Did your high school experience feel a little like a relic from another era? Beneath the daily routines of bells and benchmarks is a history of deliberate choices (made by a small number of voices), evolving philosophies, and healthy controversy that evolved through a period of rapid social change. This week, the hosts examine the origins of the American high school system as we know it, prompting critical inquiries into the emergence and evolution of the course and assessment structure that dictates the rhythms of adolescence in the United States. We review the landmark report of the Committee of Ten, an 1892 working group of National Education Association of the United States Committee on Secondary School Studies, which was convened in order to create a framework of educational standards to bring order to the patchwork chaos of secondary schooling in the U.S. left in the wake of the Civil War. We discuss the initial goals of the secondary school system and to what extent original intentions are still serving our students today. The episode also interrogates the notion of a singular “best” teaching or assessment method.

00:15 Intro & Recap of Holocaust Education Museum Exhibit (Cincinnati) and Guided Virtual Tour of Auschwitz-Birkenau

06:50 An Academic Conference with Enormous Power Over American High Schools

10:15 The Report of the Committee of Ten: The Most Important Education Document Ever Issued?

12:00 The Formalizing of Education as a Profession

14:50 The National Education Association: Convener of Educational Change

16:00 Horace Mann, Common Schooling, & the Evolution of Standards

19:30 Who Decides What is “Best”? And Better Questions

25:50 Ten After Ten: Retrospective Look & Influence of the Report

30:20 The End of Differentiation & Discussion Questions

40:00 What We Learned

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Sources & Further Reading: