Normal schools in the United States

Normal schools in the United States in the 19th century were developed and built primarily to train elementary-level teachers for the public schools. The term “normal school” is based on the French école normale, a sixteenth-century model school with model classrooms where model teaching practices were taught to teacher candidates. Many high schools in the 19th century had one-year "normal school" programs to train teachers for common schools, In the early 20th century the normal schools all became state colleges. More recently most have become state universities with a wide range of programs beyond just training teachers.

History

Further information: History of education in the United States, History of secondary education in the United States, and History of higher education in the United States

The former normal schools that survive in the 21st century have become state universities. Before 1860, "common schools" were elementary schools, and many high schools provided a year or two of instruction to young women as part of preparation for teaching in the common schools. New England—especially Massachusetts—was the center for educational innovation. ^[1]

New England

1823 – Columbian School in Concord, Vermont

In 1823, Reverend Samuel Read Hall founded the first private normal school in the United States, the Columbian School in Concord, Vermont. ^{[2] [3]} Influenced by similar academies in Prussia and elsewhere in Europe, American normal schools were intended to improve the quality of the burgeoning common school system by producing more qualified teachers. Hall also founded the first private normal schools in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. ^[3] His original school was renamed Concord Academy before closing after seven years. ^[4]

1839 – Lexington Normal School, Lexington, Massachusetts

Site of the first public normal school in the United States, in Lexington, Massachusetts. This institution went on to become Framingham State University.

Massachusetts took the lead among state governments, thanks to a grant of $10,000 from a Boston philanthropist and a vigorous campaign led by James G. Carter and Horace Mann. The legislature in 1838 provided for normal schools in the towns of Lexington, Bare and Bridgewater. The first state-sponsored normal school opened in 1839 in Lexington. The goal was to provide training in how to teach children in the ungraded common schools. The new curriculum included an in-depth review of the usual subjects; a review of the physical, mental and moral psychological development; the general principles and methods of teaching; and covered daily plans, discipline; and practice teaching. ^{[5] [6]} In 1844 that school moved from its original site of Lexington to West Newton, and then in 1853 to Framingham. Today, Framingham State University is recognized as the oldest continuously operated public normal school in the United States. Anna Brackett attended this school and in 1863 became the first woman principal of a teachers' college.

1849 – State Normal School, New Britain, Connecticut

In 1849, the Connecticut General Assembly established a State Normal School, a training school for teachers. In 1850, a new building to house the Normal School was built in New Britain. In 1933, the school became the Teachers College of Connecticut and in 1959 it became Central Connecticut State College, and finally in 1983 renamed Central Connecticut State University. CCSU is the oldest publicly funded higher education institution in Connecticut.

1854 – Rhode Island State Normal School, Bristol, Rhode Island

Rhode Island State Normal School was established by the Rhode Island General Assembly in 1854. Its creation can be attributed to Henry Barnard, the first state agent for education in Rhode Island who had established the Rhode Island Teachers Institute at Smithville Seminary in 1845, and his successor, Elisha R. Potter.

With the dedication of a new building in 1898, the institution began a period of steady growth, evolving first into a teachers' college, the Rhode Island College of Education. In the 1958–59 academic year the college moved to its current Mount Pleasant campus, and in 1959 was renamed Rhode Island College to reflect its new purpose as a comprehensive institution of higher education. With an enrollment predominantly from Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut, the institution historically has served as a "College of Opportunity" for first-generation college students. ^[7]

1854 – Salem Normal School, Salem, Massachusetts

State Normal School, Bridgewater MA (1896), today Bridgewater State University

Salem Normal School, now Salem State University, was founded in 1854 as the fourth Normal School in Massachusetts. In 1853, the General Court authorized the founding of a normal school in Essex County. Proposals were received from Salem, Chelsea, Groveland, and North Andover. ^[8] Salem was selected due to many factors including the city's historical and commercial significance and need for local teacher education.

Prior to the founding of the normal school, Salem women had few opportunities to receive teacher training and the Salem school system was replete with funding, attendance, and teacher compensation problems. It was assumed that by training women as teachers, they could be hired at a lower salary than male teachers, thus alleviating the city's public school budget and teacher compensation challenges.

The original location was at the corner of Broad and Summer Streets, with the building's dedication held on September 14, 1854. Richard Edwards, a graduate of Bridgewater Normal School (now Bridgewater State University), was the first president of Salem Normal School. ^[9]

1864 – Farmington State Normal School, Farmington, Maine

Established in 1864, Farmington State Normal School was the first public establishment of higher education in the state of Maine. In 1945, the school was renamed "Farmington State Teachers College". The Farmington State Teachers College was acquired by the University of Maine system in 1968 and is today the University of Maine at Farmington.

Northeast

1855 – Millersville Normal School, Millersville, Pennsylvania

Millersville Normal School was founded in 1855 as the first normal school in Pennsylvania. Over the years it has changed its name a number of times eventually becoming Millersville University of Pennsylvania.

1855 – The Paterson City Normal School, Paterson, New Jersey

A land grant institution founded as the Paterson City Normal School in the industrial city of Paterson, NJ to train teachers for NJ schools. In 1951, the school moved to the present campus in Wayne, NJ which was purchased by the State in 1948 from the family of Garret Hobart, twenty-fourth vice president of the United States and renamed Paterson State Teachers College. In 1971, it was renamed William Paterson College of New Jersey in honor of William Paterson (judge), a United States Supreme Court Justice appointed by President George Washington, after the legislative mandate to move from a teachers' college to a broad-based liberal arts institution. The New Jersey Commission on Higher Education granted William Paterson university status in June 1997 and it is now known as The William Paterson University of New Jersey (WPUNJ). The second oldest public university in the state; Rutgers (public) and Princeton (private) being older and pre-colonial.

1855 – New Jersey State Normal School, Trenton, New Jersey

Founded in 1855, the college was located in Trenton until 1928, when it moved to Ewing Township, where four-year baccalaureate degrees began to be offered. The college exists today as The College of New Jersey (TCNJ).

1855 - Newark Normal School; Newark, New Jersey

Founded in 1855, the college was located in Newark until 1958 when it moved to Union, New Jersey. Known as Newark Normal School from 1855 to 1913; subsequently named New Jersey State Normal School at Newark 1913–1937; New Jersey State Teachers College 1937–1959; Newark State College 1959–1973; Kean College of New Jersey 1973–1997. The college exists today at Kean University

1861 – Oswego Primary Teachers School, Oswego, New York

Established as Oswego Normal School, the Oswego State Normal School was founded by Edward Austin Sheldon, and recognized as a state school in 1866 by New York State becoming the Oswego State Normal and Training School. The school was part of the training program Sheldon devised to introduce the Pestalozzi method of education to the schools of the city of Oswego, the first time the method had ever been used in the United States. The "Oswego Movement" was highly influential nationwide. ^[10] Sheldon's school became Oswego State Teachers College in 1942, and was upgraded again to a liberal arts college in 1962, becoming known as Oswego State University (now The State University of New York at Oswego).

1865 – Baltimore Normal School for Colored Teachers, Baltimore, Maryland

Established in 1865 by the Baltimore Association for the Moral and Educational Improvement of the Colored People, School #1 opened on January 9, 1865, in the African Baptist Church in Crane's Building on the corner of Calvert and Saratoga streets. In 1867, with the aid of the Freedmen's Bureau, the Quakers of England and others, the Baltimore Association purchased and renovated the Old Friends Meeting House at the corner of Saratoga and Courtland streets to house the Baltimore Normal School for Colored Teachers. The school moved to Bowie, MD in 1911, changing its name to the Maryland Normal and Industrial School at Bowie in 1914. Today, this school exists as Bowie State University.

1866 – Keystone State Normal School, Kutztown, Pennsylvania

On September 15, 1866, the Keystone State Normal School was established on what is now the site of Kutztown University's Old Main. The needs of a burgeoning industrialization in the region placed more and more demands on teacher preparation, and in 1928, the institution was designated Kutztown State Teacher's College (now Kutztown University) and authorized to confer the bachelor's degree.

1866 – Maryland State Normal School, Baltimore, Maryland

While the state created the Maryland State Normal School in the state constitution of 1864, MSNS would not open its doors in Baltimore until January 15, 1865. The school was moved to Towson, Maryland in 1915. In 1935, it was renamed the State Teachers College at Towson, and by 1963 it was changed to a liberal arts school and was renamed Towson State College. In 1976 it was renamed Towson State University and by 1997 it was Towson University.

1871 – Normal School, Buffalo, New York

Buffalo State was founded in 1871 as the Buffalo Normal School before becoming the State Normal and Training School (1888–1927), the State Teachers College at Buffalo (1928–1946), the New York State College for Teachers at Buffalo (1946–1950), SUNY, New York State College for Teachers (1950–1951), the State University College for Teachers at Buffalo (1951–1959), the State University College of Education at Buffalo (1960–1961), and finally the State University College at Buffalo in 1961.

1908 - New Jersey State Normal School at Montclair, Montclair, New Jersey

Founded as New Jersey State Normal School at Montclair 1908–1927; subsequently named Montclair State Teachers College (1927–1958). Montclair State Teachers College merged with the Panzer College of Physical Education and Hygiene (1928–1958; previously Newark Normal School of Physical Education and Hygiene, 1917–1928) and renamed Montclair State College (1958–1994) before adopting its current name, Montclair State University.

1923 - Glassboro Normal School, Glassboro, New Jersey

Founded as Glassboro Normal School 1923; subsequently named Glassboro State College (1958–1992) and Rowan College of New Jersey (1992–1997) before adopting its current name, Rowan University.

1927 - New Jersey State Normal School at Jersey City, Jersey City, New Jersey

Founded as New Jersey State Normal School at Jersey City in 1927–1935; subsequently named New Jersey State Teachers College at Jersey City (1935–1958) and Jersey City State College (1958–1998). The college exists today as New Jersey City University (NJCU).

Midwest

1853 – Michigan State Normal School, Ypsilanti, Michigan

Diploma from a normal school in the U.S.

The first normal school west of the Appalachian Mountains in the United States was the Michigan State Normal School, now Eastern Michigan University. It was created by legislative action in 1849 and opened in Ypsilanti, Michigan, in 1853. ^[11]

1857 – Illinois State Normal University, Normal, Illinois

The State of Illinois passed an act to establish a normal school on 18 February 1857, and proposals were submitted to locate the new school in Batavia, Bloomington, Peoria, and Washington (in Tazewell County). Bids were opened by the State Board of Education in Peoria on 7 May 1857 and the offer from Bloomington, Illinois, was accepted. The normal school was located near the village of North Bloomington, which later was renamed Normal in honor of the school. The school, originally known as Illinois State Normal University (ISNU), and also known as the Illinois State Teachers College, ^[12] is now known as Illinois State University.

1857 – Harris Teachers College, St. Louis, Missouri

Harris–Stowe State University, now a state university in Missouri, was founded by the St. Louis public school system in 1857 and claims to be the oldest normal school west of the Mississippi River.

The modern university is the result of the merger of the two normal schools in the area, Harris Teachers College, the older of the two institutions and segregated for white people only, and Stowe Teachers' College, which was segregated for black people only, following the Brown vs. BOE decision in 1954.

1858 – Winona State Normal School, Winona, Minnesota

The first state-authorized normal college to open west of the Mississippi River was Winona State Normal School, now called Winona State University, which opened in 1858. Its creation was one of the first acts of the newly formed Minnesota Legislature.

1863 – Kansas State Normal Schools, Kansas

First graduating class at the Kansas State Normal School, 1867

In 1863, the Kansas Legislature passed an act to establish the Kansas State Normal Schools, starting with the first in Emporia, Kansas, which eventually became Emporia State University Teachers College. ^[13] From 1870 through 1876, Leavenworth Normal School operated in Leavenworth, Kansas, and from 1874 through 1876 Concordia Normal School operated in Concordia, Kansas, but the "miscellaneous appropriations bill of 1876" caused Leavenworth and Concordia to close and consolidated operations at the Emporia location. ^[14] Other normal schools were opened in Kansas including in 1902 the Western Branch of the Kansas Normal in Hays, Kansas, eventually becoming Fort Hays State University. ^[15] In 1904, a branch in Pittsburg, Kansas, was opened as the Manual Training Auxiliary School, which eventually became Pittsburg State University. ^[16]

Indiana — 1865, Indiana State Normal School

The Indiana General Assembly established the Indiana State Normal School in Terre Haute on December 20, 1865. Its location in Terre Haute was secured by a donation of $73,000 by Chauncey Rose. As the State Normal School, its core mission was to educate elementary and high school teachers. The school awarded its first baccalaureate degrees in 1908 and the first master's degrees in 1928.

In 1929, the Indiana State Normal School was renamed as the Indiana State Teachers College and in 1961 it was renamed Indiana State College due to an expanding mission. In 1965, the Indiana General Assembly renamed the college as Indiana State University (ISU) in recognition of increasing student population and expansion of degrees offered. Former NBA player Larry Bird is a graduate of ISU, although many people mistakenly believe he went to Indiana University (IU)(in Bloomington). Indiana University - Bloomington is approximately 52 miles south and east of ISU.

1866 – Platteville Normal School, Platteville, Wisconsin ^[17]

1867 – Nebraska State Normal School, Peru, Nebraska

Nebraska State Normal School was chartered on June 20, 1867. ^{[18] [19]} The action by the Nebraska legislature ^[18] made it the first state-supported college in Nebraska ^[19] with the first classes held on October 24, 1867. ^{[18] [19]} The name changed to Nebraska State Teachers College at Peru in 1921, and in 1949 it changed to Peru State Teachers College. ^[20] The current name of Peru State College was adopted in 1963. ^[19]

Class of 1894 at Mankato State Normal School, Mankato, Minnesota

1868 – Mankato Normal School, Mankato, Minnesota Mankato Normal School was the second normal school in Minnesota. Students were usually 17–19 years old when they entered. The student body, which peaked at about 900 in 1920–21, was approximately three-fourths female. In 1921 the school evolved into Minnesota State University, Mankato.

1869 – Third State Normal School, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Located in St. Cloud, the Third State Normal School was the third normal school established in Minnesota. It welcomed 50 students (40 women and 10 men) as well as 70 children for the model school. Ira Moore was the school's first principal (later president). It graduated its first class, numbering 15, in June 1871. It trained mostly teachers through the end of World War II and then branched out into other disciplines. It is today's St. Cloud State University.

1876 – Iowa State Normal School, Cedar Falls, Iowa

Opened as Iowa State Normal School in 1876, the school took over the facilities that the state of Iowa originally built to be home to orphans of its Civil War Veterans. The school changed to Iowa State Teachers College in 1909, then State College of Iowa in 1961 before becoming the University of Northern Iowa in 1967.

1888 – Moorhead Normal School, Moorhead, Minnesota

Minnesota State Senator Solomon Comstock introduced a bill to the Minnesota State Legislature in 1885, declaring "...[a normal school] would be a fine thing for the Red River Country and especially for Moorhead." Comstock then donated six acres of land and the next session of the Legislature appropriated $60,000 for the construction of Main Hall, which included classrooms, administrative offices and a library. When The Moorhead Normal School opened in the fall of 1888, President Livingston Lord presided over five faculty members and a class of 29 students. As the school expanded over the years, it went through several name changes, eventually becoming Minnesota State University Moorhead in 2000. ^[21]

1892 - Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan

Founded as a private normal school to address the lack of formal training in the "norms" of teaching. After the Michigan State Board of Education took over governance of the school it became a state institution and was renamed Central State Normal School in 1895. The institution became a full university and gained its current name Central Michigan University in 1959 under the university's 6th president Judson W. Foust.

1894 – Springfield Normal School, Springfield, Missouri

The Springfield Normal School was founded in 1894 in Springfield, Missouri, to train teachers for public schools in southwest Missouri. This private school offered a Masters of Pedagogy as a two-year post high school degree. Students also participated in a variety of extra curricular activities. Enrollment was as high as 700 students. ^[22]

In 1906, the private school merged with the new state normal school becoming the Fourth District Normal School. The school moved to its current site with the completion of the building now called Carrington Hall in 1909. The school has evolved into a research university and is now Missouri State University. ^[23]

1899 – Ellendale State Normal and Industrial School

This was one of the schools of higher learning provided for in North Dakota's 1889 constitution. Courses included American citizenship, cooking, woodworking, physical education, and others that together were offered as "a living symbol of democracy". ^[24]

Ohio

In 1871, the Northwestern Ohio Normal School, which later became Ohio Northern University, was founded in Ada, Ohio. The Lowry Normal School Bill of 1910 authorized two new normal schools in Ohio—one in the northwestern part of the state (now Bowling Green State University) and another in the northeastern part (now Kent State University).

West

California — 1857, California State Normal School

Main article: California State Normal School

After a private normal school closed in San Francisco after only one year, politicians John Swett and Henry B. Janes sought to establish a normal school for San Francisco's public school system, and approached George W. Minns to be the principal for the nascent institution, with Swett as an assistant principal. The normal school began operations in 1857 and became known as the Minns Evening Normal School. In 1861, after the continued success of the Evening School, superintendent Andrew J. Moulder requested that a committee be formed to create a report on the merits of fully funding a state normal school. Minns Evening Normal School became the California State Normal School in 1862, and is today San Jose State University.

See also

• Normal school, for rest of world
• List of normal schools by country
• Teacher education , for rest of world

Notes

1. Katz, Michael B. (2001). The irony of early school reform: Educational innovation in mid-nineteenth century Massachusetts. Teachers College Press.
2. "Samuel Read Hall Biography". Old Stone House Museum. Archived from the original on 5 April 2010. Retrieved 3 July 2009.
3. George Nelson Torrey (1 April 2005). "An early Yankee Educator". Archived from the original on 20 September 2006. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
4. "Concord Human Capital". Center for Rural Studies. University of Vermont. Archived from the original on 1 July 2016.
5. Norton, Arthur, ed. (1926). The First State Normal School in America: the Journals of Cyrus Peirce and Marv Swift. Harvard University Press. p. xviii.
6. Barger, Robert N. "Normal Schools". History of American Education Web Project. University of North Dakota.
7. Carbone, Hector Richard (1971). The history of the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction and the Rhode Island Normal School as agencies and institutions of teacher education, 1845-1920 (PhD thesis). University of Connecticut. hdl:11134/20002:860657996.
8. Pitman, J. Asbury (February 1930). "The Salem Normal School: Past, Present, and Future". The Elementary School Journal. 30 (6): 417. doi:10.1086/456430. S2CID   144079098.
9. Maloney, Joan (1990). Salem Normal School 1854–1905: A Tradition of Excellence. Acton, MA: Tapestry Press. pp. 1–27. ISBN   0-924234-31-8.
10. Dearborn, Ned Harland (1925). The Oswego movement in American education (PhD thesis). Columbia University.
11. Eastern Michigan University. "A Brief History of EMU". Archived from the original on 4 January 2008. Retrieved 18 December 2007.
12. "Ardith V. Davis". Platt County Journal Republic. 8 January 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
13. "Emporia State University History". Archived from the original on 25 August 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
14. Transactions of the Kansas State Historical Society, Volume 6. Kansas State Historical Society. 1900. pp. 114–116.
15. "History of FHSU – Fort Hays State University". www.fhsu.edu.
16. Vosburgh, Haydan (May 2012). "Emporia State University". Kansas Historical Society. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
17. "The Historical Marker Database (Wisconsin First State Normal School)". by Wisconsin Historical Society. 1985.
18. Longfellow, Ernest (1967). The Normal on the Hill. Grand Island, Nebraska: The Augustine Company. pp. 13–14.
19. Sullivan, Dan (2017). Nebraska's First College – Shaping the Future Since 1867. Marceline, MO: Omaha World-Herald. pp. 9, 135. ISBN   978-0-692-88708-0.
20. "Archive Records Peru State College (Nebraska State Normal School)" (PDF). History Nebraska (Nebraska State Historical Society). 2007. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
21. "Minnesota State University Moorhead's History".
22. "Normal School, Springfield, Mo".
23. "History of the University – About Missouri State – Missouri State".
24. North Dakota History, Journal of the Northern Plains, 2022, Vol. 87, No. 1, Page 18–34.

Further reading

• Bohan, Chara H.; Null, J. Wesley (Summer–Fall 2007). "Gender and the Evolution of Normal School Education: A Historical Analysis of Teacher Education Institutions". Journal of Educational Foundations. 21 (3–4).
• Borrowman, Merle L. (1956). The Liberal and Technical in Teacher Education: A Historical Survey of American Thought . New York: Columbia University. –a major scholarly survey
• Cochran-Smith, Marilyn; Feiman-Nemser, Sharon; McIntyre, D. John, eds. (2008). Handbook of research on teacher education (PDF) (3rd ed.). Routledge. ISBN   978-0-203-93869-0. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023.
  • Labaree, David F. (2008). "An uneasy relationship: The history of teacher education in the university". In Cochran-Smith, Marilyn; Feiman-Nemser, Sharon; McIntyre, D. John (eds.). Handbook of research on teacher education (3rd ed.). Routledge. pp. 290–306. ISBN   978-0-203-93869-0.
• Dunham, E. Alden (1969). Colleges of the Forgotten Americans. A Profile of State Colleges and Regional Universities. New York: McGraw-Hill. OCLC   51118.
• Edwards, Elizabeth (2001), Women in Teacher Training Colleges, 1900–1960: A culture of femininity, London: Routledge, ISBN   9780415214759
• Elsbree, Willard S. (1939). The American teacher: Evolution of a profession in a democracy. American Book Company.
• Gordy, J. P. (1891). Rise and growth of the normal-school idea in the United States. Bureau of Education Circular of Information. Vol. 8. Washington, Govt. print. off. –a standard scholarly history
• Harper, Charles A. (1970) [1939]. A century of public teacher education: The story of the State teachers colleges as they evolved from the normal schools . Greenwood Press. ISBN   978-0-8371-3939-5. LCCN   78-104271. SBN   8371-3939-2.
• Herbst, Jurgen (1980). "Nineteenth-century normal schools in the United States: A fresh look". History of Education. 9 (3): 219–227. doi:10.1080/0046760800090303.
• Lucas, Christopher J. (1999). "Part 1: A Historical Perspective". Teacher Education in America: Reform Agendas for the Twenty-First Century. Palgrave Macmillan US. pp. 3–94. ISBN   978-1-137-07269-6.
• Mattingly, Paul H. (1975). The classless profession: American schoolmen in the nineteenth century. NYU Press. ISBN   978-0-8147-5400-9.
• McClelland, Averil Evans (2014). The education of women in the United States: A guide to theory, teaching, and research. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-135-77602-2.
• Melder, Keith E. (1972). "Woman's high calling: The teaching profession in America, 1830-1860". American Studies. 13 (2): 19–32. doi:10.1353/amsj.v13i2.2397 (inactive 12 July 2025).
• Moffett, M'Ledge (1929). The social background and activities of teachers college students. Teachers College Contributions to Education. Vol. 375. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University.
• Monroe, W. S. (1952). Teacher-learning theory and teacher Education, 1890-1950. Greenwood.
• Ogren, Christine Ann (1996). Education for women in the United States: The state normal school experience, 1870-1920 (PhD thesis). University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• Ogren, Christine (2005). The American state normal school: An instrument of great good. Springer. doi:10.1025/9781403979100 (inactive 12 July 2025). ISBN   978-1-4039-7910-0.
• Ogren, Christine A. (2007). "'Precocious knowledge of everything': New interpretations of women's higher schooling in the US in the late-18th and early-19th centuries". Journal of Curriculum Studies. 39 (4): 491–502. doi:10.1080/00220270701310867.
• Sadovnik, Alan R.; Semel, Susan F., eds. (2002). Founding mothers and others: Women educational leaders during the progressive era. Palgrave. doi:10.1007/978-1-137-05475-3. ISBN   978-1-137-05475-3.
• Salvatori, Mariolina Rizzi (1996). Pedagogy: Disturbing history, 1819-1929. University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN   9780822939221. OCLC   34410306.
• Solomon, Barbara Miller (1985). In the company of educated women: A History of Women and Higher Education in America. Yale University Press. ISBN   9780300036398. OCLC   14134708.
• Underwood, Kathleen (1986). "The pace of their own lives: Teacher training and the life course of western women". Pacific Historical Review. 55 (4): 513–530. doi:10.2307/3639492. JSTOR   3639492.
• Weiler, Kathleen (1989). "Women's history and the history of women teachers". Journal of Education. 171 (3): 9–30. doi:10.1177/002205748917100303.
• Waller, Willard (1965). Sociology of Teaching (PDF). Wiley.

Individual schools and states

• A historical sketch of the State Normal School at Albany, N.Y. and a history of its graduates for forty years. Albany, NY: Brandow & Barton. 1884.
• A history of the State normal school of Kansas, for the first twenty-five years. Emporia, KS. 1889.
• Bicknell, Thomas Williams (1911). A history of the Rhode Island Normal School.
• Kline, Melinda J. (1998). Akron Perkins Normal School: An Institutional History, 1898-1931. ERIC   ED428033.
• Learned, William S.; Bagley, William C.; McMurry, Charles A.; Strayer, George D.; Dearborn, Walter F.; Kandel, Isaac L.; Josselyn, Homer W. (1920), The Professional Preparation Of Teachers For American Public Schools, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching –long, in-depth study of Missouri
• Norton, A. O., ed. (1969). The first state normal school in America: the journals of Cyrus Peirce and Mary Swift . New York: Arno Press & The New York Times. LCCN   76-89213. – Cyrus Peirce in 1839 founded an experimental normal school in Lexington, Massachusetts; it was relocated and today is Framingham State University; a primary source.
• Ogren, Christine A. (1995). "Where coeds were coeducated: Normal schools in Wisconsin, 1870–1920". History of Education Quarterly. 35 (1): 1–26. doi:10.2307/369689. JSTOR   369689.
• Putnam, Daniel (1899). A History of the Michigan State Normal School (now Normal College) at Ypsilanti, Michigan, 1849-1899. Ypsilanti, MI.

Primary sources

• Borrowman, Merle L., ed. (1966) [1965]. Teacher Education in America: A Documentary History. Classics in Education. Vol. 24. Teachers College Press. LCCN   65-17004.
• Norton, A. O., ed. (1926). The first state normal school in America: the journals of Cyrus Peirce and Mary Swift. Harvard University Press. – Cyrus Peirce in 1839 founded an experimental normal school; a primary source.
• Sizer, Theodore R., ed. (1964). The Age of the Academies: Classics in Education. Teachers College, Columbia University. ^[1]

External links

• Media related to Teacher training colleges at Wikimedia Commons

1. "The Age of the Academies: Classics in Education Edited by Theodore R. Sizer, New York, Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University. 1964". History of Education Quarterly. 5 (4): 269. December 1965. doi:10.2307/367586. JSTOR   367586.