Originally published in 1968, at a time when the current public examination systems were coming under close scrutiny this volume discusses completely and fully the merits and demerits of various methods of educational measurement, starting with the theories from which they evolved and going on to observe their efficacy in practice. School-based systems of measurement are also studied, both as separate entities and in comparison with the public examinations at 11+, CSE and ‘O’ and ‘A’-levels of the GCE. The subject-matter of this book was intended to affect students, practising teachers and educationists and, whatever their views, they were able to use the authors’ exposition of this controversial subject as a starting point for further and deeper discussion.

The theory of educational measurement presented in this book has mainly to do with such things as the construction of tests and scales, the types of pupil preformances susceptible of measurement, the meanings of scores and norms, the validation of testing instruments, and the technique of the application. The material has been subjected to new organization, classification, definition, and critical interpretation. The result is a very intelligible treatment of questions that test makers and test users desire very much to understand.