the degree of M.A. in 1886. In the next phase of his educational career, Parker founded and served as principal (1899–1901) for a private experimental school, the Chicago Institute, which became the University of Chicago School of Education in 1901. In 1901, Parker merged Chicago Institute with the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and worked with kindergarten and elementary school age children. To further put his theories into practice, the Francis W. Parker School opened in Chicago with an initial enrollment of one hundred and eighty students. A second school was founded in San Diego in 1912. Both schools exist today. In poor health, Parker was sent by his doctors to the South for a better climate. He died at age 64 in Pass Christian, Harrison County, Mississippi. His ashes were returned to New Hampshire, in May 1902 and were interred at Piscataquog Cemetery, Manchester, New Hampshire. In addition to the schools in New York, Illinois, Indiana, and California, the Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School was founded in Massachusetts in 1995, in honor of Parker's contributions to the field of progressive education. An elementary school in Quincy also bears Parker's name, as does one in Rochester, N.Y. See also Alternative Education Notes References Campbell, Jack Kenagy. The Children's Crusader: Colonel Francis W. Parker (New York: Teachers College, 1965.) Cavanaugh, M. P. (1994). A history of holistic literacy: Five major educators Westport, CN: Praeger. Curti, Merle. The Social Ideas of American Educators (1935) pp 374–95 Garraty, John A. "Parker, Francis Wayland." American National Biography. Vol. 17. New York: Oxford UP, 1999. Grossman, James R. "Progressive Education." The Encyclopedia of Chicago . 2004. Hayes, William. The Progressive Education Movement: Is It Still a Factor in Today's Schools? Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2006. Print. Israel, S. E., & Monaghan, E. J. (2007). Shaping the reading field: The impact of early reading pioneers, scientific research, and progressive ideas. Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Jeynes, William. American Educational History: School, Society, and the Common Good. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, 2007. Print. Kline, E., Moore, D. W., & Moore, S.A. (1987). Colonel Francis Parker and beginning reading instruction. Reading Research and Instruction, 26, 141–150. Nolan, David, (1995). The Houses of St. Augustine. Pineapple Press. Smith, N. B. (2002). American Reading Instruction. Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Tompkins, Vincent. "Ideals of Progressive Education." American Decades: 1910–1919. 1996. Print. Urban, Wayne J., and Jennings L.