University of Pittsburgh School of Education - History

History

A school of education at the University of Pittsburgh has roots as far back as 1843, when a teachers college designed to meet the demands for a proposed Pittsburgh High School, was implemented as part of an experimental curriculum by university head Heman Dyer. However, plans were disrupted by an 1894 fire that destroyed the University's facilities and records of this early attempt at a education school. The current School of Education grew out of the Department of Psychology and Education established in 1904. Edmund Burke Huey helped in founding the department, and that year, the university to offer its first two courses on education for practicing teachers. As the department grew, and the demand for local education training increased, Huey promoted the idea of a Teachers College, as it sometimes called, prompting then Chancellor Samuel McCormick to propose the establishment of a school of education. The trustees of the University adopted a plan on February 3, 1910, for the organization of the school. The first term of the School of Education began on September 26, 1910, and it shared space with the Schools of Mines and Engineering. Will Grant Chambers, who replaced Huey who had left the university to pursue research on mental retardation, served as its first dean and head professor.