Under Horace Mann, children aged 4-16 spent more days in school. Reformers concentrated their efforts on this group. Thus, although there was an overall decline in school attendance, 1820-60, economic historians need to consider quality as well as quantity in assessing the economic productivity of education. (Author/WM)

Utilizing extensive individual-level data files to examine antebellum school attendance in Newburyport (Massachusetts), a procedure was devised to estimate school attendance in Essex County (Massachusetts), during the period 1860-61. Concludes that a substantial minority of antebellum youth attended high school in Massachusetts communities. (SLM)