The Hadow Report (1924)
Psychological tests of educable capacity and their possible use in the public system of education
Preliminary pages
Preface
[page ii]
It will be remembered that when the Consultative Committee was reconstituted in July 1920, the Board gave them two references. The first of these, upon the differentiation in curriculum between boys and girls in secondary schools, was discharged late in 1922, and the report of the committee has been for some time before the public. The second reference was in the following terms:
'What use can be made in the public system of education of psychological tests of educable capacity?'
The committee have now presented their report upon this subject to the Board and the Board are arranging for its immediate publication.
In so doing they must not, of course, be understood as committing themselves to endorsement of the conclusions of the committee or of the views stated by their officers in evidence before the committee. They believe, however, that the full and thorough treatment accorded to the subject in this report will afford valuable guidance to all those students of education - and there are many - who are anxious to pursue a topic, comparatively speaking so new, so intricate and so full of possibilities of error, yet so important; and they desire, in the name of the general body of teachers and administrators, to thank the committee for the time and labour expended upon the work, including of course those distinguished men who, though not members of the committee, agreed to serve on Dr Adami's subcommittee, and who in that capacity rendered indispensable assistance in the preparation of the report.
LA Selby Bigge
June 1924.
Table of contents
[page iii]
Preface
Names of the Consultative Committee
Terms of Reference
Analysis of Report
Introduction
The Committee's Report
Appendices:
Appendix I List of witnesses and of persons who sent memoranda to the committee
Appendix II Short accounts of some experiments recently conducted in England in the use of group tests and individual tests in Free Place Examinations and in schools of different types
Appendix III Notes by the Secretary on the use of psychological tests of various types in foreign countries
Appendix IV Note by Dr Cyril Burt on standardisation and norms
Appendix V Note by Dr Cyril Burt on correlation as applied to mental testing
Appendix VI Note by Mr AE Twentyman on grades in American schools
Appendix VII A short list of recent publications on psychology and psychological tests
Appendix VIII Examples of tests
Appendix IX The views of various psychologists on (a) the factors involved in 'general' ability, and (b) the need for testing for 'special' and 'group' abilities
Index
Note
The estimated gross cost of the preparation of the appended Report (including the expenses of the witnesses and members of the committee) is £927 13s 0d [£927.65], of which £190 10s 0d [£190.50] represents the gross cost of printing and publishing this Report.
Names of the members of the Consultative Committee
[page iv]
Sir WH Hadow CBE (Chairman)
Mr PWH Abbott
Dr JG Adami CBE
Mr SO Andrew
Dr Ernest Barker
Miss ER Conway
Rev Dr DHS Cranage
The Rt Hon Lord Gorell CBE MC
Mr Ivor H Gwynne
Miss Freda Hawtrey
Sir PR Jackson
Sir Stanley M Leathes KCB
Mr AJ Mundella
Dr Bertha S Phillpotts OBE
Dr RH Pickard
Mr Frank Roscoe
Dr RP Scott
Miss EM Tanner
Mr RH Tawney
Mr WW Vaughan MVO
Mr JA White
Mr RF Young (Secretary)
Terms of reference
What use can be made in the public system of education of psychological tests of educable capacity?
Analysis of the Consultative Committee's Report
[pages v - x]
Chapter 1 Historical sketch of the development of psychological tests
1. I: THE DEVELOPMENT OF EXPERIMENTAL AND INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY
2. II: PHYSICAL METHODS OF DIAGNOSIS
3. Anatomical stigmata
4. III: THE ORIGIN OF MENTAL TESTING
5. Early experimental work
6. IV: THE USE OF SIMPLE SENSORY TESTS
7. Lower senses: tests of touch and muscle sense
8. Higher senses: tests of hearing and vision
9. V: THE USE OF SIMPLE MOTOR TESTS
10. VI: GENERAL RESULTS OF EARLIER METHODS
11. Experiments on formal training
12. Negative conclusions
13. VII: THE APPLICATION OF CORRELATIONAL METHODS
14. The coefficient of correlation
15. The conception of general ability
16. VIII: TESTS OF HIGHER MENTAL PROCESSES
17. The possibility of group testing
18. Specific abilities
19. Mental imagery
20. IX: INDIVIDUAL TESTS OF INTELLIGENCE : THE BINET-SIMON SCALE
21. The diagnosis of mental deficiency
22. Simplified methods
23. Intelligence measured by an age scale
24. Revisions of the Binet-Simon Scale
25. (i) The Vineland Revision
26. (ii) The Yerkes Point Scale
27. (iii) The Stanford Revision
28. (iv) The London Revision
29. (v) The Treves-Saffiotti Method
30. The De Sanctis Tests
31. X: GROUP TESTS
32. XI: PERFORMANCE TESTS
33. XII: STANDARDISED TESTS OF SCHOLASTIC ATTAINMENT
34. The Standards of former Codes of the Education Department
35. American tests of scholastic attainments
36. English tests of scholastic attainments
37. XIII: TESTS OF VOCATIONAL APTITUDE
38. (i) Vocational guidance
39. (ii) Vocational selection
40. Vocational testing during the war
41. Vocational guidance among English school children
42. Vocational selection for Trade Schools and Apprentice Schools
43. XIV: TESTS OF TEMPERAMENT AND CHARACTER
44. The testing of neurotic and delinquent children
45. The influence of emotional and moral factors on the testing of intelligence
46. (i) Tests of temperament and emotion
47. (ii) Tests of character and morality
48. The importance of observational methods as distinguished from experimental
49. XV: CONCLUSION
Chapter 2 General summary of the available evidence bearing on the problems connected with the various types of psychological tests of educable ability
50. The various types of psychological tests of educable capacity
51. Observed discrepancies between ability and attainment; the desirability of recourse to some means of discovering innate ability apart from examinations of the conventional type
52. The application of 'intelligence' tests to subnormal and supernormal children
53. What is 'intelligence' as understood by modem psychologists
54. The various hypotheses regarding the nature of the factors involved in 'general ability' or general intelligence
55. What do tests of 'intelligence' measure
56. The main presuppositions underlying the use of tests of 'intelligence' and the indispensable conditions which must be complied with in order to ensure the validity of any set of tests of 'intelligence' for diagnostic purposes
57. The Binet-Simon Scale: its merits and disadvantages
58. The opinions of medical experts on the value of the Binet-Simon Scale and its modifications as an aid in the diagnosis of mental deficiency in children
59. Merits and defects attributed to the American modifications of the Binet Scale
60. Advantages and defects attributed to other individual tests
61. General character of group tests of intelligence and their value for determining educable capacity
62. The relative merits and disadvantages of group tests and individual tests of intelligence
63. The place of the interview in the application of individual tests, and its technique
64. How far do tests of 'intelligence' throw light on character or temperament, and how far are they affected by them. The possible use of temperamental tests as ancillary to intelligence tests
65. The connection between emotion and general intelligence
66. The value of standardised scholastic tests based on age performance for gauging educable capacity
67. The value of vocational tests (including tests of manual ability) in determining educable capacity
68. The nature and value of physical tests as supplementary to the preceding
69. The danger of special preparation or 'coaching' for the tests
70. Suggestions by witnesses in regard to the training of those applying the tests
71. Recommendations by witnesses on the desirability of establishing a central organisation to try and direct new tests and to collate experience
Chapter 3 The various possible applications of psychological tests of educable capacity in the public system of education
PART I: THE POSSIBLE USE OF 'INTELLIGENCE' TESTS IN CONNECTION WITH ORDINARY EXAMINATIONS INTENDED PRIMARILY TO TEST ABILITY
72. Introduction
73. Tests of 'intelligence' may be regarded as a species of the ordinary written and oral examinations, in so far as such examinations are designed to test ability rather than attainments
74. The First and Second School Examinations, being examinations intended primarily to test attainments, are outside the scope of our inquiry
75. On the other hand, examinations for free places in secondary schools, for entrance to secondary schools, and for admission to central schools, should be primarily designed to discover ability rather than to test attainments
76. A brief account of the more important expedients adopted up to the present time by various local education authorities to render the examination for free places a more effective test of ability
77. Summary of the evidence submitted to us relating to certain shortcomings in examinations for free places as at present conducted, and regarding the possible use of 'intelligence' tests as adjuncts to such examinations
78. Suggestions for the experimental use of 'intelligence' tests in connection with examinations for free places
(a) In the elementary school before the Free Place examination, or in association with the preliminary qualifying or 'weeding out' examination in areas where such preliminary examination is held
(b) The use of group tests of intelligence in the examination for free places in areas where, even after the 'weeding out' examination, a large number of candidates sit for the free place examination proper
(c) The use of individual tests of 'intelligence' at the oral interview held in connection with the free place examination
79. The importance of the oral interview in examinations intended primarily to discover ability
80. The special importance of the oral interview in public examinations for young children, such as free place examinations, and examinations for admission to central schools
PART II: THE POSSIBLE USE OF 'INTELLIGENCE' TESTS WITHIN SCHOOLS OF DIFFERENT TYPES
81. Introduction
82. In Elementary Schools:
(a) Application of individual tests to pupils of about seven years of age on admission to the school
(b) Application of individual tests to retarded children and children suspected of mental deficiency
(c) Application of group tests to pupils of about eleven years of age before presentation for the free place examination
(d) Application of group tests, followed in difficult cases by individual tests, to doubtful and borderline pupils, about whose ability there is considerable divergence of opinion on the part of different teachers
(e) The use of group tests, in association with the ordinary terminal examinations in elementary schools, does not seem advisable or necessary save in exceptional cases
83. In junior technical schools:
Application of group tests to entrants in order to help the school authorities in classifying them
84. In central schools:
Application of group tests, followed in difficult cases by individual tests, to pupils who are considered suitable for transfer to secondary schools at the age of about fourteen
85. In secondary schools:
(a) application of group tests to pupils newly admitted to secondary schools with a view to their proper classification
(b) Application of group tests, followed in difficult cases, if necessary, by individual tests, to assist the school authorities in assigning pupils, after one or two years at the secondary school, to different divisions of a form
(c) Application of group tests, followed up in difficult cases by individual tests, to pupils whose general ability, as revealed in their attainments, is variously estimated by different specialist teachers
PART III: THE POSSIBLE USE OF STANDARDISED SCHOLASTIC (EDUCATIONAL) TESTS, VOCATIONAL TESTS, PHYSICAL TESTS, TESTS OF MEMORY, PERCEPTION AND ATTENTION, AND TEMPERAMENTAL TESTS, AS AFFORDING DATA BEARING ON EDUCABLE CAPACITY, SUBSIDIARY TO THE INFORMATION YIELDED BY TESTS OF 'INTELLIGENCE'
86. The possible use of standardised scholastic (educational) tests as an ancillary means of gauging the educable capacity of pupils in schools of various types
87. The possible use of vocational tests, including tests of manual ability, in schools and other educational institutions
88. The possible use of physical tests as a subsidiary means of assessing educable capacity
89. The possible use of tests of memory, perception, attention, imagery, and association, as ancillary to tests of 'intelligence'
90. The possible use of temperamental tests as subsidiary to 'intelligence' tests in assessing educable capacity
PART IV: THE PROVISION OF COURSES FOR TEACHERS IN EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS, AND THE QUESTION OF TAKING STEPS TO COORDINATE AND ORGANISE RESEARCH AND TO DISTRIBUTE INFORMATION BEARING ON THE APPLICATION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL AND STATISTICAL METHODS TO EDUCATION
91. The question of the training which should be given to teachers, school doctors, and other persons engaged in the work of education to render them competent to administer group and individual tests of intelligence
92. The question of provision for the coordination and correlation of the work of psychologists, teachers and statisticians in regard to the application of psychological and statistical methods to education
PART V.
93. Conclusions and Recommendations
Introduction
[pages xi - xii]
On 29 July 1920, the Board sent two References to the Consultative Committee, one on the differentiation of curricula, the other on the use of psychological tests in the general system of education throughout the country. For reasons which will be readily appreciated, the Committee took first the Reference on differentiation of curricula, spent about two years in its investigation, and reported in September 1922. Meanwhile, realising that its second Reference was highly technical and would need much expert assistance and advice, it appointed a subcommittee of six of its members, with Dr Adami as Chairman, and with power, subject to the approval of the President, to co-opt members from outside. (1) In this way it was fortunate enough to secure the services of Dr PB Ballard, Dr CS Myers, and Professor CE Spearman, who placed at its disposal their wide knowledge and sound judgement and to whose ungrudging help and cooperation it is very deeply indebted. Not less does it owe its cordial gratitude to Dr Cyril Burt, who supplied it with evidence, who wrote for it some invaluable memoranda for Appendices IV, V, and VII, and whose work has influenced almost every page of our first chapter.
The subcommittee sat 13 times between October 1920 and May 1922, examined 19 witnesses, and received in addition many valuable pieces of written evidence from psychologists at home and abroad. On 25 May 1922, it presented to the full committee a report in which the evidence before it was digested and interpreted. This report the full committee took as the basis of its work.
Since May 1922, the full committee has sat on 22 days, and has heard evidence from 18 witnesses, including the three experts who had served on the subcommittee and who very kindly came to explain and develop certain of the points raised in its Report. A number of additional memoranda, scientific, educational and statistical, have also been received and have been much utilised especially for the Appendices. Many members of the committee have visited schools and institutions where the tests were in use in order to investigate at first hand the methods by which these are applied, marked and interpreted. They also visited the laboratories of Dr Myers and Professor Spearman, and submitted themselves to experiment.
From the outset the committee decided to interpret the term 'test of educable capacity' in its widest denotation (see Report, Section 50); and after consideration of the evidence from all sides, came to the conclusion that only three types of tests, the so-called intelligence tests, standardised scholastic tests, and in a less degree, vocational tests were suitable for use in schools and other educational institutions as distinct from psychological laboratories. Even within these limits it appeared that the theory of mental testing has not advanced as yet beyond the stage of what may be called temporary stability. It would therefore be dangerous and misleading to lay down any dogmatic rules as to the uses and limitations of the various types, especially as, up to the present time, comparatively few systematic experiments in their use have been made through England and Wales, and there is consequently no large body of experience suitable to national conditions such as is available in the United States and in Germany. A resume of the work that is being done in countries outside Great Britain is given in Appendix III.
We take this opportunity of thanking our witnesses for their evidence, much of which is very technical and must have taken great time and trouble to prepare. We regret that it is impossible to print the evidence in full, but we reproduce in Appendix IX the views of psychologists on the difficult question of testing for general and special abilities. Especially we would record our gratitude not only to the four distinguished psychologists whose names we have already cited, but to Mr AE Twentyman, Librarian of the Board of Education, who prepared for us the valuable note on grades in American schools printed in Appendix VI, and to our Secretary, Mr RF Young, whose unstinted labour has greatly helped us to thread the mazes of an abstruse and complicated problem.
Footnote
(1) See Clause 5 (ii) of the Order in Council, 22 July 1920.
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