NAN EDUCATION LB 1131 AI E252 no.0 A 57398 3 xehck Educational Records Bureau THE NATURE AND ISE OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS F 1 ki 公演 ​ぶ ​もう​しらい​、 バン ​懇​意 ​ぷ ​無 ​2 主​な ​ Ayran k ..... Gaylord PAMPHLET BINDER Syracuse, N. Y. Stockton, Calif. I 1 1 ¿ qué Educational Records Bureau B 31 #1 252 appl. D. EDUCATIONAL RECORDS SUPPLEMENTARY BULLETIN D THE NATURE AND USE OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS EDUCATIONAL RECORDS BUREAU 437 West 59th Street New York, N. Y. January, 1939 ** REVISED AND REPRINTED MARCH, 1940 REPRINTED JUNE, 1943 REPRINTED FEBRUARY, 1945 EDUCATIONAL RECORDS SUPPLEMENTARY BULLETIN D The Nature and Use of Anecdotal Records By ARTHUR E. TRAXLER EDUCATIONAL RECORDS BUREAU 437 West 59th Street New York, N. Y. January, 1939 REVISED AND REPRINTED MARCH, 1940 REPRINTED JUNE, 1943 REPRINTED FEBRUARY, 1945 NEED FOR ANECDOTAL RECORDS ORIGIN AND DEFINITION CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD ANECDOTE SITUATIONS IN WHICH THE ANECDOTAL METHOD IS APPLICABLE STEPS IN AN ANECDOTAL RECORD PLAN CONTENTS LIMITATIONS AND CAUTIONS IN THE PREPARATION OF ANECDOTES VALUES AND USES OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS RELATION OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS TO PERSONALITY RATINGS AND BEHAVIOR DESCRIPTIONS SAMPLE ANECDOTES . SUMMARY BIBLIOGRAPHY • Page 1 2. 4 6 7 17 20 23 25 27 29 노다 ​The Nature and Use of Anecdotal Records NEED FOR ANECDOTAL RECORDS IT is generally agreed that progress toward the modern ideal of individualized education for all pupils at all levels of the school is dependent in considerable measure on the nature of the per- sonnel records which the school keeps. If the records are to be high in value they must be cumu- lative; they must be largely objective; and they must present a broad and comprehensive, yet clear and quickly apprehended, picture of each pupil's attainments and growth. Fairly well-standardized techniques have been established for recording the physical and tal development of pupils and for showing their achievement in the different school subjects, but procedures for appraising those broader and less tangible attributes of character and adjustment which we group loosely under the heading of per- Conse- sonality are much less clearly defined. quently, the part of the cumulative record that has to do with personality is, as a rule, either filled out in very meagre fashion or ignored com- pletely. Because of the importance of personality adjustment in the whole life cycle of every per- son, any procedure that seems likely to contribute valuable data for this aspect of the record de- serves careful consideration. Gla G Valen Ka The two best-known bases of records concerning the personality of pupils are personality tests, including questionnaires and self-inventories, and rating scales. Because of the fact that nei- ther of these has thus far been entirely satis- 1 P 2 NATURE AND USE OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS I } factory, some schools have, within the last dec- ade, begun to use a new device known as the anec- dotal record. An anecdotal record, as the name implies, involves the setting down of an anecdote concerning some aspect of pupil behavior which seems significant to the observer. There is as yet no standardized technique for the making and utilizing of anecdotal records, but there are many points of similarity in the plans described or suggested by different writers. An attempt is made in the present bulletin to summarize and syn- thesize information on anecdotal records thus far published and as a concomitant to this summary to suggest a practicable procedure for recording and summarizing anecdotes. ORIGIN AND DEFINITION Records that are essentially anecdotal in char- acter have no doubt long been used occasionally by school officers, especially those serving in an administrative capacity. However, such records have usually been confined to problem cases and, as a rule, the purpose of them has been to guide or to justify administrative action in dealing with disciplinary problems rather than to assist in counseling pupils and individualizing their educational programs . S One of the first accounts of a recording proce- dure similar to the anecdotal record in which the guidance features of the record are emphasized is found in a report of the Committee on Personnel Methods of the American Council on Education, pub- lished in 1928 in "Personnel Methods" (10)¹, a (10) ¹ supplement to the Educational Record. In that ar- ticle, records called "descriptions of personal- ity", rather than "anecdotal records", are ex- S 1The numbers in the parentheses following names or titles re- fer to the numbered items in the bibliography. NATURE AND USE OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS plained and illustrated. According to Randall (6) the term "anecdotal record" originated at the Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute in 1931. That institution has for several years been a leader in the use of anecdotal records and in dis- seminating information about them. Such records have been recommended by Wood (14), Tyler (13), and other leaders in educational measurement, who have recognized data of this type as an indispen- sable supplement to test scores. Likewise, the Eight-Year-Study of the Progressive Education As- sociation has promoted experimentation with anec- dotal records in many different schools (9). Some schools in that experiment, as the Dalton Schools in New York City, have developed the anecdotal- record method to a high degree of efficiency. Various definitions of the anecdotal record have been given by different writers. Some of them are as follows: 3 << - M "The anecdotal record is a specialized form of incidental ob- servation. It is a description of the child's conduct and per- sonality in terms of frequent brief, concrete observations the pupil made and recorded by the teacher." Strang (12). of "An anecdotal record is a report of a significant episode in the life of a student." Raths (9). "Anecdotes are descriptive accounts of episodes or occurrences in the daily life of the student." Brown and Martin (3). "Here used, the anecdotal record is a simple statement of an incident deemed by the observer to be significant with respect to a given pupil." Zahn (15). d "---descriptions of actual behavior taking place in situations noted by the instructor, in contrast with rating scales which provide records only of the summary interpretation of the be- havior observed. " Tyler (13). "As used there (the Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics Insti- tute), the anecdote is a record of some significant item of con- duct, a record of an episode in the life of the student; a word picture of the student in action; the teacher's best effort at taking a word snapshot at the moment of the incident; any nar- rative of events in which the student takes such part as to re- veal something which may be significant about his personality." Randall (8). 4 NATURE AND USE OF ANECDOTAE RECORDS کو CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD ANECDOTE Objective records are generally held to be much more valuable than subjective ones. One of the prime requisites of an anecdote is that it be high- ly objective. It is possible to prepare anecdotes that possess a high degree of objectivity, but untrained observers do not easily write in this way. It seems natural for many of them to obscure the report of what, they observe with subjective statements of opinion concerning interpretations and treatment, thus: "In a meeting of her club today, Alice showed her jealousy of the new president by firing questions at her whenever there was an opportunity. She tried to create difficulties bv constant interruptions throughout the period. The other students showed their resentment by calling for her to sit down. It is apparent that she is a natural trouble-maker, and I think her counselor should have her in for a serious talk. The phrases "showed her jealousy", "tried to create difficulties", and "showed their resent- ment", and the entire last sentence are matters of opinion that have no place in a report of the incident itself. An objective report of what took place would read somewhat as follows: Al Incident. In a meeting of her club today, Alice fired ques- tions at the new president at every opportunity. She interrupted many times during the period. On several occasions the other students called for her to sit down. Mag This is a clear statement of what took place and it is almost as objective as a photograph. Some authorities on this method would limit the anec- dotal record to a report of the incident. However, most of them agree that it is sometimes desirable to add an interpretation, provided it is clearly separated from the incident. Some writers Some writers (9) recommend placing the interpretation on the back of the sheet, but this would seem to involve un- necessary inconvenience both for the writer and P NATURE AND USE OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS the reader. The interpretation can well be placed in a separate paragraph or column carefully la- beled, thus : 10 5 Interpretation. Alice seemed to be jealous of the new presi- dent and desirous of creating difficulties. The other students appeared to resent her actions. The girl seems to enjoy making trouble for others. Occasionally a recommendation is also helpful, provided it is separated from both incident and interpretation. It can be placed in a separate short paragraph, as follows: Recommendation. It would be advisable for the counselor to lead the girl tactfully into a discussion of her relations with the other students in an effort to bring about better adjustment. The chief advantage of separating the interpre- tation and the recommendation from the report of what was observe is that persons interested in getting an impartial appraisal of the pupil through summarizing many different anecdotes can deal with the incidents and entirely ignore the subjective parts of the record. Thus the individual bias of different teachers is not allowed to influence the conclusions. Some persons may feel that the mere report of an incident without interpretation is of such minor importance that it can be of little value in helping one to understand a pupil. That view is no doubt correct if a single anecdote is con- sidered in isolation, but this is not the way anec- dotes are used. The very essence of the anecdotal method is its cumulative aspect. A single inci- dent may or may not be typical of the behavior of the pupil concerned, but when many anecdotes are assembled and studied, along with the other in- formation the school has collected about a pupil, a pattern of personality tends to emerge. Although it is highly desirable for observers to separate the incident reported from the inter- NATURE AND USE OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS 17 dotes a student would be obtained in one school year. It is no small task to go through so much material for even one student, to discover trends in personality development, and to reduce the whole thing to a brief, usable statement for the cumu- lative record. The making of periodic summaries, perhaps once a month, on forms similar to the one shown on Page 14 should greatly simplify the task of summariz- ing at the end of the year, if there is staff time available for summarizing at intervals. If the periodic summary summary is made merely to consist of a chronological arrangement of "boiled down" state- ments of the behavior incidents collected from the various staff members concerning each pupil, it can probably be entrusted to intelligent cler- ical workers. However, the annual summary, which involves interpretation and a statement of trends and growth to be entered on the 'cumulative record, is no clerical task. It calls for the best knowl- edge and thinking that that are available for this work. Ordinarily, the annual summary should be prepared by the counselor, or better still, by a committee consisting of the counselor, the pupil's teachers, and the school psychologist. If it is the custom in the school to obtain a checking of certain personality traits of each pu- pil on a rating scale, or if a behavior-descrip- tion form is employed, the annual summary of the anecdotal material may readily be made to conform to the rating scale or the behavior description. This point will be discussed at greater length in another section of this bulletin. LIMITATIONS AND CAUTIONS N p M IN THE PREPARATION OF ANECDOTES Several limitations and dangers are inherent in anecdotal records, but these can be minimized by observing certain cautions. A number of these 18 NATURE AND USE OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS have already been suggested, but a more formal listing of them may be helpful. 1. It is apparent, of course, that an anecdotal record can be valuable only if the original ob- servation is accurate and is correctly recorded; otherwise, it may be worse than useless. Court records provide ample evidence that reports of observation are often faulty. Frequently, persons do not see what they think they see nor hear what they think they hear. In the school situation, there is especial danger that some observations will be faulty, for in conducting a class a teacher may be able to give only partial attention to a behavior incident and still keep the discussion moving. Great care must therefore be observed. The first rule in the writing of an anecdote is to make sure that the report of behavior is cor- rect. It is far better to omit an anecdote en- tirely than to turn it in if there is a possibility that it may be incorrect in any detail. 2. Many persons find it extremely difficult to write with complete objectivity, but practice will do a great deal to overcome the tendency to in- tersperse the report of behavior with statements of opinion. A report of an incident should be as cold and impartial as an X-ray photograph. If the teacher must "let himself go" in describing the incident, he can do so under comments, where his remarks will not be prejudicial. • 3. A pernicious but fortunately rare use of anecdotal records is the employment of them for defense purposes. The central purpose of every anecdotal record is to help the entire school staff to obtain better understanding of a given student. Such a record should never be written to explain or justify action on the part of the teacher. Needless to say, if a behavior incident has created an emotional reaction in a teacher, he should not attempt to prepare an anecdote about it. NATURE AND USE OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS 19 4. It is evident that there is danger in lift- ing a behavior incident out of the social setting in which it occurred and in reporting it in iso- lation. This is true especially when under the stimulus of group sentiment and action a pupil may behave in a way that is not typical of him. Observers should remember that a brief descrip- tion of the background against which an action took place is often essential in the reporting. 5. At best, only a small proportion of the total number of significant behavior incidents for any pupil will find their way into anecdotal records. One who is summarizing and interpreting anecdotal records should guard against a tendency to accept a small number of anecdotes as valid evidence of the total picture. The danger at this point will be minimized as more and more anecdotal material is accumulated. • 6. Some persons fear that anecdotes, through preserving a record of unfortunate behavior inci- dents on the part of certain pupils, may prejudice their success long afterward, when the behavior is no longer typical of them. There is ground for this fear if the school carelessly allows the anec- dotes to fall into the hands of irresponsible per- s ons The original anecdotal records should be regarded as confidential material for which the counselor, or other person entrusted with the care of them, is personally and professionally respon- sible. On the other hand, the annual summary of the anecdotes, since it does not report specific incidents but is a general statement of develop- ment, is no more confidential than the rest of the cumulative record. 7. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that the adoption of a system of anecdotal records is no small commitment and that it will inevitably add to the load of the entire of the entire school, particularly the counselors and the clerical staff. A definite and workable plan for handling the additional - P + 20 NATURE AND USE OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS clerical work and for summarizing the anecdotes should be developed before the writing of anec- dotes is undertaken. 8. It is obvious that the indications in the anecdotal records should be studied and an at- tempt made to improve the adjustment of the pupils where the anecdotes show that better adjustment is needed. In this connection, however, a caution should be observed. As Zahn (15) has pointed out, ordinarily, adjustment is a long-term process. There is some danger that anecdotal records will throw the need for the better adjustment of cer- tain pupils into such high relief that too marked an effort will be made to short-cut the adjust- ment process. Counselors should remember that personality adaptations frequently involve the formation of new sets of habits and that time is required for this. 9. Undesirable behavior, because of its nuisance aspect, is likely to make a stronger impression on teachers than desirable behavior. Therefore, there is some danger that the total effect of anecdotal records will be negative rather than positive. The staff members of a school should train themselves to observe and record evidences of growth even more diligently more diligently than they note retarded personality development. 10. Occasionally teachers will observe incidents that are not at all typical of the behavior of the pupil concerned. Sometimes these may be of such a character that they should be recorded, but ordinarily it is desirable to "select those illustrations of conduct which are consistent with the personality of the student as you have ob- served and understood it" (8). VALUES AND USES OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS Various uses and values of anecdotal records have been mentioned in preceding sections of this NATURE AND USE OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS 21 bulletin. According to the writers of published articles on the subject, the following are espe- cially noteworthy.1 1. Anecdotal records provide a variety of de- scriptions concerning the unconstrained behavior of pupils in diverse situations and thus contrib- ute to an understanding of the core or basic per- sonality pattern of each individual and of the changes in pattern. 2. They substitute specific and exact descrip- tions of personality for vague generalizations. 3. They direct the attention of teachers away from subject matter and class groups and toward individual pupils. 4. They stimulate teachers to use records and to contribute to them. 5. They relieve individual teachers of the re- sponsibility of making trait ratings and provide a basis for composite ratings. Moreover, they provide a continuous record, while trait ratings are usually made only at certain points in a pu- pil's school experience. 6. They encourage teacher interest in and under- standing of the larger school problems that are indicated by an accumulation of anecdotes. 7. They provide the information which the coun- selor needs to control the conferences with indi- vidual pupils. An appropriate starting point for each conference can be found in the data and the discussion can be kept close to the pupil's needs. 8. They provide data for pupils to use in self- appraisal. While in s ome cases the anecdotes should not be shown to the pupils, each pupil can profitably study the indications in many of the anecdotes about him in order to decide what he needs to do to improve. 9. Personal relationships between the pupil and Capta C A 1 For additional information concerning values and uses of anec- dotal records, see especially Brown and Martin (3), Charters (4), Randall (8), Raths (9), Wood (14), and Zahn (15). 22 NATURE AND USE OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS the counselor are improved by anecdotal records, for these records show the pupil that the coun- selor is acquainted with his problems. 10. Anecdotal records aid in the formulation of individual help programs and encourage active pu- pil participation in remedial work. 11. They show needs for the formation of better work and study habits and also provide encourag- ing evidence of growth in these respects. 12. Curriculum construction, modification, and emphasis may be improved through reference to the whole volume of anecdotal record material collected by a school. The anecdotes indicate where there should be general presentation of material character development to satisfy the needs of the whole school community. 13. An appropriate summary of anecdotes is valu- able for forwarding with a pupil when he is pro- moted to another school. 14. Anecdotal records may be used by new members of the staff in acquainting themselves with the student body. 15. The qualitative statements contained in anec- dotal records supplement and assist in the inter- pretation of quantitative data. 16. Collections of anecdotal records may provide the necessary validating evidence for various e- valuating instruments. For instance, when the results of the Bernreuter Personality Inventory indicate that certain pupils are high in dominance and others are low, the anecdotal record material for these pupils may be analyzed to find out whether or not the Bernreuter scores agree with the ob- servations of behavior. P 17. Anecdotal records aid in clinical service. When pupils are referred to clinical workers for special study of their problems, there is great advantage in having anecdotal records available for these highly trained workers to interpret. In this connection, Charters (4) makes the fol- - NATURE AND USE OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS 23 lowing significant observation concerning the an-. ecdotal records of the Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute: "How penetrating the accumu- lated emphasis of these anecdotes is was put to a test recently when a psychiatrist came to the faculty for information about a student of of the class of 1933 who had been brought to him as a mild case for observation. As he and the super- visor exchanged impressions, it appeared that the psychiatrist had uncovered no characteristics that were not already recorded among the anecdotes." RELATION OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS TO PERSONALITY RATINGS AND BEHAVIOR DESCRIPTIONS Some schools have established a practice of rating pupils on a scale of personality traits which, through long experience, have become thor- oughly familiar to the teachers. The adoption of an anecdotal-record plan does not make it either necessary or desirable for the school to abandon a plan of this kind. On the contrary, the teachers should be encouraged to keep in mind the traits which are in the school's personality rating scale and to try to prepare anecdotes which throw light on these traits. For example, if the American Council on Education Personality Rating Scale is used in the school, there will be special inter- est in anecdotes that are applicable to the fol- lowing areas: (1) appearance and manner, (2) in- dustry, (3) ability to control others, (4) emo- tional control, and (5) distribution of time and energy. In such cases, the scale may appropriately be utilized in making annual summaries of the an- J C ecdotes. Some schools, particularly certain progressive ones, are now basing the appraisal of the person- ality of their pupils on the Behavior Description plan devised by the Reports and Records Committee of the Eight-Year Study of the Progressive Educa- P K 24 NATURE AND USE OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS tion Association. This plan is designed to secure and record in permanent form judgments of behavior with respect to the traits which the committee decided, after extensive study, were important. It consists of a "behavior-description" filing and transfer card in the form of a folder, a sheet to be used by the teacher in making a report on the pupils, and a "trait-study" manual contain- ing complete directions. The traits included are responsibility-dependability, creativeness and imagination, influence, inquiring mind, open- mindedness, power and habit of analysis, social concern, emotional responsiveness, physical ener- gy, assurance, self-reliance, and emotional con- trol. A series of descriptive statements is given in connection with each trait and the teacher in- dicates the one which describes the pupil best. The trait-rating sheets are sent by the teachers to the records office where the judgments concern- ing each pupil are transferred to the individual record folders by clerical service. Space is pro- vided on the pupil's folder for recording the judg- ments of all his teachers from Grade VII through Grade XII.1 M Kran Massachusetts. Kijang - As Wood (14) has pointed out, there is no con- flict between anecdotal records and behavior de- scripcions, but on the contrary, these plans are supplementary. Anecdotes provide the basic ma– terial for behavior descriptions, and there is little doubt that the validity and efficiency of the behavior-description plan is enhanced when there is a wealth of anecdotal material available for reference. ¹Copies of the behavior-description forms may be obtained from the chairman of the Reports and Records Committee, Dr. Eugene Randolph Smith, The Beaver Country Day School, Chestnut Hill, NATURE AND USE OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS SAMPLE ANECDOTES 25 Oct. 4. John came to my room and studied during the lunch hour today. When I asked him if he wasn't going to lunch, he said that he had to prepare his history lesson for the next hour, but I learned afterward that he has had no money for lunch for sev- eral days. Νου. 15. Incident.- Each Wednesday at 2:30 Jane comes to me for special help in reading. Today was warm and the door to the corridor was open. Several times during the hour, persons walked along the corridor past the door. Every time this happened, Jane stopped reading and looked to see who it was, even though she was not facing the door. Glasg Comment. This behavior is typical of this pupil. She seems to have a very short span of attention and is apparently unable to keep her mind on anything very long. Undoubtedly this partly explains her reading difficulty, although it is also a symptom, since it shows that she has no interest in reading. Jan. 24. Incident. The reports of marks for the third term were handed out today. Bill, who had all A's in the two preced- ing marking periods, received a B in science this time. He came to me and said angrily that if that was the kind of deal he was going to get in this school, he wasn't interested in its welfare and that he would resign as chairman of the committee to raise funds for the athletic association. He demanded to know what I was going to do about it. I told him gravely that there had been no error in the mark and suggested that if he wished to resign, he should submit his resignation to the president of the athletic association, whereupon he stalked out of the office. Comment.- Bill's school success, athletic prowess, and popu- larity this year seem to be turning his head. This is but one illustration of increasing arrogance in recent weeks. However, His this may be only temporary, for he has good stuff in him. counselor may be able to help him if he acts with great tact, but the attitude of the boy's own group will probably do more for him. Feb. 8. In connection with the unit on American literature just completed, Doris planned and carried through an independ- ent study of Hawthorne's works that would have done credit to a graduate student. April 11. Although not a club officer, Ralph stayed away from the ball game this afternoon to mimeograph copies of the con- stitution for the new Hobby Club, so that they would be ready for the meeting tomorrow. Note how the following series of anecdotes, which is adapted from Wood's "The Major Strategy of Guidance", presents a picture of personality development. I 26 NATURE AND USE OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS Date Observer Sept. Supervisor Nov. Jan. Dec. Teacher 8 Teacher 9 Teacher y March Teacher 7 · April Teacher 7 May Teacher 8 Anecdotal Record Dorothy's stunt in the Retailing Party was highly original. Her attitude was abrupt and superior. The other girls avoided her. She monopolized the entire group discus- sion today. G She told me in conference that the other students do not like her. I tried to ex- plain that it would be desirable to be a little less aggressive and to avoid giving the appearance of feeling superior. She said little in reply and I do not know whether or not I got the idea across. Golden Dorothy came to me for advice on overcom- ing characteristics which make students dislike her. She took a difficult assign- ment in color and design which involved doing a costume analysis and prescription for a classmate who seemed antagonistic to her. She is doing a good job with it. ligh She gave the other students opportunity to discuss and to work out their share of group assignments. Several students have told me that they feel she is not so much self-centered as ambitious. They said that she was gaining the cooperation and confidence of nearly all her classmates. In the sorority, Dorothy has become the person (next to the president) to whom peo- ple turn for suggestions, assistance, and leadership. This is true of those who first resented her. A summary statement for this student's cumula- tive record might read as follows: At the beginning of the year, Dorothy's manner was so aggres- sive, self-centered, and superior that she was very unpopular with the other students. She became aware of her shortcomings and tried, with the help of some of her teachers, to change her behavior. She was so successful that she won the cooperation and confidence of her fellow students, and at the end of the year she was regarded as a leader by her group. NATURE AND USE OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS SUMMARY 27 The main purpose of anecdotal records is to pro- vide data on the personality development of pu- pils. An anecdote is a record of a behavior in- cident which the observer believes to be signif- icant. The report of the incident itself should consist of a brief, clear, objective statement of what took place. If the observer wishes to offer an interpretation of the incident or make a rec- ommendation for treatment, these extraneous com- ments should be clearly separated from the report of what happened. K Madaga The anecdotal records of some institutions have been confined to problem-behavior cases, but the prevailing tendency is to prepare anecdotes for all pupils in the school and for all types of situ- ations. Observers are usually urged to submit an- ecdotes concerning admirable behavior and growth to fully as great an extent as they prepare them for problem behavior and cases of retardation. The teachers are in a better position than other members of the staff to observe pupil behavior, and the cooperation of the teachers must be en- listed as one of the first steps in introducing anecdotal records into a school. It is desirable to decide on some minimum number of anecdotes that should be turned in by each teacher. Simple forms should be prepared for use in writ- ing the anecdotes and in summarizing them. The form for the original record should provide space for the name and grade of the student, the date, the report of the incident, a comment, and the name of the observer. K Since it is seldom convenient to write an anec- dote at the moment moment it takes it takes place, the members of the staff must train themselves to observe be- havior accurately, to remember what took place, and to make a record of each incident later. It is advisable for each teacher to set aside a cer- 28 NATURE AND USE OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS tain period each day for the preparation of anec- dotes. A system of central filing of anecdotes and a carefully worked out plan for summarizing the an- ecdotal records of each pupil annually, or more frequently, is essential essential to the success of the plan. The anecdotal records should be filed un- der the care of the staff officer who will make the most use of them in guidance. The annual sum- marization of the anecdotal records is one of the most difficult tasks and this work should be done by the most able members of the faculty. Several cautions should be observed in the prep- aration of anecdotes. These records should, above all, be accurate and objective. They should never be written in order to defend a position taken by a teacher. Frequently, it is necessary to re- port the setting in which the behavior occurred in order to make sure that the incident will be interpreted correctly. Anecdotal records should be treated as confidential and care should be used to keep them from coming into the hands of per- sons who may make inappropriate uses of them. Those who use anecdotal records in guidance should remember that adjustment is frequently a long- term process and that short-cut methods may not be advisable. Ma M C A variety of values and uses of anecdotal rec- ords has been listed by different writers. Em- phasis has been placed on the values of records of this type for understanding the basic per- sonality pattern of each individual, creating an awareness of school problems, encouraging teach- ers to use records, providing guidance data, im- proving personal relationships between pupils and counselors, stimulating pupil participation in in- dividual help programs and remedial work, guiding curriculum construction, modification, and empha- sis, reporting to schools to which the pupils are promoted, and aiding clinical service. M NATURE AND USE OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS 29 Anecdotal records may be used advantageously to supplement personality rating scales. They may also be employed to provide the basic data for behavior descriptions of the type developed by the Reports and Records Committee of the Eight- Year Study of the Progressive Education Associa- tion. It is believed that the validity of both personality ratings and behavior descriptions can be increased by making anecdotal records avail- able for every pupil in the school. Sta ga "" pla Bibliography 1. Blatz, William E., and Bott, E. A. "Studies in Mental Hygiene of Children. I. Behavior of Public School Children: A Description of Method." The Pedagogical Seminary and Jour... nal of Genetic Psychology, XXXIV (December, 1927), 552-82. 2. Bowes, Fern H. "The Anecdotal Behavior Record in Measuring Progress in Character," Elemen- tary School Journal, XXXIX (February,1939), 431-35. 3. Brown, Marion, and Martin, Vibella. "Anecdo- tal Records of Pupil Behavior, California Journal of Secondary Education, XIII (April, 1938), 205-8. 4. Charters,W.W. "A Character Development Study," The Personnel Journal, XII, No. 2 (August, 1933), 119-23. 5. Jones, Galen, and Galbraith, Adria. "An Exper- iment with Anecdotal Records," Guidance in Public Secondary Schools, Chapter XI. New York: Educational Records Bureau, 1939. Pp. xxv + 329. Catalog 30 NATURE AND USE OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS 6. Lloyd-Jones, Esther McD., and Smith, Margaret Ruth. A Student Personnel Program for Higher Education, Chapter XVI. New York: McGraw- Hill Book Company, Inc., 1938. Pp. x + 322. Al 7. Olson, Willard C. "The Diagnosis and Treatment of Behavior Disorders of Children," Educa tional Diagnosis, pp. 363-97. Thirty-Four Yearbook of the National Society for tl Study of Education, Chapter XVIII. Bloom ington, Illinois: Public School Publishing Company, 1935. Pp. x + 563. 8. Randall, J. A. "The Anecdotal Behavior Jour- nal," Progressive Education XIII (January, 1936), 21-26. S 9. Raths, Louis. Anecdotal Records, Bulletin No.1, September, 1935. Progressive Education As- sociation, Evaluation in the Eight-Year Study, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. (mim- eographed) 10. Report of Subcommittee on Personality Measure- ment (D. A. Robertson, Chairman), "Person- nel Methods," The Educational Record, Sup- plement No. 8 (July, 1928), 53-68. 11 11. Smith, Eugene R. "Judging and Recording Pu- pil Characteristics,' Educational Record, XV (January, 1934), 87-105. 12. Strang, Ruth. Counseling Technics in College and Secondary School, pp. 84-86. New York Harper and Brothers, 1937. Pp. x + 159. 13. Tyler, Ralph W. "Techniques for Evaluating Behavior," Educational Research Bulletin, XIII (January 17, 1934), 1-11. NATURE AND USE OF ANECDOTAL RECORDS 31 14. Wood, Ben D. "The Major Strategy of Guidance," The Educational Record, XV (October, 1934), 419-44. 11 15. Zahn,D.Willard. "Anecdotal Record in Relation to Character Development, Education for Dynamic Citizenship, pp. 294-300. Twenty- Fourth Annual Schoolmen's Week Proceedings. University of Pennsylvania, School of Education, January 25, 1937. Philadelphia: e charge, book must be brought to the desk. JUN 6 1958 JUN 8 1056 嬉し ​o entits mothe Present • 14 * J&S 14 ܕܚܬܟ ܕܚܫ ܕ ܠܗ ܗ ܬ ܗ ܘ ܘ ܘ . *** ** 2004 خبر 1 UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 3 9015 03336 5613 14 SUINSLA . مرگی * * * **** الورد ܝܬ 8 *** 3 Huschran ***** GO * "C , ... Ja 46 Des ** ***** *** : . 5