College and University Books

Martin Grove Brumbaugh was an eminent educator who became Governor of Pennsylvania at a time when some Republicans sought their own alternative to the Democrats' educator turn politician of Woodrow Wilson. Brumbaugh, though, proved to the Republican leaders that he was smart enough not to allow himself to be led by their will. As Governor, he successfully fought for and won a child labor law and a workers compensation program and defended women's suffrage. As a religious pacifist and opponent of entry into World War I, he as Governor made an intellectual choice to perform his obligations as Governor to be the leader of his state's military against what might well have been his contrary personal feelings. He was a man who made tough choices, and he was penalized and hailed for those decisions.

This biography favorable captures the essence of Martin Grove Brumbaugh. He enjoyed learning and built upon his education towards furthering his endeavors. When once questioned how long it took him to write a speech, he responded "the preparation of that speech took me just five minutes--and 40 years." The bulk of his working life focused on education issues.

Growing a mustache to hide his youth, Brumbaugh was elected County Superintendent of Schools at the age of 22 in 1884. Winning election by just one vote, it became his duty to annually visit 200 schools with 235 teachers and 9,000 teachers during an era when the average age of a teacher was 25. Brumbaugh distinguished himself by objecting to the fact that male teachers earned far more than female teachers, an issue he remained devoted to throughout his life. Further, he designated Music and Drawing as core courses. Braumbaugh was also an early supporter of requiring teachers to pass qualifying examinations before they could teach. He developed such an exam. One year, about half the prospective teachers failed his exam.

The education programs fought for by Brumbaugh led him to become an unofficial but important advisor Louisiana schools from 1889 through 1893. He was saddened by the poor conditions of many of the Louisiana schools he visited. He brought the concept of blackboards to schools that were unfamiliar with them. Brumbaugh returned to Pennsylvania to further his own studies. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Afterwards, he resumed his crusade for education improvements, including fighting for offering college classes during evenings, weekends, and summertime. In 1989, he became the President of the Pennsylvania State Teachers' Association.

Brumbaugh became Puerto Rico's first Commissioner of Education in 1900. His tenure was controversial. He persuaded President McKinley to increase funds for schools in Puerto Rico. He was accused of purchasing school desks in an improper fashion and was questioned for having schools purchase a textbook he wrote, decisions he vigorously defended as legal and proper as he had great faith in his own work.

Brumbaugh returned to Pennsylvania to serve as Philadelphia's Education Commissioner. He found a system where Philadelphia's Republican ward leaders were powerful influences on education policies as each ward had a 12 member school board in addition to each ward sending one representative to a citywide Board of Education. Some school directors were caught and successfully prosecuted for selling teacher positions. As Philadelphia's Commissioner, Brumbaugh assisted in establishing the first Traders School in America, almost tripled the salaries of female teachers (who still remained with less pay than male teachers), led a successful drive to create a new state school code, and, noting there were over 50,000 Black students, and increased the number of Black teachers from 49 to 97.

Physical fitness became a priority of Brumbaugh's, who recognized the connection between fitness and learning. In 1907, Brumbaugh became President of the Playgrounds Association of Philadelphia where he sought donations to purchase vacant lots near schools to turn them into equipped playgrounds.

The Philadelphia Republican machine in 1914, led by the Vare brothers, decided Brumbaugh made an attractive candidate for Governor. Brumbaugh agreed to run. The Vare brothers had their opponent in a statewide Republican power struggle, Boies Penrose, agree to a compromise ticket with Penrose for U.S. Senator and Brumbaugh for Governor. Running for office was something that was alien to his Brethren religion, and there were some Brethren who felt that had Brumbaugh prayed properly he never would have become a candidate. Brumbaugh, though, strongly defended his desire for government service and even declared that anyone who criticized Pennsylvania's government committed treason.

Brumbaugh defeated Vance McCormick in being elected Governor and his margin of victory likely helped the political boss Boies Penrose to a more narrow election. Brumbaugh then returned his more moral roots and, stunned to realize he suddenly controlled 54,000 patronage jobs, began to stand up to the Republican leaders who had persuaded him to run. Penrose openly vowed revenge. When he vetoed a bill that would allow railroads, a powerful lobby and key backer of the Republican Party, to be required to have one less person on crew on each train, the Republican power brokers began splitting with Brumbaugh. Brumbaugh offered himself as a favorite son candidate for President, as some Republicans thought Brumbaugh was the Republican academician answer to Democrat Woodrow Wilson. Yet, Brubmaugh received only 21 Pennsylvania delegate votes with 34 Pennsylvania votes going to Philander Knox for President.

Penrose attempted to have Brumbaugh impeached. Republican legislators loyal to Penrose accused Brumbaugh of diverting $30,000 of a legislative contingency fund for Executive Mansion maintenance expenses. A resolution to investigate the Governor passed the legislature. The Auditor General, though, stated that Executive Mansion expenses should not be paid for by the Governor personally. The impeachment movement failed.

While Governor, Brumbaugh reluctantly signed into law a direct inheritance levy. He successfully pushed and won passage of bills that increased the minimum salaries of teachers and superintendents. He fought for and lost an attempt to abolish capital punishment.

Brumbaugh, both for religious reasons and representing a state that had 12% of its population of German descent, spoke out for staying neutral in the war in Europe that would later be known as World War I. When America entered the war against Germany and its allies, Penrose loyalists in the legislature feared Brumbaugh would not properly exercise his duties of Commander in Chief of the Pennsylvania National Guard. They unsuccessfully sought to place the National Guard under legislative control. Brumbaugh though declared that being American was more important than his pacifism. He performed his National Guard administrative duties and further created a Pennsylvania Reserve Militia to assist the State Police due to the depletion of the Guard within the state.

After serving as Governor, Brumbaugh was to have served as the State War Historian, yet legislators allied with Penrose objected and the appointment did not occr. Sadly, many World War I documents were collected but never properly categorized. Brumbaugh, other than continuing his advocacy of education, physical fitness, and recreation, never returned to politics. Brumbaugh left with a distate for politics, claiming "the whole mess of nonsense that crept upon our statute books ...is more honored today in its breach than it is observance." Thus, Brumbaugh, was perhaps an accidental politician who though rose to the demands of the office. This book is an excellent examination into this life.

Dr Yarbrough's book is a great guide to our nation's colleges and universities. We love to read the history of team's nicknames while watching them compete on TV. It's especially fun during "March Madness". I gift it to my business associates. A rare and unique find!

I have found this particular author to have the right idea about understanding the SAT. The introductory sections and practice questions are very comprehensable for average students to be able to grasp the concepts and as they work the practice tests the questions elevate to a more difficult level.

Greetings!

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I can't tell you how inspired I was to read this brilliant piece of scholarly discourse. I was on the edge of my seat throughout this masterful cliffhanger of a thesis. I have been profoundly affected by the insightful findings of this research and forever indebted to this dedicated and selfless researcher!

The folks at McGraw-Hill finally got it right!!!! After using the Princeton Review book before my PSAT, and then the Rocket Review and Up Your Score, I felt like I was being duped. I wanted to really learn how to improve my SAT scores, and I was willing to put some work into it. I thought a test-prep book would have lots of practice and detailed answers to explain your mistakes to help you improve. But these books kept insulting the ETS gratuitously, and tooting their own "secret methods" that I started to suspect that the emperor had no clothes. They would explain a trick, and give an example, but then there was almost no practice, and their "tricks" hardly worked at all on the real SAT. "Joe Bloggs" is truly a joke that helps perhaps only the most naive student in the world. Reading these books, I felt like I was being patronized by a bunch of smart alecs. The SAT isn't a joke, folks: I'm serious about learning and doing well on the SAT.

Then I found this book, and I discovered that someone really got it. The way to prep for the SAT is to take a realistic practice SAT, then get good feedback about your mistakes that shows you what you need to practice in order to improve your score. This book is BRILLIANTLY organized. It's huge, but you will probably end up using only a part of it. The vocabulary units are great and very effective, and the lessons are so systematic that you can't help but learn. Whe I did the lessons, I finally understood so much that I learned in math years ago and never really had understood. I can't tall you how good that feels, not to mention improving my SAT scores by 260 points!

This book makes two significant contributions to the discussion of implementing Competency Based Education (CBE) in higher education. First, much of the literature on CBE is focused on the challenges of implementing CBE within elementary and secondary schools. For that reason alone, many in higher education dismiss CBE as irrelevant to its mission believing, instead, that its applicability is limited to those primary and secondary school settings. That, in itself, makes this an important book. As an edited volume it offers a variety of perspectives on CBE developed within different types of institutional settings and relating CBE to a wide range of concerns common to most institutions of higher education: assessment and retention, improving student learning, distance education and accreditation issues and the demand for increased institutional accountability. Second, the volume concludes with an excellent annotated bibliography that will point the reader in new directions for continued research. This is an essential primary resource for anyone interested in this topic.

Not all essays are interesting but one stood out from the rest! (In my opinion) The essay by E.K. is the best!

Helene Wieruszowski wrote an interesting account of the emergence of Medieval universities. Readers should note that among their considerable contributions to Western Civilization, the Catholic Church authorities can be credited with the gradual development of universities. Miss Wieruszowski's book in a good place to start.

Miss Wieruszowski is clear that the Medieval Catholic universities "did not just happen." She states that the older monastic schools and cathedral schools simply could not handle the increased numbers of students beginning c. 1050. Her comment that the Medieval universities developed from the cathedral schools is probably the best statement as to the origins of these universities. Miss Wieruszoowski is also honest enough that the exact dates of the origins of these universities cannot be accurately assessed. The best historians can do is date these univesities from the date they were chartered by secular rulers and Popes.

Miss Wieruszowski gives readers a brief look at the curricula of these schools. For example she briefly examines the basis of the Trivium (grammar, rhetoric, and logic)which was the basis of "undergraduate" studies. She also informs her readers of the more advanced studies called the Quadrivium (music, astronomy, arithmetic, and plane geometry). This reviewer's only criticism of this section of the book is that Miss Wieruszowski should have given a more detailed explanation of these studies.

Miss Wieruszowski turns the reader's attention to the more advanced studies such as Canon/Civil Law, Medicine, and Theology which readers may know was called The Queen of the Sciences. Her treatment of these studies is solid. The authorities at the University of Paris took such pride in their theology curricula that they forbade law studies fearing that such studies would dilute the attention and reputation of Theology as Queen of the Scienes.

Miss Wieruszowski also examines the similiarities and differences between the universities. For example, the Trivium and Quadrivium were known as the Seven Liberal Arts,and many universiy officilas took pride in these studies. Yet, when teachers and students focused on Canon/Civil Law such as happened at the University of Bologna, the Liberal Arts were de-emphasized to the point that law students would take just basic minimum of Liberal Arts studies so they could start their law studies sooner.

Miss Wieruszowski also comments on why universites started, suspended studies, and started again. She has interesting comments why the Germans developed universities later than other Europeans. She also explains why some of the Italian universites suspended studies. Her explanation is that the Germans had such internal strife between c. 1050 to 1125 that the political and what amounted to civil war hindered university development. Some of the Italian communes had internal strife plus political disputes with the Germans which closed universities.

Miss Wieruszowski also gives brief account of student life. One thing which may surprise readers is the fact that students were usually not bothered with political interference when they travelled to different universities. The secular authorities did not check papers nor require documents which may sound strange in the 20th and 21st centuries. Miss Wieruszowski has good descriptions of living conditions of Medieval students which were harsh for poorer students.

This reviewer was impressed with Miss Wieruszhoski's treatment of some of the English, French, and Italian universities. For example, the Franciscans introduced science experiments to investigate established scientific theories. The French and Italians actually did human anatomy proceedures when such teaching was frowned upon. One must remember that some of this work was done before Versalius (1514-1564)did more advanced work.

This book is divided by Miss Wieruszowski's text and "Reading." The readings are intersting comments from the Medieval students, scholars, and authorities. These readings are obviously translations, but they serve to aquaint the reader with contemporary accounts (contemporary to the Middle Ages)which gives better understanding.

This reviewer's only major criticism of THE MEDIEVAL UNIVERSITY is that the readings should have been inserted within the text rather than the second half of the book. This would have made the book more conveninet to follow.

Yet, THE MEDIEVAL UNIVERSITY is a solid book. Readers should also read THE SCHOLATIC CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES and Father Duffy's book QUEEN OF THE SCIENCES which enhance Miss Wierszowski's book and provide a better understanding of Medieval universities as well as an appreciation of what was accomplished.

This is an outstanding book giving great insight to the man who led Michigan State University to great heights of achievement and accomplishment which is still reflected today with the first land grant college in the United States. He understood the purpose and intent of why the land grant act was enacted. He created a plan and then made it happen.