Secondary schools
Because of the growth in industry and
technology there was a demand for
skilled workers: (practical studies)
The need for secondary schools was
similar to the reasons for the earlier
Common School movement.
In 1892, THE COMMITTEE OF TEN was
established for this reason:
 A need to re-examine policies on which
social classes could attend high school;
 Some educators were not in agreement
with the “practical curriculum” in place;
 For purposes of selecting a trained group
of female teachers for high schools.
THE COMMITTEE OF TEN
The committee was appointed by the
National Education Association.
It was mostly made up of presidents
from leading colleges, who were
going to look at the purpose of and
‘bring order’ to the high school
curriculum.
CHARLES ELIOT,
President of Harvard
University and head
of The Committee of
Ten insisted that:
“All students
should take the
same types of
rigorous academic
courses.”
THE COMMITTEE OF TEN’s
recommended curriculum for
high school:
The entire curriculum was to be made
up of college preparatory courses.
The instruction should be the same
for both college bound and noncollege bound ‘terminal’ students.
"...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."
THE COMMITTEE OF TEN’s
recommended curriculum for
high school was:
English, mathematics, and history
or civics/government for every
student every year in high school
Was this true of your high school
required classes?
THE COMMITTEE OF TEN’s
recommended curriculum for
high school:
Formed the basis of the practice of
taking natural science, biology,
chemistry, and physics, respectively,
in ascending high school years
Was this true of your high school
required classes?
THE COMMITTEE OF TEN’s
recommended curriculum
for high school :
was still classical and Latin-scientific
 offered an alternative to
Latin and Greek with modern
(foreign) languages, and English
THE COMMITTEE OF TEN’s
recommended curriculum for
high school was:
to establish some standardization for
students whether or not they
intended to go to college.
 ‘dominated’ by these college
recommendations for the next
25 years.
Goal of this curriculum:
to prepare all students to do well
in life, contributing to their own
well-being and society's good,
and to prepare some students
for college.
Rationale or purpose for
this curriculum:
MENTAL DISCIPLINE= ACADEMIC RIGOR
Good for both college bound and
non-college bound students.
Trains the power of observation,
memory, expression and reasoning.
= CRITICAL THINKING AND ANALYSIS