COEDUCATION (Let. together + cdu cat io, education, from cducare, to bring up, to educate). The association of the sexes in the same classes for instruction is a system that prevails generally in the public elementary schools of the United States and quite exten sively in Europe. Except in a few large Eastern cities, as New York and Boston, the free public elementary school in the United States is a mixed school. On the other hand, somewhat less than half the private elementary schools in this country are either for boys, or fol: girls, ex clusively, and in 1899-1900 about 9 per cent. of the pupils receiving elementary instruction were in such schools. The English elementary schools have since 1891 become practically free, and largely coeducational. In France each commune having more than 500 inhabitants must establish a separate elementary school for girls, unless a mixed school is sanctioned by the de partmental council. In Prussia the Volksschu leu, or people's schools, were, according to the law of 1871. advised to separate the sexes wher ever possible, except when there were only two teachers in a school. Nevertheless. in 1896 the mixed schools exceeded the others by more than half. In Switzerland the elementary schools are very largely mixed schools; but the eourse of study and the length of the course in some cantons vary for the sexes, while in Basel the boys' and girls' schools are separate. In Sweden practically all, and in Austria 85 per cent. of the public elementary schools, are coeducational; while in Italy the reverse is true, only about one fifth of the schools of this grade having such a character.
When, however, we turn to secondary educa tion, we find that in Europe the sexes are almost universally separated. In Prussia the various classes of Gymnasium and Realsehnlen are. with the exception of a few girls' gymnasia. for boys exclusively. Elsewhere in Germany, where girls are given public secondary education, as in Bavaria, Saxony, and Baden. their schools are separated. The French public secondary school system consists of State lye0.es and communal colleges for boys and girls separately. The sec
ondary schools of Switzerland and for the most part those of Sweden keep the sexes apart. Eng land has no public secondary schools for girls. The private secondary schools are, to a slight extent, coeducational when they are predomi nantly day schools or contain younger children. In the States the contrast is striking. In 1899 there were 5495 public high schools, of which 5439 were coeducational, 22 for girls only, and 34 for boys. Of 1957 private secondary schools, 1092 were coeducational, 541 for girls. and 324 for boys, exclusively. The public normal schools in 1,898-99 numbered 166. Of these, two were distinctly for women; twelve had no men in attendance, though presumably coeducational; the rest contained both sexes. Of the 165 private normal schools live prepare kindergarten teachers and have no nun in attendance, one is distinctly fur women, while two others have no men, and th•ue no women in attendance. The rest have a mixed attendance. The English training-schools for teachers, the Efench primary and superior normal schools, and the Prussian normal schools separate the sexes.
An examination of the facts stated above will show that so far as Europe is they bear out the general theory current there, that the sexes should be separated as far as possible in education. Wherever separate schools can be maintained, the French and Prussian systems require them. and they are plainly favored by the English. Since, however, elementary in struction has come to be regarded as necessary for both sexes, wherever financial considerations prevent separate schools, the elementary school is mixed. And it is this financial consideration that has most largely been the occasion of mixed schools in the United States. Through the efforts of Horace Mann, a system of town coedu cational high schools was in 1826 initiated in Massachusetts. and from that time on such schools spread, at first slowly, then rapidly, throughout the Republic, until to-day they are almost within reach of all. The victory of public secondary education was in general the victory of coeducation.