Making a Mass Institution: Indianapolis and the American High School

New Directions in the History of Education

by Kyle P. Steele

Making a Mass Institution describes how Indianapolis, Indiana created a divided and unjust system of high schools over the course of the twentieth century, one that effectively sorted students geographically, economically, and racially. Like most U.S. cities, Indianapolis began its secondary system with a singular, decidedly academic high school, but ended the 1960s with multiple high schools with numerous paths to graduation. Some of the schools were academic, others vocational, and others still for what was eventually called “life adjustment.” This system mirrored the multiple forces of mass society that surrounded it, as it became more bureaucratic, more focused on identifying and organizing students based on perceived abilities, and more anxious about teaching conformity to middle-class values. By highlighting the experiences of the students themselves and the formation of a distinct, school-centered youth culture, Kyle P. Steele argues that high school, as it evolved into a mass institution, was never fully the domain of policy elites, school boards and administrators, or students, but a complicated and ever-changing contested meeting place of all three.

252 pages, Paperback

Published July 17, 2020

Reviews

[Book Buying With Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever since I read The Color of Law last summer, which casually references the redlining that took place in Indianapolis, I've been voraciously reading everything I can find on the history of race relations in Indianapolis. This book was exactly what I was looking for. A history of racism and classism in the city through the lens of the school system. This was extremely well-researched and focuses on the period between the opening of Shortridge in 1864 through the federal lawsuit against IPS and Unigov in the early 1970s. In the conclusion, Steele does fast-forward and compares that history to what is happening now with white flight to the surrounding counties.

This book is academic (I think it was originally a dissertation), but it was SUCH a good read if you're interested in Indianapolis history.

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and insightful. A must read.