﻿HISTOEY STUDY IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 



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Materials, Methods, and Administration of History Study 

 in the Elementary Schools of the United States 



By Rolla Milton Tryon, A.M. 



I. INTRODUCTION 



Origin and Scope of the Inquiry. In September, 1909, Indi- 

 ana University published a bulletin on History Teaching in the 

 High School. The enthusiastic reception which this bulletin re- 

 ceived influenced the Department of History and the School of 

 Education to undertake a similar study covering history teaching 

 in the gTades. The material was gathered through a questionnaire 

 sent out by the above Departments during the spring and summer 

 of 1910. An attempt was made to secure answers from persons 

 engaged in the various phases of school work. The questionnaire 

 was sent to rural school teachers, county superintendents, city and 

 tmYn superintendents, grade teachers, in city and town schools, ward 

 principals, principals of small town schools, directors of practice 

 and teachers in normal schools, grade supervisors, and history 

 teachers in high schools. This wide range of school officials was 

 appealed to on account of certain questions that called for sug- 

 gestions and opinions. It was thought that the rural school teach- 

 ers, and the grade teachers in a large or small system, might offer 

 suggestions and express opinions equally valuable with those of ad- 

 ministrators and supervisors. 



Extent and Sources of Data. Fourteen hundred copies of the 

 questionnaire were sent out. In the list were included schools of 

 cities, towns, counties, and special schools, in practically every state 

 in the Union. Of the total number sent out, 291 were returned, 

 answered with varying degrees of fullness. The large difference 

 between the number sent out and the number returned is explained 

 by the fact that it was the policy to send a number of copies to 

 each school system with the request that as many teachers as pos- 

 sible fill them out. This request was not always complied with; 

 so that it often happened that only one questionnaire v/as returned 

 by a system to which ten or fifteen blanks had been sent. 



The materials for this investigation were originally gathered 

 in 1910; but, owing to unavoidable delays, it was not until the 

 spring of 1912 that the study was seriously undertaken. In order, 



