KLAPPER, PAUL

KLAPPER, PAUL (1885–1952), U.S. educator and administrator. Born in Jassy, Romania, he was brought to the United States at the age of seven. From 1907 he taught education at City College of New York, where he rose to the rank of full professor in 1921 and dean of its School of Education, 1921–37. In 1937 Klapper became the first president of Queens College which developed rapidly under his direction. The college library is named for him. Upon his retirement in 1948 he became dean of teacher education of the Board of Higher Education of New York. Klapper's philosophy of education and theories of pedagogy influenced educational practices in schools across the nation. He was widely known as a firm opponent of formal curricula and traditional modes of discipline. He was concerned with raising the economic status of teachers and giving them the dignity that he felt the profession deserved. Klapper's publications include: College Teaching (1920); Principles of Educational Practice (1912); Teaching Children to Read (1946); Teaching English in Elementary and Junior High Schools (1925); Contemporary Education… (1929); Childhood Readers (1939). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: New York Times, March 26, 1952, 29; ibid. (March 27, 1952), 28; ibid. (May 18, 1952), 11. (Ernest Schwarcz)