Introduction to Secondary Education
Secondary Education, in the United States, the schooling that follows elementary education, up to the college level. Secondary schooling, or high school, may begin at varying grade levels. For many years secondary schooling was considered to encompass the high school years—grades 9, 10, 11, and 12. Many school districts, however, no longer follow the traditional pattern of offering 8 years of elementary school followed by 4 of high school; instead, they have a 6–2–4 or a 6–3–3 system of elementary school, junior high, and high school as distinct levels. A few systems provide five years of secondary school, beginning with grade 8. Many substitute a middle school (grades 5 or 6 through grades 8 or 9) for a junior high school. Junior highs and middle schools are a bridge between elementary and secondary education but usually operate more like high schools than elementary schools; for example, the pupils have different teachers for each subject.
Some high schools use the grade system for designating class level (9th grade, 10th grade, etc.) but most, at least informally, use the college designations of freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior. Preparatory schools (private schools emphasizing preparation for college) often use the British term form, with 7th graders being in the first form and seniors in the sixth.
In the majority of states, school attendance is compulsory until age 16, by which time a pupil has usually completed only 9 or 10 grades. Because of increasing need in business and industry for highly trained persons, all students are being urged to complete their secondary schooling. Graduation from high school is a minimum requirement for most employment opportunities.
About nine-tenths of the country's high school pupils are enrolled in free public schools. The rest attend some type of private school, mainly parochial schools.
A secondary school that meets the academic standards of its regional association of colleges and secondary schools is designated as “accredited”—its graduates are not required to take examinations in high school subjects in order to be admitted to college. Most colleges, however, require that certain aptitude tests (such as the Scholastic Assessment Test, or SAT) be taken prior to admission.
Curriculum
Comprehensive high schools provide a variety of programs to meet the special interests and talents of youth. They generally offer at least two basic curriculums. One, often called an academic program, is designed to prepare pupils for college. The other, a general education program, is designed for pupils not continuing beyond high school. Many high schools, in addition, offer home-making, commercial, and industrial arts curriculums. In rural areas an agriculture curriculum is usually available.
A large city may have one or more secondary schools specializing in vocational training; in many cases such courses are included in comprehensive high schools. In each curriculum there are general subjects required of pupils in all curriculums for graduation, special subjects required in that particular curriculum, and elective subjects chosen by the pupils. Many states have mandated courses—courses, such as driver education or citizenship, required by state law of all pupils. Some high schools offer advanced placement (AP) courses; students who successfully complete such courses may be granted academic credit for them after they have been admitted to college.
Educators believe that secondary schooling should prepare young men and women for the responsibilities of citizenship, for the rewarding use of leisure time, and for the maintenance of good physical and mental health, as well as for earning a living or entering college. Many educators consider that the out-of-classroom programs, or student activity programs, offered by a school are as valuable educationally as the more formal courses.
Local and state authorities usually have considerable control over the courses offered. Curriculums are often modified to accommodate parental demands, school-board preferences, and governmental emphases. A local school board generally relies upon the professional judgments provided it by a superintendent and a staff.
The School Environment
The design of school buildings has changed radically in recent decades in an effort to put the student at ease and create an environment that is conducive to learning. Some large high schools are divided for administrative purposes into two or more schools-within-the-school—in effect, separate high schools within the same building— to provide a closer relationship between teachers and pupils. Some communities house freshmen and sophomores in one building and juniors and seniors in another.
Many secondary schools have expanded their libraries to include not only books but also video and audio tapes, maps, art reproductions, films, slides, and various other non-print media. Science and language laboratories, industrial arts shops, and other specially equipped rooms are generally found in the comprehensive high school. Classrooms of flexible size are desirable to assemble students in a large group to hear a lecture, for example, or in small groups for discussion or special study. Many schools provide several individual learning stations, or carrels, for independent study.
History and Trends
The earliest secondary schools in the United States were the Latin grammar schools, which were developed in the 1600's. They served boys who expected to attend college, and the curriculum emphasized classical languages and literature. The schools were financed through tuition payments, donations, and taxes. After the mid-1700's, academies largely replaced the Latin grammar schools. The academies were tuition-supported secondary schools that offered a broader, more practical, curriculum and often admitted girls as well as boys.
The first free public high school, the English Classical School, opened in Boston in 1821. Many communities, especially in the midwestern states, followed Boston's example in the next 50 years. Chicago established the first coeducational public high school in 1856. Preparation for college, however, was still recognized as the major purpose of secondary education, and children from middle- and working-class families rarely attended high school.
Beginning in 1890, high school enrollment doubled every decade until 1930. Reorganization of secondary education from the single high school into junior and senior high schools was introduced in 1909. The concept of universal education, which meant that all boys and girls could benefit from additional schooling, grew steadily. Comprehensive high schools developed, with curriculums expanded to include more nonacademic and vocational subjects. Extracurricular activities were expanded also and guidance services added.
A number of refinements were introduced in the American secondary school during the 1960's and early 1970's, including team teaching; the use of nonprofessional aides to reduce the teacher's clerical burden; and a variety of plans to individualize instruction.
During the same period, in response to student protests and criticism by educational reformers, many high schools began relaxing discipline, reducing the number of required courses, and broadening the curriculum to include such subjects as film study and science fiction literature. By the late 1970's, however, it became clear that college-admission test scores were trending downward and that a number of schools, especially those in inner-city neighborhoods, were graduating students who were functionally illiterate.
Many public school administrators face serious financial problems, especially in impoverished inner-city areas where real estate taxes (a principal source of school funding) are low due to low property values. In many school districts parents have chosen to send their children to private schools, where they believe there are fewer discipline problems and higher academic standards. During the 1970's and 1980's many private secondary schools were established by Protestant evangelical groups.
Because of a decrease in the school-age population, secondary school enrollment began decreasing in the 1970's. In the early 1990's, however, the number of secondary school students began to increase. In the late 1990's, a number of incidents in which students committed multiple-victim slayings with firearms drew the public's attention to the problem of student violence.