The distributive education movement had its beginning as an organized school activity in 1905 under the leadership of Lucinda Price of the Women\u27s Educational and Industrial Union. She organized her first class of eight girls for store training. In 1906, she started her third class with a promise from William Filene\u27s Sons Company of practical store experience on Mondays. High school retail training classes began in Providence, Rhode Island, about 1910, and in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, about 1911. Daily work experience as a basic principle of cooperative occupational training was developed in those early classes. Organized instruction was almost wholly neglected in the public school courses and it became evident to vocational leaders that this was a serious defect in the whole vocational program. An interpretation of that part of the Smith-Hughes Act, dealing with the general continuation part-time school, gave the needed encouragement to those working to provide for what came to be known as distributive education . This 1919 ruling of the Federal Board for Vocational Education made it possible to offer courses in retail selling to be given to pupils employed in stores by using industrial education funds for this purpose. In 1931s a Modification of the ruling permitted the organization of part-time cooperative classes for ployed youth
