Making a Grade: Victorian Examinations and the Rise of Standardized Testing

"This is a book which is committed, from the outset, to the reconstruction and analysis of numerous aspects of the rise of examinations. It involves some excellent detailed recovery of individual cases from a range of archives, and the author is to be congratulated on his nose for a good source."

Roy Lowe, British Journal of Educational Studies

"Making a Grade makes an important contribution to the world of science and educational assessment research. Elwick’s thorough review of Victorian examinations helps to historicize key stakeholders’ perspectives in the science of measurement (i.e., standardized testing) in recent educational history."

Peiyu Wang and Liying Cheng, Queen’s University, Historical Studies in Education/Revue d’histoire de l’éducation

"It was a noble ideal to hold teachers and students alike to the highest ideals of scholarly attainment by subjecting every student of every subject to the same examination at the conclusion of their studies. It gave rise, however, to a cornucopia of evasions and distortions: cramming, bribery, and surreptitious advantages for insiders. It also distorted the curriculum in favor of readily testable knowledge. In Making a Grade, James Elwick provides an engaging introduction to the ironies of meritocracy, revealing dimensions of Victorianism that most of us had not suspected."

Theodore Porter, Department of History, University of California, Los Angeles

"Reading Making a Grade is an uplifting experience: drawing on his immensely detailed historical research and his expertise as a teacher, James Elwick makes the history of educational testing a joy to read. This volume sparkles as it skilfully narrates the rise of the ever-contested infrastructure of implementing ‘standards’ in pedagogy, the diverse experiences of the pupils examined, and the challenges facing those who sought to win trust in ‘standardized’ results."

Graeme Gooday, School of Philosophy, Religion, and History of Science, University of Leeds