Avoiding Bankruptcy: The Credit Rating of High School Sciences Keith Sheppard

The Academic Credit System - n “Educational Coin of the Realm”

The Academic Credit System - n “Educational Coin of the Realm” n Part of the “Grammar of Schooling”

The Academic Credit System - n “Educational Coin of the Realm” n Part of the “Grammar of Schooling” n Ubiquitous

The Academic Credit System-Uses n High School and College Graduation n Teacher certification n Faculty workloads and compensation n Departmental budgets n Transfer students n Etc.

The Academic Credit System n Where did it come from? n Who invented it ? n Why? n Can it be changed?

Before The Credit System - n All students followed the same courses n Classics dominated curriculum n Limited science offerings l “Chemistry, like virtue, must be its own reward” n Lecture/recitation/textbook dominated approach

Before The Credit System Admission Requirements ColumbiaHarvardPrincetonU MichiganYale Latin Greek Math English GeographyHistory & Geography GeographyHistory & Geography Geography

Enter Charles W. Eliot Enter Charles W. Eliot ( )

Charles W. Eliot n Studied chemistry at Harvard n Became tutor in chemistry at Harvard n Promoted individual lab work n Was passed over for Chemistry Professorship n Co-authored first laboratory manual in English while at MIT n Became President of Harvard in 1869

Charles W. Eliot n Introduced new subjects (science and modern languages) n Introduced the elective system n Educational accounting system needed

The Elective System n Absolute prescription n Group Elective system n Free elective system

The Committee of Ten Chaired by Eliot Hold a conference on each appropriate academic subject and make recommendations on a uniform education Three science conferences

The Committee of Ten Introduced science to curriculum Allocated time to each subject (The idea behind the credit system) All science for all

Committee on College Entrance Requirements CCER (1899) n Proposes ‘national unit’. n Recommends only ONE science credit for college admission. l (4 in languages, 2 English, 2 Math, 1 History, 6 Elective).

Enter Carnegie (1905)

n Gives $10,000,000 to establish pension fund for college professors to be paid to institutions. n Set criteria for what was a college- l It had at least 6 professors l It had a course of at least 4 years of liberal arts l For admission not less than 4 years of high school

Enter Carnegie (1905) n Defined four years of high school to mean a minimum of 14 units or credits earned -- The Carnegie Unit

Enter Carnegie (1905) n Defined four years of high school to mean a minimum of 14 units or credits earned -- The Carnegie Unit A year’s work in any major subject = 120 sixty minute hours or its equivalent

Enter Carnegie (1905) n The Educational Coin of the Realm

Impact on Science Education n One year courses -fixed time n Fixed Order Biology-Chemistry-Physics n Limits innovation n Provides ability to transfer, easy scheduling