Hadow (1924)

Notes on the text
Preliminary pages Preface, Contents, Membership, Analysis, Introduction
Chapter 1 History of development of psychological tests
Chapter 2 Summary of evidence
Chapter 3 Possible applications, conclusions and recommendations
Appendix I List of witnesses
Appendix II Recent experiments
Appendix III Use of tests in foreign countries
Appendix IV Standardisation and norms (Cyril Burt)
Appendix V Correlation in mental testing (Cyril Burt)
Appendix VI Grades in US schools (AE Twentyman)
Appendix VII Recent publications
Appendix VIII Examples of tests
Appendix IX General, special and group abilities
Index

Chapter 3 The various possible applications of psychological tests of educable ability in the public system of education
[pages 108 - 145]

PART I: THE POSSIBLE USE OF 'INTELLIGENCE' TESTS IN CONNECTION WITH ORDINARY EXAMINATIONS INTENDED PRIMARILY TO TEST ABILITY

72. In Part I of the present chapter we discuss the practical application of psychological tests in connection with various types of examination, in particular free place examinations. Before, however, we begin our examination of that problem we desire to call attention to one general conclusion which has impressed itself upon us with steadily increasing force as our inquiries have proceeded, and which we wish to state at the outset, since it forms an over-riding condition to which all our particular conclusions and proposals must be read as subject. It is that any system of selection whatever, whether by means of psychological tests, or by means of examination, which determines at the age of 11 the educational future of children is and must be, gravely unreliable. We agree, of course, with the generally accepted view that transference to the secondary school should normally take place at the age of 11. What we desire to emphasise is the waste of capacity inevitably involved in any arrangement under which a limited number of free places is fixed in advance, and only such children are admitted to secondary schools as are successful in winning them as the result of competitive examination, whether of the conventional kind, or supplemented by some form of psychological test.

It is, unfortunately, the case that as long as the accommodation of secondary schools and the provision of free places is so inadequate, as in most areas it is at the present time, selection by one method or another is inevitable. In such circumstances the free place examination, which was intended to be a qualifying examination, becomes a competitive examination, and often a competitive examination of an extremely stringent and exacting kind, since a large proportion of the candidates cannot possibly, whatever their ability, be successful in winning a free place. The results are that a large number of children who are well qualified to profit by secondary education are excluded from it, and that the whole subsequent career of many children is determined by their success or failure in the single competitive examination held at the age of 11. We are convinced that if selection is to be intelligent and its results trustworthy, it should come at as late a stage as possible in the educational career of children, and that any system of selection for higher education at so early an age as 11 is unsatisfactory.

We feel bound, therefore, to point out that no mere improvement in the methods by which selection takes place - eminently desirable though such improvement is - can act as substitute for the large increase in the secondary school accommodation and in the supply of free places which is so urgently needed.

73. 'Intelligence' tests as a species of ordinary written and oral examinations, designed primarily to discover abilities. From one aspect tests of 'intelligence' (1) may be regarded as a new type of examination, designed primarily to discover educable capacity. The basal idea involved in the term 'examination' is substantially the same as that underlying the new tests, which may indeed be envisaged as a form of examination intended to discover ability. The various means employed at present to assess educable capacity fall into two main classes: (a) tests of attainment in the various school subjects and of ability as revealed in the presentation of such acquired knowledge, and (b) tests of 'intelligence'. Tests designed to discover ability through the medium of acquired knowledge in the various school subjects consist of the ordinary written and oral examinations as at present conducted and of standardised educational tests (2) based on the average abilities which have been determined for the various ages or standards in certain fundamental branches of study. Tests, regarded as a form of examination, differ in two respects from ordinary written and oral examinations designed primarily to discover ability as revealed in the manipulation of acquired knowledge: first they claim to be exactly standardised, and secondly the acquired knowledge which they postulate is of a very restricted character, inasmuch as they aim mainly at detecting inborn ability or mother wit.

The word 'examination' is ordinarily used to denote a systematic test of knowledge, or of either special or general capacity or fitness, whether carried out under the authority of some public body, or applied in the form of an internal examination set to the pupils or students of some one school or educational institution. (3)

If we classify ordinary examinations in respect of their aim or end, we may delimit them for purposes of convenience into (i) knowledge (or memory) tests, or more exactly tests of the power of restating or reproducing facts and arguments of a kind that may be learned by heart; (ii) tests of capacity or, in other words, of the power of doing something, for example, writing a report on a specific subject with a particular object in view; solving a mathematical problem or making a precis of a written document, writing an essay on some subject within the candidate's range of knowledge, or a test of ingenuity in applying knowledge of scientific principles to some concrete problem; (iii) tests both of ability and of attainments. In point of fact a well conducted examination should test both actual attainment and ability. Nevertheless, for working purposes, there ought to be a fairly clear line of distinction in aim between an examination such as the free place examination, intended to select those candidates who are likely to profit most by instruction in a secondary school 'on the ground of their higher capacity and promise', (4) and an examination such as the First School Examination designed primarily to ascertain whether a candidate has reached a certain minimum standard of attainment in three main groups of school subjects.

74. The First and Second School Examinations. For our present purpose, which is to consider the possible use of 'intelligence' tests as adjuncts to ordinary examinations we are concerned only with examinations designed primarily to discover general educable capacity, through the medium of a certain minimum of acquired knowledge in a few specific subjects.

The First School Examination is defined in the Board's Circular of 15 June 1917 (5) as being one intended for pupils about the age of 16 and designed to test the results of the course of general education before the pupil begins such a degree of specialisation as is suitable for advanced work in secondary schools. The condition of passing the examination is that candidates shall have reached the required standard in certain main groups of school subjects. It is obvious, therefore, that a pupil, however great his inborn ability, cannot pass such an examination unless he possesses a certain amount of detailed knowledge in several branches of study. For the same reason, the Second School Examination, which assumes that the candidate, after the stage marked by the first examination, has followed a more specialised course in certain accepted groups or combinations of subjects, (5) must be regarded as being largely an examination in a special branch of acquired knowledge. It is true, as we have already noted, that any well conducted examination will test ability as revealed in the use and disposition of acquired knowledge. But as both the First and the Second School Examinations are principally concerned with the testing of acquired knowledge, we do not consider that 'intelligence' tests in their present state of development could usefully be employed in them.

75. Examinations for free places in secondary schools, for entrance to secondary schools and for admission to central schools. By far the most important public examination intended to discover capacity and promise in young children, rather than to test their attainments, is the examination for free places in secondary schools (and in some cases for admission to central schools), conducted by the various local education authorities in England and Wales. (6) The aim and character of this examination is defined generally in the Appendix to the Regulations for Secondary Schools, which, after laying down that the minimum standard of qualification for admission to secondary schools must be the same for fee paying pupils and for free place pupils, provides that 'where there are more qualified candidates than places, a preference may be given, as regards candidates for free places, to the children of those parents who are most in need of assistance in sending their children to a secondary school, or such other preference as may be specially approved by the Board. Subject to any such preference, priority shall be given both for free and other places to those candidates ... who are considered, on the ground of their higher capacity and promise, likely to profit most by instruction in the school'. (7) The qualifying entrance test for the admission of candidates who are 10 or over on the first day of the school year in which they desire admission must be suitable to their age and designed to ascertain their fitness to profit by instruction in the school. Pupils admitted under the age of 10 must also pass the required entrance test by the end of the school year in which they become 11. The Board lay down that the entrance test may properly be oral as well as written, and that regard may be paid to reports upon the candidates from the heads of the schools which they have previously attended. Candidates under 12 on the first day of the school year in which they desire admission must not be required to answer written questions except in English and arithmetic. It is further provided that the governing body of the school shall be responsible for the conduct of the entrance tests, except in so far as they may arrange for a local education authority to conduct them. The Board indicate that it is desirable that persons with experience of teaching in public elementary schools as well as those with experience in secondary schools shall take part in conducting them, and that an opportunity should be afforded to the head master or head mistress of the school which the pupil desires to enter of expressing an opinion upon the pupil's fitness before he is finally admitted.

The examination for free places in secondary schools always comprises papers in English and arithmetic, and sometimes also a general paper. In the areas of some of the larger local education authorities a preliminary qualifying, or 'weeding out', examination in English and arithmetic is held in the local elementary schools, and the children selected by means of this test are then called upon to sit for a more elaborate examination in English and arithmetic, which is generally held at convenient centres throughout the area.

76. Expedients adopted by various local education authorities to improve the examination for free places as a test of ability. It is generally admitted that it is far more difficult to discover ability (8) than to test acquired knowledge and it is not therefore surprising to find that much attention has recently been devoted by many education authorities to the problem of improving the technique of free place examinations. Many local authorities have recently been devoting much care and attention to the conduct of their free place examinations with a view to rendering them a more exact means of selecting those children who, on the ground of their higher capacity and promise, are considered likely to profit most by instruction in a secondary school. The more important means (9) adopted up to the present to this end may be summarised as follows:

(a) Much care and attention has been devoted by many authorities to the setting and marking of the obligatory papers in English and arithmetic in order to render them suitable and reasonable tests for children of about 11 years of age.

(b) Some authorities, in addition to the obligatory paper in English and arithmetic, set a general paper which not infrequently contains questions designed to discover native wit and ability as distinct from acquired knowledge - questions which are in fact unstandardised tests of 'intelligence'.

(c) A few authorities in addition to the oral examination also have recourse to an oral reading test, in which marks are assigned for such qualities as accuracy apprehension of meaning, correct emphasis and expression, and dramatic feeling.

(d) Some authorities arrange an oral examination for all candidates, while others hold an oral examination for borderline and doubtful candidates only.

(e) Some authorities have taken steps to ensure that marks are subsequently standardised on a systematic plan in order to correct, so far as possible, any peculiarities of individual examiners in the matter of marking.

(f) The supervision of the examination is not infrequently entrusted to an external examiner, on whom devolves the task of organising the whole examination, setting the papers both for the preliminary and for the final examination, presiding at the oral examination, and standardising and correlating the marks.

It will thus be seen that up to the present the use of 'intelligence' tests in connection with examinations for free places has only been one of several means employed to render such examinations more effective.

77. Evidence regarding certain shortcomings of examinations for free places as at present conducted and the possible use of 'intelligence' tests as adjuncts thereto. It does not come within the purview of our present Reference to make any exhaustive and far-reaching criticisms of free place examinations and examinations for entrance to secondary schools as at present conducted. (11) We think, nevertheless, that it may be useful to summarise the opinions of our witnesses on certain defects of the existing system, as their criticisms may help to indicate the directions in which 'intelligence' tests might usefully be employed to supplement and check the data obtained from the papers in English and arithmetic which form, as it were, the core of the existing examination. We should, however, say by way of preface to our summary of these criticisms that, so far as we can ascertain, the present examination, having regard to the vast number of candidates who are presented every year from elementary schools, works well on the whole. (12) The most serious objection that can be urged against the present system appears to be that some candidates who fail to obtain free places are possessed of greater natural ability than some of the successful candidates.

Several witnesses were of opinion that the ordinary free place examinations, oral and written, admitted some pupils to secondary schools who were not suited for that type of education and on the other hand rejected a number of suitable candidates, particularly those who developed late, or who came from remote rural schools, or from small urban schools where owing to difficulties of staffing pupils did not enjoy educational opportunities such as were afforded in many of the larger schools. For example, the head mistress of a county secondary school stated that she had come to the conclusion that candidates at the head of the free place list were not always those who did best during school life, and that those who were lowest in the list, or who, having failed to pass the examination, entered as fee-paying pupils frequently did better in school than many pupils who entered with high marks. Her general conclusion was that while, with few exceptions, most free place pupils justified the award, the present system of selection did not necessarily discover the best candidates from the elementary schools.

The head master of another secondary school said that it was not uncommon to find that after a year at school not only did the free place pupils reverse the position which they had held at entrance, but that several pupils who, having failed to obtain free places, had entered the school as fee-payers, had considerably outstripped pupils who had won free places. This evidence was corroborated by another head master, who stated that in his school out of 25 free place pupils selected by competition from over 300 candidates every year, it almost invariable happened that two, three or four had to be moved down from the upper to the lower or middle forms, while, on the other hand, several fee paying pupils who had failed to win free places were promoted at the end of their first or second term at school to take the place of the free place scholars who had been moved down. Various considerations were adduced to explain the failure of some pupils to justify their success in the free place examination. The reason most commonly assigned was that the special preparation which, despite all means taken to discourage it, was undoubtedly given in many elementary schools, (13) enabled some children to pass the examination with distinction. Another reason given was that some children had a talent for 'window dressing'. The failure of good candidates to pass the examination with credit was sometimes also due to ill health or nervousness. One head master ascribed the occasional retardation of some free place pupils in secondary schools to unfavourable home environment, including not infrequently insufficient nutrition and unsuitable clothing; to lack of ambition; to the absence of the stimulus and special preparation to which some of the pupils had previously been accustomed in their elementary school; and to differences in the curricula and methods of instruction employed in elementary and secondary schools respectively.

It was further pointed out that able pupils from remote rural schools or from small urban schools, who owing to difficulties of staffing had not received any special preparation for the free place examination such as was frequently given to pupils in larger schools, were handicapped by the fact that so much weight was in practice assigned to the paper in arithmetic, a subject for which relatively mediocre children could often be successfully 'coached' up to a certain point. In practice, the arithmetic paper was often the deciding factor, even though the same maximum of 100 marks were assigned to it as to the papers in English and general knowledge. This was chiefly due to the fact that the divergence between the highest and lowest marks obtained by candidates in the arithmetic paper was often far wider than in papers in English and general knowledge. It had, however, been observed in several free place examinations that where questions in mental arithmetic were not placed at the beginning, but interspersed in the body of the paper, the divergence of marks was not so great. This was doubtless due in part to the fact that some able children, who had had little practice in doing such problems, having entered the examination room in a state of considerable nervous tension, and found questions at the beginning of the arithmetic paper of a type unfamiliar to them, had been unable to do themselves justice. It is true that similar instances of mistaken ways of setting papers both in respect of the nature and the form of the question, and in regard to the position assigned to it in the examination paper, might be cited from papers actually set in English and general knowledge, but in these cases the evil is very much less. We are of opinion, therefore, that quite apart from the question of the value of 'intelligence' tests in themselves, it is of very considerable importance that examiners who set papers for free place examinations should endeavour, as no doubt is already often done, to place themselves in the position of the examinees, most of whom have been presented for a public examination at the age of 11 for the first time in their lives, and many of whom have been previously told by their parents, guardians, teachers, and, in effect, by the state, that their whole future career depends on the winning of a free place. We are of opinion that, if greater pains were taken to frame the written papers on sound psychological lines, and to bring a knowledge of educational psychology to bear on the conduct of the oral examination, the argument for the general use of 'intelligence' tests as adjuncts to the free place examination would be pro tanto weakened, though such tests would still be of considerable service in borderline cases,

None of our witnesses suggested the substitution of 'intelligence' tests for the present free place examination. Most of them, however, were disposed to favour the employment of such tests as ancillary to the existing examination, though one head master expressed the view that the existing examination was as adequate as anything humanly fallible could be, and that the so-called 'intelligence' tests used as an adjunct thereto brought to light a precocity which did not stand the test of time.

Several witnesses suggested that the most satisfactory arrangement would be to interpolate group 'intelligence' tests into the ordinary papers in English and arithmetic. Others proposed that the scope of the examination should be enlarged so as to include not only written papers in English and arithmetic, but also a paper in group tests of 'intelligence', supplemented by reference to the school record, and the head teacher's estimate. It was further suggested that in all doubtful cases individual tests of 'intelligence' should be applied.

On the whole, none of our witnesses were prepared to accept the results of any existing 'intelligence' tests as by themselves conclusive, but most of them were disposed to think that group tests, if properly administered and accurately marked, would serve to supplement and check the results obtained by the ordinary examination, and would afford useful guidance in doubtful cases. It was generally agreed that in all really doubtful cases the data afforded by the ordinary examination and by group tests should be supplemented by an oral interview at which individual tests might be applied by a trained expert.

78. Suggestions for the experimental use of 'intelligence' tests in connection with examinations for free places. After consideration of the available accounts of experiments conducted up to the present time by local education authorities in the use of 'intelligence' tests in connection with free place examinations, we are of opinion that in areas where the number of candidates is large, tests of 'intelligence' if carefully applied and marked, would be of considerable use as adjuncts to the ordinary papers in English and arithmetic. So far as we can see, the tests might be used experimentally in connection with the free place examination at any of the following stages:

(a) In the elementary school before the free place examination. A paper of group tests might be set to pupils in elementary schools at the age of about 11, shortly before they were presented for the free place examination. The information afforded by the application of these group tests, provided they were carefully marked and evaluated, would be of considerable service, if considered in association with the school record and the teacher's estimate of each individual pupil. It seems to us that the data afforded by group tests applied in the elementary schools which the children ordinarily attended would probably be more trustworthy than the results of such tests when they were worked by the children under new and unfamiliar conditions at the examination for free places. Group tests applied at this stage in the familiar surroundings of the local elementary school might very possibly afford information that might lead to the presentation of some children for the free place examination proper who, on the results of their work in English and arithmetic in the qualifying or 'weeding out' examination might have been adjudged unfit to sit for the free place examination.

(b) The use of group tests in free place examinations. It seems to us that there may also be a field for experiment in the use of group tests of 'intelligence' in free place examinations, provided always that the results obtained by the use of such tests be regarded as merely 'indicative', or affording a presumption of the presence or absence of native ability. In other words, we do not think that a candidate who had done poorly in the papers in English and arithmetic and had yet acquitted himself creditably in a paper of group tests should be awarded a free place unless he had successfully passed a fairly searching oral examination designed to discover whether the apparent ability revealed by the group tests was really present. In this connection we would point out that several examiners who had applied both group tests and individual tests in connection with free place examinations were of opinion that what was revealed by these tests was often mere presence of mind, or 'sharpness' in seeing the point, while in the absence of trustworthy additional tests of certain important aspects of character which affected educable capacity, valuable qualities such as power of concentration and intellectual sincerity might be ignored.

(c) The use of individual tests at the oral interview held in connection with the free place examination. We are of opinion that experiments might also be usefully made in the application of individual tests as supplementary to the oral examination, but we think that these should be set only in those cases where a qualified person is available, and that the oral examination should consist mainly of questions of the ordinary type designed to discover mental alertness and certain aspects of character essential to success in a secondary school, such as the power of continued attention and concentration.

79. The importance of the oral interview in examinations primarily intended to discover ability. In connection with the use of individual tests of intelligence which must necessarily be applied at an oral interview, we desire to emphasise our opinion that more attention should be devoted by psychologists and teachers to a clear definition of the precise aims, functions and limitations of oral examinations generally and to the proper development of their technique. We are of opinion that in all examinations which set out primarily to discover ability great weight should be attached to the results of an oral examination.

It is well known that in France special attention has been devoted for many years past to elaborating the technique of those oral interviews which form an integral and most important part of the state examinations for the baccalaureat, the licence, the agregation and the doctorat. (14) It is therefore particularly significant that individual tests of intelligence were first developed by Binet, who built up his scale by adapting and improving an already existing form of oral interview devised by doctors and teachers with a view to segregating for instruction by special methods children suspected of mental deficiency. (15) Indeed, from one aspect, the Binet Scale may be regarded as a standardised form of oral examination for children between the ages of 3 and 14. It is interesting to note that attention has recently been directed in several official reports (16) to the importance of the oral interview for older students as a means of discovering not merely knowledge, but intelligence, mental alertness, and real mastery of such acquired knowledge as the candidate may possess.

80. We consider that an oral interview is of special importance in free place examinations and in examinations for entrance to secondary schools and for admission to central schools, since, as is well known, many children - even those trained under favourable conditions in the best elementary schools - cannot always do themselves justice on paper.

Several of our witnesses who possessed extensive experience of free place examinations pointed out that a child of real ability might often fail to do himself justice in a written examination. It was not difficult to explain such failure in children of only 11 years of age. Lack of practice in the literary expression of ideas and indeed in the mere art of rapid penmanship, the new and unfamiliar environment of a public examination, native diffidence, nervous tension, and. anxiety about the result, on which so much appeared to depend, were common disturbing factors. The play of such factors might be counteracted by the ardour or the happy unconsciousness of the candidate, but even so, some subconscious 'inhibition' might be present in his mind which prevented him from doing himself justice in a written paper. On the other hand, a skilful oral examiner with an adequate knowledge of child nature could often put even a nervous (17) examinee at his ease after a few questions, and induce him to talk. Even if the oral examiner inadvertently put to the child an otherwise simple question in a form which was unfamiliar he could readily elucidate it orally in a way which was impossible with an unsuitable or badly set question in a written paper.

We understand that of late years a number of local education authorities have devoted such attention to the conduct of the oral examination as part of their free place examination, and that special care is exercised to put children at their ease and to ask questions designed to detect fundamental traits of intellect and character and to induce the children to talk about their special interests in order to afford opportunities for the revelation of any latent promise of ability. One examiner, for instance, who had had great experience in arranging and supervising free place examinations, told us that, though up to the present time he had never employed individual tests of intelligence at the oral interview, his general aim was (1) to discover character; (2) to appraise intelligence, and (3) to give credit for knowledge of facts. He had found the oral examination of the greatest service for discovering able children, who had not done themselves justice in the written examination. In his opinion the oral examination was of far greater value than the written because young children of 11 often did not know how to deal with written papers.

It would be absurd to claim more than partial validity for any system of testing (whether by written and oral examinations of the ordinary type, or by group or individual tests) of intelligence which aims at determining so early as the age of 11 the suitability of a child to proceed to places of higher education. (18) Nevertheless, of all the means at present employed in order to discover latent ability and promise among candidates for free places, (19) we are disposed to attach special importance to a well conducted oral examination. Until recently the ordinary oral examination was too often casual and haphazard. The examiner did not as a rule prepare his questions beforehand, or standardise his material, or put the same questions to all candidates; and thus had no ground for the comparison of candidate with candidate. On the other hand the oral interview at which standardised individual tests of intelligence are applied by a trained tester is the most searching and incisive of all forms of examination by means of 'intelligence' tests. (20)

PART II: THE POSSIBLE USE OF 'INTELLIGENCE' TESTS WITHIN SCHOOLS OF DIFFERENT TYPES

81. Having indicated the possible use of tests of intelligence as adjuncts to certain public, or quasi-public examinations intended primarily to discover inborn ability, we now pass on to consider the possible use of such tests within schools of various types. Here there is a wide and fruitful field for experiment, and it would obviously be impossible in the present state of development of 'intelligence' tests to give any authoritative and complete account of the ways in which they might be employed by teachers as a basis of classification and promotion of their pupils, and as a subsidiary means of detecting subnormal and supernormal children. Relatively few careful and scientific experiments have been made in the application of such tests to pupils in our schools, (21) and there is, accordingly, at present no large body of experience to draw upon, such as is available in the United States, where the tests have been extensively employed for the past 12 years. (22) We have, however, considered the possible experimental use of 'intelligence' tests in our schools as at present organised and we make the following tentative suggestions in the hope that they may be of some assistance to teachers in schools of various types.

In general we think that the use of tests of 'intelligence' as supplementary to the ordinary tests of educational attainments and to standardised scholastic tests is of the greatest value below the stage of the First School Examination. We are of opinion that the use of tests of intelligence by adequately trained teachers and inspectors would chiefly assist in the following directions:

(a) the proper classification of pupils at entry;
(b) the transference of pupils to classes or schools of different types;
(c) the detection of the causes retarding or accelerating the development of children; and the adoption, either within the school they attend or at special schools, of the most effective methods of instruction or training in individual cases.

Further it seems desirable that the 'mental ratio' of each individual pupil should be supplemented by notes about the way in which he or she actually attacked the questions put.

We are of opinion that one of the most important uses of the data obtained from such tests is to suggest to the teacher the advisability of reconsidering his judgements about individual pupils which often tend to become stereotyped.

We would also suggest that careful records should be kept both of the results of group and individual tests of 'intelligence' and of standardised scholastic tests, on the one hand, and of the after performances of individual pupils, on the other hand, with a view to the comparison of promise of educable capacity as revealed by such tests with the actual achievements of individual pupils in school and after, and also with a view to the elimination of untrustworthy tests of whatever kind and the gradual improvement of testing as a whole.

82. In elementary schools. (a) We are of opinion that in elementary schools it might be found useful to apply individual tests, (23) and possibly certain group tests, to pupils on entry to the school or senior department at the age of about 7 years, in order to assist the school authorities in the preliminary classification. Individual tests should, however, only be applied when the services of a properly trained person are available. We consider that the data derived from the application of the tests would be useful for pupils of this age in the almost complete absence of other information, e.g. class records of progress in specific subjects and teachers' estimates of intellectual ability, character, powers of memory, attention, and so forth. We think, however, that the data obtained from the use of the tests whether group or individual, should only be regarded as establishing a presumption and should not in the present state of their development be regarded as in any way finally valid.

(b) In regard to retarded children or those who are suspected of mental deficiency, we are of opinion that individual tests of intelligence should only be applied by persons who have had adequate training in the technique of applying and marking such tests. Further we entirely approve of the procedure ordinarily adopted at present in cases where a child is to be recommended for transfer to a special school for mentally defective children, whereby the data derived from the application of individual tests of 'intelligence' and standardised scholastic tests are always considered in close association with the medical report, the opinion of the child's teachers, the school record, and any available particulars regarding parentage and home conditions. No child should ever be treated as mentally deficient on the ground only of the data afforded by the application of 'intelligence' tests, however carefully they may have been administered and marked.

(c) We have already expressed our view that it may be desirable that group tests of intelligence should be applied in elementary schools to pupils of about 11 years of age who are shortly to be presented for the free place examination, in order that the data thus obtained may be considered in connection with the school records and the teachers' estimate of each individual pupil at the final allocation of free place scholarships after the free place examination. (24)

(d) We are also of opinion that in doubtful cases where the estimates of the ability and aptitude of individual pupils by different teachers are widely divergent, it would be found helpful to apply individual tests, provided always that they were administered by a person who possessed the necessary training. The 'mental ratio' derived from the application of individual tests in such instances might be of use to the head teacher as a check on other information available regarding such pupils.

(e) We are disposed to doubt whether it is necessary, or even advisable, to set group tests of intelligence as a part of the ordinary terminal examinations in elementary schools, except possibly in those schools where the difficulties of discrimination are exceptionally great. In such cases group tests might be included experimentally in some of the terminal examinations. As a general rule, however, we are disposed to think that it would be sufficient if the data derived from the application of 'intelligence' tests to pupils on entrance were checked once or twice before the age of 11 is attained. As we have indicated above (25) group tests might in some instances be applied again before the children are presented for the free place examination.

83. In junior technical schools. We are of opinion that experiments might usefully be conducted in the application of group tests to pupils admitted to junior technical schools on the result of the ordinary written, oral and practical examination or of any other tests for entrance as a check on the information thus obtained from the examination and on the opinions formed by teachers of individual pupils. We desire, however, to emphasise our opinion that the data derived from the use of the tests should always be considered in close association with the results obtained from the ordinary written, oral and practical examinations employed in such schools.

84. In central schools. We understand that the head masters of central schools and other types of intermediate schools providing a four years' course for pupils of 11 years and upwards are not infrequently called upon to recommend some of their more gifted pupils for transfer to secondary schools at the age of about 14 years. It seems to us that the data afforded by the careful application of group tests of intelligence to such pupils might be of considerable service to the head master as a check on the estimate of the pupil's abilities formed by himself and his staff and the data afforded by the pupil's school record at his elementary school.

85. In secondary schools. (a) It is well known that the difficulties of organisation in many secondary schools, especially girls' schools, are very great owing to the diversity of attainments in different subjects among the entrants, due to the previous education received by them before entering the secondary school (whether in elementary schools or private schools or through private tuition). We think that the data obtained by the careful application of group tests of intelligence would in some instances be of real value as a partial check on the other data available. The tests might also be used as an aid in classifying entrants of the same attainments.

(b) The tests might also be used by head masters and head mistresses of secondary schools, as affording additional data to assist them in the task of assigning pupils after one or two years at the school, say at the age of 12 or 13 years, to different divisions of a form.

(c) It is well known that reports on pupils in secondary schools not infrequently exhibit considerable variation of standard of judgement in regard to the performance and supposed capacity of individual pupils. This probably arises from the fact that particular judgements regarding the aptitude of an individual pupil in the several subjects of the curriculum are sometimes made without any adequate correlation of opinion or standard by different teachers who are specialists in their own subjects. This tendency is, we understand, especially noticeable in the middle forms of some large secondary schools, which are often staffed by specialist teachers who give instruction only in their own subject or group of subjects to a considerable number of different classes. The result frequently is that an individual specialist teacher, who is often required to take a number of large classes, must necessarily have a relatively limited knowledge of the idiosyncrasies of each individual pupil. We would suggest that in such cases data regarding individual pupils obtained by the application of 'intelligence' tests might be of considerable use to the head master or head mistress as a check on the varying judgements of different specialist members of the staff.

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. (26) THE POSSIBLE USE OF STANDARDISED, SCHOLASTIC (EDUCATIONAL) TESTS BASED ON AGE PERFORMANCE AS AN ANCILLARY MEANS OF GAUGING EDUCABLE CAPACITY OF PUPILS IN SCHOOLS OF VARIOUS TYPES.

86. Standardised scholastic (educational) tests, the development of which is described in Sections 33 to 36 of this Report, occupy a position between ordinary examinations and tests of intelligence. Though they may be regarded as a variant of the ordinary oral and written examinations, they resemble 'intelligence' tests in that they have been elaborated by actual experiment and statistical evaluation and claim to be based on the average performances of groups of pupils of like age who have enjoyed similar educational opportunities. As has been indicated in Chapter 1, a large number of tests of this type in the various school subjects have recently been elaborated in the United States. (27) Most of these American standardised tests of scholastic attainment are, however, unsuited for application to English pupils owing to deep-seated differences in the social and business customs, and in the educational organisation of the two countries. (28) We understand, however, that English psychologists are now devoting considerable attention to the development of satisfactory tests of this type for English children and we are disposed think that if adequate tests of this kind were elaborated, especially in the various school subjects, for elementary schools and for the lower forms in secondary schools up to the age of 14 or 15 they should only be brought gradually and tentatively into use and that the data obtained by their application should in the present state of the development of such tests be regarded as having only a relative value. Further, we think that such tests, when elaborated, would be of use within the school rather than for external examinations. As they would be based on the average abilities, which would have been determined for the various ages or standards in certain fundamental branches of study, they should be useful for discovering the scholastic age of pupils as distinct from their chronological, physiological and mental ages, and for gauging their educational progress. We are of opinion that carefully standardised scholastic tests in simple subjects such as reading and simple arithmetic might prove of real value as an aid to the classification of children in elementary schools at about 7 years of age and we suggest that experiments should be made in the use of such tests for this purpose. (29)

87. The possible use of vocational tests, including tests of manual ability, in schools and other educational institutions. We are disposed to think that certain tests of vocational aptitude have already reached a promising stage of development and should prove to be of considerable service to teachers, parents, employers, and to public and private bodies engaged in recommending or training children and young persons for certain specific occupations. The data obtained by the use of such vocational tests should always be considered in relation to the data derived from the application of 'intelligence' tests and such other information as is available regarding each individual child. Experiments might usefully be conducted in the application of vocational tests in close association with 'intelligence' tests to pupils in elementary schools and in the lower forms of secondary schools, more especially those pupils who appear to have little aptitude for the ordinary school studies. The negative value of such tests might prove to be even greater than their positive value in assisting teachers and parents to dissuade children from entering occupations for which they are shown to be naturally unsuited.

On the whole, we are of opinion that the range of these vocational tests in their present state of development is not yet sufficient to warrant us in making any recommendation for their immediate general application. The data afforded by the application of such tests might, however, form an important and useful element in giving vocational guidance to children who are about to leave school, provided always that such data are considered in close relation with school records, the opinion of teachers, any information supplied by the school medical officer, and the performances of the pupils in any external examination, such as the free place examination, for which they may have been presented. Due regard should also, of course, be paid to the personal inclinations of the individual pupil, who should, however, be advised to bear in mind local and general needs and conditions in selecting a career. (30)

88. The possible use of physical tests as an ancillary means of determining educable capacity. We are of opinion that the data afforded by the application of physical tests in their present state of development are of relatively small value as a subsidiary means of gauging educable capacity. We think that, wherever possible, the data obtained from such tests administered by a trained expert might form a valuable addendum to the information supplied by the school medical officer regarding the general health and physical peculiarities, if any, of each individual pupil. It would seem, however, not improbable that, as a result of further research, these physical tests may be developed and may ultimately yield results which might form a really valuable adjunct to the data derived from the application of 'intelligence' tests.

89. The possible use of tests of memory, perception, attention etc. as subsidiary to tests of 'intelligence'. We are of opinion that, up to the present, tests of memory, perception, attention, imagery and association, have not yet been sufficiently developed to make them of any appreciable value to teachers as supplementing the information afforded by the application of mental tests. (31) It is not improbable, however, that the scope and accuracy of psychological tests of this character may be considerably extended as a result of further research. We are of opinion that if really trustworthy tests of mental activities of a specialised kind, such as memory, perception and attention, could be devised which would at the same time be easy to administer and to mark, such tests might be of considerable use as yielding information regarding individual children that would supplement the data derived from the application of 'intelligence' tests.

90. The possible use of temperamental tests as subsidiary to mental tests. We are of opinion that no really trustworthy and satisfactory tests of those aspects of temperament which bear directly on educable capacity have yet been elaborated. If satisfactory tests of this type were developed in the future it seems possible that they might be of considerable use as affording important information bearing on educable capacity ancillary to the data derived from the application of 'intelligence' tests. For the present, however, we would deprecate the use of any of the existing tests of temperament in schools. In our opinion the only satisfactory method of obtaining any trustworthy data regarding the temperament of individual pupils is the careful collation of reports submitted by competent observers, such as parents and teachers, who have been acquainted with the examinee during a considerable portion of his life, together with such information as can be obtained at a personal interview. In this connection we desire to emphasise the view we have previously expressed that more attention should be devoted to the proper elaboration of the technique of the personal interview. We are disposed to think that something could be done to this end by drawing up questionnaires of facts about temperament to be noted and observed, and possibly also by elaborating rating scales for the registration of such facts in terms of a comparable scheme. On the whole, however, we think that the most important evidence regarding those aspects of character which bear directly on educable capacity is that forthcoming from teachers and others who have had opportunities of observing such traits in an individual pupil over a considerable period of time.

PART IV: THE PROVISION OF COURSES FOR TEACHERS IN EDUCATIONAL 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 interested in education to render them competent to administer group and individual tests of intelligence respectively. We are of opinion that the devising, standardising, and final interpretation both of individual tests and group tests, and of their methods of application should be entrusted only to recognised psychological experts. But we think that the satisfactory application of group tests which are set in the form of a written examination paper, demands relatively little special training, though it seems most important that the instructions given to the supervisor who distributes the papers to the examinees should be exactly carried out. The technique is relatively simple, and a teacher should be able to acquire the necessary knowledge by attending a short course on educational psychology, with special reference to the significance of group tests of 'intelligence' and standardised scholastic tests to the technique of administering and marking them. We accordingly suggest that local education authorities should take steps and to organise short courses in educational psychology carefully restrained in scope and with special reference to the technique of applying and marking group tests of 'intelligence' and standardised scholastic tests for teachers already employed and for those in training in order to give them an appreciation of the significance of tests and to impress on them the need for exact method in their application. We think that teachers should, after a short course of this kind, be able to mark group tests and to interpret the results in reference to the pupils in their own schools, though it would be hazardous if they were to attempt to interpret the results generally in reference to children of the same age.

On the other hand, we are of opinion that for the satisfactory application by teachers, school medical officers and others of individual 'intelligence' tests, and for the accurate interpretation of the data obtained by their use, a training in experimental psychology, in the technique of applying the tests, and in the use of statistical methods, is indispensable. The results obtained by the application of individual tests of 'intelligence' by untrained persons should be received with the utmost caution, and are, in our judgement, almost devoid of value.

We accordingly suggest that longer courses in experimental psychology, with particular reference to the theory of 'intelligence' tests and the technique of applying, marking and interpreting both individual tests and group tests, should be organised by universities and university colleges acting in concert with local education authorities, for experienced teachers and for those who are taking a deferred third year course, or a one year professional course. Such courses should always include some instruction in the elements of statistical methods.

We are of opinion that when psychological tests are used to ascertain whether children are mentally deficient, they should be applied only by persons possessing an adequate knowledge of the technique of applying, marking, and interpreting individual tests of intelligence and standardised scholastic tests. We accordingly recommend that the Board should take appropriate steps to ensure this, either by supplementing the conditions under which they at present approve of school medical officers whose duties involve the examination of children suspected of mental deficiency, or by otherwise ensuring that an experienced expert is available for this purpose.

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. On a review of the available evidence we are convinced that it is important that existing psychological tests should be kept constantly under review, in order to increase the accuracy of the methods employed, to enlarge their scope and to render the data afforded by them more valid. In particular, it seems most desirable that psychologists, in collaboration with teachers who have had some training in psychology, should elaborate new and alternative tests and revise the methods of application. Further, it seems to us highly desirable that all available information regarding the latest developments of the various types of psychological tests of educable capacity should be collected by some central organisation and placed at the disposal of psychologists, teachers, administrators and other persons interested in education. For these purposes further scientific research is required. It seems, therefore, desirable that the Board of Education should take appropriate steps, possibly in association with other government departments interested directly or indirectly in the development of psychological tests, to appoint a permanent advisory committee to work in concert with the psychological departments of the English and Welsh universities and other organisations engaged in the work of research.

Such a permanent advisory committee might well include administrative officers and inspectors of the Board and other government departments interested in tests, and of local education authorities, teachers, medical officers, psychologists and trained statisticians. We think, further, that local education authorities should be encouraged in cases where financial conditions permit, to appoint whole or part-time psychological advisers to collaborate with the school medical officers and the teachers in schools of various types, and generally to supervise the application of tests and other psychological methods bearing on education in the area. In this connection we desire to reiterate our opinion that psychological tests should be regarded as being only the most prominent of several ways in which a knowledge of psychology and statistical methods is being brought to bear on education.

PART V: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

93. Our conclusions and recommendations are as follows:

The various types of psychological tests of educable capacity

1. That, while the terminology employed in any discussion of psychological tests of educable capacity in their present state of development is necessarily provisional, the expression 'psychological test of educable capacity' may for purposes of convenience be interpreted as including:

(i) Tests of 'intelligence', i.e. tests designed to measure that general ability which is held by many psychologists to underlie the various special activities of the mind.

(ii) Standardised scholastic tests, i.e. tests of attainment in particular school subjects, such as reading and arithmetic, elaborated by actual experiment and statistical evaluation. (See footnote at the end of this chapter regarding the view of Dr Adami).

(iii) Such vocational tests, including tests of manual ability (32) as are suitable for application in schools and educational institutions.

(iv) Tests of mental activities of a specialised kind, e.g. tests of memory, perception, attention, imagery, association.

(v) Certain physical tests which have been suggested as a means of assessing educable capacity.

(vi) Tests of such aspects of temperament and character as bear directly on educable capacity. (Section 50).

2. That the distinctions involved in the above classification are themselves founded on hypotheses, and, however convenient for purposes of analysis, should not be interpreted as if they were finally valid; in other words, these distinctions are probably best regarded as first approximations to the truth, and as such are of considerable value for working purposes, but possess only provisional validity. (Section 50).

3. That the devising, standardising and final interpretation of all types of psychological tests should be entrusted only to recognised experts, who should take counsel with those who are in close touch with school life. (Section 91).

4. That up to the present the only kinds of psychological tests of educable capacity that have been sufficiently developed to be of much service in schools for the purpose of diagnosing and assessing such capacity are tests of 'intelligence', standardised scholastic tests, and to a less extent vocational tests. (Sections 81-87).

Tests of 'Intelligence'

5. That from one point of view tests of 'intelligence' represent a considered attempt to apply methods of quantitative and qualitative evaluation on psychological lines to groups of children and adults who are assumed to have been subjected to a similar general environment and like conditions of life. The tests attempt to gauge 'intelligence' in relation to elementary forms of acquired knowledge. They are to be regarded as an attempt to apply a knowledge of psychology and statistical methods to examinations intended primarily to discover ability rather than attainments. (Sections 55-56, 61, 62, 75-78, 82-85).

6. That though in the present state of development of 'intelligence' tests it is hardly possible to explain simply and precisely what is measured or tested by them, it is tolerably well established that these tests, when properly constructed, applied and interpreted, have shown themselves capable of giving a useful common measurement of what teachers generally call capacity or intelligence. They indicate how far a child is capable of learning provided he is not prevented by extraneous circumstances or faults of temperament from making proper use of the opportunities offered him. (Section 55).

7. That, though there is considerable difference of opinion among psychologists regarding hypotheses about the nature of general 'intelligence', there is nevertheless a large measure of agreement in regard to the connotation of the phrase for practical purposes. It appears to be a general mental ability operating in many different ways, given as part of the child's natural endowment, as distinct from knowledge or skill acquired through teaching or experience, and more concerned with analysing and coordinating the data of experience than with mere passive reception of them. As, however, this term 'intelligence' is employed by psychologists in a technical sense, it seems desirable to place it in inverted commas, in order to indicate that it is used with a special meaning. (Sections 53, 54).

8. That the main presuppositions underlying the use of 'intelligence' tests appear to be as follows:

(i) that there are certain mental factors which remain more or less constant during the lifetime of individual human beings;

(ii) that methods of examination have been discovered or can be discovered by which these factors in any individual can to a great extent be ascertained and differentiated from the results of training and education.

9. That there is general agreement that tests of ' intelligence ' are of value as supplements to, but not as substitutes for, the present methods of estimating individual capacity: that this supplementary testing is of greatest value below the stage of the First School Examination, but that its value must inevitably be reduced so long as it is restricted by the limitations attaching to any system of examination which finally determines so early as the age of 11 the opportunities of a child to proceed to places of higher education. (Sections 72-78, 81-85).

Group and individual 'intelligence' tests

10. That group tests are more suitable for use in schools and in external examinations than individual tests since the latter take much longer to apply and demand a special training for their proper application. (Sections 61, 62, 78, 82-85).

11. That up to the present very few group tests have been constructed which are suitable for application to children under 10 years of age.

That the individual tests devised up to the present are especially useful for young children under about 10 years of age, but are of comparatively little use for older children, particularly those over the age of 15 or 16. On the other hand, group tests have been devised which are suitable both for children from 10 to 16 and upwards and for adults. (Sections 62, 82).

12. That the satisfactory application of group tests, which have been properly elaborated and standardised and are set in the form of written papers, demands relatively little special training, though it is most important that the instructions given to the supervisor who actually conducts the test should be carried out with precision. The technique is relatively simple and a teacher should be able to acquire the necessary knowledge by attending a short course on educational psychology with special reference to the significance of group tests and to the technique of administering, marking and interpreting them (cf. No. 15). (Sections 70, 91).

13. That for the satisfactory application by teachers, school medical officers and others of individual tests of intelligence, and for the accurate interpretation of the data obtained by their use, a careful training in psychology, in the technique of applying the tests, and in the use of statistical methods is indispensable. Results obtained from the application of individual tests by untrained persons should be received with the utmost caution and are, in our opinion, almost devoid of value. (Sections 57, 91).

14. That, when individual tests of 'intelligence' are applied to subnormal children with a view to ascertaining whether they are mentally deficient, the data derived from the application of such tests should never be regarded as finally valid in themselves, and should always be considered in close association with the medical report, the opinion of the child's teachers, the school record and any available particulars regarding parentage, home conditions and general environment. In particular, no child should ever be treated as mentally deficient solely on the evidence afforded by the application of 'intelligence' tests, or of standardised scholastic tests, however carefully they may have been administered and marked. (Sections 58, 82(b)).

The provision of courses in experimental psychology and in the elements of modern statistical methods designed to qualify teachers and medical officers to use group and individual 'intelligence' tests respectively

15. That it is desirable that steps should be taken by local education authorities to organise short courses in educational psychology with special reference to the theory of group intelligence tests and the technique of applying and marking them for teachers and for persons engaged in the work of education, in order to give them an appreciation of the significance of such tests and to impress upon them the need for method in their application. (cf. No. 12). (Sections 70, 91).

16. That it is desirable that longer courses in experimental psychology, with particular reference to the theory of 'intelligence' tests and the technique of applying, marking and interpreting both individual and group 'intelligence' tests, should be organised by universities and university colleges (acting in concert with local education authorities) for experienced teachers and for those who are taking a deferred third year course or a one year professional course.

Such courses should include some instruction in the elements of statistical methods. (cf. No. 13). (Sections 70, 91).

17. That it is important that when psychological tests are used to ascertain whether children are mentally deficient they should be applied only by persons (whether school medical officers or others) possessing an adequate knowledge of the technique of applying, marking and interpreting individual 'intelligence' tests and standardised scholastic tests.

We accordingly recommend that the Board should take appropriate steps to ensure this, either by supplementing the conditions under which they at present approve of school medical officers whose duties involve the examination of children suspected of mental deficiency or by otherwise ensuring that a recognised expert is available for this purpose. (Sections 82(b), 91).

Standardised scholastic tests

18. That it is desirable that carefully devised experiments should be made in the application of standardised scholastic (educational) tests suitable for use in English schools with a view to determining how far they afford trustworthy subsidiary data bearing on educable capacity. (Section 86).

19. That standardised scholastic tests in simple subjects, such as reading and the easier processes of arithmetic, might probably be used with good results by head teachers of elementary schools to assist them in classifying pupils entering at about the age of 7. It is advisable that experiments should be conducted in the use of standardised scholastic tests for this purpose; up to the present very few group 'intelligence' tests have been devised suitable for children under 10, and the satisfactory application of individual 'intelligence' tests, especially to young children, demands special training on the part of the teacher. (cf. No. 13). (Sections 62, 66, 86, 92).

The application of psychological knowledge to ordinary examinations and the possible use of 'intelligence' tests as adjuncts to certain public examinations for young children

20. That the new 'psychological' tests may probably exercise an important influence on public examinations of the ordinary type. It seems probable that the whole theory and technique of ordinary examinations will gradually be considerably modified by applying to them, so far as possible, the principles adopted in constructing and standardising tests of 'intelligence' and standardised scholastic tests. (Sections 49, 51, 52, 66, 73, 77, 86.)

21. That, if effective steps were taken to apply a knowledge of psychology and of the new technique of testing to written examinations of the ordinary type (more especially those intended for younger pupils, such as the Free Place Examination), the case for using group tests of 'intelligence' as adjuncts to such examinations would be pro tanto weakened. In other words, that if questions in written examinations for younger children were always set with due regard to the peculiarities of the child mind, both in the form and matter of the questions and in their arrangement in the written papers, and if the same scientific methods were employed as in 'intelligence' tests and standardised scholastic tests, such examinations would prove a more effective means of discovering ability in young children than those now in use, even apart from the application of group tests of 'intelligence'. (Sections 77, 78.)

22. That the considerations stated above apply with even greater force to oral examinations, especially those for younger children. In our opinion, one of the most promising lines of advance in the whole range of examinations designed primarily to discover ability is to be found in a careful and detailed study of the legitimate aims and inevitable limitations of viva voce examinations and their technique. We accordingly suggest that psychologists should be asked to make a special study of the possibilities of oral interviews and oral examinations. (Sections 63, 79, 80.)

23. That the value of 'intelligence' tests in selecting younger children for free places, for entrance to secondary schools, and for admission to central schools should be investigated by tentatively adding group tests to the customary written examinations; and that the relative merits of the two sections of the examinations should be estimated by calculating the correlation between the separate results and the subsequent development of the pupils. (Sections 78, 82.)

24. That further research should be instituted into the use of individual 'intelligence' tests in connection with oral examinations for all ages or types. (Sections 79, 80.)

25. That the current individual 'intelligence' tests, whether they be the Binet-Simon tests or variants of the Binet scale, should be somewhat modified when applied to rural children or to children living in districts where there is a strong local dialect. We are of opinion that these tests, having been designed primarily for urban children, cannot properly be applied in all instances to rural children without such variations as may be needed to avoid possible misunderstanding. (Section 57).

The possible uses of tests of 'intelligence' within schools of different types

26. That experiments might usefully be made in the application of group 'intelligence' tests to pupils in elementary, central, junior technical and secondary schools with a view to obtaining data which would assist the school authorities in the classification and promotion of pupils, and in making recommendations for the transfer of individual children to other types of school.

It is desirable that careful records should be kept both of the results of group and individual tests of 'intelligence' on the one hand, and of the after performances of individual pupils on the other hand, with a view to the comparison of promise of 'intelligence' as revealed by the tests with the actual achievements of individual pupils in school and after, and also with a view to the elimination of untrustworthy tests of whatever kind and the gradual improvement of testing as a whole. (Sections 81-85).

27. That the data afforded by the use of 'intelligence' tests should not be regarded as possessing any final validity, and should always be considered in close association with the whole body of information regarding individual pupils available from other sources. (Section 81).

28. That teachers who use intelligence tests should realise that the so-called 'mental ratios' (intelligence quotients) of individual children obtained by the application of such tests represent a succinct and highly abstract method of presenting the results, and that the mental ratio of any individual child should always be used with discretion and in association with the information available from other sources. It seems undesirable that the mental defects of individual children as revealed by low mental ratios should be made known to the whole staff of the school, still less to such children themselves and their fellow pupils. Further, it is advisable that the mental ratio of each individual pupil should always be supplemented by notes about the way in which he or she actually attacked the questions set. (Sections 59, 81).

29. That one of the most important uses of the data obtained from such tests is to make the teacher reconsider his estimates of individual pupils, which often tend to become stereotyped. A pupil's success or failure in the tests would probably suggest to the teacher the desirability of modifying his judgements of the mental powers of individual pupils and possibly of changing his methods. (Section 81).

Vocational tests

30. That certain tests of vocational aptitude have already reached a promising stage of development, and should prove to be of considerable service to parents and employers and to public and private bodies engaged in recommending or training children and young persons for certain occupations, and still more for discouraging children from entering occupations for which they are unsuited; but that the range of such tests is not yet sufficient for any recommendation to be made for their immediate general application. (Sections 67, 87).

31. That in cases where vocational tests and tests of manual ability are experimentally applied to children still at school, the data obtained thereby should, as in the case of 'intelligence' tests, always be considered in association with the information obtainable from other sources, e.g. the data afforded by the use of 'intelligence' tests, school records, the opinion of teachers, medical data, and any particulars regarding parentage and environment. (Section 87).

32. That in order to facilitate the advising of boys and girls as to the type of occupations for which they are fitted, more information than that afforded by examination results and tests of 'intelligence' and of vocational aptitude is needed; and that for the purpose of securing more complete data on which advice may be based, all committees and bodies dealing with the placing of children in employment should be encouraged to consult teachers and members of the School Medical Service as well as psychologists. (Section 87).

Psychological tests of educable capacity other than 'intelligence' and vocational tests and standardised scholastic tests

33. That tests of memory, perception, attention, etc. in their present state of development, are of little use to teachers as a means of acquiring information subsidiary to that derived from the application of 'intelligence' tests. (Sections 18, 19, 49, 89).

34. That physical tests, in their present state of development, are of very little use to teachers for the purpose of affording data ancillary to the information derived from the application of 'intelligence' tests. (Sections 6-8, 68, 88).

35. That tests of temperament and character, in their present state of development, are practically useless to teachers for the purpose of affording trustworthy information on such aspects of temperament and character as bear directly on educable capacity. (Sections 43, 49, 64, 90).

Provision for coordinating and rendering available for general use the results of scientific research in regard to psychological tests of educable capacity

36. That it is desirable that existing psychological tests, and more especially intelligence and vocational tests and standardised scholastic tests, should be kept constantly under review, in order to increase the accuracy of the methods employed, to widen their scope, to render their conclusions more valid, and to reduce any danger of special preparation beforehand, and that in particular new and alternative tests should constantly be instituted and methods of use revised. (Sections 71, 92).

37. That for these purposes it is advisable to encourage scientific research on the subject, and to render available for use in schools and elsewhere the results of such research, and we accordingly suggest that the Board of Education, either acting independently or in association with other government departments interested in psychological tests, should set up an advisory committee to work in concert with university departments of psychology and other organisations engaged in the work of research. (Sections 71, 92).

(Signed)

WH Hadow CBE (Chairman)
P Abbott
George Adami*
SO Andrew
Ernest Barker
ER Conway
DHS Cranage
Gorell
Ivor H Gwynne
F Hawtrey
PR Jackson
Stanley Leathes
AJ Mundella
Bertha S Phillpotts
Robert H Pickard
Frank Roscoe
RP Scott
EM Tanner
RH Tawney
WW Vaughan
JA White

Robert F Young (Secretary)

27 March 1924.

*Dr Adami objects to the inclusion of standardised scholastic tests under the head of 'psychological tests of educable capacity'.

Footnotes

(1) 'Test' meant in old English the cupel (testum) used in assaying gold and silver alloys or ore. The fundamental idea in 'test', which is that of assaying metals (and later, after about 1800, chemical substances) is much the same as that of 'examination', or weighing. cf. Latimer, Sermons (Parker Society), II. 104 (1552). 'Calamities be but examinations and proofs'. In this connection it is worth pointing out that 'examination' derives from 'examen', the tongue of a balance. Scholiast on Persius, 1. 6.

(2) See Sections 33 to 36 and 66.

(3) cf. Brinsley, Ludus Literarius (1612), V, 48, 'That every yeare there be a solemne examination by the Governors of the Schoole'. cf. also ibid XXVIII, 282, 'Which worke of continuell examination is a notable quickener and nourisher of all good learning'.

(4) See Appendix to the Regulations for Secondary Schools (England), 1922, and Appendix to the Regulations for Secondary Schools, Wales (including Monmouthshire), 1922.

(5) Circular of 15 June 1917, Sections 8 (c) and 9, and Article 48 of the Regulations for Secondary Schools (England), 1922, and of the Regulations for Secondary Schools, Wales (including Monmouthshire), 1922.

(6) The total number of free places held in secondary schools on the Grant List in England and Wales on 1 October 1922, was 129,505. It should be pointed out, however, that a certain number of these free places were not awarded by local education authorities.

(7) Regulations for Secondary Schools (England), 1922, Appendix Rule 1 (d). Ditto for Wales, 1922, Appendix, Rule 1 (d).

(8) As early as 1877 Mr Henry Latham pointed out how difficult it was to test ability: 'Further, the gauging of ability is a much more delicate matter than the weighing of knowledge, and it can only be entrusted to an examiner of special skill. He must be able to recognise the qualities which are disclosed by the performances of a candidate, and he should follow the workings of his mind as if he were part of himself. Such examiners cannot be readily found, though there are plenty who can judge of acquirements; this puts a practical difficulty in the way of selection of persons on a large scale on the score of ability. It increases this difficulty, if the public insist on having a list of numerical marks as a guarantee of fairness'. H Latham, On the Action of Examinations Considered as a Means of Selection, Cambridge, 1877, pp. 218-219.

(9) A full discussion of the general character and methods of conducting free place examinations up to 1920 is contained in the Report of the Departmental Committee on Scholarships and Free Places, 1920. (Cmd. 968). Several of the arrangements described above have, however, either come into use, or have been considerably developed since the publication of that Report.

(10) In some instances a few group tests have been included in the ordinary papers in English and arithmetic, e.g. in the free place examination held by the West Riding Education Committee in 1922.

(11) See, however, Section 72.

(12) For example, it appears from statistics supplied to us by the London County Council Education Committee in respect of 2,617 pupils admitted to 51 departments of central schools on the result of the Junior County Scholarship Examination, that on the whole the grading in the central schools at the end of the fourth or fifth year corresponded with the grading at entrance.

(13) cf. Sir Graham Balfour's Report on the County Scholarship Examination for 1920 - 21 in Minutes of Staffordshire Education Committee, 2 July 1921, p. 97. 'What we seek to avoid is allowing children, for payment or otherwise, to receive a special preparation to enable them to outwit the examiners and to outstrip their less fortunate rivals not by ability but by mark catching'.

(14) cf. Board of Education, Special Reports on Educational Subjects, Vol. 24 (1911), pp. 287-289.
Girard, Questions d'Enseignement Secondaire, Paris, 1905, p. 65.

(15) See Chapter 1, Sections 20, 21; cf. L'Annee Psychologique (1905), pp. 163-336.

(16) cf. Report, dated 20 June 1917, of the Committee appointed by HM Treasury to consider and report upon the scheme of examination for Class I of the Civil Service. (Cd. 8657). Section 29:
'The Royal Commission expressed a cautious inclination towards a viva voce examination, but made no definite recommendation. The Consultative Committee in their interim report on Scholarships, dated 19 May 1916, say that there should be a viva voce examination. On this point, as on almost every point of our Report, we are unanimous. We believe that qualities may be shown in a viva voce examination which cannot be tested by a written examination. We consider that the viva voce can be made a test of the candidate's alertness, intelligence, and intellectual outlook, and as such is better than any other. The viva voce examination has been proved by experience to redress in certain cases the results of the written examination. The examination should, of course, be skilfully conducted by carefully selected examiners accustomed to handle young men and to put them at their ease. We consider that the viva voce examination should not be in matters of academic study, but in matters of general interest, on which every young man should have something to say'.
See also Section 36 of the same Report: 'The viva voce should be a test, by means of questions and conversations on matters of general interest, of the candidate's alertness, intelligence, and intellectual outlook, his personal qualities of mind and mental equipment'.
cf. also Report of Modern Languages Committee, 1918, p. 209: 'Oral examination should be used wherever possible; and in school examinations and in scholarship examinations it should always be possible'.
See also Recommendation 54 of the same Report: 'Oral examinations should be more general and should not be used merely as a means to test candidates in speech'.

(17) It should be pointed out that due weight must be assigned to other considerations regarding nervousness in youthful examinees. For example, a child may be nervous because he or she possesses a very fine or acute temperament or mental susceptibility. On the other hand, we think that even as applied to children of 11, there is some force mutatis mutandis [with the necessary changes] in the arguments adduced in the following passage from the Report of the Treasury Committee on the Class I Examination for the Civil Service. (Cd. 8657.) Discussing the viva voce examination for young men of about 23 years of age, the Committee write (Section 29): 'It is sometimes urged that a candidate - otherwise well qualified - may be prevented by nervousness from doing himself justice viva voce. We are not sure that such lack of nervous control is not in itself a serious defect, nor that the presence of mind and nervous equipoise which enables a candidate to marshal all his resources in such conditions is not a valuable quality. Further, there are undoubtedly some candidates who can never do themselves justice in written examinations, just as there are others who under the excitement of written competition do better than on ordinary occasions. We do not consider that it is desirable to forego the viva voce test for the advantage of a few weak vessels'.

(18) See Section 72.

(19) In areas where there are great number of candidates we think that oral examination might be dispensed with in the case of candidates at the top or bottom of the list. cf. Sir B Gott's Report on examinations for admission to secondary schools in Middlesex, 1923, p. 8.

(20) As has been pointed out in Section 52, tests of intelligence in respect of method of application fall into three classes - individual tests which are applied orally at an interview; group tests which are set in the form of written papers; and performance tests, which in the method of their application may be compared with 'practical' examinations, though in point of fact many performance tests have been reduced to pencil and paper, and may be included in a written paper like linguistic group tests.

(21) See Appendix II.

(22) See Appendix III, section on the USA.

(23) Very few group tests of intelligence have as yet been devised suitable for children under 10 years of age. On the other hand, standardised scholastic tests in reading and simple arithmetic would seem to be peculiarly suited for children of about 7 years of age. See Section 86.

(24) See Section 78 (a).

(25) See Section 78 (a).

(26) As we have explained in Section 50, we have interpreted the expression 'psychological test of educable capacity' in our Reference as including 'intelligence' tests, tests of memory, perception and attention etc, such vocational tests, including tests of manual ability, as are adapted for use in schools and educational institutions, certain physical tests, and tests of such aspects of temperament and character as directly affect educable capacity.

(27) See Appendix VIII for examples of American and English standardised scholastic tests.

(28) See Appendix VI on Grades in American Schools.

(29) See Section 82.

(30) cf. The following resolution passed by the Second Congress of Psychologists, held at Barcelona in 1921: 'Vocational guidance and selection, besides their scientific, physiological and psychological interest, have an economic and social interest; they should, therefore, be linked up with agencies for employment or for the relief of unemployment'. International Labour Review, Vol. V, No. 5 (May, 1922), p. 721.

(31) See Sections 16-19.

(32) See Chapter 2, footnote 1.