Only seven years more than one hundred years ago, 1838, Kentucky’s public school system was established. Few Kentuckians conceived of a state-wide public school system. Many of the citizens were conservative and inclined to look upon a scheme of public education with doubt and disfavor; they were accustomed to the traditional plan of private education. In Nelson County, as in the rest of Kentucky, the early sponsors of public education were confronted with the problem of building sentiment for such a public service. Their task was one of establishing schools. Their chief goal was one of providing a school service, meager as it was, within reasonable reach of each child.
Although skepticism and conservatism retarded the early growth of public schools, it is now evident that a system of public elementary and secondary education meets the approval of the citizenry of Nelson County.
In recent years, educators have striven to check this growth in the number of schools and school districts. The present task is one of improving schools rather than establishing schools; one of broadening educational services to meet present-day demands; one of equalizing educational opportunities in order that all pupils may be equipped for more abundant living.
Whenever possible the school authorities in Nelson County have reduced the number of one-room rural schools in a consolidation program. This study gives evidence in justification of these changes.
","abstract_html":"<p>Only seven years more than one hundred years ago, 1838, Kentucky’s public school system was established. Few Kentuckians conceived of a state-wide public school system. Many of the citizens were conservative and inclined to look upon a scheme of public education with doubt and disfavor; they were accustomed to the traditional plan of private education. In Nelson County, as in the rest of Kentucky, the early sponsors of public education were confronted with the problem of building sentiment for such a public service. Their task was one of establishing schools. Their chief goal was one of providing a school service, meager as it was, within reasonable reach of each child.</p> <p>Although skepticism and conservatism retarded the early growth of public schools, it is now evident that a system of public elementary and secondary education meets the approval of the citizenry of Nelson County.</p> <p>In recent years, educators have striven to check this growth in the number of schools and school districts. The present task is one of improving schools rather than establishing schools; one of broadening educational services to meet present-day demands; one of equalizing educational opportunities in order that all pupils may be equipped for more abundant living.</p> <p>Whenever possible the school authorities in Nelson County have reduced the number of one-room rural schools in a consolidation program. This study gives evidence in justification of these changes. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Huber, Earl"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Department of Educational Administration, Leadership and Research","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Lee Jones, Gordon Wilson, Finley Grise"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1945,"date_issued":"1945-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"1945-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:08:39Z","subjects":["Western Kentucky University","Nelson County","Kentucky","Education","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Education Economics","Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration","Public History","Social History","United States History"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1424","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Lee Jones, Gordon Wilson, Finley Grise"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Huber, Earl"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Department of Educational Administration, Leadership and Research"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Western Kentucky University","Nelson County","Kentucky","Education","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Education Economics","Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration","Public History","Social History","United States History"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1424"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Only seven years more than one hundred years ago, 1838, Kentucky’s public school system was established. Few Kentuckians conceived of a state-wide public school system. Many of the citizens were conservative and inclined to look upon a scheme of public education with doubt and disfavor; they were accustomed to the traditional plan of private education. In Nelson County, as in the rest of Kentucky, the early sponsors of public education were confronted with the problem of building sentiment for such a public service. Their task was one of establishing schools. Their chief goal was one of providing a school service, meager as it was, within reasonable reach of each child.
Although skepticism and conservatism retarded the early growth of public schools, it is now evident that a system of public elementary and secondary education meets the approval of the citizenry of Nelson County.
In recent years, educators have striven to check this growth in the number of schools and school districts. The present task is one of improving schools rather than establishing schools; one of broadening educational services to meet present-day demands; one of equalizing educational opportunities in order that all pupils may be equipped for more abundant living.
Whenever possible the school authorities in Nelson County have reduced the number of one-room rural schools in a consolidation program. This study gives evidence in justification of these changes.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Study of the Public School System of Nelson County"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Lee Jones, Gordon Wilson, Finley Grise"],"dc:creator":["Huber, Earl"],"dc:description.abstract":["Only seven years more than one hundred years ago, 1838, Kentucky’s public school system was established. Few Kentuckians conceived of a state-wide public school system. Many of the citizens were conservative and inclined to look upon a scheme of public education with doubt and disfavor; they were accustomed to the traditional plan of private education. In Nelson County, as in the rest of Kentucky, the early sponsors of public education were confronted with the problem of building sentiment for such a public service. Their task was one of establishing schools. Their chief goal was one of providing a school service, meager as it was, within reasonable reach of each child.
Although skepticism and conservatism retarded the early growth of public schools, it is now evident that a system of public elementary and secondary education meets the approval of the citizenry of Nelson County.
In recent years, educators have striven to check this growth in the number of schools and school districts. The present task is one of improving schools rather than establishing schools; one of broadening educational services to meet present-day demands; one of equalizing educational opportunities in order that all pupils may be equipped for more abundant living.
Whenever possible the school authorities in Nelson County have reduced the number of one-room rural schools in a consolidation program. This study gives evidence in justification of these changes.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1424"],"dc:subject":["Western Kentucky University","Nelson County","Kentucky","Education","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Education Economics","Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration","Public History","Social History","United States History"],"dc:title":["A Study of the Public School System of Nelson County"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Department of Educational Administration, Leadership and Research"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:08:39Z"}