Fewer children attended high school, however, since immigrant and working-class families often had to rely on their children working to support the family. High schools were typically attended by middle- and upper-class students who aspired to white-collar jobs or a higher academic education. As an improved economy brought slightly higher wages after 1900, more working-class families started sending their children to high schools in the hope that they, too, could achieve better jobs. Vocational and industrial programs in high schools were offered by reformers during this period in large part to entice the working class and poor to stay in school and to prepare them adequately for what the reformers thought was their appropriate role in society.
European models of schooling influenced U.S. schools in the late 1800s,
After 1900, as more achieved a high school education, high schools gradually took on the ideals of the "common" school that elementary schools had espoused. Typically only the middle or upper classes could afford to send their children to college or university. Although hundreds of colleges were established after the Civil War, universities began to grow in rapid number toward the end of the century. Universities, and later colleges, started offering a wider curriculum and choices of electives. Universities offered graduate education beyond college and opportunities for research within fields.
Several minority groups suffered worse deprivations in education than even the immigrant groups had. African Americans in the Southern states had to attend segregated schools with inferior resources, since the states typically gave such schools only nominal support. African Americans in northern cities had better neighborhood schools to attend in general than in the South and northern African Americans at the turn of the century had school attendance rates equal to or better than white students, including high school.
During this period the Federal government mandated the establishment of special schools for American Indians. The schools were designed to
Many of the motion pictures in this section focus on physical education in the schools at all levels. School reformers instituted physical education programs on a wide scale in the 1890s as the importance of exercise for both sexes came to be appreciated. Intercollegiate sports such as football, baseball, and track and field became popular at colleges and universities. Collegiate sports were also instituted for women during this period, although female students were typically given less strenuous sports to play than men. Some popular sports for female college students included basketball, gymnastics, and dance.
[Sources for essay: see Selected Bibliography.]
NOTE: Film titles used in this presentation are the original production titles, which may include archaic or incorrect spellings.