The Tyranny of Testing (Dover Books on History, Political and Social Science)

223 pp. 2003 reissue of 1964 edition. Foreword by Jacques Barzun. In this classic critique, a mathematician and educator who served for many years as a test consultant to the Westinghouse Annual Talent Search challenges the supremacy of standardized testing. "There is no escaping the testers with their electrical scoring machines," warns author Banesh Hoffmann. "They measure our IQs at regular intervals. They tell admissions officers how many points worth of college aptitude we possess. They classify us en masse in the army. They screen us when we apply for jobs." Hoffmann's complete and well-documented account of the failings and dangers of mechanical testing illustrates the inherent flaws in aptitude and achievement tests. It demonstrates the inadequacies of multiple-choice testing, in which candidates simply choose answers and need not justify their replies, revealing the tests' inclination to reward superficiality rather than subtlety and creativity. Aimed at teachers and others involved in education, this polemic exposes the corporate testing giants whose dubious claims to scientific accuracy shield them from public scrutiny.