Author Cubberley Ellwood Patterson

significant educational administrator of his day. At the outset of Cubberley's career, school administration was thought of as a set of general principles without any conception of theoretical or scientific plans. There were no formal textbooks from which to teach educational administration to students. Educational administrators had no place to learn better practices and, as such, learned solely from experience. Indeed, educational administration posts were often political plums requiring little, if any, formal training. Most universities lacked education departments.Cubberley pioneered the use of the school survey as an instrument to improve education, in his reports on the Baltimore, Maryland; New York City; Oakland, California; Portland, Oregon; and Salt Lake City, Utah schools. In conducting surveys, he applied an integrated theory of organization, administration, and teaching, to assess the strengths and weaknesses of individual schools. He used the latest statistical and quantitative methods. His surveys were significant steps down a new road toward improving school functions.Cubberley's legacy has been decidedly mixed. Since his death in 1941, Cubberley's celebrationist historical account has been attacked, perhaps most memorably by Lawrence Cremin's The Wonderful World of Ellwood Patterson Cubberley (1965). Historiographically, some academicians have used Cubberley's methodology as a cautionary tale and termed his approach anachronistic and evangelistic. In a similar vein, Cubberley's administration stances have been attacked as sexist and autocratic. Regardless, Cubberley's historical account was a Promethean achievement, in light of the then-existing state of knowledge. And, without a doubt, Cubberley's views on empirical research in education and increased efficiency in public schools have remained dominant paradigms in contemporary public education.