Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education: A Report of the Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education, Appointed by the National Education Association. Bulletin, 1918, No. 35

Overview & Synopsis

In this bulletin, the Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education presents the cardinal principles which, in the judgment of its reviewing committee, should guide the reorganization and development of secondary education in the United States. The commission was the direct outgrowth of the work of the committee on the articulation of high school and college, which submitted its report to the National Education Association in 1911. That committee set forth briefly its conception of the field and function of secondary education and urged the modification of college entrance requirements in order that the secondary school might adapts its work to the varying needs of its pupils without closing to them the possibility of continued education in higher institutions. It took the position that the satisfactory completion of any well-planned high-school curriculum should be accepted as a preparation for college. This recommendation accentuated the responsibility of the secondary school for planning its work so that young people may meet the needs of democracy. It was determined that the reviewing committee should outline in a single report those fundamental principles that would be most helpful in directing secondary education. The translation of these cardinal principles into daily practice will of necessity call for continued study and experiment on the part of the administrative officers and teachers in secondary schools. Following a preface and a list of the membership of the reviewing committee of the commission, the contents of this bulletin are as follows: (1) The need for reorganization; (2) The goal of education in a democracy; (3) The main objectives of education; (4) The role of secondary education in achieving these objectives; (5) Interrelation of the objectives in secondary education; (6) Recognition of the objectives in secondary education; (7) Education as a process of growth; (8) Need for explicit values; (9) Subordination of deferred values; (10) Division of education into elementary and secondary; (11) Division of secondary education into junior and senior periods; (12) Articulation of secondary education with elementary education; (13) Articulation of higher education with secondary education; (14) Recognition of the objectives in planning curriculums; (15) The specializing and unifying functions of secondary education; (16) The comprehensive high school as the standard secondary school; (17) Recognition of the objectives in organizing the school; (18) Secondary education essential for all youth; (19) Part-time schooling as a compulsory minimum requirement; and (20) Conclusion. (Contains 8 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]