

(a) A wide range of subjects. In order to test and develop the many
important capacities and interests found in pupils of secondary-school age, the
school should provide as wide a range of subjects as it can offer effectively.

(b) Exploration and guidance. Especially in the junior high school the
pupil should have a variety of experience and contacts in order that he may

23Eliot, Charles William. Educational Reform. New York: The Century Company,
1898, p. 275.

Curriculum Reconstruction 107

explore his own capacities and aptitudes. Through a system of educational
supervision or guidance he should be helped to determine his education and
his vocation. These decisions should not be imposed on him by others.

(c) Adaptation of content and methods. The content and teaching meth-
ods of every study should be adapted to the capacities, interests, and needs of
the pupils concerned. In certain studies these factors may differ widely for
various groups of pupils, e. g., chemistry should emphasize different phases in
agricultural, commercial, industrial, and household-arts curriculums.

(d) Flexibility of organisation and administration. Flexibility should be
secured by "election" of studies or curriculum, promotion by subjects from the
beginning of the junior high school, possible transfer from curriculum to
curriculum, provision for maximum and minimum assignments for pupils of
greater and less ability, and, under certain conditions, for the rapid or slow
progress of such pupils.

(e) Differentiated curriculums. The work of the senior high school
should be organized into differentiated curriculums. The range of such curric-
ulums should be as wide as the school can offer effectively. The basis of dif-
ferentiation should be, in the broad sense of the term, vocational, thus justify-
ing the names commonly given, -such as agricultural, business, clerical, indus-
trial, fine-arts, and household-arts curriculums. Provision should be made also
for those having distinctively academic interests and needs. The conclusion
that the work of the senior high school should be organized on the basis of
curriculums does not imply that every study should be different in the various
curriculums. Nor does it imply that every study should be determined by the
dominant element of that curriculum. Indeed any such practice would ignore
other objectives of education just as important as that of vocational efficiency.24

This classification of provisions for specialization does not in-
clude, apparently, certain other means of providing adaptations to in-
dividual differences, the four most apparent being : ( 1 ) ability group-
| ing; (2) project-problem methods; (3) variations in learning exer-
i cises, and (4) variations in objectives. The latter two, however, are
implied in "maximum and minimum assignments for pupils of greater
!,and less ability."

It is evident that these nine means of providing for individual dif-
ferences are not all curricular, that some may even be made without
any significant changes in the curriculum. Flexibility of organization
and administration, and ability grouping are primarily administrative
provisions ;25 adaptation of methods and project-problem methods are
obviously adaptations of method;26 the other types of provisions are all

I ""Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education," U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin,

1918, No. 35. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1918, p. 21-22.
3For discussions of such provisions, including bibliographies, see:

"The Development of the High-School Curriculum," Sixth Yearbook of the Depart-
ment of Superintendence. Washington: Department of Superintendence of the National Edu-
cation Association, 1928, p. 195-212.

"The Education of Gifted Children," Twenty-Third Yearbook of the National Society
for the Study of Education, Part I. Bloomington, Illinois: Public School Publishing Com-
pany, 1924. 443 p.

26In addition to the references just given for administrative provisions, see:
Monroe, Walter S. Directing Learning in the High School. Garden City, New York:
Doubleday, Page and Company, 1927, p. 377-404.

108 Bulletin Xo. 41

primarily curricular, although they may involve, encourage, or be
facilitated by administrative and methodological adaptations.

Curricular provisions for individual differences are classifiable un-
der three major heads : objectives, materials of instruction, and learn-
ing exercises. Inasmuch as adaptations of objectives were discussed in
Chapter III,27 they need not be discussed here except as their intimate
relation to materials of instruction makes it necessary in order to give
an adequate understanding of adaptations of the latter. It was indicated
in Chapters I and IIP8 that comparatively little attention has been
given to learning exercises by those who have dealt with curriculum
problems. Hence, we are concerned in the main at this point with
adaptations of materials of instruction.

Adaptations of materials of instruction to individual differences
have been accomplished through three main avenues : elective studies,
organization of various types of curricula, and variation in the content
of particular subjects.29

Adaptation by means of electives and curricula. The need of
providing for individual differences was influential in establishing elec-
tives and curricula : however, many other factors, such as the crowded
nature of the secondary-school curriculum, were just as prominent.
The Committee of Ten accepted a much larger list of subjects as
"proper for secondary schools" than they were willing for any one
secondary-school pupil to attempt. Their major consideration in sug-
gesting that electives be permitted or that "programmes of study" (cur-
ricula) be organized appears not to have been so much to provide for
individual differences as to provide for thoroughness in the subjects
studied and the opportunity for every subject to develop "a good train-
ing capacity by giving it an adequate time allotment."30 The Committee
set up the recommendations of the nine conferences as standards to
which their programs should conform. All of the standards related
to the training value of the programs rather than to their efficiency in
providing for individual differences. These standards are summarized
thus :

They [the four programmes] treat each subject in the same way for all
pupils with trifling exceptions; they give time enough to each subject to win

*Sce p. 46-49.

*>Scc p. 14, 30.

^In tracing the development of recognition of need for adaptation to provide for indi-
vidual differences, much evidence from the reports of the Committee of Ten, the Committee
on College Entrance Requirements, and the Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary
Education has been presented which has necessarily included what they have to say relative
to curricular adaptations. Consequently, this evidence is not repeated. In the following
discussion, such additional evidence is presented from current practices as seems necessary;
to develop the points. Otherwise, the discussion is based upon the evidence already given.!

^"Report of the Committee of Ten on Secondary School Studies." New York: Ameri-
can Book Company, 1894, p. 39-43.

Curriculum Reconstruction 109

from it the kind of mental training it is fitted to supply; they put the different
principal subjects on an approximate equality so far as time-allotment is con-
cerned ; they omit all short information courses ; and they make sufficiently
continuous the instruction in each of the main lines, namely, language, science,
history, and mathematics.31

If one reads between the lines, especially with the aid of the writ-
ings of Charles W. Eliot, he sees that the Committee of Ten approved
the organization of programs of study so as to provide for individual
differences in interests, tastes, and future occupations, but not to pro-
vide for individual differences in capacity.

The Committee on College Entrance Requirements more explicitly
approved electives as a means of making intelligent provision for in-
dividual differences.32 The Committee did not believe in unlimited
election, but favored election after consideration of the matter by
pupil, principal, teachers, and parents. They also believed that election
should be tempered by constants, and therefore suggested the follow-
ing: "Four units in foreign languages (no language accepted in less
than two units), two units in mathematics, two in English, one in his-
tory, and one in science."33 The position of the Committee is adequately
summarized in their own words, thus :

Secondary schools, therefore, should be allowed to arrange their programs
in accordance with local environment, the demands of their constituency, and
the tastes of their pupils ; and when the work in any study is well done and a
sufficient amount of it has been acquired, and this work is consistent with that
done along other lines, it should be accepted by the college. The committee
believes there should be constants in every secondary school.34

Although not dealing directly with organization of curricula, the Com-
mittee approved of their being organized so as to provide for indi-
vidual differences in interests and tastes of pupils, the demands of the
school's constituency, and the influence of local conditions.35 However.
with the exception of gifted children, they apparently did not think of
electives or curricula as means of providing for differences in capacity.
The Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education
were explicit in their statements that secondary education should pro-
vide for individual differences in capacities, aptitudes, interests, tastes,
and probable futures. Electives. differentiated curricula, and a wide
range of subjects are among the provisions for individual differences
specifically advocated by the Commission. The justification advanced
for such provisions was the need for testing and allowing a full de-

S10p. cit., p. 44-4 5.

""Report of the Committee on College Entrance Requirements." Washington: Na-
tional Education Association. 1S99, p. 27-2$
**Ibid., p. :2.
3iIbid.\ p. 33.
**Ibid., p. *2-*3.

110 Bulletin* Xo. 41

velopment of the many and varied capacities, interests, and the like
found in pupils of secondary-school age so that the specializing func-
tion of secondary education might be realized. Although recognizing
differences in capacities and advocating electives and differentiated
curricula, the Commission does not seem to have implied in any way
that some curricula were for pupils of less native intelligence and other
curricula for those of greater intelligence. The vocational basis was
the only one advocated for curriculum differentiation.36

There is much evidence that this belief in the need of providing
for individual differences by means of electives, differentiated curric-
ula, and a wide range of subjects is finding expression in secondary-
school practice. A. A. Douglass points out that curriculum variables
and free electives are provided to take account of individual differences
in interests, capacities, probable future vocations, and the like.37 Keener
has indicated in more concrete fashion some of the provisions for in-
dividual differences made by the Chicago high schools.

Teachers have recognized differences in the mental ability and interests
of individual pupils, and efforts have been made to provide for their needs on
the basis of these differences. Electives have been provided, because we recog-
nized that all pupils will not derive equal benefit from the same course and
that all pupils are not interested in the same subjects. In practically all of the
high schools technical and commercial courses have been introduced for the
benefit of those pupils who wish training which will assist them in securing
industrial or commercial positions. Two-year vocational courses have been
provided for pupils who wish to specialize in vocational work and who cannot
take the full four-year course.38

Hughes, after making a questionnaire survey of provisions for
individual differences, states that "the more common method of caring
for the superior student is to allow him to carry one or more extra
subjects."39 Such provision naturally implies electives as a means of
providing for such differences.

In the increase in subjects and curricula reported for public high
schools of the north-central states by Stout,4" for senior high schools
by Counts,41 and for junior high schools by Glass,42 we find evidence

36"Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education," U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin,
1918, Xo. 35. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1918, p. 8, 21-22.

37Douglass, Aubrey A. Secondary Education. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Companv.
1927, p. 587-88.

^Keener, E. E. "Mental Ability of Freshman High-School Pupils," Journal of Edu-
cational Research, 11: 114, February, 1925.

3;4Hughe?, W. H. "Provisions for Individual Differences in High-School Organization
and Administration," Journal of Educational Research, 5:65, January, 1922.

40Stout, John Elbert. "The Development of High-School Curricula in the Xorth Cen-
tral States from 1860 to 1918," Supplementary Educational Monographs, Xo. 15. Chicago:
University of Chicago, 1921, p. 277-79. Mentioned in this bulletin on p. 21-24, 62-65.

"Counts, George S. "The Senior High School Curriculum," Supplementary Educa-
tional Monographs, Xo. 29. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1926. 160 p. Mentioned in this
bulletin on p. 60-62.

4:Glas_s, James M. "Present Curriculum Practices in the Junior High School," Second
Yearbook of the Department of Superintendence. Washington: Department of Superintend-
ence of the National Education Association, 1924, p. 227-242. Mentioned in this bulletin
on p. 88.

Curriculum Reconstruction 111

of the same sort of provision for individual differences as that recog-
nized more explicitly by Douglass, Keener, and Hughes. In making a
study of the titles of secondary-school curricula, Good found a total of
130 different titles, with an average of five curricula per school.43 One
technical high school offered twenty-one curricula, and one large city
system offered thirty-two. Examination of the 130 titles shows that
almost every one has some vocational meaning. Such multiplication of
subjects and curricula on a vocational basis is intended to provide in
the main for differences in vocational interests and probable vocational
futures. However, there is some evidence that differences in native
capacity are provided for to a limited extent by these means. In a
study of first-year high-school pupils in Chicago, Keener found sig-
nificant differences in the mental ages of pupils electing different cur-
ricula. The median mental ages ranged from 13 yr. 5 mo. for the two-
year technical curriculum through 13 yr. 7 mo. for the two-year com-
mercial curriculum, 14 yr. 5 mo. for the four-year technical, 14 yr. 9
mo. for the four-year commercial, 14 yr. 11 mo. for the four-year
modern language, to 15 yr. 1 mo. for the four-year Latin curriculum.
"The differences between the median mental age of the two-year tech-
nical pupils and the four-year Latin pupils is one year and eight
months. Although the Latin pupils have the highest mental rating,
they also show the highest percentage of failures."44

Adaptation by means of variation in subject content. Neither
the Committee of Ten nor the Committee on College Entrance Re-
quirements gave any consideration to possibilities of varying the con-
tent of subjects to provide for individual differences among pupils
studying the same subject. In fact, as has already been noted, they
both advocated "that every subject .... should be taught in the same
way and to the same extent to every pupil." The Commission on the
Reorganization of Secondary Education entirely reversed this posi-
tion. They suggested that provision should be made for differences in
interests, tastes, capacities, and probable futures. Provision for the
first three types of differences involve adjustments for pupils pursuing
the same subject. Provision for probable futures are effected in the
main by adjustment of courses to the purposes of different curricula.
For instance, the Commission suggested that the chemistry course of-
fered in the agricultural curriculum should be markedly different from

"Curriculum titles were collected from four-year high schools in thirty cities, senior
high schools in thirteen cities, junior high schools in twelve cities, and fourteen state high-
school manuals.

Good, Carter V. and Good, Raymond E. "Titles of Curriculums Offered or Suggested
in Secondary Schools," School Revieiv, 35:503-9, September, 1927.

"Keener, E. E. "Mental Ability of Freshman High-School Pupils," Journal of Educa-
tional Research, 11:121, February, 1925.

112 Bulletin No. 41

the one offered in the commercial curriculum. Such variations are fre-
quently made, especially in subjects which the Commission called "cur-
riculum variables," as is evidenced in the list of subjects quoted from
Stout on pages 63-65. These are fairly obvious adjustments and need
not be discussed further at this point.

Differences in interests, tastes, and capacities which exist within
any particular vocational group are more subtle than the differences in
vocational interests and probable futures which exist between voca-
tional groups. In consequence, provisions for differences in interests,
tastes, and capacities within groups are not so patent as are provisions
for vocational differences.45 Ability grouping is one administrative de-
vice that has been employed to care for differences in capacity.46 No
doubt it has been an important factor in emphasizing the need for
more subtle adaptations of subject content. The following statement by
Frank G. Pickell is representative of a point of view that has de-
veloped :

There is little or no excuse for the classification of pupils or the exten-
sive study of their capacity, unless we modify the content of courses and
methods of teaching for the various ability groups formed.47

He goes on to state that "in every Cleveland junior high school the
modification of the courses of study has been undertaken, and in some,
the work has progressed far enough for revision to be in stenciled
form.''

Brogue has given the following outline of the second month's
work in first-year composition as an example of variation of content
in English. 4S

45For a summary of a number of studies of pupils' interests and needs, including a
lengthy bibliography, see:

Uhl, Willis L. Secondary School Curricula. New York: The Macmillan Company,
1927, p. 377-456.

46For bibliographies on ability grouping, see:

Ryan, Heber Hinds and Crecelius, Philipine. Ability Grouping in the Junior High
School. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1927. 224 p.

Odell, Charles W. "An Annotated Bibliography Dealing with the Classification and
Instruction of Pupils to Provide for Individual Differences," University of Illinois Bulletin,
Vol. 21, No. 12, Bureau of Educational Research Bulletin No. 16. Urbana: University of
Illinois, 1923. 50 p. 346 titles are given.

"Adapting the Schools to Individual Differences," Twenty-Fourth Yearbook of the Na-
tional Society for the Study of Education, Part II. Bloomington, Illinois: Public School
Publishing Company, 1925, p. 317-35. This bibliography of 107 titles on "Classification, abil-
ity grouping, and promotion plans" does not duplicate Odell's bibliography but brings it up
to date in 1925.

"The Education of Gifted Children," Twenty-Third Yearbook of the National Society
for the Study of Education, Part I. Bloomington, Illinois: Public School Publishing Com-
pany, 1924, p. 389-443. This is a bibliography of 453 titles.

47Pickell, Frank G. "Ability Grouping of Junior High-School Pupils in Cleveland:
Some Practical Aspects of the Problem," Journal of Educational Research, 11:250, April,
1925.

48Brogue, Arthur. "Differentiated Courses for Pupils of Superior Ability in the J.
Sterling Morton High School," Twenty-Third Yearbook of the National Society for the
Study of Education, Part I. Bloomington, Illinois: Public School Publishing Company,
1924, p. 367-68.

Curriculum Reconstruction

113

Middle Sections
Technique
Punctuation

The apostrophe

Addresses, dates
Grammar

Verbs

Nouns

Subject of verb

Pronouns

Predicate nominatives

Object of verb

High Sections
Technique
Punctuation
The apostrophe
Addresses, dates
Grammar
Verbs
Nouns

Subject of verb
Pronouns

Predicate nominatives
Object of verb
Transitive and intran-
sitive verbs

Practice
Oral theme : How to
make an article the pu-
pil has actually made, or
how to play a game.
(Encourage use of dia-
grams.) Written theme:
How to find some place
in the pupil's own ex-
perience.

Minima m Essentials
Test

1. Apostrophe: posses-
sion, contraction

2. Comma with ad-
dresses and dates

3. Recognition of verbs,
nouns, pronouns

4. Recognition of sub-
jects, predicate nom-
inatives, direct ob-
jects of verbs

5. Discrimination be-
tween transitive and
intransitive verbs

In the University of Chicago High School and the University of
Wisconsin High School, the content of courses is not organized for
various ability groups in this rigid fashion, but rather, it is broken up
into "unitary blocks." Minimum essentials to be mastered by all are
designated. Supplementary work is done by those able to go beyond.49

Pra ct let-
Oral theme : How to
make an article the pu-
pil has actually made, or
how to play a game.
(Encourage use of dia-
grams.) Written theme:
How to find some place
in the pupil's own ex-
perience.

Minimum Essentials
Test

1. Apostrophe : posses-
sion, contraction

2. Comma with ad-
dresses and dates

3. Recognition of verbs,
nouns, pronouns

4. Recognition of sub-
jects, predicate nom-
inatives, direct ob-
jects of verbs

Low Sections
Technique
Punctuation

The apostrophe

Addresses, dates
Grammar

Verbs

Nouns
Insistence upon proper

form
Use of dictionary
Logical definition
Spelling — Selected from

written work

Minimum Essentials
Test

1. Apostrophe : posses-
sion, contraction

2. Comma with ad-
dresses and dates

3. Recognition of nouns
and verbs

49Some violence may have been done these two plans by this brief mention. For more
explicit statements, sec:

Miller, Harry Lloyd. Directing Study., New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1922.
3 77 p.

Morrison, Henry C, et al. "Studies in Secondary Education, I, University High

114 Bulletin No. 41

Both of these plans bear considerable resemblance to the curricular
adaptations frequently accompanying adoption of the Dalton Plan.50
Although the originators and advocates of the Dalton Plan insist that
it "does not call for any changes in the curriculum or texts," that it
"is a sociological, rather than a curricular experiment," that "the Dal-
ton Plan should be considered as a vehicle for the curriculum,"51 there
is usually an accompanying adjustment of the curriculum to allow for
and encourage individual development and progress. This is well il-
lustrated in the experiment at River Falls, Wisconsin, described by
Mason.50

In the preceding examples, subject content is varied in accordance
with individual differences but without explicit consideration of the
objectives involved. Another type of modification proceeds directly
and obviously from an adjustment of objectives to reorganization of
subject content and learning exercises.

The plan described by Dalman exemplifies this procedure.52 He
worked out a set of objective standards of attainment in first-year alge-
bra for addition, subtraction, factoring, simultaneous equations and
quadratic equations. For each topic, four lists of exercises were as-
sembled and labeled "C," "B," "A," and "A-)-," in accordance with
the system of school marks employed. The exercises in any one list
were judged to be approximately equal in difficulty, but as suggested
by their labels, the successive lists for each topic increased progressively
in difficult}'.

These lists of exercises define standards of achievement for the
topics of first-year algebra. The goal set for a student is not the
doing of so many exercises but the attainment of the ability to do
exercises of a certain kind and difficulty. When a student thinks he
has acquired sufficient habits and knowledge to do the "C" list of
exercises on a certain topic, he is given an opportunity to do so. If he

School, University of Chicago," Supplementary Educational Monographs, No. 24. Chicago:
University of Chicago, 1923. 150 p.

Reavis, William C, et at. "Studies in Secondary Education, II, University High
School, University of Chicago," Supplementary Educational Monographs, No. 26. Chicago:
University of Chicago, 1925. 202 p.

Reavis, W. C. "The Administration of the Superior Students in the University of
Chicago High School." Tzventy-Third Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of
Education, Part I. Bloomington, Illinois: Public School Publishing Company, 1924, p. 355-
65. Somewhat more detailed descriptions for mathematics and the social studies are given
by Breslich and Hill in this yearbook, p. 372-78 and 379-88, respectively.

50 A description by Mason of a particular scheme that grew out of an attempt to put
the Wisconsin plan into practice portrays the close relationship between the Wisconsin and
Dalton plans. See:

Mason, H. C. "A Modification of the Dalton Plan," School Review, 33:781-86, De-
cember. I92S.

51Parkhurst, Helen. "The Dalton Laboratory Plan," Twenty-Fourth Yearbook of the
National Society for the Study of Education, Part II. Bloomington, Illinois: Public School
Publishing Company, 1925. p. 83-84.

"Dalman, Murray A. "Hurdles, a Series of Calibrated Objective Tests in First Year
Algebra," Journal of Educational Research, 1:46-62, January, 1920.

Curriculum Reconstruction 115

fails to do these exercises correctly, he is directed to do learning exer-
cises in order that he may acquire sufficient ability to pass the first
hurdle. After he has demonstrated that he possesses the ability to do
the "C" list of exercises, he is assigned other learning exercises that
will engender the additional ability required for the "B" list, and so on.

Concluding statement. Individual differences were given almost
no consideration by the Committee of Ten. They did recognize that
"it has been a very general custom .... to make up separate courses
of study for pupils of supposed different destinations" ; and at various
places in their report, they took notice of the individual pupil. How-
ever, their emphasis was on uniformity rather than on provisions for
individual differences. The Committee on College Entrance Require-
ments gave particular attention to electives and rate of progress, and
thus were more explicit in their suggestions relative to providing for
individual differences. Nevertheless, they too placed emphasis upon
uniformity, particularly within any given subject. The Commission
on Reorganization of Secondary Education gave much more attention
to individual differences than did either of the two preceding com-
mittees. Provisions for such differences were considered necessary to
a realization of the specializing function of secondary education, which
is fully as important, especially in a democracy, as the unifying func-
tion.

There is an abundance of evidence that a serious attempt is being
made to adapt secondary education to individual differences. Adapta-
tion of materials of instruction is being accomplished through elec-
tives, organization of various types of curricula, and variation in the
content of subjects. Electives provide in the main for variations in
interests, and to a less extent for variations in capacity. Curricula also
care for variations in interests, particularly vocational interests, and
to a considerable extent for differences in native ability. Provisions
for individual differences through modification of the content of a
particular subject, especially as worked out in schemes like the Dalton
Plan, tend to be more flexible than provisions by means of electives or
differentiated curricula. No doubt, adequate provision for the whole
gamut of differences in interests, tastes, capacities, probable vocational
futures, and so forth, can be had only through a combination of these,
and possibly other, means.

CHAPTER VII
CONCLUSIONS

During the period of thirty-five years since the Report of the
Committee of Ten in 1893, changes in educational thinking relative to
secondary education have occurred which are nearly as phenomenal in
the realm of educational thought as the accompanying changes in en-
rollment are in a more material sphere. During this period, the cur-
riculum has been given a major share of consideration, until today it is
the focus of educational thought. It is true that there has been much
conservatism resisting change ; that traditional school practices have
tended to persist ; that the total situation is extremely complex, in-
volving many factors such as psychological and social theory ; and that
it appears extremely chaotic and without reason from some points of
view. In fact, one might question whether there has been progress in
any real sense. However, careful study shows that certain significant
trends in thinking about the curriculum are relatively dominant, per-
sistent, and progressive — progressive in the sense that the secondary
school is being brought nearer to a realization of the purposes of
democracy.1

The trends in educational thinking relative to the secondary-school
curriculum may be summarized under two captions : objectives, and
materials of instruction.

Trends in objectives. Although there was no mention of objec-
tives as such by the Committee of Ten, they are today accorded recog-
nition by all curriculum thinkers. This growing recognition has been
attended by the development of many techniques for the determination
of objectives. During this interim of thirty-five years, the conflict
between the finishing and the fitting functions has been apparently
settled by recognition of the former as dominant. When the objectives
of the secondary school are considered more specifically, four major
trends are apparent: (1) The group of children for whom the school
is planned has been extended from a relatively small and select group
to one that in theory includes all children of secondary-school age.
(2) The scope of objectives has been increased from partial prep-
aration for citizenship, leisure-time activities, and professional occu-
pations, to much more extended preparation for all phases of out-of-
school life. (3) There is a definite tendency to determine control ob-
jectives in terms of specific habits, knowledge, and general patterns of

1A formulation of the purpose of democracy was quoted from the "Cardinal Principles
of Secondary Education" on p. 105 of this bulletin.

116

Curriculum Reconstruction 117

conduct. (4) Attention is being given to preferred variations in
achievements largely because individual differences and the specializing
function have come to be considered complementary.

Trends in materials of instruction. Recognition and determina-
tion of more specific objectives have been accompanied by the tend-
ency to make them the criteria for the selection of materials of in-
struction, a tendency commonly described by saying that the curricu-
lum is becoming more practical. Another factor that has profoundly
influenced materials of instruction is the regrouping of school grades
at the junior-high-school level. Considered more specifically, five ma-
jor trends appear in materials of instruction: (1) Measured in terms
of the number of subjects, the curriculum has been greatly expanded,
especially in the field of the practical and fine arts ; the actual expan-
sion is even greater when the time devoted to the several subjects is
considered. (2) In the older subject-matter fields of mathematics, Eng-
lish, science, and the social studies, particularly on the junior-high-
school level, traditional subject boundary lines are being obliterated,
and unified courses of a relatively general nature are being organized.
(3) Materials of instruction, particularly on the senior-high-school
level, are being differentiated on a vocational basis, forming such sub-
jects as commercial arithmetic, business English, and household chem-
istry; this differentiation is usually accompanied by organization of
differentiated curricula. (4) As a phase of educational guidance,
broadening and finding or try-out courses are being introduced, espe-
cially in the junior high school, and (5) Materials of instruction are
being modified and reorganized so as to provide for and even en-
courage individual differences.

Trends that will persist. It is far easier to identify the trends of
the past than to analyze the present or to predict the future. How-
ever, this study of the recent developments in educational thinking
relative to the secondary-school curriculum would seem incomplete
without some reference to the future. On the basis of the facts al-
ready presented and the trends identified, certain statements relative
to the future appear to be justified. Some of the trends mentioned in
the preceding pages, such as the growth in dominance of the finishing
over the fitting function, have become firmly established and need not
be considered as trends of the present and future. Others, such as the
development of broadening and finding courses, have little more than
become established as trends. It appears that the following are the
more important trends that will be prominent in the immediate fu-
ture : ( 1 ) Attention will continue to be focused upon the determi-

118 Bulletin No. 41

nation of specific control objectives and their differentiation with re-
spect to individual differences. (2) Recognized objectives will grow in
importance as criteria in the selection and organization of materials of
instruction. (3) The regrouping of materials of instruction in the
older subject-matter fields, such as mathematics and the social studies,
will be continued, and no doubt will eventually extend to the newer
subject-matter fields, such as the fine and practical arts, after these
fields have gone through the present stage of differentiation. (4)
Broadening and finding courses will be developed as a phase of edu-
cational-vocational guidance.

No doubt some of these trends will be brought to a consummation
during the next thirty-five years and new trends will come into
prominence. We may confidently expect educational thought to make
even greater strides than it has during the period since the Report of
the Committee of Ten. The task of those who carry theory into prac-
tice is to comprehend the meaning of our best educational thinking and
to trv to see the direction of its trends.

INDEX OF AUTHORS AND COMMITTEES

Authors

Allen, E. A. H., 17.

Austin, H., 17-18.

Ayer, Fred C, 82-83, 89.

Bagley, William Chandler, 46.
Baker, James H., 19.
Bancroft, C. F. P., 18.
Bechdolt, A. F., 17.
Bishop, J. Remsen, 25.
Bobbitt, Franklin, 11, 12, 42, 48-53.
Bonser, Frederick Gordon, 12-13.
Booth, W. S., 80, 81.
Breslich, E. R., 85.
Briggs, Thomas H., 12, 80.
Brogue, Arthur, 112-13.
Broome, Edwin Cornelius, 24-25.
Brown, E. E., 8, 67.
Brunei-, Herbert B., 97-98.
Bugbee, Lucy Mallary, 96-97.
Bunker, Frank Forest, 77, 79.

Cabeen, C. W., 20.

Charters, W. W., 12, 50.

Chase, Frank, 27-28.

Clark, John R. and Rugg, H. O. 85-86.

Clement, John Addison, 13.

Codings, Ellsworth, 12.

Compayre, Jules Gabriel, 45.

Counts, George S., 33-34, 60-61, 110.

Cox, Philip W. L. and Lyman, R. L., 85.

Crecelius, Philipine and Ryan, Heber

Hinds, 112.
Cubberley, Ellwood P., 9.

Dalman, Murray A., 114-15.

Davis, Calvin O., 67-68, 79, 80.

Dawson, Edgar, 81, 90.

De Garmo, Charles, 11, 44, 46.

Dewey, John, 15.

Dougherty, N. C, 27.

Douglass, Aubrey A., 110, 111.

Douglass, H. R. and Stetson, F. L., 80.

Dunn, Arthur William, 76, 90.

Eliot, Charles W., 15, 76-77, 102-3, 104,

106, 109.
Ferriss, Emery N., 10, 66.
Fletcher, W. H., 95.

Gambrill, J. Montgomery, 90.

Giles, Edith, 43.

Glass, James M., 88, 110.

Good, Carter V. and Good, Raymond

E., 111.
Gray, Mason D., 95-96.

Hanus, Paul H., 44-45.
Harris, William T., 25, 74-75.
Hebb, Bertha Y., 80.
Herbart, John Frederick, 39, 44-45.
Hinsdale, B. A., 45.
Hockett, John A., 52.
Hosic, James Fleming, 94.
Hughes, W. H., 110, 111.
Hunter, George W. and Whitman,
Walter G., 93.

Inglis, Alexander, 11.
Judd, Charles H., 84-85.

Kandel, I. L., 45.
Keener, E. E., 110, 111.
Kinslcv, Clarence D., 36.
Koos, Leonard V., 62, 65, 79, 84, 89,
93, 95, 98.

Lyman, R. L., 94, 95.

Lyman, R. L. and Cox, Philip W. L.,

85.
Lynch, Charles P., 25.

MacAlister, Tames, 19-20.
MacKibbin, Stuart, 26-27.
McDowell, F. M., 79.
McGaughy, T. R., 82-83, 88-89.
McKown, H. C, 58-60.
McMurry, Charles, 44.
McMurrv, Frank, 44.
Mason, H. C, 114.
Meriam, Junius L., 12.
Miller, Harrv Lloyd, 113.
Monroe, Paul, 8, 11, 44.
Monroe, Walter S„ 30, 46, 107.
Morrison, Henry C, 113-14.
Muzzey, David Saville, 75-76.
Myers, George W., 85-86.

Odell, Charles W., 112.

Parker, S. C, 39.
Parkhurst, Helen, 114.
Picked, Frank G., 112.
Plummer, Frank E., 26.
Proctor, William Martin, 79, 98.

Reavis, William C, 114.

Reeve, William David and Schorlina;,

Raleigh, 87.
Rodgers, J. Harvey, 93.
Ruediger, W. C, 11.
Run, John, 10, 66.

119

120

Bulletin No. 41

Rugg, H. O., 52.

Rugg, H. O. and Clark, John R., 85-86.
Ryan, Heber Hinds and Crecelius,
Philipine, 112.

Seaver, Edwin P., 19.
Seybolt, Robert Francis, 22, 101.
Schorling, Raleigh and Reeve, Wil-
liam David, 87.
Shiels, Albert, 90.
Spencer, Herbert, 41-42.
Stetson, F. L. and Douglass, H. R., 80.

Stout, John Elbert, 21, 22-24, 62-65,
67, 68-69, 71, 110.

Thorndike, E. L., 39, 45-46.
Thorpe, Francis N., 20.

Uhl, Willis L., 112.

Vincent, George E., 75.

Whitman, Walter G. and Hunter,
George W., 93.

Committees

Chicago, Illinois, Board of Education,
18.

Commission on the Reorganization of
Secondary Education, 14-15, 32, 33,
37-38, 41, 43, 48, 49, 53-54, 56, 58, 69,
73-74, 93, 104-5, 106-7, 109-10, 111-12,
115, 116.

Committee on College Entrance Re-
quirements, 11, 14, 32-33, 35, 41, 47,
48, 58, 68, 72-73, 74, 103-4, 106, 109,
111, 115.

Committee on Curriculum-Making of
the National Society for the Study
of Education, 13.

Committee on English of the Commis-
sion on the Reorganization of Sec-
ondary Education, 94.

Committee on Junior-High-School
English of the Department of Su-
perintendence, 93-94.

Committee of Nine on the Articulation
of High School and College, 36.

Committee on Science of the Commis-
sion on the Reorganization of Sec-
ondary Education, 92-93.

Committee on Social Studies for Jun-
ior High Schools, Oakland, Califor-
nia, 90-92.

Committee on Standards for use in
Reorganization of Secondary School
Curricula of the North Central As-
sociation, 42, 49.

Committee of Ten on Secondary
School Studies, 7, 10-11, 14, 16, 32,
34-35, 38-39, 40-41, 43, 44, 46-47, 53-
54, 55, 56-58, 67, 72, 77, 79, 89, 101-2,
105-6, 108-9, 111, 115, 116, 118.

National Committee on Mathematical
Requirements, 70, 85, 86-88.

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS BULLETIN

Issued Weekly
Vol. XXV June 19, 1928 No. 42

[Entered as second-class matter December 11, 1912, at the post office at Urbana, Illinois,
under the Act of August 24, 1912. Acceptance for mailing at the special rate of post-
age provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized July 31, 1918.]

BULLETIN NO. 41

BUREAU OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE

SECONDARY-SCHOOL CURRICULUM

ITS MEANING AND TRENDS

Walter S. Monroe
Director, Bureau of Educational Research

and

M. E. Herriott
Associate, Bureau of Educational Research

PRICE SO CENTS

PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, URBANA

1928

The Bureau of Educational Research was established by act
of the Board of Trustees June 1, 1918. It is the purpose of the
Bureau to conduct original investigations in the field of education,
to summarize and bring to the attention of school people the results
of research elsewhere, and to be of service to the schools of the
state in other ways.

The results of original investigations carried on by the Bureau
of Educational Research are published in the form of bulletins. A
list of available publications is given on the back cover of this
bulletin. At the present time five or six original investigations are
reported each year. The accounts of research conducted elsewhere
and other communications to the school men of the state are pub-
lished in the form of educational research circulars. From ten to
fifteen of these are issued each year.

The Bureau is a department of the College of Education. Its
immediate direction is vested in a Director, who is also an instructor
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carried on by other members of the Bureau staff and also by grad-
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BULLETINS OF THE BUREAU OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH,

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No. 8. Monroe, Walter S. A Critical Study of Certain Silent Reading Tests 50

No. 10. Bureau of Educational Research. Relation of Size of Class to School Efficiency

(Out of print) 50

No. 11. Monroe, Walter S. Relation of Sectioning a Class to the Effectiveness of In-
struction (Out of print) 15

No. 12. Odell, Charles W. The Use of Intelligence Tests as a Basis of School Organ-
ization and Instruction 50

No. 13. Monroe, Walter S., and Foster, I. O. The Status of the Social Sciences in

the High Schools of the North Central Association 50

No. 14. Monroe, Walter S., and Carter, Ralph E. The Use of Different Types of
Thought Questions in Secondary Schools and Their Relative Difficulty for
Students 30

No. 15. Monroe, Walter S. The Constant and Variable Errors of Educational

Measurements (Out of print) 25

No. 16. Odell, Charles W. An Annotated Bibliography Dealing With the Classification

and Instruction of Pupils to Provide for Individual Differences ( Out of print) .50

No. 17. Monroe, Walter S., and Souders, Lloyd B. Present Status of Written Exam-
inations and Suggestions for Their Improvement 50

No. 18. Streitz, Ruth. Teachers' Difficulties in Arithmetic and Their Correctives 30

No. 19. Odell, Charles W. The Progress and Elimination of School Children in Illinois .50

No. 20. Monroe, Walter S., and Mohlman, Dora Keen. Training in the Technique

of Study (Out of print) 50

No. 21. Monroe, Walter S. (Director). A Survey of the City Schools of Marion, Illinois .50

No. 22. Odell, Charles W. Conservation of Intelligence in Illinois High Schools 30

No. 23. Streitz, Ruth. Teachers' Difficulties in Reading and Their Correctives 30

No. 24. Seybolt, Robert Francis. The Evening School in Colonial America 50

No. 25. Monroe, Walter S., and Johnston, Nell Bomar. Reporting Educational Research

(Out of print) 50

No. 26. Brownell, William Arthur. A Study of Supervised Study (Out of print) 50

No. 27. Glick, H. N. Effect of Practice on Intelligence Tests (Out of print) 30

No. 28. Seybolt, Robert Francis. Source Studies in American Colonial Education

—The Private School (Out of print) 50

No. 29. Odell, Charles W., assisted by Blough, John H. An Annotated Bibliography

Dealing with Extra-Curricular Activities in Elementary and High Schools... .50

No. 30. Monroe, Walter S. The Duties of Men Engaged as Physical Directors or

Athletic Coaches in High Schools 25

No. 31. Monroe, Walter S., assisted by Clark, John A. The Teacher's Responsibility

for Devising Learning Exercises in Arithmetic 50

No. 32. Odell, Charles W. The Interpretation of the Probable Error and the Coeffi-
cient of Correlation 50

No. 33. Monroe, Walter S., and Herriott, M. E. Objectives of United States History

in Grades Seven and Eight 30

No. 34. Odell, Charles W. Are College Students a Select Group? 25

No. 35. Ojemann, R. H. The Constant and Variable Occupations of the United

States in 1920 25

No. 36. Monroe, Walter S., and Asher, Ollie. A Bibliography of Bibliographies 25

No. 37. Odell, Charles W. Predicting The Scholastic Success of College Freshmen... .25

No. 38. Monroe, Walter S., and Engelhart, Max D. The Techniques of Educational

Research SO

No. 39. Monroe, Walter S., Hindman, Darwin A., and Lundin, Roy S. Two Illustra-
tions of Curriculum Construction 50

No. 40. Odell, Charles W. A Glossary of Three Hundred Terms Used in Educa-
tional Measurement and Research 50

No. 41. Monroe, Walter S., and Herriott, M. E., Reorganization of the Secondary-
School Curriculum: Its Meaning and Trends 50

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