364 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OP SCIENCE 



lie school systems will indicate that this method is al- 

 most universally followed. 



Economy of time, provision for individual differences, 

 and other equally important considerations make it im- 

 perative that there shall soon be developed a reliable and 

 ready means of measuring mental ability. There are at 

 the present time two leading methods employed in dif- 

 ferent school systems for this purpose, viz., teachers' 

 judgments and psychological tests, some using one ex- 

 clusively, some using the other exclusively and some 

 using both in varying degrees. It is the purpose of 

 this paper to indicate the results of several different 

 types of attempts to determine whether or not, under 

 differing conditions, the two methods will produce the 

 same or similar or different results. At this time, it 

 cannot be said with sufficient assurance whether the in- 

 telligence tests or standardized subject tests or phycho- 

 logical tests or the teachers' judgment is the most reli- 

 able. Where the tests and the teachers' judgment agree 

 we feel reasonably certain of our results; where they 

 differ it remains a question as to which is correct. 



A STUDY OF THE EESULTS OF AN ATTEMPT BY TEACHERS TO 

 SEGREGATE PUPILS ON THE BASIS OF MENTAL ABILITY IN 

 THREE GROUPS: ACCELERATED, NORMAL, AND RETARDED, 

 AND THE RESULTS OF A SEGREGATION OF THE SCORES 

 MADE BY THE SAME PUPILS ON THE OTIS TEST EXPRESSED 

 IN INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT EQUIVALENTS. 



When the Winchester, Va., Public schools were re- 

 opened for the fall term in September, 1919, the teach- 

 ers were asked to group the pupils in sections or classes 

 as far as possible on the basis of mental ability, group- 

 ing the brighter pupils together, the average pupils to- 

 gether and the slower pupils together, whenever there 

 were enough pupils to make three or more divisions. Al- 

 lowing for the limited time given in preparation for this 

 reorganization and the fact that the re-distribution was 

 further complicated by a change from the old 7-4 plan 

 to a 6-3-3 plan, we still find a considerable lack of agree- 

 ment between the judgments of teachers as to pupil men- 

 tal ability, and pupil mental ability as measured by the 

 Otis Intelligence Tests. 



