英语论文网

nd applications from African-Americans rose just 0.6 percent.By comparison,applications from all three groups rose by severalpercentage points in the previous two years.Monitoring Changes in EnrollmentFebruary 23,1996 177racially diverse student body.It does soby allowing admissions officials to con-sider an economically disadvantagedstudent’s background,provided they doso in a race-neutral way.This approachwould have the effect of‘‘providingaffirmative action preferences to the dis-advantaged of all races,’’writesRichard D.Kahlenberg.‘‘Definingbeneficiaries by class,not race,would restore fairness to a systemthat has strayed far from the goalsof the early proponents of affirma-tive action.’’16Swanson feels that Califor-nians and other Americans stillsupport action to help membersof underrepresented groups gainadmission to college—‘‘but notin the particular way that affir-mative action spelled out.’’Whilefurther retreat from preferentialadmissions practices may occur,he doesn’t sense‘‘any withdrawalof commitment to the spirit’’ofhelping disadvantaged studentsbetter themselves through highereducation.ematics—the essential building blocksof a classical education.The interroga-tion often lasted from dawn to dusk,with only a short break for lunch.According to education historianHarold S.Wechsler,‘‘the decision toadmit a student...was determined bythe quality of his answers,the college’sfinancial picture and not infrequentlyon the kindliness of a faculty mem-ber.’’17 When subjects such as geogra-phy,English grammar and history be-came entrance requirements,manycolleges replaced the oral exams witha battery of written tests.Colleges sought to secure their sta-tus in American society by portrayingthemselves as‘‘capstones’’of a systemfrom which the next generation ofnational leaders was sure to emerge.To succeed,they sought cooperationfrom private academies and,later,public high schools in tailoring thesecondary school curriculum to fit col-lege requirements.But the diversity ofcollege entrance standards made thetask difficult.Wilson Farrand,head-master of Newark Academy,touchedon the problem in a speech in 1895:‘‘Princeton and Columbia call for sixbooks of the Aeneid;Yale re-q u i r e s,i n a d d i t i o n,t h eEcologues.These do not countfor maximum standing atPrinceton unless combinedwith the Georgics....Princetonrequires Latin of candidates forone course,but not for others.Yale demands it of all,Colum-bia of none.’’18Certificate System Launchedat University of MichiganWhile colleges and highschools in the East continuedto bicker over entrance require-ments,the University of Michi-gan in the early 1870s pio-neered a new approach—ad-mitting all graduates of highschools in the state that hadbeen accredited by a team ofinspectors.The policy wasmodeled on the German sys-tem of secondary schools,thegymnasia.Many of those whosupported admission by a cer-tificate,Wechsler wrote,saw itas a‘‘potential solution forsolving a basic problem facedby most American colleges in the 19thcentury—the need to maintain and,if possible,to increase enrollments.’’19Only 5 percent of American 17-year-olds graduated from high schoolin 1890,and only a fraction of thatgroup went on to college.Many insti-tutions adopted the certificate systemwith the expectation that more stu-dents would seek admission oncedemanding entrance exams weredropped.As more colleges joined themovement,regional associations wereformed to inspect and accredit sec-ondary schools.By the turn of the