1900-1950 Post Class Post

 After our class discussion within our groups, I was able to identify that a lot of people have lots of different stories about when they were in high school. Our thoughts all varied as well as the way we see education. All of our inputs were great, and in regards to the reading, we took a lot from it. What was surprising and shocking to most of us was that a lot of the implementations spoken about in this book are very recent. So new lots of us could even talk to our parents about it, or some of our older classmates lived it to some scale. Some of the testing spoken about in this chapter is still being practiced today and used on a grander scale. For example, the SAT's playing a major role during this era and still current today. This test I remember growing was every kid's nightmare and it was incredibly hard. You could of study all your life, and you could have never been prepared for this test. Teachers would push you on a test that easily determined the rest of your life. Back in the day, it determined what kinds of jobs you were suited for and it still really does. That score defines what college your going to and is often even requested by employers.

Back then between 1900-1950, it was not easy for these kids either lots of them were not even going to school and the ones who did not want to be there. Most kids at a young age preferred to be working and helping out in the home. As stated in the book about 80% of kids actually voted to stay working. It was at this time that only about 6% of all kids had graduated high school. It was not until employers decided to hire people with a higher aptitude that the graduate levels for high schools had risen. By 1945 the levels were at 51%. I believe it is incredible that that to reach such a low level of graduation to much had to happen and it still not as high as most people would like it to be. It went so far as to donate billions just to get a 17% increase. Then when people still did not want to educate themselves, lawmakers had to come into play. It was then passed into federal law banning all child labor and mandated children up until the age of 16 to attend school, and yet still we have a low graduation rate. While education might have been thriving during this time the numbers are still very low. And that's something I feel that not only myself but the whole class as a whole can agree upon.