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Junior High School

Junior high schools became the early subdivision of secondary schools that included Grades 7 through 9. Based on the nature and needs of preadolescent students, the junior high school program was designed to give guidance and direction through integrated curriculum and elective prevocational exploratory courses.

The successes and failures of the American junior high school were debated throughout the 20th century and into the 21st. Regardless of one's position, the enduring contributions of junior high schools to middle-level education are many. The junior high school introduced the concept of vocational training, along with a broad range of exploratory courses to assist young adolescents in discovering and developing their interests and abilities. Junior high schools are the source of other educational innovations, such as homeroom, teacher-adviser programs, extracurricular activities, and interdisciplinary learning. With the development of junior high schools, a new body of research was introduced on the physical, cognitive, and emotional development and needs of preadolescent students.

Beginning with the historical restructuring of secondary education that led to the development of junior high schools, the purpose and function of junior high schools along with the legislative decisions of the time led to the rapid growth in the number of junior high schools. The instructional programs of the junior high are described along with the criticisms that led to the disappearance of junior high schools.

Restructuring of Secondary Schools

Prior to the 1880s, American schools consisted of 8 years of elementary school and 4 years of high school. With the onset of the 20th century, the concept of a separate junior high school developed. The National Education Association (NEA) created the Commission on the Economy of Time in Education in 1913 for further study of the recommendations suggested in the report from the Committee of Ten, 1893. The Committee of Ten, headed by Charles W. Eliot, the president of Harvard University, suggested that all students, regardless of their plans for the future, should take courses required for college-bound students. According to retention studies in 1910, the 12th-grade graduation rate was less that 10%, while the retention rate through the 5th grade was 100%. Two-thirds of the students dropped out of school between 5th and 10th grade and another 23% between 10th and 12th grade. The Commission on the Economy of Time in Education reported that the basic skills could be taught in 6 years, and suggested that a 6-year elementary, 3-year middle grades, and 3-year secondary education program be developed. In this format, the middle grades would focus on curriculum that fostered the skills and knowledge needed for students' future occupations.

In 1918, the National Education Association (NEA) formed a Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education. This commission developed the Cardinal Principles of Education, which redefined the main objectives of education as health, command of fundamental processes, worthy home-membership, vocation, citizenship, worthy use of leisure, and ethical character. These new principles called for the inclusion of vocation education in secondary education and the perseverance of culture by the inclusion of the communities' work. The Commission recommended that the secondary schools be divided into junior and senior periods of 3 years each. The work of this commission and its predecessors defined what would become junior high schools.

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