The Impact of the Differentiated Curriculum on African American Women High School Students: The Case in St. Louis.

Historians have tagged the transformation to the differentiated curriculum as an influential factor in the shaping of the twentieth-century high school in the United States. Although gender, race, and social class affected the way in which a student's education was altered by the differentiated curriculum, the impact of the differentiated curriculum on African American women high school students has not been studied extensively. This paper examines the effect of the differentiated curriculum on African American women's course selection in St. Louis public high schools from 1914 to 1930. Conclusions drawn here both confirm and challenge the existing literature on women's secondary education.