Examines English teaching practices in American rural schools from 1900-40, emphasizing schools in Iowa. Discusses the Country Life Movement, which proposed significant reforms for rural education and rural living. Surveys English teaching practices undertaken in its spirit. Concludes with an assessment of the movement and a discussion of its…

Recalls highlights on student days in a one-room country school. Describes school maintenance routines, individualized instruction, school programs, and holiday celebrations. Concludes that alumni of one-room schools are proud of their heritage and feel that the education they received reflects the nation's finest values. (JHZ)

From 1912 to 1921, Iowa was the center of national attention as state and local education leaders attempted to implement a new model of rural education. This model was part of the Country Life Movement, whose proponents sought to create a more modern future for farm families, an alternative form of rural community that combined the advantages of…

Being 1 of 4 publications dealing with the effects of population decline on rural Iowa counties, this study was published in 1962 as part of a larger study done under the auspices of the North Central Region Subcommittee on Population Research. The effects of out-migration on school systems in Greene County are described, and school history,…

Designed to preserve the rich heritage of the rural school system which passed from the education scene in the 1930's and 1940's, this narrative, part history and part nostalgia, describes the author's own elementary education and the secure community life centered in the one room Spring Valley School in Hamilton County, Iowa, in the early decades…

This report examines the effect of education on occupation, income, social mobility, and teaching as a profession in Iowa from 1870 to 1930. Particular attention is given to the impact of socioeconomic background upon scholastic achievement, length of schooling, and dropout rates. The Iowa state census manuscripts and the federal census provide…

This book depicts the lives of women who taught school in the late 19th and early 20th centuries on the prairies and plains of Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska. The book is based on the narratives, letters, and diaries of 96 schoolwomen and on interviews with living pioneers, memoirs, school reports, photographs, and other documents. Part 1 includes…

The second national conference on consolidation of rural schools and transportation of pupils was called by the United States Commissioner of Education and held at Cleveland, Ohio, February 26, 1923. Twenty-three States were represented. Those in attendance included State commissioners of education, rural-school workers from State departments of…