‘The old school was primarily designed to impress the adult and the new school was primarily designed to impress and provide comfort to the pupil’,
– William Wayne Caudill. In a simple phrase, the architect depicted the ideas of educational reforms of the 20th century. Read more on losangeles1.one.
The functional school became the real push for reforms. If the function of a school was to educate children and if educational methods and curricula improved and developed, the design of schools had to evolve as well. Building plans, campuses and interiors were increasingly designed to be more child-oriented. In addition, discover more about the conservatory in Los Angeles.
Why did educational reforms take place?
The evolution of Los Angeles public school organization has accompanied industrial, demographic and bureaucratic changes in the city. It started in 1880, and in the following fifty years, the educational system in Los Angeles changed many times. This process was influenced by population growth. In 1880, Los Angeles had 11,000 residents. By 1930, the population was 1,250,000.
Social and economic changes affected education. There were 19 times more children of school age in 1930 than in 1900. Such a massive increase forced the city to develop reforms to cope with the situation. Los Angeles city schools faced enormous challenges in their socialization function. Financial, physical, administrative and educational issues could not be solved by the old methods. Therefore, the process of school reorganization and reorientation became inevitable.
The curriculum in the schools was based on those students who could not read in English. At the same time, the Department of Vocational Education began to administer a regular program.
In 1917 and 1918, the department of psychology was founded. It exerted the greatest influence on curriculum and administrative reform, which also affected the Mexican community. The educational system of the school district was directly influenced by general educational ideas that were promulgated throughout the country. Teachers, counselors and principals, as well as the central administration, lobbied for a modern approach to education.
Educational reform in Los Angeles
Dr. Franklin Bobbitt from the University of Chicago led a complete reorganization of the high school curriculum. He previously served on the commission that reorganized the education system of the Philippine Islands and completed a similar task for Los Angeles while serving in the Department of Psychology and Educational Research. Those faculty involved in the reorganization of social studies courses were encouraged to use all relevant materials originating from Teachers College, Columbia University and the University of Chicago and National Council.
In the process of developing the educational system, social sciences became a central element in creating a cooperative citizen. This reorganization led to a program of social studies whose primary purpose was to promote the development of thinking, feeling and action. This goal was created in close accordance with the wishes of businessmen and industrialists. In an article that appeared in Los Angeles School Journal, the assistant director of the Department of Psychology and Educational Research cited an American Management Association report as an example of the broad purpose of education: ‘to prepare new employees to better understand the interdependence of employers and employees’.
Mexican problem
With such a frantic development of the city, the need for a sufficient labor force appeared. Mexican immigrants started coming to Los Angeles. Mexican settlements developed mainly on the Eastside in an area known as Maravilla. According to the 1920 census, there were 30,000 Mexicans living in Los Angeles. By 1930, the number was nearly 100,000.
The number of Mexican pupils in Los Angeles schools was also important. School officials interpreted their roles in relation to both Mexican students and the Mexican community. This relationship led to the reform of school programs that ultimately affected Mexican children.
During the 1920s, the number of Mexican children attending Los Angeles schools increased in line with their settlement in the area.
In 1923, the total number of Mexican children was just over 14,000 or 8.8% of the total school enrollment. In the next few years, the growth of Mexican enrollment and their concentration in the East Los Angeles area would direct the interest of the educational profession to solving the Mexican problem.
In 1922, an editorial appeared in Los Angeles School Journal, where teachers complained about the increase in the population of foreign origin, especially Mexicans. The article noted that the foreign-born population had increased by 85% over the decade and migrants from Mexico had increased by 285%.
Educational research
The most important procedures which were used as part of compulsory education in Los Angeles included testing. As with most reforms, the tests were initially used on an experimental basis. Then, they have become the basis of the educational process.
Test devices were first used in Los Angeles in 1917 as part of an experiment conducted by an organized unit. How to deal with variations in mental abilities became the task of an administrative body, the Department of Psychology. It was created with the specific task of classifying students who passed the tests. The department estimated that, based on the study, 5,000 primary school students were too low in intelligence.
The department was also given additional responsibilities covering three main areas. These were: testing of children’s mentality, development of materials for individual learning and supervision of special schools and classes for advanced and backward students.
Two departments – educational research and psychology – were merged into one department in 1920. Initially, a staff was also merged. By 1924, the staff numbered 16 and included 26 members by 1930. They ran the most powerful department in the Los Angeles education bureaucracy. With each increase in personnel, the unit’s responsibilities also seemed to increase. In the academic year 1928-1929, a total of 328,000 tests were administered to elementary school students only.
Based on these tests, students were placed in regular classrooms, classes for gifted pupils, low-proficiency classrooms and developmental centers. However, the correspondence between test scores and social class was more important.
The surveys reflected only the overall social standing of the school district. However, the counselors, although they were concerned with homogenous groups in schools, consciously focused primarily on individual students. Each elementary school counselor’s report contained three separate lists of children in need of special attention. Among them were children with an IQ level above 125, who were assigned to gifted classes. They were designed to provide an enriched program for children of higher intelligence. At the other end of the scale were children whose IQ was 70 or below. They were candidates for the mentally retarded classrooms. Based on IQ, an appropriate class was chosen for students according to their mental level. Once selected, the student was given a series of tests designed to diagnose interests and strengths on which teachers based their approach to the student’s education.