Prior to 1871, the university admitted only those passing the required academic examination. However, with the changing times, the decision to allow graduates from secondary schools to enroll was made (a dramatic step in the Institute of Higher Learning, and a leader in it's field). The incoming students were to come from schools that were in step with the academic standards of the esteemed university. Committees of the university's faculty were sent to high schools to investigate the quality of instruction to those students that were to start classes in the fall without examination. John Dewey was on many of these committees, and what he learned disturbed him. He became aware that the quality of the secondary school was dependent on the training the child had received in grade school!.
s (Wirth, 15). This discovery led to further examination, not of the cognitive skills of the children, but of the manner in which they were being taught. The psychologist Dewey felt that the curriculum was on the right wavelength, but the manner it was delivered was just plain off. He felt that any shortcomings in the high school student originated from the ill-conceived programs and methods in practice in the primary schools, which determined how minds processed information. Wanting to provide the students with a manner in which their abilities could blossom and continuously develop, John Dewey began developing an alternative solution; one that would combine educational, psychological and philosophical ideas. This was the primary focus, which led to the progressive movement. When asked why he felt such a style was thought to be better than the accustomed teaching practices he simply replied "It was mainly an account of the children" (Wirth, 16). Such a believer in practicing what he preached, Dewey enrolled his own children in the Chicago Laboratory School, his own venue he birthed to put his theories to work.
