Grade School

Jennifer N. Sumner

History 324 History of American Education

Instructor Timothy Kilgore

April 2, 2012

Grade schools were implemented so that the student would be able to learn at a specific grade level. John D. Philbrick was the founder of grade schools. "In 1847 Philbrick implemented his 'graded system' of instruction, consisting of two innovations. First, textbooks and other materials were broken down into smaller chunks so that an ordered, sequential 'course of studies' was created for the students to follow. Second, Philbrick organized his teachers according to a division of labor. Rather than having each teacher hear the recitations of every level of student, individual teachers would specialize in only one level. Philbrick called this arrangement his graded...