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Bess Goodykoontz

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Bess Goodykoontz
A white woman with dark wavy bobbed hair, wearing a soft open jacket
Bess Goodykoontz from a 1935 publication of the US Department of the Interior
BornAugust 21, 1894
Waukon, Iowa, U.S.
DiedJuly 29, 1990(1990-07-29) (aged 95)
South Newfane, Vermont, U.S.
Occupation(s)Educator, federal official

Bess Goodykoontz (August 21, 1894 – July 29, 1990) was an American educator and federal official. She was assistant US Commissioner of Education from 1929 to 1945.

Early life and education

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Goodykoontz was born in Waukon, Iowa, the daughter of Edward Warren Goodykoontz and Lela Sherman Goodykoontz. She earned bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Iowa, in 1920 and 1922.[1][2] She was a member of Delta Zeta sorority.[3]

Career

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Goodykoontz taught school in Iowa and Wisconsin. She was an assistant professor of education at the University of Pittsburgh in the 1920s. She was assistant US Commissioner of Education from 1929[4] to 1946. From 1933 to 1937, she was president of Pi Lambda Theta.[3] During the 1930s, much of her attention was focused on vocational education; she also encouraged the use of motion pictures in educational settings,[5] and testified before a 1933 Senate hearing on teacher salaries.[6] During World War II, she testified before a 1943 Senate hearing on childcare programs to meet the needs of working mothers.[1][7] She frequently spoke at college commencement exercises and teachers' conventions.[8][9][10][11]

After World War II, Goodykoontz was part of the rebuilding effort in Germany.[12] She was director of the elementary education division from 1946 to 1949.[13] In 1950, she was named Associate Commissioner of Education.[12] From 1951 to 1956, she was director of the comparative education division. In 1956, she became director of the international education division. [14] She was president of the World Organization for Early Childhood Education.[1] In 1959 she was named Woman of the Year by Delta Zeta.[14] She retired from the Office of Education in 1960.[1]

Publications

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Goodykoontz wrote many articles for scholarly and professional journals, including Childhood Education,[15] The Elementary English Review,[16] Teachers College Record,[17] Bulletin of the American Library Association,[18] Hispania,[19] Pi Lambda Theta Journal,[20] and National Altrusan.[21] She also created publications for the Office of Education, including The Elementary School Principalship: Some Aspects of Its Development and Status (1938, with Jessie A. Lane)[22] and Know Your Community as a Basis for Understanding the Schools Problems (1941).[23]

  • "Teaching Pupils to Organize What They Read" (1930)[16]
  • "Pan-Pacific Women's Organization" (1931)[21]
  • "Some Factors Affecting the Elementary English Curriculum" (1931)[24]
  • "The Relation of Pictures to Reading Comprehension" (1936)[25]
  • "A Bibliography of Unpublished Studies in Elementary School English, 1934-1936" (1937)[26]
  • "Propaganda: What It Is; How It Works; What to Do About It" (1938)[27]
  • The Elementary School Principalship: Some Aspects of Its Development and Status (1938, with Jessie A. Lane)[22]
  • Know Your Community as a Basis for Understanding the Schools Problems (1941)[23]
  • "The Importance of Education for Family Life at the Various School Levels" (1941)[28]
  • "Challenges to the Present Structure of American Education" (1945)[17]
  • "Why Education for Inter-American Understanding?" (1945)[19]
  • "Changes Needed in School Organization to Provide for Special Groups" (1945)[29]
  • "The Elementary School of Tomorrow — Its Possible Structure" (1946)[15]
  • "Hobbies Extend Horizons, Too" (1952)[30]
  • "Selected Studies Relating to Community Schools" (1953)[31]
  • "Children's Needs Throughout the World" (1955)[32]
  • Basic Human Values for Childhood Education (1962)

Personal life

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Goodykoontz adopted a daughter, Ellen Darrow.[33] She died in 1990, aged 95 years, at her daughter's home in South Newfane, Vermont.[14][5] Her papers are in the Hoover Library,[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Schaefer, Matthew (2021-03-31). "Women's History Sources at the Hoover Library: Bess Goodykoontz-Educator and Writer". Hoover Heads. Retrieved 2022-03-01.
  2. ^ Blackwood, Paul E. (1991-06-01). "Later Leaders in Education: Bess Goodykoontz: 1894–1990". Childhood Education. 67 (4): 265–270. doi:10.1080/00094056.1991.10520808. ISSN 0009-4056.
  3. ^ a b "Miss Goodykoontz Studies School Problems". Evening Star. 1938-07-24. p. 47. Retrieved 2022-03-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Assistant Commissioner of Education". School Life. 15: 30. October 1929.
  5. ^ a b Narvaez, Alfonso A. (1990-08-04). "Bess Goodykoontz, Education Official In 1930's, Was 95". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-03-01.
  6. ^ United States Congress Senate Committee on Banking and Currency (1933). Loans by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to Aid Public Schools: Hearings ... Seventy-second Congress, Second Session, on S. 5263 ... U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 100–102.
  7. ^ United States Congress Senate Committee on Education and Labor (1943). Wartime Care and Protection of Children of Employed Mothers. Hearing...on S. 876...and S. 1130....June 8, 1943. pp. 23–29.
  8. ^ "'Your Task to Make Common Things Sublime', Bennett Tells Convention Audience". The Courier. 1932-09-30. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-03-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Dr. Bess Goodykoontz Complimented at Tea". The News and Observer. 1944-10-19. p. 7. Retrieved 2022-03-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Degrees Conferred by Kutztown State Teachers College". The Morning Call. 1936-05-27. p. 5. Retrieved 2022-03-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Meredith Arranges Program for Finals". The News and Observer. 1945-04-22. p. 11. Retrieved 2022-03-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ a b "Dr. Bess Goodykoontz Appointed Associate Commissioner of Education". School Life: 52. January 1950.
  13. ^ "Schools Not Run Democratically, US Educator Tells Teachers". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 1948-04-22. p. 3. Retrieved 2022-03-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ a b c "Bess Goodykoontz, 95, Dies". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-03-01.
  15. ^ a b Goodykoontz, Bess (1946-01-01). "The Elementary School of Tomorrow — Its Possible Structure". Childhood Education. 22 (5): 215–220. doi:10.1080/00094056.1946.10724650. ISSN 0009-4056.
  16. ^ a b Goodykoontz, Bess (April 1930). "Teaching Pupils to Organize What They Read". The Elementary English Review. 7 (4): 87–93. ISSN 0888-1030. JSTOR 41381357.
  17. ^ a b Goodykoontz, Bess (1945-10-01). "Challenges to the Present Structure of American Education". Teachers College Record. 46 (10): 1–21. doi:10.1177/016146814504601001. S2CID 248420328.
  18. ^ Goodykoontz, Bess (August 1938). "Relation of Books and Libraries to Education, from the Standpoint of Elementary and Secondary Schools". Bulletin of the American Library Association. 32 (8): 501–507. ISSN 0364-4049. JSTOR 25689470.
  19. ^ a b Goodykoontz, Bess (1945). "Why Education for Inter-American Understanding?". Hispania. 28 (3): 383–389. doi:10.2307/333311. ISSN 0018-2133. JSTOR 333311.
  20. ^ Goodykoontz, Bess (October 1937). "President's Report to the Biennial Council". Pi Lambda Theta Journal. 16 (1): 4–6. ISSN 2374-3093. JSTOR 42915329.
  21. ^ a b Goodykoontz, Bess (March 1931). "Pan-Pacific Women's Organization". National Altrusan: 7–8.
  22. ^ a b Goodykoontz, Bess; Lane, Jessie A. (1938). The Elementary School Principalship: Some Aspects of Its Development and Status. Bulletin, 1938, No. 8. Office of Education, United States Department of the Interior.
  23. ^ a b Goodykoontz, Bess (1941). Know Your Community as a Basis for Understanding the Schools Problems. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  24. ^ Goodykoontz, Bess (January 1931). "Some Factors Affecting the Elementary English Curriculum". The Elementary English Review. 8 (1): 3–6. ISSN 0888-1030. JSTOR 41381397.
  25. ^ Goodykoontz, Bess (1936). "The Relation of Pictures to Reading Comprehension". The Elementary English Review. 13 (4): 125–130. ISSN 0888-1030. JSTOR 41382384.
  26. ^ Goodykoontz, Bess (1937). "A Bibliography of Unpublished Studies in Elementary School English, 1934-1936". The Elementary English Review. 14 (7): 250–266. ISSN 0888-1030. JSTOR 41381038.
  27. ^ Goodykoontz, Bess (1938). "Propaganda: What It Is; How It Works; What to Do About It". Pi Lambda Theta Journal. 17 (1): 6–9. ISSN 2374-3093. JSTOR 42915387.
  28. ^ Goodykoontz, Bess (1941). "The Importance of Education for Family Life at the Various School Levels". Pi Lambda Theta Journal. 19 (4): 113–115. ISSN 2374-3093. JSTOR 42915647.
  29. ^ Goodykoontz, Bess (1945-10-01). "Changes Needed in School Organization to Provide for Special Groups". Teachers College Record. 46 (10): 22–96. doi:10.1177/016146814504601002. S2CID 248420616.
  30. ^ Goodykoontz, Bess (1952-04-01). "Hobbies Extend Horizons, Too". Childhood Education. 28 (8): 362–365. doi:10.1080/00094056.1952.10724942. ISSN 0009-4056.
  31. ^ Goodykoontz, Bess (November 1953). "Selected Studies Relating to Community Schools". Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education. 54 (10): 64–82. doi:10.1177/016146815305401005. ISSN 0161-4681. S2CID 246489420.
  32. ^ Goodykoontz, Bess (1955-09-01). "Children's Needs Throughout the World". Childhood Education. 32 (1): 8–11. doi:10.1080/00094056.1955.10726654. ISSN 0009-4056.
  33. ^ Ohles, Frederik; Ohles, Shirley G.; Ohles, Shirley M.; Ramsay, John G. (1997). Biographical Dictionary of Modern American Educators. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 137. ISBN 978-0-313-29133-3.
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