Cocking, Walter

Walter Cocking (1891–1964) is considered to be the “Father of the National Conference of Professors of Educational Administration.” Cocking was editor of The School Executive (1944–1959), Overview (1960–1963), and The American School and University (1964). Three-hundred-fifty essays penned by Cocking appeared in these publications.

Cocking was born in Manchester, Iowa. He attended a one-room rural school, graduated from high school in Strawberry Point, Iowa, and from Des Moines College. He taught high school social studies and science for 1 year, and the following year, he was appointed superintendent of schools. He completed his master's degree in school administration at the University of Iowa. Cocking was appointed Director of Junior High Schools for the San Antonio, Texas, School System. He then became director of curriculum, books, and supplies for the St. Louis, Missouri, School System. He completed his doctoral work at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Cocking was a professor of educational administration at Peabody College when he was asked to serve as Tennessee State Commissioner of Education. He then became Franklin D. Roosevelt's Chief Specialist in School Administration on the Advisory Committee on Education.

From 1937 to 1941, he was Dean of the College of Education at the University of Georgia. Cocking was [Page 158]dismissed by the Georgia Board of Regents for his support of integrated schools. Cocking's dismissal was precipitated by the interventions of Georgia Governor Talmadge. Cocking was later reelected to the position; however, he did not return to the University of Georgia.

Among his other positions, Cocking was a consultant to the Tennessee Valley Authority, served with the Office of Price Administration as Chief of the Educational Services Branch, and with the Federal Security Agency.

Cocking was one of the leaders who met in 1947 at the American Association of School Administrators Convention in Atlantic City, where the possibility of a national meeting of professors of educational administration was proposed. The first meeting of the National Conference of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA) was held in Endicott, New York, in August 1947. The Cooperative Program in Education Administration of the early 1950s, financed by the Kellogg Foundation, had its roots in NCPEA. NCPEA was identified as a factor in the development of the University Council for Educational Administration.

Cocking was instrumental in bringing school architects and educators together at an annual conference for the purpose of stimulating cooperative school plant planning and creative school plant design. He was a leader in establishing the “Competition for Better Schools Design.” Cocking was awarded honorary membership in the American Institute of Architects for his efforts.

During the 1950s, the American School Publishing Corporation, publishers of The School Executive, Overview, and American School and University, sponsored an internship program for men pursuing study and careers in educational administration. The 13 interns worked with Cocking as directors of research for the corporation. These interns later assumed prominent roles in educational administration.

Cocking's publications, in addition to the many essays he wrote, included the following books: Administrative Procedures in Curriculum Making for Public Schools (1928), Organization of Administration of Public Education (1938) (with C. H. Gilmore), The Education of School Administrators (1940) (with K. R. Williams), Schools (1949) (with L. B. Perkins), The Regional Introduction of Educational Practice in Urban School Systems of the United States (1951), and As I See It (1955).

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