Research


Administrative History

The office of Commissioner of Education was created in 1904 by the so-called Unification Act (Chapter 40) which established the State Education Department and replaced the Superintendent of Public Instruction and Secretary to the Board of Regents with the Commissioner. Since 1913 the Commissioner has also carried the title of President of the University of the State of New York, conferred by the Board of Regents.

Dr. James Edward Allen, Jr. was appointed New York State Commissioner of Education and President of the University of the State of New York in 1955. Allen presided over a vast expansion of the New York State Education Department, in terms of both bureaucratic size and authority. In elementary and secondary education, Allen oversaw the creation of the Boards of Cooperative Educational Services, which allowed for smaller, rural school districts to partner for the provision of expanded educational programs, and fostered new programs in urban education and bilingual education.

Allen was also a strong proponent of the creation and use of data systems, research, and evaluation to improve the education process. In addition, Allen promoted the need for "de facto" school desegregation, working with the Board of Regents in 1960 on a policy statement affirming the need to desegregate schools. During his tenure, he ordered various school districts to desegregate, including the Malverne school district of Nassau County and Mt. Vernon school district.

In February of 1969, Allen was chosen by President Richard Nixon to be the Assistant Secretary for Education in the United State Department of Health, Education and Welfare and U.S. Commissioner of Education. The Deputy Commissioner of Education, Ewald B. Nyquist, agreed to serve as Interim Commissioner of Education while the New York State Board of Regents searched for a permanent successor. This interim period ended in November 1969, when Nyquist was officially named Commissioner of Education

During his tenure, Commissioner Nyquist focused attention on the reform of school operations and curriculum. Nyquist implemented Project Redesign, an effort to facilitate community involvement in examining and redesigning school operations within specific school districts. Nyquist's tenure also saw increased focus on bilingual education, spurred by the 1972 Regents Position Paper on Bilingual Education. Also, under Nyquist's tenure, the Education Department expanded its focus on higher education beyond public universities. This included implementing the Regents External Degree Program, which allowed for undergraduate degrees to be given to people based on knowledge and skills gained outside of college, as well as the Higher Education Opportunity Program, which funded programs to assist minority and disadvantaged students in attending non-public institutions of higher learning. In addition, Nyquist shared the views of his predecessor, James Allen, in support of desegregation. Although a law enacted by the New York State Legislature in 1969 barred the State Education Department from ordering school districts to desegregate, Nyquist assisted several urban school districts in producing and implementing voluntary desegregation plans, and in 1976, provided assistance to the Buffalo school system in implementing a federal court-ordered desegregation plan. Nyquist's relationship with the State Board of Regents and state elected officials became increasingly contentious during his tenure, and, in 1976, a majority of the Regents voted to dismiss him, the first time a sitting commissioner had been voted out by the Regents.