general education

Usually a reference to a peculiarly American, public high school, curricular program or ?track,? offering a variety of ?self-improvement? courses and rudimentary courses in English, mathematics, science and social studies. The term general education was first used and defined in a landmark 1945 report by the Harvard Committee, General Education in a Free Society. The report defined a core curriculum that all students, whether pursuing vocational or academic education, should, ?as citizens and heirs of a joint culture,? study. It consisted of three years each of English, mathematics and science and two years of social studies. Students would then be left with about one-third of their high school hours for electives in business courses, the arts, agriculture, home economics ?and a thousand other practical fields.?
The term lost its meaning as many public high schools adopted ability-grouping programs that segregated students into so-called tracks, with the highest academic achievers in the college-bound or honors track. Those uninterested in academics but with adequate manual skills were placed in the vocational or business track, and the rest were placed in an undemanding ?general? track, loosely based on the original Harvard Committee general education concept, but made up of courses with only the rudiments of English, mathematics and science and no homework or assigned, off-campus reading.
Recognized by leading educators as ?the academic and vocational desert of American education,? general education has proved the worst failure in the history of American public education. ?It relates to nothing, leads to nothing and prepares for nothing,? warned Dale Parnell, the long-time president of the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges. About 25% of American high school students enroll in general education programs, but more than 60% of them drop out without completing high school. Of the more than 1 million general education students who dropped out of school in 1993, 37% remained unemployed a year after leaving school, and those with jobs earned an average of just under $8,000 a year. Two states then outlawed general education programs, and the governors of the 50 states unanimously condemned such programs at various conferences. Twenty states have since adopted standards that require all students to achieve at least a 10th grade level of competence in English, math, science and social studies to graduate.
In 1994, Congress tried to end general education by passing the SCHOOL-TO-WORK-OPPORTUNITIES ACT, a federal law requiring states to establish education programs in all public schools to prepare students either for continuing education or provide them with the skills necessary for gaining entry into the job market after graduating from high school. In effect, the law ended all federal funding for general education, which provides neither of these outcomes, and it forced schools to begin developing effective new curricula for work-related vocational education to guarantee each student either a high school diploma (or equivalent), a nationally recognized skill certificate or an associate degree that will lead to a first job or further education. Funded with more than $1.5 billion in federal monies, the School-To-Work Opportunities Act provided financial and legislative impetus to the specialized ?VO-TECH? and COOPERATIVE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION programs already functioning in about 500 forward-looking public school districts.

Source: http://american-education.org/905-general-education.html

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