THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 
of 
BUSINESS EDUCATION 
in the 
UNITED STATES 
by 
MARGARET L. THORP 
A PROFESSIONAL PAPER 
Submitted 
in 
partial fulfillment of the requirements 
for the degree of 
Master of Education 
at 
Montana State College 
Bozeman, Montana 
August, 195^ 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
/i 
CHAPTER PAGE 
I. INTRODUCTION  1 
Problem    2 
Need for Study...   2 
Procedure. •••  3 
Summary  3 
II. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND IN EUROPE  4 
Apprenticeship--Early Form  Ij. 
Business Training in Europe  4 
Germany •••••••  6 
Austria. ••••  6 
England. •••••.••  8 
Switzerland.    9 
France  10 
Italy. •••••••   «• 11 
Belgium   11 
III. EARLY BACKGROUND IN THE UNITED STATES..* 12 
Business Education in Colonial Times 
1635-1820  12 
Typewriter Causes Growth of Business 
Education.  Ik 
The Development of Shorthand 
Instruction    15 
Pitman  16 
Gregg  1? 
Thomas   17 
Machine Shorthand  17 
Forkner  ••••• 18 
Growth of Bookkeeping in American 
Business.  19 
ii 
CHAPTER PAGE 
IV. THE GROWTH OP THE PRIVATE BUSINESS SCHOOL. 20 
Early Business School   20 
Increase of Schools Following Civil War 23 
Present Status of Private Business 
Schools    23 
Abuses of Private Business Schools..... 25 
The Efficient Private Business Schools 
Render an Invaluable Service....  26 
The Problem of State Control  2? 
The Key Service of the Private 
Business School  28 
V. GROWTH OP BUSINESS EDUCATION IN THE 
AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL  29 
English Classical School for Boys  29 
Post Civil War Period...........  30 
Committee of Ten Report.  30 
Report of The National Education 
Association of 1903  31 
Report of The National Education 
Association of 1915  33 
Report of The National Education 
Association of 1919...*  35 
VI. PRESENT STATUS OP BUSINESS SUBJECTS 
IN THE SECONDARY SCHOOL  38 
Typerwiting   38 
Shorthand.    39 
The Dictating Machine.  40 
Machine Shorthand in Schools.... ij-l 
Bookkeeping   4^ 
Present Objectives  44 
iii 
CHAPTER PAGE 
Secretarial Training.    Ijlj. 
Clerical Work   45 
Can the School Train Clerks  47 
Distributive Education  49 
Difficulties in Offering 
Distributive Education  49 
Federal Aid for Distributive 
Education.5l 
How Much Distributive Training 
in High School   52 
Co-operative Training ••••• 53 
How the Co-operative Training 
Plan Operates   54 
The Junior High School Business 
Program  5& 
First Business Courses Offered... $6 
Subsequent Development •••••• 59 
Present Objectives of Junior 
Business.  59 
Future Status of Business 
Subjects in the Junior High 
School    • • 60 
VII. COLLEGES AND SPECIAL SCHOOLS  62 
College School of Business  62 
Brief Early History..  62 
Subject Matter in Collegiate 
Schools of Business......  63 
Collegiate Training in 
Secretarial Science  64 
Graduate School of Business  65 
Junior College Business Education..... 66 
Types of Junior Colleges  66 
Functions of the Junior College 6? 
Business Education  68 
iv 
CHAP TER PAGE 
Terminal Training in the 
Junior College•••••    69 
Job Training in the Junior 
College  70 
Business Courses Offered.  71 
Adult Education for Business  71 
On-the-Job Training for Business  73 
Training Teachers of Business Subjects. 76 
Early Training of Business 
Teachers. •••     76 
Present Training....   78 
VII. SUMMARY  80 
BIBLIOGRAPHY  83 
v 
CHAPTER I 
INTRODUCTION 
The status of business education today would in¬ 
dicate its importance to most high schools* Paul S* Lomax, 
New York University, in an article in the Journal of Busi¬ 
ness Education, March, 1956, states that there are more 
than five million business enrollments in the secondary 
schools of the United States, and several million more 
in colleges, junior colleges, private business schools, 
and adult education classes* 
In the Bienneal Survey of Education in the United 
States, 19!{.8-1950J it was stated that the total enrollment 
in business subjects in regular and senior high schools was 
more than sixty per cent of the total pupil enrollment in 
these schools* Prom the same survey it was shown that in 
19l|-9, a comparison was made of the percentages enrolled in 
1949 and in 1928* Typing showed quite a marked increase, 
15.2$ in 1928 and 22*4% in 1949; bookkeeping showed a slight 
drop, from 10*7% to 8*7%; and shorthand dropped from 8*7% 
to 7*8$. In Montana, 25*4% took typing; 10*3%, bookkeeping; 
and 9.5%, shorthand* All allied subjects showed an increase. 
One-fourth of all high school students in Montana take 
commercial work, with the figures slightly less in the United 
1. 
2 
States* College work in this field reflects the same 
kind of development. 
These figures most certainly show the extent of 
business education in our school system today. Business 
education is an important part of our education picture. 
With its present scope the question is often raised: How 
did it develop to its present stage? The answer to which 
is the basis of the approach to this study. 
Problem 
Experience in the general training and teaching in 
this subject area and conferences held in connection with 
this study have never revealed how we arrived at the present 
status in this particular field. In order to gain an under¬ 
standing of the tremendous growth in business education it 
would seem rather logical that the problem be summed up in 
these two questions: What is the history of business edu¬ 
cation? How did we get the program we have today? It seems 
to the writer that it would be important to teachers, lay 
people and students who are training in this work to know 
how business education achieved its present prominent place 
in the schools of the' United States. 
Need For Study 
In order to pursue this study literature was examined. 
It was apparent that there was very little material which 
showed the complete growth of this branch of education. One 
author make an approach to it, but it was only incidental to 
the expansion of his investigation. He made several references 
3 
to other sources where information on the history of busi¬ 
ness education could be found. It was from a combination 
of these articles and material in the Proceedings and Reports 
of the National Education Association Meetings that the 
events in the historical background and development of busi¬ 
ness education were brought together in sequence. 
Procedure 
As there seem to be two distinct points of emphasis, 
this study is divided into two main parts: The development 
of business education in the secondary school, and in the 
non secondary school. One part is represented by the planned 
program of the secondary school and the other by the non 
secondary schools which would include colleges, junior colleges, 
graduate schools, business schools, on-the-job training and 
teacher training schools. The terms business education and 
commercial education are used synonymously. 
Summary 
The writer believes that the statistics showing 
the large number of students in business education reveal 
just how important it is to our present way of life. Com¬ 
mercial education is big business in our schools, yet there 
seems to be no place where on can gain an understanding of 
its evolution. It is the purpose of this study to investi¬ 
gate and report on its development. 
CHAPTER II 
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND IN EUROPE 
Commerce, in some form or other, is as old as 
man. Among the oldest historical documents available are 
records of business transactions along with those about 
religious events* Informal training for business is prob¬ 
ably as old as business itself* Formal, that is, definitely 
planned, training for business began much later. Evidence 
of legal arrangements for apprenticeship is contained in 
the famous code of Hammurabi, developed over four thousand 
years ago, which provided that a master craftsman adopt a 
young man and teach him his trade. Apprenticeship existed 
among the ancient Egyptians and Greeks. There are several 
references to apprenticeship in the Old Testament in descrip¬ 
tion of ancient Hebrew customs. Perhaps the first organized 
form was as shown by Tonne.1 
Apprenticeship—Early Form 
Apprenticeship in ancient times frequently took 
the form of father-son relationship and was regulated by 
law. A contract, or indenture agreement, was made between 
1. Herbert A. Tonne, Principles of Business 
Educations (Gregg Publishing Co., 19li-7) p. 1. 
k 
5 
the father of the prospective apprentice and a master. 
This indenture frequently lasted seven years. The 
master provided food, clothing, shelter, parental care, 
religious and moral instruction, general education, practical 
training in the standards of the craft, and, most important 
of all, a knowledge of the "mysteries” of the trade, that is, 
the rule-of-thumb techniques. The method of learning was 
largely one of imitating the master* 
Baus, it can be seen that the apprenticeship system 
of training predates the Middle Ages; however, it reached 
its pinnacle as the chief means of job training during that 
period. It was the chief means of preparing middle-class 
youths for a commercial career. 
Bae system worked well in an individual or home 
method of production, where the master workman owned his 
shop and employed only a few journeymen and apprentices* 
Production was on a small scale. The master knew his craft 
thoroughly, and he himself taught the apprentices. 
Formal schools for business training probably existed 
in some of the Hanseatic cities during the Renaissance. Their 
programs of instruction, however, had little influence on 
present-day commercial training either here or in Europe. 
As home production gave way to factory production, 
the effectiveness of the apprenticeship system as an organ¬ 
ized thing gradually decreased. Apprentices became merely 
hands working for an employer at lower wages. Tonne^brings 
Ibid., p. 1 
this out. Something took its place. Thus we see the begin¬ 
ning of business training. 
Business Training in Europe**- 
Germany. Tie Germans by 1895 had developed some 
commercial education although this was for men only. Women 
were not allowed to prepare themselves for mercantile pursuits, 
although for service in the countinghouse they were frequently 
employed for shorthand and typewriting. At this time the 
Germans were not so far along as some of the other European 
countries, but the governments of the twenty-six states that 
constituted the German Empire were employed in improving and 
extending their agricultural, industrial, and commercial 
schools to enable the people to compete with their neighbors 
in the worlds market. Tie course of study designed for 
commercial training included: Foreign languages, political 
economy, commercial law, commercial geography and statistics, 
bookkeeping, commercial and political arithmetic, knowledge 
of the international commerce, and knowledge of merchandise. 
Austria. At this time commercial education in 
Austria was a little further developed. The classical high 
schools in Austria, founded during the Middle Ages and also 
during the reign of Marie Theresa, did not offer proper in¬ 
struction to young men intending to devote their lives to 
* commercial pursuits. In 1762, a few courses of lectures on 
1, Report of the Commissioner of Education, 1896- 
1897, voi. IT pp“ 207-£I2 . 
7 
commercial arithmetic, discount, bookkeeping, and science of 
government were opened in high schools, which courses were 
conducted by "Pianists11 (members of a religious order), and 
later by civil officers; and in 1763* a course of lectures 
on financial science was opened in the University of Vienna. 
However, these measures did not suffice for the wants of 
commercial men, since both the high schools and the univer¬ 
sity had the avowed purpose of preparing civil officers for 
financial and administrative offices. 
In the year 1769, as shown in the Report of the 
Commissioner of Education')’ purely commercial training began 
in consequence of a "manifesto" of the supreme commercial 
authority of the Empire, the Board of Trade of Vienna, which 
document pointed out frankly that the preparation of merchants 
had heretofore received inadequate attention. In 1770* a 
State institution for the preparation of merchants was opened 
under the name of "Commercial Academy." This institution had 
two grades of one year each, in which arithmetic, ethics, 
grammar and rhetoric, geography, calligraphy, drawing, 
accounting, commercial science, geometry, natural science, 
double-entry bookkeeping, French and Italian were taught. 
As early as iSi^O, a Johann Geyer had opened a private 
institution which was imitated in the principal cities of 
the country. Other commercial schools partly founded by 
stock companies, partly by private enterprise, then came 
1. Ibid., p. 208 
8 
into existence and proved to be an important factor in the 
Austrian educational system. 
It was at this time that legislation was attempted 
in the organization of commercial schools. A ministerial 
order in 1070 referred to the examination of teachers in 
commercial schools. In 1872 an inquiry into the organization 
of commercial schools was instituted. The Austrian Govern¬ 
ment did much in aiding the commercial schools with both 
advice and material support. The best measure seems to have 
been the appointment of imperial instructors for these schools. 
The course of study for this class of schools had a firm 
foundation, because it was framed according to the needs of 
the great mass of people, with elasticity enough to meet 
local demands. The minister of public instruction published 
a series of uniform test books, and secured an annual appro¬ 
priation of 68,000 florins ($31].,000) from State funds for 
the support of the commercial schools. 
England. The Report of the Commission of Education,'*’ 
1896-1897, showed that even though England was at this time 
the foremost commercial country in the world, the Government 
did less than any other country in Europe to train its young 
men for commercial enterprise. Private enterprise, corporations, 
and commercial clubs took care of commercial education by 
establishing appropriate courses in a few secondary schools, 
primarily founded for other purposes. The Government of Great 
1. Ibid., p. 215. 
9 
Britain did not concern itself with public education before 
1850. It was the belief in England at that time that the 
State had no right to interfere in the educational affairs 
of the people. It was the London Chamber of Commerce that 
instigated activity in behalf of commercial education, and 
a uniform organization of schools for that purpose. The 
Chamber of Commerce adopted a course of study which the Govern¬ 
ment was unable to adopt because of its want of jurisdiction 
in secondary schools. The course had to rely upon the initia¬ 
tive of the various chambers of commerce in the large cities 
of the Kingdom. Hie support given to it was an indirect one. 
The merchants belonging to the chambers of commerce agreed 
to engage as assistants and clerks only those who had had the 
preparation prescribed in the course mentioned, or at least 
they gave preference to applicants who could prove such prep¬ 
aration. In spite of this the course in England did not come 
up to the courses in the other countries, Germany, Prance, 
and Austria. 
1 
Switzerland. The Commissioner* s Report tells 
us that the development of commercial education in Switzerland 
took essentially the same course as in England. Until 188?> 
commercial training in Geneva was given in the commercial 
department of the cantonal high school, but in that year an 
independent high school for commercial branches was established 
1. Ibid., p. 218-222 
10 
by the city, the former institution was abandoned, and the 
high school reserved for university preparation. Soon other 
cities established separate commercial schools and in addition 
to these there were eleven commercial departments connected 
with classical and technical high schools. In l893> the 
Swiss Government began to subsidize the commercial school. 
In the same year the Canton of Zurich petitioned the Federal 
Government for a subsidy for a girls* commercial school. This 
petition was not granted because the Federal executive inter¬ 
preted the law of l881j. as giving no authority to extend com¬ 
mercial training to girls. However, these subsidies were soon 
granted. Tae people of Switzerland were desirous of keeping 
up with other nations in the commercial training of young men 
and women. 
France. In 1820, two French merchants who were 
anxious about the future of French commerce established a 
school In France in which young men would receive instruction 
preparing them to be merchants. At this early date this was 
considered a very bold enterprise. Few believed that the 
commercial sciences as such could be made subjects of scho¬ 
lastic instruction, owing to the great number of special 
branches of Which these sciences were composed. This insti¬ 
tution met with the greatest obstacles because of lack of 
interest of the French in that type of education. Tiis school 
changed hands many times until 1830, when Adolph Blanqui 
1. Ibid., pp. 222-231 
11 
undertook to revive the school. He met with great success 
and after his death in 1869, the Paris Chamber of Commerce 
took possession of it. The commercial school developed 
rapidly from this time. 
The schools of Itaify and Belgium followed much the 
same pattern as those of France and Germany. 
CHAPTER III 
EARLY BACKGROUND IN THE UNITED STATES 
Apprenticeship System 
Tonne*1' explains in his book that the apprenticeship 
system did not develop extensively in the United States. It 
was eliminated by the factory system. The late development 
of organized business education as compared to industrial 
education can probably be explained by the fact that until 
recent years trade was simple and required few specialized 
techniques. The big problem was production. Once people 
could make commodities, selling them was a comparatively 
simple problem. Thus while there had been apprentices in 
industrial occupations, apprentices in business life developed 
much later, and lasted only a short time. As late as the 
Civil War emphasis was on production of products and their 
transportation to the consuming public. 
2 
Business Education in Colonial Times—1635-1820 
There are but few evidences of formal business edu¬ 
cation in the American Colonial period. Penmanship and 
1. Herbert A. Tonne, Principles of Business 
Education, (Gregg Publishing Co., 19U7) P» 5* 
2. Ibid., p. 5 
12 
13 
arithmetic were taught, but this rudimentary training can 
hardly be considered the origin of contemporary business 
education. Some bookkeeping, primarily the copying of records, 
was taught in the Latin Grammar schools. It is also probable 
that there were a considerable number of private teachers of 
bookkeeping and penmanship, especially in the larger cities 
along the seaboard. 
About the time of the American Revolution the academy 
began to develop and soon replaced the Latin Grammar school 
as the typical secondary school in America. The Latin Grammar 
school had been purely preparatory for college. Some new 
subjects were incorporated into the curriculum, such as book¬ 
keeping, navigation and surveying. 
The American Academy adequately met the educational 
needs of the American people until the Civil War, It was a 
private institution, only rarely subsidized by the states. 
Local communities encouraged the academies for they attracted 
other business. Young women were as welcome as men if they 
could pay their bills. 
The academy had to maintain the interests of the 
students so any subject was taught that might attract them. 
They taught the literary subjects and also political economy, 
bookkeeping, navigation, and surveying. There ia evidence 
that some shorthand was taught. However, there was little 
use for shorthand. Even the judges and justices made their 
own notes. The proceedings of Congress and the state 
legislatures were not kept in any detail* Hie academy was 
willing to teach business subjects, but the quantity and 
quality of the teaching might be questioned* Evening schools 
were established in some cities to supplement the informal 
training and these schools included such subjects as writing, 
bookkeeping, and arithmetic* 
Typewriter Causes Growth of Business Education 
As Tonne'** tells in his boolq business education in 
the schools developed with the perfection of the typewriter 
in the early 1870* s* Typewriting mechanisms had been planned 
in England as early as 171^> but had not been successful* In 
the nineteenth century typewriting mechanisms were invented, 
but the operator of the machine could not write any faster 
than he could in longhand* The machines remained cumbersome 
until Christopher Sholes and two associates became interested 
in the possibilities of the typewriter. They completed their 
first model in 1867, and by 1873, had improved it so that it 
was a proficient aid in business offices. By 1878, it was 
possible to write lower-case characters as well as capitals* 
For many years the typist had to use the shift key for capitals 
as well as numerals and special characters. It was also im¬ 
possible to see the copy while working. It was not until the 
close of the twentieth century that the mechanism was perfected 
and the four-finger system of typing proved to be efficient. 
1. Ibid., p. 6 
15 
The keyboard constructed by Sholes was designed so 
that there would be as little chance as possible for keys to 
stick at the printing point. Even today this problem has 
not been completely overcome. Many attempts have been made 
to devise a more scientific keyboard. August Dvorak has 
invented a keyboard more efficient than the standard one, but 
whether it will ever be adopted is a question. A changeover 
from the standard keyboard to a more scientific one would 
require tremendous training. 
Many adaptations have been made of the typewriter. 
The noiseless machine has caused comparatively few learning 
problems. The development of the portable typewriter has 
encouraged wide personal use of the typewriter, but it has 
brought about learning procedures that are not very efficient. 
The portable machine is not so efficient as the standard, and 
those using it cannot obtain such high speeds as with the 
standard, but they are not generally interested in speed. 
The development of mechanisms combining the type¬ 
writer with calculating and adding machines has created in¬ 
numerable savings in office procedures. Training in these 
specialized machines is not too difficult provided the student 
already knows how to type and how to use a calculating machine. 
The Development of Shorthand Instruction 
1 
Shorthand, as discussed by Tonne, was used 
Ibid., p. 8 
16 
occasionally before the invention of the typewriter* The 
ancient Greeks had a system of shorthand, and stenographic 
notes were taken of the proceedings of the Roman Senate* 
When the Gurney shorthand was adopted as the official system 
for preserving the proceedings of the British Parliament it 
was given prestige far beyond that of the scores of systems 
that preceded it. 
Pitman. In 1837 Isaac Pitman invented a shorthand 
system that became widely popular. Nevertheless, the value 
of shorthand remained restricted until the typewriter was 
perfected. With the perfection of the typewriter and its 
consequent wide use in business offices, shorthand also in¬ 
creased in importance. Typing and shorthand as a concomitant 
skill did not develops suddenly. They had to achieve their 
place as a means of communication against the antagonism to 
the typed letter. For some time the more conservative firms 
considered it an insult to their customers to send typed 
letters; and customers reciprocated by resenting typed letters 
as questioning their ability to read longhand. They felt that 
the personal element was taken out of the communication. 
Businessmen often added longhand postscripts to their typed 
letters in order to give them a personal touch. 
Ibid., p. 8 
17 
Gregg.1 2 3 About 1890, John Robert Gregg brought his 
system of shorthand to the United States and this has since 
become the predominant system and is widely used not only 
in the United States and other English-speaking countries, 
but has also been successfully adapted to eleven foreign 
languages, among them French, Spanish, Russian, and Japanese. 
Gregg Shorthand is taught in 99.25 per cent of the cities 
and towns in the United States where instruction in shorthand 
is offered. 
p 
Thomas Shorthand. Charles A. Thomas produced another 
type of shorthand which he had copyrighted in 1935* He 
claimed that this shorthand was easier and more natural to 
use than the previous ones. A very few schools have used 
it, but it has not achieved anywhere the popularity of Gregg, 
probably because most of the business teachers know Gregg 
and do not want to change unless there is a more marked im¬ 
provement than this system has shown. 
Machine Shorthand.^ In 1912, Ward Stone Ireland intro¬ 
duced the first Stenotype, but long before that there had 
been various more cumbersome machines in limited use. During 
World War I, the factories making these machines were di¬ 
verted to manufacture of wartime necessities and it was not 
1. Ibid., p. 9. 
2. Charles A. Thomas, Thomas Natural Shorthand, 
Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1942* 
3. Mary Burton, United Business Education Association 
Journal, March, 195l> pp. 27-28. 
18 
until several years afterwards that the making of the Steno- 
type was resumed. 
The Stenograph is a shorthand machine similar to the 
Stenotype. Both are small, light weight and practically 
noiseless in operation. The keyboard is the same on both 
machines and is so simple it can easily be memorized. Key 
operation is by touch, differing from typewriting in that 
several keys are struck at the same time. Initial and final 
consonants or words are supplied by combinations—two or more 
keys struck simultaneously. 
Whether written at 20 words or 200 words the notes 
never change shape or position. They are always readable 
any time or place by any stenotypist, in plain English letters. 
Notes are recorded on continuous narrow paper tape which folds 
into a pull-out tray at the rear. 
Skilled operators of the Stenograph and Stenotype 
are filling specialized positions in legal and medical work. 
Federal and state services, trade associations, manufacturing, 
publishing and reporting. 
Forkner Shorthand. This is a new system of shorthand. 
It was copyrighted in 1952. The author states that it Is a 
scientific application of a combination of longhand and symbols 
to a system of rapid writing. It is too new to make any 
further statement about it. 
1. Hamden L. Forkner, Experimental Edition, 
Forkner Shorthand, Forkner Publishing Company, 1952. 
19 
Growth of Bookkeeping in American Business 
With the growth of the size of business units, 
as told by TonneJ’ bookkeeping became a necessary skill in 
the control of business# When few businesses had gross in¬ 
comes of over $100,000 a year, double-entry bookkeeping was 
not needed. When the Civil War brought with it a great con¬ 
centration of business enterprise caused by the necessity 
of supplying the armies with food, clothing, and munitions, 
large mercantile establishments developed# 
This organization of large industrial and financial 
units continued after the Civil War and resulted in a steady 
demand for competently trained bookkeepers# Then when govern¬ 
ment became more concerned with the inner workings of rail¬ 
roads and banking houses, accountancy developed; and it be¬ 
came more difficult for the young accountant to learn his 
art on the job# This development also encouraged business 
education# 
1. Herbert A. Tonne, Principles of Business 
Education, (Gregg Publishing Co#, 1947) 
20 
CHAPTER IV 
TEE GROWTH OP THE PRIVATE BUSINESS SCHOOL 
Early Business School 
Tonne^- explains in his book that the private busi¬ 
ness school was the first institution devoted exclusively 
to business education* The date of the first private busi¬ 
ness school is not known, but there is evidence that by 
1020 several teachers were offering instruction in book¬ 
keeping and penmanship* One of the first schools is known 
to have been established in Philadelphia by Mr* R* M. Barlett. 
He also started schools in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. James 
Gordon Bennett maintained a similar school in New York City 
around l82ij.. Benjamin Franklin Poster taught penmanship, 
published a book on the subject, and attempted to give 
training to women in several eastern cities during the second 
quarter of the nineteenth century* Another pioneer in the 
field of private business schools was George W* Eastman of 
Rochester, New York. Many textbooks published by these early 
instructors;’are still available. Most of them are of the 
copybook type. The existence of these schools shows that the 
1. Ibid., pp. 386-399 
21 
apprenticeship system of training workers for commercial 
occupations was declining. 
One of the forerunners of the private business school 
was the itinerant teacher of handwriting. The flourishing 
and elaborate handwriting was one of the fads of the nineteenth 
century. These teachers would migrate from town to town and 
offer to make skilled penmen of anyone who would take their 
course for one or two weeks. Some were fakers, but many did 
their best. 
There is little evidence of the number of persons and 
of the quality of training given in the private business 
schools in the pre-Givil War period. Private business schools 
were prevalent in Europe before the Napoleonic Wars. It is 
probable that the American private business school of this 
period was in part an imitation of the European business 
school. Business schools did not become accepted and prosperous 
institutions in this country until the Civil War period. 
Tonne says that according to R. C. Spencer, writing 
in 1888^, the earliest step toward formal organization was 
taken about l8£0 by R. C. Bacon who founded Bacon1 s Mercan¬ 
tile Colleges in Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Madison. This 
unified management lasted only a short time. The Bryant- 
Stratton chain was started in Cleveland in 1852. By 1865, 
this was composed of forty-four schools in forty-four cities. 
1. Ibid., pp. 397, quoting A Brief History of the 
Business Education Associations of America. Proceedings. 
Business Educators Association, 1888. pp. 6-FI 
22 
all under the same general management. The first meeting of 
the proprietors of the chain was held in New York in 1863* 
and in the following year a conference of the leading teachers 
took place. At a general convention in Chicago in 1665, 
James A. Garfield, who later became President of the United 
States, made a powerful speech in favor of business education. 
The Bryant-Stratton schools carried on a fairly uni¬ 
form system of instruction. Training was given in bookkeeping, 
penmanship, business arithmetic, the rudiments of commercial 
law, and allied subjects. Each school was under the control 
of a local manager or resident partner in the firm. A pro¬ 
gram of interchangeable scholarships permitted students to 
transfer from one school to another. The result was that 
students often enrolled in schools in small towns at low 
fees, then transferred to the larger cities where opportunities 
for future employment were better. The income went to the 
small-town school and the burden of training to the school 
in the larger community. This chain of schools and the smaller 
chains patterned after them rendered efficient service and 
in some ways set a pattern of training that has not been 
surpassed. Today, the successor schools of this chain, under 
the same or similar names, still exist in several cities. 
This chain has had a profound influence upon the development 
of business education in the United States. 
23 
Increase of Schools Following The Civil War 
Tonne^- explains that a great opportunity for the 
private business school came during the period of recon¬ 
struction following the Civil War* Thousands of young 
men, mustered out of the armies where they had tasted various 
experiences, did not care to go back to the farms. They 
wanted speedy and efficient preparation for some kind of 
employment in the cities. The best opportunities were 
apparently to be found in bookkeeping and related clerical 
occupations. 
With only occasional losses during the depression 
years of the iSyCMs, the private business school continued 
to grow. Some of these schools were exceedingly efficient. 
Many of them had well-paid teachers, excellent promotional 
plans, informal but sensible entrance requirements, and 
sound standards for graduation. They utilized most of the 
modern methods of teaching such as the project method, 
student activity, and visual aids. Ihey did not realize 
that they were the forerunners of a significant change in 
the spirit of education. 
There was an enormous turnover in stenographic 
positions. Young men stenographers soon found advancement 
to official or semiofficial positions. Women who were em¬ 
ployed as stenographers usually left when they married. 
1. Ibid., p. 388. 
Society was not yet willing to recognize the right of 
married women to have gainful employment* This situation 
caused a constant increase in private-business school en- 
tollraent, which carried over into the public schools. 
The increase of business students in the secondary 
schools did not materially halt the growth of private busi¬ 
ness schools* Just before World War X the teaching of busi¬ 
ness subjects in secondary schools improved; and this im¬ 
provement temporarily checked the expansion of private 
schools. The war itself reversed the trend. In less than 
two years, over two million people were trained for army 
service. Thousands of them were instructed in shorthand, 
typewriting, and allied subjects. At the same time thousands 
of male stenographers and bookkeepers had to be replaced by 
women. This emergency supplied the private schools with a 
superb opportunity for service, as the public schools at 
that time were not adapted to the training of adults. The 
capacities of the private schools were taxed to the utmost. 
After World War I, the Federal Government partici¬ 
pated in the program of educational rehabilitation and paid 
the tuition fees for veterans. Again private business 
schools profited. 
Present Status of Private Business Schools 
Ttanne^ continues his discussion of private business 
1. Ibid., p. 390. 
25 
schools by stating that in 19l|0, there were about 1, 500 
private business schools and it has been estimated that 
there were close to 500,000 students in these schools. The 
great majority of these were young women, for at that time 
the greater part of the training in the private business 
schools consisted of shorthand and typewriting. Before 1900, 
most students in private business schools took the bookkeeping 
program, and of these students the great majority were men. 
1 
Abuses of Private Business Schools 
In earlier days, many private business schools 
offered dubious education. Some charged Inadequate tuition 
fees. Others spent so much of their income on advertising 
that little remained for instruction. Most schools admitted 
pupils whenever they applied for admission. 
High-pressure salesmanship was common. These sales¬ 
men solicited elementary as well as high school pupils, 
creating a desire in young people to leave school and take 
short courses that would enable them to enter business and 
earn their own living. Misrepresentations were many. Over- 
zealous solicitors guaranteed positions at the completion of 
short courses, regardless of the ability of the school to 
carry out such promises. 
The inefficient, incompetent and inadequately financed 
1. Ibid., p. 392 
26 
schools have, in general, disappeared. Only those schools 
that render efficient service and possess a reputation for 
obtaining positions for their students have, as a rule, 
survived. 
The Efficient Private Business School 
Renders an Invaluable Service 
Tonne1 believes that many private business schools 
render efficient service, employ teachers of high caliber, 
refuse to take immature persons who are not ready for vo¬ 
cational training, charge adequate fees for their services 
and spend the major part of their income on instruction. 
Ihese schools do not guarantee positions and often reject 
applicants unlikely to obtain jobs. 
Large numbers of rural high school students who 
wish to become stenographers or bookkeepers need additional 
technical training to obtain office positions in the larger 
cities. The business school offers a genuine service to 
both the student and the community. 
Private business schools build their reputation on 
their results; that is, the success of the students whom 
they train. These schools maintain a close association with 
the local business organizations, planning their courses to 
meet the needs of the prospective employers. Some businesses 
even pay the tuition of their employees at private schools. 
1. Ibid., p. 392 
27 
Private schools concnetrate on the training most 
needed by the community and the student. In addition to 
the required skills, the curricula often include economics, 
accounting, management, finance, insurance, credit and 
collection, and marketing. Only a very large high school 
could offer such a broad program. 
The Problem of State Control 
Certain state departments of education require 
1 
private schools to register with them, explains Tonne. 
A certificate of approval is granted to those meeting the 
requirements. The idea is spreading that any kind of 
school that performs a public service should be controlled 
by a public agency. Some proprietors of private schools 
oppose this, but others welcome state control because they 
believe it will lessen undesirable and unfair competition. 
In New York and Pennsylvania, the registration of 
private business schools is on a voluntary basis. If a 
school is solvent, has effective equipment, employs teachers 
with substantially the same academic background as public- 
school teachers, and offers an adequate program of study, 
it may register with the state department of education. 
Certification carries certain obligations, but on the other 
hand, it gives the school a standing with the public that 
becomes valuable asset. 
1. Ibid., p. 393 
28 
Business schools have set up a self regulation 
system for themselves. The National Council of Business 
Schools has set up criteria covering faculty, courses of 
study, administration, buildings, and equipment and other 
considerations of an ethical and general nature. They have 
set up minimum requirements for membership in the Council. 
Ihe Key Service of the Private Business School 
The private business school has been the backbone 
of business education, says Tonne]* although subjected to 
a great deal of unjustifiable as well as justifiable criti¬ 
cism. It sets the pace for the secondary school, providing 
the latter with a model of efficiency. The better type of 
business school should not be regarded as an undesirable 
competitor of the public school. Many private schools 
demand that their students possess at least a secondary- 
school education; others will not take students with less 
than a college degree. Private schools offer training 
that many public schools cannot undertake. 
The American Association of Commercial Colleges, the 
National Association of Accredited Commercial Schools, and 
the National Council of Business Schools provide national 
organization. There are also a considerable number of state 
associations working for the improvement of private-school 
business education. 
1. Ibid., p. 397 
CHAPTER V 
GROWTH OP BUSINESS EDUCATION IN THE AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL 
English Classical School For Boys 
As Tonne1 states in his book, the first genuine 
American High School, the English Classical School for Boys, 
at Boston, Massachusetts, was organized in 1823. A course 
in bookkeeping was included in its curriculum. A single¬ 
entry bookkeeping course was provided for by law in the 
secondary school in 1827* New York recognized bookkeeping 
as a part of the secondary-school program. These beginnings 
did not greatly influence the later development of business 
education in the secondary level. The American high school 
like the American academy, is a native institution. In 
spite of its emphasis on classical subjects, the American 
public high school has always been democratic in spirit. 
Its curriculum was molded, not only by what the schoolmaster 
thought was desirable, but also by public opinion. 
The public did not see the need for teaching short¬ 
hand or bookkeeping in the early decades of the nineteenth 
century so little effort was made to give extensive training 
in the public high schools. 
1. Ibid., p. 10. 
29 
30 
Post Civil War Period 
1 
In the post Civil War period, as a result of 
expanding business, the demand for trained bookkeepers and 
stenographers grew tremendously and with it the private 
business school. Parents then began to realize the need 
for business training and wondered why it was necessary.for 
them to send their children to private schools when public 
schools were available. Business education then became a 
major Influence in the secondary school and was modeled 
closely after that of the private school. In some cases, 
public pressure compelled the board of education to give 
commercial training. In other cases, the principals found 
business training a way of increasing their enrollments. 
In still others, teachers in the private business schools 
were anxious to obtain public employment and encourage 
training in the subject matter with which they were acquainted. 
Most of the early teachers received all, or nearly all, their 
training in the private business school. 
Committee of Ten Report 
p 
As late as 1890, the famous Committee of Ten gave 
some attention to commercial courses and it was not until 
1893 that the first regularly licensed teacher of commercial 
subjects was appointed in New York City. 
1. Ibid., p. 10. 
2. Ibid., p. 11. 
31 
Report of the National Education Association of 1903 
In 1901,^ the National Education Association appointed 
a coramittee on commercial education* 'Ihe report published in 
1903 recommended a four year course in place of the three 
year course previously offered and suggested a separate com¬ 
mercial high school be organized, although only large cities 
could afford to do so. The coramittee advocated that a large 
number of academic subjects be included in the commercial 
high school curriculum. 
Ihe report of the coramittee stated that: 
The commercial course in the high school should 
be equal in time of instruction, in educational con¬ 
tent and in disciplinary power to any course in the 
school and any course not following this standard is 
not to be regarded by the department as complete. 
That we hail with satisfaction the increasing 
facilities for the commercial education offered by 
colleges and universities. That we urge upon the 
normal schools of the country the necessity of at 
once undertaking the preparation of commercial 
teachers to meet the growing demand.2 
Ihe report mentioned that there were four courses 
offered in the high school. They were English, classical 
manual training, and commercial. The members of this com¬ 
mittee felt that a child should not have to choose definitely 
at age fourteen what his future vocation would be so the 
courses should be interrelated or flexible enough so that 
the child could change at a later date. 
They believed at this time that the study of type¬ 
writing and shorthand had great possibilities for mental 
1. National Education Association, Address and 
Proceedings, 1903, p* 732. 
2. Ibid., p. 735. 
32 
development and their disciplinary value was very great* 
1 
The high school of commerce mentioned in this 
report appeared early in the twentieth century* There are 
more than twenty of these schools located in various large 
cities, especially on the eastern seaboard* Pew have been 
added to this number since World War I. 
When these schools were first established, shorthand, 
typewriting, and bookkeeping offered the best occupational 
opportunities for boys and girls* Times have changed, but 
not all high schools of commerce have adjusted their pro¬ 
grams to meet present occupational conditions* In order 
to obtain an adequate enrollment, many high schools of 
commerce have been converted into cosmopolitan high schools. 
Some give formal college-preparatory curricula; others fail 
to provide for drop-out job training or co-operative in¬ 
struction. Only a small number offer education in distri¬ 
butive occupations, contenting themselves with a few courses 
in selling and advertising. Consequently most high schools 
of commerce do not differ markedly from ordinary metropolitan 
schools, except for a larger enrollment in shorthand, type¬ 
writing, and bookkeeping courses* The better high schools 
of commerce have, for all practical purposes, become full¬ 
time vocational business high schools. 
1. Tonne, op* cit., p. 1|40 
33 
Report of the National Education Association of 1915 
In a report’*' of the National Education Association 
meeting for 1915# Mr. W. S. Stone, Director, Department of 
Commerce, Tamalpais High School, Sausalito, California, 
stated that the business world of today demands a more 
efficient worker than the bookkeeper who can merely perform 
the mechanical routine of recording facts and preserving 
records—one who from his set of accounts can tell how the 
business stands, what progress it has made since the last 
period of closing, and one to whom the facts in the balance 
sheet stand as symbols forecasting the success or failure 
of the enterprise. The modern bookkeeper needs to be some¬ 
thing of an efficiency engineer and must know the theory 
underlying his work. It is necessary that we teach the 
fundamentals of accountancy in our bookkeeping classes. 
This will be one of the best means of training students to 
think. The cultural value of such a subject lies chiefly 
in the fact that it develops rapid and clear thinking. 
2 
In the same report, Mr. Robert A. Grant, Depart¬ 
ment of Business, Heatman High School, St. Louis, Mo., 
reported that the chief field for the amanuensis (one who 
writes at the dictation of another) was in the business 
office. He brought to the attention of the committee the 
importance of training in shorthand and typewriting for both 
1. National Education Association, Addresses and 
Proceedings, 1915# P» 88I4- 
2. Ibid., p. 897 
34 
boys and girls* Heretofore it had been thought that short¬ 
hand was not important for boys, but he showed how young 
men with stenographic training had advanced rapidly in the 
business world because by being secretaries to executives 
they learned the business and were ready to take over when 
a vacancy occured. 
It was at this same meeting that the subjects of 
night school and linking the school work with business 
enterprises were discussed* IVo school men present recom¬ 
mended this. 
The report of the committee on research, standard¬ 
ization, and correlation for this meeting recommended a 
four year high school course with two schedules, one em¬ 
phasizes accounting, and the other emphasizes stenography 
and typewriting* A system of grouping for the electives 
was recommended* 
Mr. John E. Trelenen,"1* Associate Professor of 
Business Training, University of Texas, Austin, Texas, 
felt that the rapid increase in the number of high schools 
giving business training was a cause for both congratulations 
and apprehension—congratulation that commercial education 
had so rapidly won recognition, and apprehension lest too 
rapid progress result in poorly formulated courses of study 
and a low grade of instruction. Ihere was also the question 
of whether or not business subjects should be taught in all 
1. Ibid., p. 893 
35 
high schools. He felt that business training should be 
given in the high schools of all c ities and industrial towns, 
but questioned the advisability of this training in the high 
schools of the rural areas. He believed that the complete 
commercial course was not closely enough related to rural life 
to justify its introduction into the average rural high school. 
Report of the National Education Association of 1919 
In the report of the National Education Association'*' 
meeting in 1919, P. G. Nichols, Assistant Director for Com¬ 
mercial Education, Rederal Board for Vocational Education, 
Washington, D. C., said that emphasis should be placed on 
the fact that the Federal Board of Vocational Education is 
quite as much concerned in the advancement of business train¬ 
ing as it is in the promotion and development of other lines 
of vocational work. That while the Board is not in a position 
under the law to extend the same kind of cooperation to all 
phases of commercial education as it does to agricultural, 
industrial, and home-economics work, it is thoroughly com¬ 
mitted to the policy of doing everything in its power to 
help commercial educators in the further development of a 
type of vocational commercial education that will meet the 
needs of boys and girls who desire to prepare for commercial 
occupations, or who are already employed in such occupations. 
In keeping with this policy, the Board has ruled that 
1. National Education Association, Addresses and 
Proceedings, 1919, p* 260. 
36 
financial aid may be extended to part-time commercial 
classes, among others, in states where provision is made 
for giving aid to this kind of training in the state plans# 
Details regarding the requirements that must be met by those 
who desire to organize such courses may be obtained from the 
state vocational directors# 
It should be emphasized that there are two kinds of 
part-time classes included under the Federal Board*s ruling: 
first, those that are made up of boys and girls who are de¬ 
voting a part of their time to high-school commercial work 
and a part of their time to office or store employments; 
second, those who are regularly employed in commercial posi¬ 
tions and are enrolled in continuation classes for a certain 
amount of instruction on the employer* s time# 
The Board recommends that students have contact with 
actual business through a cooperative plan during at least 
one year of their course, preferably the last year. 
The Board feels that teacher training for this type 
of education is not adequate and that teacher-training courses 
should be set up so that teachers will be prepared for this 
kind of work. 
Although federal aid has been extended, under the 
vocation-education law to include the training of special 
teachers to give retail selling courses, supplementary legis-- 
lation will be needed before financial aid can be extended 
to the training of commercial teachers in general# 
The Board thought that there should be a specialist 
37 
in commercial education in each state who could cooperate 
with the state authorities in the proper development of 
commercial education, especially along vocational lines* 
Lillian Neipert,^"Department of Commercial Teacher 
Training, State Normal School, Whitewater, V/isconsin, in her 
report at this meeting stated that office training in the 
high school was important. While our high schools have 
taught the subjects of typing, shorthand, and bookkeeping, 
they have not trained the student in practical knowledge 
of filing, mailing, and general office routine. She explained 
that the employer did not have time to teach the new employee 
these things and therefore it was necessary for the high 
school to bridge the gap between the theoretical and practical. 
1. Ibid., p. 262 
CHAPTER VI 
PRESENT STATUS OP BUSINESS SUBJECTS 
IN THE SECONDARY SCHOOL 
Typewriting 
1 
Tonne believes that typewriting is by far the 
most popular business subject in the high school. Many 
students take this subject with little or not intention 
of using it vocationally. This nonvocational group is 
increasing, for the development of the portable typewriter 
has encouraged the use of the typewriter in the home. 
Successful experiments have been made in the use 
of typewriters in the elementary schools, from the kinder¬ 
garten through the eighth grade. The aim has not been to 
teach typewriting, but rather to motivate and aid in the 
learning of reading and of written expression. The result 
has been an improvement in the learning of other subjects, 
including arithmetic, in which writing plays a part. This 
may be proof only of the value of a more efficient writing 
instrument, such as the typewriter, over a less efficient 
one, such as the pen or pencil. 
To what extent faulty typewriting technique, acquired 
on an elementary level, might interfere with the mastery of 
1. Herbert A. Tonne, Principles of Business 
Education, (Gregg Publishing Co., 1947), P* 3U6. 
38 
39 
of typewriting on the job level has not been completely 
determined. 
In some high schools students are segregated. Those 
who take vocational typewriting are put in one class and 
those who take it for personal use in another. This, however, 
is unndecessary as the first semester or the first year is 
the same for both. Those who are definitely interested in 
vocational typing should take the second year of typing. 
Shorthand 
Shorthand has an established place in the high 
1 
school curriculum, asserts Tonne. In the past ten years, 
(1935 to 19i+5)> over one million students have studied this 
subject every year. In spite of the pressure exerted by 
some academic teachers to persuade some students not to take 
this subject; in spite of the strong efforts of some com¬ 
mercial teachers to discourage certain types of students; 
and in spite of the sometimes superficial evidence given 
by guidance teachers about the excessive number of steno¬ 
graphers, students evidently feel that the subject has great 
utility and continue to insist, usually with the support of 
their parents, upon enrolling in shorthand and typewriting. 
Few, if any, other subjects in the high school 
program have been subjected to such bitter criticism as 
stenography. Some antagonists of the subject, even some 
leaders in business education, seem to go out of their way 
1. Ibid., p. 299* 
40 
to find reasons why instruction in this subject should be 
minimized. They point out that many students who take short¬ 
hand never complete the subject and this is quite true. They 
feel that this indicates an unsatisfactory selection of 
trainees. 
This is true. Attempts have been made to make a 
better selection, but existing tests to prognosticate steno¬ 
graphic ability are not satisfactory. They are little more 
useful than a good intelligence test. To date there is only 
one sound means of determining a persons ability to succeed 
in shorthand, and that is to let him take it. However, this 
procedure is not entirely satisfactory, for many students 
have studied the subject at one level of the learning process 
and have been unsuccessful. Later on, when motivation be¬ 
came stronger, they have taken the subject again and have 
succeeded. 
In spite of criticisms shorthand has a definite 
place in the high school curriculum. 
Some New Avenues of Communication 
While shorthand must remain basic in any communication 
system, a number of new aids have been developed, this source 
reveals 
The dictating machine. This is one of the most 
promising means of communication. There are three suggested 
advantages in this machine: 
1. A reduction in the cost of writing a letter, 
including dictation and transcription. 
1. Ibid., p.296 
2. Opportunities for standardization, 
3* A saving of time for the dictator and 
for the transcriber. 
The dictating machine, like all mechanical devices, 
has its limitations. The dictating machine cannot take the 
place of a secretary or stenographers, for many stenographic 
duties cannot be performed by machine. The machine, therefore, 
is largely a supplement to shorthand rather than a substitute 
for it. 
The secondary school usually should not train its 
students in the use of these machines without also providing 
training in shorthand. If dietating-macline operation is 
learned as a supplement to stenography, it may become a valued 
skill to the prospective employee. 
In larger vocational high schools in metropolitan 
communities there may be some justification for training 
dictating-machine operators without preliminary training in 
shorthand, but this should be done only if there is good 
evidence that company schools are not training operators or 
are doing it inadequately. The use of this type of machine 
is expanding rapidly. 
Machine shorthand in schools. The shorthand machine, 
a device by which notes are typed on a tape, has some advantages. 
As with shorthand, dictation can be taken at a high rate of 
speed by skilled workers. Corrections cannot always be made 
so easily as in written shorthand, and the value of such 
machines in court reporting has been questioned by some. This 
42 
machine is probably most suitable for reporting convention 
speeches. However, the shorthand machine usually serves as 
a supplement to shorthand rather than as a substitute for it. 
Some teachers believe that the cost of the machine is prohibi¬ 
tive for most stenographers, and hence training in its use is 
not justified- in the high school. 
This is not a new machine. It was developed around 
i860. As people become accustomed to its use and as it becomes 
less expensive, its popularity undoubtedly will Increase. 
Bookkeeping 
It is the opinion of Tonne1 that the high schools 
of today are probably teaching bookkeeping to over half a 
million students. He feels that the subject of bookkeeping 
as it has been and still is taught in the high schools does 
not meet the needs of the present day business world. When 
bookkeeping was first Introduced into the high school, its 
objective was primarily vocational. The content of the 
courses and the method of teaching were patterned after 
those,of the private business school, where the emphasis 
was placed, and still is, on the immediate vocational effi¬ 
ciency of the student. As soon as bookkeeping had established 
a place for itself in the high school, administrators and 
teachers began to feel that its position was not justified 
by its mere job-getting value. They wished to endow it 
with cultural purposes. They felt that It was just as useful 
1. Ibid., p. 2?5 
43 
to the student as the more traditional subjects because of 
its disciplinary or transfer-of-training value and its help 
in making the student a better citizen* They believed that 
the careful thinkingIrequired in the keeping of accounts 
would carry over into other fields. Because bookkeeping 
stressed neatness in writing and honesty in recording, these 
trails should carry over into other activities for those 
taking this subject. However, by 1925, the disciplinary 
objectives of bookkeeping had become unimportant. Educa¬ 
tional psychologists had shown that transfer-of-training 
value was inherent in no subject, but that it existed in 
any subject where genuine provision was made for such transfer 
to outside activities. 
Until just recently bookkeeping received far more 
attention from business educators than the stenographic 
program. This was justified because at that time bookkeeping 
was the open-sesame to service in business either as a worker 
or as an entrepreneur. Today, however, the general book¬ 
keeper has disappeared from many business offices. His place 
has been taken by the auditor and accountant, who are re¬ 
quired to have professional knowledge; by numerous ledger 
clerks, who need specialized instruction based on duties per¬ 
formed; and by bookkeeping-machine operators, whose numbers 
have increased rapidly. Many small businesses now hire an 
accountant for a day or two a month to work out their records 
for them. This is a much less expensive procedure than the 
full-time services of any bookkeeper they could hire. Because 
of this the objectives of bookkeeping in high schools today 
have changed. 
Present Objectives. After searching through the pre¬ 
faces of many current textbooks, Tonne'*' finds the following 
objectives for present-day bookkeeping: 
1. To learn how to make better records for 
personal and home use* 
2. To be able to interpret and analyze busi¬ 
ness papers and records in the capacity 
of consumer* 
3* To study bookkeeping records and reports 
as an aid in the management of business 
enterprise. 
4. To train students for positions in book¬ 
keeping occupations. 
Tonne concludes that bookkeeping retains its popu¬ 
larity in the high school in spite of the fact that its 
objectives have, in a large measure, been discounted. The 
subject has virtues that many courses lack: Its subject 
matter is concrete, involves organized thinking, and is 
developed by means of related units from the first topic to 
the last. The content also offers the student a learning 
challenge. 
Secretarial Training 
Secretarial training is increasingly favored in 
secondary schools believes Tonne^ It is offered as a finishing 
1. Ibid., p. 276 
2. Ibid., p. 289 
3. Ibid., p. 308 
course for stenographic students in the twelfth grade or 
just prior to job placement* Stenographic skills should 
be developed still further, and some acquaintance with, and 
use of, office equipment and appliances should be included* 
The instruction should be given as nearly as possible under 
job conditions. In secretarial training students are given 
practice in doing those things that are actually done on the 
job in addition to taking dictation and transcribing* In 
this course students are taught how to change a typewriter 
ribbon efficiently, to erase without damage to the machine, 
to correct the sticking of type bars* They also learn how 
to make multiple carbon copies and how to make corrections 
by crowding and expanding letters* Students must not merely 
be taught these skills, but they must have a great deal of 
practice in order to be able to use them efficiently under 
actual job conditions. There are many phases of office pro¬ 
cedure and the mechanics of office work that there is not 
time to teach in the regular shorthand class. 
Clerical Work 
In his book. Principles of Business Education, Tonne1 
says that there are more than two and a half million clerical 
workers in the United States—more than the number of book¬ 
keepers and stenographers combined. Clerical workers are 
sometimes called ’’general clerks”, but actually there are 
few general clerks in the original sense of the term. For 
1. Ibid., p. 31^* 
46 
practical purposes, clerical occupations may be defined as 
the occupations that include the duties not generally 
assigned to bookkeepers, stenographers, salespeople or mana¬ 
gers. 
Tonne*^ quotes John G. Kirk, director of business 
education in Philadelphia schools, when he says that the 
objectives that should be included in a generai^clerical 
major are: 
!• Knowledge of business organization as it 
applies directly to each major department 
of a business. 
2. Knowledge of the use made of business forms 
in each department. 
3. Adequate practice in recording business forms. 
4« Increased knowledge of business terms and 
their spelling. 
5. Improvement in the quality and speed of 
handwriting. 
6. Improvement in speed and accuracy in making 
calculations. 
7* Facility in the operation of office machines. 
To provide the clerical training in high school for 
vocational needs a two-year major beginning in the eleventh 
year is required; in vocational schools more specific training 
In the use and operation of office machines can be provided 
because of the longer school day. 
2 
In the period after World War II says Tonne there 
was a considerable increase in clerical workers of all types. 
1. Ibid., p. 314 
2. Ibid., p. 316 
k7 
During the war period these types of workers were kept at 
a minimum, but after the war there was a need for a better 
control of workers, and a more careful treatment of new ones. 
Because of the release of people from industrial work, there 
was an increase in clerical workers. This made an effective 
program of clerical training all the more important. 
1 
Can the School Train Clerks? Tonne believes that 
this question cannot be answered by a simple "Yes” of ,,No‘;n 
Because of the numerous combinations of duties assigned to 
clerks, it is impossible for the school to give complete 
and specific training on a pre-employment basis. Thousands 
of opportunities develop each year in various clerical 
occupations requiring little or no specific training, and 
thousands of more or less specially trained applicants apply 
each year for such positions. If the secondary school gives 
too highly specialized training, the chances are greatly 
reduced of matching the specifically trained person with a 
job requiring his specific abilities. 
In most general clerical opportunities, specific 
knowledge and skill requirements are few, while personality 
requirements are rather high. The prospective employer, 
therefore, places more emphasis on personal qualifications 
and less on special training. 
1. Ibid., p. 316 
Lewis Toll, of State College, Pullman, Washington, 
in a personal statement, is quoted by Tonne*' as believing 
that: 
The general clerical courses will never be 
offered in a high percentage of public schools, 
and parents and school administrators are prob¬ 
ably correct in determining that the economic, 
social, and individual pressures are greater 
for many other high school courses than they are 
for this course. 
The general clerical course cannot be con¬ 
sidered as a vocational course in the strict 
sense of the term since the specific tasks per¬ 
formed in such a course will not be used on the 
job by the majority of the students of such a 
course, even if every one of the students enters 
an office occupation upon completion of school. 
Furthermore, most of the information and tasks 
included in this course can more profitably be 
learned on the job. 
Probably the best argument for such a course 
is that there is a large number of high school 
students who need remedial work in arithmetic, 
penmanship, and spelling, and who are lacking 
habits of neatness, orderliness, and thorough¬ 
ness. 1 
On the other hand, Tonne" quotes Benjamin R. Haynes, 
of the University of Tennessee, in a personal statement when 
he says: 
Too little attention has been paid to the 
specific training of boys and girls to enter 
specific clerical jobs. This gap exists in 
spite of the fact that census figures show 
that there are more general clerical office 
employees than other office groups. 
It would seem appropriate, therefore, to 
establish at least one course whose content 
should be based upon the findings of job 
analyses. This course would serve as an intro¬ 
ductory or initial course for the spedific 
preparation of those many students who will, 
at least temporarily, go inljo business via 
"general office” positions.. 
L. Ibid., p. 317 
2. Ibid., p. 318 
From these two statements one could probably 
draw the conclusion that a clerical course does have 
value even though the school often cannot provide specific 
training* 
Distributive Education 
Distributive occupations rank third in the number 
1 
of persons employed states Tonne. Nearly eight million 
people are employed in some form of selling or distribution* 
As American economy becomes more expert in the production 
of goods, consumers are asking for comparable expertness in 
the manner in which goods are presented to them* Consumers 
want to know how to use goods, how to make them last as 
long as possible, and how to repair them when that becomes 
necessary* The sad deterioration in merchandising practice 
that consumers had to tolerate during World War II has made 
them all the more insistent on improvement of services* 
Improved distribution techniques will, however, require more 
workers, and, even more important, better-trained workers* 
Difficulties in Offering Distributive Training* Tonne 
believes that there are difficulties in offering distributive 
training, desirable and necessary as such training is. First 
the field cannot be charted easily. There are many different 
types of salesmen, each one requiring different skills and 
knowledge* When the precise steps involved in the selling 
of a particular piece of merchandise are listed, it is found 
1. Ibid., p* 318. 
2. Ibid., p. 343. 
50 
that the person is following a formal or theoretical, rather 
than a realistic, presentation of the sales process. In 
addition to knowledge of the article or service, selling 
involves attitudes more than specific ability. 
Second, selling is only one phase of a general field. 
Because of the many occupations listed under the title of 
sales positions, it must be recognized that training for most 
of these cannot and should not be given. Some require no 
formal training, and in others training can be given only 
on a promotional basis. Furthermore, those for which training 
might be given in high school often do not fit into the 
typical classroom picture. They cannot be taught to large 
classes, from texts, and by a teacher sitting at his desk. 
Tonne1continues his discussion of distributive edu¬ 
cation by stating that one of the major reasons for the under¬ 
emphasis on this training is the inadequate preparation of 
many of the teachers who give instruction in selling and 
kindred subjects. If teachers lack experience they are 
not likely to offer successful courses. Most courses do not 
deal with salesmanship but with practical psychology. 
Psychology should be taught to all s tudents rather than only 
to those who are interested in salesmanship, and practical, 
or business psychology should be frankly labeled as such, 
not disguised as a course in salesmanship or distributive 
1. Ibid., p. 343. 
5i 
training. Many teachers are unable to make this work 
attractive, although there are abundant opportunities 
for doing so. In those communities where teachers do make 
the work realistic, retail training has been highly successful. 
Another reason for the inadequacy of distributive 
1 
training reports Tonne is the failure of schools to enlist 
the co-operation of selling organizations, such as department 
stores, in giving*salesmanship courses. Without co-operative 
training, distributive education is often ineffective. As 
the funds made available by the Federal Government under the 
George-Barden Act of 19i|-7 can be used in secondary schools 
only on a co-operative basis, no help for the secondary 
school prevocational distributive program can be expected 
from this source. 
Federal Aid for Distributive Training. To continue 
2 
from Tonne's book, the George-Deen Act of 1937* made money 
available, |2,500,000, from the Federal Government for this 
type of education. Even when state governments match the 
Federal contribution dollar for dollar, the total sum 
available is small compared with that allowed for other 
Vocational fields. Yet, in 1943# 314*666 persons received 
training in federally aided distributive education. Super¬ 
visors of distributive education have been appointed in 
forty-six states, in the District of Columbia, and in 
1. Tonne, Ibid., p. 344 
2. Tonne, Ibid., p. 352 
3. Tonne, Ibid., p. 352 
52 
Porto Rico. While it is true that a considerable portion 
of the money is still being spent for supervision and control, 
the amount spent on actual training is increasing every year. 
Though most of the training has been given in the department- 
store area, efforts are being•increased to train for small- 
store distributive services. 
Training is to be given to persons over sixteen who 
are full-time workers and who are attending extension or 
evening classes; for brief periods, to full-time students 
who are spending as much time on the job as they are in school. 
To qualify for employment under the George-Barden 
Act, teachers and supervisors must have adequate occupational 
experience. While the state formulates the regulations, the 
Federal authorities have the right to refuse to accept pro¬ 
grams they deem inadequate. 
How Much Distributive Training in High School? Tonne1 
feels that it is clearly impossible for the high school to 
give specific training in most distributive occupations. 
Tais school must confine itself to preservice goals and supply 
the fundamental knowledge of retailing that is useful to any¬ 
one who will engage in a distributive occupation. Transfer 
of most skills to specific job situations is difficult. 
Nevertheless, a limited amount of marginal vocational ability 
can be found in distributive courses, particularly when they 
are taught by teachers with broad experience in merchandising 
1. Ibid., p. 347 
53 
who present the material in a realistic fashion. Sales¬ 
manship and advertising as taught in the high school pro¬ 
gram present the same problems. Except for the marginal 
benefit they are justified on the grounds of personal use 
and informational need. 
Co-operative training. Tonne'1' tells us that although 
much of the material taught in distributive education is 
theoretical rather than practical, the solutions seem to 
depend on some form of co-operation between schools and 
industry. The value of co-operative training was first 
demonstrated in professional schools. When co-operative 
training was first introduced into the public schools, it 
was applied only to industrial education. 
As private industry always furnished the practical 
experience, the reciprocal relation between school and 
office permits the student to make the fullest use of office 
equipment. The time schedule is an administrative detail. 
Prom the employer’s point of view, the most important 
elements of the co-operative plan are wise selection of 
workers and thoroughly co-ordinated instruction. From the 
standpoint of the school and the student, the most important 
feature is the understanding of theory through practical 
application. In the literal sense, knowledge is applied. 
In business education, co-operative training has 
been most effective in retail selling. Efficient preparation 
for this occupation can be given only on a co-operative 
1. Ibid., p. 441 
5k 
schedule. Selling aptitudes can be developed only if the 
learner works part time, actually engaging in the basic 
activities characteristic of this occupation. 
How the Co-operative Training Plan Operates. This 
plan works in various ways explains Tonne1. Students may 
attend school in the morning and work in a store in the after¬ 
noon and on Saturday; or, students may attend school for a 
month or six weeks and work the same length of time. The 
present trend is to insist that co-operating workers receive 
the same hourly wage as full-time workers doing the same 
type of work. In carrying out this program, sound labor 
standards must be maintained; and pupils should not be 
exploited. However, in many cases, the wages paid to pupils 
are so low that they tend to undermine the wage scale in 
the community. This is particularly true if students are 
placed in jobs before they reach the age of eighteen. Al¬ 
though co-operative vocational education seems promising, 
it is possibly more suited to the junior-college level than 
to the high school level of job training. Possibly the most 
important element in the plan is the ability of the co¬ 
ordinator to articulate school education and job training. 
Many business houses do not care to co-operate 
because they have their own training programs and would not 
gain anything by the co-operative arrangement. Thus, co¬ 
operation is often narrowed to organizations whose primary 
1. Ibid., p. 441 
55 
objective is to reduce pay-roll expenses. Sometime 
students are kept too long at one job. The educational 
purpose is soon attained, and thereafter the job becomes 
only a means of earning a little money. 
Tonne says that some educators regard co-operative 
training as a cure-all for the ills and shortcomings of vo¬ 
cational education. It is often asserted that any program 
that does not include job training is superficial. Ihis has 
not been proved. Worth-while education may be given on a 
preservice, non-co-operative basis in shorthand, typewriting, 
bookkeeping, and distributive trade areas. Inadequate co¬ 
operative programs, which are by no means uncommon, have 
little or no value. Cn the other hand, valuable education 
can be given without formal co-operative work. 
J. Marshall Hanna, professor of education, Ohio 
State University, in a personal comment, makes the following 
indictment, as quoted by Tonne: 
Probably no other phase of business education 
has received, in the last few years, as much bally¬ 
hoo with as little concrete results as has the so- 
called trend toward co-operative business educa¬ 
tion. For the most part these co-operative programs 
that have been established on the secondary school 
level are little more than work-experience programs. 
They resemble true co-operative education on paper 
only, but not in practice. With rare exceptions, 
these programs have been merely a convenient source 
of part-time help for employers who neither under¬ 
stand nor are fundamentally interested in training 
youth. 
While there may be some values in just plain 
work experience, these values can and are being 
over-estimated. The advantages must be measured 
in terms of the price the student pays for his 
56 
work experience* That price is acceptance of a 
restricted education program in school, limited 
participation in extra-curricular activities, 
and a decrease in leisure and recreational ex¬ 
perience* It all sums up to nothing short of 
a much over-publicized program for the exploi¬ 
tation of student time. 
Tonn^ suras up his reaction to Mr. Hanna’s criticisms 
by saying that Mr. Hanna limits his judgment to those pro¬ 
grams that sound good on paper, but in practice are not what 
they purpose to be. With this point of view the most ardent 
advocate of co-operative training would be in agreement. The 
difference possibly is that Hanna sees the difficulties and 
limitations*.of the program, while those who advocate the 
plan see its opportunities and possibilities. The answer 
may be somewhere in between. 
The Junior High School Business Program 
First Business Courses Offered. Tonne^ tells us 
that as early as 1890, the Committee of Ten advocated that 
secondary-school training start after six years of elementary- 
school work instead of after eight years as was then the 
general practice. Not much was done with this idea, however, 
until it was revived in modified form by the Committee on 
Reorganization of Secondary Education just before World War II 
and has since become very popular. At first there was little 
inclination to institute business courses in the junior high 
schools, but as the tendency to transfer the work of the 
1. Tonne, Ibid., p. l±l±2 
2. Tonne, Ibid., p. I4J4.3 
3. Tonne, Ibid., p. 374 
57 
traditional secondary school to the junior high school 
developed, beginning courses in shorthand and bookkeeping 
were shifted from the tenth or eleventh grade to the eighth 
or ninth grade. 
It soon became obvious to administrators, though, 
that these subjects had no vocational justification in the 
junior high school. Not only are students too young to 
understand their content, but even if they do learn the 
material, by the time they are in a position to utilize 
these skills, the skills have been forgotten. Instruction 
in formal occupational subjects has been unsatisfactory in 
many junior high schools; and in these cases the instruction 
has had to be repeated in the senior high school causing 
unnecessary duplication of effort, disinterest on the part 
of the students, and inefficiency in the educational pro¬ 
gram. 
There was, therefore, a strong tendency to modify 
these courses to meet the needs of junior high school 
students. Courses in junior high school bookkeeping and 
shorthand were developed by textbook publishers. This 
procedure was not too successful, and the attempts to set 
up special courses in shorthand on the junior high school 
level generally have been dropped. In some schools the 
work has been retained as a phase of a try-out program. The 
elimination of bookkeeping as a formal junior high school 
subject has been much slower. There are, however, very few 
58 
junior high schools in which formal courses in bookkeeping 
sill persist, though record-keeping courses are not un¬ 
common. 
Attempts were also made to include commercial 
geography, business arithmetic, and other social-business 
subjects in the junior high school, but the regular courses 
in these subjects have been so vitalized that there is little 
difference between the traditional subjects and the business 
course. Consequently, the special business subjects have 
also been eliminated. 
Typewriting has survived in the junior high school 
because it involves manipulative skills that appeal to 
„ 1 
students of that age. As the personal-use aspect of type¬ 
writing is steadily increasing, the course may well be given 
in the junior high school. Although typewriting may be 
taught for personal use, it should not be taught superficially 
or by untrained teachers. Typewriting instruction in the 
junior high school is justified only if it offers opportunities 
for the acquisition of skills that may be used as the basis 
for advanced training in the senior high school, where the 
subject is given vocationally. This can be correlated with 
other subjects. For example, pupils can work out their 
school newspaper at the typewriter and mimeograph it as a 
part of their typing instruction. Typewriting is a popular 
subject in the junior high school and undoubtedly will continue 
1. W. T. Gruhn and H. R. Douglas, The Modern 
Junior High School, (The Ronald Press Co., 1947)p.169. 
59 
to draw considerable enrollment. 
Subsequent development. The next stage in the 
development of business education in the junior high school, 
as explained by Tonne^, was the bringing together of the 
various phases of business into one course. In some localities, 
this course consisted of little more than a fusion of pen¬ 
manship, spelling, and arithmetic; in others, it supplemented 
general business and clerical training. Efforts were made 
to co-ordinate the content; formal drill in the tool subjects 
was replaced by emphasis on business relationships. 
Tonne makes the interesting observation that studies 
reveal that penmanship, arithmetic, and spelling can be 
taught efficiently when fused with the rest of the content 
of this course. 
An increasing appreciation of junior business train¬ 
ing was manifested. The emphasis on different objectives 
for the course varied with the schools. The elementary 
portion of the subject was frequently required of all seventh- 
or eighth-grade pupils. In addition, many schools offered 
the advance portion as an elective clerical-training course. 
Present objectives of Junior Business. The objectives 
of junior business as given by Tonne^ are as follows: 
1. It aims to give students an elementary 
understanding of business and to show 
that this aspect of human endeavor has, 
like other social institutions, both 
desirable and undesirable characteristics. 
1. Tonne, op. cit., p. 376. 
2. Ibid., p. 3?6. 
3. Ibid., p. 378. 
60 
2. It delineates the manner in which 
business services may be used and 
attempts to make the students a 
more skillful user of these services♦ 
3. It emphasizes a guidance program* It 
answers such guestions as: What are 
the various business occupations into 
which a boy or girl may enter? What 
is an accountant? How much salary 
does he receive? What kind of training 
should he be given? What is the tenure 
of this kind of position? What are its 
desirable and undesirable features? 
What are the opportunities for women 
in accountancy and other occupations. 
4. It serves as an introduction to other 
courses in business* 
Future Status of Business Subjects in the Junior 
High School. Enrollment in junior business training grew 
rapidly during the 1920!s and 1930*3, says Tonne'1'. In 
more recent years, however, it has become more stationary; 
in fact, in some areas the enrollment has decreased* There 
apparently has been a failure to make use of business- 
education experiences on the junior high school level to 
the extent to which they fit into the junior high school 
pattern of instruction. All too often the fault is due 
to the fact that business teachers in the junior high 
school are interested in teaching shorthand, typewriting, 
and bookkeeping and know little aboutIthe objectives of 
the junior high school. 
p 
Tonne explains that a survey of the programs of 
junior high schools will show that many aspects of business 
1. Ibid., P. 382 
2* Ibid., p* 383 
61 
have been made integral parts of the total unified .core 
program of the junior high school* For example, in the 
social-studies core of the junior high school, such units 
as trade will be found to be receiving prominent attention* 
typing, record keeping, advertising, banking, and similar 
business activities will be found among the more usual and 
more satisfying pupil cocurricular activities. 
While formalized attention to the junior aspects 
of business training may be losing ground, the consideration 
of business as an aspect of our. social system is receiving 
increasing consideration* In some respects, therefore, the 
tendency to drop the formal presentation of business sub¬ 
jects in the junior high school has its desirable aspects. 
CHAPTER VII 
COLLEGES AND SPECIAL SCHOOLS 
College School Of Business 
Brief Early His tory. Prom the book, American 
1 
Universities and Colleges, we learn that the Wharton 
School of Finance and Economy of the University of 
Pennsylvania, organized in 1881, was the first formal 
collegiate school of business instruction in the United 
States. Its original program consisted of academic 
courses with a considerable addition of economic subjects 
dealing with such general topics as money and banking, the 
business cycle, general taxation, principles of commerce, 
and the business aspects of law. The program of business 
training was merely an adjunct to the department of eco¬ 
nomics. 
Around the opening of the twentieth century, 
several other collegiate schools of business appeared in 
widely separated areas—the University of California, the 
University of Chicago, Dartmouth College, New York Uni¬ 
versity, the University of Wisconsin, and the University 
of Michigan. At present most large universities and many 
smaller Institutions have schools, or at least departments 
1. American Universities and Colleges. I9I4.O 
Edition, (Published by American "Council on Education, 
1940) pp. 103-lOlw ,0 
63 
of business. 
Subject matter in collegiate schools of business. 
1 
As explained by Tonne,,the collegiate school of business is 
a new institution; and therefore, some of the course content 
is still not too well integrated. Some of the teaching 
material consists merely of descriptions of business prac¬ 
tices, personal and possibly irrelevant business experienc 
of the instructor, superficial applications of economic 
theory, generalizations about management not based upon 
research, and incompletely digested ideas about psychology 
often based upon outworn theories. As management concepts 
become more professionalized and as futile subject matter 
is gradually eliminated, this work will improve. 
Many specialized curricula are offered: Accounting, 
advertising, banking, brokerage, business law, foreign 
trade, hotel management, insurance, journalism, management, 
real estate, retailing, secretarial training, taxation, 
teacher training, and traffic management. There are also 
general curricula, which are similar to the liberal-arts 
program for those who have not decided upon a subject in 
which to specialize. 
Often the courses and curricula are organized on 
the basis of careful analysis; but such factors as faculty 
availability, good will of the liberal-arts college, and 
1. Herbert A. Tonne, Principles of Business 
Education. (Gregg Publishing Co., T^qTI FT l±Ob. 
bh 
vested interests are at times permitted to be more influential 
in program making than the needs of students. This short¬ 
sightedness may be a serious hindrance to the growth of the 
collegiate school of business. 
No significant emphasis is given to small-business 
enterprise in colleges of business. Smaller business is 
typical of the American system, and many young men with initi¬ 
ative engage in it. Yet the school of business gives almost 
all attention to large-business management and neglects the 
small business into which many of its graduates eventually 
or probably should go. 
Collegiate training in secretarial science. The 
1 
school of business says Tonne, has been traditionally opposed 
to training in shorthand and typing because it was deemed 
that these subjects were not truly professional in character. 
It is true that the average college graduate would not make 
a life!s work of secretarial service. Nevertheless it is 
an excellent entering wedge into business. During the de¬ 
pression years of the 1930,s, therefore, several collegiate 
schools that wished to give added service to their students 
included training in secretarial work in their four-year pro¬ 
pram in the school of business offerings. 
The school of business faces a dilemma in regard to 
these subjects. If it gives all of them in the freshman and 
sophomore years, these skills are likely to be weakened, if 
1. Ibid., p. lj.09 
65 
not lost, by the time the students go out to practice* On 
the other hand, if they are bunched into the junior and 
senior years, they definitely conflict with the concept of 
the school of business where only advanced work is presented. 
Some schools solve the problem, in part, by offering the 
basic courses in the first two years and then giving courses 
in secretarial training, speed dictation, and in practical 
secretarial experience in the last two years; in this way 
the basic skill is maintained, and the professionalized 
elements of the work are developed* Schools of business are 
further encouraged to give secretarial training as a service 
to prospective teachers of shorthand and typing because in 
some cases the schools of education are not permitted, or 
do not wish, to give that training* 
The Graduate School of Business 
Tonne1 reveals in his book that graduate schools 
of business administration have developed in some of the 
larger universities. As a rule the bulk of their student 
body is composed of graduates from liberal-arts colleges; 
therefore much of the work is similar to that of the under¬ 
graduate school of business, though possibly offered on a 
more intensive basis* In all these graduate schools, however, 
definite efforts are being made to create an environment for 
genuine advanced work* Research facilities are gradually 
1. Ibid., p. 4.10 
66 
being provided, and within recent years studies of serious 
merit have been produced. Several of the schools have 
organized institutes for the study of specialized phases of 
business. Most of those who receive their doctorate in 
graduate schools of business do so with the intention of 
teaching business in schools of business* 
In spite of the problems confronting collegiate 
and graduate schools of business the enrollment in these 
courses has definitely increased. 
Junior-College Business Education 
Types of .junior colleges. Walter C. Ellis,1 author 
of the book. Why Junior College Terminal Education? explains 
that there are various forms of public juhior colleges, such 
as junior colleges supported by city public-school systems 
and those supported by junior-college school districts. These 
junior colleges usually, as in California, receive state aid, 
but are also dependent on local taxation. Then there are the 
state junior colleges directly under the state department 
of education or a special board supported by the state govern¬ 
ment. Finally there are those junior colleges that are 
branches of the state university, either off the main campus 
or directly on it. Those junior colleges belonging to a 
university usually are not classified among junior colleges 
because they are considered merely the first two years of the 
1. Walter C. Ellis, Why Junior College Terminal 
Education? (George Banta Publishing Co.) pp* 1-13• 
67 
full four-year program, even though they may operate just 
like independent schools. Among private junior colleges are 
the denominational colleges; nondenominational, nonprofit 
schools; branches of privately controlled universities; and 
proprietory, or profit-motivated,schools. Some private busi¬ 
ness schools resemble junior colleges, and a few have actually 
taken the designation. 
Functions of the junior college. The basic function 
of the junior college as revealed by Ellis'*’ is to make post 
high school instruction available to students for whom it 
would otherwise not be offered, either because of geographical 
placement or because of cost. Supplementary to this purpose 
is that of extending secondary training to those who can 
profit by it. The college is not able or willing to give 
many subjects that the high school is finding it wise to 
shift beyond the twelfth year. Most high schools, for example, 
have decided that they are not fitted to give training for 
junior accountancy, and that their students are too immature 
to profit from it. The college of business is very much 
concerned with preparation for accountancy as a senior pro¬ 
fession rather than as a junior occupation, and wi th training 
in the various ramifications of accounting. Nevertheless 
there are many opportunities for the junior accountant, and 
thousands of young men are interested in entering the work 
at this level. Here is a unique service for the junior 
collegiate type of school. 
1. Ibid., pp. 1-13 
68 
Furthermore, a group of business occupations is 
developing for which training should be given on a post high 
school level, but which the senior college is unwilling or 
unable to provide. In presenting training for these semi- 
professional services, the junior college has a major service 
to render. Junior colleges serve as job-preparation insti¬ 
tutions, so that economically there is sound justification 
for this type of school. 
Business education in the junior college. Business 
education has not yet found a fixed place in ail junior 
colleges, says Tonne^ for many junior collegiate institutions 
are continuing to give a purely academic education. The 
junior college can successfully offer a preprofessional 
business curriculum, since it is commonly agreed that the 
first two years of college should stress general education, 
permitting the student to specialize in the last two years. 
Junior colleges still emphasize transfer to senior colleges, 
as shown by the curricula listed in their catalogues. Yet 
only twenty-five per cent of the students enrolled in junior 
colleges in Chicago, for example, go to institutions of 
2 
higher learning. 
1. Herbert A. Tonne, Principles of Business 
Education, (Gregg Publishing Co., 19lj-7) P• 
2. Ibid., p. 
69 
Furthermore, Shields, as quoted by Tonne} found 
that thirty-three per cent of the students who finished 
junior-college courses went to college, and sixty-two 
per cent entered employment. It would appear, therefore, 
that excessive emphasis is placed on college-entrance 
curricula and not enough on terminal education. 
2 
Terminal ^raining in the Junior College. Ellis 
believes that the terminal program is gradually entering 
the junior college. In fact over a third of the terminal 
programs—for those not preparing for entrance into senior 
colleges—are vocational in nature. There is every reason 
for all but a portion of the terminal curricula to have 
vocational objectives, but that will require considerable 
adaptation in the thinking of parents, students, and 
instructional staff. A considerable number of business 
occupational subjects are taught shorthand, for example 
although the extent to which shorthand should be given in 
the junior college has not been determined. Measurable 
amounts of salesmanship, bookkeeping, and junior accountancy 
are also offered in the junior college. General business 
durricula tend to predominate in junior-college business 
training with secretarial training a close second. The 
number of specialized programs in accounting, merchandising, 
management, legal secretarial, and medical secretarial is 
far less frequent. 
1. Ibid., p. Lfik, H. G. Shields, Junior College 
Business Education, pp. 26-30. 
2T Walter C• Ellis, Why Junior College Terminal 
Education? (George Banta Publishing Co.) pp. 2d£-323. 
70 
There are several other specializations offered 
in junior colleges in terms of the local needs and opportunities 
for employment for graduates. 
Job training in the Junior College. Tonne1 is of the 
opinion that the junior college can r ender an excellent service 
in the field of general clerical work. As the ordinary 
secondary school cannot afford to install the numerous machines 
now used in offices, the junior college can probably take over 
this type of education, particularly in metropolitan areas. 
A vocational skill subject is best learned just before 
it is to be used. The interest is keener at that point, the 
methods and subject matter are more up-to-date, and there is 
no loss of skill due to disuse. The upgrading of skill sub¬ 
jects, however, will be a gradual process, because many high 
school graduates still find employment and teachers and 
counselors have not yet convinced parents that a high school 
education is often insufficient preparation for a stenographic 
or bookkeeping position with its promotional opportunities. 
In time, however, parents will realize that better positions 
are obtained by those with more training; and, as post high 
school public education is extended, they will acknowledge the 
advantage of deferring technical training until boys and girls 
have had a broader education. 
Since terminal curricula are not bound by tradition 
or college-entrance requirements, the courses should be 
1. Tonne, op. cit. p. ij.27 
71 
functional* To this end the employment possibilities of the 
community should be surveyed, and the abilities of present 
and prospective students should be studied* Then the work 
should be planned to fit both the students and the vocational 
needs of the community, 'ffhe fact that the junior college is 
free to adjust itself to community needs enables it to render 
a distinctive service. Work experience should be an essential 
phase of junior-college training. 
Business courses offered by Junior Colleges. The 
business courses offered in junior colleges declares Ellis"*' 
are not markedly different from those in the senior high 
school or the collegiate school of business. The most common 
subjects are economics, accounting, banking, and finance. 
Typewriting, shorthand, office practice, business law, and 
merchandising rand next in popularity. Courses in economic 
geography, consumer education, and real estate problems are 
also taught. 
Adult Education For Business 
2 
Tonne is of the opinion that just as it is desirable 
for the community, either through its industrial plants or 
possibly in its schools, to train people for initial service 
in skilled occupations, it is likewise often helpful to 
provide retraining programs for those jobs made unnecessary 
by new developments in industry. The speed of change in our 
1. Walter C. Ellis, Present Status of Junior College 
Terminal Education. (George Banta Publishing Co.) pp. 75-76. 
2Z Herbert A. Tonne, Principles of Business Education* 
(Gregg Publishing Co., 19ij-7) p. 447. 
72 
system of production is such that there is a constant 
resultant of unemployed due to technological developments* 
It is most unwise for us to put people of the age of sixty, 
fifty-five, and in many cases, even forty-five, on the shelf 
just because their particular skills are no longer vocationally 
significant. 
Industrial organizations are frequently willing to 
give initial training to young workers, but are often re¬ 
luctant to give this type of training to the older workers. 
For this reason it may often be even more desirable to give 
school training to the older worker who has lost his particular 
trade due to technological changes than it is to give it to 
the younger worker. Ihere can be little doubt that a signif¬ 
icant growth in adult school education is of value. 
The adult-education movement functions through many 
vehicles—through adult institutes, labor lyceums, evening 
schools, recreation centers and specialized schools. In 
most cases, existing educational facilities can be adapted 
to meet the needs of adults. 
Special classes for adults in full-time vocational 
schools, colleges, and other institutions must be provided 
because the training offered to adolescents is not suited to 
persons of mature years. 
The adult-education movement is too recent to possess 
particular characteristics so far as business education is 
concerned. Considerable experimentation is needed, therefore; 
73 
but unquestionably adult education for business offers 
splendid opportunities and will undoubtedly become widespread 
in the future* 
On-The-Job Training For Business 
1 
Need for on-the-.job training ♦ Tonne asserts 
that the outstanding deficiency of vocational training has 
been inadequate on-the-job instruction* The result of 
this failure of employers to give good on-the-job instruction 
has caused secondary school and post high school vocational 
administrators to attempt to provide job training for many 
types of work that could be better learned on the job* This 
has been especially true of business education* Except for 
a limited number of office-machine workers and a consider¬ 
able number of stenographers, there is little specific pre¬ 
employment training required for business occupations. Some 
training supervisors in department stores have little patience 
with preemployment training in merchandising* They are often 
quite willing to participate in co-operative training programs, 
not, however, because of the unique quality of the training 
received in school, but because it provides them with able 
and willing young workers for the initial jobs that people 
are reluctant to take on a full-time basis. Furthermore, 
they are able through this procedure to select from among the 
part-time workers the more desirable ones for full-time 
employment* The marginal organizations co-operate because 
1. Ibid., p. 
74 
they get workers for lower salaries, and, in many communities, 
1 
obtain free service. The real solution, says Tonne', to this 
problem is not to attempt to put all forms of job training 
for business into the secondary school or into the thirteenth 
year or to provide co-operative training, but rather to 
provide competent on-the-job training. 
Industry has tried for some time to have effective 
on-the-job training, but it has proved difficult because 
of lack of standards, and lack of good instructors who knew 
how and what to teach and how to make the workers enthusi- 
2 
astic for such training. Because of this Tonne gives us 
the criteria by which business and industry are now trying 
to set up good on-the-job training programs. They are as 
follows: 
1. On-the-job training must be promoted. 
No matter how good a training program 
is, if people are not sold on its 
value, they will not appreciate it. 
2. The purposes of training must be 
determined. The trainer must know why 
he is giving the training; he must have 
varied evidence of what it can do; and 
he must make certain that the means 
for carrying through the training pro¬ 
gram are available. 
3. Training standards must be determined 
and based upon specific evidence of 
job performance. 
4* Selection is basic to effective training. 
Personnel must be selected as efficiently 
as possible in order to make training 
result in maximum usefulness. 
1. Ibid., p. 454* 
2. Ibid., pp. 463-471. 
75 
5. There must be incentive for improve¬ 
ment. Office workers must be convinced 
that they will benefit personally by 
improving their performance. 
6. Facilities should be adequate. Unless 
the office manager is willing to provide 
adequate training facilities, the training 
program will be severely handicapped. 
7. Qualified instructors are needed. The 
trainers niust be convinced of the value 
of their work, and they must be able to 
stimulate interest in all those concerned 
with the training program. 
8. Training must be well-planned. The 
procedure for training must be thought 
out carefully, and every step must fit 
into its proper place. Needs must be 
determined, facilities provided, and 
trainers obtained. 
9* Techniques must be determined. It must 
be decided whether there shall be group 
instruction or at-the-desk instruction. 
10. The trainer must participate in the 
process of creating good office personnel 
relations as personality adjustments are 
even more significant in causing poor 
office performance than lack of technical 
knowledge. 
11. Integration of training is necessary. 
The worker must not only know her 
isolated duties, but also how her work 
is related to the work of the rest of 
the office. 
12. Training must be used. Unless trainees 
find that there is to be immediate 
application of their training, they 
become disinterested and transmit this 
disinterest to their superiors. 
13. Follow-through is essential. The 
initiator of the on-the-job training 
program must make certain that the 
purpose is attained. 
76 
li|. Evaluation is fundamental. Top 
management wants to know that the 
money it is spending on training 
is producing results. 
During the war, TWT, a service of the War Manpower 
Commission set up a course in Job Instructor Training. The 
results of this to war industry and the armed forces office 
training were tremendously effective. 
Training Teachers of Business Subjects 
The success of the educational process 
depends, in large measure, on the teacher. 
No doubt, some people are born teachers; 
but there are not many of them. Consequently, 
it is necessary to utilize the services of 
thousands of persons who become successful 
teachers through training and experience. 
Early Training of business teachers. Prom the 
book. Problems in Business Education! Eighteenth Yearbook, 
we learn that when business subjects were first introduced 
into the high school the private business school was 
usually the only available source for teachers. Although 
those teachers knew their subjects thoroughly, they did 
not always understand the educational objectives of the 
public school and were apt to follow the methods of the 
private business school. 
The next step in business education was to draw 
1. Ibid., p. 475. , , ^ 
2. Problems in Business Education, Eighteenth 
Yearbook, 1947-lW^ Published by The Columbia Education 
Association of the City of New York and vicinity, 1949. 
pp. 8-16. 
77 
teachers from one- and two-year normal schools. Normal- 
school graduates would attend a private business school 
fo^ a few months to learn shorthand, typewriting and 
bookkeeping, preparatory to taking positions as business 
teachers in the high schools. Later the normal schools 
introduced business education. In general though, they 
found it difficult to give prospective teachers the busi¬ 
ness education they needed because of the difficulty of 
including more than a few technical business courses in 
a program planned primarily for elementary-school teachers. 
At the opening of the present century, business 
teachers were occasionally recruited from newly established 
collegiate schools of business. These schools, as a rule, 
offered courses only in accounting and allied subjects. 
Secretarial teachers, therefore, had to be procured else¬ 
where. However, improved business training was by this 
time given in .some three-year normal schools, which 
graduated many qualified teachers. 
In general, lack of adequate training and limited 
outlook were characteristic of most of these earlier 
programs. In addition, the business courses were considered 
practical rather than cultural, and this also tended to 
lower the prestige of business education. 
One of the early devices for the iraproyement of 
teachers in service was the teachers institute. The extent 
of improvement in quality that can be attained in a one- or 
two-day program planned to meet the needs of all teachers 
78 
regardless of previous exposure was, of course, limited. 
Another early practice was the certification of 
teachers on the basis of examination. When the county 
superintendent of schools with little or no background 
in business set the examination, it is obvious that the 
check-up was not very valid. In some cases the examinations 
were given under the auspices of the state department and 
were quite efficiently handled. 
Until about 1925, less than a quarter of the busi¬ 
ness teachers had earned the baccalaureate degree. Since 
1925, a great advancement in the profession standing of 
business teachers has taken place. 
Present training. In the book. Synchronizing 
Business Education with Business Needs,-^Nineteenth Year¬ 
book, we find that today few business teachers acquire 
their preparation in private business and normal schools. 
The majority attend teachers colleges and universities 
that specialize in business and education. This is as it 
should be, for private business and normal schools cannot, 
as a rule, offer all the training that the business teachers 
need. 
The following are given as the minimum requirements 
for teachers of business subjects: 
1. The skills and attitudes desirable for 
all educated persons. 
1. Synchronizing Business Education with Business 
Needs, Nineteenth Yearbook. Published by The Commercial 
Education Association of the City of New York and Vicinity, 
1950. 
79 
2* Training in business or in some phase 
of it, 
3. A knowledge of principles and methods 
of teaching, 
4* A general cultural education. 
Many schools now require business experience for 
teachers. If the business experience of the teacher is 
of the right kind then it is very valuable. If, however, 
the experience is not good and the teacher gains the wrong 
impression of the true procedures in an office then by 
giving this information to students she is doing more harm 
than good. However, there is no quarrel with the importance 
of business experience of the proper kind. 
Graduate training for business teachers is now 
almost a must. There is also an increasing emphasis upon 
in-service training, as well as pre-service training. Now 
the fifth year is widely recognized as a phase of the pre- 
service work; and hence it is quite different from the 
true graduate study. Some states require a certain number 
of graduate credits before a certificate is given. Summer 
school and extension training are also providing important 
phases of teacher training. 
CHAPTER VIII 
SUMMARY 
Prom the material read, it was learned that 
man has always had some sort of commerce. Informal 
training for business is probably as old as business 
itself. In this study the writer has traced business 
training from the apprenticeship form in ancient times 
to present-day business education. This apprenticeship 
training reached its pinnacle during the period of the 
Middle Age's. 
Although there were some formal schools for 
business training in some of the Hanseatic cities 
during the Renaissance, their programs of instruction 
had little influence on present-day training either 
here or in Europe. 
With the coming of the factory system of 
production, the effectiveness of the apprenticeship 
system as an organized thing gradually decreased. 
Apprentices became merely hands working for an employer 
at lower wages. This brought about the beginning of 
business training. 
In the 1800‘s, Germany, France, Austria, 
80 
81 
England, Switzerland, Italy, and Belgium had developed 
some form of commercial training to take care of the needs 
of the men in the business field at that time. Courses 
were given in commercial arithmetic, discount, bookkeeping, 
and science of government. 
The apprenticeship system did not develop exten¬ 
sively in the United States as it was eliminated by the 
factory system. Organized business education did not 
develop as fast as industrial education because until 
recent years trade was simple and required few specialized 
techniques. Some bookkeeping, primarily the copying of 
records was taught in the Latin Grammar School, 
There is evidence that bookkeeping, arithmetic, 
and some shorthand were taught in the American Academy, 
However, shorthand was not in much use as proceedings of 
legislatures and courts were not kept in any detail. 
With the advent of the typewriter in the early 
1870* s, business education in the schools developed. How*- 
ever, it was not until the close of the twentieth century 
that the typewriter was perfected and proved to be efficient. 
In 1837, Isaac Pitman invented a shorthand system 
that became widely popular, but the value of shorthand 
remained restricted until the typewriter was perfected. 
About 1890, John Robert Gregg brought his system 
of shorthand to the United States. This is the system 
most widely used in the United States and English-speaking 
82 
countries. It has also been adapted to eleven foreign 
languages. Gregg Shorthand is taught in 99.25 per cent 
of the cities and towns in the United States where in¬ 
struction in shorthand is offered. 
Thomas Shorthand was produced in 1935* and 
Forkner Shorthand in 1952. These have not as yet received 
anywhere near the popularity of Gregg. 
Machine Shorthand was developed in 1913. This is 
now used in specialized work in Federal and state services, 
trade associations, manufacturing, publishing, and reporting. 
With the organization of large industrial and 
financial business units after the Civil War, there was a 
steady demand for competently trained bookkeepers. Because 
of this need for trained workers the private business 
schools developed. The Bryant-Stratton chain was started 
in Cleveland in 1852. By 1865, this organization had forty- 
four schools in forty-four cities. 
During World War I, it was necessary to train 
thousands of people in shorthand, typewriting, and book¬ 
keeping. This gave further impetus to the private school. 
Before this time the public had not seen the need for 
teaching shorthand, typing, and bookkeeping in the high 
school so little effort was made to give extensive training 
in the public schools. 
After the demand for trained bookkeepers and steno¬ 
graphers grew to such proportions, parents began to realize 
83 
the need for business training, but did not see why it was 
necessary for them to send their children to private schools 
when public schools were available* Because of the demand, 
most high schools now teach business subjects* 
Distributive education, (George-Deen Act, 1937) & 
fairly new subject in secondary schools, is assuming greater 
importance* There are difficulties in offering this training, 
but as teachers are being trained for it and business is 
becoming interested and will co-operate these difficulties 
will be removed. 
Some business training has been given in the junior 
high school, but most of it has been eliminated because 
students of that age.are not ready for this type of work. 
Typewriting has survived in the junior high school because 
it involves manipulative skills that appeal to students of 
that age. 
Because business training has assumed such import¬ 
ance there are other special schools offering business courses. 
Most colleges and universities now offer some of this training. 
The Wharton School of Finance of the University of Pennsylvania, 
established in l8bl, was the first formal school of college 
business instruction in the United States. Our present 
college and graduate school of business courses have developed 
from this. 
The junior college is developing a business course 
for those students who do not plan to go on to college. 
84 
In many cities, retraining programs are now 
offered in the adult education classes, so that people from 
age forty-five through sixty-five can be trained for some 
type of business work. This offers splendid opportunities 
for these people and will undoubtedly become widespread in 
the future. 
Industry and business are now offering on-the-job 
training for people already employed. Where this has been 
carefully worked out, it has proved of great value to the 
organizations concerned. 
Teacher training for business has developed since 
1925* Now the majority of business teachers attend colleges 
and universities that specialize in business education. 
Graduate training for teachers is now almost a must. There 
is also an increasing emphasis upon in-service training, as 
well as pre-service training. 
Perhaps no better general summary of the status 
and development of trends in business education exists than 
that presented by Tonne^hen he discusses the offerings, 
progress, social aspects, job training, and teacher training 
for this branch of education. 
1. Herbert A. Tonne, Principles of Business 
Education, (Gregg Publishing Co., 1947) PpV 5I3P5F7T 
85 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Boucher, Chauncey Samuel. Chicago College Plan, 
University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1935» 
Bryson, Lyman. Adult Education, Americfah Book Co., 
New York, New York. 
Burton, Mary. "Machine Shorthand,” United Business 
Education Association Journal, (March, 1951) PP* 27-28. 
Ellis, Walter C. Present Status of Junior College 
Terminal Education, George Banta Publishing Co., 
Menacha, Wisconsin. 
Ellis, Walter C. Why Junior College Terminal Education? 
George Banta Publlshing Co., Menacha, Wisconsin. 
Forkner, Hamden L. Experimental Edition, Forkner 
Publishing Co., 1952. 
Gruhn, William T., and Harl R. Douglas. The Modem Junior 
High School, The Ronald Press, 1947• 
Tonne, Herbert A. Principles of Business Education, 
Gregg Publishing Co., 1947• 
Thomas, Charles A. Thomas Natural Shorthand, Prentice- 
Hall, Inc., 1942. 
American Universities and Colleges, 194^ Edition, 
Published by American Council on Education. 
Handbook of Adult Education, American Association for 
Adult Education-1936> George Grady Press, New York, N. Y. 
Integrated Adult Education, Columbia University Teachers 
College, Columbia University, 1935* 
National Business Education Outlook, Eighth Yearbook, 
Published by Ann Arbor Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan. 
National Education Association, Addresses and Proceedings, 
13577 
National Education Association, Addresses and Proceedings, 
—F5I77  
86 
National Education Association, Addresses and Proceedings, 
1919.  
Problems in Business Education, Eighteenth Yearbook, 
!W?riW97 The Columbia Education Association of 
the City of New York and Vicinity, 19ij.9. 
Report of the Commissioner of Education, 1896-1897. 
VoT.T 
Synchronizing Business Education with Business Needs, 
Nineteenth Yearbook. Published by The Commercial 
Education Association of the City of New York and 
Vicinity. 1950. 
University of Southern California Education Monograph, 
1953-1935”"Series, Published by University of Southern 
California Press, Los Angeles, California.