In the time directly after World War I and before the Great Depression, Vocational/Career and Technical Education at The Ohio State University expanded and evolved, with degrees and course offerings now available in Commercial Education (modern-day Business Education) and Home Economics (modern-day Family and Consumer Sciences), in addition to the already present Trade and Industrial Education and Agricultural Education. With dramatic increases in enrollment in the College of Education during the early 1920s, teacher training went from a 2-year degree to a 4-year degree (College of Education Edlum Society, 2008).
In another sign of expansion, the amount of courses related to Vocational Education continued to grow. By school year 1924-25, 18 courses were offered. The number increased in year 1928-29 to 20, and then to 25 the following year. The amount of Vocational Education-related course offerings equaled 52 for school year 1931-32 (Johnston, 1970).
Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs) have their beginnings in this time period, with the earliest home economics club in Ohio being formed during the 1920-21 school year, while the agricultural club Future Farmers of America (FFA) was established in Ohio in February of 1929 (Ohio Department of Education, 1997).
Federal legislation during this period was considerable, beginning with the George-Reed Act of 1929 that appropriated an additional $1 million to expand vocational programs in agriculture and home economics (Ohio Department of Education, 1997). Months later, Black Tuesday descended upon the American stock market and the country entered the Great Depression. We see the next piece of legislation arise out of President Roosevelt’s New Deal in the form of the George-Ellzey Act, which replaced the George-Reed Act and appropriated $9 million over three years for agriculture, home economics, and trade and industrial education programs (Gordon, 2007). The National Youth Administration, another New Deal initiative, provided vocational training and employment for young adults ages 16 to 25 (Ohio Department of Education, 1997). In the Second New Deal, 1936, the Fitzgerald Act promoted apprenticeship-related instruction and the George-Deen Act was passed to include an additional $1 million teacher training appropriations and include distributive (marketing-related) occupational training in federal aid (Johnston, 1970).
All of the federal monies that poured into the Ohio public school system made possible a more robust Vocational/Career and Technical Education teacher training program at Ohio State as the need for highly qualified teachers increased. In a time of severe economic hardship, it is interesting to see how vocational programs were used to rebuild the American psyche and financial strength of the country.