CEP Symposium on Tests, Grades Will Make Views Known in Book

The discussions that have been carried on within the symposium on examinations sponsored by the Faculty Committee on Educational Policy may soon be extended to the Faculty at large, with the publication of a number of essays emerging from the CEP study.

The CEP at its Wednesday meeting appointed Leon Bramson, assistant professor of Social Relations, to edit the essays and prepare them for publication in booklet form. The booklet will be distributed to all members of the Faculty. It is likely that there will be considerable interest in the study outside of the University.

Organized a little over a year ago, the CEP's symposium on examinations may be the first of its kind. With the realization that grades have become increasingly important in the last decade, the CEP has tried to gain perspective on the problem of examining and grading by asking a number of professors to give their views on the matter.

The result is an extremely provocative and diverse collection of viewpoints. The approaches to the problem of examinations range from an historical treatment to psychological and ethical considerations.

Hopefully, the forthcoming booklet will serve as an impetus to further discussion of examination philosophy and policy. The CEP has emphasized that the study has not been undertaken with the intention of making professors conform to any "ideal" standard for examinations, but it does hope that the results of the symposium will be suggestive and informative.

The essays should prove interesting to faculty members since they represent the different approaches of various disciplines and professors. Most of the essays in the booklet will be accompanied by a sample test.

Among the participants in the symposium are Paul H. Buck, Carl Pforzheimer University Professor; David C. McClelland, chairman of the Department of Social Relations; George Wald, professor of Biology; Dean Ford; Edward Geary, professor of Romance Languages; and Dean Kay Whitla, director of the Office of Tests.