A Status Study of the Graduates of Central High School for the Five-Year Period 1932-36, with Implication for Curriculum Reorganization

Author

Abner Willard McDonald, Prairie View State College

Date of Award

5-1942

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Degree Discipline

Science in Educational Administration

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study is to obtain trustworthy data from the status and opinions of graduates which will serve as a basis for the general improvement and reorganization of the curriculum of the Central High School. For example, in one procedure of making curriculum revision, the school system as a whole participates under the guidance of a special curriculum worker in co-operation with men and women in the community. The writer also recognizes that one of the best measures of the effectiveness of a school and its curriculum is found in the success and opinions of a school's graduates.

In attempting to consider a curriculum that is more adapted to the needs of Central High School students who upon graduation (1) begin work, mainly in the City of Galveston, (2) marry and enter upon homemaking, (3) continue advanced study in higher institutions of learning, the writer is guided by what prominent educators have said concerning the place of the secondary school in preparing students for life and living. Dewey, in setting forth "Social Efficiency" as the foremost aim of Education says: ¹ If an individual is not able to earn his own living and that of the children dependent upon him, he is a drag and a parasite upon the activities of others. He misses for himself one of the most educative experiences of life. Ultimately, social efficiency includes good citizenship. For it means neither more nor less than capacity to share in a give-and-take experience. It covers all that makes one's own experiences more worthwhile to others, and all that enables one to participate more richly in the worthwhile experiences of others.

Thus, we cannot escape the conclusion that when the curriculum in the Central High School is made broad enough and inclusive enough to make provisions for developing varying degrees of abilities in the above indicated three areas, the Central High School curriculum will function more effectively in the lives of the pupils as well as in the life of the community which the pupils serve.

The problem undertaken in this investigation is a status-study of graduates of Central High School covering a five-year period, from 1932 through 1936, from three points of view namely: (1) those who went to college; (2) those who went to work; and (3) those who married. Since, by far, the majority of Central High graduates reside in the City of Galveston, this study is limited to this area.

¹ Dewey, John, Democracy and Education, New York: MacMillan Company, 1916, P. 151.

Committee Chair/Advisor

R. L. Jeffreys

Committee Member

E. C. Russell

Committee Member

T. R. Solomon

Committee Member

E. M. Norris

Publisher

Prairie View State College

Rights

Date of Digitization

11-9-2021

Contributing Institution

John B Coleman Library

City of Publication

Prairie View

MIME Type

Application/PDF

Recommended Citation

McDonald, A. W. (1942). A Status Study of the Graduates of Central High School for the Five-Year Period 1932-36, with Implication for Curriculum Reorganization. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/pvamu-theses/699