Search

The Detroit High School Study Commission series (1966-1968) is comprised of three linear feet of records pertaining to a study of Detroit high schools during the years 1966 to 1968. The student boycott at Northern High School in April of 1966 was the main event evidencing the need for some type of evaluative study leading to change within the high schools of Detroit. The Commission, charged by Detroit Board of Education president Remus Robinson, was to gather thorough, comprehensive, and comparable data for each high school. This data would then be reviewed by the commission, with the expected outcome of establishing recommendations for improvement that would be presented both to the public and the Board of Education. Over 350 citizens were involved in the study, either as members of a high school study committee or as members of the Commission (made up of twenty-six members appointed by the Board of Education, as well as the chairman of each of the high school study committees). Individual school reports were presented to the city-wide Commission, which then brought together the findings and recommendations to be presented to the Board of Education and the public. The final report of the commission is located in box 165.

The files of the Detroit High School Study Commission include one linear foot of correspondence, inventories of facility needs, guidelines and objectives of the study commission, minutes of Commission meetings, socio-economic rankings, and questionnaires. In addition, there are two linear feet of reports, including miscellaneous reports and statistics (for example, citizens advisory reports and interim reports given by various study committees), individual school reports, and the final reports of the high school study committees that were compiled, bound, and presented to the Detroit Board of Education.