Helen Parkhurst

(March 7, 1887 – June 1, 1973)

Helen Parkhurst was an American educator, author, and lecturer who devised the Dalton Laboratory Plan and founded the Dalton School in New York City.

She graduated in 1907 from the River Falls Normal School of Wisconsin State College, pursued graduate studies at Columbia University, and furthered her education at the universities of Rome and Munich, including intensive study with Maria Montessori. Much later, in 1943, she earned a master’s degree in education from Yale University and became Yale’s first fellow in education.

After teaching briefly in Wisconsin, Parkhurst moved to Tacoma, Washington in 1909, and later returned to teach at Wisconsin Central State Teachers College (1913–1915). Following additional work with Montessori in Rome, she established her own progressive school in New York City in 1916.

In 1918, she began implementing an experimental educational plan she had previously developed at a high school in Dalton, Massachusetts. In her New York school, students worked in “laboratory brigades” on specific assignments for which they signed individual contracts. There were no tests or examinations, and discipline was kept to a minimum. Students reported their progress directly to teachers, taking responsibility for their own learning.

Parkhurst served as headmistress of the Dalton School until her retirement in 1942. In the last three decades of her life, she continued to lecture internationally, support the implementation of the Dalton Plan around the world, write several educational books, and produce radio and television programs for and about young people.

Click here for the on-line version: Education on the Dalton Plan (1922),

Other books of Helen Parkhurst:

• Work Rhythms in Education (1935),
• Exploring the Child’s World (1951).

The Genesis of the Dalton Plan

by Dr. Agata Röhner – Sowińska

One of the undeniable pioneers in educational innovation was Helen Parkhurst, the initiator of the Dalton Plan. Her focus on differentiated instruction began as early as 1905, when, as a young teacher, she was responsible for teaching several classes at the same time. It was during this period that she developed the idea of tailoring individual educational paths to the needs of each student.

She encouraged older students to assist younger ones, and together they transformed a traditional school setting into a workshop-like classroom. Each corner of the room was dedicated to a different subject. Her main goal was to replace mass instruction with independent learning, allowing children to work at their own pace, promote collaboration, and encourage self-assessment and self-motivation in every student.

In 1905, Parkhurst was studying at the Teachers’ College in River Falls, later working as a teacher and “counsellor” in several local schools. In 1910, she moved to Washington State, where she began her first experimental work in Tacoma. In 1913, she returned to Wisconsin to study at Central Teachers’ College in Stevens Point.

Around this time, Maria Montessori’s vision on education was gaining popularity. Parkhurst, inspired by Montessori’s ideas, took a study leave and went to Rome to collaborate directly with her. Deeply enthusiastic, she began promoting Montessori education in the United States. Together, they organized the Montessori Classroom Exhibition at the Panama-Pacific World Exhibition in San Francisco in 1915.

As Montessori’s methods gained traction, ideological differences arose among her supporters. This divergence led Parkhurst to step back from the movement and return to her own experimental approach in New York. There, she created a “university for children” that later evolved into the innovative and still active Dalton School.

The Dalton Plan was born out of her work as a teacher in Waterville, Wisconsin, and further formalized in her 1922 book Education on the Dalton Plan. The book, translated into fourteen languages, remains relevant and inspiring to educators around the world. At that time, Parkhurst was also Director of the University School for Children.

Her philosophy was clear:

“In the past, a student went to school to get what the school had to offer. Today, the student goes to school to meet the defined needs of his or her own development.”

Parkhurst was inspired by John Dewey and her long-standing collaboration with Montessori. Her Dalton Laboratory Plan was first implemented at a special education school in Berkshire, and later at a secondary school in Dalton, Massachusetts—the namesake of the plan.

The Dalton Plan was based on three key principles:

• Freedom (later reframed as responsibility by Dutch educator Hans Wenke)

• Independence

• Cooperation

Parkhurst initially applied these principles in a small school where she taught mixed-age classes. She observed that children learned more effectively and retained knowledge better when they were free to explore, collaborate, and support one another.

In her 1911–1912 experiment at a larger school (ages 9 to 14), each subject was assigned a teacher and a dedicated room or “studio.” Students were expected to complete written work by the end of each semester, working at their own pace and managing their time. Classrooms became laboratories—spaces filled with accessible learning materials and subject-specific resources. Desks were replaced with large communal tables to foster group work and collaboration.

By 1919, she had begun refining this approach further in schools in Dalton and New York. She added progress-tracking tools, such as charts and graphs, so students could monitor their own learning. From that point on, the approach became widely known as the Dalton Plan.

The plan attracted the attention of Belle Rennie, a pioneering education inspector from London, which led to its rapid expansion in England and other countries. In 1922, the Dalton Society was formed to promote the model globally.

The Dalton Plan also took root in Poland, especially in secondary schools in Warsaw, Kamieniec, and Rydzyna, as well as in the Netherlands. Early Polish publications on the topic appeared in Lviv, followed by a nationwide edition six years later via publisher Książnica-Atlas.

Parkhurst’s collaboration with Montessori played a crucial role in the development of the Dalton concept, particularly regarding their shared belief in individualized instruction. Over time, the Dalton Plan continued to evolve—most notably under the influence of Dutch, Polish, and Chinese educators.

Roel Rohner, a key figure in the international Dalton movement, was instrumental in founding the Dalton Associations in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Austria, and continues to promote Dalton values in Greater China.

A New Vision of Learning

Parkhurst’s central mission was to break away from authoritarian teaching, where the teacher was the dominant figure and students passive recipients of information. In her early career (starting in 1904), she observed how students flourished when given the freedom to express themselves, support one another, and take ownership of their learning.

Her second experiment (1911–1912) further refined this:

• Students worked independently.

• Teachers designed curricula based on student abilities.

• Classrooms became fully equipped learning studios.

• Group collaboration was emphasized over passive memorization.

These reforms laid the foundation for her future work in Dalton and New York. The only major addition was the introduction of progress charts. By 1921–1922, Parkhurst had fully articulated her theory in a series of articles in The Times Educational Supplement and in her book Education on the Dalton Plan.

As she wrote:

“Standard teaching is inefficient because the teacher does all the work. The Dalton Plan generates new conditions that enable the learner to learn. Experience is the best and only teacher.”

Parkhurst believed schools should provide experiences—not just transmit information. Learning should be collaborative, practical, and deeply connected to each student’s unique development path.

Her key pillars—freedom, responsibility, socialization, and individualization—not only revolutionized education in her time but continue to motivate learners today through meaningful, experience-based learning.

Bibliography:
________________________________________
1. Report on a Conference on the Dalton plan in secondary school, Dalton Associations Publishing, London 1923.
2. H. Parkhurst, Education on the Dalton Plan, EP Dutton and Company 681 Fifth Avenue, New York 1994, p. 1-9
3. R. Röhner, H. Wenke, Pedagogy of the Dalton Plan, Wyd. Sor -Man, Łódź 2011, p.28.
4. H. Parkhurst, Education on the Dalton Plan, EP Dutton and Company 681 Fifth Avenue, New York 1994, p.
5. K. Dryjas, Daltonski Plan in Poland, the International Conference ” Education according to the Dalton Plan – knowledge and practice “, Łódź 2012, p.4.
6. C. Kupisiewicz, From the History of the Theory and Practice of Education, Impuls Publishing House, Krakow 2012, p. 221.
7. E. Dewey, The Dalton Laboratory Plan, EP Dutton, New York 1922, p.40.
8. H. Parkhurst, Education on the Dalton Plan, EP Dutton and Company 681 Fifth Avenue, New York 1994, p.50.
9. H. Parkhurst, Education on the Dalton Plan, EP Dutton and Company 681 Fifth Avenue, New York 1994, p.34.

Helen Parkhurst Schools in the Netherlands

Dalton secondary school Almere	Dalton Primary school Den Haag	Dalton Primary school Tilburg

Dalton secondary school Almere