The American High School Today - By James B. Conant

Reading my way through James B. Conant's report, "The American High School Today." The printing was done in 1960, so it has been around a spell. It also cost me a penny. The shipping cost more, of course.

In the book Conant makes several suggestions as to how to assure students succeed and the pillars of a comprehensive high school are in place. I began high school in the late 60s, and it is interesting to note that many of the recommendations were guiding my public school education.

Now as a teacher, and long before online learning, I have been curious as to whether or not the delivery method I am using to teach, online, of course, is helping or hindering high school learners. It is a mixed, I think, as most certainly online learning gives students in rural school setting more choices. It is, though, a different culture and seems to be in conflict with other guiding elements of the comprehensive high school objectives, such as the development of good citizenship. This can be done through online courses, of course, but the student's immediate community is not necessarily the one to which the online learner is connected to when it comes to civic engagement. Of course, this also opens up possibilities to connect to communities throughout the world, one of the goals of the 21st Century Learning Skills.

Some things remain the same. I recently heard from a student involved in sports who wrote to say he was not able to complete his assignment because of his after school activities. Conant called for "protecting" the student's study time. Although extracurricular activities are of value. They can not come at the expense of academic development. Some things never change.