NONATHLETIC EXTRACURRICULUM ACTIVITIES CHAPTER I: THE DEVELOPMENT OF ACTIVITIES 1. DIFFICULTIES IN TRACING DEVELOPMENT School Reliable data on the development of extracurriculum activities in secondary schools are difficult to secure. officers generally have not until recent years looked with favor on the introduction of such activities into the life of the school, and records of the participation of pupils in extraclass activities have therefore not been kept, as has been done for school attendance and course credits. As a result the records of pupil participations in extracurriculum activities which are available are largely incidental and are to be found in relatively few schools. One of the early extracurriculum activities in the larger secondary schools to secure faculty recognition was some form of pupil publication, such as the annual, the newspaper, or the magazine. These publications often contain accounts of extraclass activities and, in some cases, records of the participation of the seniors. Such publications have apparently not been highly regarded by administrative officers, for little effort has been made to preserve unbroken files in the archives of the schools. For example, an inquiry addressed to the principals of 50 secondary schools within a 50-mile radius of Chicago revealed the fact that only four schools had unbroken files of annual publications antedating 1918. One school had a continuous file from 1900, another from 1905, the third from 1907, and the fourth from 1913. These files were made available for study and the data thus secured throw some light on the development of extracurriculum activities in secondary schools for the 30-year period 1900 to 1930. 2. DEVELOPMENT IN FOUR SCHOOLS The schools and their enrollments. One of the four schools studied (A) is located in a large residential suburb of Chicago which has maintained an independent public secondary school since 1899. The second school (B) is private in organization although affiliated with the public secondary schools of Illinois because of its service as a practice-teaching institution for teachers in training for public secondary schools. The third school (C) is an independent public high school located in a moderate-sized residential suburb of Chicago. It has existed as an independent high school since its organization in 1888. The fourth school (D) is one of the oldest cosmopolitan high schools of Chicago, having been established in 1895. The enrollment of these four schools in even numbers by 5-year intervals, 1900-1930, is presented in Table 1. The data throw light on findings to be presented later and are used as the basis in determining the ratio of participation in extracurriculum activities to the enrollment of the schools. TABLE 1.-Approximate enrollment by 5-year intervals in four high schools, 1900-1930 Development of nonathletic activities.-The total number of organized nonathletic activities maintained for boys, for girls, and for both boys and girls in these schools for the years 1900 to 1930, inclusive, is shown in Table 2. From 1900 to 1920 the number of different activities provided for boys in School A remained practically constant, except for the years 1905 to 1907 during which time no activities were maintained. In the decade 1921 to 1930 the average number of activities for boys was about three times the average number maintained in the previous decade, 1911 to 1920. Throughout the entire period the number of activities for girls averaged slightly less than the number maintained for boys. However, at no period was the school without activities for girls, although during the years 1905, 1906, 1909, 1910, and 1911 only one activity for girls was maintained. The number of activities for both boys and girls was less by 30 per cent than the activities provided separately for boys and for girls during the years 1900 to 1922. After 1922 the two groups of activities were approxi TABLE 2.-Number of organized nonathletic extracurriculum activities provided for boys, for girls, and for boys and girls in four schools within the period, 1900 to 1930 Boys Boys Girls and Boys Girls and Boys Girls and Boys Girls and girls girls girls 1922 1923 1924. 1925 1926. 1927 1928. 1929. 1930 2 465 213 000 34522 01223 10 32222 21133 4423 00 32322 5 66821 11 485566 4444 mately equal in number. Except for slight variation in 1905 and 1906 the total number of activities in School A remained virtually constant from 1900 to 1916, the average per year being approximately 7. This average was doubled between 1917 and 1920 and approximately quadrupled between 1921 and 1930. The total number of activities supported by School B in 1904 was 20, 9 being for boys, 2 for girls, and 9 for both boys and girls. In 1930 the total number of activities was 26, 6 being for boys, 3 for girls, and 17 for both boys and girls. Throughout the period the number of activities participated in by boys exceeded those participated in by girls by approximately two to one. The activities provided for both boys and girls were 2.2 times the number maintained for the boys and 4.4 times the number for girls. The number of activities maintained by School B was relatively constant throughout the period. A slight decline in the number of activities was experienced between 1921 and 1927 due to the fact that faculty legislation in effect during this period acted as a deterrent to the organization of new activities. At the beginning of the period no activities were available solely for the boys in School C, two activities were provided for the girls, and four for both boys and girls. Other data show that there were at this time three athletic activities for boys but none for the girls. No nonathletic activities were provided solely for the boys until 1911 when one activity was organized; after that year the increase in number was gradual, although considerable variation is noticed from year to year. At the end of the period 7 activities were provided exclusively for boys. The average for the period of 24 years is 3. The activities provided solely for girls fluctuate from year to year, the highest in any one year being 12; the lowest, 1; and the average, 4. The number available in 1930 was 11. The activities for both boys and girls throughout the period ranged from 4 to 13. The average for the period is 8. Considering all activities combined a gain of 6 was made between 1907 and 1911. From 1911 to 1925 the fluctuation in activities was slight. After 1925 the increase in activities was rapid, the number in 1930 being 31. Throughout the period the activities exclusively for boys remained relatively constant in School D, the range being from 1 to 5 and the average 3. The activities provided solely for girls average the same as the activities for boys, although the range is considerably greater (0-10). The activities provided for boys and girls greatly outnumber those provided for boys or girls separately throughout the entire period. The number remained relatively constant from 1913 to 1920, averaging 9.5, but from 1921 to 1930 a gradual increase in these activities took place, the number in 1930 being 36, or four and one-half times the number provided in 1913. TABLE 3.-Number of nonathletic extracurriculum activities in four schools for the period, 1913 to 1930, and the gain in percentage of activities in 1930 over 1913 If the nonathletic activities of the four high schools are combined for the years 1913 to 1930, the years for which data are available for all the schools, an interesting development is noted (Table 3). The activities provided exclusively for boys during the period increased 108 per cent; for girls, 313 per cent; for both boys and girls, 169 per cent; and all activities for the four schools as a group, 179 per cent. The increase in the activities for the boys took place very largely after 1920. In the case of the activities provided exclusively for the girls, an increase occurred between 1913 and 1916 followed by a decrease from 1916 to 1926. From 1926 to 1930 a very marked increase in the number of activities then |