The records of the Evaluation and Examinations Division (EED) span from 1927 to 1971 and include student testing data and statistical summaries, project reports and statistical summaries, correspondence, memoranda, publications, bulletins, agendas, manuals and guidelines related to testing, scoring and evaluating various tests the EED administered. These tests include the ACE College Aptitude Test, the Cooperative Reading Comprehension Test, the Michigan English Proficiency Test, the College Qualification Test, the Michigan Math Placement Test, the Cooperative Chemistry Test, and the Differential Aptitude Test for entering freshmen. The Division was responsible for administering and scoring tests for high schools throughout the state as well as incoming University students, including the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) and the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). Also contains materials related to the Opinion, Attitude and Interest Survey (OAIS), which was developed and administered by the EED.
The records are arranged into five series: Student Test Data, Project Files, Test Manuals and Guides, Statistical Reports, and Benno Fricke Materials. The individual series are arranged by year except for Project Files, which is generally arranged by project title or year labels, as these were collected from multiple filing cabinets and the original folder order has been lost. In all series except Student Test Data, testing data which contained student names and scores or grades or other secure information has been removed and destroyed.
The Evaluations and Examination Division, established in 1945, is the descendant of an earlier service called the Bureau of University Research. In 1927 the Regents created the Bureau of University Research to study the educational activities of the University and provide data for the faculty and administration. The Bureau, under the directorship of Clarence S. Yoakum, began to collect data on students using surveys of background information, psychological evaluations, test scores on entrance exams of various subjects, and subsequent grades earned while studying at the University to incorporate in studies about the predictability of academic success. In 1930 the Bureau became Educational Investigations and was tasked with research to inform educational policies, especially those related to admissions and student placement. This office continued to operate until Yoakum's death in 1945.
The Psychological Clinic then assumed the responsibilities of Educational Investigations. At the time, the Clinic was tasked with providing psychological services to incoming students and was responsible for administering, scoring and reporting results for all psychological and educational tests being used for student admission, course placement, and counseling. In September 1945, Wilma Donahue, administrator of the Psychological Clinic, recommended the establishment of the Bureau of Psychological Services of the Institute for Human Adjustment to manage the testing services needed due to the rapid increase in student enrollment after World War II.
The Bureau of Psychological Services was organized into four autonomous divisions, including the Testing Division and the Research Division, but in 1950 under the directorship of E. Lowell Kelly, the Research Division was dissolved into the other divisions. The Testing Division then became the Evaluation and Examinations Division, and assumed all responsibilities for the testing of incoming and current University students and subsequent evaluation and research to inform University policies. The first Chief of this division was M.W. Travers (1945-1948), followed by Edward Furst (1948-1956), John Milholland (1956-1964) and finally Benno Fricke (1964-1982, served as Assistant Chief 1955-1964).
The functions of the Evaluation and Examination Division (EED) involved student testing, primarily through the Orientation Testing Program for freshmen and transfer students and research for admissions policies and educational research. It provided services to University faculty and staff in creating, administering and evaluating course exams and scoring methods as well as the evaluation of courses and curricula. In addition to collecting and providing data on University student testing, the EED was responsible for the administration of several national testing programs for high school through graduate students (including the College Entrance Examination Board's Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the Graduate Record Examination (GRE)). Beginning in the 1960s a major function of the EED was the introduction of computer technology for test scoring to the University.
In 1968 the Evaluation and Examination Division was affiliated with the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT, established 1962). In 1976 the EED became the Office of Evaluation and Examinations (OEE), which was administered under the CRLT. The director of the CRLT was psychologist Wilbert McKeachie, but the OEE continued to be managed by Benno Fricke until 1982. It continued to function as an office for administering tests, including a new computerized course evaluation system for the CRLT.
In 1998 the OEE separated from the CRLT and became an independent office, the Office of Evaluation and Examinations, reporting to the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs. It continued to function under the directorship of James Kulik as a service for evaluating programs and scoring exams for students, researchers, administrators and instructors at the University.
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Sources Consulted
The University of Michigan, an Encyclopedic Survey Volume V (The University of Michigan 1940-75, Ferol Brinkman, Editor)
A Statistical Summary of the Records of Students Entering the University of Michigan as Freshmen in the decade 1927-1936 (P.S. Dwyer et al., University of Michigan Administrative Studies Volume 1 Number 4, [1940])
Untitled document listing the functions of EED, in folder Evaluation and Examinations Division, Function of -- 8/6/57, Box 2
Office of Evaluation and Examinations: About E - http://www.umich.edu/~eande/about/about.htm (accessed May 2012)
