92 SCIENTIST 



sit down and do a sentence-by-sentence critique of his 

 written work is fortunate indeed. 



It may take some time for a young person to realize that 

 there are enormous differences in the quahty of education 

 offered by various institutions in the United States. In other 

 countries, until very recent times, advanced secondary 

 schools and universities have been limited in number, and 

 attendance has been restricted to individuals capable of 

 passing very rigorous examinations. The standards set by 

 some central government body have been roughly compa- 

 rable throughout the whole country. Generally speaking, a 

 student in a German Gymnasium or a French lycee fol- 

 lowed one of two curricula. One of these concentrated on 

 the classics and modern languages, the other on mathe- 

 matics and the sciences. In either case, the secondary school 

 graduate emerged with a sound basis of scholarship in his 

 particular field. Everyone knew that he had survived a diffi- 

 cult course of instruction and was well prepared for ad- 

 vanced work. The great majority of pupils never entered 

 the Gymnasium or lycee at all but were shunted off at about 

 the age of twelve to schools of lower standards which pre- 

 pared people for nonintellectual activities. 



In America the secondary school system developed in 

 quite a different way. Very Uttle, if any, authority was given 

 to the Federal Government to regulate standards. In some 

 areas the state department of education exerts a consider- 

 able influence; in others, control of almost every phase of 

 school activity is left in the hands of local boards. All stu- 

 dents, whatever their interests, capacities, and future plans, 

 may attend the same school. Only in a few large cities are 

 students allowed to choose high schools particularly suited 

 to their interests and capacities. In other cities the de facto 

 arrangement of residential areas by socioeconomic class 

 works out in practice to concentrate the majority of univer- 



