Abstract
In 1926, teachers at South Philadelphia High School for Girls faced a problem. Some students were underperforming in their coursework and scoring low on standardized tests. By contemporary measures, educators feared these children would become a future drag on society. Anna Biddle, a South Philadelphia High teacher, pessimistically observed, “Such girls certainly have no place in any four-year high school course,” but the students believed that public education was their best means to secure stable employment, particularly, she noted, “in an offi ce.” Impressed by the students’ stated aspirations, Biddle led a corps of teachers to develop a program for the girls that would take them away from the rest of the student population to receive instruction about the “routine[s] . . . the ideal business girl must know.” The instructors doubted their chances of success, but rationalized that “the state always spends more money on its incompetents than on any others and a small sum spent for prevention can be looked upon as an investment. These girls may become social problems; just now, however, they are teaching problems.”