Department of Education Records, 1909-1979
| Oberlin College Archives
Administrative/Biographical History
In 1846, Education was recognized as a distinct field of study at Oberlin College when the Teacher's Department was added to the Collegiate, Theological, Female, and Preparatory departments of Oberlin Collegiate Institute (as Oberlin College was known until 1850). Prior to 1846, graduates of any department except the Preparatory qualified for teaching careers. The three-year Teacher's Course offered by the Teacher's Department embraced most of the studies pursued in the Collegiate Course but added courses related to teaching methods and management of schools. Although the Teacher's Department closed in 1864, a six-week Teachers' Institute, offering lectures on the theory and practice of teaching, was retained. In 1894, a two-year course in Physical Training for Women was begun which continued into the 1940s. Graduates of this program were primarily teachers.
In 1896-97, the first course in Pedagogy was taught in the Philosophy Department by Stone Professor of Philosophy Henry Churchill King (1858-1934). The following year, the Department of Philosophy and Pedagogy was created, with faculty members King and newly appointed Associate Professor Simon Fraser MacLennan (1897-1900) sharing teaching responsibilities. With the promotion of MacLennan in 1900 to Professor of Philosophy and King's selection in 1902 as President of Oberlin, the need arose for a full-time Professor of Pedagogy. Accordingly, in 1903, Edward Alanson Miller (1866-1958, A.B. 1889), Superintendent of Oberlin Public Schools, was appointed head of the newly formed Department of Pedagogy. He served until 1931, presiding over significant changes in the teacher education curriculum.
The first reference to instruction in Education occurs in the Catalogue of Oberlin College for 1907-08. The undergraduate major in the field was offered at Oberlin from 1911 until academic year 1961-62. Students pursuing the major frequently went on to do graduate work in Education or related fields. When the Department of Education purchased the Oberlin Kindergarten-Primary Training School in 1932, the Kindergarten-Primary major became available. This major was offered until academic year 1964-65, when it was replaced by the two-year Elementary Master's in Teaching program. The Child Development major was added in 1946 to prepare students to work with children in fields other than teaching. Child Development and Kindergarten pedagogy courses were taught by Professor J. Marie Rankin (1896-1991) from 1933 to 1962 and Associate Professor Mary S. Yocom (1894-1968) from 1923 to 1958.
Undergraduates who wished teaching careers complied with a state law enacted in 1913 authorizing certification of graduates of approved institutions who had met certain professional requirements. Oberlin was recognized as an "approved" institution in December 1914. Original practice-teaching requirements had been three semester hours, but these gradually increased. To accomodate the increased practice teaching load of undergraduates, the department initiated in 1929 a five-year program leading to the A.M. degree in education. The program was discontinued in 1936-37, as not more than a dozen students ever took this program and received a degree.
In June 1960, with a grant from the Ford Foundation, the Oberlin Master of Arts in Teaching Program began preparing liberal arts graduates for careers in secondary school teaching. The program, which extended over a summer session and one full academic year, emphasized advanced work in the student's major and related fields, courses in the field of education, and practice teaching in the form of a semester-long paid internship in a cooperating public school system. By 1970, owing to competition for students, the draft, and decreases in federal funding, it had become more difficult to attract applicants to the M.A.T. programs. In March 1971, the Educational Plans and Policies Committee voted to suspend both M.A.T. programs and requested immediate study of the teaching of education at Oberlin.
During the 1970s, the offerings of the Department of Education were designed to serve those interested in the liberal study of Education and those desiring secondary school teaching certification. Students desiring certification majored in the subject fields they planned to teach. Following the 1977 visit by the State Department of Education to Oberlin, new standards regulating student teaching were introduced. These included 300 hours of practice teaching. Rather than comply with standards, which would have required students to teach full-time for one semester, Professor of Education Ira S. Steinberg (b. 1933) recommended in April 1978 that the College Faculty Council discontinue the department and its certification program. The department became the short-lived "Program in Education," which was terminated in 1980. Education Department professors Frank Laycock (b. 1922), Booker Peek (b. 1940), and Ira S. Steinberg were transferred to the departments of Psychology, Black Studies, and Philosophy, respectively.
Author: Valerie S. Komor Subjects (links to similar collections) Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative Information
The records of the Department of Education, 1909(1958-78)-1979, mainly document the department's administrative activities during its final twenty years of operation, especially its training and evaluation of student teachers. Records dating from the period prior to 1958 include one foot of correspondence files (1909-14) of Edward A. Miller (1866-1958), Professor and Head of the Department of Pedagogy (1903-07) and the first to hold the title Professor of Education (1907-31). These files introduce the issues of teacher training and state certification requirements, providing a historical context for later materials. Other records predating 1958 include student teacher evaluations prepared for Kindergarten-Primary majors (1933-63). These documents cover the period from the Oberlin Kindergarten-Primary Training School's merger with the Department of Education (1932) to the discontinuation of the Kindergarten-Primary major (1965). They are written largely by Professor J. Marie Rankin and offer a glimpse of primary pedagogy in the classroom over a thirty-year period.
The records, which consist of correspondence, minutes, annual reports, budgetary ledgers, printed materials, educational testing kits, and tape recordings, are divided into three subgroups: I. Administrative Files of the Department of Education, 1909-14, 1959-79; II. Teacher Education Files, 1933-78; and III. Professional Organizations, 1959-77. Within subgroups, the papers are subdivided into series alphabetically arranged to reflect internal hierarchies; thereunder, papers are arranged alphabetically or chronologically.
Two-thirds of the collection consists of Subgroup II, Teacher-Education Files. Series 1 includes the administrative files (1958-78) of the Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) program. Filed here is the Teacher Education Committee's 1958 recommendation to establish a M.A.T. program at Oberlin, as well as correspondence with the Ford Foundation, whose 1960 grant of 190,000 dollars made possible the program's first six years of operation. Other files include annual reports, minutes, budgetary records, and curriculum information. A more comprehensive record of M.A.T. program administrative history is available in the papers of former Professor of Education, Ira S. Steinberg (RG 30/111).
The bulk of Subgroup II is comprised of two series: Series 2, Student Records (1954-55, 1961-75), which contains M.A.T. student dossiers (1961-75), and Series 3, Student-Teaching Records (1933-78). The files of Series 3 document the instruction, evaluation, supervision, and certification of both undergraduate and M.A.T. student teachers. Extensive correspondence with nearby school districts concerns student-teacher placement, school collaboration with the M.A.T. program in general, and Project 419, a special state-funded program to improve curriculum in the Lorain Public Schools. Two identical educational kits (1937) may have been used by student teachers majoring in Kindergarten-Primary pedagogy or by majors in Child Development. Files also include materials relating to the state's evaluation of Oberlin's program of teacher education. A fuller account of the process of state evaluation is provided by the papers of Professor Ira S. Steinberg (RG 30/111). These records include correspondence that illuminates the relationship between Oberlin and the State Department of Education during the 1970s.
Files documenting the administrative history of the Department of Education are housed in Subgroup I, Administrative Files of the Department of Education, 1909-14, 1959 -79. In addition to the early correspondence previously described, these files include significant administrative correspondence between faculty members relating to department business; with other departments and administrative offices; with students, regarding placement and academic progress; and with outside individuals and institutions. Key correspondents include Professors of Education and department chairmen Frank Laycock (1962-78) and Ira S. Steinberg (1961-78), and Assistant Professors Andreas Kazamias (1957-61), Charles Rathbone (1969-72) and Booker Peek (1971-78). Other administrative records are extremely sparse. Minutes of departmental meetings exist only for the years 1963-68 and 1969-73. One set of minutes only exists for years 1963-67. Additional minutes may be consulted in the papers of Ira S. Steinberg, but in general, minutes have not survived in quantity. Budgetary records are equally thin, with ledgers for the period 1962-68 showing department expenses, and a small group of miscellaneous papers relating to budget allocations in 1963 and 1973.
Subgroup III includes the files of national, state, and regional educational organizations with which the Department of Education staff was affiliated. Files document conference planning and meeting arrangements. The majority of the files relate to state organizations such as the Ohio Association of Private Colleges for Teacher Education.
SUBGROUP AND SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Subgroup I. Administrative Files of the Department of Education, 1909-14,
1959-79 (4.4 l.f.)
Records consist almost exclusively of administrative correspondence created and received by Department of Education staff in the course of conducting daily business. Records are divided into five series: 1. Early Correspondence, 2. General Correspondence, 3. Inter-Office Correspondence, 4. Minutes of Department Meetings, and 5. Budgetary Records.
Series 1. Early Correspondence, 1909-14 (0.8 l.f.)
Series 1 consists of professional correspondence from the files of Edward A. Miller (1866-1958), Professor of Pedagogy, 1903-07, Professor of Education, 1907-31, and Dean of Men, 1903-14. Key correspondents include Horace L. Brittain of the Ohio State School Survey Commission (1874-?) and Oberlin President Henry Churchill King (1858-1934). Correspondence is arranged chronologically and thereunder alphabetically; additional correspondence is filed alphabetically by subject. Topics treated include referrals for those seeking teaching positions; the beginning of practice teaching at Oberlin; disciplinary and other student matters; and the Kyrias Girls School of Kortcha, Albania (Miller was treasurer of the school's Board of Trustees).
Series 2. General Correspondence, 1958-79 (1.4 l.f.)
Consists of correspondence alphabetically arranged, dating from two time periods (1958-69 and 1970-79), that is combined into a single series. Files include both incoming correspondence and file copies of outgoing correspondence. Correspondents include Frank Laycock, Andreas M. Kazamias, and Ira S. Steinberg.Faculty correspondence is mainly devoted to student academic progress.
Series 3. Inter-Office Correspondence, 1959-79 (2 l.f.)
Correspondence is divided into the following subseries:1. Education Department Correspondence, 2. Correspondence with Academic Departments and Faculty Committees, and 3. Correspondence with Administrative Offices. Education Department Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by faculty member and includes several files on faculty recruitment. Correspondence with Academic Departments and Faculty Committees includes reviews of the department by the Educational Plans and Policies Committee. Correspondence with Administrative Offices is alphabetically arranged by office; it is preceded by correspondence with the offices of the President, Provost, and Deans of the College of Arts and Science.
Series 4. Minutes of Departmental Meetings, 1960-67, 1969-73 (0.1 l.f.)
Consists of minutes chronologically arranged. Files are incomplete.
Series 5. Budgetary Records, 1963-68, 1973, 1979 (0.1 l.f.)
Includes three ledgers showing departmental expenses and a file of 1963 and 1973-74 budgetary allowances. Records are alphabetically arranged by type of material.
Subgroup II. Teacher Education Files, 1933-78 (12.8 l.f.)
Records document the teacher-training programs administered by the Department of Education and are divided into five series:1. M.A.T. Program Administrative Files, 2. Student Records, 3. Student Teaching Records, 4. State Certification Files, and 5. State Evaluation Visits.
Series 1. M.A.T. Program Administrative Files, 1958-78 (2.4 l.f.)
Includes annual reports submitted by the Department Chairman to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; minutes of the M.A.T. Board of Advisors and Faculty Committee; budgetary records, course requirements, files on student recruitment, and textbook orders. Files are alphabetically arranged by type of material.
Series 2. Student Records, 1954-55, 1961-75 (4.8 l.f.)
Includes applications from those intending to major in Kindergarten-Primary education as well as files of students who were admitted to the M.A.T. program but withdrew prior to enrolling. The bulk of the series consists of dossiers of M.A.T. graduates and non-graduates arranged by year and thereunder alphabetically. These dossiers include undergraduate transcripts, applications for admissions, and correspondence with the department.
Series 3. Student-Teaching Records, 1933-78 (4.4 l.f.)
Records are divided into three subseries: 1. Evaluations of student teachers, 2. Kits for Educational Testing, and 3. Participant School Files. Kindergarten-Primary evaluations are written by Professors J. Marie Rankin (1896-) and Mary Yocom (1894-1968). Other evaluations are for undergraduate student teachers in secondary schools and M.A.T. intern teachers. Identical educational testing kits are boxed separately. Participant School Files, alphabetically arranged by school district, include correspondence relating to student-teacher placement and performance.
Series 4. State Certification Files, 1950-79 (0.6 l.f.)
Includes correspondence chronologically arranged between the State Department of Education and faculty members regarding teacher certification procedures. Correspondents include Paul W. Hailey, Director of Teacher Education and Certification for Ohio, Frank Laycock, and Ira S. Steinberg. Records include reports prepared by Ira Steinberg for the state's review. Files are alphabetically arranged by type of material.
Series 5. State Evaluation Visits, 1972-87 (0.6 l.f.)
Consists of records created by the Department of Education in preparation for, during, and in the aftermath of visits to the college by the State team evaluating teacher education at Oberlin. Includes two reel-to-reel recordings, separately housed, of the March 1977 evaluation visit and related documentation. Also filed here are two reports prepared by the Conservatory of Music's Department of Music Education in compliance with state requirements.
Subgroup III. Professional Organizations, 1956-77 (1.2 l.f.)
Records are divided into two series: 1. National Organizations, and 2. State and Regional Organizations. These files include printed materials and correspondence relating to various organizations with which Department of Education staff were affiliated.
Series 1. National Organizations, 1959-75 (0.4 l.f.)
Records are alphabetically arranged by organization and include files for such groups as the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and the National Education Association.
Series 2. State and Regional Organizations, 1956-77 (0.8 l.f.)
State and regional organization records are interfiled and alphabetically arranged. Numerous files exist for the Ohio Teacher Education Redesign Project and the regional body of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.