Paul Diederich and the Progressive American High School

A volume in Readings in Educational ThoughtSeries Editors Andrew J. Milson Chara Haeussler BohanPerry L. Glanzer and J. Wesley NullPaul Diederich worked in five new organizations dedicated to transformingAmerican schools: the Ohio State University School the Eight Year Study aHarvard institute to revamp English language instruction the University ofChicago's Board of Examiners and the Educational Testing Service.Throughout his career he wrote critiques of American high schools and set forthmany proposals to make them more flexible without sacrificing academicexcellence. This anthology resurrects 14 Diederich essays eight of them neverbefore published. The scope ranges from visions of social justice to the details of the daily schedule. Like hisheroes Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson he combined a passion for utopian speculation with afascination for practical problems a combination that is rare in the world of school reform today.