Classical Test Theory - History

History

Classical Test Theory was born only after the following 3 acheivements or ideas were conceptualized: one, a recognition of the presence of errors in measurements, two, a conception of that error as a random variable, and third, a conception of correlation and how to index it. In 1904, Charles Spearman was responsible for figuring out how to correct a correlation coefficient for attenuation due to measurement error and how to obtain the index of reliability needed in making the correction. Spearman's finding is thought to be the beginning of Classical Test Theory by some (Traub, 1997). Others who had an influence in the Classical Test Theory's framework include: George Udny Yule, Truman Lee Kelley, those involved in making the Kuder-Richardson Formulas, Louis Guttman, and, most recently, Melvin Novick, not to mention others over the next quarter century after Spearman's initial findings.