His father worked in the basement of their home managing a wholesale book store and running a mail-order greeting-card and office-supply.
William Boyer was head of the Dayton Mission of the Brethren in Christ Church and directed Ernest toward "a people-centered life."
He began his teaching career at Loyola Marymount University in California while a graduate student, and then served as a professor of speech pathology and audiology at Upland College.
In this position Boyer was free to administer projects for the improvement of the California education system, from kindergarten to college.
In his seven-year term, he founded the Empire State College at Saratoga Springs and four other locations as non-campus SUNY schools in which adults could study for degrees without attending classes.
[5] Toward the end of the Carter Administration, Dr. Boyer followed Alan Pifer as president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
[citation needed] One of Boyer's major accomplishments was creating a dialogue between teachers and administrators about teaching methods and programs.
Boyer recommended adopting a "core curriculum" for all students and tougher foreign language and English requirements.
Boyer's next report stated how many faculty members of undergraduate institutions put more emphasis on research than on actual teaching.
In Ready to Learn: A Mandate for the Nation (1991), Boyer makes a strong point about the importance of preparing young children for school.
Education of the parents of preschoolers was essential so that they might know "all of the forces that have such a profound impact on the children's lives and shape their readiness to learn."
The main point of the report was to help the public understand that the school is a community with a vision, "teachers as leaders and parents as partners."