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Born
Caswell was born in Woodruff, Kansas, U.S. on Oct. 22, 1901. He was a descendant of Kansas homesteaders. He attended a rural high school in western Kansas and attended Kansas State University for two years before transferring to the University of Nebraska. -
Bachelor's Degree
Caswell received a bachelor's degree in the University of Nebraska. He took a a temporary job teaching at the high school in Auburn, Nebraska. After he was appointed principal at the age of 21, he gave up his ambition to become a lawyer and devoted his full energies to teaching. -
Master's Degree
Caswell enrolled in Teachers College, Columbia University, in 1926 and got his master's degree in 1927. -
Doctorate
He earned a doctorate in 1929. Then he joined the faculty of George Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee, and rose to become a full professor. In the same year, he published his first study finding, "City School Surveys: An Interpretation and Appraisal". Caswell has worked in the faculty of George Peabody College for 9 years. -
World Book Encyclopedia
Caswell joined the editorial advisory board of the World Book Encyclopedia in 1936 and became its chairman in 1948. -
Returned to Teachers College
Caswell returned to Teachers College in 1938 to head its department of curriculum and teaching and to direct its division of instruction. In 1930s, Caswell was a leader in the development of state courses of study in the 1930s, consulting on state curriculum programs in Alabama, Florida, Virginia, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kansas. -
Publications
"Education in Middle School" (1942);
"Program-Making in Small Elementary Schools" (1942);
"American High School: Its Responsibility and Opportunity" (1946);
"Curriculum Improvement in Public School Systems" (1950)
With Doak S. Campbell, he wrote two standard textbooks, ''Curriculum Development'' in 1935 and ''Readings in Curriculum Development'' in 1937. -
President of Teachers College
Caswell served as president of Teachers College from 1954 until 1962. He was the fifth president. During his presidency the college launched a twenty-year collaboration with schools in Afghanistan, and mounted a volunteer program for teachers to various nations in Africa. -
Retired as President
In 1962, Caswell retired as president at Teachers College, but he continued at the College, being appointed to the Marshall Field, Jr., Professorship of Education. He remained in that chair until 1967. At the same time, Caswell served as general chairman of editorial advisory boards for Field Enterprises Educational Corporation from 1962 to 1966. -
Award
He received many awards during his career, including the John Dewey Society Award in 1973 and the American Educational Research Association Award in 1981. -
Dead
Caswell died of pneumonia at the retirement community in Santa Barbara, California, where he had lived since 1972, on November 22, 1988 (aged 87).
