A Survey of Business Education in the Public High Schools of Iowa

Citation preview

a s u r v e t op

Busxiiass

education

IK THE PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS OF IOWA

by j A Roland S* Wick

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of th© requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, in the College of 0amerce, In the Graduate A College of the Sta te University of Iowa '

) O'

February, 1950

syk^

ProQuest Number: 10907211

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co^.S.. AOKNOWLSDGHmiTS

I sun indebted to Dr* William Masson of the College of Commerce of the State University of Iowa for M e

Interest, valuable

suggestlone, and direction in bringing this study to a conclusion*

f i) 19

II

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ............. .............

1

1 Statement of the Problem .............. 1 Heed for■the Study ...... Purposes of the Study ................. 5 4 Analysis and Scope of the Problem *.*♦* Limitations 5 5 Definition of Terms 6 ...... ............. Related Studies Procedure ** 17 H©turns of Questionnaires ....... .... 19 .

THE TEACHER OF BUSINESS EDUCATION IN IOWA 5-ex and Age of Reporting Teachers .•**. Marita 1 Ststu® of Teachers ...... Formal Education of Teachers .... Business Experience ................... Pa® t Teaching ......................... Types of Schools in Which Teachers .... Have. Taught Future Teaching Plans .... Tenure on Present Position . Present Salaries ..................... Humber of Classes Per Bay **..... Rdatod Teaching Duties Extra-Curricular Activlties «... •..... • Other Duties of Business Teachers »•«*. Frequency of Subject Combinations ..... OFFERINGS IN BUSINESS EDUCATION

....

23 23 26 32 41 42 45 49 50 54 57 60 67 67 69 79

Subjec t Offerings ..................... 80 Enrollments In Business Subjects ...... 82 Grade Placement of Business Subjects «• QO 97 Length of Class Periods .05 Textbooks Used ...... .10 Methods of Furnishing Textbooks Typewritera Us ed ...................... .42 Ill

T&ELI OF OOTOTTS (Continued) Gimp ter IV

trends in business education in iowa .... X926-X948 Sex and Age of Teacher© * ** Marital Status **..,#♦*............... Forms 1. Mduca tl on #■*♦**•**.*•» *.*###• *•. Bus inoaa Experience •••••«•••*•«>•»•#*» Past Teaching ........... Tenure on Present Position ...... Present Salaries .*. *......... Ember of Classes Per Day ............ Related Teaching Duties .............. Extra-Curricular Ac tivlties .......... Frequency of Subject Combinations Subj©ct Offerings Enrollments in Business Subjects •*•#* Grad© Placement of Business Subjects . Length of Class Periods *.... Textbooks Used .... Typewriters Used ........• *• »•*»>....«

■V

CONCLUSIONS AND KEBOMSKBATZOSft Cone Xusions. *.#■*......*»#** ...i.**....* Loo oivuxtencta.tlon.s ..»#*»«**»•**»***♦•«.♦

151 151 155 153 100 162 162 165 167 171 171 171 172 175 177 177 177 178 184 184 190

BIBLIOGRAPHY

194

APPENDIX ... *.... .........

201

iv

mK-EJ OF CABLES Table Ho* 1

Page Distribution According to Enrollments of He turned Quee tionrxairea ....... •»

21

2

Sex■of Reporting Teachers

.......

2?

3

Humber of Business teacher® of Each Ago .«..

28

4

Ages of Bus Iness Teachers *................

31

3

Marltal Stabus of Teachers #*••#•,****• ***)»#>-•

33

8

Formal Education of Business Teachers Humber of Teachers and Degrees Earned » 55

7

Formal Education of Business Teachers l o w Colleges and Universities attended

8

9

Formal Education of Business Teachers Out-of-State Colleges and Universities .............. *....... Attended

36

37

Formal Education of Business Teachers Business College Attendance * .... ...»

40

10

Business Experience of Teachers

43

11

Past Poaitlons Held

12

......

.....

Past Teaching Experience

46 .... ........

47

13

Median and Mean Ho* Years of Past Experience

48

14

Types of Schools In Which Teachers Have Taught ....

51

15

Future Teaching Plans *

-

52

16

A Comparison of Teachers Just Completing Their First Year of Teaching and Their Future Teaching Plans ••«•»♦«►*•*•••••••**•*

o3

v

T&BIiB OF TABLSI3 {Continued) Table

Page

Ho.

17

Tenure on Present Poai tlon »***'•*#***•**«•. 55

IB

Median and Mean Tenure on Present Position * 56

19

20

Present $&larias Humber of Teachers in Bach Group and the Salaries They Earned .........

58

Median Salaries of Teachers by Enrollment Groups .......

59

21

Humber of Classes Taught Per -Cay

......

61

22

Median Humber of Classes Per Day...........

62

25

Mean Hours per 'Week per Semes tor Required for Correction of Papers

04

Mean Hows per Week per Semester Required for Pupil Conferences

65

Mean Hours per Week per Semes ter Required for Prepare tlon **»••••«*•**♦**#*•«.*••*•*»••

66

Summary of the Humber of Teachers Reporting Extra-Cwrtcular Activities and the Mean Hours Per Semester Spent in Bach Activity »«

68

27

Miscellaneous Duties of Teachers »• •*......

70

23

Frequency of Subject Combinations

72

29

Xhe Number of Business Teachers Teaching in Other Subject Fields .....

76

.Humber of Classes of Business Subjects Offered

83

Enrollment® in Business Subjects Group X Schools #*♦♦***•»###*****»’•■*•

85

24 25 26

30 31

vi

TABLE OF TABLES (Continned) %bl©

Peg©

No*

52

Enrollments in Business Subjects Group IX Schools .....*......... 06

55

Enrollment© in Business Subjects Group XXX Schools »■**•• #■#«*** **##**• •*«

87

Enrollments In Business Subjects Group XV Schools «»**•«« **«*•»**••«*•»»

30

Enrollments In Business Subjects Group V Schools •.#•****•»»•«»»»*«.••*•

89

56

Total Xtorailments in Business Subjects ....

90

57

H&tlo of Girls to Boys Enrolled *.««.....

91

38

Grade Placement of Business Subjects Group X Schools ......0 ,

98

Grade Placement of Business Subjects Group .XI Schools ....

99

54 35

39 40

Gred© Placement of Business Subjects Group XXX Schools ♦#»*****♦**•«*«*♦•*♦♦ 100

41

Grad© Placement of Business Subjects Group IV Schools ....

42 '43 44 45 46

101

Grade Placement of Business Subjects Group V School© *#»*•*•#•»*•#♦*■#*♦*• •»« 102 Grad© Placement of Business Subjects All Schools .....

105

Length of Class Periods In 351 low High Schools .......

106

Length of Classes In 65 Group V Schools Having Varying Class Lengths

107

The Mwither of Schools Using Double Periods and for ttlch Subjects Used vii

» 108

TABLE OP TABLES (Continued.)

Typewriting Textbooks

....... ........

Ill

Key to- Typewriting Textbook List

112

Bookkeeping Textbooks

116

............

Key to Bookkeeping Textbook List

......

117

Shorthand Textbooks .............. .

119

Key ■to Shorthand Textbook L i s t ........

120

Business Law Textbooks ..........

121

Key to Business Law Textbook L i s t ....

122

Genera 1 Business Training Textbook© ••••*•

124

Key to General Business Training Textbook Lis t •«««»...«........................

125

Economic Geography Textbooks .....

128

Key to Economic Geography Textbook List *

129

Business Arithmetic Textbooks

150

Key to Businesa Arithmetic Textbook List

131

Biasiness English Textbooks

132

......

Key to Business English Textbook List

133

Secretarial Fractics Textbooks

134

Key to Secretarial Practice Textbook List

135

Be tailing Tex tbooks ,*. ♦,

136

.

Key to Hetailing Textbook List

137

Salesmanship Textbooks **««.••***••»»•*».

138

viil

TABLE OF TABLES (Continued) Pag© Ho’

68

Key to Salesmanship textbook List •*»»»»•«.*

69

BusInes& Org&nlsaation textbooks

70

Key to Business Organisation ■textbook List • 141 4 Methods of Furnishing Textbooks Used By 390 High1Schools •*•***«(#♦** *««**«»• +» »•*«* s 143

71 78 75

139

..... * 140

Hmbor and Makes of Typewriters In Use As Reported by 393 High Schools *#.#**....... .

145

Persontag© Distribution of Typewriters

By Makes #*.*»*.**##*■**■*#*****•*«•«,«*•*»•*»*«

146

Stylo of Type of 7022 Typewriters Used By 593 High Schools

147

75

Typewriters II tit Blank end Open Keyboard© ..

148

76

A Comparison of Median Ages of Teachers in 1926 and 1948

154

Ins titutIons Attended for Hndergradua to .... ........................ Work

157

A Comparison of the Formal Education of Business Teachers In 1926., 1939 and 1948 *•.

158

A Comparison of Business College Attendance by Business Teachers In 1926, 1959 and 1948

169

A Comparison of Business Teachers with Business Experience In 192'6 and 1948 •»>•**•

161

A Comparison of Fast Positions Held In 1926 and 1948 *....... ................

163

A Comparison of Median Years of Past Teaching Experience, 1926 end 1948

X64

74

77 78 79 80 81 88

ix

«BLI. OF TABLES {Concluded) Page

Ifeble Ho.

85 84

85

88

87

88

89

A Comparison of the Median Manure on the Proaant Position in 1926 and 1948 ..... **»

186

A Comparison of Median Salaries of l o w Business Teachers in 1948 with, the Median

8alari©0 of Iowa Business Teachers in 1928 •

168

A Comparison of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Index of Consumer Prices for 1928, 1939* and 1948 with an Index of Iowa Business Teacher®* Salaries for 1926 and 1948 .......

169

A Comparison of the Median Salaries of Iowa Business Teachers in 1948 with the Median Salaries of High School Teachers of the United States for 1947 *«.... .......

170

A Comparison of the Frequency of Subject CcmMmtlons In Iowa High Schools in 1926, 1989, and 1948 #*••##*♦* *■*#*.***•» *••*•♦••***

173

A Comparison of the Most Frequently Offered Business Subjects in 1926, 1939 and 1940

176

A Comparison of the hakes of Typewriters Used In Iowa High Schools In 1939 and 1948 .* 179

x

1

Chapter X IBfBODtlCrXOH Statement of the Problem* On the national level business education has grown rapidly during the post fifty yaar®.1

This rapid development

of business education on the national level has been paral­ leled by an increase in the importance of business education in the State of lorn*

By 1900 most of the Iowa high schools

had a business education program of one type or another and there were over one thousand teachers of business subjects. Since 1926 business education in the Iowa high schools has not had as rapid growth as In the period prior to 1926 but has developed fully until today business education is a recognised area In the secondary schools of Iowa*

But where

has this growth since 1926 brought business education? She problem of this study is to trace the develop­ ment of business education In the public secondary schools of Iowa sine© 1926 and to determine Its present status with, im­ plications for future development*

Since 1941 the United States has been Involved in & major war followed by a period of readjustment*

It has

2

be©& assumed that the w r and. it® aftermath Mire had a profound effect on o w schools.

In the l o w high, schools a definite

change m b brought about; by the m v in the niteo of the train* Ing offered*

The armed forces needed young men with me the*

m&fcies and science training to fill the necessary positions In the ever-increasing army and navy.

As a result of these de­

mands by the armed forces f many high schools changed their programs and offered more mathematics and science.

Conse­

quently, certain areas were relegated to the background because they were not considered essential to winning the war.

On®

of these areas of secondary education which was re legs ted to the background were certain phases of business education# o Of the war-time effect on business, education Tonne says, The tremendous pressure of war need diverted at­ tention from social-business and consumer educa­ tion ms a separate entity.* .Interest in the broader aspects of business education, the area that might b® called social business ©ducation had not become less important or less interesting to students. War pressure merely temporarily relegated it to the background* In'spite of these war-time changes which saw a relative decline in the Importance of certain phases of busi5 ness education there have been no comprehensive studies re■la ting to business education in the public high schools of Iowa sine® 1940 when Miss Myrtle M* Stono^ mad© a compre­ hensive s tudy of this area. This study by Miss Stone and B another-by Dr * Lloyd V* Douglas and Dr . R. 0. Skar made In

3 1939 showed certain development® and trends In business edu­ cation in the public high .schools, of Iowa* Because of this lack of information since 1940 there appears to be a need for definite Information regarding the effects of the war and the readjustment period on the present status of business education*

The purposes of this study are: (1)

To present data that will be of

xlbb

to school

administrators and supervisors so that they may make comparl* sons of their own business programs with business programs In similar schools*

These comparisons should not be made to

determine whether one school1a business program Is-superior or Inferior, but should be used by administrators and super­ visors to aid in evaluating their own programs In light of the findings of this study* (8) To aid those persons engaged in business teacher training in becoming more fully informed as to existing conditions« With this pertinent information these teacher trainers will be bettor able to discuss current conditions and how best to meet these conditions*

With these findings

In mind business teacher trainers will be better qualified to propose ways and means of improving the conditions in the Iowa public high schools*

4 (5) To aid the in understanding

(4)

future teachers of busIness subjects

the actual conditions that exist*

To aid the teacher in the field to evaluate h

own teaching in light of present day philosophies and aid in determining what changes need to be made to aid in improving business education 'in the public secondary schools of Iowa* Analysis and goope of .the Problem In order to determine the present status of busi­ ness education in the public secondary schools of Iowa in­ formation must be gathered -concerning (1) the past develop­ ment of business education In the public high schools of Iowa, (2) business education in the public high schools of Iowa at the present time, (3) business education on the national level* To determine the past development of business edu­ cation in the public high schools of Iowa, a study of past research studies in .thisparticular area was made*

In order *

to determine the presentstatus and possible trends

In busi­

ness education a dlrect-mall questionnaire was used*

From a

study of pertinent literature relating to business education in the United States certain trends and developments on the national level can be compared to trends and developments in

Iowa *

5

This study Is concerned with only the public sec­ ondary schools in the state of lows and In these public

secondary schools with only the area of business education, its development sine© 1930, its present status, and present

trends which appear* Definition of Terms It Is necessary to give definitions to several terms used In this present study*

This necessity arises be­

cause each of these terms can and does have several meanings* In order to aid In the clarity of this study the following terns are defined as they apply to this study* 1* Public high school - In this study a public high school is to be considered as either a four year high school Including ninth grade or a three year high school including tenth through twelfth grade operated by a duly elected school board and financed by public funds* 2* Business education ~ In the strictest sens© business education Is literally education for business.

But

In the present day public high school business education should be and Is ’usually much, more than just vocational train ing.

As a result It is necessary that any definition of

business education be broad. For the purposes of this study business education will bo. a© HIchols

A

has defined it*

8 « m of secondary education which la appro­ priate for boys and girls between the ages of fourteen and twenty, which may be given in allday secondary schools, which has for its primary purposes the preparation of boys and girls for socially useful end personally satisfactory liv­ ing, and more particularly for entrance into com­ mercial employment with reasonable prospects of su e o c e d in g in t ii. c lr

by iroasoiti o-^> th e ^posses —

Sion of (a) social intelligence and right social attitudesj (b) an Initial occupational skill; (c) a reftson&bl* amount of occupational intelligence; (&} a fund o f usable general knowledge of sound business principles; To) a proper attitude toward a life -work*; (f> high ethical standards in accord­ ance with which their business careers are to be developed; and (g) supporting' general education of varying but substantial amount®. 5. Business teacher - For the purposes of this study any person teaching on© or more business subjects in a public high school was included In the atiaimariaa* 4* Business subject - Any organised body of sub­ ject matter for instruction which concerns itself with any phase of business.

Th© following courses arc considered

business sxibjectss typewriting, bookkeeping, shorthand, general business training, business law, office practice, economic geography, busineac arttlfmetic, retailing, business English, salesmanship, merchandising, consumer education, business organisation*

Related Studies Since 1926 there have been very few studios which have dee It with the status of business education in the

7 public secondary schools of Iowa*

Of these few .studies only

four are related directly to the present study.

Threo of

these four were comps*©hens 1to atodies dealing with the entire area of business education.

The fourth related study dealt

with the teacher of business subjects only* Th® Blacks tone Study^ Th© first major study of the statu© of business education In the high school© of Iowa was mad© in 1926 under th® direction of Professor K# 0# Blacks ton© of the state University of Iowa*

This study of commercial education m s

mad© from a summary of returned questionnaires from Iowa oommerclal teachers. f.lho purposes of this study were to aid in the Im­ provement of teacher training and to improve the training and teaching ability of teachers now on the Job.

Information was

secured concerning th© business teacher and his qualifica­ tions, class activities* non-class activities, courses of­ fered, enrollments, textbooks used, salaries and other per­ sonal data by a direct-mail questionnaire.

Of approximately

1,000 questionnaires mailed to commercial teachers about 40 per cent were returned* Ih© findings of this study may be summarised as followss (1) Persons planningto enter the field

of business

education should know that to secure th© highest salaries

8 they should generally have more then two years of college* (8) Most teacher© were lees than thirty years of age*

Less

than 10 per cent of the business teacher© were over forty years of age*

(3) Hen business teachers tod, on the whole,

much more business experience than did women business teach­ ers#

(4)

Thirty-^©even per cent of all reporting business

teachers tod no business experience.

(6) Men business teach­

ers tended to receive higher salaries than did women business teachers.

(6) Th© median salary was §1476 per nine months.

(7) The median teaching experience was four years*

(3) r Ihose

who hire business teachers cannot expect them to stay longer than two years*

(J)} Bookkeeping, typewriting, shorthand,'

and commercial geography were the most frequently offered business courses*

{10} The school© of Iowa offer little

vocational training for those who leave school In the early years of high school* There are several reasons why this study Is the s.

moat important of the related studies*

First, because the

present study attempts to follow as nearly as possible the pattern of this first study in an effort to make accurate comparisons which will ©how the development of business edu­ cation for over a twenty-year period.

Second, because this

study was the first major study relating to business educa­ tion it can be used as a basis of comparison to all later

Studies relating to the same area *

Third, end probably more

important , is that this study was made during the postwar readjustment period following World War I and the present study was made during the postwar readjustment period follow lag World War It - two very similar periods-' in our history.

A comparison of this study and the present study should show the effects of a major business depression, a two-front war and a period of readjustment on business education. The Phillips stu&y^

Ibis study made by E. lay Phillips in 1931 was not as comprehensive as the other related studies but it does give soma Infestation of value concerning certain phases of business education in th© Iowa public high schools Mr, Phillips studies 840 Iowa e-caazaerelal teachers and reported on their age, education, hours of college work In their subject field, graduate work, years of tenure, years of experience, and type of position held during the past year-

From this study he concluded; {1} Ho commercial

teacher was leas than twenty years of age,

(2) She State

University of Iowa and th© Iowa State Teachers College trained 37,6 per cent of all commercial teachers teaching In Iowa high schools.

Over IS per cent of th© commercial

teacher© were trained in colleges and universities outside

10 of Iowa*

(5) Commercial teachers with th© most training

usually teach in only one field and in the larger schools. {4} Only 57 per cent of the commercial teachers majored in commercial education*

(8) Vfhlle 25 per cent of the commer*

eiftl teachore had come graduate work, very few had Master *a degrees.

(6) Commercial teachers in small schools do not re­

main over one year while teachers in the larger schools stay longer.

(7) She mean length of experience varied: five years

for those who taught primarily commercial subjects, two years for those who trught in one other subject field, and one year for those who have taught in two or more subject fields* This study has a limited use because it was made Q

only five years after the Blacks tone Study

of the same material as was covered in 1926.

and covered some A period of

five years is too short a time to show much development in business education or establish any trends♦ However, this study was valuable In studying the method© employed and in comparing seme of the findings with past studies and later ones* 10

rlhe Douglas -Skar -Study

The primary purpose of this study was to "secure information which would assist the Iowa State Teachers College intelligently to evaluate and revise its commercial-teachertraining curriculum in accordance with present and probable future needs of th© public schools of Iowa*ff1^

XI Questionnaires were sent to the administrators of every public high school in Iowa plus twenty junior high schools *

(Th© reports of the junior high schools were not

included in the summary*) M g h schools,

Returns were received from 525

This figure represented 56 per cent of the

public high schools In Iowa and was for their purposes con­ sidered very satisfactory* As this study was made primarily for the benefit of the Iowa State- Teachers College, many of the conclusions were of significance only to this college* wares

The conclusions

{!) A relatively low percentage of nail schools

offered shorthand and there appeared a tendency to drop this highly vocational subject from smaller high schools.

(2)

Ihere was a tendency to add general business training In keeping with present-day educational philosophy*

(5) A

course in salesmanship may justifiably be offered to a much greater extent In schools of all wises*

(4) School admin­

istrators might make more use of the training In economics which most well-trained ccssaeroial teachers are required to have*

(5) There la some evidence that larger schools arc

not providing adequate modern office equipment for efficient vocational training*

(6) Over one-half of the business teach­

ers lacked either a major or a minor In this field which'was considered unjustifiable*

(7) Hie wide recognition given th©

value of actual business experience is commendable*

(S) Student® majoring in social science, English, and math©me tic® should consider commercial education in choosing minor fields of preparation*

(9) %he desirability of practical

business experience should be considered in the future devel­ opment of our Commercial teacher training program.

(10) mere

1® a tendency to shorten the period of training in shorthand and typewriting in high schools* standards of teaching techniques*

m i s probably reflects high {11} All commercial educa­

tion majors should be familiar with the four leading makes of typewriters and should be competent operators of the ditto and the mimeograph.

(12) As half of the commercial teachers

employed now have had some graduate work, the results of these higher standards must be given due consideration as they af­ fect the adequacy of our training program.

(13) The Iowa State

Teachers College was th© leading source of supply for Iowa commercial teachers*

(14) In general, the preparation of

commercial education majors at the Iowa State Teachers College is appropriate and adequate In regard to th® subject matter included. Because of basic difference in this and th© Blackstone Study3^ and because this study was made primarily for th© Iowa State Teachers College, It is difficult to make Cas­ parIsons . But there are enough similarities so this study can be compared with past studies to show the development of

13 business education in th* asoond&ry schools of l o w and any trends which might apjmr as a result of the comparisons. The Stone Study^ The most recent study made relating to the status of business education In the public high schools of t o m m s made in 1040 by Mis® Myrtle M* Stone

In her study

Mias Stone attempted to determine the status of business education in the publicly supported schools of the state of Iowa*

To secure information needed for her study, Miss Stone

prepared two check lists - one to be sent to school adminis­ trator© and one for business teachers. These check list® asked for information concerning philosophies in business education, curriculum problems, physical mean® of administer­ ing the business education program, relationship of the busi­ ness education program to pupils served, business teacher personnel, and administrative and supervisory policies * The check lists were sent to 928 high schools and 331 returned these lists. Thirty-two per cent of all business teachers returned their lists* Miss Stone arrived, at the following conclusions 'from her study: (1) Administrators and teacher® indicated that they believed business curricula should be revised to meet more adequately the need® of young people who are Inter­ ested in both vocational and non-vocational aspects of

14 teste©#®*

Mumping ground” argument should no longer be

given a© a deform© for th® falter© to motivate pupil®,

(2)

lypewitlng, bookkeeping and ehorthand continued to be th© most frequently offered business subject©,

©acre was some

indication that these subjects beet met the need© of the young people and the school community* should ,b© made to determine local needs,

But community surveys (3) Business educa­

tion classes were about as well housed as other secondary school classes*

I4.br®ry and classroom reference material

need more attention when school budgets are planned. textbooks wove desirable but not always provided*

Free

(4) fata

indicated that girl© were served in much greater numbers than were boys,

feer© was a need for some follow-up guidance of

business pupil®.

Brief tenure of teachers and lack of cumu­

lative records may have accounted for th© lack of Information regarding pupils after they leave th© high school.

(S) Ap­

proximately 10 per cent of the reporting business teachers held graduate degrees, while approximately 20 per cent had had some graduate work.

Forty-five per cent of the men and 72

per cent of th© women business teachers who answered th© questionnaires received less than $1300 for the school year 1939-1940.

Business teachers did not seem to be taking ad­

vantage of oppor tun11i©s for in-service training of teachers, membership in profess ions 1 organisations and reading of

15 professional magasinos*

f ih© business teacher training pro­

grams should -give potential teachera acquaintance ?/lth cur­ rent literature in their own field and general education m well*

School budgets should include provision for general

education periodicals*

Hie median tenure of men business

teachers m s two years and of women business teachers was one and on©-half years*

Higher certification requirements and

more remuneration were needed throughout the stmt©*

{6} Ad­

ministrators of schools with less than 200 pupils Indicated that agricultural, personal use, and managerial aspects of business were best suited to their ocimffanlties. Administra­ tors of schools with enrollments of 200 to 500 pupils indi­ cated that agricultural, personal use, and selling aspects of business were moat vital to community life.

In schools with

less than 500 pupils the superintendents or the principals were usually the supervisory officers*

The Stmt© Department

of Public Instruction needs a staff co-ordinator of business education* As this is the moat recent study concerning busi­ ness education In the public secondary schools of Iowa, It shows the status of business education In the period Just prior to the entry of the United States Into the war* !h® St on© Study and the Douglas -Sk&r Study, which were mad© within a year of each other, when compared with the Blacks ton© Study show a very clear picture of the development

10 of business education in the secondary schools of lowst*

As approximately fifteen year® had passed since the Blacks stone Study there was a, long enough period of time to establish any definite trends* Sfola study by Miss Stone was one of the most comprehensive studies made relating to the status of busi­ ness education In any state. 15 She Bister ISayy Hess Btnffiy Hila study dealt with the status of business edu­ cation In the Catholic secondary schools of Iowa.

Sister

Mary Hess surveyed 80 of the 110 Catholic secondary schools in the state of Iowa In 1941 to determine the followings (1) Curricula, (8) Course lengths, {3) Grade placements, (4) Enrollments, (5) Machines used for instruction, (6) Faculties, (7) Placement of graduates, (8) Recommendations for courses to be added or dropped* iSister Mary Hess concluded from her study; (1) Iher© appeared to b© a trend to offer more general background subjects*

(2) Hxere was a trend to offer business law, geo­

graphy, distributive education, business problems, and con­ sumer education*

(5) The lack of equipment and demand for

such courses make machine instruction undesirable or Imprac­ tical for the small school.

(4) ihere was a tendency to

replace vocational subjects with foundational or pr©-vocational

17 subject©*

(.3) A revision of the eurrleultxi in rural area©

was needed. While this study did not deal with the public high school© of Iowa, it dealt with certain ©mailer high schools that have problems similar to many public high schools,

®bere were Indications that some of these Catholic

secondary schools might be achieving present day educational objectives better then many ©mall public high schools. All of these related studies dealt with th© status of business education but each was of a different nature* However, enough similarities exist to show certain trends and developments in business education from 1926 to 1940* Procedure In order to gather the necessary information re­ garding the status of business education several methods ccmld be used.

One method of gathering this information

would be to visit each public high school in Iowa and per­ sonally interview ©very business teacher.

While th© results

would have been excellent, this method becomes impractical beeeuse of time and coat factors.

Another method would be

to select certain schools and personally visit each of them. This method would be less costly and require less time, but certain difficulties in obtaining an unbiased sample would eliminate this plan.

A third method would be to ©end a

18 direct m i l questionnaire to every teacher of business sub-

jeats Hated in the 1 m m Mue&tlon&l Directory.

riMs

method appeared to be the most practical and the most econ­ omical means of presenting the same questions to all the

business teachers * As the effectiveness of a questionnaire is limited If It Is too long or too involved, It was decided to keep the questionnaire a® short as possible and omit any questions concerning opinions.

With these factor© In mind a question­

naire m s cons true-ted which attempted to eliminate the dif­ ficulty of Interpreting subjective opinions of business teachers and still collect enough information to be practi­ cal*

A copy of the questionnaire and the letter of trans­

mittal are placed In the appendix* A trial ©ample of fifty questionnaires was sent to fifty business teacher® selected from the Iowe Educational 17 Directory* The names of those fifty business teachers were ©elected by picking every twenty-third business teacher listed in this directory.

This random selection of these

fifty names proved to be very satisfactory because the ques­ tionnaires reached schools in all the enrollment groups, as

is shown by the following distribution.

DISTRIBUTION OP PXSST QUESTXQNMinES ACCORDING TO SCHOOL ENROLLMENTS

„ . _ . _ EJnroXXment of school

Humber of schools receiving sample questionnaire

1000 and over

2

500 to 999

■5

250 to 49©

a

100 to 249

12

0 to 99

25

7otal

50

k study of the sample quo©t1onnaires returned revealed that certain minor revisions should be made.

Hie

remaining 1079 questionnaire® w r e then mailed to the teachers of business subjects listed in th© low© Educ©~ IB tional Directory# Return® of Questionnaires A final count Showed that 607 or 46 per cent of sll the questionnaire© toad been returned; of this total 481 were usable*

Twenty~®ix questionnaires were returned from

schools which Indicated that they had neither a business teacher nor offered business subjects.

Of these twenty-six

schools which reported no business programs, twenty were schools with enrollments of fifty or loss*

20 mBTBiBvnou m

mnohumm

OF IOWA HIGH SCHOOLS WXTO0OT BHSIMfflS PROGRAMS Enrollments

Humber of Schools

XX-2G 21-50 31-40 41-50 SI-GO 61-70 71-80

2 4 9 5 5 1 2

Total

26

Hi© smallest school reporting no business program had an enrollment of only twelve students; the largest schools - two In number - had enrollments of seventy-four. When the 507 returned questionnaires were grouped according to high school enrollments, this grouping showed that 52.4 per cent of the 845 Iowa high schools had been covered In the survey as can bo seen in Table Ho* 1*

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Footnotes tor Chapter I 1 a

Strong., Sari P., gig 'Organisation? Atolnistration, and,. Super vial on ^ o n T ^preyiace >' p« vli Tonne, Herbert A«» P r i m 1plea, of Business M u s a tlon ,

p. 23

.

s

IMd*

4

Stone, Myrtie M.,. TheStatus. of the Publicly SuppoF£e^

5

Education In low

Douglas, Lloyd V. and Skar, E, 0*, k Survey of Caamereial Education in the Public ■School!'"of"'Tom """ ”

6 BIchols, Frederick 0*, Commercial Education in the HiKh School, pp. 55-56 7

1

1

Status of Qcmeroiftl .Education,. in. the Public Secondary s c & o o S P o l ^ ^ of1fewa'S

a Phillips, K* Jay, Analysis ,of GdgBSe.rc.4fel Teaching positions in the-

9

^

S ta tu s of O o m e r o ia l E d u c a tio n in th e P u b lic , S econdary Schools, off. X o y , op* o l t .

10

Douglas, Lloyd V. and Sksr, E* 0., op* clt»

11

Ib id *

12

S ta tu s , o f ,O cw e g C .ia l E d u c a tio n i n S e c o n ^ r-F S c H e ^

15

S to n e , M y r tle M * , o j), c i t «

14

Ib id .

15

H ess, S is t e r M a ry , S ta tu s o f Business. E d u c a tio n in th e C a th o lic Secondery'ScKoole'^ irTToiS

16

Iowa EducatlOMl. D1

17

Ibid.

IB

Ibid.

the P u b lic

1947-48

23

chapter II

the m c i ® of B m m m B education xir xowa **&m suec#®.® of the education process depend®, in a large measure, upon the teacher,11^ are

If the high schools

to be successful, they must select teacherswho are .

well-prepared for the Job,

This selection of teachers,

then, becomes one of the most important problem® facing school administrators» A® business education I® an accepted part of the secondary school program, It must assume its share of the obligations of the whole school to the pupils and to the community.

The success of the business education program

rest® largely upon the business teacher,

fTTo paraphrase

a dictum of booksfs, the school that ha® good teachers need.® little else and the school that la without good 2 teachers will be little better for anything else.” Thei’©!

fore, th® business teacher should be as well prepared as possible for not only the actual teaching but also for the other related activities which are expected of teacher®. In recognition of fee need® of well-prepared teachers, the ©fete of Iowa through Its Board of Education 5 Examiners .ha© set up certain requirements for all person® teaching in th© public secondary school® of Iowa.

The

requirement® for the .standard secondary certificate are®

24 k * fh@ standard secondary certificate shall, be Issued to the holder of a diploma issued by an l o w college accredited by the Board of Educational Ixsmincr© certifying to the completion of s four-year course including such specific and professional training for teaching two or more secondary school subjects as the Board shell prescribe. B* Hie standard secondary certificate shall be w i l d for a five-year term for teaching in the seventh and eighth grades and in a high school* C • Additional requirements prescribed by the Board* 1 • Profossiom. 1 tra inlng a * In troduc tion to, M s tory of, ofiprinciples of education »*.'•••«»»»•**»«.. 3 sen* bra * b. Psychology and its appli­ es tlons to educe tion**♦****

6 asm • hrs *

o* Methods of secondaryschool teaching

3 asm . hrs.

d* Directed observation and supervised student teaching in the secondary field *♦«• • 3 sem* hrs • 2. Academic preparation a* 15 semes ter hours In one subject field, with at least ID semester hours in each of two additional fields * b. 2 semes ter-hour courses in prin­ ciples of American government. In addition to those requirements, the teacher of business subjects must also have taken a two-semester hour

Course in methods In business subjects and to be

25 qualified to teach wltl&a* typewriting or shorthand the teecher must also have taken at least flve~a ernester hours or 180 clock hours in either of these subjects.

To be

qualified to teach bookkeeping the business teacher must also have taken at least flve-eamester hours of college accounting. These minimum requirements were some times not enforced during the war and. many emergency certificates were issued.

The Board of Education Examiners no longer

issues these emergency certificates. in addition to these minimum requirements, seme high schools add other requirements such as successful teaching experience and occupational experience. In view of the importance of the teacher of business subject© in the public high schools of Iowa, Just how well prepared ere the business teachers?

This

chapter attempts to answer this question by showing data regarding the business teacher in low. Sex and. Age of fiepprting Teachers A total of 481 teacher© of business subjects returned usable questionnaires; 162 men and 519 women* This indicates that there are about two women business teachers to ©very man business teacher.

This ratio may

account for 'the fact that women business teachers

26 generally receive email©!* ©alarlea than do men. Of these €81 teachers,, only twenty-three chose not to reveal their ages - twenty-one women tad two men* Hie median age of all business teachers report-' Ing was thirty-on®*

Only in

the

111 was the median age higher*

schools In Group* I and In these two groups the

median ages were forty-six for business teachers in Group 1 schools and thirty-eight fox’* business teachers in Group IX schools.

As the sisse of the school becomes smaller

the business teacher tends to be younger. Xhere appears to be many older teachers teach­ ing in the Group V school who returned to teaching dto?ing tlx© war*

However* the median age for teachers In this

group la thirty-one. Xh© oldest teacher reporting was seventy years of age while the youngest teacher of business subjects was only nineteen years of age*

Xhe nineteen year old

teacher had had only two years of college and was still teaching on an emergency certificate. Mari ta1 B tatus. .of..Teachers Approximately on®-haIf of the teachers of business stabjacts were married but a large? per cent of the men teachers were married than were the wcmen teachers.

27

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