Ella Flagg Young (January 15, 1845 – October 26, 1918) was an American educator who served as superintendent of Chicago Public Schools. She was the first female head of a large United States city school system. She also served as the first female president of the National Education Association.

Ella Flagg was born January 15, 1845, in Buffalo, New York^[2] to Theodore and Jane (Reed) Flagg.^{[citation needed]} Her parents were American-born, and of Scottish descent.^[3] Flagg was the youngest of three cilhdren.^[3]

She did not attend school until the age of ten, but had, by then, already taught herself how to read and write.^[3] After only a few months she dropped out because she wasn't being intellectually challenged and because of the lack of support from her parents. At age 15, she took the certification examination to become a teacher and passed but was told she was too young to be a teacher. She was told she would never make it as a teacher by her mother but persevered and decided to set up her own practicum to test her potential in the classroom.^{[citation needed]} She decided the classroom was right for her.

She graduated in 1862 from the Chicago Normal School.^[2] She later studied part-time at the University of Chicago under John Dewey in 1895, and received her Ph.D. in 1900.^[2] Her dissertation was published under the title Isolation in the School.^[2]

Young's career as an educator began in 1862.^[4] Young devoted her life to her teaching career, which spanned 53 years (1862–1915). She became professor of education at the University of Chicago in 1899, holding the position until 1905.^[4] She became principal of the Chicago Normal School in 1905; and was superintendent of schools of Chicago from 1909 until her resignation in 1915. She served on the Illinois State Board of Education from 1888 to 1913.^[2]

In 1910, the membership of the National Education Association elected her its first woman president.^[2] Her election had come with the backing of Margaret Haley, head of the Chicago Teachers Federation.^[2]

Young was a prominent figure in the progressive movement.^[3] Young identified strongly with the women's suffrage movement.

Young was a significant influence on John Dewey's thinking when he authored The School and Society.^[5]

Young was also an editor of bi-monthly education publications.^[4] She also published two volumes for the University of Chicago in 1902 as part of a series which also included her 1900 dissertation.^[2] In 1903, she and John Dewey, along with a group of other scholars (James Rowland Angell, George Herbert Mead, E. W. Moore, and James Hayden Tufts) published a series of monographs in the university's Decennial Publications. This series led William James to declare that there was a Chicago "school of thought". Young was the only one of them to write directly about education in this series. The series would play an important role in the development of the democratic and pragmatic movement in American education.^[5]

In 1868, she married merchant William Young. They had no children together. William died in 1873.^[11] Young's mother died in 1862, and her brother died in 1868. Her father and brother both died within a year of her husband's death.^[3] This left her with no immediate relatives.

She died in the 1918 flu pandemic, on October 26, 1918, in Washington, D.C., at the age of 73.^{[2][12][13][14]} She was the last remaining member of her family line. She left an estate valued at $60,000.^[15] On October 28, 1918, Chicago flew its flags at half-mast and draped the Chicago Board of Education's board room in black in recognition of Young's passing.^[5]

The University of Illinois honored her with the degree of LL.D.

• Isolation in the School (1900)^[2]
• Ethics in the School (1902)^[2]
• Some Types of Modern Educational Theory (1902)^[2]

She also founded and edited The Educational Bi-Monthly, a free journal for teachers.

• History of education in Chicago