There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

The early twentieth century marked a period of intense efforts toward reform of the American educational system. Rural education was not excluded from these efforts. The most dramatic change in rural education during the period was the closure and consolidation of "ungraded," one-room schools into consolidated high schools. These efforts met with intense resistance, often with the fear that rural communities would be destroyed by such educational reforms. Scholars have written very little on this subject, and what they have written has viewed the reform efforts quite negatively. One Indiana county, Randolph County, was generally regarded as the model rural school system during the period. Lee L. Driver, the county superintendent of schools, led the consolidation efforts in Randolph County. In many ways a typical Indiana county superintendent, Driver helped to transform his county and eventually became regarded as one of the national experts in the rural school reform movement. As evidenced by the number of visitors to its schools and by the attention it received from both the popular press and the academic press, Randolph County was a national model for more than a decade. Consolidation's impact on minorities and women was uneven in this county. As other locations made similar progress, Randolph County's exceptionalism waned, though there is an enduring legacy both for Lee L. Driver and the county's system of schools in the present educational system of the area. / Department of Educational Leadership