Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-01-22
MIND TESTS FIGURE
|NPOP|LS' ADVANCE
Nav Intelligence Examinations
Are First Made Here on
g. Extended Scale
phsEs FOR CLASS DIVISIONS

,,,o,lisence tests. the first made on an
..,orded scale in the public schools here,
,,vc lust been completed in the s. Weir
.a,oho,, School, Fifty sixth street and
Kngsessing avenue.
Tho tests we're made with the consent
= rcn dcpartmcnt Of superintendent
" hcS,oard Of Education by the stu
y.,,s of educational measurements Of
,.t. University. of Pennsylvania, under
,,o direction Of DR.. Harlan =. Updc.
,,.s and Leroy y. King. with the co.
s,orotion Of Frank j. Kline, principal
" ,bc school. and DIR. Charles a. Cou-
,an,b district superintendent of the
T;rst school district. .y
fn The examinations which were supple
u,ntsd hy achievement Tests in arith-
r.o,jc and silent reading (English}, and
which will be- augmented by several
.Sdt;onal tests. are OF far reaching
s;gni6caucc because they are one of the
Asst efforts made to establish pro-
gressivc method of marking both for
Sromotions and more particularly for
The more effective reorganization OF the
classes.
,,s results Of these tests as basis in
CONJUNCTION with the old school tests and
,be Judgment Of the teachers for pro-
mating pIpils on Monday week and for
reorganization OF the classes on the basis
~ Tho knowledge gained by the exam
inotion. Thus in this school, which Is
Known among educators as n "concen-
tration school" because particular cf-
forts are rrntercd on pupils of the sew
erlh and eighth grades. a long talked Of
reforr, will be Instituted in all grades.
namely. provision for tie so-called
bright or exceptional child.
Higher Standards Shown
Tests in silent reading. which is
aimed to develop the pupils powers of
assimilation and comprehension, with
speed 0. vital requirement, showed
that ~ the Mitchell School. striking an
average Of the pupils in all the grades.
the pupils we're slightly above the
average established in standard tests
made upon hundreds of thousands OF
school children nll over the country
over a long period of time. Thus the
standard average in points. according
70 the national tests. for rate Of speed
In reading in the sixth grade was SO
points while the present test showed
ilj points. In comprehension the ma
tonal standard is 20 points for the
same grade while the present tests
showed score of "a points.
That the tests have a real value in
eHeCting improvement in arithmetic is
shown in several ways. Thus this years
eighth grade class at this time Of the
year, when pupils do not show to the
advantage that they do in June. show a
ko,t IN hn 20 Il 1ng
years class upon graduation into the
7 high school. Similarly. tests given in
April and June of 1919 in the city
schools showed improvement in speed of
14l per cent, and in accuracy of 1912
per cent.
Reduce FalIible Element
The tests arc also valuable because
they reduce the human or fallible
element. They also tend to decrease
the nervousness of the pupil and avoid
the evil Of 'cramming.' In two of the
three RS of education, therefore the
tests showed good results, The tests
also showed that about % per cent of
the pupils were above normal, the per-
centagc below and the remainder nor
NAL
The efficacy of tests in various
branches, such as we have been
able to make said John Chris
tophcr. chief examiner of the Board
Of Education. SHOW that one great
need Of the city is department
Of search. research and measure
mcnts in the schools to make this sort
Of work permanent. This is being done
in a number of cities Of the country
with great effect. We try to make a
Courts test once a year, but are han
dicapped by lack of facilities. We
would like 10 increase the span Of at
tention in mathematics. The abilitx to
sweep the line and read with rapidity
Of comprehension is vastly important.
i was this faculty that made Theodore
Roosevelt able to read so enormously
and to develop his remarkable versatil-
Nv -