Statistical Methods Applied to Education

By HAROLD O. RUGG '08. New York, 1917. Houghton Mifflin Company. 410 pages.

There are two classes of teachers of Education and writers of- educational textbooks. The first, the earliest in the field and still the most numerous, were decidedly vague in their knowledge, yet were pompous in their claims of "knowing it all," extolled the methods of teaching far more than the material to be taught, and for the most part merited the scorn which they received from their academic colleagues. As writers, they were all-inclusive in their scope, .covered up lack of: accurate knowledge by sweeping, dogmatic statements, reveled in superlatives, and produced a type of textbook worth little when published and worthless a few years later. The second class is composed of educational experts, men who, look upon teaching as a science which may be studied almost as exactly as any natural science; in their college work they endeavor to discover the laws of psychology and the principles of administration that bring about successful schools; willingly admitting their ignorance, they strive to decrease it by scientific experimentation. As writers these men, unfortunately still few in number, produce books that are eminently practical and scientific, based on knowledge, not hearsay, produced only after extensive laboratory work.

Dartmouth, notable for her preparation of teachers, may well be proud of the record she has made in producing educational leaders of the second class. This is conspicuously true in the case of men who are applying the science of measurement and statistical investigation to educational progress. Superintendent Don C. Bliss '92, of Montclair, is about to publish a book which is the outcome of his use of these experimental measurements in his own school system. Mr. Rugg, Assistant Professor of Education, University of Chicago, is the author of a book which scientifically summarizes all of this measurement material. terial. Mr. Rugg completed the Thayer School course and thus brings to his problem the training of a mathematical engineer. He has already done notable work in this field: his doctorate thesis on "The Experimental Determination of Mental Discipline in School Studies" was one of the earlier scientific studies of the effect on general mental efficiency produced by one subject (descriptive geometry). He has been doing pioneer work in measuring achievements in school algebra; lie has applied his mathematical ability to the study of school accounting in cities in the Middle West.

His latest book is really a pioneer in showing the extent to which the science of statistics may be applied to school work; it is a professional book, intended chiefly for school men, but it is remarkable in the clarity of its description of mathematical processes, which is a decidedly essential quality as most of Mr. Rugg's readers are limited in their knowledge of higher mathematics.

The book consists of four parts: first, a description of the uses that may be made of statistical methods in education; second, the method of computing averages (mode, median, and arithmetical mean) ; third, the measures of variability (frequency curve, deviations, etc.); fourth, (Chapter X) an actual demonstration of the use of statistical and graphic matters in reporting educational facts. This chapter alone would justify the issuance of the book; the pointedness of its descriptions and the interesting charts here reproduced (one hundred and forty-eight diagrams and tables in all) demonstrate clearly that educational work cannot in the future be measured in the slip-shod, vague way in which we have measured it in the past. The book ends with an unusually complete bibliography, unique because of the graphic chart on which all of the quantitative studies in school administration are tabulated. The book will not appeal particularly to the average reader, a fact which is really a decided compliment; it is a scientific study of the applications of scientific methods and data to education.