Teacher Use of Reading in Preparing High-School Study Assignments: 1919 and 1969

Abstract

In 1919 Gray (1) studied the uses which high school teachers made of reading during supervised study periods. His approach was interesting. First he requested the teachers of the University of Chicago High School to name the various ways they employed reading in the preparation of assignments. Twenty-nine uses of reading were stated by these teachers. Gray next submitted the list of twenty-nine statements to 250 teachers "representing all departments of typical high schools." Teachers were asked to check the five uses of reading which they believed to be most important in preparing assignments in their departments. The replies obtained were recorded by departments and the results expressed in "terms of percentages. Gray found that the uses of reading varied widely from department to department. Since 1919 there have been a number of significant changes in American secondary education. First a much larger percent of American youth is presently enrolled in high school programs. Secondly, the curriculum of the typical secondary school has been greatly broadened. Finally, during the past decade there has been increasing recognition that provisions for systematic reading