Rethinking the Structure of American Secondary Education, by Qianruo Shen

New in the Nonpartisan Education Review:

https://nonpartisaneducation.org/Review/Essays/v22n1.html

This essay examines the strengths and structural challenges of American secondary education from a comparative perspective informed by educational experience in both China and North America. While recognizing the achievements of American schools in holistic education and differentiated talent development, and the encouragement of creativity and innovation, it argues that the comprehensive high school, together with unrestricted course choice and the class-shifting system, reflects a broader transformation in secondary education—a gradual loosening of its institutional structure. As a consequence, graduation standards have been lowered, curricular structure and educational continuity have been weakened, and the guidance and sense of community essential to adolescent development have been diminished.

The paper argues that restoring appropriate academic tracking, rebuilding class communities, and establishing a more structured curriculum with stronger core requirements would help rebalance flexibility and structure while preserving the enduring strengths of American education.