Standardized exercises in United States history, Colonial period

Front matter

STANDARDIZED EXERCISES IN UNITED STATES HISTORY.

COLONIAL PERIOD liV

STURGISS BROWN DAVIS

Chap. VI. Use of the Standardized Exercises for Supervisory Purposes

Sec. 1. Reorganization of Proposed Measures into Test A

and Test B, Part I and Part II 69

Sec. 2. Value of the Standardized Exercises 81

Sec. 3. Significance of the V'alue Found for Each Exercise. 8 5 Four Different Kinds of Historical Material 87

Sec. 4. Possible Uses of the Standardized Exercises 89

Chap. VII. Summary and Conclusion 95

Sec. 1 . Summary 95

Sec. 2. Conclusion 96

Bibliography 97

STANDARIZED EXERCISES IN HISTORY INTRODUCTION

There arc now available for the use of teachers a number of standardized tests in United States History. All of these tests cover in a general way the whole period of history and are especially useful for survey work. There is need, however, of a different kind of test for supervisory purposes which shall include the many details of a single period of history and at the same time lend itself readily for diagnostic purposes. Such tests have been devised and are here presented as one more means of determining scientifically the attainment of pupils in this subject.

The plan used in standardizing the material of tests is given in more than usual detail in the hope that teachers of history and supervisory officers may be able to profit by the experience of the writer and extend the work here started. Care has been taken to exercise simplicity and directness at all times so that the student who is just beginning research work in education may find directly or indirectly answers to questions of statistical procedure.

Briefly the study was carried out as follows: After determining tentatively the aims and limits of the investigation, the material to be standardized was selected from a source of unquestioned value. This material was then put in the form of exercises to be worked out by pupils. The responses of these pupils were then scored, tabulated, evaluated, and finally weighted in terms of the functions of the Normal Frequency Curve. These weightings confirmed the belief in the possibility of classifying the exercises into tests and scales. They also showed that there are four distinct types of historical material, characterized by the difficulty pupils have in comprehending them. Such classifications were made both in form and content. While these classifications are correct theoretically it was deemed wise for practical purposes to consider only the approximate weighting of each exercise and to reclassify all the standardized material into two tests. In this form some accuracy was sacrificed but the reliability for supervisory purposes is just as valid. A Teacher's Manual was prepared which gives full directions for administering, scoring and using the results of the two tests formulated for school use.

llie execution of this plan would not have been possible without the hearty co-operation of teachers of history, supervisors, and students of education. There was the most cordial response at all times and I wish here to express my appreciation of all the assistance I received however inconspicuous it may have seemed to the one giving it.

Such general acknowledgment, however, is not just regarding the S5'mpathetic guidance and suggestions I received from Dr. Harlan Updegraff of the University of Pennsylvania. He suggested the intensive study of the Colonial Period, and the distinctive source of the content of the exercises. He also gave me the benefit of many constructive criticisms before the manuscript was presented for publication.

To my fellow students of the seminar group in Educational Administration at the University of Pennsylvania, I am indebted in more ways than 1 can express in a formal work of this kind. However, it should be said that the constructive criticisms and pointed suggestions which they offered \vhen the reports of progress were made from time to time on this study, served as a valuable check against biased thinking and as a stimulus to merit their approbation.

PL RPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study has been the derivation of standardized testing material in United States History comparable in exactness with the contents of such material as the Monroe Reading Test, the Buckingham Spelling Scales, and the Ayres Handwriting Scales. The hypothesis was maintained that it is just as possible to measure certain aspects of content subjects, such as history, as it has been found to be possible to measure the attainments of pupils in the form subjects just mentioned.

Limits of the Investigation For the purposes of this study and under the conditions it had to be pursued, it was deemed advisable to circumscribe the field of investigation, and to limit the method of work. Only in this way did it seem possible to secure reliable results in a field so little known. After a careful consideration of the possibilities of the situation the following limits were determined :

In/roduriioTi 7

1. Informntioiial Material. The content of the proposed tests should be confined to the informational aspect of the instruction in United States History. Full and due consideration was given to the other aims in teaching history, but the attainment of information was considered fundamental to the other aims. Dewey has shown clearly that information is one of the prerequisites to sound thinking on any problem. It seemed evident also that this aim could be measured more definitely than the other aims such as citizenship, open mindedness, method of thinking, etc.

2. Otie Period of United States History. The informational material used for the tests should be limited to a certain period of history, or a cross section of the whole course of study. It was thought that the material of a given period would be more homogeneous and could be handled more accurately. The Coloiu'al Period was chosen because it has always been taught rather thoroughly In schools, and abounds in informational matter. There seems to be a need also for a series of tests each based upon a single period of United States History for the use of supervisors after a class has been given the usual school instruction.

3. A Regular Form. The information used for the testing material should be cast in a certain form in order that the scoring might be objective, and at the same time secure the probability of consistency and uniformity in preparing the tests, and the responses of pupils. Such uniformity would also be likely to economize time.

4. Eighth Grade Pupils. The tests should be administered only to the advanced division of pupils in the Eighth Grade. The purpose in confining the data to this class of pupils was to find out as nearly as possible the net results of school instruction relating to historical information. The belief was maintained that whatever information pupils had, at least one year or more after completing the course in the Colonial Period, represented material which is easily comprehended and retained ; conversely, that material which is difficult to learn would either be wanting or so vague in the minds of the pupils as to be lacking for ready command.

Chapter I The Selection And Organization Of The

MATERIAL TO BE STANDARDIZED

After the purposes and limits of a study of this kind have been determined the next points to be considered are the source of material and the form in which the content is to be placed. Unless this is done the investigator must be prepared to expect all sorts of irregularities in the responses of pupils.

Sec. 1. — Contefit of the Exercises. The reliability of the responses of children as data for standardizing material of instruction is in proportion to the opportunity children have had to learn the content of the test. The difficulty of finding such material for this investigation was solved by the use of the very careful study by Bagley and Rugg. This study appeared as Bulletin No. 16 of the School of Education of the University of Illinois. The authors took twenty-three American Histories then in common use and made a statistical study of the amount of space devoted to the different topics, "common to at least seventy-five per cent, of the books" and additional topics "common to at least fifty per cent, of the books." Tables V and VIII of Bulletin No. 16 include topics devoted to the "Period of Colonial Settlement and Development" and to the "Colonial Wars." The topics in these tables form the source of the content of the exercises used in this study. As the study progressed it was evident that additional exercises could be devised which were entirely within the range of pupils' interests, and as fair to them as the exercises based upon topics taken directly from the Bagley and Rugg study. The answers to these exercises were all taught in school in some form though seldom if ever asked for directly. The ability to work them out was more of an application of common sense in using the facts already acquired. The following is a typical illustration: "By the time the Mayflower had arrived at Plymouth Rock it had crossed the Atlantic, Antarctic, Arctic, Indian, Pacific ocean." "By the opening of the Revolutionary War the number of colonies had increased to tivelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen." Since these exercises were worked out successfully by a large percentage of the pupils tested, and no objection was raised by teachers, the author believed he was justified in including them and others of the same type. (Copy of Test I is shown beginning on page 18.) To aid the reader in gaining a more adequate conception of the wide range of information required to work out intelligently the exercises of Test 1 the following classification of the items of information is here submitted :

NOTED CHARACTERS

Andros

Davenport

Mather

Argall

Oglethorpe

Baltimore

Dixon

Penn

Berkley

Edwards

Pocahontas

Endicott

Powhatan

Bacon

Gorges

Rolfe

Bradford

Hooker

Say

Brewster

Hutchinson

Smith

Calvert

Kieft

Standish

Canonicus

Leisler

Stuyvesant

Carteret

Locke

Williams

Charles

Mason

Winthrop

Claiborne

Massasoit

Yeardley

Dale

Minuit

RELIGIOUS

SECTS

Baptists

7. Moravians

8. Pilgrims

Episcopal

Dutch Reformed

Huguenots

11. Congregationalists

Methodists

COLLEGES

Brown

4. Princeton

Harvard

5. William and Mary

Penn

6. Yale

EARLY LARGE CITIES

Baltimore

Boston

5. New York

Charleston

NATIONALITIES

5. Irish

6. Scotch

Germans

7. Spanish

8. Swedes

Selection and Organization

DATES

1. 1607

6. 1733

2. 1619

3. 1620

8. 1775

4. 1643

9. 1787

5. 1683

10. 1789

LEGAL TOPICS

1. Bacon's Rebellion

11. Aristocracy

2. Charter Oak

12. Autocracy

3. Charter Colonies

13. Oligarchy

4. Claiborne's Rebell ion

14. English Crown

Colonial JVars

15. Continental Congress

5. Anne

16. Grand Model

6. William

17. Great Treaty

7. George

18. Mason and Dixon Line

8. French and Ind ian

19. Royal Government

9. Democracy

20. Toleration Act iO. Monarchy

EARLY COLONIES

8. New Jersey

9. New York

5. Massachusetts

12. South Carolina

6. New Hampshire

7. North Carolina

14. Maine

1. Boston News Letter

2. City of Brotherly Love

3. Debtors of England

4. First Colony

5. Indigo

6. Indentured Servants

7. Holy Experiment

8. Last Colony

9. Log House

10. Mayflower

11. New England

MISCELLANEOUS

12. Patroons

13. Plymouth Rock

14. Poor Richard's Almanac

15. Preachers' Influence

16. Rice

17. Slaves

18. Tobacco

19. Witchcraft

20. Jamestown

21. Corn Total 136

Sec. 2. — Form of the Exercises. After the content of the testing material had been decided upon it was necessary to consider the form in which it should be put. The responses of pupils had to be evaluated in an objective manner.

The studies of Starch, Monroe, Kelly and others all show how variable are the marks of teachers if there is opportunity for a difference of opinion. The ordinary "question and answer" method of testing pupils was at once discarded for the usual difficulties would be inevitable. Either doubtful or partial answers would have to be accepted or the content be limited to those few points about which, teachers and pupils readily agree there can be but one acceptable answer, such as dates.

The "completion blank" form was considered and tried in a preliminary test. It was not found satisfactory, for either the possible acceptable answers had to be listed arbitrarily or a shifting standard constantly defended. It was noted also that pupils made wild guesses, and that it would be very difficult to frame up statements which did not admit of two or more interpretations. One has but to try this plan to see how ingenious pupils are in inventing answers which represent a partial truth. At least they contain enough excellence for pupils to stand up and defend their answers.

A cancellation test suggested from those used '\n psychological work was tried, but rejected because of the unnecessary length of time required to indicate the correct answer.

Finally it was decided to put the desired response in each case along with seemingly correct responses and ask the pupils to indicate in some way their choice. At first they were asked to underscore the correct answer, but later it was found that it facilitated the scoring to have them draw a line clear around the correct one of the several suggested answers. A trial with this form proved satisfactory from the first. Pupils readily saw what was wanted, teachers approved it, and the grading was easily and objectively done.

As the work of forming the material into tests progressed it became evident that standards could be set up which if observed would greatly facilitate subsequent efforts in this line. The following were derived :

1. Instead of asking questions, make statements called "exercises" in History.

2. The form and content of these exercises should be unmistakably clear and as easy to comprehend as possible.

Select io?i and Organization 13

3. The vocabulary employed in the exercises should be such as is used in standard text books for elementary schools.

4. Sufficient suggested answers should be given to minimize the effect of chance selection.

5. An alphabetical arrangement of the suggested answers should be observed to avoid any constant error in placing of the correct answer.

6. Pupils should indicate the correct answer by drawing a line clear around it.

7. Any abbreviations used should be those in common use.

8. The answers offered should conform to the period under consideration.

9. The suggested answers should be made up of teaching material, and any one of them seem a plausible answer to one not informed on the subject. Absurd suggested answers defeat the plan.

10. The suggested answers should be so different from the correct one that any quibbling over partial truths is precluded.

11. It should be clearly understood that one answer and only one will be accepted as correct.

12. No exercise should be submitted unless there is reasonable evidence that pupils have had the opportunity to learn the facts needed.

The last five of these standards refer more specifically to content but were here included for convenience since both form and content must be considered together in making up testing material. The term, "Exercises in History," was adopted because it seemed to be the most fitting one to vise. The material was not put in the usual statement form and it was not in the form of questions. Pupils were accustomed to the word exercise as used in Arithmetic, Geography and Language. In each of these instances there was an answer to find. The situation is similar in the Exercises in History. A number of answers are given and the pupil is expected to find the correct one.