Between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as the United States was transformed from an agrarian nation to an industrial one, significant changes in the nation's economic, social, and political structures, and the challenges that ensued, led to a multitude of diverse reform movements and a surge of regulatory measures from the federal and…

This article explores the history of school gardens in educational projects linked to four scholars at Teachers College (Bigelow, Dewey, Kilpatrick and Carney) during the early twentieth century. It concludes that gardening activities were designed primarily for urban children who lacked experience in farming. The role of gardening in experimental…

This paper advances the theoretical and applied connection between education policy and community development. We call this community-aware education policy, and it is based on Dean's (2012) conception of human need that is thick (i.e., accounts for a relational context), rather than relying solely on a thin conception (i.e., instrumental view…

Kate Brock's diary provides insight into the daily life of a one-room rural school teacher from Delaware County, New York, during the years 1902-1906. Through her diary she gives a candid narrative of her life as teacher and a member of a rural community. From the 3 1/2 years of almost daily entries, it is possible to identify a number of topics…

Describes the education of Melvil Dewey, pioneer in library science, his early teaching experiences in rural New York, and the influence of these experiences on his final career choice. Discusses his concept of education for the masses through public libraries. (SV)

Between 1795 and 1993, elementary and secondary schooling in New York State shifted from a private/local to a public/state activity. That shift from local to state control and identity involved a lengthy political struggle and reveals the historical working-out of two conflicting themes in the American political tradition: popular democratic…

There is a general demand for information in regard to the condition of drawing and art in the elementary and secondary schools of this and other countries. In partial response to this demand Mr. Royal Bailey Farnum, specialist in drawing and handwork in the New York State Education Department, has prepared this manuscript showing the status of…

The rural school project of the continental United States consists in educating over 18 million young people between the ages of 5 and 20 who live in small towns and villages, or in the open country. The 300,000 or more schools classified as rural enrolled nearly 12.5 million pupils in 1920, employed 425,00 teachers, supervisors, and principals,…

Although in the United States there are many thousands of crippled children, probably as many as there are of deaf and blind, little attention has been given them as a class. While special provision for the deaf and blind children is made in all States and for feeble-minded and incorrigible children in most of the States, few States make any…

The history of school district consolidation in New York State reveals that nearly every set of recommendations which has encouraged consolidation has brought about widespread negative reaction from the public. Reorganization is a highly political activity in which members of the State Legislature and the State Education Department have always…

The circumstances preceding and following the 1984 merger of two small school districts in North Central New York State contained cooperation, controversy, and disharmony. The school districts had enough similarities--in their rural, agricultural base, in the pride and loyalty with which many residents viewed their schools, in the central role…

The history of school district reorganization in New York State over the past 150 years is examined. Basic research tools included a survey of present and former district superintendents, contacts with former State Education Department personnel, and reports from other leading figures and past participants. Sections are included on: the historical…

The Eatonton Central School District of central New York State, formed in 1968 by merging the smaller central districts of Batesville and Meridian, is examined from the period prior to reorganization to the present. The study is divided into three major sections. The first discusses the school district and its setting. Enough of the area's history…

In 1980, Tonnelly Central School District became the first school district in New York State to be dissolved pursuant to Section 1505 of Education Law, marking the first use of dissolution and annexation as a means by which to address the programmatic and management problems encountered in the operation of a central school district. Problems faced…

One of the most important factors in the education of children is the establishment of their physical health, without which all learning and training must have less value for the individual and for society than they would have with it. Implicitly in the act creating the Bureau of Education and explicitly in recent acts of Congress, investigations…