Tracing the History of Postsecondary Reading Instruction in the Pre-G.I. Bill Era: A Survey of Surveys

Abstract

Survey research is regularly undertaken across the fields that comprise literacy education and provide historical perspectives of topics of interest at the time. The field of college reading and study skills pedagogy and research has a rich history of surveys being undertaken since the Great Depression. This article focuses on the major and secondary topics of interest as indicated through inclusion in published survey reports from 1928 until 1949, or what we identify as the Pre-G.I. Bill era. The purpose of this content analysis was to identify the origins and developments of reading and study skills programming at the college level in the United States. In doing so, macro categories of Program, Instruction, Curriculum, and Students and corresponding micro categories emerged inductively to provide a more complex and complete picture of the conditions and practices of programs during this formative period. The trends identified across surveys highlighted the transitional nature of how supportive instruction was provided and the topics of interest associated with such an endeavor. Further, this research methodology—a Survey of Surveys—captures the evolution of a field.