Table 34.-Number and Percent of Public High Schools Giving Certain Degrees of Emphasis to Mathematics as Compared With Emphasis in Fall 1955, by Grades in School: Fall 1958

The high school principals were also asked: "Is the mathematics curriculum in your school being revised this year?" To this question 40 percent of the answers were in the affirmative. The percent ranged from around 36 in small schools to 48 in large schools. (See table 36.) In 19521 a study was made of curriculum guides. Approximately 50 percent of the guides available at that time were at least 3 years old. Hence, if 40 percent of the schools actually revised curriculum materials during 1957, activity in this area has increased notably.

Table 35.-Number and Percent of Public High Schools Giving Certain Degrees of Emphasis to Mathematics as Compared With Emphasis in Fall 1955, by Size of School: Fall 1958

1 Brown, Kenneth E. Curriculum Materials in High-School Mathematics (Bulletin 1954, No. 9). U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Office of Education. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1954. 40 pages.

Table 36.-Number and Percent of Public High Schools Replying to the Question, "Is the Mathematics Curriculum Being Revised This Year?", by Size of School: Fall 1958

Table 37 gives the same information as table 36, but by grades in school. Exactly half the schools with 10th, 11th, and 12th grades were revising the mathematics curriculum. Nearly 40 percent of the schools having pupils at the 9th-grade level only were doing so. Thus, irrespective of the grades in the school, this survey indicates considerable activity in mathematics curriculum development. Table 38 shows the extent by geographic region.

Enrollment

The percentages of pupils in the last 4 years of public high schools enrolled in algebra, geometry, and trigonometry from 1889-90 through 1958-59 are shown in table 39. Algebra includes all algebra offered in high school; likewise geometry includes both plane geometry and solid geometry. Although trigonometry includes both plane trigonometry and spherical trigonometry, the number enrolled in spherical trigonometry in recent years has been very small.

Table 37.-Number and Percent of Public High Schools Replying to the Question, "Is the Mathematics Curriculum Being Revised this Year?", by Grades in School: Fall 1958

The percentage of pupils enrolled in algebra declined steadily from 1900 to 1954. From the school year 1954-55 to the school year 1958-59, there was an increase from 24.8 to 30.1 percent. Of course, the question of concern to those interested in the supply of scientific manpower is whether the increase has been in the number enrolled in second-year algebra (usually an elective) or first-year algebra (in many cases a required subject). Data on this question will be presented later.

A subject usually recommended for college preparatory pupils, especially those who plan on scientific careers, is geometry. For many years the percentage of pupils enrolled in this subject declined. In fact, from 1934 to 1954, while high school enrollments as a whole were increasing, the actual geometry enrollments were decreasing. Table 39 shows that from 1956-57 and 1958-59 there was a slight decrease in the percent taking geometry. The percent taking trigonometry has varied since 1890 between 1.3 and 2.9 percent of the total high school population. Percentages of pupils taking geometry and trigonometry in 1958-59 were slightly lower than for 1956–57. These slight differences, however, may not be statistically significant.

Table 39.-Percent of Pupils in the Lost 4 Years of Public High Schools in Certain Mathematics Courses: 1889-90 Through 1958-59

! "Biennial Survey of Education in the United States-1948-50", ch. 5. "Offerings and Enrollments in High School Subjects, 1948-49", p. 107, table 7. U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Office of Education. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1951. 118 pages.

Brown, Kenneth E. "Mathematics in Public High Schools" (Bulletin 1953, No. 5), p. 34. U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Office of Education. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1953. 47 pages.

3- "Offerings and Enrollments in Science and Mathematics in Public High Schools, 1954" (Pamphlet No. 118), p. 11, table 5. U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Office of Education. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1956. 24 pages.

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and Ellsworth S. Obourn. "Offerings and Enrollments in Science and Mathematics in Public High Schools, 1956" (Pamphlet No. 120), p. 9, table 3. U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Office of Education. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1957. 44 pages.

Estimates based on this study.

In further interpretation of table 39, at least two other facts should be observed. First, the percentage given is the ratio of pupils taking the subject to all the pupils in the last 4 years of high school. For example, the percentage for trigonometry in 1958 is 2.7, which means that 2.7 percent of all those enrolled in the last 4 years of public high school were enrolled in trigonometry. If all pupils in the 12th grade (where trignonometry is usually offered) were enrolled in trig