Looks at changes in attitudes toward the intellectual development of infants and young children in the United States during the 20th century. Conducts a content analysis of samples of articles from the popular literature of the period. (KO)

Reviews the origins and development of the 20th-century term "drop-out." Asserts that the social construction of the drop-out problem explicitly marks the time when secondary education became a common expectation in the United States. Contends that secondary education's success created the concept of a drop-out "problem." (CFR)