The legacy of U.S. educational leadership: Notes on distribution and economic growth in the 20th century

The United States led all rich and industrial-ized countries in the establishment of mass sec-ondary and higher education, and it led all in Europe by at least several decades for much of the 20th century. The U.S, advantage in the schooling of its young produced, by mid-century, large differences between the educa-tional stock of its labor force and that of other rich countries, a result that would hardly be surprising except for the fact that the United States had absorbed millions of less-educated immigrants. Only in recent decades have many rich countries caught up to, and even exceeded, the United States in years of education for young persons. At the same time that the United States led the world in mass education in the 20th century, it rapidly expanded its economic lead. No single factor can account for the economic dominance of the United States in the 20th century, and most of the favored explanations, be they rooted in technological, institutional, or natural re-source factors, are complementary ones. De-spite that admonition, it would appear logical that part, possibly a major part, of the economic precedence of the United States came from its enormous lead in education. We briefly summarize the facts about the U.S. educational lead during most of the 20th century and suggest why the United States led in formal schooling. We then comment on the probable consequences for distribution and eco-nomic growth. The wide educational lead of the United States that emerged early in the 20th century was due almost entirely to the expansion of secondary schools, known as the "high school movement. " The modem high school was crafted in the United States in the late 19th century and differed from its European progen