Five models are postulated for interpreting the three historical stages in the development of compulsory schooling in the United States. These three stages include (1) a symbolic stage where compulsory public school education began to gain strength but lacked enforcement procedures, (2) a bureaucratic phase beginning around 1900 where new organizational technologies made compulsory attendance effective, and (3) a postcompulsory phase beginning in the 1960's where the legitimacy of compulsory schooling is being questioned and truancy is rampant. Model 1 interprets the development as an evolution of the self-perpetration of a democratic society. Model 2 reflects a revisionist interpretation where society's economic elites fashioned compulsory school systems in order to produce a stable, rational economy in which they could retain their power. Model 3 stresses socialization and nationalism where schooling creates citizens and legitimizes government hierarchies. Model 4 interprets stage 1 as a subcultural conflict where state legislators passed laws as a symbolic crusade of the virtuous. Model 5 interprets the development of compulsory attendance as the work of political interest groups including both business and labor. (Author/DE)