PATTERNS OF SELECTED INNOVATIONS IN DETROIT ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 1895-1945

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PATTERNS OP SELECTED INNOVATIONS IN DETROIT ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 1895 - 1945

A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Council of Wayne University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education in the Department of Education

BY DOROTHY M. PERRY

Detroit, Michigan

"Wayric University1 «v'"'r./f. MieS^'S Thesis

I

I

PREFACE The twentieth century has precipitated a testing of human values unequalled in recorded time.

Two major phenomena have in­

fluenced the critical course of contemporary destiny, namely the invention of total, mechanized warfare and the contraction of space due to improved methods of transportation and communication. The manifest inability of mankind to resolve its problems rapidly enough to predict, in the present, a happy future has given impetus to critical analysis of social practices in some areas of the globe. The most severe test has fallen to those nations who sup­ port the democratic ideal. The production of good citizens, indoctrinated with demo­ cratic values has become the cultural end of the democratic gov­ ernments. The public schools of the United States are the basic educative institutions wherein good citizens may be developed. This strategic assignment has focalized upon them the most criti­ cal of evaluations. An oft-reiterated criticism of the educational system deals with the assumption that institutionalized education re­ sponds phlegmatically to imperative social needs. This paper is an attempt to test this hypothesis by tra­ cing a minuscule sample, fifteen innovations introduced into the

ii

Detroit Elementary Schools In the half-century between 1895 and. 1945.

The inventions were studied in terms of chronology, agents

provocateurs, pressures, aids and obstacles by way of inducing adequate conclusions and reasonable interpretations. The ultimate purpose Includes the delineation of hypothe­ ses that 3.nay lead to the discovery and implementation of Improved and accelerated evaluative practices. With sincere appreciation for time and conscientious as­ sistance far beyond expectancy, the writer wishes to thank her committee: Dr, Ray Srnittle, Dr. Harold Soderquist, Dr. William Reits, Dr. Kathryn Peyereizen and Dr. Raymond Miller. For Invaluable contributions to the paper13 completion with deepest gratitude the author wishes to thank Dr. Stuart A. Courtis, Miss Helen Mers, Miss Charlotte Sallee, Mr. Glenn Longworth, Miss Celia Kimszal, Mis3 Lydia MIthoff, Miss Rhoda Mont­ gomery, Mr. Rudolph Wille, Mr. Edward Haywood, Mr. Hyman Pavsner, Miss Denise Lundquest, Mrs. Virginia Ingles, Mr. Samuel Coburn, Dr. Miles Romney, Mrs. Alma Ooburn and Mrs. Louise Millard. For permissive assistance, acknowledgement, with apprecia­ tion is due to Mr. Arthur Dondlneau, Dr. Herman Browe, Miss Flo­ rence Kuhn and Miss Claudia 7/ilson. For material aid in the area of data, records and factual corroboration the writer wishes to express deepest appreciation to Mr. D. Silagyi, Mr. E. Kupsoff, Dr. J. Voorhees, Miss Jennie Clowe, Mr. T. Montgomery, Miss Katherine Malarney, Dr. W. Bergman, Mrs. Donald Schram, Miss Laurentlne Collins, Miss Anna M. Engel, Miss Sarah Kerr, Miss Mabel Cliff, Mr. L. A. Wiles, Mr. John S.

iii

Thomas, Miss Grace Graveline, Miss Irma Unruh, Miss Elsa Sheridan, Miss Aimee Rosenthal, Miss Agnes Swan, Mr. Wm. Chamberlain, Mrs. M. Susiok, Mr. M. Irwin, Mr. G. Graham and others whose gracious assistance have made this dissertation possible. D.M.P.

iv

TABLE OP CONTENTS Pag© PREFACE

ii

LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES

vii ix

Chapter I.

THE PROBLEM

1

Introduction Definitions Previous Research Purposes of This Study II.

PROCEDURES

16

Initial Data Bases for Selection III. IV. V. VI. VII.

THE PUBLIC RELATIONS PATTERN

37

THE TEACHER SELECTION PROGRAM IN DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS

50

ESTABLISHMENT OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH IN DETROIT

68

GROWTH OF PARENTS CLUBS

78

THE GROWTH PATTERN OF SPECIALIZED SERVICES FOR CHILDREN

91

VIII. ..THE VISITING TEACHER SERVICE IN DETROIT . . . IX. X. XI. XII.

101

THE LUNCH SERVICE PROGRAM IN DETROIT

115

THE NURSERY SCHOOL MOVEMENT

124

THE DETROIT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PERIOD

137

MANUSCRIPT WRITING IN THE DETROIT SCHOOLS . .

148

Page XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX.

TKE TEACEING OP CONSERVATION IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS OF DETROIT

155

THE SUMMER SCHOOL PATTERN IN DETROIT ....

169

THE RISE OP A CITIZENSHIP PROGRAM IN DETROIT

180

DETROIT'S PLATOON SYSTEM CYCLE

195

PROGRAM OF SAFETY EDUCATION IN DETROIT ...

213

SYNTHESIS AND COMPARISONS

222

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

252

BIBLIOGRAPHY

261

APPENDICES

280

vi

LIST OF TABLES Table 1.

Innovations Which Affect Personnel. .......

23

2.

Innovations Which Affect the Pupil in His Communal Role

24

Innovations in Specialized Devices, Agencies and Services

25

4.

Practices Directly Affecting the Curriculum ...

27

5.

Thirty Selected Innovations

32

6.

Growth of Special Services in Chronological Order . .

96

3. :

Page

i

I \ ii.

|

7.

Volume of Visiting Teacher Cases

'Ill

8.

Distribution of Cases by School Division and Sex.

Ill

|

9.

Chronological Progress of School Lunch Service. .

122

|

10,

Diffusion of Conference Innovation in Detroit in 1949

144

Number of Detroit Schools Using Manuscript 4 Writing

151

12.

Record of Summer School Growth

173

13.

Increase in Platoon Schools 1918-1923

203

14.

Type, Budgetary Importance and Agent Provocateur of Fifteen Selected Innovations

226

Progress of Innovations Related to Budget Considerations

228

Innovations Listed According to Type by Periods of Diffusion

231

Innovations Listed in Period of Implementation, Greatest Diffusion and Budgetary Dependence . . .

233

t

| i

H

11.

15. 16. 17.

vii

Table 18.

19. 20. 21. 22.

Page Span of Years Covered by Innovations in Levels 1 and 2 with Beginning Dates in United States and Detroit

235

Number of Years in Diffusion of Fifteen Innovations

236

Time Division of Fifteen Innovations from First Diffusion to 1945

237

Total Life Span of Fifteen Innovations by Phases

238

Diffusion Status of Fifteen Innovations. . . .

243

viii

LIST OP FIGURES Figure 1. 2.

Page Composite Diffusion Chart Based on Nine Adaptations

4

Progress of Innovations in the Field of Public Relations

44

Results of Detroit Survey in Seventeen Public Schools Using Public Relation Techniques ....

46

4.

Increase in Teaching Requirements

65

5.

Progress of Educational Research

75

6.

Increase of Parent Organizations in the United States .

81

7.

Increase of Parent Organizations in Miohigan . .

87

8.

Increase of Parent Organizations in Detroit. . .

88

9.

Special Services for Children - Detroit Public Schools

98

3.

10.

National and State Developments In Visiting Teacher Programs

113

Progressive Development of Nursery School Movement .

134

12.

Rise of the Conference Period in Detroit ....

145

13.

Rise and Diffusion of Manuscript Writing ....

153

14.

Innovations in The Field of Conservation ....

166

15.

The Summer School Pattern in Detroit ......

176

16.

Steps in Citizenship Education

191

17.

The Development of the Platoon System in Detroit

209

18.

Total Years of Fifteen Innovations

242

19.

The Development of Fifteen Innovations by. Decades

245

11.

ix

CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM Introduction The process of recognition, adaptation and diffusion of new practices within the public schools, has long been a matter of grave ooncern to educational philosophers and to interested laymen as well. Two major wars, the invention of mechanized implements of death, lethal discoveries in the field of science, social corrup­ tion of various sorts, mass unemployment and an agitated interna­ tional situation are among those things which have given the citizen of United States in the last half century cause to meditate and in many instances to "wish the state of the world were now undone."

The necessity for analysing basic sooial institutions

in terms of their usefulness in solving these critical human prob­ lems has brought the public school directly before the national searchlight as the cultural institution most responsible for the success or failure of the democratic ideal. Among the questions educators have been asking themselves are: (1) to what ends are we educating? (2) are these purposes the oritical ones in terms of human welfare? (3) are we directing ourselves as efficiently as possible toward these goals? (4) are we selecting the best methods of attaining our purposes? (5) by

- 2 what processes oan we correct costly mistakes already made? (6) how can we evaluate our new hypotheses while in transition? Among the queries of the publio, the most oft—repeated is, how and how soon are the public schools going to face the great social problems of our time and resolve them by produoing oitizens who have imagination, discrimination, and the capabil­ ities necessary to arrive at good solutions?

Here the cliche,

"institutional lag" is universally employed and critics would learn why it is accepted so calmly in institutionalized education since business, industry,and medicine consider its erasure basic to the race for survival. It is the purpose of this paper to explore within the Detroit Elementary School System, the first phase of the problem of measuring the desirability of innovations, accelerating their diffusion and estimating their value and usefulness with increas­ ing efficiency.

The study is based upon the assumption that rapid

and sensitive adaptability in the social framework will tend to reduce lag,and that such acceleration is desirable. The basic problem is exploratory in nature, i.e. (1) lo­ cating and selecting important typioal examples of innovations in the process of becoming crystallized, recognized, accepted, intro­ duced, diffused and possibly modified or deleted; (2) depicting the importance of agents provocateurs, pressures, personalities, war, money and ideas upon this development in order to provide a working hypothesis for improvising better methods of evaluation and diffusion of educational inventions.

Definitions

Paul Mort conceives "adaptability" as the capacity of a school system to evaluate and accept innovations, meanwhile dele­ ting practices outmoded by the change in social or professional need.-'Foroes, people, trends, agencies (governmental or local bodies) provoking the acceptance of innovations will be termed agents provocateurs. An innovation or invention is a new and presumably supe­ rior practice introduced into some cycle of the local school system whether it is a matter of acceptance or deletion. Diffusion for the purposes of this paper implies the spread of a practice from a focal point to peripheral areas. Pattern is the progressive movement described by an inno­ vation in the process of infiltration through a system. Previous Research To Drs. Paul Mort and P. 0. Cornell of Columbia University must go the credit for a pilot study in the field of the measure­ ment of adaptability of school systems, by means of tracing flexi­ bility in accepting new ideas. In 1937, Drs. Mort and Cornell2 studied 344 school dis­ tricts in Pennsylvania in an effort to measure adaptability.

The

Instrument used was a research questionnaire, entitled The Growing , and was personally administered by field workers.

Nine

. Paul Mort and P. 0. Cornell, American Schools in Tran— sition. (New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1946 ). 2 Ibid.

adaptations analysed minutely and charted as to time and percent of diffusion yielded in part the following conclusions: 1. The first step in an innovation {3% diffusion) requires five times as much time as any other step. 2. It requires fifteen years for an idea to crystallize into an innovation diffused). 3. The indoctrination period (25% diffusion) takes approx­ imately ten years more. 4. Fifty percent diffusion requires thirty years in toto. 5. Ninety percent diffusion will require another fifteen years• 6. Conclusions are based on the following chart. COMPOSITE DIFFUSION CHART BASED ON NINE ADAPTATIONS1

90

0

80

*

t

70 /

/

>ii i t

time, scall

many false starts.

First authentic introduction

ZOX Period not covered by our study— esttmated from Farnsworth j charts.

FIGURE 1 Paul Mort and F. 0. Cornell, Amerioan Schools in Tran­ sition, p. 28. (New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers Col­ lege, Columbia University, 1946 ).

- 5 Dr. Mort concludes that more than half a oentury usually elapses between the conception of an idea and its 90 per cent dif­ fusion in any given area and that a century is a good guess for a complete cycle.

He feels this is exemplary of great lack of

adaptability, great institutional lag. Dr. Mort measured the 344 communities with two instruments; one "A Guide for Self Appraisal11, for school systems to test adapt­ ability and the other "The Growing Edge" - a device to detect the presence of a new practice. He has implied that use of the Time Chart should lead to an estimate of the adaptability of a school system in comparison with the large sampling. Dr. Mort's conclusions need to be analysed with consider­ ation for the following facts: All innovations do not fall into one category and, hence, cannot be readily compared, i.e. the Reorganization of the High School is hardly similar to Homemaking Classes for Boys since one may be qualitative and the other quantitative. If innovations are hand-picked, any conclusion becomes valueless if applied to school systems generally. Great variance must occur in two localities with reasons and stress beyond those called "steps in diffusion." Such generalizations as "the beginning step takes three times as long as any other step" in considering nine innovations make the figure -five, used in the Time Chart, rather unauthentic. The study is thorough, stimulating and thought-provoking, however.

- 5 Dr. Mort recognized certain inconsistencies in the Time Chart Study, and while that is the fooal point, in his writing, of any judgment as to a system's adaptability, he supervised a series of other studies concerned with conoomitant factors. Dr. T. M. Pierce of Columbia-*- weighted three factors un­ der the caption "Community Good Will Toward Education" and three others entitled

rt Conditioners

of the Expression of Good Will and

Understanding of Education" with numerous sub-olasslfioations. He conoluded that some factors were highly productive of adaptability, i.e. 1. Community Good Will. 2. Eduoational Level of the Community, 3. Classification of Business and Professional Workers, 4. Community Density, 5. Tax Leeway, Other factors, he concludes, are? 1. Community Prosperity. 2. Population* 3. School Enrollment. 4. Wealth. 5. Postal Receipts. Dr. F. S. Cillie engaged In a study^ which attempts a comparison of state operated and locally operated school systems X T.

M. Pierce, Controllable Community Characteristics Relating to the Quality of EduoatlonT (New York: Columbia Univer­ sity, 1956 %. S. Cillie, Centralization or Decentralization: A Study in Educational Adaptation. ("New York: Bureau of Publications, Columbia University, 1947 ),

- 7 in regard to their respective capacities for adaptability, in order to throw the light of evidence on the nature of activities which should be centralized and those which should be decentral­ ized. M. Cillie lists hypotheses which infer that the following characteristics flourish in a centralized community: 1. Good Teaching Personnel Standards. 2. Sohool and Community Agencies. 3. Efficiency of Operation. These do best under decentralization: 1. Flexibility, 2. Individualization. 3. Curriculum Change. 4. Building and Equipment Improvement. Dr. M. Farnsworth's study-1- of five innovations in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts uses Dr. Mort's "Guide" and "Growing Edge" to trace the inventions and describe their infiltration into a cluster of communities.

His stress is on educational flexibil­

ity where mandatory change is the agent provocateur.

His findings

as to methods for diffusion lead to the community group plan. Mr. G. W. Eby pursued a study^ in St. Louis which used similar methods to measure adaptability in elementary schools. •*-M. Farnsworth, Adaptation Processes in the Public Sohool Systems: A Study of Five Selected Innovations in Educational Ser­ vice in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. (New York: Columbia University, 1947.). ^G. W. Eby, Adaptability Among the Elementary Schools of an American City. (New York: Teachers College Publication, Colum­ bia University, 1945 )»

For purposes of comparison with the writer's conclusions, his are listed here: 1. Where principals have great freedom, adaptability flourishes. 2. Where school systems are metropolitan, adaptability flourishes. 3. Where central administration favors adaptability, it flourishes. 4. Where central administration is conscious of time lag, it tends to shorten. 5. A combination of dominant and contributing factors determine adaptability. 6. Supervisory officers with traditional mind set, tend to inhibit adaptability. 7. If one level (elementary) of a system is adaptable, so are the others. 8. Systems which utilize creative resources show high level adaptability. 9. Innovations costing money more likely occur where par­ ents are financially able. 10. Shared experience and communication of ideas must be facilitated where there is adaptability. Dr. Bateman1 exploits an investigation of the process of change that operates in the adoption of a specific innovation in educational practice as exemplified by the county-unit system of school districts in the state of Utah.

He points out the way in

which this adaptation differs from the pattern of development used by Cubberly and Mort, namely: 1. The idea does not appear to have originated from local sources. 2. Its diffusion was not assisted by the granting of financial aid by the state. **"N. A. Bateman, Development of the County Unit School District. (Hew York: Columbia University Press, 1946 K

- 9 The purpose of a study by Dr. W. D. Knott1 was to test this hypothesis "Able Communities giving more than average sup- . port to the public schools provide a rich ground for invention and introduction of adaptations.

Communities should therefore be »»

given freedom to exceed the minimum state program. Dr. Knott used the years 1925-26, 1934-35 and used a oheck-list type of questionnaire circulated to seleoted school districts, tracing change in expenditure in the two periods.

He

applied the "Guide for Self-Appraisal of School Systems." In general, his study shows that educational adaptations and educational adaptability are dependent upon tax leeway. Dr. Newell's hypothesis^ was that a relationship exists between educational adaptability and class size.

He studied three

phases: invention, early introduction and diffusion. Grades 1-3 were studied in each of three schools in each of four systems.

Classes of less than twenty-five pupils were

compared with those of over twenty-five. Using the guide and tabulating his findings, he ooncluded, namely, that: 1. A high correlation shows between class size and early introduction of innovations. 2. The correlation is high between size and early diffu­ sion. 3. Small classes accelerate diffusion. 4. All classes must not be of similar size. %. D. Knott, The Influence of Tax Leeway on Educational Adaptability. One of a series' of studies carried on under the sponsorship of Professor Mort. 2 Clarence

A. Newell, Class Size and Adaptability. (New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia, 1943 ).

- io -

U n d e r t h e d i r e c t i o n of 1 P a u l M o r t o f T e a c h e r s C o l u m b ia University, the Study Council'3" organised sl! siittee o f t w o h u n d r e d f i f t y m e m b e r s a n d l a y m e n a n d a identify and describe what they considered to practices in twelve areas

be out.

of living in the schools.

The school systems belonging

to the council

1

to report in what area3 they considered their practi or better than anything reported in a brochure entit E d u c a t i o n Out ' M o n e y B u y s . "

The members of

these schools and described the practices.

the commi

The resu'

sands of cards, each with a practice described.

The:

sorted into twelve areas termed "Windows'1 - i.e., 1. Teaching Basic Skills. 2. Basic Fields of Knowledge, 3. Exploring Pupils Abilities. 4. Developing Character. 5. Health and Safety. S. Home Competence . 7. The World of Work. 8. Civic Competence. 9. Regard for the Individual. 10. The School and the Community. 11. The Staff. 12. Teaching Pupils to Think. Under each of these headings there are from t

s u b-areas with full definition and explanation, givir. ^ M e t r o p o l i t a n S c h o o l S t u d y C o u n c i l , What Scho (New York: 1947 ), • *

- 10 -

Under the direction of Paul Mort of Teachers College, Columbia University, the Study Council 1 organized a working com­ mittee of two hundred fifty members and laymen and attempted to identify and describe what they considered to be outstanding praotices in twelve areas of living in the schools. The school systems belonging to the council were asked to report in what areas they considered their practices as good or better than anything reported in a brochure entitled, "What Education Our Money Buys,"

The members of the committees visited

these schools and described the practices.

The result was thou­

sands of cards, each with a practice desoribed.

These cards were

sorted into twelve areas termed "Windows" - i.e., 1. Teaching Basic Skills. 2. Basic Fields of Knowledge. 3. Exploring Pupils Abilities. 4. Developing Character. 5. Health and Safety, 6. Home Competence . 7. The World of Work. 8. Civic Competence. 9. Regard for the Individual. 10. The School and the Community. 11. The Staff. 12. Teaching Pupils to Think. Under each of these headings there are from five to twelve sub-areas with full definition and explanation, giving a full ^Metropolitan School Study Council, What Schools Can Do. (New York: 1947 ). ~~

- 11 analysis to each approach. In the succeeding pages philosophical introductions ade­ quately orient the reader into hypothesis, analysis, basis, ex­ planation, and goals of examples depicting the technique for acquiring the articulated purposes in one hundred one patterns of teaching life. The introductions to the patterns are sufficiently stimu­ lating even if a teacher never chose to examine the actual prac­ tices in order to ohange her modus operandi. The purpose of a study by Mr. Ralph Gallagher-1- was to find what relationships, if any, existed between group life of the community and the quality of their schools.

The results he

concludes are: better schools, found in the communities where the schools had extensive contacts with the groups that existed in and around the community.

Symbiotic groups have potent relation­

ships to adaptability in schools.

His data were from files of

Metropolitan School Study Council of New York, and his tools were: 1.°The Growing Edge"(Mort)« 2. Questionnaire (Human equation error). 3. Time Sheets. It occurs to the writer that Mr. Gallagher might be a little optimistic in assuming that "The Growing Edge'1 in measuring the adaptability of a system is quite reliable as to the value of "deleted" practices.

-Ralph P. Gallagher, Some Relationships of Symbiotic Groups to Adaptability in Public Schools and to Other Related Factors. (Unpublished doctorate dissertation, Teachers College, Columbia "University, 1947 )„

- 12 In selecting fourteen staff factors and nine pupil faotors for measuring relationships to the twenty symbiotic groups used in their importance to eduoational adaptability, Mr• Gallag­ her was somewhat unjustified unless he used Pierce's study as his source.

The study is carefully done and amply annotated.

Its im­

plications in effecting the changes in curriculum that might be desirable are noteworthy. Mr. Hedlund* a purpose in writing his dissertation-** meas­ uring public opinion, in school issues was prompted by his belief that (1) scientific

polling has and can speed up the process of

democratic action; (2) that the public can and must be reached by the schools? (3) that public education will rise no higher than the interest and will of the people; (4) that scientific polling methods can be utilized in such a way as to bring the cost down where the technique

can be employed by any administrator in any

community for changing any aspect of the educational scene. His techniques included (1) questions of yes-no type, multiple choioe, and. free questions; (2) drawn up by teachers and principals in conferences; (3) submitted to five discriminating laymen, and (4) subjeoted to a field test before the ultimate selection of 164 students who were shown how to get the question­ naires answered and returned. Mr. Hedlund sets up standards of evaluation on types of polling and types of questionnaires which should facilitate the ^•Paul A. HecHund, Measuring Publlo Opinion on School Issues. (Unpublished doctorate dissertation, (Teachers College, Columbia University, 1947 ),

- 13 practice for those leaders who feel the "urgency to hasten adapta­ bility in their school systems. Sinoe the public is a major factor in producing curriculum change, any technique which will accelerate this is worthy of con­ sideration. Mr. Hedlund's conclusions as to the reliability of this form of sampling might be modified however by population mobility, the accuracy of the interviewer and the co-operative principle working with the interviewee, considerations of which he was un­ doubtedly aware. Dr. Voorhees purpose in writing his dissertation was to trace the development of the position of principal, locally, from 1894 to 1941?• Since it is common belief that few curriculum changes have been effected except through the administrative of­ fice, and that unless those leaders are reached first, the teach­ ers to date have little opportunity to attend to new trends, exoept in a minor way, the

perusal of Dr. Voorhees work is of

great interest. The author uses as source material Arthur Moehlman'3 Public Education in Detroit, Sister Mary Rosalita's Education in Detroit Prior to 1850, early newspapers, the Annual Reports of the Superintendents of Public Instruction, Proceedings of the Board of Education, of the Common Council,along with the Detroit Board of Education's Annual Report.

''"J. H. Voorhees, The Origin and Development of the Elementary School Principalshlp in Detroit. (Unpublished doctorate dissertation, University of Michigan, 1941.)4

- 14 Since the thesis is well foot-noted and runs fairly par­ allel with other histories of education, obviously the author accomplished his purpose and the study is a scholarly one.

In the past, the agents provocateurs of innovations- seem synonymous with the board, the supervisor, the superintendent, the principal. Purposes of This Study There are many misconceptions regarding the processes in­ volved in changing practices in a major public institution.

Pro­

fessional workers find their ideas are "persona non grata" to many administrators.

Administrative personnel find cold reception

on the part of teachers and the public to advanced ideas. dures for diffusion are nebulous or non-existent.

Proce­

A critioal

citizenry feels a resistance to change, for purposes of meeting needs, on the part of the schools.

Multitudinous as new practices

are, many laymen fail to recognize them as such until they are traditional, so phlegmatio and unobserved is the process. What, then, are the circumstances in the City of Detroit at the Elementary Level in regard to sampling of important in­ novations which are in some state of acceptance? To determine the status quo of fifteen selected innova­ tions introduced into Detroit Elementary Schools in the half oentury between 1895 and 1945 will be the first purpose of this dissertation.

Included in the survey will be dates of conception,

recognition, introduction, and expanded diffusion for purposes of study.

It i3 of crucial importance to learn what agencies or

persons precipitated diffusion or hindered it.

Preconceived

- 15 notions can then be subjected to test in order to provide an hypothesis for determining means to hasten adaptability or delete useless practices.

This should aid materially in bringing about

a desired social and educative goals that of aligning our educa­ tive agencies with contemporary human needs• A second purpose of this paper is to test the propensity of innovations for falling into patterns of progression,chrono­ logically.

Do such patterns become modified in terms of type,

agent provocateur, budgetary considerations, or general charac­ teristics of a historical period?

If so, in what degree?

A third purpose is to discover what, if any, aid or ob­ stacles to efficient acceptance and diffusion exist.

What major

social forces modify the invention? Fourth, using such innovations as comply with measurement is the Detroit Elementary System more or less adaptable on the Mort Time Scale, than the communities he surveyed? Finally, the writer hopes to discover whether there is evidence that these innovations oould be more rapidly and success fully introduced and diffused and to provide an hypothesis as to the me thod •

CHAPTER II PROCEDURES Initial Data The data used are drawn largely from visits to Detroit Elementary Schools, conversations with Detroit School personnel, files of the Board of Education, surveys and questionnaires, re­ search records, school histories, Board of Education Reports, principals' notes and Detroit Board of Education Proceedings. Prom the above sources, a list of 176 innovations was compiled, and divided into nine classifications, I.e. 1. Administrative innovations, - those apparently con­ ceived by the Board of Education, or a member of its administrative staff. 2. Innovations in buildings and grounds - those precipi­ tated by physical or community needs. 3. Clerical innovations, instituted in the name of effi­ ciency. 4. Innovations in the curriculum, derived from research, suggestions of the supervisory staff or from local teacher training institutions. 5. Innovations pointing toward individualization in mass teaching. 6. Innovations in method, arising out of the diffusion or discovery of new ways, new means, of translating cul­ ture to the student body. 7. Organizational innovations arising from the changing conditions in society and its numerical personnel. 8. Innovations in supervisory functions due to its chang­ ing philosophy.

- 17 9. Innovations produced by the increased number of allied social agencies, satellite in the sohool orbit. First sampling of innovations adapted in Detroit Public Schools between 1863 and 1948 was: 1. Administrative: Certification of Principals. Handbooks i In Service Training. Professional Organizations. Teachers MeetingsEqualization of Class Loads. Assistant Principals. Superintendency* Free Principals. Sohool Districting. Women Principals'. Equal Pay for Equal Service. Guidance and Counselling Duties. Teachers Trained to Counsel Parents. Public Relations Program. Speakers Bureau. Fire Drills. Finger Printing Children . Screening for New Teachers. Physical Examinations for Teachers. Use of Case Studies. Open Houses. Charity Collection Methods. Teacher Committees. Certification of Teachers. Disposal of Sohool Fund. Organization of Parent Groups* Elimination of Corporal Punishment• 2. Building and Grounds: Change in Building Blue Prints. Office Space for Principals. Cloaks in Classrooms. Playgrounds as Recreational Area . Custodial Care* Colored Decoration . Bulletin Board Installation. Moveable Seats. Community Use of Schools . 3. Clerical Innovations: Purchase of Supplies. Neostyles.

- 18 Secretaries. Keeping Records. Informative Form 29. Forms 35 and 36. Elimination of Form 3. Curriculum: Lower Age for School Entrance. School Papers. Teacher Specialists. Differentiated Curricula. Elimination of Religion from the Schools, Introduction of History. Introduction of Physical Culture. Introduction of Drawing, Introduction of Music. Introduction of Interoultural Education. Introduction of Social Studies. Introduction of Platoon System. Cooking Classes for Boys. Safety Patrols. Utilization of Literature from Outside Agencies. Home and Family Education. Safety Education. Preventative Health Classes. Conservation Education. All-School Projects. Pan-Americanism. Interoultural Accent. Variety of Printed Materials. Public Planning on Curriculum. General Language* Specialized LiteratureInterest-Centered Curriculum. Health Inspection. Industrial Arts. Flexible Kindergarten Program. U3e of Radio. Elementary Science. Individualization: Post-report card ConferencesChange in Report Cards. Case Studies. Major Work Groups. Recognition of Individual Differences. Intelligence Tests. Binet Tests. Junior Red Crosst Use of Friendship Charts• Socio-Drama. Instrumental Music Classes'

- 19 Clubs. Creative Art Classes. Home Calls. Remedial Reading Program. Visiting Teacher Service. Student Councils. Teaching Methods: Project Method. Unit Method. Mental Arithmetic. Use of Sentence Method in Reading. Visual Aids. Plash Cards. Group Method Instruction. Rhythm Band. Choral Recitation. Informal Speech Articulation. Home-Work. Charts. Inventory Tests. Utility Techniques in Reading. Games for Drill • Objective Materials. Use of Periodicals. Reading Analysed. Experience Reading» Speed Testing. Manuscript Writing. Trips. Picture Story Reading. Organizational Procedures: Use of Schools by Federal Government. Utilization of Parent Aid. Change of Entrance and Exit Time . Half Day Sessions . Blanks for Physical Defects. Homogeneous Groupings. Graded Schools. Elimination of Formal Exams. Small Class Loads. Intermediate Schools. Evening Schools. Bulletins from School to Home. Clean-Up Squads• Stamp and Bond Sales » Lavatory Training. Home Contact on Health . "Community 1 * SchoolTester-Teacher Conferences . Parental Conferences.

- 20 Child. Participation in School Management. Reading Readiness Program. Non-retardation Policy. Kindergarten Round-Up. Elimination of Bells for Passing. Elastio Planning Schedules. Informal Passing in Halls. Platoon System. 8» Supervisory Procedure: Normal Training Schools. Teacher Institutes. Demonstration Techniques. Principals as Supervisors. Development of Technique for Supervision. Professional Supervision. Change in Conception of Supervision. Change in Arithmetic Course Content, 9. Use of Agencies for Service Counselling: Free Concerts. Library Services. School for Blind. School for Deaf. School for Epileptics. Open Window Rooms. Ungraded Schools. Truancy Aids. Attendance Department. Bus Transportation. Nursery Sohool. Vocational Guidance. Camp Schools. Play Schools. Home Teaching. Schools for Cripples. Traveling Libraries. Audiometer Testing. Adult Education. Dental Clinic Services. Speeoh Teaching. Nurse's Service. Screening. Psychological Clinic. Lunch Service. To the initial list were added other practices making a comparatively complete survey of 251 major innovations in the Detroit Public Schools since 1895.

20 Child Participation in School Management. Reading Readiness Program. Non-retardation Polioy. Kindergarten Round-Up. Elimination of Bells for Passing. Elastio Planning Schedules. Informal Passing in Halls. Platoon System.

8 . Supervisory Procedure: Normal Training Schools. Teacher Institutes. Demonstration Techniques. Principals as Supervisors. Development of Technique for Supervision. Professional Supervision. Change in Conception of Supervision. Change in Arithmetic Course Content. 9. Use of Agencies for Service Counselling: Free Concerts. Library Services. School for Blind. School for Deaf. School for Epileptics. Open Window Rooms. Ungraded Schools. Truancy Aids. Attendance Department. Bus Transportation, Nursery School. Vocational Guidance. Camp Schools. Play Schools. Home Teaching. Schools for Cripples. Traveling Libraries, Audiometer Testing. Adult Education. Dental Clinio Services. Speech Teaching. Nurse's Service. Screening. Psychological Clinic. Lunch Service. To the initial list were added other practices making a comparatively complete survey of 251 major innovations in the Detroit Public Schools since 1895.

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For purposes of sampling and in consideration of the innovations which have affected the Detroit Public Sohool Elemen­ tary Education in the half century between 1895 and 1945 - it was deemed advisable t