IV.

How estimate such a position, in the last days of 1943? Mr. Hutchins makes a great fuss about earlier accusations of "Fascist!" The issue, however, is not one of titles. One may squirm at Mr. Hutchins's pretending to lay out a program of education for freedom, and not recall late Huey Long's observation: "Fascism in America will arrive on an anti-fascist platform." One may forget how great a distance there is between Mr. Hutchins's "The mind cannot be free if it is enslaved to what is bad. It is free if it is enslaved to what is good," and Jefferson's "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." One may overlook how much closer Mr. Hutchins's despair is to "Fully aware of the decline of cultures and civilizations before us," which comes from the British Fascist Week, than it is to the glowing sentences of George Dimitrov, as he faced down Goebels and Goering and Hitler himself, at his trial ten years ago: "The wheel of history is moving, it is moving onward. . . . And that wheel cannot be arrested in its progress by measures of destruction, nor by hard labor sentences, nor by executions. ...

Yes, as the wheel moves on these days, from Teheran, and on, it is not important to settle on the proper title for Mr. Hutchins. But in such matters also, we have traditions. It was Thoreau who said: "It is not a man's duty to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong; but it is his duty at least to wash his hands of it-and if he gives it no thought longer, not to give it practically his support." In our own day, it has been said somewhat more directly. In Lillian Hellman's script for North Star, the Soviet village doctor is told by the Nazi who has just supervised the bleeding to death of children to furnish blood for the Nazi wounded: "I am sorry for many matters, Dr. Kurin. Most sorry it is not the world we used to know." Before he shoots him, Dr. Kurin replies: "I have heard about men like you. The civilized men who are sorry. Men who do the work of Fascists and pretend to themselves that they are better than those for whom they work."

J. W. WRIGHTSTONE, Asst. Director

Bureau of References, Research and Statistics

In the good old days, the design of evaluation and testing in the high schools was relatively simple. In curriculum and instructional practices, the emphasis was upon a mastery of tangible facts and information. The means and methods used mainly to test such mastery were the oral quiz, new-type objective tests and the time-honored essay examination. Such objectives as interests, attitudes, powers of thinking and such concomitants of learning as emotional and social adaptability were regarded as desirable but relatively intangible qualities that might be caught but were not directly taught, much less measured, by the teacher.

In recent years, modern and progressive teachers in the high schools have demanded that the "intangibles" should be given an equal place and emphasis with the mastery of facts, skills and information. Furthermore, they have proceeded to define the "intangibles" in terms of changes in behavior of individuals. These changes in behavior are assumed to provide evidence of growth and development. These definitions in terms of pupil behavior have become the working definitions for new emphases and practices in the curriculum and for new emphases and techniques of measurement or evaluation.

In the Eight-Year Study of the Progressive Education Association, various committees of teachers from thirty selected high schools cooperated with curriculum and evaluation experts in order to provide definitions of such intangibles as interests, attitudes, powers of thinking, social sensitivity, and personal and social adaptability. Descriptions of this cooperative undertaking in re-defining the objectives of the high school curriculum and in constructing tests and techniques of evaluation appear in published volumes. The volume entitled Appraising and Recording Student Progress deals specifically with evaluation techniques and procedures for comprehensive appraisal of various high school curricula.

Some persons claim that a test of subject matter mastery is sufficient for evaluating pupil growth. A growing body of evidence, however, indicates clearly that a comprehensive evaluation of pupil

'Smith, E. R., Tyler, R. W. and Evaluation Staff. Appraising and Recording Student Progress. Harper and Brothers, New York, 1943.

growth, he must be able not only to describe the pupil's progress in the acquisition of information and academic skills, but also in terms of interests, attitudes, work and study skills, powers of critical thinking, and adaptability in personal-social relationships.

New Needs Demand New Methods of Evaluation

Modern philosophy and psychology of learning at the high school level demand that the teacher must be concerned not only with the assimilation of subject matter but also the effect of the total learning situation upon the attitudes, interests, ways of thinking, and the emotional and social maturity of the student. This trend indicates a shift from a narrow conception of subject-matter outcomes to a broader conception of growth and development to individuals. The psychology of such practices demands a fuller development of individuals and recognizes the fact that multiple learnings occur in every experience-whether in the school, in the home, or in the community. The newer philosophy and psychology involve an emphasis on the part of every teacher, not only upon the facts and skills inherent in the subject matter, but also upon the concomitant attitudes, interests and so-called "intangibles" of personal and social growth.

In order to appraise some of the objectives which have received increased emphasis in modern education, newer techniques have been devised to gather evidence of achievement and growth. Attitude scales have been devised to measure the status and the intensity of opinions and beliefs on various issues and topics in the sciences, social sciences, and the arts. The measurement and evaluation of interests has required the development and use of appropriate interest inventories, of pupil logs or diaries, and of check lists. The measurement of various aspects and powers of critical thinking has made necessary the improvement of the essay examination and the development of new types of exercises in objective test form so that indexes of achievement might be obtained for ability to organize facts, ability to interpret facts, and ability to apply principles or generalizations to new situations. In the appraisal of personalsocial adaptability, for instance, the newer techniques include the development of self-descriptive inventories, of improved judgment rating scales, and the proper use of anecdotal records. Thus, the concern for newer values in secondary education has led to the construction of newer techniques of measurement and evaluation.

Voluntary Committees are Constructing New Evaluation Techniques

During the past eight or ten years, various scales and tests to measure interests, attitudes, powers of thinking, and social and emotional maturity have appeared. Many of these newer developments in evaluation have grown from and have been stimulated by such studies as the Eight-Year Study, the Regents' Inquiry, and the American Youth Commission. Most of the instruments which were devised for use in these studies are not applicable without adaptations to the curriculum of high schools in a large city. It is necessary, theerfore, for interested persons and committees to work upon the construction of evaluation techniques designed to meet the special needs of the New York City curriculum and courses of study.

Several such committees are now working informally with the Division of Tests and Measurements. One committee composed of five chemistry teachers in various New York City high schools is working upon a battery of tests designed to measure various aspects of thinking in the subject of chemistry. They are working upon subtests such as obtaining facts about chemistry from various sources, interpretation of facts and data in chemistry, and the application of principles of chemistry to new situations. Another committee of mathematics teachers is working with the Division of Tests and Measurements on the construction of tests for the objectives of mathematics. Thus far, the committee has devised a test for computational skills which is adapted to the New York situation. A more challenging part of this committee's work, however, lies in the construction of some tests to measure abilities of pupils in the objectives of understanding quantitative relationships, of critical thinking in mathematics, and of inteersts and attitudes related to mathematics.

Amachy in Evaluation Practices and Standards of Achievement

Except for the fact that most high schools in New York City use the Regents' examinations in various subjects, no coordinated or planned program of evaluation exists in a city-wide sense. Most individual high schools use few standardized tests of aptitude or achievement. Except on rare occasions, no city-wide tests are prepared or administered. Frequently, however, tests constructed by

teachers or chairmen are used in individual high schools. The program in the high schools may generally be described as anarchy or laissez faire in evaluation and testing practices.

The program of individualistic testing and evaluation among high schools may be desirable, but some evidence would indicate a contrary opinion. Dr. Herbert A. Landry, in High Points for October, 1943, has brought together some data on subject failures in the academic high schools. Two excerpts from some data and related interpretations in his article may point to the need for a more coordinated plan of testing and evaluation among the several high schools. In fifth term English for nine schools whose fifth term pupils achieved approximately the same median scores on a reading test, the range of failures was from approximately 3 to 1 per cent. These data suggest that ability was not the only factor in determining failure rate in fifth term English, but it raises the question as to what other factors did determine failure rates. In three high schools having approximately the same median IQ and the same quality of pupil personnel, the failure rates for all subjects ranged from approximately 4 to 15 per cent. This evidence relates to the same problem raised by the failure rate in fifth term English, and points to the need for determining by what standards and policies pupils' achievement in high schools should be evaluated. Certainly, one step in the solution of this problem would be the formulation of a more comprehensive and adequate evaluation and testing program.

Next Steps for New York City High Schools

Ideally and practically, the evaluation program and procedures should be carefully and thoughtfully coordinated with the objectives of the curriculum. If the curriculum of the New York City high schools is to be revised, then it wold seem wise to provide subcommittees or proper representation on curriculum committees so that recommended evaluation techniques and procedures might be coordinated with the revised curriculum of the high schools. The steps that might well be followed may be summarized thus:

1. Identification or formulation of a comprehensive range of major objectives of the curriculum.

2. Definition and clarification of these major objectives in terms of pupil behavior in the various subject or curriculum areas.

3. The selection of available standard tests which may more or less