Elyria High School is a public high school in Elyria, Ohio. Founded in 1830, it is notable for being the first chartered high school west of the Allegheny Mountains.
In 1880, American high schools were primarily considered to be preparatory academies for students who were going to attend college. But by 1910 they had been transformed into core elements of the common school system and had broader goals of preparing many students for work after high school.
The explosive growth brought the number of students from 200,000 in 1890 to 1,000,000 in 1910, to almost 2,000,000 by 1920; 7% of youths aged 14 to 17 were enrolled in 1890, rising to 32% in 1920. The graduates found jobs especially in the rapidly growing white-collar sector. Cities large and small across the country raced to build new high schools. Few were built in rural areas, so ambitious parents moved close to town to enable their teenagers to attend high school. After 1910, vocational education was added, as a mechanism to train the technicians and skilled workers needed by the booming industrial sector.
(Robert L. Church and Michael W. Sedlak. Education in the United States: An Interpretive History. New York: Free Press. pp. 288–313. 1976.)
(Edward Krug, Edward. The Shaping of the American High School, 1880–1920. New York: Harper & Row.1964.)
As the old saying goes, “We've come a long, long way, baby.” For the first time in U.S. history, in 2017, 90 percent of the population age 25 and older completed high school. This is according to Educational Attainment data released from the U.S. Census Bureau.
“In 1940, less than half of the population age 25 and older had a high school diploma. Over the years this has increased to the point where we now have 90 percent who have completed high school,” said Kurt Bauman, a demographer in the Social, Economic and Housing Statistics division. “That means out of the 217 million people age 25 and older, 194 million have a high school diploma or higher.”
Between 2000 and 2017, the percentage of all people age 25 and older who had not completed high school decreased by more than one-third, dropping from 16 percent to 10 percent.
(“High School Completion Rate Is Highest in U.S. History.” Release Number CB17-208. United States Census Bureau. December 14, 2017.)
God bless public education. From the beginnings of their history in the Buckeye State, public schools have taken the lead in fostering knowledge and in encouraging lifelong education here. High schools across the state eventually served with great distinction. Do you know much at all about the story? Let's explore it today, especially in relation to high school and graduation. I hope you enjoy the brief history lesson.
In 1822, Caleb Atwater successfully lobbied the legislature and Governor Allen Trimble to establish a commission to study the feasibility of creating public or common schools in Ohio. The commission made its final report to the Ohio General Assembly in 1823. The legislators, for the most part, opposed public funding for internal improvements and public education.
In the General Assembly's session in 1824, public opinion forced the legislature to address the education issue. Guilford took the lead, advocating a property tax to finance education. The legislature concurred, establishing common schools in Ohio in 1825. At this time, the state government financed public education with a half-mil property tax.
With the establishment of public education in Ohio, communities now formed school districts to meet the state legislature's requirements.Ohio public schools now achieve an average graduation rate of 83% (2022). Only Iowa and New Jersey have very high graduation rates. On the other side of the spectrum is New Mexico, with the lowest ACGR of 71%. A total of 40 states have rates of 80-90%. (National Center For Education Statistics, 2021)
What High School
Graduation Means To You In 2022
Law Insider defines a high school graduate as “an individual who has received a high school diploma from a high school or passed the general educational development (GED) diploma test or any other high school graduate equivalency examination approved by the state board of education.” That is a recognized achievement no one can take away.
The diploma certifies your completion of many requirements. What exactly does Ohio require in its current curriculum?
What is this curriculum likely to insure you as a high school graduate? A high school diploma is a standard requirement for most jobs – and for higher education opportunities. Dropping out of high school is linked to a variety of negative health impacts, including limited employment prospects, low wages, and poverty.
As a grad, you have been in approximately 180 days of school for at least 12 years. That amounts to about 7 hours a day for a total of 15,000 hours. But, graduating from high school means so much more …
It means you survived all of the drama.
It means that all of your hard work over the last four years was worth it.
It means a chance to start over.
It means you beat the odds when many people didn’t think you would make it this far.
It means opportunity and freedom.
That diploma signifies your ability to think for yourself and your increased ability to learn. With it in hand, you may continue your advanced lifelong learning, and you will use many of the skills it signifies upon completion to help secure future employment and financial security. You will likely even find it strengthens your abilities to marry, raise children, and lead a happy life.
Tip Your Cap To History
2022 high school graduates, please understand how your achievement came to fruition. States have been fighting for your right to secondary education since the late 1800s when a strong movement spread to provide advance studies for all Americans. The idea of a progressive education, educating the child to reach his full potential and actively promoting and participating in a democratic society, began then and became widespread by the 1930s. John Dewey was the founder of this movement.
The first public high school in the U.S. opened in 1820 in Boston. Originally called The English Classical School, it was renamed The English High School upon its first relocation in 1824. The high school was created at the urging of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association and was modeled after the Royal High School in Edinburgh, Scotland. The School Committee to establish English High School was chaired by Samuel Adams Wells, grandson of former Governor Samuel Adams. Its first headmaster was George B. Emerson, an early leader in educational reform. English, like Boston Latin School, only admitted boys when established—although a separate high school for girls was established in Boston by Emerson in 1824. Boston English became coeducational in 1972, 151 years after its founding.
The motto of the English High School has been: "The aim of every English High School boy is to become a man of honor and achievement." Boston English became coeducational in 1972, 151 years after its founding. The current motto of the school is "Honor, Achievement, Service to Mankind.” The school is still in operation and is a part of Boston Public Schools.
English High was created originally to educate working-class schoolboys in preparation for business, mechanics, and engineering trades as opposed to "Latin-grammar" schools like Boston Latin that prepared schoolboys for the college, ministry and scholarly pursuits, and private academies that were open only to affluent residents. Its original curriculum consisted of such courses as English, surveying, navigation, geography, logic, and civics as well as a strong emphasis on mathematics.
(Encyclopædia Britannica 1993 ed. "Education, History of", page 49.)
High schools were slow to spread, and by 1870, there were still only 500 public high schools in the U.S.
High school enrollment in the United States increased when schools at this level became free, laws required children to attend until a certain age, and it was believed that every American student had the opportunity to participate regardless of their ability.
("Education in the United States of America". WENR. June 12, 2018.)
In 1892, in response to many competing academic philosophies being promoted at the time, a working group of educators, known as the "Committee of Ten" was established by the National Education Association. It recommended twelve years of instruction, consisting of eight years of elementary education followed by four years of high school.
Rejecting suggestions that high schools should divide students into college-bound and working-trades groups from the start, and in some cases also by race or ethnic background, they unanimously recommended 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."
(National Education Association of the United States. Committee of Ten on Secondary School Studies. “Report of the Committee of ten on secondary school studies: with the reports of the conferences arranged by the committee.” Pub. for the National Education Association by the American Book Co.. p. 17. 1894.)
Despite the NEA's recommendations, at the turn of the 20th century it was common for high schools to have entrance examinations which restricted entrance to fewer than 5 percent of the population in preparation for college. Most were expected to be ready for a job or a family after junior high school.
Then, from 1910 to 1940, secondary schools sprouted across the United States. During this early part of the 20th century, American youth entered high schools at a rapid rate, mainly due to the building of new schools, and acquired skills "for life" rather than "for college." In 1910 18% of 15- to 18-year-olds were enrolled in a high school; barely 9% of all American 18-year-olds graduated. By 1940, 73% of American youths were enrolled in high school and the median American youth had a high school diploma.
(Claudia Goldin. The Race between Education and Technology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, p. 195. 2008.)
The high school movement began in New England but quickly spread to the western states. According to Claudia Goldin, the states that led in the U.S. high school movement (e.g. Iowa and Nebraska) had a cohesive, homogeneous population and were more affluent, with a broad middle-class group.
By 1955, 80% of United States youth had graduated from an academic high school. In this setting general skills and social mobility were emphasized, not specific training or apprenticeships. Even by the 1930s, America was virtually alone in providing secondary schools that were free and accessible; however, this accessibility was limited to white students. While in Europe the rate of those graduating from academic high schools was only 10%-20%. Most Europeans, 40%-50%, attended full-or part-time vocational training.[4]
(Claudia Goldin. "The Human-Capital Century and American Leadership: Virtues of the Past." The Journal of Economic History 61, No.2, June 2001.)
From the viewpoint of economics, this movement led to the increase of women’s labor force from 1930 to 1950 in the United States. Knowledge and skills women gained in high school helped them attain better jobs outside the home.
(Claudia Goldin. The Quiet Revolution that Transformed Women's Employment, Education, and Family. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, Department of Economics, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), 2006.)
Both men and women shared in the increase in educational attained during the 20th century; however, during the beginning and end of the century women gained more than the men did. Women began this period with more education in large part because they attended and graduated from high school to a greater degree than men.
Even though women had an advantage in education for most of the century, the education advantage disappeared with cohorts born in the 1910s and 1920s. This is because many men were able to attend college on the G.I. Bill. By men having this advantage over the women, the number of men in college increased and the number of women in college decreased during the middle part of the century.
(Caudia Goldin. The Race between Education and Technology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 2008.)
The supply of educated Americans increased from 1900 to around 1980. The increase in educational attainment in the early part of the 20th century came primarily from grass-roots movements to build and staff public schools. There was no top-down federal government mandate.
After around 1980, the supply of educated Americans slowed. The slower growth in the educated workforce in the last quarter century has been due to a slowing down in the educational attainment of those schooled in the United States, rather than to an increase in the foreign-born component of the workforce. This has been attributed by some to the widening of economic inequality since 1970, and the slowdown in the growth of educational attainment has been most extreme for those at the bottom of the income distribution, particularly for ethnic and racial minorities.
Stand Tall And Be Proud
American high school graduate of 2022, you should be very proud of your accomplishment. Please allow me to congratulate you and thank you for your hard work. If readers don't realize how difficult high school is and how hard these grads work, please allow me to share a few facts about the high schools of today.
The National Center for Education Statistics reviewed recent high school transcripts and found that high school seniors were taking an average of 27.2 credits, a big increase from the 23.6 credits that was common among seniors in 1990. What's more, 13 percent of students undergo a rigorous course schedule, compared to just 5 percent in 1990.
Students are becoming increasingly isolated In a recent survey by UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute, incoming college students admitted to spending half as many hours socializing with friends during their final year of high school as students had in 1987.
The medical journal Pediatrics revealed that about 55 percent of American teenagers, ranging in age from 14 to 17, were getting less than seven hours a night, considerably less than the National Sleep Foundation recommendation of 8 to 10.
Social media has had a profound effect on the daily lives of teenagers. Being constantly plugged in introduces unrelenting pressure on students to maintain their online presence around the clock.
Anxiety disorders affect 25 percent of teenagers, a percentage that has steadily risen over the past 30 years and is showing no sign of slowing down. A 2016 study showed the number of teens who experienced a major depressive episode saw a 37% increase between 2005 and 2014. The data suggest that the tandem of smartphones and social media shoulders much of the blame for the rise of teen depression.
(Ramin Mojtabai, MD; Mark Olfson, MD; Beth Han, MD. “National Trends in the Prevalence and Treatment of Depression in Adolescents and Young Adults.” Pediatrics. Volume 138, Issue 6. December 2016.)
There are also COVID outbreaks, proficiency tests, crowded classrooms, school shootings (the U.S. Education Department, in a recent school year nearly 240 schools reported "at least one incident involving a school-related shooting), bullying incidents, peer pressures, homework loads, “fake” friends (not genuine and talking behind your back), and, of course, those highly questionable school lunches to contend with.
To close, 2022 graduates, I love you all. Please, keep on learning and seeking your dreams You are our nation's primary hope for a better future. Enjoy your summer and then “keep on keeping on.” Go get 'em and welcome to the real world. And, my friends, always keep a Laughing Heart.
The Laughing Heart
Charles Bukowski [1920-1994]
your life is your
life
don't let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the
watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it
may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the
watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take
them.
you can't beat death but
you can beat death in life,
sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more
light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you
have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.
* This blog entry is dedicated to my Granddaughter Brianna Dorsey. I love you so much. You are a gift and a beautiful light in our lives. Congrats, Breezy.
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