School Accreditation
During the 1870-71 academic year, the University of Michigan broke with tradition and became the first institution to implement the revolutionary practice of admitting students from accredited high schools by means of their diplomas rather than by an entrance examination. The "Michigan plan," as it came to be known, was motivated in part by the fact that the university lacked a preparatory department and sought to strengthen cooperation between secondary schools and the university, the same idea later embraced by Dewey and his colleagues in the Michigan Schoolmasters' Club. High schools that desired to become "diploma schools" petitioned the university and arranged for an accreditation inspection. The inspections were usually conducted by members of the university faculty who took note of the quality and level of instruction, the teaching corps, facilities, and equipment. The number of accredited schools steadily increased from an initial five, as the system was extended to schools outside the state.
The Michigan plan was not without its detractors. Harvard University president Charles W. Eliot in his annual report for 1873-74 expressed his skepticism of the Michigan system, stating, "That the University should have been so willing to try so unpromising an experiment proves that the lack of connection between the secondary and higher instruction in Michigan must have been painfully felt." A spirited controversy ensued between President Eliot and Charles K. Adams, professor of history at the University of Michigan and a staunch proponent of the Michigan plan. Their debate took place in the pages of the Nation with Eliot declaring that the Michigan plan was "a partial surrender of the authority of the university" and "an innovation of injurious tendency."47
Although Dewey did not participate in the debate between Adams and Eliot, he likely would have sided with Adams had he been at Michigan during that time. In an 1891 article Dewey expressed some contempt for Eliot and his derision of Michigan and education in "the West." Dewey's remarks were based on a public talk given by Eliot in which he stated that "the West is indebted to Harvard for three great educational gifts"–the elective system, the elimination of Greek and Latin from entrance requirements, and individualized instruction in seminars and laboratories. Dewey sarcastically took exception with Eliot's assertion that more accessible entrance requirements and seminars were "the original accomplishments of Harvard," adding that "We of the University of Michigan, at least, are not accustomed to think of ourselves entirely as recipients, however tardy the colleges of the East may be in receiving our generous gifts." Dewey further argued, "The conception that the University is only the culmination of the common school education belongs to the West;–may we not add, with proper modesty . . . to the University of Michigan?" To Dewey, these educational concepts were the very ideal of the democratic idea of education: "higher education, as well as the three R's, is of and for the people, and not for some cultivated classes."48
The fact that Dewey was active as a member of the inspection program that visited high schools could also be taken as implicit support of the Michigan plan. In his years at Michigan, he participated in at least eight inspection visits.49 The surviving reports are typical of those made by other faculty members inspecting high schools, but Dewey's reports are flavored by his experience as a high school teacher and are suggestive of his future writing on education and schools. In June 1888, he inspected the high school in Ypsilanti, Michigan, visiting several classes and observing the instruction and the response of the students. His observations of the instruction in Greek are particularly insightful: "Mr. Hopkins' methods are somewhat slow and at times tedious, and he spends much time on points rather finer than the average high school teacher devotes himself to; but the slowness does not arise from any lack of interest as he is personally enthusiastic about his subjects. While the class's attention would at times be held better by less detailed attention to minutiae, I am bound to say that I thought Mr. Hopkins' work if judged by results was more than ordinarily effective. The students upon the whole, were accurate and thorough in their work."50
By 1892, when Dewey visited the high school in Corunna, Michigan, the number of accredited schools had grown to more than ninety and inspections had become more standardized. Inspectors were provided with printed forms on which to record such information as courses and textbooks used, duration of class sessions, teaching staff and their backgrounds, and information on facilities and equipment. Although the space for comments on the form was limited, Dewey's report on Corunna noted that there were two teachers, one he rated "medium or below" and the other "fair." He went on to record that the school was "rather demoralized" and "altogether too large for two teachers." He discussed his findings with members of the school board and related his impression of the superintendent as "straight forward and well meaning but not very energetic."51 Observations made by Dewey during these inspection visits become significant when viewed in the context of the importance he placed on schools and education as instruments of change.
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