A study of the needs of 400 graduating seniors in relation to the offerings of the Austin (Texas) High School

The senior high schools of America are in a transition period between the time when only the intellectual aspects of education were emphasized and the time when the physical, emotional, social, spiritual, leisure-time, aesthetic, and vocational, as well as intellectual needs are considered. The personnel of the high school is no longer made up of the nation's intellectually, socially, and financially elite group. Youth of all races and from all social and economic classes come to the American high school. During this period of transition, the trend is to move away from a subject-centered curriculum, dominated by the demands of college entrance requirements, toward an experience curriculum based upon the needs, interests, and abilities of youth in a democracy. Such a shift of emphasis carries with it implications for students, teachers, counselors, and administrators. The purpose of this study was to study the needs and interests of high school youth as a basis for curriculum making in one large school system. A survey of significant literature in this field was made to determine, if possible, what theories and practices were revealed by the educational writers during approximately the past ten years. Data were collected from 400 seniors in the Austin High School in order to determine what the needs of Austin youth are, how these needs are being met, and what implications grow out of the present conditions. Throughout the study, youth means boys and girls of high school age; high school includes grades 10, 11, and 12; and curriculum is used to mean all the activities of high school pupils under the jurisdiction of the schoolEducatio