
educators. Hence, concerns with
education
and growth intersect with fears about
violence, security sexuality, drugs and adjustment in American images of high school.
In 1965, 11,610,000 students in grades nine to twelve were enrolled in public schools
in the US, with an additional 1,400,000 in
private schools
. By 2000, numbers in public
schools had risen to 13,357,000, a rise projected to continue, while those in private
schools remained constant. In 1960, 41.4 percent of Americans completed four years o
high school, while in 1997 this had risen to 82.1 percent (dropouts constitute roughly 5
percent of the high-school population). These numerical changes are only part of the
changing meaning of high schools. High schools were primary sites for integration and
racial conflicts from the 1950s onwards, for example. They also have been caught in the
decline of
inner cities
(with aging “problem” schools), the rise of
suburbs
with a new
consumer ethos,
class
and racial divisions and demands for huge student parking lots.
High schools must respond to these multiple changing demands, extremely diverse
opulations and contradictory needs while also constrained, in the case of public schools,
y limited finances. Academic programs, for example, have become more costly in terms
of computers and equipment required for sciences, libraries and research materials and
changing demands for first- and second-language learning. Given the juxtaposition o
students from different class and ethnic/racial backgrounds at the same school, moreover,
school systems face the choice of dividing programs (tracking by strata of tested
intelligence or career goals) or constructing an academic “middle ground” that will
frustrate special students. Magnet schools, specializing in sciences, arts or other fields,
represent an alternative for larger school systems (see
Fame,
1980). At the same time,
schools may be forced to cut teacher-intensive programs like art or drama to balance their
budgets, or rely on
television
and large classes to deal with mass education. Private and
arochial schools control selection of students more closely and raise funds for specific
activities, but they too, strain to compete and balance the needs of mass projects against
individual changes and demands.
Counseling has also become increasingly necessary and complex, dealing with issues
ranging from home life to learning disabilities to multicultural issues. Concern with
gender
stereotyping (male athletes versus cheerleaders) and sexuality including gay
issues, have also become prominent. In many areas, from sexual education and driver’s
education to civic involvement, the high school must take over roles previously managed
by the
family
.
Other services in high school include food, basic healthcare and, increasingly security
Lunch and breakfast may entail a form of
welfare
or a competition for privilege to escape
campus.
In addition, high schools incorporate expanding extra-curricular activities, including
sometimes massive sports programs, journalism (
newspapers,
yearbooks, literary
magazines), travel, bands and orchestras, drama, volunteer and community service, pre-
rofessional formation (Future Farmers of America, Future Teachers) and other interests,
generally under faculty supervision. These promote both interests and leadership among
students, training for citizenship outside the classroom (or filling résumés for college
Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Culture 534