Today a number of people took the ACT in California, just at my testing center alone, there were around three hundred students who underwent the brain-draining trial. It might appeal to some to know that this form of torture originated a little more than a hundred years ago, specifically in 1901, a year after the original college board formed. Soon after this event occurred several institutions such as universities, bureaus, etc, started using them as an attempt of evaluating individuals, onto an intelligence system called the IQ.
The IQ tests were first developed in 1905 by Alfred Binet, a French psychologist who wanted to determine the mental ages of "slow" learners. He classified people who score below 70 as a victims who had Intellectual Development Disabilities. From these early tests, the words idiot, moron, and imbecile gained a foothold in ways of belittling others. Eventually the tests became a means of evaluating individuals within in the military. Specifically this change occurred when Woodrow Wilson, decided to send troops over to the Western Front in WWI. Prior to the war the usage of these tests weren't common, yet the war effort coerced the practice into a staple of evaluating individuals.
For a surprisingly long time the tests were used to tests the intelligence of immigrants, and some of these tests were designed to be impossible for immigrants to answer. The purpose of this was due to the passage of the Immigration Act and Tests of 1924. These test favored an ethic and social understanding rather than a typical tests which students today are associated with.
In 1926 the infamous SAT was conceived, and while it wasn't a required test to take at that point to enter college, soon after Harvard started to enforce the tests in 1934, other schools followed ensuite. By 1943 the tests were being distributed to over 316,000 students, and the distributions of such tests only increased from that point. Finally in 1959 the ACT takes the scene become the SAT's most successful rival since its debut.
Pretty much all other changes after 1960 haven't been foundation shattering, and most of the changes going on right now, the test reformation, can be explained in much greater detail by more professional institutions, till then, what changes do you believe will happen if any, and will the reign of such tests be dethroned, or is that just impossible at this point in time.
This is an interesting history, David! Thank you! Just to add to the part about military intelligence testing, I would note that the test administered to prospective soldiers in World War II was called the Army General Classification Test, and it was used primarily to determine soldiers' level of literacy and general learning ability, in order to best assign soldiers to their jobs.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting history, David! Thank you! Just to add to the part about military intelligence testing, I would note that the test administered to prospective soldiers in World War II was called the Army General Classification Test, and it was used primarily to determine soldiers' level of literacy and general learning ability, in order to best assign soldiers to their jobs.
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