How to Measure in Education

“There have appeared a number of books dealing with the general problem of making scientific measurements in education. Some of these books have emphasized the careful rating of subject-achievement, while others have given the principal consideration to the determination of mental capacity. All of these books have been of an elementary character, giving elaborate descriptions of the various kinds of tests, but avoiding any sound and critical discussion of the entire problem. During the present year, however, Professor McCall has written a book’ which gives a more mature and complete consideration of the whole subject.

Part I give an excellent discussion of the use of measurements in diagnosis, in teaching, in evaluating the efficiency of instruction, and in vocational guidance. These chapters contain an abundance of concrete suggestions for both teachers and administrative officers.

Part II The general subject for consideration here is the problem of constructing and standardizing tests. The preparation, validation, and organization of test material are given a careful discussion, following which the problem of scaling the test is treated in great detail.

Part III is taken up entirely by a presentation of tabular, graphic, and statistical methods. The chapter on “”Graphic Methods”” is particularly good in that it sets forth and illustrates the generally accepted principles of graphic presentation.

As a whole, the book is an excellent piece of work, being without question the outstanding treatment of measurement in education. It will serve, not only as a text for advanced normal-school and college classes in education, but also as a source of guidance for the more intelligent teachers and administrators who are interested in the thorough application of a genuine program of measurements”.
Excerpts from review written by Guy Thomas Buswell, published in The Elementary School Journal Vol. 23 No. 3, The University of Chicago Press

The book was included in Paul Monroe’s “Text Book Series”. The Entire series is now available from Cosmo