Scales of Attainment. In the high-school field besides the Iowa High School Content Examination there has been developed the Sones-Harry High School Achievement Test. In the college field individual colleges and universities are producing examinations covering a whole year's work or several years' work in a large subject field. It can be seen that the development of such test batteries brings about a possibility of better appraisement of the individual variations in the ability of a pupil than has been possible heretofore.

These test batteries also represent another trend in educational testing through the fact that they increase the accuracy of the measurement of the performance of the individual pupil in the educational process as a whole. Up to the last few years there had been a gradual swing away from the use of formal exam

inations to determine a pupil's fitness to take certain courses or enter certain institutions. With the introduction of the new type examination many of the objections to the use of examinations as an agent for educational placement have disappeared. The increased use of the comprehensive examinations is a reflection of the desire to place appraisement of the work of the pupil on an objective basis. The advance along this line in secondary schools and colleges will no doubt continue.

Two approaches

Another new development in educational testing is the introduction of testing for the prediction of scholastic success. There are two approaches being made on this problem. The one direction of attack is the test specially constructed to predict success in a subject. Such tests have been constructed most successfully in those subjects having definite subject matter content which is not too closely related to the outside life of the pupil or to other subjects of the curriculum. Such subjects are, for example, mathematics and foreign languages. Success in making such tests depends upon the ingenuity of the constructor in getting exercises which are similar to those within the subjects themselves. The other approach to the prediction of scholastic success is that where the results of several different tests are added together through the proper weighting procedure to make a composite score which predicts success in a subject. This method allows the use of tests which have been given in a school for other purposes. By this method the

Published by the Educational Test Bureau, Minneapolis, Minn.

Published by the Bureau of Educational Research and Service, State University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. Published by the World Book Co., Yonkers, N. Y.

prediction of success in several subjects may be obtained from a single series of test scores.

Achievement and prognostic tests are being used more and more in conjunction with tests of general scholastic ability (intelligence tests) for the prediction of success for guidance or the classification of pupils for instruction. Statistical methods for combining test results for making differential predictions, i. e., prediction of whether a student will do better in one subject than another or whether an applicant will do better in one job than another, have recently been evolved.

Still another trend in achievement testing is that towards the constructing of tests more in conformity with the true objectives of the courses they presume to test. In science, for example, the objectives may be to teach the scientific method in experimentation, procedures in the manipulation of apparatus, writing of logical reports on experiments, method of observation, etc., as well as the acquisition of knowledge and skills. The correlation between these various objectives of a course has not always been found to be high. Testing should if possible take into consideration all the objectives of a subject or course of study. The construction of tests by teachers and research departments in individual school systems has been steadily increasing. Many tests constructed by local school systems have been later published for use throughout the country.

Instructional tests

Series of tests covering units of work of a few weeks duration each are beginning

to be issued under the name of instructional tests. Such tests keep the teacher very closely informed of the progress of her pupil and may be used as a motivating agent with the pupils. Such tests are sometimes issued for use unrelated to any

particular textbook or course of study and are also issued in direct relation to a particular text or course of study by having the tests printed in the textbook or in separate work books.

Tests for use in vocational guidance have been slow in developing. Patterson, et al, have increased the prediction power of certain mechanical ability tests. Trabue 10 is conducting a program, the results of which show the definite value of personality and other tests in predicting success in particular jobs in industry.

Patterson, Donald, et al. Minnesota Mechanical Ability Tests. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1930.

10 Under the direction of Dr. Trabue the Employment Stabilization Institute of the University of Minnesota is issuing a series of studies of considerable value to vocational guidance.

Strong's " Vocational Interest Blank is a distinct contribution in this field.

Personality tests

An important trend in objective tests is the work of testing personality which has grown so rapidly during the last few years. Symonds 12 has discussed in detail the various methods and means of

testing in this realm. The principal means of getting at personality traits have been through observation of be

havior, ratings, questionnaires, tests of conduct, knowledge and judgment, and performance tests. Personality tests have not been used extensively in schools as yet. Just what the scores mean on many of these tests is not known. It is probably well for schools to use most of these measures experimentally until their usefulness as a regular tool has been shown. tests, most tests of personality are coachAside from rating scales and physiological able to a high degree. If a pupil knows that a test is a personality test he can bring his score up. Another limitation to the use of most of these tests is that the actual social situation is not furnished. Most of these tests measure social adaptation indirectly through imaginal situations The responses to such situations probably are different in some degree from responses to actual situations. The next steps in the research in personality testing will no doubt find ways of overcoming these limitations and establish their valid use in the public schools.13

However, some colleges are using personality measures with apparent success in their guidance programs. The work of Hartshorne and May 14 is probably of most importance in this field of personality testing.

Tyler 15 and others, who are attempting to test all the outcomes of a course of

study probably have the same end in view as other investigators working directly in the personality field when they are constructing tests on social and economic attitudes. Continued growth in this field should eventuate in controlling the

formation of wholesome civic and social attitudes and in desirable personal traits.

11 Strong's Vocational Interest Blank is published by the Stanford University Press, Stanford University, Calif.

12 Symonds, P. M. Diagnosing Personality and Conduct. Century Co. 1931.

13 For a partial list of personality tests see Circular No. 52 "Selected list of Tests and Rating for Social Adaptation." This is issued free by the Office of Education.

14 Hartshorne, Hugh, and May, Mark A. Studies in Deceit (1928). Studies in Service and Self-Control (1929). Studies in the Organization of Character (1930). MacMillan Co., New York, N. Y.

15 Tyler, R. W. and others. Some experiment in higher education at Ohio State University. April 1, 1932. Ohio Bureau of Educational Research. Columbus.

OCTOBER, 1932

S

CHOOLS, particularly high schools and colleges, must take the responsibility for finding the way to assure society's advance with less serious disorders than prevail to-day. Demonstration of this challenge falls into three parts:

1. The basic idea back of the public support of schools is that an educated public is the surest safeguard of the people's freedom.

Why should the people of this country pay in taxation two and one-half billion dollars per year to support a public school system? Is it with the idea that an educated person gets more out of life than an uneducated person and that therefore people merely combine to run the most economical school system for the personal improvement of the several individuals? Or is it rather that the welfare of each one is dependent upon the fact that others are educated? Or is it a combination of the two?

Individual well-being is dependent both upon one's own capacity for enjoyment and also upon a type of social order in which one can experience with least hindrance those enjoyments for which he is prepared. Under any circumstances society expects that through paying for a public educational system a social order will be developed which will make possible the fullest measure of life's satisfactions. If people find their legitimate hopes and their most cherished ambitions thwarted because of conditions prevailing in the social order, they will not continue to support public schools as they have done up to date. To the people at large it is not a question of whether the schools teach ever so well literature, history, Latin, or agriculture. They want to be assured that when children have completed their public-school education, they will be prepared to maintain a social order in which the qualities of justice, fairplay, and equality of opportunity so fundamental to freedom shall prevail in the land.

Cardinal principles

2. The cardinal principles of secondary education as set forth in a report of the Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education (U. S. Office of Education Bulletin, 1918, No. 35) are not built around subjects. These objectives are intended to center the thought of the high-school teachers upon their responsibility to produce an effective citizenship. These seven main objectives, you will

• Chief, Division of Colleges and Professional Schools, U. S. Office of Education.

Part II

By FREDERICK J. KELLY *

"THE TIME HAS COME," says Doctor Kelly, "to take risks. So much is involved that it could hardly be supposed the solution would be found without risks. I am happy to believe, however, that if guiding America through this social revolution is chiefly the job of education—and it is—and that to do that job involves risk—and it does—teachers, particularly teachers of adolescent youth, will courageously take those risks."

recall, are: First, health; second, command of fundamental processes; third, worthy home membership; fourth, vocation; fifth, civic education; sixth, worthy use of leisure; seventh, ethical character. You will note that none of these refers specifically to the mastery of any given high-school subject, such as English literature. It is true that the second one, command of fundamental processes, may refer rather definitely to the subject matter of a few of the high-school courses which are taught primarily as tools or processes.

Generally, these objectives refer to outcomes which are not directly involved in the subject matter. The fact that a student gets an "A" in a course in English literature does not of itself give any assurance that literature will actually function in this student's life to make him a better citizen or to make him use his leisure more worthily. The fact that a student does satisfactorily in a course in foreign language, does not of itself assure that any of these main cardinal objectives is reached in the case of the student. Only as a teacher of foreign language can give some clear indication that the student through his study of foreign language is achieving some one or more of these objectives does the teaching of foreign language have a place in the high school curriculum. It may turn out that the subject matter now employed in the various high-school courses is the best subject matter to use for the accomplishment of these objectives, but that is a question remaining yet to be answered. The practical challenge which this critical period in the worldwide social revolution is putting up to the high schools is to find just what subject matter and what methods of teaching are best for the purpose of building a sound social order.

I do not wish to be unduly critical of the American high school. It is undertak

33

ing a task not previously undertaken by any national system of secondary education. If my statements seem unfair, please understand that they are made by one who has been throughout his life a staunch defender of the high school. I think there has been little awareness among educational people anywhere that the very safety of democratic civilization rests upon whether education can prepare a whole people for freedom. The high schools are patterned largely after the colleges, while the colleges have evolved as institutions to serve essentially, leisure and professional classes. The great common people have not been in mind when colleges have devised their curricula or their methods. High schools have in general taken their cues as to both subject matter and methods of teaching from the colleges.

Education's functions

We are aware to-day much better than we have ever been before that the type of education which the high schools have provided is not adequate. Social, economic and civic problems so numerous and so difficult as to bewilder everyone can not be solved without the intelligent participation of a large proportion of our people. To prepare for that intelligent participation is the primary function of education, particularly the high school and college education. Every teacher

must check his own instruction on the basis of its contribution directly or indirectly to the solution of these problems.

3. The schools, particularly the high schools and colleges must discover what the essential goals of a free people are and must go about the business of developing public opinion in the support of these goals. This involves two issues which are subjects of debate throughout the educational world. First, character education and second, the general policy of using the schools to develop a given public opinion with respect to certain social and economic issues.

In September SCHOOL LIFE I pointed out how certain forms of control have been cut from under our people by processes mainly of education. While I do not share the fear of some people that our civilization is doomed, candor compels the admission that we seem not to be very effective so far in instituting new controls in place of those which have been broken down. In many cases our people, particularly our young people, seem not to develop those strengths of character adequate for the severe strains which modern life puts upon them.

Just how these strengths of character are to be developed is a matter requiring much investigation, but that it must somehow be accomplished is generally recognized. One thing is reasonably clear. Incentives which actuate students must be as high up the scale of values and as abiding as possible. Practice in responding in a certain way to a given motive is likely to determine responses to that same motive throughout life. If, therefore, schools can make use of those motives which do persist throughout life they will be training their students in responses which will serve them well in later life. Dependence upon superficial incentives such as grades, honor points, and the like will but prepare for similar responses in later life. If similar incentives for desirable responses are not present in mature life-and it is my contention that generally they are not-then to use such superficial incentives lacks character training value. Again, students prepare for assuming responsibility in later life by carrying responsibility in school. Government by regulations in school, prepares for government by regulations out of school. Only as one carries responsibility for decisions and actions does the factor of ethics play any considerable part. If the choice is with the student and his is the responsibility for the decision, the situation becomes a moral situation. For him to choose on the basis of a high ethical standard is character training for choosing on a high ethical standard in later life.

On the general question of the use of the schools to develop a given opinion, much is being written and spoken these days. Do we have a right in the schools to imbue the children with certain preconceptions of social and economic policy? Have we any right to inculcate in them a given point of view concerning, let us say, the rights of capital and the rights of labor?

Two points

One needs to be exceedingly cautious about his statements in a field like this. On the other hand this question is at the very heart of the problem which confronts America to-day. Even though my discussion must be very brief, I wish to venture statements upon two points. First, any educational system must make definite provision for the development of the highest intelligence and the greatest independence of thinking, possible among its people. Social attainment at any given time is not so important as provision for improving that social attainment. No satisfactory society can be static and every system must provide the machinery to accomplish changes within itself. Therefore, the choicest outcome of education must be the development of free minds

untainted with indoctrination. But indoctrination with respect to this very guarantee of free minds, the rights of minorities, the respect for expert opinion, etc., is the surest way to bring the benefits of intellectual freedom to the people as a whole.

Having said this I hasten now to state the second of my propositions, namely, no country can long survive which does not provide for the systematic teaching of that nation's ideals as to the rising generation. The schools of any people are primarily for the purpose of passing on the accumulated wisdom of one generation to the next. If to-day we believe the earth is in the center of a great sphere in the outer surface of which the stars are set we will teach that supposed fact to our children. If we believe that molecules are the smallest particles of matter we will teach that to our children. That next year may reveal the errors of our teaching does not justify us in refusing to teach our present beliefs.

Education's responsibility

In social matters the accumulated wisdom leads to certain beliefs with reference to social organization. On the basis of our beliefs we will support or refuse to support policies and practices present in our social life. It is just as important that the schools assume responsibility for bringing about a support on the part of the rising generation of these essential principles of social conduct as it is that they teach the truth about the germ theory of typhoid fever and how to inoculate against the disease.

This attitude toward developing public opinion and the previously expressed attitude toward the need for independence of thought may at first seem mutually incompatible. I do not believe they are. We are accustomed to giving great weight to the views of experts. We do not ask for a popular vote on how large a steel girder will be required to hold up a certain bridge. We ask an engineer, and we regard his view as of more value than the views of a hundred laymen. Similarly, we ask a doctor for his diagnosis of the case of a sick child. We believe his diagnosis is worth more than that of a hundred neighbors. The fact that а given engineer says that a twelve-inch beam of a given type of steel is adequate for the bridge in question does not keep engineers from continuing research which may ultimately show that a thirteeninch beam would be better. The engineers cherish independence of thought but they nevertheless recognize the need for answering specific questions to-day on the basis of the best information available.

Educational people can not longer sidestep the responsibility of deciding on the basis of the best information and expert testimony available what the best practices are for the attainment of the socialeconomic goals of American life. If to teach these goals with the definite purpose of securing support for them pending the time when the educational engineers shall have come to a different conclusion is using the schools to develop public opinion, then I am in favor of such use. I believe that to refuse longer to take a position on the important questions which lie at the root of our present social-economic difficulties is to render the schools impotent in respect to the most important service for which they were created. If educators are not in position to sift the evidence and arrive at a judgment as to the policies our people should follow in order to free us from the pitfalls into which society is periodically plunged, then who is? If the country can not depend upon the honest, capable, and disinterested study of these questions by experts whose judgments are accepted by educators, upon whom may the country depend? Others who are busy with efforts at creating and molding public opinion are too often open to the charge of selfish interest. But their indoctrination goes on incessantly. The question is not one of indoctrination or nonindoctrination. opinion is molded by all sorts of educational agencies. The home, the church, the newspapers, the radio, the theater, and many others, all are powerful as creators of public opinion.

Public

Shall the school, the most disinterested, impartial, and presumably the most capable, of all the agencies to answer what are the social-economic policies of a people which will lead most surely to the goals for which the people aspire, remain discreetly out of the picture and witness the near collapse of our cherished institutions of law and order? Free speech and free press are admittedly fundamental in representative government. Should not teachers be among those to exercise these rights? Should not the schools seek the diagnosis of our social ills by calling upon the best social diagnosticians we have in the world? Should not these experts in social-economic affairs render judgments periodically for the guidance of the schools? Should schools not then accept those judgments as more likely to be sound than those of a hundred neighbors? Should they not proceed boldly to prepare a generation to live happily by the socialeconomic policies advocated? This is not the indoctrination of a fixed and changeless doctrine. Provision for research, for continuous study by experts, for change in the policies to be advocated or taught must be a part of the plan.

students. Stories of Padraic Colum reviewed included: "The Girl Who Sat by the Ashes," "The Princess SwallowHeart," "The King of the Cats," and "The Boy Who Knew What the Birds Said."

One delightful feature of the reviews was their variety. Not every story began with "Once upon a time." In fact, emphasis was placed upon originality in introducing book reviews.

Not all the stories were given in full by the narrator. The child who told about "The Princess Swallow-Heart" stopped when she came to an interesting part and said: "If you want to know how the story ends, read it and find out for yourself." The reviewer of "The King of the Cats" advised her audience to look up the place where "The King of the Cats" came from.

The way in which the members of the club quizzed each other on the stories showed their interest and familiarity with Colum's writings. After the review of "The Princess Swallow-Heart" the question was asked: "In what collection is the story found?" With the response, "The Peep-Show Man," the next question was, "What other stories in that collection?" One felt that if a listener in this book club were not familiar with Padraic Colum's writings he would surely want to be after observing the enthusiasm of the children.

An orange-box library

On one visit to the library I found 30 kindergarten children looking at picture books. They were as much at ease as were the older children. They got their picture books from low shelves and sat at small tables. Some were talking together about their books. Others were telling one of the library assistants what the pictures were about. Mount Auburn School places great emphasis upon the use of books by the youngest children. It has been found the principal says, that children who get an early start in the use of the library acquire a habit for reading which promises to become permanent; and that because of much practice in independent reading, children in the lower grades tend to become fluent readers and to think more clearly.

Visits to the library by the kindergarten children stimulated the desire to develop a library unit. One result of this unit was the building of a library corner in their room. They built library shelves with Trace blocks; made a librarian's charging desk of orange boxes plus paint, and a filing case of a shoe box and more paint, and book ends and a flower vase of clay. They borrowed books from the ibrary for their shelves, learned to charge

books, and in the end experienced the satisfaction of owning and managing a library.

Not only the kindergartners but all grades of the school have an opportunity to spend some free time each week in the library. Children who can not settle down to reading during these free periods receive the help of special reading teachers, who diagnose their cases for the purpose of ascertaining the causes of their lack of concentration. It may be that the mechanics of reading have not been mastered or that their interests have not been discovered. Whatever the trouble, these special reading teachers try to remedy it. There is a special room set aside for them, which is supplied with reference books, textbooks and recreational reading.

No custodian

Nor are the children who find it difficult to learn the border-line intellectual cases neglected. This group was discovered in the library on one of the visits. Through the sympathetic guidance of the teachers they were being helped to enjoy easy books.

Each group of children in the school has one period every week in the library for the purpose of receiving instruction in the selection, use, and care of books. This instruction is given by the librarian or by a member of her staff.

U

Some of the things emphasized in these lessons are the need for quietness and courtesy in using a library, the proper handling of books, use of such reference books as dictionaries and encyclopedias, the arrangement of books on the shelves, and how to use the card catalog.

The principal of the school says that the librarian of the Mount Auburn School is much more than a custodian of books: that her task is a vital and challenging one, because the library contributes to practically every activity of the school, assists in the development of individual pupils and ultimately influences lives in the homes.

The librarian works with the teachers in preparing outlines for the units of work. The most suitable material on every unit is brought together and placed, for a limited time, either in the library or in the classrooms. So it is necessary for the librarian to keep in touch with new publications, to know older books intimately enough to retain or discard as the needs develop, and to call upon the resources of the public library whenever necessary.

That the library in the Mount Auburn School has influenced the home lives of the children is evidenced by the fact that there were few books in the homes of these children before the experiment began. Now the parents are keenly interested in buying books for the children's home libraries.