The Making of an American High School: The Credentials Market and the Central High School of Philadelphia, 1838-1939

How have the educational goals of American public high schools changed over time? What can the experiences of one secondary school tell us about the problems they all face today? This book provides an analytical history of the origins and development of Central High School, the first high school in Philadelphia and a model for many subsequent institutions. Using Central as a case study, David F. Labaree argues that the American public high school can be viewed as the product of both democra...