The history of test development and the current controversy over standardized testing are reviewed. The consequences of testing, particularly for minority groups, are outlined, and criticism of some viewpoints of professors Robert Ebel and Melvin Tumin is made. (Author/AL)

Various approaches to research about reading disablities are described in historical perspective. The development of reading diagnosis is discussed in terms of: (1) a shift from a medical to an educational concern; (2) the use of standardized tests; (3) the movement in diagnosis from psychological laboratories to the classroom; and (4) the use of…

An historical overview is presented of criticisms arising during an early period of large-scale standardized testing in the United States: the post World War II period when the Educational Testing Service was established. Not only is a brief description of the controversy provided, but the fact that many problems of assessment are not transient…

Since 1915, the movement to test reading ability has grown in importance and pervasiveness. Testing is relied on to offer quantitative information, to determine the usefulness of instructional approaches, and to help ensure accountability. The demand for tests arose during the period from 1990 to 1992 when school became compulsory and educators…

The career of Stuart Appleton Courtis in the growth of testing and educational measurement parallels the development of progressive education in the first half of the twentieth century. In 1909 he developed the standardized Courtis Arithmetic Test, Series A, the first objective test used in any city public schools. Continuing his work in testing,…

This is the history of an important educational institution in Australia. The work looks at the problems of establishing a new institution in the late 1920s and traces its varying fortunes through 50 years to 1980. It is more, however, than an institutional history. It analyses early contributions to educational research, its subsequent growth in…

Reflects on a long career concerning teaching and testing at the secondary and college level. Talks about the relationship between secondary school testing and preparation, college entrance standards, and trends in college course organization and testing. (TB)

A psychometrician and acquaintance of Carl C. Brigham, the "father of the Scholastic Aptitude Test," comments on the man's presonality traits and the culture that shaped his thinking. Areas of testing research that should be pursued are suggested. (MSE)

In the United States today tests of the ability to perform well in school divide society and define opportunity. Higher education has become a major focus of aspirations people hold for their children, and educational testing determines who qualifies for higher education. This history recounts the development of intelligence testing and its early…

Educators have kept up a continual bombardment against one-room schools. It has been pointed out that one teacher working alone with all grades and with pupils of all ages can not be expected to accomplish results equal to the results made possible by the specialization of the well-graded school. The present-day practice of attempting to evaluate…

Discusses the work of Susan Isaacs on assessing and recording the progress of infant school children in Britain between 1934 and 1936. Compares Isaacs' approach to that advocated in a 1992 book on assessment in early childhood education edited by Blenkin and Kelly. Concludes that Isaacs' work still has a contribution to make to educational…

A discussion on the tension between university organizational interests and individual student interests with respect to the use of admissions tests is presented. Responsibilities of colleges and professional schools toward an increasingly pluralistic society are examined, and the need for more research on evaluating human competencies is urged.…

A decade ago intelligence testing was in its beginnings in the United States. There were no standardized tests available except those of the Binet-Simon scale. These tests had been used but little, and chiefly for the detection and classification of the backward and the feeble-minded. Goddard had just begun pioneer work in this field, while…

Focusing on the problems of validity and representativeness of samples, a study examined the history of literacy in the United States since 1880 in order to set the contemporary debate on test scores, literacy and reading performance in the longer-range perspective of the last 100 years. The quality of the data and the arguments of literacy…

This paper examines admission policies and practices in U.S. colleges and universities, examining practices from colonial and ante-bellum colleges to advances made beginning in 1870, when entrance requirements were influenced by the transformation of colleges into universities. These 19th century changes were the forerunner of waves of reform in…