170 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXII. No. 554. 



inations in June, for the entire territory 

 north and east of the Ohio and Potomac.^ 

 The candidates examined have risen from 

 973 in 1901 to about 2,100 in 1905. Exam- 

 inations have just been held at about 160 

 points in the United States and its depend- 

 encies and five points in Europe. A staff 

 of almost 100 readers at the offices in New 

 York City are to pass on more than 20,000 

 examination papers.^" 



In the words of President Butler : ' ' The 

 board has accepted the opportunity that 

 President Eliot pointed out during the dis- 

 cussion which led to its formation of 

 'making an immense contribution to Amer- 

 ican education."" 



In this day of 'cooperative endeavor' it 

 has been whispered, is it possible that the 

 eminent forerunners of the college exam- 

 ination board, the regents of the University 

 of New York, with their tested examination 

 system and its thousands of candidates 

 might join in the combination? Further, 

 there have been movements to make the tests 

 for graduation from secondary schools 

 identical with the tests for admission to 

 college, upon the basis of the college board's 

 examination papers. Mr. Fiske, the pres- 

 ent secretary, says 'it is to be devoutly 

 wished.'^- He declares that the work of 

 the board is now almost ready to pass from 

 a temporary initial state to a permanent 

 condition. ^^ 



Impressed by its record and that the 

 time of its crystallization is at hand, one 

 can not suppress the query — will the col- 

 lege entrance examination board become 

 national? Will it fasten an examination 

 system upon us? Of course, to do this it 

 would have to change its local complexion 



" Educ. Rev., 22: 531, December, 1901. 

 " Article by Thos. S. Fiske, secretarj^, in TV. Y. 

 Daily Evening Post, June 20, 1905. 

 ^^ Educ. Rev., 22: 296, October, 1901. 

 ^-Educ. Rev., 24: 305, October, 1902. 

 '" Ibid., 302, October, 1904. 



from a little group of twenty-five institu- 

 tions centering about Columbia. The tend- 

 ency to a close corporation, since member- 

 ship is no longer dependent upon meeting 

 an announced standard, but upoii election, 

 would have to be reversed. 



After the fashion of the Equitable Life, 

 the nature as well as the vastness of the 

 interests would require the mutualization 

 of stock subject to some form of gov- 

 ernmental inspection. To cover the na- 

 tional field the present work of the board 

 would have to be so hugely increased that 

 its present work would appear Lilliputian. 

 Taking the figures of the United States 

 census of 1901-2,^* and the present modes 

 of the board with the desire accomplished 

 that graduation from the school should be 

 dependent upon passing the board's papers, 

 instead of examinations at 160 points they 

 would be at the 8,127 public and private 

 high schools. The present average of 9^ 

 papers for each graduate would require for 

 the 66,262 graduates, the reading of 629,- 

 489 papers in place of the present 20,000 

 and a staff of above 3,000 readers in place 

 of 100, at an expense upon the present 

 estimate of $5 a candidate or $331,310, in 

 place of the present $10,000. 



Though the scheme smacks strongly of 

 concentration and the dangers of bureau- 

 cracy and lacks a point of national attach- 

 ment in the bureau of education as at pres- 

 ent organized, there is nothing insuperable 

 in it, if the college entrance examination 

 board system is really better than any 

 other. 



Before making answer we must review 

 two or three competing plans. First is 

 that of old-fashioned examinations held by 

 individual colleges. In his annual report 

 last week to the Yale Alumni, President 

 Hadley surprised some by saying 'we shall 



^* Annual Rep., 1902, Dept. Interior Com., of Ed., 

 Vol. I., xvii. 



