The introduction and development of the Detroit Public Schools Adult Education program: A historical study.

Abstract

This study examines the historical development of educational programming for adults in the Detroit Public Schools. It represents an effort to identify not only the forces which produced the first Public School Adult Education class in 1875 and assess the influence of those forces upon the growth and development of the Detroit program for the next 45 years. Though the period between 1875 and 1920 is only a portion of the program's total history, it remains the formative and , therefore, most crucial period in its development. Through a review of Detroit's growth toward a burgeoning industrial city by the late nineteenth century, the study follows changes in the city's size, economy and population. Not only are the climate and the setting for Detroit's first Public School Adult Education class established, but also the developmental history of each segment leading to that setting is dealt with. Information for the study was obtained from U.S. Census Reports, City of Detroit Common Council Proceedings, Street Directories and City Maps. Added to these data sources were newspaper reports and reviews of both the Detroit Board of Education proceedings and annual reports. Each item was identified and placed in historical perspective as part of the developing "Night School" story in its evolution toward being an established ingredient of the Board of Education's total program of educational objectives. Biographical information relative to those individuals identified as leaders and motivators behind the movement was compiled together with specifics concerning textbooks, supplies, curriculum, teachers, buildings, students and programming. Finally, this study reveals that evening classes which began in 1875, gradually grew into an important segment of the Detroit Public School program. This occurred despite severe financial and operational difficulties and seemed due, primarily, to the influx of non-English speaking immigrants drawn into the city by its improving economic climate. An awareness of this early program can be of substantial value to individuals currently providing for adult educational needs. It offers an opportunity to gain an improved underst and ing of the undereducated adult and of program design for their needs.